I have actually known Carrie since she was born. She is the youngest of 4 girls and one of her older sisters was in the same grade as my daughter, Brie, going through West Bloomfield schools. Fast forward several years and in 2015 Carrie started coming to BL during her freshman year of college. She shared with me that her intention in practicing yoga was to “find more meaning in my life, a connection with myself and I wanted a hobby.” Carrie moved to Colorado for school and did Teacher Training there at CorePower in 2017. She said the reasons she decided to do the training was because, “I thought it would be fun and thought maybe it was part of my purpose to teach others to find the same peace, connection and joy within themselves that I found through practicing yoga.” Carrie taught at CorePower during the school years in Colorado and then started subbing at BL in 2018 over her summer vacations and school breaks. I remember taking her class to decide whether to add her to the schedule, and I knew right away that she would be a great addition to our BL staff. In 2019, after she graduated and moved home, we found several places to add her to the schedule. Carrie told me that there were several reasons why she likes teaching at BL but the first one she mentioned was because of the friends she’s made! She also said that she “believes it helps people learn to be their own healer and connect to their sense of self but also to realize that we are part of something so much bigger than ourselves.” Carrie started out with 4 classes a week on the schedule, but as life got busier for her, you will usually only find her on Wednesdays at 10 am leading Better Backs with Extended Savasana. The other areas of life that have needed her attention are her “real” job of working as a realtor selling new construction homes as well as hanging out with her husband (of just over 1 year), her dog, her BL friends AND her 9 nieces and nephews!! Carrie, when I asked some of the staff who know you well to describe you I heard: "old soul, laid back, super sweet and free-spirited". You truly embody a true yogi and we are grateful to have you a part of our Team BL!!
Prior to buying BL, I ran an aerobic program at World Gym in Waterford and Toni was one of the handful of teachers who taught for me there. The program at World Gym shut down at the same time I was looking for teachers to teach at BL so I ended up bringing Toni and the others to teach for me at BL. At the time Billy Blanks style of Tae Bo kickboxing was all the rage and Toni brought it to BL. I remember a line outside the door waiting to get into class, as her Kickboxing class was so popular. Toni teaches a lot of different formats but my current favorite is her Old School Dance Aerobics class that she created for our Toast to 25 year celebration last Fall. So fun!!! Toni’s “real” job for the past 30 years has been as a high school teacher. She has also served as an adjunct college professor and has a masters in both math and English. When I asked Toni to tell me something about herself the very first thing she mentioned was how much she loves her dogs. She presently has 3 German Shepherds and a Golden Retriever. Second to her love for her dogs is her love for travel. She has been to China, Italy, Paris, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. She even studied at Oxford University for 4 summers. Fun facts you might not know about Toni: she loves to garden, she flew over the Loire valley in France in a hot air balloon with her mom, and she wrote her name on the Berlin wall 3 months before it was torn down. Two of her claims to fame is that she saw Bigfoot (ask her about) and ended Communism in East Germany (really…she says it was because of her…hmmm???). She shared with me that she loves teaching fitness regardless of the format because she loves seeing her students “get into it” and her favorite part of teaching high school is “making kids think, question, and making a difference in their lives.” Thanks Toni for supporting me and BL in so many ways over the past 26 years. Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t also thank you for teaching us all to keep our hands up, to fully extend our punches and to defend ourselves at Kroger!!
