Graduated in 2018 from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a major in Dance. Primary focus: ballet.
Position: Private Movement/Fitness trainer/entrepreneur at kiaraburns.com. Kiara works one-on-one with both local clients and with folks all over the country over video. In addition, her website has a very affordable video workout subscription service, with 75-and-counting different workout videos.
Overview: While at BoCo, Kiara needed to work for money. Initially working at restaurants, she found that didn’t fit her schedule, and a friend suggested she try working as a fitness trainer at Pure Barre. She was hired, made it through a very tough training, and worked there for a bit over a year until graduation. Kiara really enjoyed working in fitness, and found that more motivating than performing. After graduating, Kiara moved to L.A. and transferred to a Pure Barre franchise in that area. Looking for more career growth, Kiara left Pure Barre after a few months to work at a private studio, waiting tables on the side for more money.
Then the pandemic hit and the work dried up. Collecting unemployment checks, Kiara decided that the best way to guarantee her continued fitness career was to use that time and money to set up her own business. Her first clients knew her from when she had worked at private studios, then most other clients came through word-of-mouth–the pandemic greatly increased demand for remote, private fitness training.
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You can see Kiara’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “My job is super-rewarding! I get to see people have less pain, more energy emotionally, and also the physical changes that come with doing this. And being able to offer such affordable access–people appreciate it. It’s expensive to live in this world. I get a lot of joy from moving my body so much myself and seeing the changes in people’s mindsets and physical bodies.”
“I keep things really fresh. No one workout is repeated or mocked. I do an average of 7 sessions/day, and no two are the same.”
“Lean into the jobs you are doing. I found a lot of insight and camaraderie from my work colleagues, even in restaurants or while doing the Berklee/BoCo telethon–that gave me great skills such as speaking clearly. Jobs help you develop skills you may not know you need. Lean into the skills your job is giving you, whatever you’re doing, and it may help create a pathway you may not have imagined.
“Fitness and dancing are very connected. I feel like I’m dancing every day, the way I move. I just didn’t take it the usual way.”
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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.