Briana Pace | Southern Indiana Business Report
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic left Anne-Marie Baker and her family practically homeless in south Florida after they were forced to shut down their massage therapy business. Now, just six years later and hundreds of miles away, she is opening a boutique fitness studio in downtown Corydon, Indiana: Wild Hearts Garage.
Anne-Marie, Ree to most, became a certified massage therapist in 2012. She and her husband Matthew Baker, or Matt, also a massage therapist, opened a business together in south Florida, but when the pandemic forced the world into a lockdown, they were left with no work. They kept waiting to start back up, then they started to wonder if they would even be able to. After a while, they realized it wasn’t possible.
“That was a really scary time,” Ree said, “for a lot of people.”
She and Matt decided to drive from Palm Beach County, Florida to his family’s chestnut tree farm in Corydon, Indiana in September 2020. They needed time to regroup and figure out what to do. So, with their two kids, James and Orion, 6 and 4-years-old, and two dogs, the family made the cross-country trip. They lived on the tree farm in the same pop-up camper they made the drive up to Indiana in. Ree and Matt agreed if they found jobs in the area, they would stay.
That month, Matt found work at the Health Department and in November, Ree started working at Belle Amie Massage Therapy and at True You Yoga in Corydon soon after. That month, they were able to move out of the camper and into an apartment. It was small, but Ree was just glad to have indoor plumbing.
Then, Matt developed late-stage kidney failure. He was diagnosed with Glomerulonephritis, inflammation of filters in the kidneys, in 2015, but had been managing it with a strict diet until 2021. He was put on dialysis that October. In the same month, they bought a home in downtown Corydon. There just wasn’t room in their 700 square foot twobed, one-bath apartment for all the equipment Matt now needed.
The people of Corydon embraced Ree, Matt and their family; stepping up in any way they could. Neighbors took their kids on playdates during trips to the hospital, cooked them meals, gave donations and offered whatever support they could.
“I didn’t know what community was,” Ree said, “until I moved to Corydon, Indiana.”
In June 2023, Matt received a kidney transplant and in 2025, he became a firefighter at the Harrison Township Fire Department. It provided his and Ree’s family the stability they’d been lacking for years. Throughout it all, there was one thing that kept Ree from crumbling.
“Fitness held me together when my life was falling apart,” she said.
People would ask Ree if she was a personal trainer, to which she always replied, no, she just did massage and yoga. Ree always welcomed and encouraged those people to come workout with her though.
“I think every time somebody asked me,” Ree said, “that planted a seed in my mind.”
Ree always heard the average career length for a massage therapist was about three-tofive years due to the job’s physical demands of being bent over a table at an awkward angle for hours a day. Recently, Ree started to realize she needed to shift away from just massage therapy and yoga if she was to keep helping her clients.
“I need to be able to help a room full of people, not just one person on my table,” Ree said.
She felt like she couldn’t grow in her career and was restless. At the beginning of May 2026, a small, 700 square foot studio in downtown Corydon became available; she knew it was time to pivot career paths.
“I believe in signs and this one was clear as day,” Ree said.
She is working on transforming her old massage practice into Wild Hearts Garage. Ree gets the keys to the building June 1 and the fitness boutique will have its grand opening August 1.
Right now, Ree is focusing on social media marketing to keep her students at True You Yoga aware of what she’s doing and where she’s going, so they don’t feel abandoned. She’s also working on building a website.
“I’m not super technological, so there is a website,” Ree said, “but it’s not fully functioning just yet.”
Currently, the website shows classes that will be available, their pricing, their schedule and other services including “express bodywork” and massages tailored to each client’s goals. Bookings will open August 1. Ree will offer a variety of yoga classes and “333” strength classes.
“I like to work in three’s,” she said. “I like to work in three rounds of things.”
Ree also plans to work with other local businesses in Corydon. She wants to help boost them up and show her support however she can. Whether it be referring people to local establishments or sharing their social media posts, Ree wants to show up for her community in any way she can.
“This community has accepted me,” she said, “and I believe that I need to give back to my community tenfold.”
One day, Ree hopes to expand Wild Hearts Garage. She hopes to add heated classes, like hot yoga, and hire instructors. Currently, she is her sole employee and would like some help, but that’s not the only reason she wants to hire people. Ree wants to provide a space where people can learn to teach yoga and fitness, with her as their mentor. If business does well enough, she’d like to move to a large gymnasium.
“I’m a dreamer,” Ree said. “I love to think about all the things that could be.”