Palm Beach Rising Introducing the 2012 class—the next generation of Palm Beach’s business and social leaders. BY MICHELLE M. HAVICH | photography by ROBERT NELSON Furniture provided by Sklar Furnishings, Boca Raton
TINY DANCER Andrea Rogers People searching for the perfect exercise routine always look for the next new thing. Boca Raton resident Andrea Rogers found hers by going back in time. A dancer since she was 3 years old, Rogers became a Pilates instructor but missed her dance training. “So I started to layer in some elements of dance in my private Pilates sessions with clients and they were really receptive to it. I slowly started to develop a curriculum, and I went to the owner of the studio and said, ‘I really think we should do a ballet-inspired program.’ She said, ‘Go for it,’ and within two weeks, we had a waiting list for the class.” And so Xtend Barre was born. From there, the workout program has spread by word of mouth to become a worldwide phenomenon, with classes taught as far away as Dubai in both stand-alone Xtend studios (like the ones in West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach and Boca Raton) and as part of a fitness center’s class schedule. When she’s not flying around the world to attend each studio opening, Rogers teaches classes at the Boca Raton studio and spends time with her husband, Andrew, and daughter, Leigh, 1. “I got into this business because I love working with women and watching them really change from what I am doing,” she says. “I’m really affecting someone’s life.” What she’s reading: I just finished the Hunger Games [trilogy]. It’s addicting. Biggest inspiration: I’ve always been so driven for success. I work hard and I love what I do, so for me it’s just a passion to always be involved with something I enjoy. Title of your autobiography: Petite but Powerful (“I’m 4’11””), or Driven Sweetest Part of Success: Being able to enjoy what I do but also to be able to work with such incredible women. The people I work with on my team and the studio owners I work with are all so talented. To have this network of strong, independent women is quite motivating and rewarding. Favorite travel destination: Abaco in the Bahamas, or a nice trip to Key West is always good for us. Most prized possession: Family Guilty pleasure: Dark chocolate-covered pretzels and sometimes watching a good trashy reality television show—The Real Housewives of anything.
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PALM BEACH ILLUSTRATED