David Ducrest of Flexia Pilates
An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with David Ducrest (co-founder and CTO) of Flexia Pilates, which was honored in our:
Tell us the origin story of Flexia – what problem were you trying to solve and why?
I met Kaleen playing soccer while both of our future spouses were attending University of Georgia. We both joined a recreational soccer team to pass the time and ended up becoming quick friends – the two of us and our spouses have been close ever since.
One day while visiting, Kaleen shared a vision she had for an interconnected set of Pilates tools and resources that would help people understand their Pilates practice. She hoped to create something like this and follow it up with her own reformer. I suggested flipping the script and building the reformer first, to which Kaleen countered “only if you join the company”. It seemed like a fair deal. About a year later, she offered me a job.
We are pretty hard on our bodies and Pilates is great for unlocking your personal potential to move freely with less pain. Reformer Pilates is the most effective way to tap into that potential.
However, reformer Pilates is hard to do without a coach or teacher. The reformer is a big, intimidating machine.
“How do I know what to do?” and “How do I know when I’m doing it right?” are questions we saw over and over again.
The Flexia Reformer, when paired with our library of instructional content, answered these questions. Flexia creates a Pilates experience that is right for you, with real-time feedback to drive your improvement.
What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?
From a technology and math perspective, you have to remember that no one has quantified Pilates exercises before. How do you measure it? On a bike, you can measure power in watts, your cadence, and your speed. It’s a refined science. That’s what we are developing for Pilates. No one has done that before – probably because it’s hard. That’s also why it’s fun.
What does the future hold for Flexia?
More and more feedback. Not just “when” you are doing something well or poorly, but “what” and “how” to improve. Fitness is a journey. You don’t simply arrive at a destination one day.
What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Meet as many people as possible. Find the people who are pursuing a vision. Find the places where you feel challenged, then spend more time there. Make a community out of those people and places. You aren’t going to have all of the answers, but if you give freely of what you can, then you’ll receive way more of what you need.
Thank you for a useful question and answer interview. Clear questions and clear answers.