From small groups out at Kidd Springs Park to three Dallas locations with over 40 certified instructors, Amanda Mecsey lives for Pilates.
Photography by Amani Sodiq
The workout wasn’t always her go-to. Mecsey is a former college athlete who played soccer throughout her life while living in Arizona.
She discovered Pilates in her home state before the trend started catching on in the early 2020s.
“There was a new studio — I was before everybody’s time — like 12 years ago. It was brand new and I started going and I was like, ‘What is this? I love it,’” she says. “I loved the way it made my body feel, getting my core back after being a mom. My joints felt good after injuries from soccer. I fell in love with the workout and then just became passionate about helping people after that.”
Created by circus tumbler Joseph Hubertus Pilates, the practice was shaped by his work with injured soldiers while taken into custody as an “enemy alien” during World War I. After the war, in early 1919, he continued to formulate his ideas on fitness and conditioning, according to the Pilates Method Alliance. He continued to develop the method and invented an apparatus to address physical dysfunction or injury as well as condition the body, which eventually became known as the Universal Reformer.
Using the reformer is just one of the styles of Pilates. The exercise can use a variety of methods, such as mat or floor Pilates, which can include balls, blocks and rings.
Moving to Dallas for her partner’s former job, Mecsey eventually found a studio home in Plano. She later purchased her own equipment, such as the reformer, experimented with different styles and earned her certificate to teach.
Starting in 2016, she led Mat Pilates in Kidd Springs Park, held private sessions for Reformer Pilates in a spare room in her home and eventually had enough of a following to become an instructor at a local gym.
In June 2021, she decided to start her own studio called Oak Cliff Pilates (OCP).
“As time went on, I decided that I wanted to open my own studio in Bishop Arts just because I had lived there for 10 years, and I love the neighborhood and we needed it,” Mecsey says.
With OCP, she imagined a boutique studio, serving friends and family, but word got out fast.
“After that, I was just growing, growing, growing. I think I started at five instructors, and I was at 10 instructors, and the studio was just getting bigger and bigger.”
Now she’s navigating two expansions, one in Uptown and one in Lower Greenville. Along with increased employees, she’s trying to keep her engagement with clients strong and classes accessible.
“We really want to promote, I guess I would say, not the rich girl sport that Pilates can become. I’m very big into keeping the price down so that it’s affordable for everybody,” she says. “I also am very big into just all body shapes and sizes. Everybody is welcome. I want everyone to come in and feel like they’re a part of the studio, not come in and feel intimidated.”
