Meet Our Team

Karen Wilder PMA-CPT

Studio Owner and Lead Teacher
NPCP
Romana’s Pilates Level V Teacher

Karen Wilder is the owner of Wilder Pilates and a certified Romana’s Pilates instructor with more than 15 years of experience teaching Pilates and 25 years teaching fitness.She has completed three comprehensive teacher training programs, including Peak Pilates, Polestar Pilates, and Romana’s Pilates International.

Karen began her Romana’s Pilates training in 2019, completing a two-year apprenticeship at Pure Pilates KC in Brookside under the guidance of Susan Hard. She completed the program in February 2021 and was certified by Sari Mejia Santo, Romana’s daughter.

Continuing education is an important part of Karen’s teaching. She regularly studies with mentors Cynthia Shipley, Sari Mejia Santo, Daria Pace, and Anthony Rabara, all of whom trained directly with Romana Kryzanowska. She also maintains her own practice with weekly in-person lessons, zoom lessons and travels several times each year for continuing professional education, seminars, workshops, and conferences through Romana’s Pilates International.

Karen’s classical training also transformed Wilder Pilates. She began teaching private lessons on classical equipment in 2019 and, by 2021, made the decision to fully transition her studio to authentic classical apparatus, traveling across the country to procure equipment. Wilder Pilates became the first studio in Kansas City to offer both private instruction and small group classes on authentic classical Pilates equipment.

Karen remains as passionate about Pilates today as when she first began and continues to find inspiration in both learning and teaching the method.