By Courtney Balestier, Contributing Writer
Image: Celebrating the opening of Pittsburgh Pilates, owner Tabytha Bates (center) cuts the ribbon. She is joined by the Mayor of Wilkinsburg Dontae Comans to her right, along with her parents, her mentor, and community supporters from the Wilkinsburg CDC and Bridgeway Capital.
For most of her career, pilates instructor Tabytha Bates taught at other people’s studios. A Pittsburgh area native, she spent years in New York earning her certifications and working at high-profile studios like Equinox and New York Pilates. It helped her build experience and confidence, but she wanted something more.
“I was tired of helping build other people’s dreams,” Bates said. Her dream? To return to Pittsburgh and open a pilates studio of her own.
Bates comes from generations of entrepreneurs, and her father has long been involved in Pittsburgh real estate. For years, Bates had thought about occupying the storefront of one of his buildings in Wilkinsburg. When she was ready, the storefront was too — almost. It just needed some updates and beautification to become Pittsburgh Pilates: the creative, community-minded wellness hub that she envisioned for the town.
“Wilkinsburg needs to be given another chance,” Bates said. “It’s walkable. There are dog parks and coffee shops. I see the neighborhood changing, and I wanted to help give back to the community and make it the business hub it used to be.”
She worked with Bridgeway to develop her business plan and secure a small business loan for improvements and equipment. Along the way, her parents’ support and entrepreneurial expertise were a poignant part of the process, underscoring her desire to come back to the region and be closer to her family.
“This is not possible without my parents, and I’m just very grateful,” she said. “I get emotional thinking about it.”
Working with Bridgeway also allowed Bates to have more flexibility on the loan, with terms that worked for her. “At other financial institutions, it’s very black and white,” said Jennifer Jackson, Bridgeway Small Business Loan Officer. “Here it’s more of a conversation: How can we put this customer in the best scenario possible?”
When it came time for Pittsburgh Pilates’ grand opening in early March, Bridgeway even provided technical assistance to Bates, including to-do lists, example budgets, and help with marketing materials, including creating a video (see below). Just a couple weeks after opening, Bates already has a steadily growing roster of clients for her Reformer, Tower, and mat pilates classes — and an inspiring, inclusive space where she can share everything she loves about the practice.
“I really enjoy the mind-body connection of pilates,” Bates said. “You really cannot think about anything other than the directions I’m giving you and trying to breathe. It helps calm the nervous system and lets you slow down and truly focus on yourself.”
Video Feature
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Curious about what the small business loan process is like? Small Business Loan Officer Jennifer Jackson chatted about Tabytha Bates’ lending journey for our Bridgeway in Action! series.
About Courtney Balestier
Courtney Balestier is a writer whose work focuses on the intersection of place and identity, particularly in her native Appalachia. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Joyland, The New Yorker online, Lucky Peach, the New York Times, Saveur, Oxford American, New York, Wired, and others. Her writing has been anthologized in The Food We Eat, the Stories We Tell (Ohio University Press, 2019) Cornbread Nation 7: The Best of Southern Food Writing (UGA Press, 2014) and nominated for a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award and a Pushcart Prize. She is also the creator and host of WMFA, a podcast about why and how we write.