Client Post by Catherine Basu – Houston, Texas

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Hello! My name is Catherine Basu and I’m one of Maria’s clients. I absolutely love Maria. She’s an amazing and talented stylist, tailor, businesswoman, life coach and friend. I have been on a bit of a personal roller coaster ride since I moved to Houston, TX from Massachusetts in June. Maria has been instrumental in helping me transform and take back control of my life. Maria not only provided me with the services that I hired her for but she also inspired me to make the transition from a career that was not working out for me to one that I’m passionate about.

I’m very excited to be starting my own fitness business here in Houston. Fitness is my passion and I love sharing this with anyone and everyone I can. I’ve been working in the fitness industry for 6 years, however, I took a break from working full-time in fitness to coach and teach science. After meeting and working with Maria, I was inspired to get back to this passion full time. I’d like to share my story and also verbalize how grateful I am for Maria’s genuine advice and support.

In June, I finished my second year of teaching Biology and coaching track and field at a public high school in Massachusetts. Once the last bell rang, I began driving down to Texas to meet my husband in Houston where we had relocated for new opportunities and to flee the cold winters, of course. I unpacked as quickly as I could but when it came to my closet I felt frustrated. I had a lot of clothes I knew I wouldn’t wear anymore, or at least not in Houston. I felt like I had no room and after moving too many times in the previous years, I felt like I finally deserved to be able to organize my belongings. I did not want to be living out of boxes anymore.

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Luckily, I found Maria and called her to help me organize my closet and sort through my wardrobe at the start of the school year. I knew that I would be very busy once the school year started. As an experienced teacher I knew that being disorganized at home would make my day-to-day life very challenging. Additionally, the position I had accepted was at a school that was more demanding than most schools and I really would not have the time to waste finding an outfit in the morning.

Maria came over twice to help me weed out items in my wardrobe that were worn or not flattering and to help tailor some items.  She also organized my closet so that I could find the clothes I kept and not feel overwhelmed. After the first two visits, I had Maria come over another time to show me a few items she thought I would like and to help my husband with a pair of pants he needed to have hemmed. By this time I had already started teaching at my new school. During that visit, Maria and I were chatting and finishing up when at 9:30 PM my cell phone rang. It turned out to be a student calling me about help on an assignment. Maria could not believe that students called me this late but I explained that the school’s philosophy was to have teachers available to the students at any time that they needed. Maria has a way of really connecting to clients and since I already felt very comfortable with her, I confided in her some of the other details of my work situation that were unusual and were a burden to my life. I was teaching at a school where I had an ever changing curriculum, no textbooks, a class of 40 students (and yes, just me as the teacher!), etc. Needless to say, Maria was very concerned about me, my health, and my safety after hearing these details. My husband and family had also expressed concerns, but it really hit home hearing it from Maria who had an outside perspective that confirmed that the job wasn’t normal and that my employer was taking advantage of me.

In December, 2012 my position at the school ended. As a teacher, it is hard to find work the middle of the year so my husband and I threw around the idea of doing fitness and tutoring full time  I called Maria to get another perspective and Maria not only encouraged me and offered ideas and help with logistics but she also noted that I sounded a lot happier just talking about these options. Her willingness to help and offer support gave me the confidence and the faith to know that I could make my passion into my future career. I visited my family for the Christmas holiday and when I got back to Houston, I started making inquiries and getting back into fitness. After returning, my husband and I met with Maria in January (he needed to get pants hemmed and I wanted to say hi to Maria). Maria was very excited that I was going to pursue this new path and commented how she could see from my demeanor that I was in a much better place. She told me that her own business was not originally intended to be what it has become now and once again encouraged me as I set out on my journey. Maria also mentioned that some of her other clients might be interested in increasing their health and wellness.

I’m now teaching Pilates and Spinning classes and working with Personal Training clients again. I’ve been able to continue helping students by working as a tutor. Tutoring has been a really amazing experience for me (especially when I get to help students conquer Chemistry, my old enemy!) and it has helped me continue to work with students but without some of the burdens of being a full time teacher.

I’d love to help you incorporate fitness into your life. I love seeing people succeed in their fitness goals and enjoy a healthy lifestyle. I’m very excited to be able to embark on this new journey especially here in Houston since we can enjoy the outdoors even in the winter!

Check out my website for upcoming events and classes. In addition to my personal events, I also offer private fitness classes and health and wellness solutions for businesses.

If you would like to schedule a free fitness consultation please e-mail me. I’d love to meet you.

Email
Cell: 508-439-3577
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Weekly Classes: I currently teach fitness classes for a company that works in apartment communities. Contact me to see if your community is on my schedule. If you live in an apartment and want to have classes brought to you, contact me to learn more.

Monday:  Pilates@6:45 PM
Tuesday: Bootcamp@6:30 PM
Wednesday: Spinning@ 6PM and FitPT @7:15 PM
Saturday: Pilates@9:45 AM

Coming soon…
If you are interested in any of these listed below, please send me an e-mail to help me pick the best class times!
Pilates and Bootcamp at The Houston Arboretum!
Bridal and Summer Bootcamp at Memorial/Herman/Your favorite parks

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