Meet Emily Iva Floyd-lynch | Studio Owner, Movement Educator, Pilates & Gyrotonic® Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Iva Floyd-lynch and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily Iva, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I created McKinney Movement Center (MMC) to solve a problem & because I was tired of working for studio owners that didn’t have the teacher’s best interest or client’s in mind. I was tired of marketing for myself without the support behind me and was ready to launch a new movement. I wanted to create a studio that was unlike any in the area, one that client’s aren’t just a number – they are seen, heard, and taken care of based on their goals and needs individually. A space where community could gather and find hope in their life, unlock transformation, and our motto learn to “Move Smarter To Feel Better”, It’s our belief that if you can learn to be more intune with your body and mind – you can prevent further injuries and excel in life.

The next problem I see is that Pilates is losing it’s impact. I have worked with people of all walks of life professional athletes to those recovering from spinal fusion surgery and young Moms wanting to stay in shape – but in my experience moving from North Dallas, there wasn’t a Pilates studio that offered more traditional, yet approachable Pilates and movement. Due to popularity and demand studios are popping up on every corner….most of them with 12=16 reformers in a group class. They tout the benefits of pilates yet most instructors do not even have the full exposure of the full Pilates system, the owner isn’t an instructor and the teacher turnover/client churn rate is out of control. (I’ve seen it from working at other studios in the past). Pilates is not designed to feel like a cardio dance party. With this we lose our ability to connect with our community, our teacher, ourselves and the equipment/technique…I think the workout just becomes movement on a machine. The music drowns out our breath and ability to concentrate – I could go on. (But Joe Pilates believed breath was the first principle of the technique – fun fact: almost every exercise has a breath pattern which you learn overtime to find better core connection and control).

Pilates has become extremely popular in the past 2-3 years. Some are saying “Pilates is having a moment”. Most people have no idea that the Pilates method has been around for over 100 years & was invented by a man named, Joseph Pilates. It was initially called “Contrology” – the science of learning to control your body by fully utilizing and training your mind. Alongside core strength, body control, and generating better posture – Pilates is also a wonderful way to work out, learn to prevent more injuries, and it provides excellent cross training for athletes.

Traditional Pilates is the heart and soul of MMC and with that comes small class sizes of 6-8 people and attention to detail from our Instructors ( who are really more like a movement specialists). After being in North Dallas for 2 years, I got my first full time job in McKinney at a local gym. I could see that the area was missing a studio that truly meets people where they are, a studio that was willing to support client’s through tough diagnosis (not so focused on session counting), and also able to teach to a variety of clientele and DO IT WELL. People flocked to my classes at the gym and I learned so much working there and at other studios about the importance of building relationships and marketing. If you can’t explain what you do and how it will help someone, good luck!

I love the mystery around mindful movement methods, but at MMC we are all about uncovering the function and logic that’s there so that clients feel more comfortable exploring body mechanics, they walk away with a transferability element (aka: results) and become part of our amazing community. I am fortunate to say that I still have clients I’ve been training now for 8 years! (grateful! bigtime! A trainer’s dream!)

My passion for teaching has opened many doors, some of which have led us into expanding our studio. We are proud to have an amazing teacher team that shares our passion for Movement, Joy, Healing, and Balance. We have former artists, dancers, a chiropractor, a physical therapist and bodyworkers as well as former accountants and movement enthusiasts. We have since even expanded our movement offerings to more than pilates – we are one of only 3 studios in North Dallas that offers The Gyrotonic® Method. McKinney Movement Center is a center for all things movement. We also offer Yoga (LYT Method, Yin Yoga, Vinyasa Flow, & Restorative), Barre, and Mat Pilates. It’s been a joy to watch our clients get the opportunity to do it all under one roof and with the same standard across the board in terms of quality of instruction.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In 2021, the gym I worked at for 5 years sold. We had 30 days notice before the closure. I had built a business from scratch, we had a team of 6 teachers (which started off at 1), we grew our client base from 5 clients to over 100….bringing in the most the gym had seen in the Pilates Department since it opened back in 2015. When I initially got the news, my first reaction was “I know what we have to do”. There was no other studio, community like ours in the area – I had worked at several studios prior and they were close, but just didn’t have the right business model and mindset. I knew for me everything had to be “people centered” and it worked. 🙂

Growing up a was a dancer. You name it I did the style. I went to a local dance studio as well as the Performing Arts High School. I knew for me movement was what I wanted to do. I went on to pursue my BFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from Florida State University….and that was where I got my first official taste of Pilates. I was going through a rough time, dating someone who wasn’t able to see the full picture of what my dreams were. I allowed myself to get complacent. In college I began studying more Dance Science and trained with Tom Welch & Anjali Austin who were very involved in bridging the gap from the dance world to the medical field and firmly believed methods such as Pilates & Gyrotonic were a dancers perfect cross training. I fell in love with them both.

Soon after, I moved to New York City and took several Arts Administrative jobs while dancing with a local company and auditioning. My eyes were soon open to the fact that the dance world didn’t have much programing to support young dancers when they were injured and didn’t have as much wellness programming as they needed to. (My younger brother and I were both dancers, so we have our own stories there as well with injuries and being away from home).

I had this enate desire to improve this facet of the dance world – I wanted to be able to fuse my two passions, dance and body mechanics. Physical Therapy school crossed my mind…but there was something very alluring about pilates. I think for me it was the results I had from practicing it – but also the fact that is awakened me in college to the fact that I was actually unhappy and wasn’t utilizing my FULL POTENTIAL.

I decided to relocate back to Florida to pursue my Pilates Comprehensive Training and was an Apprentice at a beautiful studio that took me in and I learned SO much from. The owner, Vicki Sullivan reintroduced my to Gyrotonic and encouraged me to also pursue that training.

Not long after I began to grow my business and career as a teacher, I reconnected with an old friend…and we fell in love. 🙂 The only catch was he lived across the country and his career in aviation demanded he be in the DFW area. After dating long distance for almost a year, I finished my Pilates & Gyrotonic Licenses and decided to take a leap of faith and move to DFW.

I love the energy here. What has blown me away has always been the people & the community though. I love that my clients have become my friends and that we have been able to build a place that represents hope and the joy of movement.

Some of the lessons along the way have been…
– Stop looking or expecting approval from others
– Trust Yourself, but always “check yo self”!
– Always be humble, but set boundaries
– Stay positive & bring others along for the ride
– It’s ok if not everyone supports you, do it anyways
– Keep going, Keep the faith
– Get gritty with it, and give yourself/others room for grace
– Be human

What I want the world to know is that we are starting a movement. I want more people to ENJOY living in their bodies and have the tools to overcome, maintain, and become strong – no matter where they are in their movement or life journey. There is ALWAYS a seat at the table.

My mission is to build more teachers that can create this environment so more and more people can experience the difference. We all want to make an impact, but it’s one person at a time!

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?
I love this area – I have a personal love of downtown McKinney. We’d have to visit the square and peruse the shops and have lunch or dinner at Harvest. Maybe we’d stop by the Local Yocal for some take home items. We love 1418 Coffee (Plano & Prosper) so we’d have to make a stop there. Our favorite Mexican food restaurant would also be on the agenda “Salsa Tex Mex” in Prosper. My husband cooks a great steak…so likely we would use meat from his family farm , they do grassfed beef…!

And man if there was more time – I’ve heard amazing things about World Springs, we’d likely have to go check that out too!

You’re never bored in DFW, there is always somewhere to explore!

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?
Between my husband – my amazing family who believes in me and pushes me to continue creating and going to the next level… I have to also say my amazing clients. There are 4 clients in particular that come to mind. Alongside group training, I also do private training and these 4 women really have shaped who I am as a teacher and owner. They have encouraged me when time in the entrepreneur journey was hard, they have said don’t give up on your quality even if it feels unattainable. Their tenacity and grit really inspires me. My husband believing in me has been HUGE. MMC initially started more as my vision, but he has stepped up in so many ways even with his full time job to help us set up an amazing business that will last and be sustainable. My amazing parents and In-laws have also been their to support us & I really just couldn’t do it without their support. Our vision really began as a desire to share more love and light with our community through movement – we hope to be a light to the world like Jesus was and leave the world a better place because of it all!

Website: https://mckinneymovementcenter.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily_iva/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mckinneymovementcenter

Other: Business Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/mckinneymovementcenter/

Image Credits
Photographer : Madi Simpson