I remember meeting Ami for the first time in fall of 2012. I had been out of commission for a bit with a broken leg and Ricky and Robin had told me they thought Ami would be a good candidate for a desk manager position... we were desperately trying to fill. We sat at the outside table and after the interview I remember telling Ricky and Robin…yep, she’s fine, I guess. Ha!! Little did I know that day what an integral part of BL Ami would become. She started out just helping out at the desk but has since then ended up wearing SO MANY other hats at BL. One of her most important jobs is supply procurement…translated as she buys all our S#!T!!! The tea bags, the coffee creamer, the toilet paper, the weights…oh AND the bananas!! The list goes on and on. She gets her weight lifting in by schlepping cases of water and occasionally (inserting eye roll for the word occasional), a bottle of wine or champagne for one of the bosses (yes, that would be me). In addition to keeping BL well stocked Ami teaches and subs fitness (you can find her and her fun playlists Thursday mornings at 7:45 am), manages the massage program, makes the manuals for yoga teacher training, schedules cleaners and all maintenance, pays the bills, manages our off and on site privates and meetings, ciphers through webmail, handles donation bags, orders vitamins and great harvest products AND single handedly sets up and oversees all the details of our Annual BL Staff Christmas Party. Phew….I know!! A few things you may not know about Ami is that she is a huge MSU fan, has two children who graduated from MSU, she and her husband, Henry, owned a tanning salon, she loves dogs and presently has a white lab named Bogey, plays golf (dog’s name may have given that away), AND…wait for it…does 1 hour of sit ups EVERY DAY!! Ami, in addition to having great abs, you have been a huge asset to our Team BL. We appreciate you and all you do to keep BL running smoothly!!
When Brie (my youngest daughter) isn’t busy traveling around the world as a travel director, you will likely find her name on the yoga schedule as a sub. Brie was only 7 when I bought BL so she has grown up surrounded by this amazing community and feels like she has lots of second mamas!! She actually started going to child care at the previous BL on M-59 when she was just 2 and when we brought child care to BL, she started babysitting and working in the family business at the ripe old age of 12. I remember when Brie left for MSU (Go Green!!), she said BL was one of the things she missed the most. It truly had become her second home!! Briana went through BL’s yoga teacher training twice…first time in 2007 and then loved it so much she decided to go through it again a few years later. When Brie did her feedback for teaching yoga at BL, it brought me to tears. I was just so moved by the fact that she shared my passion for yoga and for BL. Once in a while I am even able to talk her into teaching Zumba with me when Chris is out of town and we always have a blast teaching together. Brie also helps out at the desk when she’s in town, and she was hugely instrumental in helping us develop our on demand class library during Covid. This class library, or BL 365 as we now call it, has continued to be a huge value added to our students’ memberships. Something you may not know about Brie is that she has recently become very passionate about fostering homeless cats. She cares for them until they are placed in their forever homes. Her compassionate nature is so evident to all, and I hear from BL peeps all the time who have gotten to know Brie at BL over the years, that she just spreads sunshine wherever she goes. I am so grateful for all the roles she plays at BL, for the wonderful person she has become and am proud that many refer to her as my “mini me.” Love ya my baby girl!!
