Vancouver-based fitness entrepreneur Lucy Ulmer exercises with her daughter.Olive & Bean Photography/Supplied
Fitness has been a big part of Lucy Ulmer’s life since she was a toddler. Growing up in hoops-obsessed Kentucky, she had a basketball in her hand since she could walk and ran her first five-kilometre race at the age of 10.
She initially pursued a career as a paralegal, working at firms in Miami, then New York. When her husband was transferred to Vancouver in 2013, she continued working remotely for the New York firm but had her eye on another vocation. While Vancouver is known for its active lifestyle, its boutique fitness community wasn’t as established.
Over the next decade, Ms. Ulmer co-founded Spin Society, an indoor cycling studio, and Hustle, a boutique fitness studio, while working part-time for the New York law firm. Then, in late 2024, Ms. Ulmer finally gave up her career in law to go all-in with fitness. Her most recent venture, The Lu Method, focuses on prenatal, postpartum and pelvic-floor health.
In this series, Reimagining Wealth, we explore the evolving definition of wealth in today’s world. Here, we talk to Ms. Ulmer about her career evolution and why fitness – and women’s health in particular – is so important to her:
Tell me how fitness became such a big part of your life.
I ran and played basketball while at the University of Miami. It was also there that I started indoor cycling. When I moved to New York with my husband in 2008, I became involved with the Michael J. Fox Foundation because my mom has Parkinson’s. I ran several marathons to raise funds for the organization and became a member of its young professionals’ board.
It was during that time that I started having some knee pain, and a physiotherapist suggested I break up the running with more cycling and start strength training. [That] was when I first recognized how important practitioners like physios, chiropractors, naturopaths and massage therapists are and the importance of mobility in sustaining fitness.
What was Vancouver’s fitness community like when you arrived from New York in 2013?
I remember telling one of my former spin instructors in New York, Lacey Stone, how much I missed her classes and that there was nothing like that here. She suggested I get certified and start teaching them myself.
I got my Schwinn certification and started teaching spin classes at a local fitness studio. Then, one day, Negar Hadavi, the wife of my now-business partner at Spin Society, Dominik Desbois, came to a class and told me about their plans to open a spin studio and asked if I wanted to be part of it. Last year, we celebrated our 10th anniversary and we now have three spin studios in Vancouver.
When did you start specializing in prenatal, postpartum and pelvic-floor-focused fitness?
In 2017, a fitness instructor I knew was about to go on maternity leave and needed someone to teach a mom-and-baby class at a Pilates studio that she had just started. I didn’t have kids then, but I love kids, so I said, ‘Sure.’ I got some certifications to work with prenatal and postpartum women.
As I started teaching, I noticed how effective that training was for the core and other parts of the body – and not just for prenatal and postpartum women. A lightbulb went on in my head. I started deep-diving into how the pelvic floor worked and how important it is for women and men. I started hounding physios and other experts, reading research and listening to podcasts to get as much information as possible about the connection between the core and other body parts.
Today, it’s a massive focus of what I do in all my classes – not just for prenatal and postpartum clients.
Why are you so interested in this growing area of fitness?
There’s a lot of attention paid to prenatal care for women. Postpartum is another story. Essentially, you have a baby, and there’s very little information on how to take care of your body. There’s a missing link.
Moving forward, my goal is to advocate for more postpartum care since, once you have a baby, you’re postpartum for the rest of your life. I also want to do more to support women’s lifecycle, including teenage girls through to women in perimenopause and menopause.
Why did you give up the law career entirely to focus on fitness?
I’m 44, and at the point where I’m asking myself, ‘What do I want out of my remaining working years? What legacy do I want to share with my daughters? How can I support more women in their lifelong journeys through health and wellness?’
In the fitness industry, I believe I can have the most impact in ensuring women feel strength in their minds and bodies by working smarter and in the community. The African proverb says it takes a village to raise a child, but I love to add that a mama also needs a village. I’m here to help foster that village through fitness.
