About

Hi,I’m Gen.

I’m the founder of The Barre Coach. I teach online and in our Cobham studio, with classes that challenge you and make you want to come back.

2020Started in my living room

300+Classes on the app

7Of us teaching in the studio

Gen, founder of The Barre Coach, at the barre with a coffee

Then I found barre and thought it was sorcery.

I spent years forcing myself through workouts I didn’t particularly enjoy, mostly because I thought that was what exercise was supposed to feel like.

And then I discovered barre and thought it was sorcery. It was such a good workout but felt like none of the workouts I’d ever done before. I was so in love it prompted a total career change from menswear marketing to barre instructor.

After qualifying in 2018, I taught on the side of my corporate career before making the leap. Then lockdown hit, I started teaching from my living room and The Barre Coach grew from there. First online, and now in our little studio in Cobham. The idea behind it has stayed exactly the same: movement that challenges you enough to make a difference, but feels good enough that you’ll actually want to keep doing it.

I’m a qualified Pregnancy & Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist, so there’s a lot of thought behind what we do, but absolutely no expectation that you’ll get everything right. I’m usually doing the workout alongside you, including the bits I find hard.

Poppy the dog sitting on a mat in the Cobham studio — Poppy

And if you’re joining me on the app, there’s a reasonable chance Poppy the dog or Charlie the toddler will wander into shot.

Sorry in advance.

How it started

From this, to this

Three years of tripods on a chest of drawers, then a proper home.

Gen's old spare room setup with lights, tripods and a laptop on the bed — *Then*The spare room

The Barre Coach studio in Cobham with mirrors, barres and sunlight on the floor — *Now*The Cobham studio

2020The living room
I’d not long quit my job when lockdown hit. Class one was my brother and sister-in-law in the living room, with my mum joining on Zoom from Cornwall.
Weeks laterEvery morning on Zoom
Hundreds of friends, family and friends of family were joining us every morning, raising money for the NHS.
Nearly three yearsThe spare room
Tripods on the chest of drawers and an ethernet cable across the hallway. My husband tripped over it mid-class more times than I can count, and every house guest got kicked out of bed at 6am.
2025The Cobham studio
I put every penny I’d ever made into a proper home for it. Dusty pink walls, warm lighting, a barre, mirrors and space for eight. I still can’t believe I get to teach here.

Classes with me

What you can expect from me

There’s a method in here somewhere, but I’d rather tell you what it feels like than give it a name.

01
Form firstI’ll tell you when to go heavier and when to back off. There’s always a version that works for the body you turned up in today.
02
Pre and postnatal qualifiedAll three trimesters, the bit after, and the bits nobody warns you about. It’s where my training goes deepest, and you don’t have to ask for the modification. I’ll have said it already.
03
I’m in it with youEvery class, doing the same work, shaking at the same point. Nobody is watching you from the side of the room with a clipboard.

I’m an incredibly stressy, anxious person, and seeing Gen all cheery on my screen at the beginning or end of my day just zens me out. I even giggle to myself watching some of them. I’ve never enjoyed working out so much before.

App member, Louise

Three things that are true

And help you to get to know me.

01Shania Twain would be every one of my Desert Island Discs choices.
02I love a wine as much as I love a hot water and lemon.
03If I had to eat one food for the rest of my life it would be pasta. Or cheese. Or both, together.