Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Mikayla Renfrow Shares How She Found Her Voice, Community, And Home At Barre3
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) Month, and we’re so excited to be celebrating it all month long. Throughout May, watch the B3 Magazine and barre3 Instagram for stories highlighting members of our global barre3 community who identify as AAPI.
Today, we’re featuring Mikayla Renfrow, an instructor at barre3 Montgomery, in Cincinnati. As a Korean-American growing up in Ohio, Mikayla knows what it’s like to feel like the “other” in the room. “When I was younger,” she explains, I was constantly searching for rooms with people that made me feel like I belonged.” Today, she shares her story of struggling to find her place in the dance and fitness community, and finally finding it with barre3. “Barre3 was a light for me because it was the first job where I felt like I had found my place,” she says. Read on for our conversation.
B3 MAGAZINE: You just became an instructor in December—welcome! What made you decide to audition?
MIKAYLA: I had just finished my fall semester—I’m in my final year of school majoring in dance and music. I had been working as a server, and it was just a soul-sucking, horrific experience. I actually got covid, and as I was home quarantining, I just reevaluated everything and decided to leave my job.
During quarantine, I was going through Instagram, and I came across a post from barre barre3 Cincinnati—I had taken a class with them a while ago and started following them because their social media is so great. The post said that they were hiring instructors.
B3 MAGAZINE: Had you ever considered being an instructor before?
MIKAYLA: I had always thought I’d love to do something in wellness. I had dreams of being a part of a community and staff where people love to come to work—I had never experienced anything like that before. And the timing was perfect. I was literally sitting on the coach wondering what my next job would be, and here was this post from my barre3 studio. I loved the class I took and still remembered the workout, so I felt like it made sense to at least try. I’m a dancer, so I hoped having that background would help my chances.
B3 MAGAZINE: What was the audition process like?
MIKAYLA: I did my audition video in my itty bitty apartment——I think I actually knocked over a plant while I was doing it! But it must have been ok, because I passed the audition.
B3 MAGAZINE: Did you go right from that to teaching classes?
MIKAYLA: I was paired with an instructor mentor, and she was so inspiring. She pushed me and challenged me and encouraged me in all the right ways. Soon I did my Friends & Family classes—I’m lucky I have lots of dancer friends from school who were up for taking those first classes!—and then I jumped in full time. Now I teach four classes a week.
B3 MAGAZINE: You mentioned in your letter to us that after so many years of feeling like the “other” when you walk in a room, barre3 was the first job where you felt like you’d found your place. Can you talk more about that?
MIKAYLA: As someone in the dance and fitness space, I started to notice a few years ago that most of the fitness instructors in my area don’t look like me. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve had some incredible instructors, but I just had this moment where I looked around and realized, not a lot of these people look like me. Why is that?
I had worked for one other fitness company before I joined barre3. I started at the front desk in hopes of transferring up to be an instructor. When it came time to audition, they pushed me aside. They said, “We don’t see you as an instructor.” I didn’t understand—when I was hired, they had led me to believe I would move on to be an instructor. But then I realized what they were actually saying. I think I just didn’t fit the “look” they associated with an instructor.
B3 MAGAZINE: What an awful experience. I’m so sorry—and I’m so glad to hear you didn’t feel any of that at barre3! What was it about barre3 that made you feel at home?
MIKAYLA: It was amazing! The whole team—instructors, front desk, everyone—embraced me right away and seemed genuinely glad that I was joining them. There was none of that threatening energy you sometimes feel being the new person. And the clients have been so kind, too. In those first workouts, when I was a little nervous to be up there leading a class, they’d smile at me, show me they were having fun, loving the workout. They gave me the energy to push through the nerves.
B3 MAGAZINE: It takes a lot to step into a leadership role—especially if it’s new to you.
MIKAYLA: It’s funny—I never felt confident enough to be a leader in a room before this. Weirdly enough, it’s through my instructor training that as a human—and specifically as a woman—I found a confidence I’d never experienced before. I felt deserving of a spot in the room. It’s truly been a metamorphosis for me as a woman.
B3 MAGAZINE: That’s incredible. I have no doubt that your clients feel and feed off of that genuine confidence.
MIKAYLA: My goal is to pay it forward. Just how I was embraced and helped to feel like I deserved a place in the room, I want my clients to feel included, to feel that they’re not an “other.” I’m always trying to learn people’s names, engage with them. If a client is in the back corner, I’ll say their name, make sure they know someone has their back. I want them to know they’re seen. Especially now, after the events that have taken place against the AAPI community, I want my classes to be a place of empowerment, comfort, and healing.
Thank you, Mikayla! Join us in celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month all throughout May and beyond. Follow along on Instagram and tune in right here on the B3 Magazine for in-depth interviews, features, and more. And if you’d like to start your barre3 journey, sign up and get your first month of barre3 online for $1, or find your local studio.
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) Month, and we’re so excited to be celebrating it all month long. Throughout May, watch the B3 Magazine and barre3 Instagram for stories highlighting members of our global barre3 community who identify as AAPI.
Today, we’re featuring Mikayla Renfrow, an instructor at barre3 Montgomery, in Cincinnati. As a Korean-American growing up in Ohio, Mikayla knows what it’s like to feel like the “other” in the room. “When I was younger,” she explains, I was constantly searching for rooms with people that made me feel like I belonged.” Today, she shares her story of struggling to find her place in the dance and fitness community, and finally finding it with barre3. “Barre3 was a light for me because it was the first job where I felt like I had found my place,” she says. Read on for our conversation.
B3 MAGAZINE: You just became an instructor in December—welcome! What made you decide to audition?
MIKAYLA: I had just finished my fall semester—I’m in my final year of school majoring in dance and music. I had been working as a server, and it was just a soul-sucking, horrific experience. I actually got covid, and as I was home quarantining, I just reevaluated everything and decided to leave my job.
During quarantine, I was going through Instagram, and I came across a post from barre barre3 Cincinnati—I had taken a class with them a while ago and started following them because their social media is so great. The post said that they were hiring instructors.
B3 MAGAZINE: Had you ever considered being an instructor before?
MIKAYLA: I had always thought I’d love to do something in wellness. I had dreams of being a part of a community and staff where people love to come to work—I had never experienced anything like that before. And the timing was perfect. I was literally sitting on the coach wondering what my next job would be, and here was this post from my barre3 studio. I loved the class I took and still remembered the workout, so I felt like it made sense to at least try. I’m a dancer, so I hoped having that background would help my chances.
B3 MAGAZINE: What was the audition process like?
MIKAYLA: I did my audition video in my itty bitty apartment——I think I actually knocked over a plant while I was doing it! But it must have been ok, because I passed the audition.
B3 MAGAZINE: Did you go right from that to teaching classes?
MIKAYLA: I was paired with an instructor mentor, and she was so inspiring. She pushed me and challenged me and encouraged me in all the right ways. Soon I did my Friends & Family classes—I’m lucky I have lots of dancer friends from school who were up for taking those first classes!—and then I jumped in full time. Now I teach four classes a week.
B3 MAGAZINE: You mentioned in your letter to us that after so many years of feeling like the “other” when you walk in a room, barre3 was the first job where you felt like you’d found your place. Can you talk more about that?
MIKAYLA: As someone in the dance and fitness space, I started to notice a few years ago that most of the fitness instructors in my area don’t look like me. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve had some incredible instructors, but I just had this moment where I looked around and realized, not a lot of these people look like me. Why is that?
I had worked for one other fitness company before I joined barre3. I started at the front desk in hopes of transferring up to be an instructor. When it came time to audition, they pushed me aside. They said, “We don’t see you as an instructor.” I didn’t understand—when I was hired, they had led me to believe I would move on to be an instructor. But then I realized what they were actually saying. I think I just didn’t fit the “look” they associated with an instructor.
B3 MAGAZINE: What an awful experience. I’m so sorry—and I’m so glad to hear you didn’t feel any of that at barre3! What was it about barre3 that made you feel at home?
MIKAYLA: It was amazing! The whole team—instructors, front desk, everyone—embraced me right away and seemed genuinely glad that I was joining them. There was none of that threatening energy you sometimes feel being the new person. And the clients have been so kind, too. In those first workouts, when I was a little nervous to be up there leading a class, they’d smile at me, show me they were having fun, loving the workout. They gave me the energy to push through the nerves.
B3 MAGAZINE: It takes a lot to step into a leadership role—especially if it’s new to you.
MIKAYLA: It’s funny—I never felt confident enough to be a leader in a room before this. Weirdly enough, it’s through my instructor training that as a human—and specifically as a woman—I found a confidence I’d never experienced before. I felt deserving of a spot in the room. It’s truly been a metamorphosis for me as a woman.
B3 MAGAZINE: That’s incredible. I have no doubt that your clients feel and feed off of that genuine confidence.
MIKAYLA: My goal is to pay it forward. Just how I was embraced and helped to feel like I deserved a place in the room, I want my clients to feel included, to feel that they’re not an “other.” I’m always trying to learn people’s names, engage with them. If a client is in the back corner, I’ll say their name, make sure they know someone has their back. I want them to know they’re seen. Especially now, after the events that have taken place against the AAPI community, I want my classes to be a place of empowerment, comfort, and healing.
Thank you, Mikayla! Join us in celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month all throughout May and beyond. Follow along on Instagram and tune in right here on the B3 Magazine for in-depth interviews, features, and more. And if you’d like to start your barre3 journey, sign up and get your first month of barre3 online for $1, or find your local studio.
