Aerial Fit Online has always been global. And now, we are too! After 15 years of building something special in Charleston, we’ve officially closed our in-person studio and are launching an ongoing adventure as digital nomads. Our first stop is in Finland.
This isn’t an ending for us and it isn’t a beginning. It’s an expansion. We’ve stepped away from the four walls of our studio so we can put 100% of our energy into building the best aerial resource in the world for instructors and dedicated practitioners everywhere. There is so much going on, we waned to share some of our hectic excitement with you.
Our mission hasn’t changed. We teach skills with clarity, help aerialists build real progress, and help instructors become the kind of teachers students never forget.
We are narrowing our focus so that we can make our reach bigger.
Here’s what we’re focusing on now:
There may be occasional disruptions to our timing, like our newsletter coming out mid-month rather than the beginning of the month one month late. But we don’t want you to worry about new content. We have stockpiled plenty of new tutorials (hundreds, actually!). What we mean is we’ve filmed them before shutting down our studio, but we still need to edit and script them and we can and will do that from anywhere in the world.
We have been slaves to our in-person studio for a long time. We loved it, but we worked 6 days a week, 10 hours a day for 8 years until COVID. It is hard to fit in a vacation with a schedule like that we were enjoying ourselves so much we rarely bothered. When we ere forced to stop for COVID we realized we were ready for something new.
We have been directly working towards this dream for the past five years. And like many dreams it comes with some muscle twitching and mumbling.
So… Finland?
We did a lot of research online about different cultures around the world. There was so much to consider, but time and again, the Scandinavian countries kept coming up on our list of awesome sounding places. Then we had our ah-ha moment. That isn’t what we want. We don’t want to pick one place at the exception of all of the others. It has been a bit of a challenge to reprogram our brains. But then we want to go everywhere our members are is a great idea, but it isn’t a plan. So we went back to our list of awesome places, we visited Sweden, Norway, and Finland and we immediately felt a connection in Finland. So that is why Finland. People are great every where (well, we have been giving the US a bit of side eye these days) and we will get to you, but first… Finland!
Our studio
We didn’t want to manage an in-person studio from a different continent, so we knew we had to untether ourselves from our own aerial studio and home away from home for 15 years. We fortunately had some great long-time students of ours (gone professional) who were very interested in taking over the space. Whew! But then came the landlord shuffle, the aerial insurance dance, and the handover of what felt like ten thousand pieces of aerial equipment. We think we have made it to the end. Jordan handled it well until the student messages started coming in thanking us for that time in their lives. I, Clayton, the stoic male, did great until we handed our keys to the studio over to our students and the new caretakers of our beautiful space.
Our cat
Meet Plume. We are bringing her with us. It was hard enough leaving her for our research trip to Northern Europe. There is no way we were leaving her behind.
It will be our first time ever flying with a pet (in cabin of course). It will be her first time traveling
Here she is just after we told her about our dream and the upcoming international flight. She’s a sweet kitty, but she likes her routines. This is really going to interfere with her afternoon nap in the sunbeam.
Then we told her about the multiple vet visits, the new micro chip, and the updated rabies vaccinations. Let’s just say she was not pleased about the news. 🩹
But, then we told her how Helsinki, Finland has a 4AM sunrise and a 11PM sunset, with extended hours of sunbeam napping opportunities. She seems like she is now onboard with our dream and maybe, just maybe, going to cooperate* for the long flight.
* We may have also promised her all the treats she could want.
We started Aerial Fit in 2009 with one class and a simple goal: to build something beautiful through movement, community, and care.
That one class turned into forty a week. We added new teachers, new apparatuses, and new ways to support our students. Over time, Aerial Fit became more than a studio. It became a hub for thoughtful, consistent instruction built on a culture of safety, fairness, and joy.
We believe in teaching with clarity. In strengthening before skill. In giving students tools they can use for a lifetime. Not just to master a skill, but to build trust in their own bodies.
It has worked. And it’s changed lives.
“It truly changed my life… I can’t imagine a better space for feeling safe and feeling a part of something. What you guys created was really special.”
— Jennifer T.
“I couldn’t imagine being where I’m at now without it… Had someone told me 14 years ago this is what I’d be doing, I would’ve laughed myself to tears.”
— Anastasia T.
“You created something so much more important than an aerial school. You created a home… and friendships that will last the rest of our lives.”
— Christine R.
“Aerial Fit was such a huge chapter of my life. I still hold the community I built there as a pillar against which I measure all my other experiences.”
— Angela B.
Everything we built in that time now lives online. It’s organized, expanded, and designed to support aerialists around the world.
We don’t just offer tutorials.
We offer a method. A structure that’s clear, safe, and adaptable no matter where or how you train.
Our tutorials don’t just teach technique—they help you become the kind of instructor students never forget.
We’ve always believed in:
Now, we’re bringing that same philosophy to more people than ever. And we’re further developing our resource with the same care and love that we put into our in person studio and community.
So wherever you train—whether it’s a city studio, a rural barn, or a quiet corner of your living room—AFO is right there with you.
Click here to see why aerialists in 100 countries choose AFO.
