INTERVIEW: FemiWell – Movement and Medicine in One Place. A Conversation with Anna Koelner

Wrocław’s FemiWell isn’t just another Pilates studio. It’s a space created by a woman for women, where modern training on Allegro 2 reformers combines with comprehensive medical care. We talk about the difficult renovation beginnings, blending the world of fitness with Pilates, and how her own health experiences became the foundation of the business, with Anna Koelner – clinical dietitian, trainer, and founder of FemiWell.

[Iza Wiśniewska from Balanced Body Poland] Hi. Today we’re in Wrocław at FemiWell, a concept that combines reformer Pilates and advanced medicine, two sides of the same coin. We’re joined by the founder of this concept – Anna Koelner, clinical dietitian and trainer. Good morning, Ania.

[Anna Koelner] Hi, good morning.

[Iza] Ania, looking at these 12 Allegro 2 reformers and the medical offices, I’m wondering — is FemiWell more of a movement studio, or already a health clinic?

[Anna] For me, movement and health are really one and the same thing, because when we move, we take care of our health. That was the idea behind creating FemiWell — to combine these two concepts. Precisely because I believe one goes hand in hand with the other, and an inseparable part of taking care of yourself is both being active in the sporting sense and taking care of preventive health through regular check-ups. That’s why FemiWell was born.

[Iza] Mhm, and at what point in your life did you decide that diet and classic training alone just weren’t enough — that Wrocław lacked a place that could fully take care of a woman?

[Anna] That partly came from my professional experience, but also my personal experience, because I myself was very active — I still am, a bit less now during pregnancy, but I try to adapt. But also the people I trained, and my dietetic patients too. I noticed that very often the people who came to me, whether for diet or training, would ask me for recommendations for specialists, for doctors, where they could get this or that checked and take even better care of themselves. And that they simply needed one place where there would be a trusted team of specialists — both training and medical — where they could come and, with a clear conscience, entrust their health to them. That’s why I came up with the idea to combine it all and create it in one place.

[Iza] Right, you’re now at a very special moment, because you’re expecting a baby, and FemiWell is celebrating its anniversary. Tell me, how has your current state — pregnancy — affected the studio’s offer for expecting mothers?

[Anna] I’m now getting much more deeply into perinatal topics, both from the gynecological and the training side. I already did a lot of training work with pregnant women even before I got pregnant myself, so I already had some insight into it, but now I see even more clearly what women need during this special period. So both in terms of training, we’re working with the trainers here to adapt Pilates even better and gather feedback from the pregnant women who come to us — we have a very large group of pregnant women training reformer Pilates with us. But also in terms of gynecology and urogynecological physiotherapy, which we also offer at FemiWell, we’re refining the whole offer so these services are as comprehensive as possible, so a pregnant woman can go through her entire pregnancy here with us. Starting next month, from May, we’ll be introducing a special “Femi Pregnancy” package, to show women even more clearly that we understand — first, that it’s convenient to manage the whole pregnancy in one place. Second, it’s also an expense, so we reward them for staying with us, training with us, and getting treated with us, so they get special discount bonuses — but also, simply, to show that we’re here for them and that we can take care of them. So yes, my own pregnancy has inspired me a bit to develop this even further at FemiWell.

[Iza] Speaking of pregnancy, that also reminds me of PilatesAngle, and I know you have it. Why did you decide to buy that equipment?

[Anna] I trained a lot with pregnant women, as I mentioned before, so I knew what training loads are involved during this special period and what needs special attention. The rectus abdominis muscle and the linea alba are exactly the areas that need particular care during pregnancy because of the growing belly. And because on the reformer you sometimes have to lie down very low and then get up from that position, with a bigger belly we know this becomes much more problematic, but also more strenuous. So to take the load off pregnant women, to make it more comfortable for them, and to make sure the belly works as functionally as possible during Pilates training, we — together with trainer Kasia, who also leads these classes among others — decided that the best solution would be to introduce this safe element, a special reformer attachment. That’s also one of our distinguishing features in Wrocław, because hardly anyone else uses this kind of reformer attachment, and we simply got ahead of the curve — this is the result of my own experience and Kasia’s training experience, and we decided right away to actually start running classes with this reformer attachment.

[Iza] Mhm. Let’s go back a bit now to FemiWell’s beginnings, because now everything’s running smoothly, you’re growing, the offer keeps expanding. Tell me, the beginnings surprised you quite a bit, especially with the renovation?

[Anna] Oh yes. When it comes to the renovation, I have to admit I was totally out of touch with reality. It was also my first big renovation, my first big undertaking like that, so what surprised me the most — but also what really brought me down to earth and showed me the reality of renovations — was the timeline: when I expected the renovation to finish. And even when it would start, because I was firmly convinced that of course, if the construction guys told me they’d come in December, they’d come in December — not factoring in that it was also the end of the year, the holidays, and so on. I assumed that since they promised to show up that December, they would. The guys showed up in mid-January. But I was still firmly convinced that this was really just cosmetic work, a small renovation — so when my friends told me, “Ania, it would be great if you opened on Women’s Day,” I said, “No way, by Women’s Day we’ll have been open for ages.” We opened in July. So it wasn’t Women’s Day, it wasn’t Mother’s Day, it wasn’t any other special occasion. We actually opened in July, given the scale of the renovation, which surprised us a lot — and everyone looking at the scale of the renovation said it actually went incredibly fast and really, really smoothly, despite many adventures along the way.

Among other things, one of the main adventures was that on the very first day of the renovation, we lost — meaning, the most important person at the start of the renovation dropped out of the team, our electrician. And indeed, the renovation crew, who we knew well, really helped us out, because they lent us their own electrician, who stayed with us until the very end, and for those several months he really was one of the most important people in the renovation — and right on day one we already had to save the situation.

And the second difficult situation that came up was with the flooring. That was the one and only weekend that neither I nor my husband were at FemiWell during the renovation — and I honestly don’t remember why, we just weren’t there. On Friday we picked up the flooring we’d ordered, it arrived at our location. And I looked and thought, well, the label on the box matches, so I figured everything was fine — what could possibly go wrong. What could go wrong was the contents of the box, which I hadn’t thought about. And specifically, the crew was there over the weekend to speed up the renovation, so the renovation would move along as efficiently as possible — the crew came in on the weekend and spent the whole weekend laying flooring at FemiWell, in the changing rooms and the corridor with the waiting area.

So on Monday when I came to the site, I was already looking from a distance and thinking, “No, surely the light is just playing tricks on me, it’s not possible I’m seeing what I’m seeing.” But no, it wasn’t the light. It turned out the flooring was a completely different color and shade than it was supposed to be, and that shade absolutely didn’t match our interior at all — it was a very, very intense, neon, garish yellow. So it completely clashed with the concept and design we had in mind. I even asked the construction guys if it hadn’t occurred to them that something was off. They said yes, that the flooring really didn’t match the interior at all, but they figured maybe that was the intended look, and who were they to question our vision with their own opinion. But no, that wasn’t the intention at all.

The situation was saved by the guy who was finishing the floors, because by Monday, when I arrived, three-quarters of the floor was already laid — so that was already a huge amount of material that couldn’t be reused, meaning we couldn’t pull up that flooring and file a complaint about it. The cost of the flooring was enormous, so we knew we couldn’t afford to have it removed, pay for the removal, and pay again for new material. So we figured, well, we’d just have to accept that the floor simply wouldn’t match at all. But then it turned out that afterward another specialist came, this time from the company that had sold us the flooring, to finish the final gluing of the floor, the seams and everything that needed finishing and leveling. And he ruined the floor. He simply ruined the floor. Glue was everywhere, spilling out, the floor was stained, full of holes. The new floor looked terrible — not because the shade didn’t match, but simply because the workmanship was awful. So then, under warranty, we filed a complaint about the floor, and since the owner of the place we’d ordered the flooring from knew it wasn’t the right color to begin with, as part of that complaint we were able to have the shade replaced — and so, despite a lot of stress, the situation ended happily for us.

[Iza] So a blessing in disguise — it dragged things out a bit, but it worked out.

[Anna] It definitely dragged things out — it added several weeks of delay because of that — but I think it was worth it.

[Iza] Right, with renovations you definitely have to be prepared for anything.

[Anna] Absolutely.

[Iza] Let’s move to the heart of the studio. You went straight for as many as 12 Allegro 2 reformers, which makes this studio probably one of the largest in the region, if not the largest. Tell me, where did the idea for such a large scale come from, and does it create any business challenges?

[Anna] When it comes to the 12 reformers, first of all, the space allowed for it. Second, honestly, at the beginning we didn’t even plan on that many. I even considered splitting it into a yoga section and a Pilates section, but in Wrocław there was no place offering more than five or six reformers, because that also ties into customer comfort. It means that clients don’t have to worry about the studio being so packed that they can’t train more spontaneously. It’s also tied to our space — our reformers aren’t crammed one next to another, they’re actually spaced far enough apart that people training have plenty of room, plenty of space around the reformer, so they can enjoy their workout comfortably. So we decided that client comfort would be one of our priorities, and that’s why we made this choice.

[Iza] Tell me, you actually come more from a fitness and personal training background. Pilates was more something that crept in along the way. Why did you decide on Balanced Body equipment?

[Anna] First of all, I chose Pilates, and the equipment, because I believe Pilates is a sport that can be beautifully adapted to any stage of life. On a reformer you can do an energizing workout that gets you going, a more strengthening, strength-focused workout, or a calming, mobilizing, stretching workout. Older people can train, pregnant women can train. A reformer workout can also be a challenge for someone who has trained other sports for a very long time and is simply looking for a challenge and a new stimulus. So the reformer really is incredibly flexible and adaptable. And we decided to buy Balanced Body and the Allegro 2 because at FemiWell we focus on the most modern solutions and the best equipment on the market. We wanted reformers that would be modern and a pleasure for the people training on them, but also in the medical offices we have ultrasound and EMG equipment, some of the best and most modern on the market, because we believe that specialists are one thing, but the equipment those specialists work with is another — a very important foundation for the studio’s success, but also for client satisfaction.

[Iza] Here in the studio you combine Pilates more with fitness. And you say for you that’s a natural evolution?

[Anna] We have, so to speak, two directions. We do have some training sessions that are classic Pilates, and the trainers lead them according to the classic order, but we also have a branch where we play a bit more with the Pilates workout, and honestly, I think that in any type of training, as it becomes popular and reaches more people, that comes with the fact that different people have different requirements, different needs, and are looking for different stimuli. So the fact that this training, this sport, evolves — I see that as a natural and a good course of events, because that way both the sport develops and the trainers develop, and it takes on different forms. And I think that accepting these different forms, and adapting to them — if someone wants to focus purely on classic Pilates, that’s completely fine too. We combine things because, first, we’re also a large studio and we reach a large number of people, and we want every person to find something for themselves. Both fans of classic Pilates find their place here on our modern equipment, but also people who come to us first to see what Pilates is, and second to find a bit of a break from the gym, from fitness, but also to bring in elements that gave them joy elsewhere, woven into their reformer Pilates training.

[Iza] Right, and besides the large Pilates room and the personal training room, FemiWell also has gynecology, urogynecological physiotherapy, psychology, orthopedics, and from May you’re also opening endocrinology.

[Anna] Yes, yes.

[Iza] How do your clients perceive such a broad sports-and-medical offer under one roof?

[Anna] Clients are thrilled, and they’re actually our inspiration for which further specializations and directions of development to pursue at FemiWell. It’s exactly that client comfort and responding to their needs that inspires us to act both medically and in training. And they really appreciate it, because it’s not like we launched right away with a full team of doctors, a complete crew — we choose these specialists very carefully, and we try to make sure they’re professional and qualified enough that all our clients feel safe with us, confident that whether they go to a training session or to see a doctor, they’ll be very well taken care of. So we build our team, both trainers and medical staff, very carefully, step by step.

[Iza] Tell me, from a business standpoint, was combining this kind of sports concept with a clinic a bullseye?

[Anna] Yes, I think so. I think that at first, when I got comments that I was ahead of trends, ahead of my time, that I’m one of the pioneers, I didn’t really let myself believe it — but honestly, little by little, I’m starting to accept those compliments, that this is a concept that will keep developing and has a future, because it ties into how modern and contemporary our lifestyles are. That is, we function quickly, conveniently, and we simply want to have everything in one place. The same goes for training — we want all the results served to us on a platter, so to speak, and that’s exactly what we do at FemiWell — we serve everything, all the specialists, on a platter, and we offer a safe space.

[Iza] Right, the FemiWell concept is very large, so you also employ a large team. Tell me, what’s the biggest challenge for you in selecting staff?

[Anna] The biggest challenge for me is finding people who are both competent and focused on the client, the patient. People who aren’t just there to go through the motions, finish their shift, and leave — but who are truly focused on the person they’re helping. So that’s my priority — engagement, both in training and medically — but even the people who work at our reception desk are people that our clients really praise, saying they notice our clients, they try to engage with them, to show that they’re not anonymous here, that we see them, we see their needs, we feel their needs — so that focus on the client really is our priority.

[Iza] And this studio is located far from the city hustle. It’s quiet, peaceful, there’s a view of the forest. Was that location a deliberate choice?

[Anna] Also. This location also comes partly from our family connections, and from the fact that our family runs businesses in this location, so I was already familiar with it, and I had already been running training sessions here on my own before. But it was also thanks to my father-in-law’s kindness that I was able to start operating here — he helped me take those first steps, because at some point I wanted to look elsewhere, but he said we should make use of the space we already had here. Because of the fact that this space is far from the city, our clients benefit — we have a very large, free parking lot, so there’s no issue with parking — and secondly, we have a view from the training room that, well, nobody else in Wrocław has a view like that.

[Iza] And what matters most to you in running a business?

[Anna] A bit like I said earlier. It’s about making sure clients feel good here, taken care of, and safe — because I myself, having gone through various medical and training experiences before, dealing with different specialists, knew that we very often give up on fighting for ourselves and our health precisely because we get discouraged — first by trainers, then by doctors — and we don’t want to keep going, because we assume they’re just not listening to us, not focused on us. And here, we’re very strongly focused on our clients. We listen to what they need, our specialists also listen to what problems they’re coming to us with, and we respond to those needs — so safety and care for the people who use our services is my priority.

[Iza] And one last piece of advice for others — if you had to tell someone what to pay attention to when building such a large-scale business, what would it be?

[Anna] I think the most important advice, and something I’m still learning to this day, but which has also helped me enormously, is learning to delegate tasks. That was very hard for me at first, because I was convinced that since this was my vision, my concept, my idea, I should be the one handling everything from A to Z myself. But first of all, there are no infallible people, and second, you can’t be an expert in everything — and it’s helped me enormously ever since I started delegating tasks, sharing what I’m feeling and what difficulties I’m having, and asking for help. Because of that, first the renovation sped up, and second, I was relieved of some of the load, so my creativity came back on track, on a higher level, and I could work even better and more efficiently. So I think that with such a large business, delegating tasks and building a team you trust is fundamental — and I’m very happy, because I have a wonderful team at FemiWell. From our reception staff, to our medical staff and trainers, to whom I can entrust various tasks, to whom I entrust the clients who come to FemiWell — and that gives me a lot of peace of mind and security as the owner. And it lets the studio keep growing.

[Iza] Ania, thank you so much for this conversation. I hope it will be an inspiration to many people, because we should learn from people like you, who blazed this trail and show how wonderfully you can combine different concepts to comprehensively take care of a woman. So if you’re looking for a place in Wrocław that will take care of you and surround you with care, FemiWell is the address you absolutely need to visit. And if you’d like to learn more about the equipment Ania chose for her large studio, which, let me remind you, has as many as 12 reformers, we warmly invite you to visit our website at balanced-body.pl for more information. We also encourage you to subscribe to our channel for more business inspiration and stories from the world of Pilates. Thank you once again.

[Anna] Thank you too.

[Iza] See you.

What does FemiWell’s success teach us? Takeaways from the interview with Anna Koelner

The interview with Anna Koelner proves that FemiWell’s growth is the result of strategy, not chance. The Wrocław studio reveals a new market trend: women are looking for care that combines gynecology, urogynecology, and safe training under one roof.

Planning to open a studio or grow your existing business? This conversation offers 3 concrete lessons:

• choose premium equipment – Allegro 2 reformers from Balanced Body build brand positioning and guarantee safety for those training,
• build a goal-oriented team – staff (from reception to doctors) must stay focused on the patient’s needs,
• delegate tasks – as an owner, you can’t do everything yourself. Trusting your people is the only path to growing a business without risking burnout.

If you want to feel comprehensively taken care of, be sure to visit FemiWell – Medical & Training Center:

Address: Czajcza 19, 51-422 Wrocław

IG: https://www.instagram.com/femiwell.wroclaw
FB: https://www.facebook.com/p/femiwellwroclaw-61566741609257/

Build a studio that attracts clients

FemiWell shows how the fusion of health and business is revolutionizing the market in Poland. You can implement these solutions in your business too.

Take action:

• Check out our solutions for Pilates businesses: https://balanced-body.pl/twoje-studio/