THIS JUST IN : GOOD COMPANY IS GOOD FOR YOU

Hi, it’s Maria!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how subtle influence really is.

Most people assume the biggest influences in our lives are the obvious ones. A mentor. A parent. A teacher. Someone who completely changes the way we think.

But I don't think that's what shapes us the most.

I think it's the people we spend ordinary Tuesday afternoons with. The friend we call on the drive home. The coworker we eat lunch with. The people whose

voices become so familiar that we stop noticing how much they affect the way we see the world.

It almost never happens in a single moment.

It's hearing someone complain every day until complaining starts to sound normal. It's spending enough time with someone who always finds a reason why something won't work that eventually you stop trying things too. It's listening to someone constantly criticize themselves until you begin speaking to yourself the same way.

The opposite is true too.

Spend enough time around people who are curious instead of cynical, and you become more curious. Spend enough time around people who celebrate other people's success instead of feeling threatened by it, and you start doing the same. Spend enough time around people who take care of themselves without making it their entire personality, and suddenly that starts to feel normal too.

That's why I don't think energy is just contagious.

I think perspective is contagious.

Standards are contagious.

Attitudes are contagious.

The conversations you have every day eventually become the conversations you

have with yourself.

I've become a lot more aware of this over the last few years, especially as BARE has grown.

Owning a business has introduced me to more people than I ever imagined.

Clients, instructors, vendors, other business owners, mentors.

Some relationships are only a five-minute conversation. Others become part of your

everyday life. And what I've realized is that the people you spend the most time around don't just influence your schedule, they influence your mindset. I've walked away from conversations feeling inspired to think bigger, take more risks, and become a better leader. I've also walked away from conversations

feeling completely drained, where every idea suddenly felt impossible and every challenge seemed ten times bigger than they actually were.

The situations hadn't changed.

The people had.

That was a pretty eye-opening realization for me because it made me realize how easy it is to borrow someone else's outlook without even noticing you're doing it. That's why I think one of the most underrated things you can pay attention to is

how someone leaves you feeling after you've spent time with them.

Not because every conversation needs to be life changing. But because those

ordinary conversations quietly become the lens through which you experience your own life.

The same thing happens inside the studio.

People usually join BARE because they want a great workout, but I don't think they stay because of the workout alone.

They stay because of the people.

There's something really powerful about walking into a room where taking care of yourself is normal. Where people celebrate your progress instead of

comparing it to their own.

Where someone you've never met before will cheer

you on after class or introduce themselves while you're putting your shoes on.You don't realize it at first, but little by little, that starts to become your normal

too.

Showing up becomes normal.

Encouraging other people becomes normal.

Believing you're capable of more becomes normal.

And eventually, the version of yourself that only seemed to exist inside the studio starts following you into the rest of your life. I think that's what community actually does. It doesn't just give you people to spend time with. It gives you a different environment to grow in. And environments shape people far more than we give them credit for. So maybe it's less about labeling certain people as energizing or draining.

Maybe it's asking you to notice who makes you feel more like yourself after you've spent time with them. Because over time, the people around you quietly become your normal. The only question is... Is it expanding your world or quietly diminishing it? 🖤

From my core to yours,

Maria Stege

Founder & CEO, BARE Pilates Studio

…and that’s The Naked Truth