We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelly Wackerman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelly, what role has risk played in your life or career
I really owe everything I have gained in starting theLODNONmethod to the first big risk I took in 2015. At the time, I was one of many, teaching an exercise technique known as “Barre”. I read a book written by the founder of Barre’s daughter, Esther Fairfax, that explained some very interesting twists and turns the technique had taken since its inception.  Intrigued, I reached out to her website to find out more. I was given the direct contact info to Esther Fairfax and discovered that Esther’s mother,  Lotte Berk – the woman responsible for creating “Barre”, had a very different version of her work that Esther had been teaching in the countryside of England for the last fifty years. “Come here and I will train you”, were the words that changed the course of my life forever.  Getting on a plane, going across the world to an unknown territory, to learn all about a technique that I thought I had already been teaching was giving me chills up my spine. Would it be worth my while? Would it really be as different as she promised? I had no idea, but what I did know was that I had to go. I knew in my gut that if I didn’t say yes to this experience it would be something that I may regret for the rest of my life.  Because I took this risk, I ended up discovering a technique that not only changed my own  physical shape, but the way that I would teach and look at exercise forever. Within weeks this  woman had showed me moves and positions I had never practiced in all my years of teaching both Americanized “Barre” and Pilates. I was a mom of five year old twins at the time and Esther Fairfax was able to reach parts of my core that had been lying dormant since the birth of my children. I watched as this magical method pulled my waist in 1.5 inches in just a few weeks of training with her. Taking this risk was best decision I have ever made and whenever I am weighing out the pros and cons of a situation,  I remember that if I had never taken that chance this technique may have still been a secret to this day.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
This is such an easy one for me because sharing the results I found in that countryside town has given me a business I have a passion for and a very purposeful life. Upon returning from England I immediately began to test the technique out on others.  Across the board all of the women’s waists began to pull in one to two inches by just practicing the moves twice a week for thirty days. It was then that I realized, Lotte Berk had created a formula that had been living with her only daughter in England for the past fifty plus years and America had never seen this secret technique. The moves we do are specific, but the teacher is meant to have you do them to the music. There was an art to it that was lost in translation when it first came to America and we are trying to bring the artistic part of it back. It’s funny because when I first came across the ORIGINAL class I described it as “not just a workout, but a work of art”. We named our company theLONDONmethod after where the technique began and with Esther’s blessing, launched it in America with the hopes that the TRUE work of Lotte Berk would finally see the light of day. Today, we have a physical location where we teach LIVE classes on Zoom (which are also in person when there is not a global pandemic) we have a staff of teachers who film for our On Demand Videos that people can access from anywhere through  www.thelondonmethod.tv, plus we just launched our Online Teacher Training program where we certify others to be able to teach the ORIGINAL class in their own homes or studios.  We have taken the last five years to properly learn the ORIGINAL class and now feel we can authentically teach it correctly and pass our knowledge on to others so that the world can benefit from this one of a kind, core conditioning, body healing technique.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Since coffee is a must for us we would start off on 2nd Street in Long Beach, CA at our favorite spot for a Latin Latte, Aroma di Aroma where they truly have succeeded in bringing the authentic taste of Italy right to our home town. You can also pick up a pastry here or a bagel with some of the best scrambled eggs in town to make a full breakfast experience out of it. A walk on the pier or right on the sand with our coffee in hand would be our next step to get us ready for our favorite part of the day which is an ORIGINAL class at theLONDONmethod studio. After you have worked the deepest layers of your muscle fibers and we have helped you reach places in your body you never knew were possible we will head across the street to Tru Nature for a fresh squeezed Green (or whatever color is your favorite) juice. We tLm girls love the Spicy Madras, but the choice will be yours! Once our thirst has been quenched, we will walk one block down to the ocean where the Long Beach Art Museum sits right on the sand and peruse whatever wonderful exhibit they are featuring at the time. There is a beautiful outdoor seating area where we can have a bite to eat and even a little happy hour cocktail if the timing is right. After that you will be on your way and hopefully remember us the next day when you wake up sore from class in all the right spots, but relaxed and melancholy reminiscing about the day you were officially introduced to the ORIGINAL work of Lotte Berk right here in good ole US of A ;).

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There would be no LONDONmethod without Esther Fairfax. Esther Fairfax, in my eyes is a true hero. She spent her entire adult life devoted to learning and perfecting the work of her mother, Lotte Berk.  She put her exercises into an order and format that we are now able to learn and teach to others. She has taught these exercises out in the countryside of England for the past 57 years with barely any recognition or praise for her work. The women who have been lucky enough to train with her are the strongest, fittest, yet still feminine looking women I have met in my life.  Esther has lived a life and has knowledge and wisdom beyond just the exercises she learned from her mother. I am honored to know her, and we are truly blessed to be able to pass on the Lotte Berk family recipe through theLODNONmethod.

Website: www.thelondonmethod.net
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thelondonmethod/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLondonMethod
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-london-method-long-beach
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs5sr3EdadYWajSE9_Xacfw
Other: I am not sure why our link above for You Tube is showing up like that, but we are just theLONDONmethod on Youtube as well. Would love to have that link in as well! Thanks so much for the opportunity & sharing our story!

Image Credits
Esther Fairfax with Kelly Wackerman & Pam Kennedy owners of theLONDONmethod. All photos taken by Shelly Strazis

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.