Pamela Hasselbring, 50, owner and Pilates educator, Pilates MN, Wayzata
A ZIG-ZAG ALONG THE WAY: I have been a Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader, skier, water skier, swimmer ... always active outside. One of my callings was to work in fitness. But when I was in college, there wasn't any kind of a fitness degree. I majored in fashion merchandising -- something completely other than what I wanted to do.
A TEACHER AT HEART: I taught fitness for my Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at the University of Missouri in the basement. I knew I wanted to find something in health and did not find it there so never graduated. My parents weren't real happy with that decision. [Instead] I opened a small gym in a soccer dome. Since then, I've taught every class under the moon.
DANCING THROUGH PAIN: I fell out of a tree trying to get a dead branch out when I was 24. I fell 15 feet and broke my back. I was in a brace all summer. My ex-husband worked with the Timberwolves' front office, and I started dancing for the Timberwolves when we moved here, when I was about 27. But my back started flaring up when I was dancing and I wasn't sure I could keep going, but I did. I had chronic back pain until I got into Pilates.
ZIP IT UP: In 2002, I found Polestar Pilates. I learned to elongate and stabilize and stretch in the right places. I was an instructor at the St. Louis Park Northwest Athletic Club, and I started Pilates classes there. Three years ago, [my husband and I] opened Pilates MN in Wayzata. The time was right: There weren't enough Pilates studios in the Twin Cities, particularly in the western suburbs, and I already had a base of 30 people who had been taking classes out of my home.
HOOKED: I do Pilates three times a week, and I have a StairMaster and spinning bike at home. Pilates is a method of exercise that once people start doing it and understanding it, they can't leave it. They know they won't feel as good if they do.
TRIED AND TRUE TEAM: Some husbands and wives would kill each other running a business together. We are just the opposite. We complement each other and I couldn't do this without Brent. And, he became addicted to the Pilates work! We pride ourselves on knowing the problems and issues of the people who come into our studio.
