Founding a group of boutique modern Pilates studios across southern Wisconsin is just the latest accomplishment for 26-year-old Cassidy Winkler who, since graduating high school in three years — and college in three-and-a-half — has become something of a Renaissance woman.
Before starting her own venture, Winkler managed a fledgling restaurant and later became a private flight attendant. She said the experiences taught her a lot about managing people and learning to communicate.
Her interest in Pilates started with a one-credit course during her time at the University of Alabama, where she was pursuing a degree in hospitality management. It grew as she took and ultimately taught Pilates classes, but she said few studios offered the optimal level of challenge.
A friend of hers once took a class she deemed “more difficult than childbirth,” Winkler said, while her own experience at a Tennessee establishment left Winkler wishing for a more strenuous workout. Revel Method Pilates was born in 2024 as a result, bringing low-impact strength and flexibility work to Winkler’s home state in a business all her own.
“(Pilates) should be hard, but it shouldn’t (make) you feel like you’re just punishing yourself for an hour and you don’t want to go back,” she said. “(At Revel) we offer levels for every exercise. Our instructors are taught to get everyone moving, and then give them a modification or amplification.”
Revel Method Pilates has locations in Madison, Monona and Lake Geneva, and in just a short time, the company has grown to approach nearly six figures in total monthly revenue. The business offers four main class types: Its signature reformer class, a modern, athletic approach blending strength, mobility and endurance; sculpt class, emphasizing endurance work with light resistance and high reps; strength class, focused on muscle building and power with spring resistance, weights and controlled push-pull patterns; and its core class focused on form and deep core engagement.
With over 300 members and 50 staff across its Wisconsin studios, Winkler is turning an eye to expansion, seeking to bring more Wisconsinites experiences she said are empowering — particularly for women, who represent around 90% of Revel’s clientele.
“I love our clients,” said Winkler. “I love the community we’ve built with the clients … and even the community within the team. I think that’s my favorite part. … You can train a skill, but you can’t train culture.”
Photo: Valerie Hill
Company ramp-up
Winkler largely bootstrapped the business using her own savings, as well as some smaller SBA loans, and has made strategic decisions to grow quickly.
She said putting out paid advertisements on Meta platforms, handing out flyers and posting organically on social media has helped the company amass customers at a fast rate.
The flyers, she added, have been especially helpful in establishing business-to-business connections.
“We do a lot of partnerships,” she said. “For example, (juice bar franchise) Pure Green, they love to come over and do pop-ups here, and we love having them. I … am a frequent customer, so I became friends with the manager there, and now he likes to do pop-ups with us.
“Sometimes it’s a small jewelry (business) that comes in and … just sells products, and they get that brand awareness.”
Winkler said with high traffic across Revel’s locations, there is plenty of room for expansion. Membership growth is the No. 1 performance indicator she evaluates, but she said overall revenue provides another useful metric because it includes sources like sales of retail items, class packs, drop-in classes and teacher trainings.
“(The) Monona (location) is still a ramp up period … so over the course of the last three months, she’s done great,” said Winkler. “Our Park Street location definitely has a lot of room for growth, just because it is in … a central location.
“We pull a lot (of customers) from the campus and college, but I think with Fitchburg, (places) like that … we could do a better job of pulling from different areas of Madison.”
Balancing goals
The future for Revel looks bright to Winkler, who said the next year of operation will bring additional staff and three new locations.
“I have really good connections,” she said. “I have a side job where I work in construction for Walter Wayne Development out of Madison, and I help … with their … interior design, all their furniture, fixtures, equipment.
She mentioned WWD’s plans for a new development near Hilldale, which includes dozens of apartments as well as commercial space.
“No one knows this yet, and (the development) is still under really early construction, but in April of next year … University (Avenue) should be (home to) a heated mat studio … in that new building going up,” she said.
Revel will also open a one-on-one private studio on the west side of Madison in April 2027, Winkler said, and a Milwaukee location is set to open this fall at 2216 N. Prospect Ave.
“Revel … is a great asset to the projects we’ve developed,” said Randy Christianson, WWD’s vice president. “They currently are in two of our buildings (Mira in Monona and Emerson on Park Street) … (and) slated to be in our projects under construction on University Avenue and Yellowstone Drive. … Heated pilates has been a great hit … which is a great thing for our tenant(s). We certainly like to see them be successful.”
Winkler said while she never likes to set an opening date until permits and occupancy are secured, the Milwaukee studio’s walls are up, with electrical installed, and it is very nearly ready.
Winkler plans to keep Revel’s future flexible — a method that has proven reliable so far.
“I don’t love to say, ‘I have an exact number of studios I want to open or a set plan,’” she said. “I open based on numbers and based on demand. People give me feedback. I look (to see) if there’s room for it. If it makes sense, then I move on it. … Our main goals (are) obviously, the growth of our studios, each one individually.”
She added that she recently reworked Revel’s organizational structure, promoting some staff to leadership roles to help support a team she plans to grow to at least 65 within the year.
“Hopefully, as people get comfortable in their new roles … it’ll be a great framework for the expansion,” she said. “I’ve tried my best to give (my staff) the tools to work into higher roles, so they can earn more (and) feel more empowered in the studio.”
