THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SCREEN

If you’ve ever called or emailed The Pearl with a question, needed a hand with your membership, or wondered who keeps everything running behind the scenes, chances are you’ve already met this week’s Pearl-sonality (sorry!), Teyonna. As our Client Care & Operations Manager, she makes sure the little things, and plenty of the not-so-little things, get taken care of across all of our studios.

That friendly voice on the other end of the line is originally from Alabama. She’s an actor and model who moved to New York in 2019, juuust before Covid (talk about timing). We caught up with her about life in NYC, finding confidence in front of a camera, and the surprisingly rewarding experience of helping people discover Pilates.

Morning person or night owl?
Oh my God, night owl.

Go-to comfort food?
Chickpeas! In all their forms.

Movie you could watch a thousand times?
Last Holiday with Queen Latifah!

Your perfect completely free Saturday in New York?
I'm waking up, getting an ice coffee, reading a book outside somewhere, going to see a movie, and hanging out with friends. 

Most-used emoji?
💀

Favorite way to move your body?
Yoga, hands down.  

What's something that surprised you about working at The Pearl?

I think how curious people are about movement! Pilates has become such a buzzword, but a lot of people call us because they want to move their bodies and try something new. I love that people are so open to exploring something that they might not know much about yet.

You're also an actor and a model. How did you find your way into those worlds, and what do you love about being on set?

I've been acting since college, but modeling started about three years ago. I was between jobs and applying for acting work, and since I didn't have a day job at the time, I thought, let me just apply to anything that looks remotely interesting.

So I started applying for commercial modeling jobs, and when I got my first one, I was on set thinking, wait, this is actually really fun.

I realized I kind of like the pressure of it. The thing about being an actor or a model is that there are hundreds of people working - the sound person, the lighting person, the director - and they've been working for hours. Then it all comes down to you getting something right in, like, a minute.

I like showing up and being like, "Okay, thank you, everybody. I got it. I got it from here."

Has acting and modeling changed the way you think about confidence?

I think I'm the kind of person who believes confidence comes from preparation. With acting, I know I'm going to feel so much better if I've put time into rehearsing. With modeling, it's a little different because there's no rehearsal ahead of time. You don't have lines you've been practicing. It's kind of more blind confidence. You have to get out there and know that you've worked on sets before, and even if they're feeding you lines or things are changing, you just have to go for it. You just have to get out there and start swinging, and maybe you'll hit something!

You moved to New York from Alabama in 2019. What brought you here, and has the city turned out to be what you expected?

Oh my gosh, it's turned out better than I could have ever imagined.

I moved here about four months before Covid. I'd visited New York a lot in college and a few times in high school, but it was never this thing where I thought, "Oh, I'm definitely moving there after college."

After graduating, I was just really open to anything. And one month I was like, "I'm going to try to move to New York." And then I did!

I knew New York would have so many opportunities. There's everything here.

I love visiting home in Alabama, but I love living in New York. The reason I love visiting home is cause I know I'm coming back to New York.

 You have this interesting combination of creative work in front of the camera and operations work behind the scenes. Do those two sides of your life complement each other?

They definitely complement each other. I love the balance - I love being in front of the camera, but I also love just putting my head down and knowing I can knock out work really quickly. I like being able to use different parts of my brain.

I actually thrive in both worlds. I think I need that creative element, but I also need that operational, analytical side of my mind. I don't think I'd be happy doing only one or the other.

What brought you to yoga, and what does your practice look like these days?

I have a friend who worked for a yoga studio, and she would always invite me to classes. I'd take her up on it maybe a couple of times a year. Then last year I went to a class and thought, "Okay, I have to come here every day."

I love connecting breath to movement and intention. And I can clearly see myself getting better, which is so rewarding. You can actually notice yourself getting stronger. It's so addicting to realize, "Wait, last month I literally couldn't do this at all, and now it's a bit easier."

I try to fit yoga in as much as possible, but I choose classes based on what I need. I'll do restorative when I need rest, or more of a sculpt class when I have a lot of energy to burn off. I have a very consistent practice, but it changes depending on how I'm feeling. 

What's something people would be surprised to learn about you?

People are usually shocked that I'm from Alabama. They're like, "Where's the accent?"

But here's an actually random fact about me: I did two years of Mandarin summer camp!

I don't know Mandarin now, but I did this program that, like, George Bush started called StarTalk in Troy, Alabama. It was completely free, and you could study languages like Mandarin, Arabic, Russian, or Swahili. It was so much fun. We learned Mandarin and Chinese culture, and the teachers would not stop feeding us snacks. Every few hours they were like, "You guys need snacks? Yeah, you need snacks." 

You're turning 30 in January. What version of yourself do you feel like you're growing into right now?

Oh my gosh, I think I'm growing into the CEO of my own path.

I'm really owning all the different parts of my life: working in operations, being in front of the camera, having my hobbies and personal projects.

Before, I don't think I felt quite as autonomous about it all. Now I feel much more in control of what I'm doing and where I'm going.

Maybe that's part of turning 30!

See ya on the mat 💙

Mott Haven is closed this Sunday 🏃‍♀️🏃

The NYC Marathon runs right through our neighborhood this Sunday (11/1), and the studio is smack in the middle of the route, so we’ll be closed for the day so you can cheer on the runners, and avoid road closures.  City Island is open as usual, so you can still get your Sunday class in :)

Founding Memberships for Riverdale: only 29 left!

Less than two days in, and there are only 29 of 100 Founding Memberships left! The waitlist got first dibs, and they are going fast. Come be part of the crew from day one. Click here to join before they’re gone!