Check Out Hilary’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hilary.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am particularly writing this with Mother’s Day right around the corner. My love of fitness was birthed from my love of my mother. She was a typical mother who gave everything of herself and had very little left over for herself. It was through that that I thought how can we love somebody so much yet they don’t have the love reflected back on them. It was a psychology question that I tried to understand how women could give so much but feel so awkward at receiving. I have dedicated my lifetime to understanding the trials and tribulations of what it means to take care of oneself with out guilt shame or feeling like you’re hurting somebody in the process.

I am not that of an entrepreneur spirit. I am a helper and proud of it. What happened is I had gone to other businesses locally and asked to work inside of their business. A business inside of a business. However due to whatever reasons I was rejected. Little did I know that this was going to open me up to be the best version of myself in a journey and evolution that I could not have anticipated.

My life has changed drastically for the best. The idea of getting out of your comfort zone definitely parallels with fitness ideologies as well as life ideologies.

Due to me growing up in poverty, I have been able to charge low prices with high yield rates. Access to premium ideologies shouldnt be gatekept. We are currently in Manhattan but expanding to Kansas City this year, 2025. From what I have come to known. KC prices are higher and we are hoping to provide more access by using the system we have in Manhattan and bringing it to KC.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I had once been a fan of trauma dumping but I feel like the real truth that I should offer in this moment as I’m 15 years into teaching Pilates but 8 years into owning a business. The inside I can give you is that you desperately crave your family and friends to validate your choices. But the truth is they can’t always validate it because they’re afraid for you that if something goes wrong that you’ll be hurt. Let yourself be opened up to the strangers and the vulnerability it is to bond with people of like-minded needs and growth. Your truest destiny is somewhat a road that you have to take on your own and people love a good underdog so enjoy that until you make your story, yours. It is currently untold.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My particular specialty is Pilates mixed with a artistic heart for aerial. Now Pilates is very scientific based and ergonomic. aerial has been an outlet for me to open up my heart to physics with creative endeavors.

I’m going to state the Pilates is like the health food section at the grocery store. Whereas lifting weights is the grocery store running is the grocery store. And physical therapy is the medicine. We are preemptive and take a lot of proactive measures to do the best we can with what we have and we’re always getting better.

As far as aerial goes my favorite part of teaching aerials is in the city I live in mostly women come and they learn how to trust themselves and make calculated risks. And the joke I say all the time is see even when you mess up you didn’t die.

How do you think about happiness?
If you would have asked me before versus asking me now the answers would have changed and I think it’s quite eloquent. When I used to define happiness I would define it completely through the means in which I could see externally that I was hitting my marks. But now if you ask me what happiness is it is the gorgeous temperature regulation of your internal thermostat that when you start getting everything you wished for you don’t bully yourself into wanting more. I think my happiness is the evenings with my son where we get to play. We spent almost a decade of me having to come home and work on the business well when I’m at work I’m working in the business. Happiness is allowing myself to let people help me. Happiness is letting me be a student instead of always a leader. Happiness is letting me go with the flow instead of forcing things to be what I thought they needed to be. Happiness is learning that I can enjoy the journey and the destination and that the evolutions never actually over so to make sure to take time to stop and breathe. It’s super corny but stop and smell the roses is indeed my way to mental and physical freedom.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.littleapplepilates.com
• Instagram: @hilaryks9
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hilary.k.santana