The Barre Diaries Part 2 - Michelle Carrillo’s Journey Through Fitness

The following is a guest post by Michelle Carrillo.

Photo by Mackenzie Gaultier Photography. Edited by Jodi Hiebert

Hello, Aura Studio blog readers!

My name is Michelle Carrillo (formerly Kidd). Some of you may remember me as the quiet and sometimes awkward barre instructor who regularly fumbled my words and made up new exercises on the fly, but nevertheless delivered a great butt-kicking!

To those who are relatively new to Aura Studio, I’m the former owner of The Carman Barre, which Kailey Thiessen took over last June and turned into Aura Studio as you know it today. At the same time, I picked up my life and moved from Carman, Manitoba, to Anaheim, California. After five years of teaching barre classes, I recently took the step to move into the online world of creating barre and Pilates workout videos. 

Even if you used to take my classes, you might not know the whole story of how I became involved in barre.

I’ve had a love for fitness for as long as I can remember. Being in dance classes my whole life exposed me to various dance conditioning exercises, and the importance of injury prevention. I clearly remember the excitement of buying my first workout video, ‘The New Method Pilates.’ I followed the workout religiously in my basement from the time I was 11 until my mom finally got rid of our VCR (far past the time anyone should’ve still owned a VCR…).

After high school, I discovered my love for group fitness classes. The atmosphere was very motivating. Whether it was Bootcamp, HIIT, step aerobics, cross-fit, yoga, you name it. Any fitness class offered in Carman, I signed up for (and did ALL of the Jillian Michaels DVDs at home…anyone else?).

Photo by Mallorey B Photography

Then Came the Studio...

At the same time, I was in the process of opening my dance studio, Kiddance. I honestly don’t even remember how I came across barre. It was still a relatively new workout method, so virtually unheard of in a little town in southern Manitoba. I do remember as soon as I had an idea of what it was, I decided it was what I was going to do. It combined my two loves of dance and fitness, while being low impact yet effective. After watching a few YouTube videos, I was hooked! 

I became certified in Total Barre (Merrithew) and started teaching Barre in Carman in 2015, having never actually taken a real barre class before. It was the first class of its kind in the Pembina Valley area. I started with a group of just eight women doing a 10-week session, in a tiny community space with a wobbly freestanding barre. I also referred to my training textbook many times while teaching those first few classes. Hey, we all start somewhere!

Fast forward a year; I opened my dance studio and set up a “real” barre- actually attached to the wall, with mirrors and everything (at this time I also met and hired Kailey as a dance instructor, and then offered her the opportunity also to become Total Barre certified). I would teach barre classes in between dance classes, on the weekends, or early in the mornings, wherever I could fit them. It was so exciting! Classes were overflowing, and I became more confident in creating my own teaching style.

Even with all of this, though, it felt like something was still missing.

The following year I spent the summer in California (where my long-distance boyfriend and now husband lived). I tried a barre class when I first got there, and after six weeks, I had completed about 30 classes. I was amazed (and shocked) at the intensity of the class and the community surrounding it.

And thus, The Carman Barre was born. A combination of the foundational roots of my Total Barre training with a little sprinkle of inspiration from southern California. Kailey was along for the entire ride, and played a huge part in building the barre community that came to be!

Photo by Mallorey B Photography

From small-town Manitoba to the bustling state of California...

After two years of owning and operating The Carman Barre, I sadly taught my last class, moved to California to get married and live with my husband, and passed the reins to Kailey. I continued to take classes occasionally in Anaheim, however, I was going through some hard times that saw me lose the passion I once had for barre and fitness in general.

When 2020 came, I wrote out a list of goals. Something in me just knew I had to teach barre again, in whatever capacity.

Being in the process of immigrating to the US, I currently can’t work here, so there went any hope of teaching at a studio, for now. Although I deeply miss teaching barre in a group class environment, I still had to share it somehow. So, I decided to turn to the internet and start creating barre workout videos on YouTube. 

I purchased a 4-foot mini barre and drilled it into the wall of the home I rent. After (sort of) learning to use my dusty DSLR camera, I purchased a microphone and a tripod to use with it. I set up my YouTube channel (Move with Michelle), started using Instagram to post and further my content, and here we are! It’s not a perfect set up, but as I did five years ago, I have to start somewhere again.

I’ve had to force myself to overcome my perfectionist tendencies and let myself be a beginner again. The online barre community is wonderfully inspiring. However, if you’ve ever heard of Imposter Syndrome, it kicked into high gear for me after diving into this community. 

I’ve had many thoughts like, “who am I to put out these videos when there are more qualified people out there, or people who can do a certain exercise ‘better’ than me?” and, “there are millions of high-quality workout videos on YouTube already, how am I supposed to gain a following when I’m new to filming and editing videos?”

I’ve filmed dozens of videos that I later deleted, because there were one or two times I didn’t have the perfect form, the lighting was bad, or the angle was crooked.

Patience and persistence – there is no other way. I have to remind myself every day that I’ve taught over 1000 barre classes, I owned a real-life barre studio, so YES, I can do this.

I am qualified. I can and am doing it. The tech stuff will come.

Michelle Carrillo at her home barre studio where she records her follow along workouts on her YouTube channel, Move With Michelle.

So, why do all this work and spend so much time and effort with virtually no compensation?

Well, I love the process of creating content, I love barre, and I just NEED to share it! I consider this time and effort spent as an investment. Right now, my goal is to create regular content and grow on YouTube. The next step is to create a sort of virtual barre studio website. I am also currently in training for a Mat Pilates certification, and in October I will be training in Florida in the Lotte Berk Method - the original barre method that started it all- and Kailey will be right there training with me!

Throughout all of this, I continue to regularly take barre classes for myself at various studios to keep me inspired. Maybe one day I will teach in person again here in California, or who knows, perhaps even open up another studio.

I know that Kailey is taking care of that ‘back home’ for all of you who share the same addiction that is barre. For those days when you just can’t seem to leave the house, when you are away but still crave a good barre workout, or even if you are a little bit nervous to try a class in person- I invite you to join me in my little corner of the internet, and take a piece of barre with you wherever you are! It may just give you the push you need to visit Kailey at the in real-life barre.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story! You can find me on Instagram @move.with.michelle and my YouTube channel.

Do you have a story you want to share? Be our next Barre Diaries. Send us an email to aurastudiopv@gmail.com