'Listening To My Body Changed My Life'

Pilates and Barre Instructor Fiona Barford Tells Us About Starting Her Own Business and Finding a Healthy Balance

- Julia Bain

Fiona Barford, 33, grew up in Joburg with her mother, brother and sister. Her love of dancing started at the tender age of three, when she had her first ballet class, and she continued to perform and compete throughout her childhood years. After high school, Fiona moved to Cape town to study ballet at the Waterfront theatre School. When Fiona graduated, she moved back to Joburg and, in 2016, opened Breathe Barre, a yoga, barre and Pilates studio, in illovo, where she currently lives.

My siblings and I had a bit of a tough childhood, as we lost our father when I was just eight years old.

My mom, who was a housewife at the time, had to step into the provider role and she made a lot of sacrifices in order to send us to a good school as well as give us a university education. When you’re young, you don’t really understand the situation, so you don’t appreciate those sacrifices until you’re older. From the example my mom set, I truly believe that you can’t let the past impact your future in a negative way. Everything that happened in my childhood has made me who I am today and I am proud of that.

I’ve always been an active person and when I was growing up, I was naturally drawn to dancing and other sports.