Inside Raven Ross’ mission to make pilates inclusive, accessible, and, yes, affordable  

Raven Ross discusses internet controversy, her new app, and how she’s bringing pilates to as many as possible. 

On a warm, sunny Saturday morning in mid-September, Raven Ross turned a downtown D.C. hotel’s rooftop pool deck into a celebration of movement. 

Against the city skyline, the 32-year-old fitness entrepreneur led dozens of women of all colors and creeds through Pilates flows set to a vibey mix of R&B, rap, and pop. She cracked jokes, shouted encouragement, and kept the energy high as attendees—some seasoned, others first-timers—moved in sync. 

Between stretches, women laughed with one another, sipped from specially provided boxed water and juices, and swapped Instagram handles. The class felt more like a wellness block party than a boutique workout, a living picture of the community Ross has spent years trying to build.

That scene stood in sharp contrast to the online controversy that had clouded her reputation just days earlier. In a since-deleted video that went viral on TikTok, Ross in an attempt to explain Pilates’ price point and bougie misperception, compared the workout method to a luxury fashion house, saying, “You would never walk into Bottega and be like, ‘Where is the diversity? Where is the accessibility? Babe, there is no accessibility. This is Bottega.”

She released an apology that was received about as well as the initial video. Many interpreted her comments as suggesting that Pilates was not meant to be and should not be accessible, despite its humble background and what it targets in the body. Pilates, at its core, is a low-impact exercise system built around controlled movements, breath, and alignment. It shares yoga’s focus on mind-body connection and breathwork, while echoing ballet’s emphasis on posture, precision, and long, lean strength. 

The method was created in the 1920s by Joseph Pilates, who first developed the practice while confined in a World War I internment camp, adapting springs from hospital beds to help fellow detainees rebuild strength and mobility. He later trained a small circle of protégés, including Kathy Stanford Grant, a pioneering Black dancer who became one of his few certified teachers — proof that people of color, and Black women in particular, have long been part of Pilates’ lineage.

Ross admits her backlash was deserved and takes responsibility for her words. 

“Pilates is for everyone. The mission statement that we literally have on our banner is Pilates for all bodies. And I truly mean that,” she told theGrio after her pop-up class. 

“What I said, which I articulated horribly and take ownership for—I should have developed my thoughts and should have thought twice before I ever came on the internet—was something that just wasn’t positive,” she continued. “But my true intention was to highlight the reason why it’s taken Pilates so long to be truly accessible.”

Though it started as a workout method derived in an internment camp, it has now become a trendy exercise style kept behind the doors of expensive studios. Training to become an instructor can be even more inaccessible than going. Cue the Raven Ross’ who (ironically) have made the highly beneficial workout far more accessible by forgoing fancy studios altogether and taking their classes straight to the masses online.  

She kicked off the class with an apology to her members who had joined her for the class for misrepresenting those who practice it and the exercise method. 

Now, she’s focused on showing that her actions speak louder than her words. Ross first entered the spotlight as a cast member on season three of Netflix’s “Love Is Blind.” Since then, she has grown into a full-fledged wellness entrepreneur with a multifaceted brand that includes a popular YouTube channel, frequent pop-up events around the country, and now her brand-new Pilates Body by Raven app. 

The app is free to download and serves as a hub for on-demand videos, community updates, and affordable programs, including a pregnancy-friendly series that users can keep for their entire nine months. Membership is $40 a month at full price, but Ross often runs sales to keep costs low. Plus, users can access many of her free workouts and workout challenges through the app.

“Nothing I do is over $50 ever, point blank, period,” she said.

Her commitment to accessibility is rooted in her own journey. A professional dancer for two decades, Ross first encountered Pilates at 15 and hated it. 

“I was like, oh my god, yawn. I’m literally sleeping on the mat,” she recalled. 

But in college, she found a class that shifted her perspective. 

“I just found a Pilates class that really made it click for me. And after that, I just kept rolling with it.” 

Step by step, she transitioned from student to teacher, eventually working in large studios before launching her own content. That shift accelerated during the pandemic, when she began filming workouts for YouTube after long days of teaching. 

“I wasn’t a social media person. I’m not a tech person. I was like, I am going to figure out how to edit my own videos… and that’s how it started,” she said, recalling coming home after long days of teaching to spend long nights editing her videos. 

Those late nights grew into a loyal online following and, later, a community that spans from digital screens to pop-up events in major cities nationwide. 

For Ross, the physical gatherings are just as important as the videos. 

“We do two to three pop-ups a month on top of my regular teaching schedule,” she explained. “It’s really a part of the mission to just get more women in the space and just outside of Pilates or fitness. Being well together and hearing each other’s stories and making friends… that is so important.”

Ultimately, Ross says her work is about impact, not aesthetics. 

“The biggest takeaway is leaving here with an inspired spirit for the rest of your day,” she said. “I want what I’m doing to just live so much longer than I will.”