Piper The Pilates Princess

I’m so excited to share today’s post with you! As a new mother I am already dreaming up ways to provide my daughter with strong, confident female role models. I’m not an extremist, I’m not against Disney princesses. If my daughter loves them I will let her love them. But I will also be intentional about the messages she hears. I don’t want her to believe that she must be a certain type of beauty that waits around for her prince charming. I want her to be confident, independent and strong.

As a Pilates instructor you can imagine how excited I was to discover Piper the Pilates Princess.

The talented Marcia Polas has guest posted here on TBL before but today I’m excited to share a Q&A about her latest venture.

First a little about Piper:

“Welcome to the adventures of Piper The Petite Pilates Princess, the stories of a petite little girl who finds her strength and confidence when her Aunt Kate begins teaching her Pilates. Once Piper finds her own strength and confidence, she continues to discover all kinds of things through Pilates – courage, observation skills, the ability to stand up for herself, how to trust her own instincts, and so much more. As her adventures continue, she’ll learn about the size of her heart and all about beauty.When creating Piper, author Marcia Polas realized hers was one part bedtime story and two parts fairy tale. Initially, Piper was meant to be a storybook, but as she evolved, Marcia became certain that Piper’s adventures should be heard.”

What inspired you to write the story of Piper the Pilates Princess?

I was at a teaching summit and the need to share the ideas of Pilates with the world felt urgent to me. Two seconds later, I decided I should write a children’s story about Pilates. I began almost immediately. The second story was already in my head, but it was getting Piper to Pilates that I couldn’t figure out. I didn’t want it to be anything sad or tragic. And so I searched through my personal Pilates stories and realized that I had taught Piper. She’s a combination of so many clients, but she also has the history of a young woman I had the honor of helping find her strength.

How long have you been dreaming up this idea?

I began in May of 2011. We finished the first two recordings in December of 2012.

Who did you write Piper The Pilates Princess for?

In some ways, the Piper tales are my personal love letters to Pilates, our community, and all that Pilates brings to my life. Characters in the stories are winks to various Pilates colleagues and much of what Aunt Kate says are things I say daily in class. I wanted to share some of this with the world. Initially, I thought they would primarily be for children, and specifically, the children of people who take Pilates. But after I got deeper into the stories, what I wanted to communicate, and who I wanted Piper to be, I realized they are written for women of all ages. We all struggle with finding ourselves, loving our bodies and our flaws, and finding our strength and confidence. We all need to be reminded from time to time that we are powerful, strong, and courageous. And also to be reminded that those are the most beautiful things about us. So now I say Piper is for girls of all ages, and the men and boys who love them.

Why audio instead of a printed or ebook?

My original intent was an illustrated children’s book. But as I finished the first Piper and began to edit it, I started to think of the stories more as old fashioned fairy tales, the kind someone tells at bedtime or on a long car ride. Once I got to the place where I was ready to share Piper with the world, it was really definite in my head that I wanted the audience to hear the stories.

Why does a man tells the stories instead of a woman?

Several reasons…

1. Drew Cortese, the amazing actor who helped me bring Piper to life, was a huge part of editing and getting Piper right. He would call me on something that wasn’t working or communicating the right message. I knew I could trust him with her story.

2. Joseph Pilates was a man (as we all know), so a little homage to Joe.

3. I wanted girls and women to hear a man speak of strong, powerful, courageous girls.

4. The second story gives away who the narrator is and why he’s telling the stories. There will be more to that in the next three.

What is your hope for this story?

Oh wow. So many hopes. I would love for Piper to go viral and for little girls and their grown up counterparts to be inspired and delighted by her. I would love to hear that someone tried Pilates or decided to see what it was all about because of Pipe. I’m hoping my community is proud of Piper (and me).

What can we do to help you spread the word?

Tell everyone you’ve ever met and ask them to buy and listen to Piper and then tell everyone they ever met? (I’m kidding, but only a little)

I have some samples of the recordings on my website. Piper has a Facebook page and a twitter account (@petite_piper). And the background to the story is also on my site. I would love to hear what Pilates peeps think of her. I also have some promotional pieces to use in studios, post on Facebook, or send via email or in newsletters. Every little bit will help. I’m hoping to make Piper ours – not just mine. And very hopeful that if I can recoup some of the expenses, I will also be able to go into production with the next three stories, and add an illustration for each title.