Interview: Taru Chaddha, Founder, Red Mat Pilates

ST Bureau

New Delhi

This interview is a part of Startup Terminal interview series to
mark the occasion of ‘International Women’s Day’

ST: Please tell us more about yourself.

Taru Chaddha: I pride myself on being a Fauji kid and was lucky enough
to have been exposed to an active lifestyle – horse riding, swimming, camping
were common summer activities that we as children got to indulge in.

Taru Chaddha, Founder, Red Mat Pilates

After dabbling in the
corporate sector, I was at a crossroad trying to find a career path that was
meaningful and fulfilling. I was for the longest time a “serial entrepreneur”
as I moved from consulting to banking to being a Television producer, eventually
I chanced upon Pilates.

What started as a way
to keep fit personally and improve my husband’s back pain turned from a 2-3
times a week practice into passion for Pilates.

And have never looked
back since. I started RedMat Pilates and have been actively teaching in Gurgaon
since 2012. Currently we run two studios focussing on women only.

Pilates has helped
combine my interest in fitness and anatomy which led me specialise in rehab and
injury prevention and am the first Indian practioner to be certified in Neuro -Kinetic
Therapy.

Whenever I get a
break from managing two almost teen kids, am a voracious reader, reading upto
2-3 books a week and enjoy travelling across the world. I have dabbled in
adventure sports having bungy jumped from the highest tower in the world and
now want to try out skydiving!

ST: Who is your biggest influence in life?

Taru Chaddha: To take one name would be unfair since I am lucky to
interact with women from different work spheres and I am inspired by quite a
few of them. There are so many of them working in NGO’s, in space of urban
development, being successful CEO’s and managing their own firms. They continue
to motivate and inspire me with their vision, dedication and optimism towards
having a goal-oriented well balanced life.

ST: What challenges do you face in your day-to-day
professional life, if any?

Taru Chaddha: At Red Mat Pilates, our focus is on overall fitness.
Apart from being cognizant of injuries we also have to be conscious of any
emotional /mental stress factors that a lot of our women clients come in with.
Our focus is not just to help our clients become fit physically but for them to
have an overall sense of well being.

Secondly, being a
fitness trainer is demanding on the body, one does keep long hours of work – starting
from 7 a.m and going for 5-6 hours non stop requires a fair amount of physical
and mental endurance.

There is lot of
backend work that goes into running two studios, so balancing work-home hours
also is a huge challenge.

ST: Where do you want to see yourself in next 5 years
down the line?

Taru Chaddha: As a mother of 2 kids who
are successful in their chosen study fields, and I hope to continue bringing awareness
and encouraging women to change the focus from weight loss to being strong and
fit.

ST: What is your message to the readers on
‘International Women’s Day’?

Taru Chaddha: Women across the world have the unenviable task of
juggling multiple roles, which are not only mentally taxing but physically as
well. As role models for the family we
need to set an example for our children. I firmly believe that our kids learn
more from our actions than our words, so it is important that our daughters and
sons see their mothers prioritising their own emotional and physical health.

As the founder of
Pilates Mr. Joseph Pilates said – “Physical
health is the first requisite to happiness! ”.

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Tags: Interview