In this episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield sits down with Laura Munkholm, co-founder of Walla Studio Management Software, to unpack the real relationship between technology and connection in a boutique fitness business. 

Seran and Laura explore how the strongest pilates studio owners are using AI for repeatable training and smarter reporting, why AI-generated marketing copy is quietly costing studios trust, and how the right tech stack can actually deepen client relationships instead of replacing them. 

From personalized client "audiences" to handwritten wow moments and leadership self-awareness, this conversation is full of practical insight for any pilates business owner trying to grow without losing what makes her studio feel human.

How AI and Better Systems Can Help Your Studio Business Grow Without Losing the Human Connection

Running a boutique fitness studio has always been about people.

Your clients aren’t simply buying a Pilates class, a barre workout, or a yoga session. They’re looking for connection, community, accountability, and an experience that makes them feel seen.

But as your studio business grows, something interesting can happen.

The very things that helped you build your studio—your personal attention, your relationships, your hands-on leadership—can become difficult to maintain when you’re buried in administration, marketing, team management, and day-to-day operations.

This is where technology, better systems, and AI for fitness businesses can play an important role.

But not in the way you might think.

The smartest use of technology in your studio should make your business more human, not less.

That was one of the key themes in our conversation with Laura Munkholm, co-founder of Walla Studio Management Software, on the Pilates Business Podcast.

And it raises an important question for every boutique fitness studio owner:

What if better systems aren’t about doing more? What if they’re about creating more capacity for meaningful connection?

Your Studio Management Software May Be More Powerful Than You Realize

One of the challenges Laura highlighted is that studio owners often dramatically underutilize their technology.

And it’s understandable.

You’re teaching classes. Managing your team. Answering client questions. Thinking about marketing. Looking at revenue. Handling scheduling. Solving problems.

Who has the time—or mental bandwidth—to become an expert in every feature of their studio management software?

The result is often a technology stack that is capable of doing much more than the owner realizes.

Think about it like learning a new language.

If you only understand the basics, you can get by. But you’re not going to have sophisticated conversations.

The same can be true of your fitness studio software.

When you understand how to use your systems more effectively, you can begin to turn information into insight, and insight into better decisions.

And if you don’t have the capacity to become fluent yourself, there may be value in having someone help you translate.

The goal isn't to become a technology expert.

The goal is to make your technology work harder for your business.

AI Can Create Capacity—But It Shouldn’t Replace the Human Touch

AI is becoming increasingly relevant for boutique fitness businesses.

But there’s an important distinction to make.

AI should support the parts of your business that are simple, repeatable, and trainable.

It can help organize information. Create training materials. Analyze data. Help you identify patterns. Turn repeatable conversations into resources your team can use.

For example, Laura shared an interesting way to use AI for team training: record a repeatable training conversation using a voice memo and then use an AI tool to help turn that information into a more structured, replicable training resource.

That can create leverage.

But there’s another side to AI that studio owners need to think carefully about.

Your marketing still needs to sound like you.

Your clients are smart. They can recognize generic, overly polished content. If every studio starts using AI to produce the same type of marketing language, the businesses that stand out may be the ones that maintain a genuine human voice.

AI can help you create capacity.

It shouldn't erase your personality.

Automation Should Highlight Relationships—Not Automate Them Away

Here’s a powerful distinction for studio owners:

Automate the process. Don’t automate the relationship.

Imagine your studio management software identifies a client who hasn’t returned to a particular teacher’s class.

The technology can flag the opportunity.

But what happens next?

A generic automated message is one option.

A personal text from the teacher saying, “Hey, I noticed we haven’t seen you in class lately. Everything okay?” is something entirely different.

The system created the opportunity for connection.

The human created the connection.

That’s where the real power of technology lies.

Your systems should help you identify where a personal touch will matter most.

The same principle applies to client retention.

A handwritten note. A thoughtful check-in. Remembering an important milestone. Recognizing when someone has been part of your community for a certain amount of time.

These moments may seem small.

But they can become the moments people remember.

And those memorable experiences can contribute to a stronger sense of community and connection.

Better Systems Give Studio Owners Their Time Back

This brings us to a bigger issue facing many boutique fitness studio owners: capacity.

When everything depends on you, growth can actually create more pressure.

More clients mean more questions.

More team members mean more management.

More revenue can mean more complexity.

And suddenly, the studio you built to create freedom starts consuming all of your time.

This is why systems matter.

The purpose of a system isn't simply to make your business more efficient.

It's to make your business less dependent on you for every decision and every task.

When repeatable processes are documented and responsibilities are clear, you create more room for leadership.

And leadership requires a different skill set than teaching.

Being an exceptional Pilates, barre, or yoga instructor doesn't automatically mean you've been trained to lead a growing business.

Strong studio leadership requires self-awareness.

You need to understand what you're naturally good at—and where you need support.

That might mean delegating.

It might mean developing your team.

It might mean bringing in outside expertise.

It might mean finally stepping out of the role of “the person who does everything.”

The Future of Boutique Fitness Is Still Human

There’s a lot of conversation about AI, automation, data, and technology.

But the future of boutique fitness isn't about making studios more robotic.

In fact, the opportunity may be the opposite.

As technology takes care of more repetitive work, studio owners can spend more energy creating experiences that technology can't replicate.

Laura also pointed to broader trends around longevity, science and evidence-based fitness, wellness experiences, community events, and studios becoming places where people gather.

That matters.

Because boutique fitness has always had something that large-scale fitness businesses struggle to replicate:

community.

Technology can help you operate that community more effectively.

But it can't be the community.

And that's the paradigm shift.

The question isn't:

“How can I use more technology in my studio?”

The better question is:

“How can technology create more capacity for me to do the human work that makes my studio special?”

That changes everything.

Your Goal Isn’t More Technology. It’s More Capacity.

As a studio owner, you don't need another complicated system to manage.

You need systems that simplify your business.

You need technology that supports your team.

You need data that helps you make better decisions.

You need automation that gives you time back.

And most importantly, you need enough capacity to actually be present for the people who make your studio what it is.

Because better systems create capacity for more meaningful connection.

That’s the opportunity.

Not replacing yourself.

Not automating every interaction.

Not turning your studio into a technology company.

Instead, use technology and AI strategically so you can spend less time buried in repetitive tasks and more time doing the work that only you can do: leading, connecting, creating, and building a thriving studio community.

Want to Build a More Profitable, Sustainable Studio Business?

If you’re ready to move beyond simply working harder and start building a studio business that is more streamlined, sustainable, and profitable, Thrive was designed to help you do exactly that.

Thrive is the Spring Three Business Coaching Program for boutique fitness studio owners who want to grow their business without sacrificing their time, energy, or passion.

Learn more at www.springthree.com/thrive.