Connect
Living My Truth + Loving It
June is Pride Month, and we’re so excited to be celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community all month long. Today, Bri Baer, a former instructor at barre3 Doylestown and barre3 West Village, shares her story. Read on to learn how she fulfilled a lifelong dream when she moved to New York City and how her deep bond with two of her coworkers at barre3 West Village played a major role in her coming-out story.
For more ways to celebrate Pride Month with us, check out our free, donation-based class series, shop our first-ever Pride Collection in the B3 Shop, and tune into the barre3 Instagram and the B3 Magazine all month long.
Do you have a Pride story to share? We would love to hear from you! Email us anytime at dei@barre3.com.
It’s hard to say when or where my story starts, but in many ways, it really began when I moved to New York City and started working at barre3 West Village. I had wanted to live in New York City my entire life, and I finally decided to go when a friend of mine decided to move there. I was a little intimidated by the NYC studio, even though I had been an instructor at barre3 Doylestown, but I knew I wanted to be a part of the community.
I started taking classes right away, and I became an instructor at the same time as a woman named Connie did. Another woman, Natalie, was working at the front desk—she was always there during my 6 a.m. classes, so we bonded quickly. We had all moved to the city at the same time, and we were all around the same age. We were hanging out constantly, and when our leases were up, they moved in together and I moved into a studio six blocks away.
We saw each other every day, if not at the studio then at our apartments. Then the guy I was dating broke up with me, and it devastated me. I was a mess—I couldn’t get out of bed. Natalie and Connie were both working the day we broke up, and they took shifts to be with me. I was in a bad place—for about a month, I contemplated killing myself every day. But Connie and Natalie were there for me every second. I credit them—actually the entire barre3 staff—for saving my life.
It was around that time that I really started to face my sexuality—to open my mind to who I was. Before I had started dating that guy, I thought I knew who I was, but now I was questioning everything. At first I just sat with the questions, but then I started to feel ready to talk about it—but just with Connie and Natalie to start.
We each had a pink couch—I had one in my apartment, and Connie and Natalie had one in theirs—and we’d have what we called pink-couch nights. One night during a pink-couch night, when I was finally starting to heal and was ready to start dating again, Connie and Natalie were helping me with my dating-app profile, and I said, “You guys, I think I want to open my profile to girls.” They didn’t skip a beat. They were so supportive and just rallied. I was so nervous, but I also knew we had such a bond—we had done a lot of growing up together during our time in New York. They accepted it—and me—so beautifully that it encouraged me to dig further into myself and find the real me.
It was such an exciting time, but then the world turned upside down. Covid hit, and both Connie and Natalie left to go to their hometowns within a few days of each other—which left me alone with myself and my tiny studio apartment in the East village. I felt like the rug had been ripped out from under me as these two people were my whole support system. I was filled with anxiety. I stayed in the city and continued to work my full-time job, plus I was protesting every single day for Black Lives Matter. I was emotionally exhausted, and honestly, with that kind of exhaustion, I just didn’t have the energy to tell myself lies. That’s when I really did the deep soul searching. I was finally realizing who I was. Deep down, you always know, but I was finally starting to come to terms with it.
By September, I knew I needed a break. One of my best friends was going to L.A. and I decided to go with him. Within my first week there, I finally came out as lesbian—I actually called Connie to tell her on National Coming Out Day! That was a Wednesday, and that Saturday, I met my now-girlfriend at a birthday party.
I took some time before coming out to my family, but eventually I did, first to my sister and brother-in-law, because I knew it would be safe, and then to my dad and mom. They were all so supportive.
Honestly, looking back, I don’t know that I even would have come out as bi, let alone as lesbian, without the friendship and support of Connie and Natalie. After coming out to them and seeing and feeling the way they loved me endlessly and with no bounds, I realized I can love myself endlessly and with no bounds. Once I finally accepted this part of me, I found peace within myself and my soul.
Even now, living nowhere near each other, we’re constantly communicating. We’re so vocal about how thankful we are for each other. We didn’t just find each other through our relationship—we also found ourselves. I attribute my new life—being able to live in my truth, falling in love—to my friendship with them. I’m beyond blessed, and I tell them every day that they encouraged me to find myself—and for that, I am forever grateful to barre3 for giving me my biggest supporters and lifelong friends.
Thank you, Bri, for sharing your story!
June is Pride Month, and we’re so excited to be celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community all month long. Today, Bri Baer, a former instructor at barre3 Doylestown and barre3 West Village, shares her story. Read on to learn how she fulfilled a lifelong dream when she moved to New York City and how her deep bond with two of her coworkers at barre3 West Village played a major role in her coming-out story.
For more ways to celebrate Pride Month with us, check out our free, donation-based class series, shop our first-ever Pride Collection in the B3 Shop, and tune into the barre3 Instagram and the B3 Magazine all month long.
Do you have a Pride story to share? We would love to hear from you! Email us anytime at dei@barre3.com.
It’s hard to say when or where my story starts, but in many ways, it really began when I moved to New York City and started working at barre3 West Village. I had wanted to live in New York City my entire life, and I finally decided to go when a friend of mine decided to move there. I was a little intimidated by the NYC studio, even though I had been an instructor at barre3 Doylestown, but I knew I wanted to be a part of the community.
I started taking classes right away, and I became an instructor at the same time as a woman named Connie did. Another woman, Natalie, was working at the front desk—she was always there during my 6 a.m. classes, so we bonded quickly. We had all moved to the city at the same time, and we were all around the same age. We were hanging out constantly, and when our leases were up, they moved in together and I moved into a studio six blocks away.
We saw each other every day, if not at the studio then at our apartments. Then the guy I was dating broke up with me, and it devastated me. I was a mess—I couldn’t get out of bed. Natalie and Connie were both working the day we broke up, and they took shifts to be with me. I was in a bad place—for about a month, I contemplated killing myself every day. But Connie and Natalie were there for me every second. I credit them—actually the entire barre3 staff—for saving my life.
It was around that time that I really started to face my sexuality—to open my mind to who I was. Before I had started dating that guy, I thought I knew who I was, but now I was questioning everything. At first I just sat with the questions, but then I started to feel ready to talk about it—but just with Connie and Natalie to start.
We each had a pink couch—I had one in my apartment, and Connie and Natalie had one in theirs—and we’d have what we called pink-couch nights. One night during a pink-couch night, when I was finally starting to heal and was ready to start dating again, Connie and Natalie were helping me with my dating-app profile, and I said, “You guys, I think I want to open my profile to girls.” They didn’t skip a beat. They were so supportive and just rallied. I was so nervous, but I also knew we had such a bond—we had done a lot of growing up together during our time in New York. They accepted it—and me—so beautifully that it encouraged me to dig further into myself and find the real me.
It was such an exciting time, but then the world turned upside down. Covid hit, and both Connie and Natalie left to go to their hometowns within a few days of each other—which left me alone with myself and my tiny studio apartment in the East village. I felt like the rug had been ripped out from under me as these two people were my whole support system. I was filled with anxiety. I stayed in the city and continued to work my full-time job, plus I was protesting every single day for Black Lives Matter. I was emotionally exhausted, and honestly, with that kind of exhaustion, I just didn’t have the energy to tell myself lies. That’s when I really did the deep soul searching. I was finally realizing who I was. Deep down, you always know, but I was finally starting to come to terms with it.
By September, I knew I needed a break. One of my best friends was going to L.A. and I decided to go with him. Within my first week there, I finally came out as lesbian—I actually called Connie to tell her on National Coming Out Day! That was a Wednesday, and that Saturday, I met my now-girlfriend at a birthday party.
I took some time before coming out to my family, but eventually I did, first to my sister and brother-in-law, because I knew it would be safe, and then to my dad and mom. They were all so supportive.
Honestly, looking back, I don’t know that I even would have come out as bi, let alone as lesbian, without the friendship and support of Connie and Natalie. After coming out to them and seeing and feeling the way they loved me endlessly and with no bounds, I realized I can love myself endlessly and with no bounds. Once I finally accepted this part of me, I found peace within myself and my soul.
Even now, living nowhere near each other, we’re constantly communicating. We’re so vocal about how thankful we are for each other. We didn’t just find each other through our relationship—we also found ourselves. I attribute my new life—being able to live in my truth, falling in love—to my friendship with them. I’m beyond blessed, and I tell them every day that they encouraged me to find myself—and for that, I am forever grateful to barre3 for giving me my biggest supporters and lifelong friends.
Thank you, Bri, for sharing your story!
