Meet our Founders

Industry Studio was created by Dr. Raza Awan, Riki Richter, and Lauren Roberts -three health professionals who share a passion for movement, longevity, and performance. Combined with the brilliant business intel of entrepreneur Frances Bell, they blended their backgrounds in medicine, osteopathy, and physiotherapy to reimagine Reformer Pilates as both an empowering workout and a foundation for lifelong strength, confidence, and resilience.

  • Dr. Awan is a Sports Medicine Physician with over 20 years of experience specializing in musculoskeletal injuries, concussion management, and regenerative therapies. He has worked extensively with elite and recreational athletes, helping them recover from injury and return to peak performance. As co-creator of Synergy Movement Therapy, he developed outcome-based rehabilitation protocols that integrate medical expertise with movement re-education. At Industry Studio, Dr. Awan brings his passion for innovative, evidence-based care to bridge rehabilitation and fitness for all levels of movers and athletes.


  • Riki is an Osteopathic Manual Practitioner with a specialty in women’s health, postpartum care, and movement dysfunctions ranging from low back and SI joint pain to TMJ and postural issues. She has been teaching Pilates for over 30 years with a focus on its rehabilitative benefits. She completed the first comprehensive Pilates teacher training offered in Toronto at Pilates Downtown in 1995.and participated in Downward Dog's first yoga teacher training in 1998.

    She opened Mind The Body in 1999 where her and Raza Awan met and began collaborating on patient cases. They opened Synergy Sports Medicine in 2011 incorporating a fully equipped Pilates studio into the clinic. Riki programmed exercises based on common deficits found by Dr. Awan and created Synergy Movement Therapy Protocols used in 1-on-1 and group classes.

    With decades of experience bridging rehabilitation and fitness, she brings her deep knowledge of osteopathy and movement to Industry Studio.


  • Lauren Roberts is our Director of Business Development. Since becoming a physiotherapist in 2011 and Run Coach in 2017, Lauren has dedicated her career to helping runners move better, train smarter, and stay injury-free. She founded The Running Physio in 2016, a clinic focused on run-specific care, which partnered with Athlete's Care Sports Medicine in 2024. Now serving as Run Program Director, she continues to lead innovation in running education and rehabilitation. Also a passionate athlete, she has competed in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships (Austria, 2016) and the Boston Marathon (2018) among countless other events. She developed the Real Running course in 2020 and co-created the Kids Running Course in partnership with Kids Physio Group in 2022. As a brand partner with Canada Running Series and a contributor to Canadian Running Magazine, iRun, Impact, several podcasts and recently The New York Times, she is a trusted voice in the running and sports medicine communities. Her role in the team is in programming classes for runners as well as keeping business “running” smoothly.