Neighbors: Melissa DeMore

Melissa DeMore has a lot of good things going on in her life. Currently, she’s running Pure Barre studio in Sarasota, getting ready to open a second studio and preparing for her first child.

DeMore a Sarasota native like her mother, Melody Lamont, graduated from Riverview High School in 2000. For college, she left the state to attend Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. and major in interior design. During her freshman year, she met a nice guy on a track scholarship from Georgia named Clay DeMore. The two dated all four years of college and were married in 2005.

When DeMore graduated in 2004, she made her way back to Florida, this time to Siesta Key, where her family had moved while she was in college.

“I always knew I would come back,” DeMore says.

DeMore worked in the interior-design business for three different firms after graduating college.

“I loved it, but it wasn’t my passion,” she says.

In 2010 DeMore, went to Birmingham for a wedding and decided to pop into a Pure Barre studio run by two girls who had attended Samford University during her time there. After one class, DeMore was hooked.

“I had danced and was cheerleader in high school, and it (Pure Barre) has a dance background, so it just kind of fit my passion for fitness, dance and teaching,” she says.

When DeMore returned to Siesta, she began talking with her friend, Sara Ferguson, about the possibility of going into business together. In June 2011, the two opened their first studio in Paradise Plaza in Sarasota.

“It’s really good for all ages, because it is low impact and high intensity, so it is good for the joints and there is no jumping involved,” DeMore says. People see results in eight to 10 classes if taken three to four times a week.”

Today, DeMore estimates her studio teaches about 200 students through its 26 classes each week.

Even though DeMore is due in June, she has continued to teach classes at the studio.

“I was teaching 12, but I’ve gone down to five.”

Another aspect that DeMore enjoys about being a part of the Pure Barre franchise is the aspect of giving back to the community. All Pure Barre franchises participate in Pure Give, a biannual fundraiser through which each franchise chooses a charity to support. In October, Pure Barre Sarasota chose Girls Inc. and, in March, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, in honor of their friend Donna Chen, who was killed Jan. 7 on Siesta Key by a suspected drunken driver.

“Donna was one of our dear clients — and her sister, Cheryl Elsberry, is a teacher at Pure Barre,” she says. “I would see her at the studio, and I saw her as she was running that day, while my husband and I were riding our bikes to the studio. She was a huge cheerleader to Sara and me and was there from beginning.”

Following the quick success of the Sarasota studio, DeMore will open a second May 21, in Lakewood Ranch. Longtime friend Bethany Dugger will run the East County studio.

When DeMore has a break from work she says she enjoys spending her days outdoors or lounging on the beach. A self-proclaimed “beach rat,” DeMore enjoys all that Siesta Key has to offer — from the scenery while biking to the beautiful beach.

“Everything that I need is right here, and seriously, the beach is a big deal to us,” she says.

The next few weeks will have some major milestones for DeMore with the opening of the new studio and the delivery of her first baby.

“It’s our first kid,” she says. “We have been married seven years, so it was the right time. I’m ready for throwing motherhood into the mix and more excitement and fun.”