Meet the TEAM
Elena LaMadrid, Founder & CPT
Elena is originally from Scottsdale, Arizona where she fell in love with classical ballet at the age of 4. At 16, she moved to Houston, Texas to professionally train with the Houston Ballet Academy. While attending the academy, Pilates was implemented into the program as a form of cross-training. She found that Pilates helped her dancing through stabilizing her flexibility while continuing to build muscular strength. After completing her training, she moved to professionally dance with Nashville Ballet. Under David Gensheimer she became a fully certified Pilates Instructor through Balanced Body. After completing two seasons with Nashville Ballet, she decided she had a greater passion to return to school and pursue Physical Therapy. After two years in school, she decided life had different path for her and knew she wanted to pursue opening her own pilates studio.
In April of 2021, Studio Pilates Nashville opened its door in the heart of the Nations. She built Studio Pilates Nashville as a place where a community can empower each other through movement. She believes that Pilates can teach people the joy of movement and has the power to increase both physical and mental wellbeing.
Megan Hopkins,
Nations Studio Manager
Originally from Nashville, Megan found a passion for Pilates after moving to Los Angeles to pursue her professional dance career. She loved it so much she decided to make a career change and trained in Beverly Hills under master trainer Maria Leone. She is excited to be back in Nashville and share her love for Pilates and movement!
Kayla Struska,
East Studio Manager
Kayla grew up dancing and has always had a passion for movement. She danced professional for the Ad Deum Contemporary Dance Company and has over 10 years’ experience teaching competitive dance. During her time at Texas A&M, Kayla was a member of the Texas A&M Triathlon team and graduated with a B.S. in Sports Conditioning. She continued her education as a Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) in Houston and completed her Pilates training through STOTT Pilates®. She is excited about the opportunity to help clients at Studio Pilates Nashville achieve their personal goals. Kayla is a high energy instructor that brings a creative twist to her classes. Clients can expect challenging exercises accompanied with encouragement.
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Hayley Smith
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Erin Williams
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Bridget McKinney
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Autumn Reynolds
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Amy Nicole
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Alexia Degremont
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Ellen Prestage
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Julia Blahnik
Certified Pilates Instructor
Julia is a former dancer who trained in classical ballet for 16 years. Originally from Chicago, she moved to Nashville at age 17 to continue her dance career as a trainee with Nashville Ballet. During her time in Nashville, she suffered from a back injury which led her to Pilates as a means of recovery and cross-training. Julia has trained with Balanced Body Master Instructors Erin Myers and David Gensheimer to pursue a comprehensive certification through Balanced Body. Julia appreciates all types of movement. She firmly believes that all people can and should be moving in an enjoyable, pain-free way. She loves helping people do this through Pilates. Along with this, she also enjoys helping athletes to better their performance and prevent injury through cross-training. Julia loves building relationships with clients and helping them find enjoyment and success in movement.
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Kathryn Phillips
RDN, CPT
Kathryn is originally from Orange County, California, where she fell in love with classical ballet at an early age. At 16 she moved to Texas to train in the Professional Division of the Houston Ballet Academy (HBA). She graduated from HBA and moved to Nashville to continue her career as a professional ballet dancer. After dancing for the 2016-2017 season with Nashville Ballet’s second company, Kathryn decided to pursue a career that allowed her to put her passion for health promotion at the forefront. With this in mind she completed her comprehensive Pilates training through Balanced Body and is certified by Balanced Body and Pilates Method Alliance®. Additionally, Kathryn completed her Bachelor’s of Science in Dietetics at Lipscomb University in 2021. Kathryn believes that the best form of exercise is the one that a person enjoys most and that leaves their body feeling rejuvenated. She has found that Pilates is a wonderful tool for teaching the joy of movement, and practices daily to keep her body and soul happy.
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![Danner Martin]()
Danner Martin
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Madeline Bose
