Instructor Spotlight – Jessica!

January 4, 2013 by Jess Sutera 7 Comments

As you know we have started a new series in our blog called Instructor Spotlights! Since many of you spend countless hours at barre n9ne®, we thought you should know a little more about the ladies who stand up in the front of the room counting out pulses, holds, and the like 🙂 This week we bring you Jessica! She has been coming to barre n9ne® May 2010. She is one of the inaugural 60 day challengers and of course an amazing instructor and friend.  Enjoy!

~Tanya

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1 –What are your favorite songs to work out to? 

It’s funny, I now rarely work out to music — I used to ALWAYS run with music but recently made the switch to running ‘free’ (or ‘naked’ as some like to call it!) and I have fallen deeper in love with running because of it. It’s now my time to completely let my mind wander, releasing the stress from the day or the week, and just being present. Which you’d think is weird, right? Who wants to be ‘present’ while running, right?? But seriously, try it sometime  if you’re a runner, it’s totally cleansing, I promise!

Funny side note — when I first started running years ago, my favorite amp-it-up song was “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield — don’t ask me why but it got me pumped WAY up whenever it would come on my iPod playlist. Random, right?

But anyway, here are some songs I do love to workout to in general, in no particular order: Dignity by Bodyrockers; Pause by Pitbull; Hall of Fame by The Script & will.i.am; Fast Car by Taio Cruz and Pon de Replay by Rhianna.

2 – What’s your favorite food/guilty pleasure?

This is an easy one — my favorite guilty pleasure is by far: wine. I love everything about wine – the taste and the variety of options for sure, but mainly I love the experience that comes with a good glass of wine. My sister (and fellow barre n9ne® instructor Jolene!) and I have been to wine country each year for the past three years and it’s been by far the most incredible vacation we’ve ever taken. Each time we’ve gone out to California (we’re partial to the Dry Creek region in Sonoma County, particularly Healdsburg, CA where we rent a house usually), we’ve had the best time and it’s truly been a different vacation each year. We do our best to find a handful of new, hard-to-find vineyards in the area. It’s just the most memorable vacation either of us take all year long. And, we’ve armed ourselves over the years with some awesome wine club finds (which is hard to do in MA since most vineyards aren’t able to ship to MA still!), which helps us re-live the experience every time a new shipment makes its way to either of our front doors.

Here we are doing our best ‘wine snob’ pose possible at one of our favorite vineyards in Healdsburg: Thumbprint Cellars!

Now if you asked me what my favorite wine of all time was?? That would be tough to answer…I’m partial to red wines (big bold reds like Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon), but my taste varies by season…in the summer I’m a huge fan of a crisp and fruity Sauvignon Blanc or a Rose, yum. So now ya’ll know why we held that wine tasting a few months back — in large part because Jolene and I have been on a mission to turn Tanya and all of YOU into wine lovers like us. Is it working?? 😉

3 – Favorite move to teach? Favorite move to do?

My favorite move by FAR to teach has got to be chair (with or without the blue ball!). LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Every single time I announce that we’re going into chair pose, I get at least one groan from the crowd which just makes me want to teach that move even more! It’s one of my favorite ways to burn out those thighs at the barre, working on long, lean, strong and toned muscles. I mean, that’s what you’re all here for, right?? Might as well make it worth your time afterall. 😉

See? I even loved doing it during the Andover studio grand opening party, as you can see here: 

Favorite move to do….this is a tough one, I love them all! Chair is definitely my favorite barre move to do (sensing a pattern here??), but other moves I dig include plank/side plank because it is THE best core work to do plus it gives the rest of your body a run for its money too, never a bad thing. I also love the side leg series — it’s killer and hurts more (I swear) every single time I do it in class, but it is SO effective for slimming down the thighs. I am now the proud owner of ‘swoop-less’ legs thankyouverymuch!

4 – What’s one thing about you that clients may be surprised to know? 

Another toughie — I’ll answer this two ways: one thing NEW clients may be surprised to know and one thing ALL clients may be surprised to know.

New clients: my sister and I were the inaugural 60-day challengers last May. Yes, we were right where so many of you are today: working hard to get into the best, fittest, happiest shapes of your lives. It was that experience almost two years ago that changed me forever. I used to battle food, battle self-image issues, and confidence was fleeting. My own 60-day challenge proved to me that I was NOT giving myself nearly enough credit: I am strong, I am determined, and I am capable of far more than I ever imagined. So to be an instructor at barre n9ne®, a role I adore more than anything, it’s an honor — I’m loving that I can pay it forward this way. All that I’ve learned and experienced personally I try very hard to infuse into my classes and my own style of teaching.

Here’s my one-year (May 2011-May 2012) before/after: 

All clients: I used to teach kickboxing classes. Complete with the super baggy pants, wraps for my arms (to look super ‘badass’…or something like that, ha) and a bandanna for my hair. Talk about a VAST difference from teaching at barre n9ne® huh? Not just in style but in type of class — I would never go back to that style now, barre n9ne® is my passion. It just works. End of story. #b94lyf 😉

5 – What do you love the most about teaching at barre n9ne®?

Honestly? I love every single thing about it. The energy in the classes – no matter how big or small the class is — the energy is palpable. Everyone is there to work…and to work hard. I love nothing more than to see a client finally embrace the shake at the barre, or sticking out that plank for just 10 more seconds. Seeing them all transform into stronger women by the day is just awesome and so rewarding. I talk about barre n9ne® so much now that I swear half of my friends and family think I’m nuts…and the other half are now faithful barre n9ne clients too! Probably my favorite part of class is just before clients arrive, the studio is quiet, I’m by myself setting up the mats and equipment, running through my class in my head and I’m constantly struck by how lucky I am to have found my passion in teaching — and to be lucky enough to teach as much as I do. And to LOVE it as much as I do.

It’s also during this time you’ll probably see me posting on instagram my latest cute workout gear — these shots are usually taken before I teach the 6am classes, nice and quiet, nobody there to catch me snapping a selfie 😉

But seriously — teaching at barre n9ne®, with an incredible and FUN crew of instructors: dream come true.
…I love every minute of it. No matter what.