Meet Gracie de Luca, the manager at Pure Barre McLean. de Luca is a also a teacher at Pure Barre McLean. Pure Barre McLean’s 50 minute group class workouts focus on low-impact, small movements that promise to strengthen and tone your entire body.
Q. Explain to us, what is Pure Barre?
Pure Barre is a form of exercise that revolves around the bar. We focus on low impact workouts that create high impact results. We have a lot of different class formats such as the Classic format, Reform, and Empower that focus on different things… but our main focus is on strength and toning.
Q. How many members do you have? How many staff?
Right now we have 125 members. I think it took a pretty big hit after COVID so we’re still in the process of rebuilding and getting back our members. We have nine staff members right now. We have six teachers and two desk associates and then including me, it’s nine.
Pure Barre McLean: Shop and shake! In addition to work outs, the studio has a retail area selling fitness inspired clothing and accessories.
Pure Barre’s sell: is that it is the fastest, most effective way to change your body. A total body workout, Pure Barre lifts your seat, tones your thighs, abs, and arms!
Q. Do you need fitness experience to start coming to Pure Barre?
I don’t think so. The barre classes are very easy to follow, even for your first class, because the teachers are telling you what you’re doing and they demo parts of the form. Even if you’ve never been before, you’ll catch on pretty quickly.
Q. What is your fitness background?
I do. I used to work at Lifetime Fitness in Fairfax, which is a more corporate gym. It’s a totally different environment, but still in the fitness industry. So the only difference is that Pure Barre is more of a boutique franchise. I am currently getting my masters in social work at VCU [Virginia Commonwealth University] online.
Q. What is your favorite part of the job?
Definitely working with the staff, I love all my girls that work with me. They’re all super fun to be around and super helpful. It’s nice to be able to make them happy as a manager. That’s honestly the best part of it.
Q. What is the most challenging part of your job?
Probably the marketing aspect. It’s harder to market in this area and during this time of year, because there’s not as many outdoor events happening so you can’t pop up a tent somewhere… There are always going to be hard decisions to make as a manager and a lot of the time you have to do what makes the most sense for the studio.
Q. What is your goal as manager?
My personal goal is to get us to the place we were before COVID, or a better place in terms of numbers and class format and time availability. Just so we can make the members we have here happy and also attract new ones with a full class schedule. During COVID, the studio closed down for a period of time and then they were back to doing social distancing classes. Even though [the studio] was back open, people were still scared to come which is understandable. A lot of people canceled their memberships… After that, all of our studios, at least all of our sister studios, really took a hit in terms of membership counts. So we are just trying to rebuild from what happened.
Q. Do you have a favorite restaurant to go to in McLean?
I don’t spend too much time over here outside of our shopping center. But there’s this really good bagel place, Chesapeake Bagel Bakery. That place is so good for bagels and breakfast sandwiches. They’re bacon, egg and cheese sandwich is so good. I like to get their plain bagels with cream cheese as well. Honestly, everything is really good.
Pure Barr McLean: 6825 Redmond Dr Suite E, McLean, VA 22101; https://www.purebarre.com/location/mclean-va
BY: DANIA REZA , Reza is the social media content curator for McLean Today. She is a junior at McLean High school and is an assistant design editor-in-chief of her award-winning school news magazine, The Highlander.
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