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LISA HIRSCH-SOLOMON STAYS POSITIVE DESPITE ROLLING CHANGES Owner of studio (mdr) credits her strong community for helping her through tough times STORY BY SHANEE EDWARDS | PHOTOS COURTESY OF LISA HIRSCH-SOLOMON
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riginally from Rockland County, New York, Lisa Hirsch-Solomon planned to become a doctor when she attended Tulane University in New Orleans. She had a few classes to go before taking the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) and was sitting on a beach at Fire Island when a young woman struck up a life-changing conversation that led to Hirsch-Solomon taking a job with RCA Records. “I interviewed on Tuesday and started on Thursday,” she said, thus beginning a long career in the music industry, hopping around to many different record labels. She ended her music career with Sirius Satellite Radio, where she was in the talent department and then moved to Los Angeles where she booked talent for the “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” But working in the music industry, and then in Hollywood, can be a grind. “I felt like I was working eight days a week, 27-hours a day for someone else,” so Hirsch-Solomon says she turned to exercise for stress relief, starting each morning at 5 a.m. with a workout. At this point in her career, she knew she wanted to make a change and possibly get out of entertainment. Then she discovered the Legree exercise method and something clicked. The Legree method is based on slow, controlled body movements to help work multiple muscle groups at once, using tension to strengthen and tone the body. “I fell in love with it. It changed
studio (mdr) at Runway is currently offering virtual fitness classes until fitness facilities open up again
my body. It leaned and lengthened me. … I asked my favorite teacher how to open a Legree studio and he introduced me to Sebastian Legree [founder of the Legree method]. One thing led to another and I figured why not jump in? The worst I can do is fail,” says Hirsch-Solomon. A year later, she opened her first studio in Marina del Rey on Washington Boulevard near the beach. “We opened up with full classes on the first day, which I was shocked about. And I haven’t looked back since,” she says. Hirsch-Solomon now has four studios, adding Playa Vista, and two
in Culver City to the list. Then COVID-19 happened, a nightmare for all small business owners. “On March 15, I had to close all four studios and furlough about 50 employees, which was probably the hardest thing to do,” says HirschSolomon. “It was heartbreaking, but we quickly pivoted and started some online classes which I hadn’t done before.” She says they went from a total of 350 classes a week to 28 virtual classes. But the online teachers loved the new format and it helped keep her (Continued on page 24) PLAYA PLAYAVISTA VISTADIRECT DIRECT ||OCTOBER OCTOBER--NOVEMBER NOVEMBER2020 2020 23 23
