Caroline Ponto

Founder of Caliberate, Pilates Instructor & Biomechanics Coach (UK & Portugal)

Co-Founder of Flow de Vida

Caroline Ponto's professional fitness journey began at age 16, when she began training and teaching Kung Fu, Chi Kung and women's kickboxing at martial arts club Nam Yang Pugilistic Association in Epsom, Surrey under Sifu Iain Armstrong and his mother, Sheila Armstrong. At age 18, she then trained to become a gym instructor at her local community leisure centre.

Prior to discovering Pilates, Caroline spent 8 years delivering yoga, circuits and personal training sessions in body building gyms, leisure centres and private health clubs across London and the South East.

Understanding hypermobility and severe low back pain rehabilitation personally (following painful pregnancies and traumatic childbirth), led her to pursue an Advanced Diploma in Mat Pilates. This was followed by GP Exercise Referral and specialism in Exercise for Low Back Pain, also with Future Fit.

With an additional 8 years hands-on Pilates teaching experience, personal rehab post-COVID and twins (!) and a further diploma in Biomechanics Coaching, her focus shifted away from health clubs towards community classes and private coaching at her home practice.

Caroline has opened opportunities for her clients to deepen their Pilates knowledge with weekend workshops and by collaborating with other wellness professionals, to curate local luxury day retreats in rural Sussex and escapist eco-retreats to the heart of Portugal.

Her emphasis is on clear instruction, moving without pain and connecting the mind with the body, to help people create strong, aligned and resilient bodies. Caroline continues her learning journey with anatomy trains, fascia and pelvic floor health to best guide her clients so they can live, move and breathe with ease and vitality.

Carly Tomei

Pilates Instructor & Holistic Health Practitioner (Portugal)

Co-Founder of Flow de Vida

In 2016, Carly Tomei left the UK to join her parents in central Portugal to help with the renovation of their new Quinta and assist with maintaining and working the 10 acres of land. It was here in Portugal that her Pilates journey started.

With over 10 years’ experience as a Holistic Health Practitioner in the UK and a background in Dance, Carly already had a good level of fitness and understanding of the body, but when her days consisted of digging trenches, strimming brambles and chopping wood she knew she needed to focus on strengthening her core and lower back. 

It was then that Carly found a local Pilates class to attend, and within 6 months, she couldn’t believe the transformation. Life changing. So much so, when the Pilates Instructor announced they were relocating, Carly decided that she would train to become a Pilates Instructor, to continue her Pilates practice but also to support and guide other members of the local community. Throughout 2018, Carly travelled back and forth to the UK to complete her Advanced Diploma in Mat Pilates, and this is where she met Caroline. 

For the last 8 years, Carly has been teaching weekly group Mat Pilates classes and private sessions in Vale de Prazeres and surrounding areas. Carly is also fortunate enough to be mentored by one of her clients, who is the daughter of one of the original 12 Pilates instructors that Joseph Pilates taught! 

Carly continues to offer her holistic therapies from her off grid homestead; caring and working the land, growing food and living a life connected to nature and its rhythms. 

Carly’s vision has always been to hold Pilates and Wellness retreats in Portugal; bring people into nature to step out of the busyness of the everyday – so when Caroline reached out and asked to collaborate the answer was immediately “yes”! 

They launched their new brand, Flow de Vida, meaning “flow of life”, in May 2026 and hosted their first retreat together at Vale de Moses in October 2026.

Soraya Hatami

Retreat Chef & Community Activist (UK)

Soraya Hatami had the idea for Taarof back in 2018 after initiating and running an extremely successful weekly curry club for Worthing’s homeless community.

Using recipes from her cultural heritage of Iran and South Africa, whilst holding the belief that everyone has the right to homemade, nutritious, organic, freshly cooked ingredients, Soraya cooked hearty, tasty family food for people that deserved to feel loved.

Using this ethos, Soraya’s catering company was born.  The word Taarof is a Farsi word describing an intricate system of etiquette and hospitality, emphasising extreme generosity, humility and respect, devoid of any social rank or hierarchy.

Soraya’s food looks and tastes amazing. Her food is about great sustenance, tantalising flavour and stunning presentation. But her food is also about deeper things – things that bind us as people: memory, family, legacy, celebration, education, story, history, geography and resistance. Through food, Soraya encourages people to meet, to converse, to experience, to learn, to share, to heal and to change. Food is transformative; it develops our palates and our tastebuds, therefore widening curiosity and encouraging our engagement with cuisine and culture.

Soraya creates magic at every event and brings delight to every mouthful. At our luxurious day retreats, she will be treating us to her delicious, plant-based Persian dishes using locally sourced organic produce, and she will be talking to us about food as source of love and community.

Ruth Summers

Sound Therapist & Musician (UK)

Ruth founded Dao Natural Health in 2012, offering sound therapy, Tai Chi Qigong, and Medical Qigong. She was also a senior tutor at the British Academy of Sound Therapy for over a decade. Ruth specialises in both one-to-one sound therapy treatments and group sound baths.

Using a beautiful blend of Himalayan singing bowls, crystal bowls, gongs, and therapeutic percussion, she creates deeply immersive sessions that invite relaxation, balance, and reflective awareness.

Ruth came highly recommended by a Pilates client and friend of Caliberate, Ola Walsh, who trained under Ruth at the reputable British Academy of Sound Therapy (BAST) and now practices in New Zealand as Moja Wellbeing, offering therapies in person and remotely.