By Ameera Steward | For The Birmingham Times
Originally from Adamsville, Ala., Kennedi Spurling is adding a new and active space to the city of Birmingham.
The Pilates Dwelling is a studio dedicated to cultivating an experience that supports strength, intention, and presence.
“I wanted to provide a space for people to come that made them feel loved on, that made them feel seen…understood…valued and like they’re more than just a dollar,” said 26-year-old Spurling, who has approximately 70 clients. “Pilates…just so happened [to be] the conduit in which that ‘loving on’ was able to occur.”
Her favorite part about Pilates is the intentionality that goes into the practice, she said. “[Entering] the new year, learning to be intentional in the studio is replicated in clients’ everyday life. They are more focused, practicing mindful movement and presence.”
It’s also important to stick with the practice year long and not just as a New Year’s resolution which will “improve mobility and control, core strength, improved posture, and increased body awareness,” she said.
More than a recent fitness trend, Pilates is a full-body, low-impact workout designed to boost core strength, mobility, and flexibility. According to The Pilates Center, “in developing a Pilates practice, you focus on breathwork, concentration, precision, flow, centering, and control in order to feel strong, conditioned, and flexible in both mind and body.”
A Family of Dwellers
In 2007 Spurling’s family moved to Hoover where she attended Bumpus Middle School in Hoover and graduated from Hoover High School in 2017. She then studied political communication at Louisiana State University located in Baton Rouge, La.) with a minor in Spanish and graduated within three years in 2020. She decided on her course of study because of her father Antonio Spurling, an attorney as well as an entrepreneur.
“I grew up thinking that I wanted to be an attorney. So, when I went to college, I remember just trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and found the major, political communication,” she said. “I went there thinking I wanted to…be a crisis management advisor.”
After graduating, she considered law school, meaning her next step was to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). “I took the LSAT…maybe two or three times,” said Spurling. “I ended up waitlisted at the schools that I wanted to attend…two years in a row, and so I [said] ‘this is not where God wants me to be.’”
With that said she left the dream of being a lawyer behind and went directly into public relations working for a health care inpatient rehabilitation company called Encompass Health and the Centene Corporation — another health care company — which she left in July of 2025 to focus on the Pilates studio.
The love for Pilates came into play in 2021 when the workout became popular after actress, model, and entrepreneur Lori Harvey mentioned how Pilates changed her life during an interview with Essence Magazine at the 2023 Met Gala.
“Just like everybody else, I got into it [Pilates],” Spurling continued. “I was like ‘Oh I really like this.’ And I remember maybe my second or third time going to Pilates in Hoover …I felt something over my spirit saying ‘you could do this one day…this will be good for you.’”
That moment of clarity stuck with Spurling and she believed she could open her own studio causing her to stay in self-practice for a while until she was approached by another Pilates studio located in Cahaba Heights about their teacher training opportunities.
“I went through [the training] and [thought] this is a conduit into what I want to do. And then in January of this year I left there and [said] ‘I’m just going to do my own thing,” she added.
Being A Boss
The name ‘The Pilates Dwelling’ came a year in advance of Spurling actually opening the studio.
Just like her dad, Spurling’s mom — Marquita Spurling — is an entrepreneur. They own a company where they work to redevelop Ensley. Their company is called Dweller Construction Properties, “our family logo has always been around [the word dwell] and what it really means to dwell, remain for a time,” Spurling continued.
So when it came to her studio she asked herself what she wanted her studio to represent and “the idea of just being a dweller in whatever it is you’re doing stuck with me.”
Entrepreneurship runs through Spurling’s bloodline but she added that growing up she was always told she was bossy.
“I’m the only girl out of four boys and so quite naturally, you have to have a certain grit about yourself to even survive in a house of four boys,” she said. “And the entrepreneurial spirit was definitely something that was instilled in me growing up, but I wasn’t…saying ‘I have to work for myself…I think [it turned out] the way God envisioned.”
Spurling isn’t the oldest of all of her siblings but she is “mama number two,” she said. For example, she recalls a time when her youngest brother, 13-year-old Carter, asked to go outside. “My mom said yeah, and [Carter would say] ‘I’m going outside.’ And I’m like no you’re not,” she said.
Her oldest brother is named Tyren, 29; then there’s her; next is her brother Myles, 23; then there’s Harrison, 21; and the youngest is Carter.
A Dweller’s Dream
“I’ve been…really amazed at the level of awareness that Pilates creates within the body,” she said. “You think you know your body…but then you really get into a Pilates class and through the different queuing and the flows that you go through, you really get the opportunity to…connect with your body in a way that you don’t get to when you’re just moving [throughout the day].”
The official opening of the studio was October 27 and “it’s a day that I will never forget.”
“I woke up that morning at like 4 a.m. and I remember getting ready and…I was just crying. I was just so overwhelmed,” Spurling said. “Just seeing how far God brought me through this whole process…from ideation to opening day, God has really been with me.”
During her first class on opening day she not only had new members but family members in the class such as her brother Myles and her fiancé Raymond.
Correcting The Narrative
Having her own studio entirely to herself has gifted her with the opportunity to “steward the people who come to The Pilates Dwelling.”
“I think from what we see across the United States, there are just so many things that are happening among our culture and within our community that lead people to feel like the Black dollar doesn’t matter, that…we don’t matter,” Spurling expressed. “And I think that this is an opportunity to fix and correct that narrative.”
Not just within the United States, but also within the Pilates community. She said there’s been a lot of discourse regarding inclusivity and diversity within the Pilates community and “I think … this is an opportunity to correct the narrative of where we [the Black community] belong in the health and wellness space.”
With that said, Spurling said that she opened the studio for those who have a sense and yearning for community. So many people get caught up in the “busyness of every day.”
“We play so many roles,” she added. “I really created it for people who are looking for a space to just come…let who you are shine through and drop all the titles of who you are to everybody else at the door; and at the core of who you are, that’s where we meet you.”
“I think…each one of [her clients] are literally a godsend. So I can’t wait for that number to grow,” Spurling said. “I’d love to be able to take what it is I have here and expand it across Alabama [and] into other states.”
That’s a long-term goal. Her short-term goal is to “continue loving and getting to know the people who I experience on a daily basis.”
“Every single day my goal…is how can I really show love to the people who are here right now and not focusing on what’s next?” she said. “Taking the time to be where my feet are…is my main focus.”
She wants the community to not only know that The Pilates Dwelling is open but that it’s for everyone.
“It’s a place for all bodies, all people, all persons – male, female, other…If you’re looking for a space to just love on you and really show you that intentionality that we all want out of life, that is this place,” that is The Pilates Dwelling.
The Pilates Dwelling offers six classes a day. On Monday’s classes are from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; on Tuesdays and Thursdays classes are from 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 pm; on Wednesdays classes are from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.; on Fridays classes are from 6 a.m. to noon; on Saturdays classes are from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.; and on Sundays closed.
Classes start at $30 for drop-ins or one-time classes; $119 for 4 classes a month, $189 for 8 classes a month, and $219 for an unlimited membership.
Visit The Pilates Dwelling at 212 20th Street N, Suite 203, Birmingham, Ala. or download their app “TPD” to sign up for classes. IG: ThePilatesDwelling; TikTok: ThePilatesDwelling
