PILATES CLUB Mari Jo Schlosser loved playing tennis but found that the older she got, the harder it was on her body. Pilates, however, made her stronger without taking a toll. “Pilates is accessible to people of all ages,” Schlosser says. “I wanted to introduce that to people here.”

Schlosser opened Club Pilates in The Galleria this summer. After raising three children, she wanted to be part of the fitness community. “It was a way to be involved and to do something that I’m passionate about.”

Club Pilates offers eight different classes at four levels to cater to her clients’ fitness abilities and allow beginners to develop a foundation and build on it. All classes use a Reformer, a spring-based piece of equipment that promotes lengthening muscles while increasing strength, flexibility and balance. Classes also include other fitness equipment, such as foam rollers, TRX (training bands suspended from above to provide bodyweight resistance), cardio sculpting and more. All teachers are fitness certified. Clients can join through a membership program or pay by the class. Club Pilates also offers private and semi-private sessions.

“I am excited about making an impact on the community and getting to meet new people and help them meet their fitness goals,” Schlosser says. “I know how much of a difference it truly brings to the quality of life.”

NEW PHOTO STUDIO What started out as a teaching job in Portland, Oregon, has transformed into a photography career based in Pittsburgh. Missy Timko developed her skills over the past couple of decades when she taught high school photography and Advanced Placement art out west. She was inspired in 2010 to start her own business on the side, Powder Blue Photography, and made the move to Pittsburgh in 2012 after it took off. Timko joined the Uptown business community in August after she relocated her Point Breeze studio to her new custom studio at 20 Cedar Boulevard.

Timko, Lakemont Drive, is glad to have her new studio close to home, which gives her more time to expand her work hours and serve her clients, who come from all over Pittsburgh. The atmosphere of Washington Road will help too. “The vibe of Uptown will really contribute a lot to what I do,” says Timko. 

Timko focuses on portraits and works mostly with young children, toddlers and newborns in a style she describes as “clean, timeless, and modern.” Timko has always loved working with babies and young children, and it complements her history of teaching and her enjoyment of being a mother herself. “I just have a passion for kids,” says Timko. “I enjoy being with children and capturing their unique expressions.”

Timko’s business isn’t exclusive to children, however. She also offers corporate portraiture for people looking for professional business headshots and portraits in the Mt. Lebanon studio and on location.

Timko prides herself on  having a full-service studio, assisting her clients from the moment she takes the photos to helping them hang up the final piece of work. “I offer a full range of products … Everything from custom framing to heirloom albums,” she says. She’s available to help the client design a gallery wall for the home and will even help hang the photos for them.

To check out Timko’s work and find out more information, you can visit her websites, powderbluephoto.com and missytimko.com. You can contact Timko at missy@powderbluephoto.com and (412)-559-3889.

TACO DIABLO RETURNS Last summer, Jeff and Carol Iovino, owners of several restaurants on Beverly Road, opened the grab-and-go Taco Diablo at 300 Beverly, on the same side of the street as their signature Café io and io Deli, 300 and 306 Beverly, respectively. But when a larger space opened up across the street, the Iovinos eyed 297 Beverly as a more suitable home.

In a shuffle of storefronts, Kara Kakes, Kara Leo’s cake bakery, opened last fall in Taco Diablo’s 300 spot, and the Iovinos ran taco features from within io Deli until they could get in at 297 Beverly last month. “The opportunity arose and we saw how good it was,” says Jeff Iovino. “We saw that there would be potential.”

The Iovinos have been opening and upgrading restaurants on Beverly Road for more than a decade. Their first restaurant was the upscale Iovino’s Café in 2006, which they revamped into the more causal Cafe io in 2014. The Iovinos added io Deli in 2011, then moved and expanded it last summer.

With the growth in Taco Diablo’s size, the restaurant is offering an expanded menu and a newly acquired liquor license. The menu features their beloved tacos, but adds appetizers and other dishes. Iovino described the first Taco Diablo as a spot that appealed more to the high school group with its laid-back, food-truck feel. The new atmosphere will appeal to a broader group of people. “It’s going to be a more sophisticated version of what it was,” says Iovino.

With Cafe io and io Deli offering a range of dishes, Iovino was inspired to open a restaurant centered around tacos because of the innovative nature of the dish and its successful business model. “They’re creative, fun to make and they’re fun to eat,” Iovino says. “It turned out to be a great business model for selling food.” cafeio.com