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MOVING, MARRIAGE, MOTHERHOOD: HOW BARRE3 HELPED ONE WOMAN FIND CALM IN THE CHAOS
As a culture, we love a happy ending, a neat and tidy bow to wrap up every story. But sometimes, the most interesting part of the story begins right after the “happily ever after”. That’s how it happened for Melanie Frances Hutson, a barre3 Online client whose “happy ending” left her feeling, in some ways, untethered. Read on to learn about how a move, marriage, and motherhood changed her life, and what she did to maintain a sense of self through it all (hint: barre3 makes a cameo!).
At 39 years old, Melanie Frances Hutson was living a single woman’s dream. Originally from France, she had moved to Montreal and was working as a creative researcher for an advertising agency—a job she loved. She relished her independence, taking advantage of the opportunity to dash off to a film at a moment’s notice, park herself at a café to read for hours, and drop into art galleries and browse for as long as she wanted.
She was also trying to write a novel—a lifelong dream of hers. One day, looking for inspiration for faces of her characters, she searched #selfportrait on Instagram and was especially struck by one particular photo, a close-up of a man driving, wearing sunglasses and sporting a scruffy beard and lots of freckles. “I felt immediately drawn to the feline beauty of his face—something of a 70’s actor vibe, Redford, Steve McQueen—and the intense inner life that I sensed there,” says Melanie. “It’s all a little bit mysterious and intangible.” She followed him on Instagram, and he followed her back. He was living more than 500 miles away, in Maryland, but the chemistry was strong, and they decided to meet in New York.
“We fell in love,” says Melanie. “I know it sounds crazy, but we did.”
After dating long-distance for two years, they finally decided to get married. They planned to do a simple ceremony at City Hall in Annapolis, but a snowstorm shut down all government offices for the day. “So my husband found a lovely woman who did civil services,” explains Melanie, “and I called my favorite used bookstore, and we got married there.”
In the rom-com version of this story, the movie ends there, the happy couple kissing among the towering aisles of books, unsuspecting customers wiping their eyes at the sweetness of it all. The closing credits show Melanie and her husband two years later, beaming at their new baby.
The baby part did happen—a remarkable little boy named Noah—but life didn’t exactly feel rom-com-worthy.
After a rough pregnancy (“I was nauseated the whole time”), Melanie’s baby was breech, and she had to have a c-section. And then there was the reality of new motherhood. “I found having a baby completely overwhelming in every sense,” she says. “I was overwhelmed with love, but there was also the chaos of no sleep, breastfeeding was a struggle because I didn’t have much milk, and my alone time was obliterated. I had always wanted kids, but this was such a 180. I went from being single, living in a big city, working at a creative job, sleeping in when I wanted to, and having access to culture, to living in the suburbs in the U.S. and spending all my time taking care of my baby.”
Early motherhood can be isolating for anyone, but as a French woman suddenly immersed in American culture, it was perhaps even more so for Melanie. “In the U.S., there’s often this sense that the mother should be a martyr,” she says. “Children come first, and you’re expected to be selfless. In France, I find that the woman’s sense of self remains much more honored and nurtured.”
Determined to retain that sense of self, she looked within. “Those first several months of motherhood involved a lot of inner work and renegotiating,” Melanie says. “It was a lot of letting go of expectations, of perfection, of control—but also of keeping up with my passion.” She had launched a project soon after moving to Maryland—a virtual book club of sorts called My Book Hunter, in which she chooses a newly released book each month, shares it with her global community, and fosters a discussion about it. It would have been easy to drop the business once Noah was born, but Melanie knew she needed it for herself. “My passion for books hasn’t changed,” she says. “Maintaining my business has helped keep it alive.”
She also made a conscious effort to carve out time for herself, even when it felt like the world wanted her to give herself over entirely to motherhood. When her two step-children come home from school, they often take Noah out to play for 30 minutes—a seemingly small act that has “been crazily helpful,” she says. And after discovering—and falling in love with—barre3 Online, she now finds time to do the workouts five times a week. “The workout is incredible, and I have so much energy when I finish,” she raves. “But it’s so much more than that. It’s the philosophy, the community. And all these women leading the workouts—they don’t look exactly the same. They’re real. The ultimate message is about honoring your truth and not so much about achieving a perfect body.”
The bookstore-wedding “happy ending” to Melanie’s story? It may have been movie material, but it ends just before the true growth begins. The real-life version—the one in which she looks within for answers, nurtures her passion, and continues to grow—is exactly the kind of authentic journey we love to celebrate at barre3.
“I once heard Sadie say something about finding the calm in the chaos,” she says. “I love that—and I’m learning to do it.”
Has life taken the reins lately, leaving you feeling lost in the chaos? Find your center again with barre3 Online. With more than 250 streamable workouts starting at just 10 minutes, it’s designed to help you move your body, even on your busiest days.
As a culture, we love a happy ending, a neat and tidy bow to wrap up every story. But sometimes, the most interesting part of the story begins right after the “happily ever after”. That’s how it happened for Melanie Frances Hutson, a barre3 Online client whose “happy ending” left her feeling, in some ways, untethered. Read on to learn about how a move, marriage, and motherhood changed her life, and what she did to maintain a sense of self through it all (hint: barre3 makes a cameo!).
At 39 years old, Melanie Frances Hutson was living a single woman’s dream. Originally from France, she had moved to Montreal and was working as a creative researcher for an advertising agency—a job she loved. She relished her independence, taking advantage of the opportunity to dash off to a film at a moment’s notice, park herself at a café to read for hours, and drop into art galleries and browse for as long as she wanted.
She was also trying to write a novel—a lifelong dream of hers. One day, looking for inspiration for faces of her characters, she searched #selfportrait on Instagram and was especially struck by one particular photo, a close-up of a man driving, wearing sunglasses and sporting a scruffy beard and lots of freckles. “I felt immediately drawn to the feline beauty of his face—something of a 70’s actor vibe, Redford, Steve McQueen—and the intense inner life that I sensed there,” says Melanie. “It’s all a little bit mysterious and intangible.” She followed him on Instagram, and he followed her back. He was living more than 500 miles away, in Maryland, but the chemistry was strong, and they decided to meet in New York.
“We fell in love,” says Melanie. “I know it sounds crazy, but we did.”
After dating long-distance for two years, they finally decided to get married. They planned to do a simple ceremony at City Hall in Annapolis, but a snowstorm shut down all government offices for the day. “So my husband found a lovely woman who did civil services,” explains Melanie, “and I called my favorite used bookstore, and we got married there.”
In the rom-com version of this story, the movie ends there, the happy couple kissing among the towering aisles of books, unsuspecting customers wiping their eyes at the sweetness of it all. The closing credits show Melanie and her husband two years later, beaming at their new baby.
The baby part did happen—a remarkable little boy named Noah—but life didn’t exactly feel rom-com-worthy.
After a rough pregnancy (“I was nauseated the whole time”), Melanie’s baby was breech, and she had to have a c-section. And then there was the reality of new motherhood. “I found having a baby completely overwhelming in every sense,” she says. “I was overwhelmed with love, but there was also the chaos of no sleep, breastfeeding was a struggle because I didn’t have much milk, and my alone time was obliterated. I had always wanted kids, but this was such a 180. I went from being single, living in a big city, working at a creative job, sleeping in when I wanted to, and having access to culture, to living in the suburbs in the U.S. and spending all my time taking care of my baby.”
Early motherhood can be isolating for anyone, but as a French woman suddenly immersed in American culture, it was perhaps even more so for Melanie. “In the U.S., there’s often this sense that the mother should be a martyr,” she says. “Children come first, and you’re expected to be selfless. In France, I find that the woman’s sense of self remains much more honored and nurtured.”
Determined to retain that sense of self, she looked within. “Those first several months of motherhood involved a lot of inner work and renegotiating,” Melanie says. “It was a lot of letting go of expectations, of perfection, of control—but also of keeping up with my passion.” She had launched a project soon after moving to Maryland—a virtual book club of sorts called My Book Hunter, in which she chooses a newly released book each month, shares it with her global community, and fosters a discussion about it. It would have been easy to drop the business once Noah was born, but Melanie knew she needed it for herself. “My passion for books hasn’t changed,” she says. “Maintaining my business has helped keep it alive.”
She also made a conscious effort to carve out time for herself, even when it felt like the world wanted her to give herself over entirely to motherhood. When her two step-children come home from school, they often take Noah out to play for 30 minutes—a seemingly small act that has “been crazily helpful,” she says. And after discovering—and falling in love with—barre3 Online, she now finds time to do the workouts five times a week. “The workout is incredible, and I have so much energy when I finish,” she raves. “But it’s so much more than that. It’s the philosophy, the community. And all these women leading the workouts—they don’t look exactly the same. They’re real. The ultimate message is about honoring your truth and not so much about achieving a perfect body.”
The bookstore-wedding “happy ending” to Melanie’s story? It may have been movie material, but it ends just before the true growth begins. The real-life version—the one in which she looks within for answers, nurtures her passion, and continues to grow—is exactly the kind of authentic journey we love to celebrate at barre3.
“I once heard Sadie say something about finding the calm in the chaos,” she says. “I love that—and I’m learning to do it.”
Has life taken the reins lately, leaving you feeling lost in the chaos? Find your center again with barre3 Online. With more than 250 streamable workouts starting at just 10 minutes, it’s designed to help you move your body, even on your busiest days.
