About

Jennifer Thornton

Studio Owner and Pilates Instructor

Jennifer has been teaching Pilates since 2009. After 30 years of dance training, competing, and performing professionally, as well as a busy career in event planning, performing arts producing, and nonprofit management, she was ready to finally address her own body's aches and pains and refocus her life and her work. She discovered that Pilates gave her a sense of balance in her body and mind that she had never felt, and she was able to overcome debilitating pain. She completed certification through STOTT Pilates and began to guide, nurture, and evolve others' bodies and minds through this remarkable system of exercise.

Jennifer taught private lessons at Sirron Pilates Studio in Andersonville for 10 years. At Sirron, Jennifer worked with a wide variety of clients, including older adults, athletes, pregnant and postpartum women, and even teenagers looking to improve their focus and posture. For 6 years she also taught group mat classes and private lessons at Andersonville Physical Therapy, where she learned valuable skills from the Physical Therapists as well as each post-rehab student that transitioned to Pilates. She has also taught at gyms, parks, dance studios, and recreation centers across Chicago.

Jennifer's STOTT Pilates certification includes Injuries and Special Populations; she holds a Moksha Yoga certification, 200-hour level; a Bloom Yoga certification in Prenatal Yoga; a M.A. in Management, Columbia College Chicago; and a B.A. in Spanish and Dance, University of Tennessee. She brings her expressive personality and background in dance, gymnastics, and musical theater to her teaching style, and her attention to detail and obsession with language to her business style. When not teaching, she enjoys attending dance and theater events, promoting environmentalism, drinking fancy cocktails, traveling the world, and volunteering in the Albany Park community with her husband Adam Sebastian.

Pamela Paul

Pilates Instructor

For over 12 years, Pamela has been teaching Pilates with a focus on helping clients feel great in their bodies regardless of their goals, conditions, injuries, or situations. During sessions, Pam utilizes an equal balance of stability and mobility, exploration and goal-setting, and movements that both challenge and rejuvenate.

In addition to her Classical Pilates training from Core Pilates NYC, she also holds certifications in pre/post natal Pilates (The Center for Women's Health), 200-hour yoga (Bloom Yoga Studio), personal training (American Council on Exercise), and nutritional coaching (Precision Nutrition). Pamela has also been teaching a variety of group fitness classes in gyms and studios around Chicago for over a decade. She owned and operated her own Pilates studio in Ravenswood (The Pilates Parlor) for two years until a breast cancer diagnosis prompted her to close its doors and take a temporary retirement. Pamela is excited to be seeing clients again at Embody Studio. Her personal motto is "you are what you repeat." In other words, the things you do on a consistent basis shape your identity and your future.

When not working, Pamela enjoys dance classes, strength training, camping and hiking, seeking vintage treasures, spending time with family, and attending all types of music and sporting events.

Julia Grace Kelley

Pilates Instructor

Julia is a Pilates Sports Center certified instructor, as well as a dancer and performer of many years. Her life’s passion is movement in all forms and all bodies - it is through Pilates she has found the balance between functional movement training and creative flow.

After being diagnosed with a disc condition in 2020, Julia discovered Pilates through P3 Precision Therapy + Pilates in Nashville. She continued her training privately in Boston under the instruction of Kelly Beriau at Boston Body Pilates. The blend of rehabilitative work and holistic individuality brought harmony to her physical and mental health journey, establishing a now key pillar in her classes: mind-body connection. After years of rigorous dancing, theatre movement training, and personal physical care, Julia is thrilled to bring an acute awareness of each individual's form to the forefront of her practice.

As a professional theatre artist, Julia believes movement is the means to freedom. Julia's mission for her clients is to engage their curiosity, uplift their passion, and discover muscular efficiency to support postural alignment. She seeks to increase each client's awareness of their relationship to their body and the space around them to bring support to their day-to-day actions. Her teaching framework balances micro and macro goals for clients so they can find pride and joy in tangible progress while still reaching towards their long term growth.

Outside of Pilates, Julia enjoys engaging in her work as Co-Founder of Orchard Theatre Company, exploring all the incredible farmers markets, and attending new art exhibits and performances around the city.