Meet Our Instructors

Paula Mallory, a certified Pilates trainer with over 12 years of Pilates teaching experience, was introduced to Pilates at The University of Oklahoma where she enjoyed participating in classes and private lessons as a part of her fitness regimen while dancing with Oklahoma Festival Ballet company. After graduating from OU with a BFA in ballet performance, Paula returned to Little Rock. She earned her Pilates certification from Centerworks Pilates in Wichita, KS.

Paula enjoys being active by training for marathons, half marathons, hiking, skiing, doing anything outdoors and chasing after her young daughter. Before opening The Pilates Studio of Little Rock with Sheila in September 2003 she taught for health clubs, yoga studios, and ballet schools. Paula loves sharing her passion for fitness with everyone.

In 1992, Sheila McKinnis, CPT received a BA in Dance from the University of North Texas. During her time of study at UNT she was introduced to Pilates as part of the curriculum. After graduation, she danced professionally and taught dance in the Dallas area for ten years before moving back to her hometown of Little Rock. In 2002 she rediscovered Pilates and decided to further her studies by earning a Matwork Certification from Powerhouse Pilates. Realizing how integrated the work on the equipment is in relation to the mat, she sought out a certification program that was comprehensive. Sheila is certified under Ellie Herman, author of Pilates for Dummies and owner of The Ellie Herman studios in northern California and New York. Sheila is a member of the Pilates Method Alliance.

Matt Allman is a NCPT through the National Pilates Certification Program (formerly PMA.) He was certified to teach Pilates in 2012 by CenterWorks Pilates under the guidance of Aliesa George. Aliesa’s technique is based off of the structured classical work that came from Romana Kryzanowska’s school based out of New York, which makes him a 3rd generation Pilates teacher.

Since becoming certified, he has continued his education by training with Karen Clippinger (author of Pilates anatomy) to help understand the specific needs and anatomy of the dancer with her Pilates for Dancers Coursework, Trent McEntire’s (inventor of Brain Speedball) Arcus and nueromovement courses, Tom Myers’ Body Reading based off of the ANATOMY TRAINS system, and Irene Dowd (dance faculty of Juilliard.)

Matt is an E-RYT through the Yoga Alliance and is a registered continuing education provider for them. He also has a bachelors degree from the University of Southern Mississippi.

He lives downtown and loves Siamese cats.

Robin Brown has earned her Pilates Certification from Todd Rosenlieb Dance, Norfolk, VA, her MFA from the University of Maryland, and her BFA from the University of Florida.

Robin has been practicing Pilates for over 20 years and certified for 15 years. She taught in New York and Washington, DC before relocating to Little Rock to teach Dance at UALR. She is a professional dancer and Certified Movement Analyst in Laban Movement Analysis. She loves all things related to the moving human body and strives to help her clients find a balance between mobility and stability so they feel strong.

Julia Taylor has been teaching Pilates since 2004. She is certified through Centerworks Pilates in Wichita, Kansas. Julia is a member of the Pilates Method Alliance and is a PMA certified Pilates teacher. Julia also is a licensed provider of Fletcher Floorwork(TM), Fletcher Towelwork(TM), and Fletcher Barrework(TM). Additionally, she holds a 200-hour Yoga certification through Sage Yoga School. Prior to teaching Pilates, Julia was an elementary school teacher. She is a graduate of Hendrix College and holds a Masters degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Kristi Alexander started teaching Pilates four years ago. She began the certification program when her son, Eli, was just six weeks old, and she was a single mother working full-time. Being a certified Pilates instructor is Kristi’s second career (mid-life crisis – if you will – albeit a healthy one!).

She started practicing Pilates more than 10 years ago using it as mental and physical therapy from a stressful job in advertising sales. Kristi fell in love with Pilates and decided to make it a career which she could be both passionate and compassionate. While raising her infant son and working full-time, it took more than a year and a half to complete the rigorous – and normally 9-month – certification program.

Kristi loves to learn and will never stop pursuing knowledge as inspiration for herself and her clients. Kristi has a bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College and a Masters degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Nikki Wilkins is a Little Rock native who began her adventures in movement at a young age through a love of dance and a tumbling class in gymnastics. She spent most of her years at Joel’s House of Dance learning Tap, Jazz, and Ballet. After deciding to study Studio Art at UALR, she decided she needed to move after all that sitting and discovered a love of Belly Dance through some videos and teaching herself, and dabbled in Modern Dance as well.

When her college years were interrupted by her son Elias’s birth in 2006, she found herself at the Pilates Studio of Little Rock on a whim, to get back into shape to continue dancing. Once she realized she had an intuitive understanding of how Pilates worked she dove straight into Centerworks Pilates with Aliesa George to become a teacher, hoping to have a better understanding of proper movement and a solid set of teaching skills to compliment her eye for form and proportion. She has been teaching Pilates for four years. Having completed her certification with Centerworks as an instructor, Nikki plans to continue her adventures in movement this year by beginning the 8 Elements approach to Belly Dance Teacher Certification with Rachel Brice.