Kristi had her first exposure to Pilates at the age of 13 when her good friend Justine invited her to take a class at her mother’s studio in Solana Beach, California. The studio was called The Body Firm and Justine’s mother is none other than Kathy Corey who was and still is a forerunner in the Pilates industry. Kristi took lessons under Kathy Corey’s direction for two years before she started teaching for her at the age of 15. “I knew back then that I would always have Pilates in my life in some way,” says Kristi of her immediate love and passion towards the work. Kristi continued to teach through high school and then moved to Santa Barbara California to attend UCSB. In 1989, few people knew what Pilates was and work as a Pilates instructor was almost non existent so Kristi entered into the traditional fitness world as an aerobics instructor and Personal trainer. After earning her BA in Communication at UCSB, it was time for Kristi to get back to her original passion, Pilates. She along with a few of her collegues began studying the method under the guidance of Cathie Murakami. After two years of studying with Cathie, Kristi and her collegues earned a certificate from Synergy Systems™ and helped to open one of the first fully functioning Pilates studios in an athletic club in the country (Santa Barbara Athletic Club).

At this time the Pilates industry really began to boom and the need for highly qualified instructors was in high demand. Continued learning is always a high priority for Kristi and the need for a nationally recognized certification was becoming more important, so Kristi decided to study under yet another teacher. After considerable thought and research, Kristi and a couple of her co workers decided to align themselves with Master Teacher Rael Isacowitz, founder and director or the world renowned BASI™Pilates approach to the Pilates method. This particular approach appealed to Kristi because of its contemporary approach to the classical work. BASI™Pilates maintains the classical work, but allows for current research in bio mechanics and other sciences to influence subtle changes to the choreography.