“From One Step to a Studio: Emma’s Journey of Patience, Purpose, and Pilates in Sweden”

Image by @_nomadstories

When I first read Emma’s story, I recognized something in her that felt deeply familiar — that quiet strength we, as foreign women in Sweden, learn to build piece by piece. Her story begins, like many of ours, with love and a leap into the unknown.

Emma Cowan moved to Sweden in October 2013 to be with her Swedish boyfriend, whom she’d met years earlier in Los Angeles. She was young, full of ambition, and had already been working with Pilates since she was 18. “I started training in Arizona,” she wrote, “and from the first moment, I knew I wanted it to be my career.”

But when she packed her bags for Gothenburg, she wasn’t just moving countries — she was crossing into an entirely new life. “I didn’t speak Swedish. I didn’t have a degree. And I wasn’t sure if there was even space for Pilates here,” she mentioned on the story she shared with me. “My boyfriend told me, ‘I don’t think anyone knows what Pilates is in Sweden.’”

It’s funny how often those words echo in our own lives, isn’t it? That uncertainty of whether what we bring — our experience, our passion, our story — will even matter here.

Starting from Scratch

Like many of us, Emma began with what she could. Before moving, she trained in massage therapy, and it became her way into the Swedish job market. “It wasn’t my passion,” she said, “but it was a start. It gave me a way to work while I learned the language and tried to understand how everything worked here.”

Those first years were humbling — learning Swedish, figuring out how workplaces functioned, adjusting to the culture. There were days she questioned herself, and others when she simply missed home. But slowly, through the routine of work and learning, she began to find her rhythm again.

The Power of One Email

One afternoon, when she was feeling particularly stuck, Emma did something that would change her entire path. She found a Pilates studio online — Pilates Complete — and sent them an email offering to help in exchange for free classes. “We were struggling to make ends meet,” she told me. “My boyfriend wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but I just knew I needed to do it. I missed being in a studio so much. I needed that connection again.”

That small act of courage — sending one email — opened the door to a new chapter. She met the studio’s founders, Jasmin Salhi and Linda Ahlgren, and instantly felt at home. “I remember sitting there in their PT studio, on the Cadillac apparatus,” she said mentioned, “and I just knew — this is where I belong.”

Emma started helping with small tasks, taking classes, and even giving massages to clients. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it was meaningful. She was seen, trusted, and valued.

When she couldn’t afford further training, Jasmin and Linda sponsored her education. “Their belief in me was everything,” she said. “They taught me not only how to teach Pilates but how to lead, how to hold space for others, and how to trust myself.”

Becoming Herself — Again

Years passed. Emma studied, taught at different gyms, and kept showing up. “Success in Sweden takes time,” she told me. “It’s not about big leaps; it’s about consistency. Showing up even when you don’t know where it’s leading.”

Eventually, Jasmin and Linda decided to move on and offered her something she never expected — the opportunity to take over Pilates Complete. “I couldn’t believe it,” Emma said. “It was the culmination of nearly ten years of slow, steady work. It wasn’t easy. But it was meaningful.”

Today, Emma is the proud owner of Pilates Complete, one of Gothenburg’s most respected studios — a warm, inclusive space where women from around the world come to move, breathe, and reconnect with themselves.

The Long Road Home

Emma’s story is about more than Pilates. It’s about patience, faith, and the long process of becoming. It’s about finding pieces of yourself again — in a foreign language, in a new culture, in the quiet moments when you almost gave up.

When it comes to her piece of advise to other women starting over in Sweden, she says something powerful:

“Be patient. Work with what you have, even if it’s not what you dreamed of yet. Every opportunity, every small step, helps you grow in ways you don’t see at first. It took me eight years of long days and late nights before I found my dream job here. But if you can dream it — you can do it.”

A Reflection

When writing this article, I couldn’t stop thinking the magic on Emma’s story — belief in yourself, be perseverant, and things will start happening

So much of building a life in Sweden — or anywhere new — begins there. Not in perfect Swedish, not in a dream job, not when everything makes sense… but in the act of believing in yourself.

For yourself.
For your growth.
For your becoming.

And maybe that’s what Extraña is all about — reminding each other that even when we feel like strangers, we are all, in our own ways, finding home.