Some businesses are created by chasing a trend. Others are built by recognising a problem that has been hiding in plain sight.
For Tara Jarrett, Founder and CEO of @pilates 24/7, the opportunity emerged from decades of entrepreneurship, education, fitness and firsthand experience with the barriers stopping everyday people from exercising.
Tara joined Kate Save and Tobi Skovron on the Hear Me ROAR podcast to discuss the remarkable journey behind @pilates 24/7, the lessons accumulated across more than 30 years in business and how she created a fitness model designed to fit around people’s lives.
Her story is one of resilience, reinvention and sharp commercial instinct. It is also a powerful reminder that explosive growth rarely begins with scale. It begins with solving the right problem.
Meet Tara Jarrett, Founder and CEO of @pilates 24/7
Tara launched her first business at just 22.
What followed was an entrepreneurial career spanning education, fitness, health, retail and business ownership. She taught in schools, owned fitness registered training organisations, co-owned one of Australia’s largest personal training centres and established a wholesale homewares business.
Alongside her husband, Russell, Tara also helped build a multidisciplinary health and fitness centre. Russell brought complementary experience across professional sport, strength and conditioning, coaching and education.
Across three decades, Tara worked with hundreds of people, developed new capabilities, managed personal loss and navigated the triumphs and setbacks that come with building businesses.
She describes the experience as the world’s longest apprenticeship.
That apprenticeship ultimately became the foundation for @pilates 24/7.
The Problem Tara Could Not Ignore
Around 2015, Tara noticed an important shift in the fitness market.
Pilates had already demonstrated remarkable staying power, but consumer attitudes towards health and movement were beginning to change. More people were seeking wellness, greater self-awareness and forms of exercise that made them feel better, rather than punished.
At the same time, Tara repeatedly heard a similar message from friends and women within her community.
Traditional gyms did not feel as though they were built for them.
Many felt they could not keep up. Others did not identify with the stereotypical image of fitness presented to them. Instead of leaving a workout feeling empowered, they often left feeling sore, self-conscious or disconnected.
This was bigger than an exercise preference. An entire community was being excluded from the conventional fitness experience.
Tara recognised an opportunity to create something more welcoming, flexible and commercially relevant.
Creating Pilates That Fits Around Real Life
The founding mission behind @pilates 24/7 was clear: make Reformer Pilates more accessible, affordable, individualised and flexible.
People did not want to reorganise their entire lives around a limited class timetable. They wanted convenience, value and an environment where they would not be judged by their age, appearance or fitness experience.
The central proposition became brilliantly simple:
“Pilates when you want. Support when you need.”
Rather than requiring members to choose between rigid instructor-led sessions and exercising entirely alone, @pilates developed a hybrid model combining digital flexibility with genuine in-studio support.
Members can access instructor-led, on-demand classes around the clock. Qualified instructors are also available in the studios to provide guidance and assistance when needed.
It gives members autonomy without abandoning them.
That distinction matters. Technology supports the experience, but it does not remove the human connection at the heart of the brand.
What Makes the @pilates 24/7 Model Different?
According to the company, @pilates 24/7 is the first and only dedicated 24-hour Pilates franchise built around this hybrid delivery model.
The experience is designed around three fundamentals:
1. Accessibility
Members can train at a time that works around their career, family, responsibilities and personal routines.
For parents, shift workers, business owners and people managing unpredictable schedules, 24/7 access removes one of the greatest barriers to consistency.
2. Individuality
The platform allows members to select, save and customise their workouts while tracking their progress over time.
Fresh classes, programs and challenges are released regularly, helping members remain engaged without being locked into a one-size-fits-all experience.
3. Support
Members can move independently while still accessing qualified, in-studio assistance.
This balance helps new members build confidence and gives experienced members the freedom to train on their own terms.
The Moment the Market Caught Up
The events of 2020 and 2021 transformed how people thought about fitness.
Consumers became increasingly comfortable with digital and on-demand experiences. They also began placing greater value on convenience, personal space and services that could adapt to their lives.
The market moved towards the model Tara had already envisioned.
As Tara explains through the @pilates story, it became the right model, at the right time, for the right people.
This is where strong entrepreneurship meets timing.
Great founders do not simply predict the future. They build a solution around a genuine human need, then remain close enough to the market to recognise when the starting gun fires.
Building More Than a Pilates Studio
While @pilates 24/7 is underpinned by technology and a distinctive operating model, its purpose extends beyond access to Reformer Pilates.
The business is building a community where people can improve their strength, mobility and wellbeing without feeling that they must first conform to a fitness stereotype.
Member experiences shared by the business highlight the breadth of that community:
- Parents value being able to exercise around family responsibilities.
- Shift workers and tradespeople can train outside standard class times.
- New members value the welcoming, judgement-free environment.
- Experienced members appreciate the freedom to choose their workouts.
- Older members report improvements in strength, movement and everyday mobility.
The common thread is not athletic performance. It is personal progress.
That approach also carries through to the company’s franchise model. Tara’s objective is not merely to open more studios. It is to equip studio partners with a tested system, shared knowledge and the support required to build meaningful businesses within their communities.
Tara Jarrett on the Hear Me ROAR Podcast
During her conversation with Kate Save and Tobi Skovron on Hear Me ROAR, Tara shared the experience behind the business and the thinking that helped turn a powerful idea into an explosive commercial platform.
The discussion explores a side of entrepreneurship that is often overlooked.
Fast-growing businesses might appear to arrive overnight, but Tara’s story was built over decades. Every venture, challenge, relationship and hard-earned lesson contributed to the founder she became.
Her journey reflects several powerful business principles:
- Experience compounds when founders remain curious.
- The best opportunities often come from listening closely to overlooked customers.
- Convenience can be a major competitive advantage.
- Technology should remove friction without removing humanity.
- Sustainable growth requires a model that works for customers, operators and communities.
- Success becomes more meaningful when it improves other people’s lives.
It is entrepreneurship with both commercial muscle and genuine purpose.
Redefining Success in Business
Tara’s definition of success has evolved throughout her career.
Success is no longer simply about hitting conventional milestones or ticking boxes. It is about building something meaningful that creates a lasting impact for members, studio partners and the communities surrounding them.
It also means finding a more authentic relationship between work, lifestyle and family, then helping others create the same.
That philosophy is deeply embedded in @pilates 24/7.
The product adapts to members’ lives. The business model gives studio partners the opportunity to build locally. The technology creates convenience, while the in-studio support preserves connection.
Each part of the model reinforces the next.
Like a strong team, the system works because every player understands their role.
What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From @pilates 24/7
Tara Jarrett’s journey offers a valuable blueprint for founders and business leaders.
Listen for repeated frustration
When different customers continually describe the same problem, there may be a market hiding behind it.
Design around the customer’s life
People are more likely to remain engaged with a service that accommodates their reality. Flexibility is not an added benefit when it solves a fundamental customer problem. It is the product.
Combine technology with human support
Digital convenience can improve scale, consistency and accessibility. Human support builds confidence, trust and belonging. The strongest models often bring both together.
Let experience compound
Not every previous venture needs to become a global success to be valuable. Skills, relationships and lessons accumulate. What looks like an overnight breakthrough may be the result of decades of preparation.
Build for impact as well as expansion
Growth matters, but lasting businesses give customers, partners and employees a reason to care about that growth.
A Story That Is Still Unfolding
@pilates 24/7 demonstrates what can happen when experience, empathy and commercial thinking converge.
Tara Jarrett did not simply create another Pilates studio. She developed a flexible fitness platform around a clear understanding of how people want to live, move and access support.
Her appearance with Kate and Tobi on the podcast captures the real story behind that growth: decades of learning, the courage to challenge an established category and the conviction to build a more inclusive alternative.
The @pilates journey is still unfolding. Judging by the energy behind the business, there are plenty more chapters to come.
Learn more about Tara’s journey and the @pilates 24/7 model at atpilates.studio.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Tara Jarrett?
Tara Jarrett is the Founder and CEO of @pilates 24/7. She has more than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience across education, fitness, health, training and retail.
What is @pilates 24/7?
@pilates 24/7 is a Reformer Pilates business offering members around-the-clock studio access, on-demand instructor-led workouts and in-studio support from qualified instructors.
What makes @pilates 24/7 different?
The business uses a hybrid model combining digital, on-demand classes with physical studios and human support. Members can exercise according to their own schedule while accessing guidance when required.
Is @pilates suitable for beginners?
Yes. The model is designed to be accessible to people across different ages, fitness levels and levels of Pilates experience. Its focus is on individual progress within a welcoming environment.
Does @pilates offer franchise opportunities?
Yes. @pilates invites prospective studio partners to explore opportunities to own and operate a studio using its established model, technology and support systems.
What did Tara discuss on the Hear Me ROAR podcast?
Tara joined Kate Save and Tobi Skovron to discuss her entrepreneurial journey, the experiences that shaped @pilates 24/7 and how she built a flexible, technology-enabled Pilates business around the needs of real people.
Get ready to ROAR, Enjoy the Pod 🎧