Today we’d like to introduce you to Vicki Sullivan.
Hi Vicki, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I believe that we all have an enormous capability to heal ourselves. We are an intricate part of nature, and all one needs to do is observe nature to be reminded of the innate powers for self healing. One common thread that we all share as humans is that we all have a story. Listening and experiencing someone else’s story is a great privilege and my favorite part of my job. However, I have come to find that my job is not really just a job. It is also a privilege, a joy, and an honor. It is something that I am very passionate about. I think that our purpose is with us at birth. It may not be obvious and it may not necessarily be just one talent or craft. This innate gift, or gifts, can be honed and developed, or discouraged, depending upon our life circumstances. I also have experienced life changing events that launched my desire to follow my northern star, so to speak. For me, there was a very dark event early on that forever changed my life, and to this day, is etched into my soul. When I was 11 years old I found my closest brother in the garage of our family car. He had taken his own life at 22 years old. I grew up in a Military family, My father was a full Captain in the Navy and all 3 of my older brothers were drafted and served in the Vietnam war. When my brother Don came home from his 2 years of active duty he was not the same person. He was struggling with addiction and life in general. While this was obvious to all of us, no one could have predicted the darkness of the outcome or the effect that this would have on our family forever. I think of a passage from the Tao Te Ching “The darkness within the darkness. The gateway to all understanding.” As a child, this was definitely the darkness within the darkness for several years to follow. This sent my entire family into a downward spiral that led to other suicide attempts, addiction, and depression. The reason I am telling this story is because I now know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I believe that our circumstances can be used to develop our character and our ability to help others. I think that everyone has a choice with what they do with what has happened to them. And I have no judgement for what decision someone makes. But for some reason (I am not sure if I chose this or was lucky enough to have the constitution to do so!) I chose to seek out healthy outlets to this darkness. One Monday, a friend of mine took me to a professional boxing Gym called Wareings Gym when I was 14 years old. A very rough around the edges guy named John Wareing trained me and told me if I wanted to join the Gym he expected to see my A@@ back in that gym no matter how sore I was on Wednesday or don’t plan on coming back. (he only allowed 200 people and it was $200 a year). Needless to say I followed orders. That began my journey of falling in love with the discipline of exercise for the mind, body and spirit. I was in that Gym most afternoons and that place became my home away from home. It truly changed the trajectory of my life turning the downward spiral that I had been living to an upward journey with no end in sight. John Wareing and I never talked about my experiences with my family; he just quietly taught me the benefits of turning something dark into something positive. Turning vulnerability into strength and peace of mind. Something to feel good about. And it was so much more than physical for me, but I never thought of it as a career path. Only as an outlet. I remember when I was in grad school being in the Gym one day and saying to myself “wouldn’t it be great to have a job that allowed you to just be in this environment all day long? Surrounded by Movement?” But in the next moment, I thought that’s not realistic. You need to focus on getting a real job Vicki! So I did. I had many “real” jobs. I worked in Journalism (my first degree) in public relations, I did fundraising for the Leukemia Society. I studied Nutrition at University of Florida (UF) , became a dietitian and worked with many aspects of women’s health in private practice. I did a MS in exercise Physiology and got my doctorate in Nutrition and Molecular Biology at UF. I started teaching Nutrition in the Dept. of Health at UNF and teaching seminars for health professionals across the US. But exercise was always just an outlet and a hobby. Fast forward to the year 1998 when I met Pilates. At that time, most people did not know what it was. Pilates was hard! Both physically and mentally! It was such a challenge. It made me look at fitness from a completely different angle. A great friend of mine, Aurora Farber, said to me that we should get certified in this and train people. My response was again, that’s not practical. Besides, no one even knew what Pilates was at that time! It was an expensive venture and an expensive hobby. She said: “ that just means you are definitely going to do it!” She knew me well! Fast forward, we drove 45 mins to St Augustine 20 hours a week with small kids and full time jobs and did our certification with Susan Huffman at Physical Mind Institute. I bought a reformer , and then a chair, and soon I had all the apparatus set up in a mother-in laws suite in my home. By that time I had a two year old daughter and a lot of people started asking me to train them, so my home became my first studio. That is where the shift started towards exercise being my job. But it was never REALLY a job. I started working out of other studios and finally decided to open Body Balanced Institute on Hodges and JTB in 2008. At that location in 2009 we were invited to be the first Host site in Florida for Balanced Body Pilates Education in Sacramento CA, the largest Pilates Certification in the world. We also started working with many clients from PGA Tour as their headquarters was nearby. This led to being invited to open a studio and work in their corporate headquarters Global Home offering various types of fitness and nutrition counseling in 2012. We started a rotation there for grad students at UNF who were studying wellness and nutrition. We also had a lot of athletes show up, including NFL players from the Jaguars, and Ballet dancers from the Florida Ballet. We have worked with an Olympic level Tennis player and several PGA Tour Golfers. We also have a very strong healthy population of aging Superheroes who are showing us what it looks like to be independent and strong well into their 90s. Today, the studio offers many options for helping people to understand their own brilliant bodies, and many tools for helping people to learn to care for themselves. I think it is so fulfilling to have a hand in helping others to love themselves through self healing and care. They demonstrate what taking care of oneself, their most important job and asset, looks like. Although I wasn’t able to help my brother so many years ago, I do feel like I have been able to help others along the way, in what seems like small ways, in the big scheme of things. But they often tell me otherwise, and that is deeply rewarding.
My experience has been that there is too much shame, fear, and misunderstanding around self harm. I think that a much healthier approach is to acknowledge and talk about it openly and honestly instead of shoving it under the rug. It is the key to healing. As Brene Brown says, “Avoidance will make you feel less vulnerable in the short run, it will never make you less afraid.” Having said this, it has still taken me 54 years to be brave enough to share this vulnerable story. But I think the clear way out of our own suffering is to help others in any way that we can. A few years ago I learned of an interesting walk in Dublin’s Phoenix Park Ireland. In 2009, 400 people set off to complete a 5km walk to raise funds for Pieta, an organization that brings awareness and opportunity for people to connect in their local communities to bring hope to people who have been impacted by self harm and suicide, setting off the start of Darkness Into Light. I would like to start a similar walk in Jacksonville, Florida next May 9th 2026. My friends and Colleges Jeff Fronk of Fitness by Fronk and Alex Poljo (Quantum Human Performance – both pictured below) will be joining me in this effort. If you are interested in joining to connect with like minded people in support of this cause , I would love for you to contact us ([email protected] ) as we brainstorm and develop this event. It seems to me that together we could start some local awareness and possibly support other organizations who could help those in need.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Overall, I think that the road has sometimes required long hours and persistence , but smooth compared to many things that I have done. I appreciate the challenges because they are an opportunity to be more creative and innovative which I welcome. Some of the struggles were more hearing what others predicted about opening a small business. And deciding what paths to go down. I sought out free counseling from the UNF small business association as I had no idea how to open a small business or what steps were needed to have a successful start. This is a wonderful resource that I would recommend to anyone opening a business. And it’s 100 percent free! I highly recommend this to anyone and I would do everything they suggest. We are grateful and fortunate that we have never struggled with having enough business. The struggle at times has been with being able to handle the constant stream of work. Some of the most difficult struggles were finding the right team. I have learned so much along the way and I think it has taken me a good 18 years to finally feel like I have a good handle on interviewing and retaining the right staff. Managing people was not something that I ever planned or even wanted to do. But it was necessary in order to have a successful business. Covid was also a struggle. I think it was frightening to think that something like that could literally shut us down. And my heart goes out the businesses that did not make it through that critical time. Luckily, I had a core group of instructors and staff that cared about it much as I did and we worked tirelessly to take care of our clients both on and off line. I honestly worked as hard as I did when first opened during COVID and it felt great to be reminded of why I do what I do and how much I truly love it. It also opened up the whole new world (at least for us) of virtual training, virtual workshops etc. And in the end it was a blessing in disguise to be vaulted into the virtual world. It has really helped our bottom line.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Body Balance Institute ?
We offer Pilates full service apparatus, small groups, privates, and teacher training. We are a N Florida Host Site for Balanced Body , the largest Pilates education training in the world. We have been the only full service Gyrotonic studio in Jacksonville, and the surrounding area, since 2006. We are the only studio in town offering RedCord therapy. We also offer Melt Method, Power Plate training, Massage, Acupuncture and Facial Stretch Therapy, Healing Touch and various other forms of body work. We are known for our unique therapeutic approach to working with people privately and in an intimate healing setting to accomplish their hopes and dreams. What sets us apart is our love for our clients, our very strong desire to continually learn and educate ourselves so we can educate them and hand them the tools to live their best possible life.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I already collaborate with many other like minded practitioners and businesses. I fully welcome collaboration as I feel like it is not only the best way to serve my clients, but also leads to invaluable recommendations. I always try whatever I recommend as I believe our clients trust us to test drive whoever and whatever we choose to recommend. I am forever grateful to the many people who have done this for us and with us along the way. I also collaborate with our current and former Clients. We are currently working with a former NFL player to help him develop a healing center on a farm in Texas for athletes and the anyone who is in need. We collaborate with our neighbors Lynx fitness and Red Skys Yoga.
Pricing:
- Privates $45-$150 depending on service
- Classes $ 20-$45
- workshops go to Pilates.com education page
- massage $100-150
- Acupuncture $95
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @bodybalanceinstitute
- Facebook: body balance institute
- Youtube: bodybalanceinstitute
