Inside JETSET Pilates Lake Norman at Birkdale

If you’ve driven past Birkdale Place after dark and wondered about the glowing blue studio above the new Caribou Coffee, you’re not alone. That’s JETSET Pilates Lake Norman, and those lights come from a 15-foot illuminated logo on the ceiling. It’s hard to miss, and honestly, that’s the point.

JETSET is a reformer Pilates brand that got its start in South Florida about 15 years ago and only began franchising recently. The Huntersville studio is just the second in all of North Carolina (Raleigh has the other one). That means the lake got in early on something most of the Charlotte area hasn’t tried yet.

Behind it are Kayla Logue and Ben Knight, a couple who left careers in land development to go all in on a workout that changed both of their lives. One of them has coached well over a thousand reformer classes. The other spent years as a skeptic. Their story, and the experience they’ve built at Birkdale, is worth knowing about, whether you’re a devoted Pilates regular or someone who’s never set foot on a reformer.

Meet the owners

Kayla and Ben started out as coworkers, became best friends, and eventually became business partners and life partners. That’s a lot of trust to put in one person.

Kayla grew up on St. Simons Island, Georgia, and moved to the Lake Norman area in 2021. Some of you may already know her as a bestselling author. Her book, Always Squeezing Lemons, covers her journey through 2020 and 2021 and her work to define success on her own terms. She also founded a nonprofit focused on building a community where young professionals can thrive physically and mentally. JETSET fits right in with that mission.

Her Pilates résumé is serious. While living in Washington, D.C., she managed two of SolidCore’s original 13 studios and stayed through a growth stretch that took the brand past 100 locations. Many of the people who led that growth are now with JETSET, and that’s how Kayla found the brand. (Ben is quick to add that she trained some very high-profile clients in D.C. Kayla is much less quick to bring it up, so we’ll let him keep bragging for her.)

Ben is about as local as it gets. He was raised in Cornelius and Huntersville and earned his Eagle Scout rank through Bethel Church. After graduating from the College of Charleston, he worked in land development. He left that job to care for his father through terminal cancer, and during that time he started a local concrete company. After his father passed, he sold the business and went back to land development, which is where he met Kayla.

From Pilates Skeptic to Studio Owner

Ben always wanted to own a gym. Pilates was never part of that plan.

“Kayla had begged me for years to get into Pilates,” Ben said, and he held out as, in his own words, a stubborn male. After years of powerlifting, he had chronic neck and back pain and had simply accepted it as part of life. Then he finally took a class. “My life changed in about 30 seconds,” he said. “I was humbled extremely quickly.”

His neck and back pain were gone within four or five classes. By ten classes, he could see his body changing. Less than two years later, he’s a studio owner.

Kayla’s path looks a lot like his. She was a lifelong athlete who believed a workout only counted if her heart rate was maxed out. By 22, she’d had multiple cortisone shots in her knees and was dealing with nagging back injuries. Reformer Pilates fixed the imbalances that high-impact training had caused, and those problems never came back.

That shared experience is why they chose this concept. As Kayla put it, they saw a real demand in our area and nothing like it anywhere in the Charlotte metro.

Who It’s For (Yes, Guys Too)

Anyone who’s intimidated by group fitness should know that each class has a maximum of 16 reformers. Ben says he never liked group classes either, and he describes JETSET as “an individual game in a group setting.” You stay on your own machine the whole time. If you forget a move, you can glance at your neighbor, but nobody is watching you.

It also works for any fitness level. Some studios split classes into beginner, intermediate, and advanced. At JETSET, instructors are trained (the Huntersville team went to Miami for it) to adjust every exercise up or down on the spot. A first-timer and a 500-class regular can work out side by side. That also means you can book whatever class time fits your day.

Kayla and Ben also want to break the “Pilates princess” stereotype. Ben is 6’2″, 240 pounds, and he hopes he can bring in other guys who were skeptics like him. They’ve even talked about offering men’s classes. If you’re a man over 40 working on your core, Ben has a bold claim: come to ten classes and you’ll see a noticeable difference. (He does add that this assumes you aren’t eating McDonald’s three times a day. Pilates can’t fix everything.)

Know Before You Go

JETSET Pilates Lake Norman is at Birkdale Place in Huntersville, across from Birkdale Village and above Caribou Coffee and Chopt. That makes it easy to grab a post-class latte or a salad. Kayla admits they practically live at Caribou.

• Schedule: Weekday classes run almost every hour from 5 a.m. through lunch, then pick back up from 4 to 8 p.m. Weekend classes start around 7 or 8 a.m. and run into mid-afternoon. 
• What to wear: Comfortable workout clothes that aren’t too baggy. Grip socks are required for hygiene, and the studio sells them if you forget yours.
• How to book: Download the JETSET app. It’s where you book classes, join waitlists, and reschedule, so there’s no need to call.
• Stay in the loop: Follow JETSET Pilates Lake Norman on Instagram @jetsetpilateslakenorman and join their email list through the link in their bio. Subscribers hear about events and new classes before anything is posted on social media.

Rooted at the Lake, Growing Across Charlotte

Birkdale is the flagship studio, and Kayla and Ben are proud that it’s here on the lake. They’ve also opened a second location in Charlotte’s South End, have a third studio in the works, and plan to open more. Their goal is simple: when people in the Charlotte area think of Pilates, they should think of JETSET.

We love to see this kind of story around here. A Huntersville native and a St. Simons transplant who found each other at work, both got hooked on the same workout, and built a business from it. They started that business in the community they call home.

So as fall settles over the lake and the boat days get fewer, maybe it’s time for a new routine. Grab some grip socks, book a class, and swing by Caribou afterward.

About the author:

Jeff Hamm is the visionary behind The Best of LKN – a media platform that has been spotlighting and promoting the most adored local small businesses and nonprofits in the Lake Norman area since 2020.

Jeff’s also an expert real estate broker who brings deep expertise in premium neighborhoods and strong ties to the region’s top builders, designers, and service providers.

Learn more:
www.LKNreal.com
www.BannerElkLiving.com

Jeff Hamm is a North Carolina real estate broker with Ivester Jackson | Christie’s International Real Estate, serving Lake Norman, North Carolina. He specializes in luxury and waterfront property, golf and lakefront communities, condominiums, active adult and family-friendly neighborhoods, and short-term rental and investment purchases – with a particular focus on buyer representation, where his relationships with the region’s top listing brokers, builders, and designers give his clients a measurable edge.

Jeff is also the founder and host of The Best of LKN, a podcast, newsletter, and media platform that has spotlighted the Lake Norman area’s most admired small businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs since 2020. He publishes the annual Lake Norman Visitors Guide, regular market reports, and hosts The Best of Lake Norman Business Network.