Our story

We met while teaching group fitness at the same gym in Seattle, Washington. It wasn’t until a few months later that we realized we were both in business school at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. We both graduated, got “real jobs” and continued to teach fitness on the side. After a few years of working together and developing a friendship, Celita had a baby girl. Almost exactly one year later, Stuart had her first, also a baby girl and then two more kids after that (and those two came during the pandemic…).

Throughout our pregnancies and early parenting, we both sought out and used various services. Finding the providers took a lot research and we had to drive all over Seattle and the eastside to access them. We were exhausted and depleted from learning to take care of a newborn, lack of sleep and raging hormones; we did not have time or energy to do research. We also both had several experiences of feeling shamed for needing support rather than celebrated for getting the care we needed. We felt isolated, even though we knew other people were going through the same thing. As two people who felt like we typically stayed out of the fray, we both still submitted to the pressure to do it all and do it the “right way.” Finally, we felt like we were immediately asked to forgo our own identities as humans and turn into Cayla’s mom or Sloane’s mom. People literally did not ask our names anymore. As for places, the choices became a place with a vibe but no changing tables and narrow walkways or places that had harsh lighting and plastic furniture. While it was a joyous time, it also felt like there was a complete break from our former selves.

After getting our combined four kids through newborn, infancy, and the toddler years (3/4 anyway—Stuart is almost there!), we came up for air. We thought about what we wanted to do for ourselves as working parents and for our kids. We started talking about the hard parts about having young kids, especially in a city without family nearby. Then, we started to re-envision what it could look like if we treated parents as people, with children rather than just a child’s parent. As group fitness instructors, we know the value of physically bringing community together and we wanted to create a place for parents, rooted in community. The idea of The Heybrook was born and we didn’t stop until we created a place that has all the features we wished we had when we were pregnant/raising our babies.

We hope the Heybrook can support you as you are navigating this phase of life. It does take a village after all.

-Celita and Stuart