Last year’s gift-giving season ended with the city’s opening of two new fitness boutique studios: Spiral Studio and EmberHaus Method. The two founders—who spent hours delving into their respective crafts—have presented us with a new way to move, shaking up our local fitness scene.
In an industrial building on Baxter Avenue, a retired Louisville Ballet dancer dubbed “Minty,” teaches people the practice of Gyrokensis and Gyrotonics. It began as a class, ran from the inside of Minh-Tuan Nguyen’s home in 2024, and it quickly grew into a studio that’s the first-of-its-kind in Lousiville—tailored to the growing community.
“I think a lot of fitness culture kind of demands us to push harder or work through the pain. And I think this movement system is all about wellness. We do strength, we do mobility, we do coordination but it’s also a way for you to feel at home in your body.”
Spiral Studio made its debut at the end of 2025. Its specialized workouts are often seen used by dancers, physical therapists, Olympians and more. Nguyen began his practice in 2009 as an addition to his ballet training. He believed it helped him sustain a long ballet career and manage his injuries throughout.
“Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis is very circular, very full, three-dimensional, very fluid and natural. So you see more interesting movement patterns and it helps you kind of get through the nooks and crannies in your body,” Nguyen said. “It is a way to help the body in a natural, fluid kind of way.”
It’s no secret that in recent years consumers have flocked to a newer way to workout, one that emphasizes the community-driven, instructor-led experience. The closure of the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically disrupted the health and wellness industry. A global industry that saw $96B in annual revenue, soon experienced a 58% drop at the hands of the pandemic, in the first year alone. But what was once considered as an industry in “recovery,” began showing growth year after year. The studio experience expanded and the culture changed—with more people viewing fitness as an essential with an increased desire for community while doing so.
And that want is now certainly met. Recent years have brought an influx of boutique studios offering group sessions of pilates, yoga, barre and more. These fitness franchises continue to extend their reach as they move into cities across the nation and here at home in the Derby City.
So how does a local player compete?
Well for Nguyen, that meant bringing in a niche.
Gyrotonic and Gyrokensis workouts can be found in many metropolitan cities in the U.S., and it has now found a new home in Louisville. Founder and instructor Nguyen said that he envisions this space as a fitness boutique that hones in on helping all.
“I had a client who used to have trouble going up the stairs and then one day they told me, ‘Oh My Gosh Minty. I can just walk upstairs now.’ And I have another client who was dealing with chronic knee pain and was saying, you know, ‘This fixed my knee pain.’ I think those experiences are just rewarding for me,” said Nugyen.
To bring a workout like this one to the Derby City, Nguyen took courses with physical therapists, master trainers—dedicating hundreds of hours to train in a workout that helps people “feel lighter, taller, have better posture” and more.
And across the metro mirrors another new studio.
Several years ago, Lilly Brackney worked as a Sales Associate for OrangeTheory. An experience that grew her knowledge of the corporate side of the fitness industry. And now, she has her own trademarked workout method—EmberHaus Method—that is proudly displayed as the studio’s namesake.
“I not only have a passion for the fitness side, but [I] have a passion for what happens to your mind when you focus on the right parts of your body and not the appearance of your body,” Brackney said.
Throughout high school, and for some years in college, Brackney struggled with an eating disorder.
“I’m learning the habits the internet taught me of ‘eat a salad, drink a green juice, run a million miles and be as thin as possible. And if you’re hungry, you should go to bed starving, because that’s how you’ll wake up skinny,’” said Brackney. “That was just so deeply ingrained in me that I knew it wasn’t right, but I didn’t know how else to live, and I couldn’t stand to see myself bigger and it was such a toxic eating disorder.”
She found a love for weight-lifting, stating that “feeling strong made [her] feel better than [she] ever felt feeling skinny.” Her fitness journey led her to become certified as a personal trainer and a lead trainer at local gyms—and then she was injured.
A bulged disc in her back.
“I started to learn, ‘Okay, I’m not 22 anymore.’ All these women in my life are telling me they can’t workout how I do and I [didn’t] understand what they’re saying. And then one day, it kind of looked me back in the face, and I was like, ‘Oh I get it.’”
It was through her recovery process that EmberHaus was born. She created her own routine to help build the strength her body needed, what she believes every woman’s body needs. Brackney dived into her own research—using her prior understanding and curiosity for biomechanics and anatomy from when she was a registered nurse, through chats with her physical therapist and her experience with personal training. She developed a recovery workout for her back and slowly began introducing these workouts to her clients.
“It was so subconscious and just my own curiosity and expansion and what I was feeling and what my clients were feeling,” said Brackney. “I was unintentionally collecting information that very much influenced the EmberHaus Method.”
Brackney created a workout that focuses on the “in-between,” a mixture of building lean and skeletal muscle that often comes from weight-lifting and the stabilization and deep tissue strength that is often found in pilates and barre.
And with only a few months under her belt, Brackney has her eyes on some exciting prospects for the future—several offers from other cities looking to bring EmberHaus to their neighborhoods.
“We’re only a month old, but I keep telling people, ‘I don’t know what it is yet, but I know in my gut, we’re not done.’”
This article appears in Feb 14-28, 2026.