The Evolve System

At Evolve, Pilates is the shared connection between all instructors, and thus forms our common language. This collective knowledge and vocabulary is the foundation on which we have built our Evolve System of Movement, which integrates Pilates with various other energizing exercise techniques from around the world.

Our truly unique Pilates-based workouts are made possible by our passionate instructors, each of whom has logged countless hours of continuing education and training in diverse disciplines, including GYROTONIC® barre, Garuda, Gokhale Method, yoga, and dance. Evolve instructors draw from their individual backgrounds, extensive training, and years of teaching experience in order to offer students today’s most innovative techniques in fitness.  

No matter your starting point, Evolve instructors want to teach you to experience the joy of movement in your own body— to feel ease of movement and to embody balance, strength, and energy. Every session is an intimate, personalized, whole-body experience capped at eight participants, and we want you to leave feeling better than you did when you arrived. We want the Evolve System of Movement to help you change your life— and it will!
 

Our Story

At Evolve, we have been helping the people of our community take control of their bodies and health, have fun, and ultimately change their own lives since 2006, when co-owners Renee Jablonski and Kelli Sanders were brought together by their shared philosophy that the benefits of exercise should extend beyond the physical body into an individual’s overall well-being. Celebrating more than a decade of operation, we have watched Pilates go from being the new kid on the fitness block to a widely practiced workout well known for its restorative and transformative effects. In keeping with our name, we have also used that time to grow and evolve our own offerings by keeping up with exciting emerging exercise modalities, researching their efficacy, and getting certified in those that will best benefit our clients. United by this commitment to thoughtful growth and our clients’ wellness, our staff thinks of the studio as home and one another as family, and we believe that clients benefit from an environment where everyone takes care of one another and has a real investment in their success.

Kim Christou

Kim Christou is a Certified Pilates Teacher with over 12 years of experience teaching Pilates and specializes in myofascial release techniques. She teaches challenging group classes and workshops for all fitness levels and enjoys using all the equipment and props available to add fun and variety to her classes. What she loves most about teaching Pilates is the positive changes she sees in her clients. She has witnessed firsthand how Pilates can truly change lives for the better.

Kim received her initial training from Polestar Pilates and PhysicalMind Institute and has also completed over 100 hours of continuing education. In addition, she completed 66 hours of teacher training in Yamuna Body Rolling (YBR™), a technique of SMR. She also partnered with Grace Lopez to create PostureWorks, a simple program that takes Pilates out of the studio setting. The PostureWorks program teaches Pilates fundamentals and adapted exercises for anytime anywhere practice.

In her free time Kim enjoys a varied routine that includes swimming with a US Masters group, dancing, Pilates, yoga, and Gyrotonic™. She also loves to travel, cook, and spend time with friends and family.

Grace Lopez

Grace has been practicing Pilates for more 20 than years and teaching since 2009. She completed her initial training through Evolve and shortly after became a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (NCPT) through the Pilates Method Alliance.

In the spring of 2012, Grace was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Since then she has focused on the importance of a brain-based approach to fitness. Her goal is to help her clients maintain and improve their mobility and cognitive abilities by incorporating neuro drills and techniques into her classes.

She shares her home with her husband and two very opinionated and silly standard poodles, Luigi and Dino. Every chance she gets, she visits her granddaughters and they can spend hours reading, drawing, and coming up with silly games.

CERTIFICATIONS AND TRAINING

• Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (NCPT)

• Pilates Certifications from Evolve Pilates and Fitness

• Polestar Pilates S-1 through S-6 Intensive for Transition Students, Level I-VI

• Polestar Principles

• Certified Functional Aging Specialist

• Certified Pilates for Neurological Conditions (MS, Parkinsons, stroke)

• Certified Advanced Pilates for Neurological Conditions

Alana Christou

Alana has been teaching private and group Pilates classes at Evolve since 2006. She received her initial training in The Method Pilates from PhysicalMind Institute and her advanced training at Evolve.

Alana fell in love with Pilates after moving to Florida in 2001. She believes everyone can benefit from the focus on proper alignment, quality of movement, strengthening, and flexibility that Pilates workouts offer. Her classes are challenging and designed to give her students a great workout. She loves showing that Pilates is anything but easy!

Robyn Gibbons

Robyn Gibbons moved up to Gainesville from Anna Maria Island in November of 2013. She has been interested in health and nutrition since the 1970's. Her specialty is helping people find the specific nutritional supplements and products that will help them in their journey toward strength and wellness.

Robyn also holds Pilates certifications from the Physical Mind Institute and from the training program here at Evolve. Robyn teaches Pilates foundation and private sessions. She's a great teacher who builds a solid base for your training.

PS... Robyn is also Renee's mom!

Sam Howell

Health and wellness has always been at the center of Sam Howell’s life. She spent her childhood and teenage years playing team sports and subsequently sustaining sports injuries. Her Pilates journey began when she took an elective in college about Joseph Pilates and the practice he created. She enjoyed the class and learned how to move her body in different ways when exercising. She maintained the practice by attending studio classes, and was also still active in many other methods of exercise. In 2015, after sustaining a severe shoulder injury, she remembered what she learned of the Pilates method and integrated into a more diligent Pilates practice which allowed her to continue to exercise despite her injuries.

When the world as we know it changed due the COVID-19 pandemic, Sam thought about her career and what she wanted out of life. After doing some research, she decided to switch career paths and began working toward a career in the mind/body health and wellness field. She used her time in quarantine to study the anatomy and physiology of Pilates. Once it was safe to resume in-studio, she completed her training hours with a 2nd generation Pilates instructor.

Currently, Sam offers private Pilates lessons and teaches group classes at Evolve. In her spare time, Sam also enjoys surfing, scuba diving and hiking.

Dave Sanders

Being a former high school and collegiate athlete, and now an avid golfer, Dave Sanders has always seen the importance of flexibility, breath control and the mind/ body connection. After discovering and falling in love with Pilates, Dave completed his Pilates instructor training with Evolve. He enjoys practicing and teaching Pilates, and especially loves helping golfers and other athletes improve their game. Over the past two years, Dave began deepening his understanding of the practice of breath. It changed his life. He slept better, his fitness improved, and he lost weight. He even lowered his blood pressure! Dave was hooked on the practice of breath and used his time in quarantine to become a Yoga Body Certified Breath Coach. Now, Dave combines his knowledge of breath practice with Pilates to create a well-rounded journey to health. He offers private Pilates lessons, private breath coaching as well as workshops on breathing techniques. Dave is also a successful salesman for a local supply company and the co-owner of Safe Surfaces, LLC. In his spare time, he coaches his son’s baseball team, and loves to golf.

Sherma Pinkert

After working as a Social Worker and psychotherapist for 20 years, in 1995 Sherma changed careers to the fitness industry. She has been a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, spin instructor and for the past 18 years as a Pilates instructor. She teaches, individual, semi private and group Pilates classes.

Sherma believes that her psychology background helps her to motivate her clients and encourage them to reach their fullest potential along with helping new Pilates clients to feel comfortable.

Sherma received her Pilates Certification from Core Dynamics where she was certified on the Reformer, Chair and Cadillac equipment. She is Mat certified by Physical Mind Institute and ACE certified in group fitness and personal training. She is a licensed Psychiatric Social Worker with a Masters degree from Loyola University.

Sherma stays up to date on the latest fitness trends in fitness and Pilates by staying current with continuing education.

Sherma enjoys horseback riding, travel, reading and spending time with her family.

Sherma closed her Miami Pilates studio and moved to Gainesville at the beginning of the Covid epidemic where she joined the Evolve Team.

Stephanie Leon

Stephanie is originally from New Jersey, and she grew up playing baseball and basketball, but fell into an 8-year slump after college with no remaining outlet for team sports. After finding Pilates in 2012, everything changed— an exciting new hobby quickly became an obsession and over the last decade has blossomed into a satisfying career in fitness.

Stephanie has never met a movement modality she didn’t fall in love with! She has attended courses across the country to help satisfy her need for an engaging and fun exercise routine that will keep her moving well into old age. She enjoys using imagery to explore movement concepts and hopes to help each unique person develop a deeper understanding of body awareness.

In her spare time Stephanie loves to attend concerts, visit museums, and travel on cross-country road trips (either solo or with her fiancé and whole brood of pets).

CERTIFICATIONS AND TRAINING

• Pilates Mat and Pilates Apparatus from Physicalmind

• Pilates Mat from Pilates Academy International

• Garuda Matwork Foundation

• Garuda Dhara (Chair)

• Garuda Apparatus (Evolve is currently one of the only studios in the US with a Garuda machine)

• Garuda on the Pilates Reformer

• Garuda for Two

• GYROKINESIS® training techniques

• GYROKINESIS® teacher trainer (Pre-Trainer)

• GYROTONIC® training techniques

• GYROTONIC® teacher trainer (Pre-Trainer)

• GYROTONIC® Specialized Equipment (Evolve is the only place in Gainesville with these machines):
  o Jumping-Stretching Board
  o Leg Extension Unit
  o GYROTONER®
  o Archway