A few years back, our friend Sharon McCann-Doyle was looking to try something new with her HudCo membership—she had recently finished her teaching certification in Pilates and was ready to launch her business. She was already working in the common areas regularly on consulting work, but now she’d also be a wellness member with windows of time each week in the Pilates studio.
Her friends were just itching to start sessions with her—word-of-mouth quickly led to a nearly-full schedule. And after participating in one of our Instagram auctions, the rest of the community also jumped on her calendar, which she’s steadily grown since launching In Motion Pilates.
Her teaching isn’t limited to private sessions—these days, you can find Sharon teaching mat Pilates classes on Tuesdays here in the Atrium at HudCo—classes that are open to the public, with discounts given to members. She also teaches adult ballet at MK Dance in Hastings-on-Hudson.
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What brought you to Pilates as an occupation?
I have to say my path to Pilates was not all that unique. In my young adulthood, I worked as a professional ballet dancer. I found Pilates while in physical therapy rehabbing a recurring injury.
What other type of work do you do in your professional life?
After leaving my dance career, I went back to school and got a Masters in Social Research. My work has largely been in the research, academic and non-profit sector. After graduating my longest work tenure was as a research scientist at the NYU Child Study Center and as a program evaluator at Columbia University.
What made you decide to settle down in the Rivertowns?
It became increasingly challenging to raise four kids in the city school system, so when our fourth was born we started looking. It took us a few years to actually make the move, but after 16 years in Washington Heights we moved north when our oldest was going into middle school. My parents were a town over, so we viewed the Rivertowns as our escape when living in the city and knew that if we moved, we would land there.
You just had your first child graduate from high school. Can you tell us about that experience?
Actually our second just graduated. (Ed note: whoops!) Still wrapping my mind around that. Our oldest graduated last year and took a gap year. The cliché about it all going so fast is so true. I feel like we blinked and the kids were done with school. I think Covid in some ways made their high school years seem to go even faster. I am so happy for them to have their next adventure. It feels right, even though I am currently shoving all my feelings way down because I can hardly think about how different the house will feel next year with the two of them off to college.
What are your favorite things to do for fun?
Oh boy, that has shifted over the years. When the kids were all younger and we traveled in a pack all the time, I loved spending time at all of the NYC parks, and as a family we loved the New York Botanical Gardens. Now we are trying to please a whole range of ages (8, 12, 17 and 19) and finding family fun is a little more challenging. The beach is always a win across the board, so we take some day trips in addition to spending a couple vacation weeks there. We love hosting, so we have lots of company. I love taking ballet class and have been doing it more often these days. There is a nice adult dance scene in Westchester. Recently we have been loving two new places in Ardsley—Neung Thai Kitchen for take out and Booskerdoo for coffee.
Are you taking on new clients? How can someone reach out to you for a session?
I am fortunate to have a pretty full plate at the moment, but I have an active waitlist that I try to move quickly. I love hearing from new people—they can reach me by email or cell. My info is on my website.