Her Story
About Kerri
Kerri Baker is the owner and founder of Kerri Baker Pilates in Alameda, California, where she specializes in personalized one-on-one Pilates instruction. With more than two decades of experience teaching both mat and equipment-based Pilates, she is known for her highly individualized approach that blends corrective exercise, women’s fitness, and deep client care. Kerri’s work is centered on helping clients build strength, reduce pain, and reconnect with confidence in their bodies through focused, hands-on instruction.
Before entering the fitness industry, Kerri earned a degree in Psychology from San Francisco State University and began her career in marketing. After several years of feeling unfulfilled professionally, her life changed when she discovered Pilates while working at a studio in downtown Los Angeles. Recognizing her natural connection with clients and intuitive understanding of movement, the studio owner personally mentored her through an intensive apprenticeship-style training program. Immersed in the studio environment seven days a week, Kerri developed her skills through rigorous practice, observation, and teaching experience, embracing a philosophy that true mastery comes from “doing the work” both mentally and physically.
In 2007, Kerri opened her own private Pilates studio in her downtown Los Angeles loft, where she spent approximately 15 years building a loyal client base and a thriving solo practice. In 2022, she relocated to the Bay Area after her husband accepted a new position, requiring her to rebuild her business from the ground up in Alameda. Leveraging online instruction during and after the COVID-19 pandemic allowed her to maintain relationships with longtime clients while growing a new community in Northern California. Today, Kerri continues to operate an intentionally small, client-focused practice, believing that personalized care and meaningful relationships are at the heart of effective teaching and healing.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kerri
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think it was being able to rebuild a thriving business from the ground up after 15 years. I mean, I don't really think of this as groundbreaking or anything that big of a deal, but when I speak to my clients, what I'm doing is a big deal. Being able to take people who are convinced that they're broken and show them that they are not broken, that they are strong, and they can achieve things that they didn't otherwise think they could - that's fulfilling every single day. And being able to know that these clients of mine are now not just my clients, but my friends. Some of them, like one of my friends, was one of my test subjects when I first started teaching, and she is now a Pilates teacher herself. I started my business when I was single, so I didn't have a husband supporting me then. You just have to make sure you have a support system and believe in yourself.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
When I had been laid off three times after college, I really didn't know what to do, and then I met the owner of a Pilates studio and he asked me if I wanted to work at the front desk. He gave me free classes, and three months later he saw that I was really good with handling clients and really taking to the teachings, so he asked if I wanted him to mentor me. I started working at his studio in downtown LA. Eventually I did branch off because the market was very scarce, and I also felt it was time to leave a toxic environment. My mentor since then has made amends with everyone - he did his apology tour and called every single person who ever worked for him and every single client that he taught. But I was very happy that he was kind enough to show me a career path that I didn't necessarily see for myself but that I did come to love and grow in.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The reality is it's super scary. It can be intimidating going out on your own and knowing that you don't have a solid paycheck. And I didn't have a side hustle - I had been laid off and immediately started working at the Pilates studio, so I didn't have that moment of hesitation. My recommendation, which is not what I did myself, is to find your tribe, find people that support you. Unfortunately, sometimes in the Pilates community there are those that see other business owners more as competition, which is unfortunate. But if you can find those that are supportive, you can definitely learn and grow. I am 100% about strong women lifting each other up - you have to be your own cheerleader, but try to find cheerleaders for you, and be someone's cheerleader for others. I am not a fitness person, I am not a joiner, I'm not a group exercise person, none of that. I was barely even riding my bike because I didn't have a car in Los Angeles. And now Pilates has been my career for 20 years, and I don't see myself doing anything else. Because once you find the thing that works for you, then you can figure out how to monetize it. I started my business when I was single, so I didn't have a husband supporting me then. You just have to make sure you have a support system and believe in yourself.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Building your new business after you've built one previously for 15 years in one location and relocating - even though many of my clients stayed with me, especially through the pandemic because Zoom classes became popular - still building out the studio in a new area and finding the proper visibility. Alameda has maybe 70,000 people and probably 10 Pilates studios, so there's a lot of competition. I don't have my tribe here, and I don't know how to find them. My fear and what I've come across in certain Pilates people is that it's competition rather than collaboration.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important value to me is the quality of care I give to my clients - I feel like if I had employees or taught group classes, the care that I give would be diluted. That's why I only teach one-on-ones. It's about being able to take people who are convinced that they're broken and show them that they are not broken, that they are strong, and they can achieve things they didn't otherwise think they could. That's fulfilling to me every single day. I also deeply believe in strong women lifting each other up - you have to be your own cheerleader, but you also have to be cheerleaders for others. And having a support system and believing in yourself is essential. My clients have become not just clients but friends, and that relationship and trust is everything to me.
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