Now This One Is Personal: The Story Behind MovementRx Studio
Steve and Christine, Santa Fe, NM, August 2026. He is living the dream and cancer free!
It’s hard to believe how far MovementRx Studio has come since its inception. Most of you were not with us in the very beginning, so you don’t know our origin story and the role my son Steven played. However, there are a few of you MRx pioneers still out there who remember.
I never thought I would have my own business. I was a full-time mom for 15 years before I returned to school to get my degree and license as a Physical Therapy Assistant. I spent eight years in the clinical setting after receiving my degree and license, working in both outpatient orthopedics and home healthcare.
I had an incredibly rich experience in the physical therapy realm with some great mentors. I saw everything—from broken bones, joint replacements and surgeries, any “itis” you can imagine, to joint pain in the hip, knee, back, and so on.
When I did home healthcare physical therapy, I was the person who showed up at your door post-hospitalization—joint replacements, cardio thoracic surgery, CHF, cancer, stroke, neurological disorders, and so on. I would teach people how to slowly get their strength back and return to their lives as best they could.
Although I was there to physically rehab these patients, I learned so much more about pathophysiology, family dynamics, medicine, pharmaceuticals and yes, psychology. Sometimes I was the only person who came to see them that week, or they were struggling with family members, depression, chronic pain, or making very hard decisions. Do they leave the home and neighborhood they know and love to live closer to family or move into assisted living? Sometimes, I listened to families and patients as they made the painful decision to go on hospice care.
Because of my experiences, I developed a strong desire to help people return to their lives as best they could. One of my favorite questions was to ask them, “What brings you JOY?” Their answer would become the framework for their physical therapy—to return them to the things they loved to do.
While I was doing this work, it became so clear to me that our health and physical capabilities are foundational to happiness and fulfillment in our lives. In addition, for those who had the capacity and the will, I wanted to bring them to places they never imagined they could get to physically. I believe the most powerful tool we have at our disposal is MOVEMENT—hence the beginning of MovementRx Studio.
I founded the studio in 2018 with a partner, which lasted about four months, and that is a whole other story! I bought her out and was on my own, spending twice what I had planned to fund the business, in a town where no one knew me, and scared to death that I might have bitten off way more than I could chew!
All of my current clients and students were in the Wayne area, where I worked and had my side hustle of classes and privates. They couldn’t understand why I would open “all the way down in Wynnewood, away from us!” Good question...a bit nuts, maybe. At the time, I was living in Philly and the space was great, so I decided to take the plunge.
Steve and I when it all began - May 2018
In comes my son Steven, who had recently finished his treatments for Hodgkin’s lymphoma and had just returned from a stint in Lake Placid teaching skiing. He needed to be in the great outdoors, gain his strength back, and was currently unemployed. His offer was to help for a little while and “get you up and running.”
Fast-forward almost two years, with COVID hitting in March of 2020, and Steven was still there at my side. I don’t know what I would have done without his guidance, wisdom, and PATIENCE. The number of times he had to explain new technology to his mom, the teachers, and our students—he was a saint.
I used to smile when I came to him with a tech issue and said, “I don’t know why this is happening,” and his famous response was, “Most likely, user error.” And he was always right.
I was recently looking at old Google reviews from our early days, and someone wrote, “Really cool guy at the front desk.” That made me smile. He is a really cool guy—riding into the parking lot with his long hair, on a motorcycle, leather jacket and all, helping his mom and our community grow stronger and more resilient.
During COVID, Steven was critical to our survival with his superior tech skills, building us an online class platform within three weeks of closing. It was his idea to use a Netflix concept—pre-tape classes, put them on a platform, keep the price low, and get more subscriptions.
While many local studios were charging regular prices for live online Zoom classes and folding within a few months, we had a couple hundred subscribers who allowed us to keep the lights on. If it weren’t for Steven’s quick thinking and fast work, MovementRx Studio probably wouldn’t be here today.
Karen, Christine and Gail, circa April 2020, the height of Covid. A local magazine doing an expose on us.
There are two other special people who kept the studio alive during COVID—Karen Gagnier and Gail Lazarus. The four of us in our COVID pod—me, Steve, Karen, and Gail—were filming classes tirelessly and posting them online every day. God, we all worked SO HARD during that time AND had so much fun.
I grew closer to my son, who, two years prior, when a group of doctors came into his hospital room and told me that he had cancer, had hurled me into the darkest time of my life. Now, along with Karen and Gail, we were given a purpose together—and that was to keep the studio alive so that we could continue our mission: to serve our community and keep everyone moving.
In that mission, I gained two new and dear friends and created a bond with my son that can never be broken.
So, here we are, years later and thriving. I believe this story is ultimately one of resilience and the importance of family, friends, and community. I never would have been able to build such a special community without the help of others along the way.
The studio looks very different today, both in its makeup of students and classes. We have evolved with the science of aging well—adding more classes, including strength and conditioning, Tai Chi, more yoga and dance classes, and hosting educational workshops and retreats.
Nicole, with her warmth and effervescent spirit, runs her adjacent business, Move Strong w/ Nicole, to reach more clients who need our services. We continue to stay current with the science—not fads, but proven lifestyle changes that will allow you to live with more vitality than ever before.
In April 2018, Steve and I were taking on a great adventure together, and quite frankly, I was really scared. We weren’t quite sure how it was going to turn out, but we had absolute faith that there were people out there who were not being served in the fitness community and who needed us.
Now, almost 8½ years later in August, I visited my son and his beautiful wife and baby, Andy and Frankie, in Santa Fe, NM. I found myself feeling nostalgic for the old days, but also at peace...and really happy. The business is thriving but, more importantly, Steven is cancer-free and living his dream...and not answering to his mother anymore!
I turn 60 in April 2027, and MovementRx Studio will turn nine years old that same month. I truly can’t believe how time flies, and our success is something to celebrate.
I plan on doing something special for our 10-year birthday, but for now, I have so much to be grateful for. Much has changed at MovementRx Studio, but the mission is the same—a safe and warm environment with knowledgeable and experienced instructors, who continue to grow so that we may serve you better.
Thank you for giving us this opportunity!
Christine
