Our Team

Meredith Opsahl

Owner + Pilates Instructor

In February 2020, the Pilates instructor and former advertising sales exec opened the doors of boutique studio BK Pilates in Charlotte's South End. She'd just landed from New York City, where Meredith and Marina Kaydanova, the founder of BK Pilates NYC, met. Meredith took the BK Pilates workouts with her to the South, introducing a style that's all about alignment and slow, controlled movements for tone, endurance, and good posture. Meredith is a certified Balanced Body instructor with over 12 years of practicing experience. Catch her on the schedule every day but Sunday. She likes to catch up on some sleep and practice some self-care! You may also find her at her local favorite spots, the Waterman or Foxcroft Wine Bar.

Marina Kaydanova

Founder + Owner of BK Pilates NY locations

Marina left the corporate world to follow her passion and open her first studio in 2012 in Brooklyn after receiving her Balanced Body certification. Now she splits her time between homes in Charlotte and NYC (Manhattan and Brooklyn). She loves to travel around the world and has two incredible children, Sam (14) and Rachel (4). You'll find her on the schedule Fridays- Mondays at the studio. Her claim to fame? "Make your a$$ an asset, not a liability."

Alexis

Pilates Instructor

Lexi has been practicing Pilates for over fifteen years. After being injured in a car accident, she turned to Pilates to build strength and increase stability, mobility, and flexibility when traditional physical therapy did not work. Combining her passion for helping others and her love of Pilates, she completed the comprehensive Balanced Body Pilates Certification. Never one to slow down, she then went on to complete her RYT 200-hour yoga teacher training certification, Reiki practitioner certification, and Pilates Method Alliance Certification (PMA) and has plans to continue her education.
Her classes and private sessions offer challenging workouts in a safe and supportive environment. They are designed to ensure you succeed at reaching your health and fitness goals regardless of your age or current fitness level, always leaving you feeling restored, energized, and accomplished.

Cooper

Our Pilates Pup

Cooper is new to the studio and is always excited to greet you with a puppy kiss!

Allie

Pilates Instructor

A fresh transplant to Charlotte from Chicago, Allie originally began practicing Pilates because of an injury stemming from her dance days. After taking just a few classes, she fell in love with the practice and decided to pursue her 500-hour Comprehensive Pilates Instructor Certification. Her career began doing public relations in the music industry, but after five years of concerts, she hung up her backstage pass to make way for teaching Pilates. With a smile on her face and a killer playlist on the speakers, she'll make you sweat, increase your strength, and improve your Pilates form while having fun along the way! When she's not at the studio, you can find her playing with her bernedoodle, Kinzie, hunting down the perfect pizza, or baking.

Kacie

Pilates Instructor

Kacie found Pilates after a re-injured back left her unable to continue in the high-impact exercises she was used to. After falling in love with the benefits of the method, she decided to make a career change to pursue her passion for Pilates and share those same benefits with others. Through her classes, you can expect an athletic full-body flow, and likely, a growing fondness for planks! Full disclosure: expect her to lose count every time a dog walks by (we know you don't really mind the extra reps)! You can find her on the schedule at our SouthPark location!

Jody

Pilates Instructor

Jody Jones has been practicing pilates since 2003. She completed her instructor training at the world-renowned Kane School for Core Integration (New York, NY), a program focused on both the core principles of Joseph Pilates' teachings and current understanding of anatomy, biomechanics, and holistic wellness

Her goal when she began her Pilates training as a life-long distance runner and a media executive was (and is!) to bring the benefits of pilates to others in her sporting and business communities. She feels especially fulfilled by helping people with injuries and illness-related concerns heal and grow through developing core strength and functional movement patterns.

Jody specializes in helping people who have back injuries and chronic spinal pathologies (including herniations, stenosis, fractures, degenerative spondylolisthesis, ankylosing spondylitis, scoliosis, and more). Additionally, she is adept at working with people who have foot injuries and concerns (including plantar fasciitis, extensor tendonitis, bunions, recovery from Weil osteotomy, and more), plus working with students who have hip replacements and labral tears. Jody especially enjoys helping runners and golfers maximize their strength and performance.

Olivia

Pilates Instructor

Olivia is a Master Instructor with Balanced Body and a faculty member with the Charlotte Ballet. She studied at The Julliard School and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance composition from SUNY Purchase College.

Olivia was first exposed to pilates as a student at the American Ballet Theatre. She began practicing pilates as a method of cross-training, and she continued the practice throughout her professional career with the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Nashville Ballet. When she suffered an ankle injury, her surgeon told her that her career was effectively over as she would never dance en pointe again. It was at this time that she began practicing pilates not just for conditioning but as an adjunctive treatment during physical therapy as she rehabilitated her ankle. This experience was transformative for Olivia, and she decided that she wanted to be able to bring this transformational practice to others.

She became comprehensively Balanced Body certified under the tutelage of David Gensheimer and Jennifer McNamara. After two years of a diligent and focused Pilates practice, Olivia defied her surgeon's prediction and went on to dance for four more years, feeling stronger and more centered than she had prior to her injury.

After retiring from her career in ballet, Olivia embarked on her new career as a Pilates instructor. Although this path grew out of circumstance, Olivia is incredibly thankful for the road that brought her to where she is now, as she has a career that allows her to combine her passion for movement and teaching to help change lives in a meaningful way. While she teaches a diverse population of students, Olivia realized that due to her own experiences as a dancer, she is in a unique position to encourage dancers to incorporate pilates into their training. She developed a pilates-based conditioning and injury prevention class for the Nashville Ballet that she has since taught at other ballet schools across the country. Another special population Olivia enjoys working with is pre and postnatal mothers. As a mother herself, Olivia recognizes this special time in a woman's life, and she designs programs that can help facilitate a smooth delivery and faster recovery post-delivery. Olivia is continuously awed by the human body and its ability to guide and heal itself through movement. While Olivia adapts her instruction to meet the unique goals of every client, injury prevention and total body strength through proper alignment are the principal foundations of her teaching.

Sign up for her class now! Tuesdays in South End.

Kristell

Pilates Instructor

Meet Kristell (pronounced Kris-Tell, just like it's spelled)!

With an enthusiastic passion and zest as a Health and Fitness Life Coach, Kristell has helped thousands with their journey to feel and live their ultimate best.

Kristell believes pilates will make you better at anything else you do. She looks forward to sharing her knowledge and skills with you and delivering noticeable results to better your health.

Catch her on the schedule Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 AM in Southpark. If you are new to pilates, this is a GREAT introduction.

Monica

Pilates Instructor

Monica was the owner of an executive search firm for 10 years when she discovered pilates. She became so passionate about Pilates that she decided to close her business and further her passion and become an instructor. At a young age she was a competitive gymnast training with the US Olympic team. The focus in gymnastics is form, strength and flexibility. These are same principles that make Pilates her passion. She looks forward to training under Meredith and being part of the BK CLT team.

Faith

Pilates Instructor

Faith, a 28 year old new-ish Charlotte transplant that works as a software engineer from 9-5 and a multi-passionate human from 5-9. While she would generally describe herself as a “beautiful potato” in her youth, she's been exploring all kinds of movement from aerial silks to pole dance since 2018. She discovered Pilates a few months before her wedding in 2019, fell in love with it, and got in the best shape of her life! She decided to pursue teaching after encouragement from her peers in the movement community and the absolute passion she feels introducing others to it. Needless to say she made the right choice and she's so pumped to move and shake together. Btw, her favorite body part to work is gluten by far so get ready to bake some cake with her! 

Sarah

Pilates Instructor

Sarah Clifford’s introduction to Pilates came with watching her mom workout to Denise Austin on VHS in the late 90s. Little did she know that after 16 years as a dancer and performer, she would turn to Pilates for a safe method of working out after an injury. After graduating from Seton Hall University with a bachelor's degree in theatre performance, she decided to pursue her Pilates teacher training through Club Pilates in Westfield. There under the careful instruction of Master Trainer Gina Berta, she comprehensively trained in mat and reformer Pilates, springboard, barre, TRX, and trigger point therapy. Her passion lies in showing people how Pilates can enhance their everyday life and become a part of a wellness routine. She enjoys creating dynamic and effective flows for her clients and loves that there is always something new to learn on the reformer.

When she is not teaching Pilates, Sarah enjoys cycling, traveling, and spending time on Wrightsville Beach with her college sweetheart, Brian, and their rescue terrier, Marty.

Michelle

Pilates Instructor

Michelle is originally from Florida, where she went to Florida State University… Go Noles! After undergraduate studies, she went on to receive her doctorate degree in physical therapy, and she now actively treats as a physical therapist in Charlotte, NC. She started practicing pilates consistently five years ago when she and her husband moved to Charlotte. She not only enjoyed taking the classes, but she also discovered incredible progress toward her personal goals and was able to start integrating these ideas for therapy patients. By combining Pilates-based principles and functional strength training, she creates a more well-rounded program for individuals and for herself!

Michelle also loves teaching reformer flow classes separately as an instructor. She is passionate about helping individuals improve their strength, stability, and flexibility, as they develop more brain-to-body connections, better understanding movement patterns, and make progress toward their own goals. When she’s not treating or teaching, she enjoys traveling and being outdoors with her husband and labradoodle!