Black History Month
Jasmine Niernberger Inspires People To Find Confidence In Their Bodies And Homes
In honor of Black History Month, we’re celebrating Black voices throughout February, both in the larger fitness and wellness space and right here in our own barre3 community. Today, we’re bringing you a conversation with Jasmine Niernberger, a founding member and instructor at barre3 14th Street, in Washington D.C., who is working to bring representation to the home-renovation industry. Read on for our conversation.
B3 MAGAZINE: You’re a founding member at barre3 14th Street. How did you first discover barre3?
JASMINE: My first experience with barre actually wasn’t with barre3. Several years ago a friend convinced me to try a barre studio in D.C., but it wasn’t a good experience. I didn’t feel like I looked like the other people, I was nervous, and I didn’t love the workout. I just thought, this isn’t for me. I never went back.
A few years later, the same friend asked me to try barre3. I went, and I fell in love with the community. It was so warm, so welcoming. I felt like it was a place where I could be me—a place I wanted to come back to. I also got an amazing workout. I had never experienced the shakes and quakes quite like that! And I loved the whole-body approach—the way it was the mind, body, soul, all in one package.
B3 MAGAZINE: Did you know you wanted to be an instructor right away?
JASMINE: I remember Alicia (owner at barre3 14th Street) asking me pretty early on if I’d be interested in being an instructor, but I didn’t feel like I was quite ready. Then about a year after I became a member, I decided I wanted to give it a try.
I’ve brought so many lessons from barre3 into my life. Most recently, I started to move in synchronization with my business partner. This was only after hearing a barre3 talk by Kelly McGonigal, who talked about the power of movement and the benefits of moving in synchronization with others—how it can help us feel aligned and more empathetic toward others. I find that it has helped!
B3 MAGAZINE: That brings me to the next topic I wanted to cover. Can you tell me a bit about your business?
JASMINE: It all started when I bought a condo in 2017—right around the time I became a barre3 instructor. It needed a lot of work. No one had lived in the unit for 10 years and there was a sign on the fridge that read “do not open.” Between that and the royal-blue carpet, the whole thing was a complete gut job. But I took on the challenge, and afterward, I had a space I loved and a space I felt confident in. It was at that point, I realized this was something I could do, something I am passionate about.
I grew up in a rent-controlled apartment, but attended private school. The contrast between my experience and that of many of my private school friends has always stuck with me. To put it simply, they felt confident in their space, in their home. With the renovation of my condo, I realized my passion giving others the same opportunity to have that confidence that comes with a space you love.
B3 MAGAZINE: Was design something you had always wanted to do? Did you have any training or background in it?
JASMINE: I’ve always been very spatially gifted. I’m dyslexic, so every few years in grade school would get tested for learning accommodations. I always tested really high in spatial relations. Out of high school I thought about architecture, but ended up going the more business route. I worked in strategy consulting for 10 years out of college.
B3 MAGAZINE: So renovating your apartment was the catalyst to starting your own business?
JASMINE: Yes, absolutely. After I finished my condo and realized I was passionate about bringing that experience to others, I started a design-build firm with my business partner. We do general contracting and full-house renovations—the whole spectrum.
One of the things that’s important to me is representation. There’s just not a lot of representation in this field—especially in the home-renovation space, it’s just not there at all. It’s a gap in the field, and I feel like I can help fill it.
B3 MAGAZINE: That is such an excellent point—home renovation, at least in the way it’s presented to us in the media, is largely white and affluent.
JASMINE: Exactly. And everyone deserves spaces they’re excited about and feel confident in—no matter the size of your budget, where you live, or who you are. That’s so important to me and my business partner. In a way it’s a lot like barre3. As instructors, we want our clients to walk out of every workout feeling confident. My partner and I want that same confidence for our renovation clients when we finish a project with them.
And it’s not just the clients—we want to bring our team on this journey with us, help them share their stories, too. The home-renovation space is interesting because you have blue-collar workers, immigrants, laborers, all in the same space as the million-dollar home buyer.
There are all these things to work through very quickly so you can get everyone on the same page. It’s really a microcosm of society, in a way.
B3 MAGAZINE: I love the idea of bringing the team in. That’s an aspect of home renovation that’s often overlooked.
JASMINE: We’re actually talking about a special project for one of our team members, Rudolfo. He does flooring, bathrooms, general repair—he’s one of our go-to guys. He lives in an apartment, but his son has had some medical issues that have made apartment living difficult. We’d love to help him get to a place where he can have his own home, and then help him design that home so it can accommodate his son’s needs. That means saving up for that house, guiding him through the process, working on plans, all of it.
B3 MAGAZINE: And you’d work with him on all of those aspects?
JASMINE: We would—we actually are!
B3 MAGAZINE: Renovations can be such an all-or-nothing endeavor—it often feels like the only options are to either go to Home Depot and DIY it or to spend tens of thousands of dollars—which isn’t possible for so many of us.
JASMINE: Exactly. We identified that gap in the market and decided to structure our business to fill it. We offer our services in two phases: the design and advisory phase, and the build and construction phase. In the first phase, we’re talking about the design of the house, but also the financial aspect, long-term goals, how and when they’ll move out during the renovation, all the details. This is where my background as a strategic planner comes into play, helping the client figure out all those logistics. Not everyone is ready—either financially or psychologically—to tackle both phases at once, so they might start with just the design and advisory phase. Once they have the plan and a strategy to execute that plan, they can choose how and when they want to take the next steps. If they want to go with us, we move on to the build and construction phase, but if it’s too expensive or doesn’t make sense for them for any reason, they don’t have to commit to it.
B3 MAGAZINE: That sounds refreshingly different from so many renovation projects. You’re always hearing about how they start with one budget and end up spending far more than they’d intended.
JASMINE: We’re incredibly conscious of our clients’ budget. I love to thrift things, and we try to source local materials and reuse materials when we can. I’m a big fan of Facebook Marketplace.
B3 MAGAZINE: It sounds like you’re incredibly busy, still doing consulting and launching this new business. How does your barre3 practice fit into your life and work?
JASMINE: Whenever I’m stressed, I know I need to do a class. It’s the exercise and the mental sanity it provides me, but even more important, it’s the lessons I’ve learned over the years from barre3. One of the biggest is that balance isn’t a permanent state; it’s an ongoing process. For me, that’s been almost more challenging during covid. I’ve spent this past year trying to accelerate my business, so I feel like I have less time than I did before. When I start to feel off, I go back to the basics, and that idea of balance.
Connect with Jasmine at Bright Wood Build and on Instagram.
Thank you, Jasmine, for sharing your story with us! Connect with inspiring instructors like Jasmine by finding your local studio or signing up for a 15-day free trial of barre3 online.
Studio Images Credit: Anna Meyers
In honor of Black History Month, we’re celebrating Black voices throughout February, both in the larger fitness and wellness space and right here in our own barre3 community. Today, we’re bringing you a conversation with Jasmine Niernberger, a founding member and instructor at barre3 14th Street, in Washington D.C., who is working to bring representation to the home-renovation industry. Read on for our conversation.
B3 MAGAZINE: You’re a founding member at barre3 14th Street. How did you first discover barre3?
JASMINE: My first experience with barre actually wasn’t with barre3. Several years ago a friend convinced me to try a barre studio in D.C., but it wasn’t a good experience. I didn’t feel like I looked like the other people, I was nervous, and I didn’t love the workout. I just thought, this isn’t for me. I never went back.
A few years later, the same friend asked me to try barre3. I went, and I fell in love with the community. It was so warm, so welcoming. I felt like it was a place where I could be me—a place I wanted to come back to. I also got an amazing workout. I had never experienced the shakes and quakes quite like that! And I loved the whole-body approach—the way it was the mind, body, soul, all in one package.
B3 MAGAZINE: Did you know you wanted to be an instructor right away?
JASMINE: I remember Alicia (owner at barre3 14th Street) asking me pretty early on if I’d be interested in being an instructor, but I didn’t feel like I was quite ready. Then about a year after I became a member, I decided I wanted to give it a try.
I’ve brought so many lessons from barre3 into my life. Most recently, I started to move in synchronization with my business partner. This was only after hearing a barre3 talk by Kelly McGonigal, who talked about the power of movement and the benefits of moving in synchronization with others—how it can help us feel aligned and more empathetic toward others. I find that it has helped!
B3 MAGAZINE: That brings me to the next topic I wanted to cover. Can you tell me a bit about your business?
JASMINE: It all started when I bought a condo in 2017—right around the time I became a barre3 instructor. It needed a lot of work. No one had lived in the unit for 10 years and there was a sign on the fridge that read “do not open.” Between that and the royal-blue carpet, the whole thing was a complete gut job. But I took on the challenge, and afterward, I had a space I loved and a space I felt confident in. It was at that point, I realized this was something I could do, something I am passionate about.
I grew up in a rent-controlled apartment, but attended private school. The contrast between my experience and that of many of my private school friends has always stuck with me. To put it simply, they felt confident in their space, in their home. With the renovation of my condo, I realized my passion giving others the same opportunity to have that confidence that comes with a space you love.
B3 MAGAZINE: Was design something you had always wanted to do? Did you have any training or background in it?
JASMINE: I’ve always been very spatially gifted. I’m dyslexic, so every few years in grade school would get tested for learning accommodations. I always tested really high in spatial relations. Out of high school I thought about architecture, but ended up going the more business route. I worked in strategy consulting for 10 years out of college.
B3 MAGAZINE: So renovating your apartment was the catalyst to starting your own business?
JASMINE: Yes, absolutely. After I finished my condo and realized I was passionate about bringing that experience to others, I started a design-build firm with my business partner. We do general contracting and full-house renovations—the whole spectrum.
One of the things that’s important to me is representation. There’s just not a lot of representation in this field—especially in the home-renovation space, it’s just not there at all. It’s a gap in the field, and I feel like I can help fill it.
B3 MAGAZINE: That is such an excellent point—home renovation, at least in the way it’s presented to us in the media, is largely white and affluent.
JASMINE: Exactly. And everyone deserves spaces they’re excited about and feel confident in—no matter the size of your budget, where you live, or who you are. That’s so important to me and my business partner. In a way it’s a lot like barre3. As instructors, we want our clients to walk out of every workout feeling confident. My partner and I want that same confidence for our renovation clients when we finish a project with them.
And it’s not just the clients—we want to bring our team on this journey with us, help them share their stories, too. The home-renovation space is interesting because you have blue-collar workers, immigrants, laborers, all in the same space as the million-dollar home buyer.
There are all these things to work through very quickly so you can get everyone on the same page. It’s really a microcosm of society, in a way.
B3 MAGAZINE: I love the idea of bringing the team in. That’s an aspect of home renovation that’s often overlooked.
JASMINE: We’re actually talking about a special project for one of our team members, Rudolfo. He does flooring, bathrooms, general repair—he’s one of our go-to guys. He lives in an apartment, but his son has had some medical issues that have made apartment living difficult. We’d love to help him get to a place where he can have his own home, and then help him design that home so it can accommodate his son’s needs. That means saving up for that house, guiding him through the process, working on plans, all of it.
B3 MAGAZINE: And you’d work with him on all of those aspects?
JASMINE: We would—we actually are!
B3 MAGAZINE: Renovations can be such an all-or-nothing endeavor—it often feels like the only options are to either go to Home Depot and DIY it or to spend tens of thousands of dollars—which isn’t possible for so many of us.
JASMINE: Exactly. We identified that gap in the market and decided to structure our business to fill it. We offer our services in two phases: the design and advisory phase, and the build and construction phase. In the first phase, we’re talking about the design of the house, but also the financial aspect, long-term goals, how and when they’ll move out during the renovation, all the details. This is where my background as a strategic planner comes into play, helping the client figure out all those logistics. Not everyone is ready—either financially or psychologically—to tackle both phases at once, so they might start with just the design and advisory phase. Once they have the plan and a strategy to execute that plan, they can choose how and when they want to take the next steps. If they want to go with us, we move on to the build and construction phase, but if it’s too expensive or doesn’t make sense for them for any reason, they don’t have to commit to it.
B3 MAGAZINE: That sounds refreshingly different from so many renovation projects. You’re always hearing about how they start with one budget and end up spending far more than they’d intended.
JASMINE: We’re incredibly conscious of our clients’ budget. I love to thrift things, and we try to source local materials and reuse materials when we can. I’m a big fan of Facebook Marketplace.
B3 MAGAZINE: It sounds like you’re incredibly busy, still doing consulting and launching this new business. How does your barre3 practice fit into your life and work?
JASMINE: Whenever I’m stressed, I know I need to do a class. It’s the exercise and the mental sanity it provides me, but even more important, it’s the lessons I’ve learned over the years from barre3. One of the biggest is that balance isn’t a permanent state; it’s an ongoing process. For me, that’s been almost more challenging during covid. I’ve spent this past year trying to accelerate my business, so I feel like I have less time than I did before. When I start to feel off, I go back to the basics, and that idea of balance.
Connect with Jasmine at Bright Wood Build and on Instagram.
Thank you, Jasmine, for sharing your story with us! Connect with inspiring instructors like Jasmine by finding your local studio or signing up for a 15-day free trial of barre3 online.
Studio Images Credit: Anna Meyers
