The founder of a Pilates and wellness studio in Whitley Bay says she "failed eight times in business" before opening her new studio and now "feels like she's living her dream life".
Katie Darling, 31, from Bedlington, received the keys in October 2025 and opened Wellness Lane in January 2026. Nearly a year on, she says the studio brings together everything she loves and has created a welcoming community for people in the North East.
A career change from chemistry to community
Katie's journey, however, began "completely different". After graduating with a Chemistry degree in 2017, she built a career in pharmaceutical quality control and later inspected medical devices used for spinal cord implants.
But she admits she wasn't happy and would dread going to work. "I've always been a creative person. In school I loved art & design and music but felt it wasn't encouraged as a career path. I felt I had to do something academic and got good grades in Chemistry so took it at Uni as the safe option but I hated it."
"I stuck it out and tried really hard but I didn't enjoy it. I wanted to be able to live a life I actually wanted outside of work." In her job Katie admits: "I ended up stuck in a cycle I was constantly trying to break out. I'm from a working class town and I didn't know anyone who owned a business. My family have all worked hard their whole lives in steady careers."
Eight failed ventures before success
Over the years, Katie's first little 'business' started aged 14, ironing for her Mam's friends and charging per item. "At 16, I worked three jobs at once," she said. "Alongside my full-time career and 12-hour shifts I tried eight different businesses. These included a lingerie brand, wedding signs, LEGO gift frames, luxury picnic dates, lashes, nail services and pet sitting. Some were profitable, while others were complete failures, but every one taught me something about business."
"I was trying to see if I could do anything to get me out of my job but nothing I ever tried made me any kind of money but I would see things online saying 'you've got to fail so many times before you'll figure something out'."
Katie even ended up moving to Australia and Ireland on her pursuit before moving back to the UK where she "made the biggest gamble of my life" by opening Wellness Lane.
A dream realised by the coast
"In Australia I got more of an idea of what else was out there, a different way of living. People worked to live rather than living to work and I met so many different people who didn't do the usual path I had. It inspired me to try more things."
She was able to build up her life savings over 18 months, some days working from 5am to 9pm. "But I knew that I wanted to move home and have always wanted to live by the North East coast," she continued. "I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to start a business."
It was on a solo campervan trip to New Zealand she got clarity on Wellness Lane. "You spend most your life working so it should be something you like. I knew I wanted to create something with a community where I could meet new people. I felt like I had to just go for it and I went full steam ahead. I didn't tell anyone at first as I didn't want anyone talking me out of it."
Looking back over the year and what she has created, Katie says the "risk has paid off." She said: "I've travelled around a lot and haven't been home for over 10 years so I have struggled and know what it's like to feel alone so I wanted to create a place where everyone could come in and feel accepted and welcomed, chatty and friendly and that's exactly what I've managed to do and it's amazing.
"The main focus was to create a space that feels like an escape for others. It's so nice to hear feedback from the members that this is that place for them and seeing them get along."
Wellness Lane is one of the first-of-its-kind spaces in the area, combining Reformer and Mat Pilates, a calm recovery and serving matcha, but Katie says there is definitely a cultural shift of more people embracing health and fitness into their lifestyles. "There was none of that when I was young it was just go out and drink."
"The more I've pushed myself the more I didn't care about being embarrassed and I've built my confidence from all those small little businesses that I did. I've learnt so much about running a business at this scale. It is just me and the instructors, there's so much that goes into it. There was no way I was leaving Australia and going back to a lab again so that's what's driven me, even when things got really scary I did it on my own. Now it doesn't feel like work at all it feels like I get to do this amazing thing and it has definitely paid off."
