Meet Caroline Citelli: Pilates Instructor & CEO of corebycaroline

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

Hi Caroline, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I’m largely uncomfortable with most change/ most risk but in business there is no room for that. Running this business has shown me that risk taking is more than essential to find progression. I took a huge risk deciding to run with online classes on my own. I could have easily gone back to a studio and picked up a few shifts, mid pandemic, but I had to trust my gut. I now take small risks all the time, and more than often those risks are rewarded. Maybe one choice didn’t bring optimal results but at least gave me a landmine of information to use on my next one. I think we ultimately get better at predicting our clients /markets choices, which makes the smaller moves less anxiety provoking. Our voices are the most important things to them and as long as you maintain the lines of communication I think risk is key to building a bigger movement.

What’s one thing about your industry people aren’t aware of. 
Most people in fitness will not talk about the effects teaching fitness has on your mental clarity and physical health. II was diagnosed with Vocal Nodules pretty early in my teaching career and there is really no rememdy for that aside from surgery or vocal rest (not usually an option). That being said, I’d pretty much go mute for my clients, that’s how invested I am in them. Most dedicated fitness professionals go to bed thinking about their 6am class routine, wake up and start running through it, make playlists all day, perfect their form on new moves, answer a billion emails. I mean it is truly non stop. We want to be innovators but we also want to be accommodating. We want to train your body, but we cant without connecting to your brain. It is so much more than just counting down from 10. The words we use, the way we cue you, the way we time movements to music, it’s all part of a master plan to help you build full body awareness. So even if you take a class you didn’t love, you have to recognize that there was so much that went into building it. 

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Okay, so I’m such a homebody that I’ve (to some extent) loved being quarantined. That being said, the Cancer in me would probably just take someone to all of my favorite grocery stores in LA(lol). I’m such a sucker for West Hollywood spots and true a die hard Joan’s on Third. I’m DYING to go back to Ace Hotel, and all the rooftop spots in DTLA. I couldn’t miss anything in LA more than I miss the live music, Palladium and El Rey being two of my favorite venues. And of course, pretty much all of Malibu and Santa Monica. There is so much to do in this city, I don’t know how I’ll ever leave it.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d be insane to not dedicate my sister Allison, and my brother in law, who housed me for the first half of the pandemic while I was finding my footing. My sister has always been my biggest supporter and I could not be more grateful for her. I started Core By Caroline before the pandemic, just as a name to a page where I shared and kept track of my workouts. Once COVID hit, I pivoted into online teaching, starting with a small group and then expanding into larger groups. My mindset was different from the start, I knew that I had to go all in on online teaching to motivate my clients so I made the choice to not go back to in person teaching even when it was available. I’d like to think sticking to my guns was a big part of getting me to where I am now. But of course, leaving my full time reformer gig was not easy. It was in fact, terrifying. So many people are quick to tell you that things won’t work out, that you’re not special and that you’ll fail. However, I believe, as with most things in life, our biggest challenges are the ones we create for ourselves. The voices WE let cloud our judgement and the anxiety we choose to let overwhelm us. Everyday was (and still is) touch and go for me. At some point I had to just trust myself and run with it. I knew looking back would not get me forward

Website: https://www.corebycaroline.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/corebycaroline/

Image Credits
Randy Tran Instagram – @rtranphoto