Author: Lisé Kuecker

If you’ve been a listener of the podcast for even just an episode, you’ve heard me share the concept of what’s called “the hero’s journey” when it comes to communicating and building relationships with our clients.

But the truth is, you can swap out the word “hero” for “entrepreneur,” and you’ll have virtually the same story.

The entrepreneur faces conflict, meets a guide who offers a solution, the entrepreneur finds a new path and process that leads to the next evolution of themselves as an entrepreneur as well as the growth of their business.

It’s a story structure that repeats in all our favorites books and movies, but I have to say, my favorite stories are those of my clients and students, like today’s episode guest, Katy Katzmann. 

You may be familiar with Katy from her first episode here on Ready. Aim. Empire., which I highly encourage you to listen to not just from her takeaways then, but to hear how so much has changed personally and within her studio, Bikram Temecula, in just a year’s time.

Beyond a 25% revenue increase, which is fantastic as a stand-alone statistic, the piece of Katy’s story that truly moves me is how she has blossomed from the harried business owner to a true entrepreneur who has loosened the reins and realized “control” is just a figment of our frenzied imaginations.

Hers is a story of personal discovery, revelation, and revolution, and if you find yourself wondering how you can turn around your current situation, you can do it just like Katy did.

One small step and commitment at a time, and maybe with a life-changing trip across the globe to bring it full circle… you’ll see what I mean when you listen!

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Katy’s studio has achieved incredible growth in the last year {and the fundamental processes she used to do it}
• What mindset shifts and realizations she needed to make to allow for this growth, and how they came at just the right time
• Why she believes in making changes through small steps rather than a massive all-at-once overhaul
• How introductory packages have transformed her client’s journey, business growth and retention

With Grit & Gratitude,

Lisé

Do you remember when SoulCycle first burst out on the boutique fitness studio scene?

It felt pandemic…

People who had never been to a class were gushing about their friend’s experience exclaiming how they couldn’t wait to try it.

Your studio members may have even been gleefully swapping sweat session stories in your lobby.

And you may have found that your clients, while still adoring of you, chose to visit your studio one less time a week so they could also get in on the SoulCycle fun.

Over the years this has caused more than just a few cycle studio owners (and studio owners of all paradigms, really) to ask, “What gives? What is making SoulCycle this revolutionary phenomenon.”

And even more importantly, “How can we create something like this for our studio, too?”

Well, to put it simply, they’ve got a few “frenzy-building” factors working for them, but don’t for a second think that SoulCycle is the overnight success it appeared to be.

They started their empire just like many others… small and filling one seat in their first cycle studio at a time.

In fact, SoulCyclers who have been with them since the beginning, which is now just over 12 years ago, said that those first classes often only had a 9 to 10 people on a bike, and to get to the studio, you had to walk down a creepy passageway toward the murmur of more cheerful voices.

In addition to starting small, the founders and original core team at SoulCycle had some other foundational components that have contributed to their wild success, and I’m breaking them down for you in today’s episode.

But before you begin listening, I want you to keep this in mind…

SoulCycle did what all strong brands and sustainable businesses do, they cared about their clients and their experience more than they cared about themselves.

Sometimes that adage of “the customer’s always right” really means “let’s always treat the customer right,” and that begins with these five strategies you can learn from SoulCycle.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How SoulCycle built a brand, not a business, and how that has helped them to develop their collective movement that entrances their audience
• The ways SoulCycle leveraged their small start to build an incredibly deep community and their process for turning new students into brand evangelists
• How SoulCycle’s hiring process and teacher training has shaped the SoulCycle standard and led to their large-scale growth
• Why rehearsing your client experience pays off in creating life-changing moments for your members
• The importance and mechanisms behind nurturing the SoulCycle phenomenon and forming a core expectation that gets people hooked before they ever step foot in your studio

With Grit & Gratitude,

Lisé

As attractive as entrepreneurship can be, one thing I think light doesn’t get shed on enough is how the road to freedom through business ownership can be a lonely one.

The other factor in that equation?

The most successful business owners rarely, if ever, reach freedom by relying solely on themselves.

Just like raising a baby, building a business from the ground up takes a village, and that includes everyone from people in your corner cheering you on, your community of clients and members, your team, and maybe even a business partner.

However, coming to that realization that it takes a village is often why we see so many small business owners fail, and fast.

They think they’re in it on their own…

That it’s up to them to do it all…

And that they can’t afford to reach out for help.

Today’s guest on Ready. Aim. Empire. is a shining example of how you want to view bringing in support and accountability in your business.

Why?

Well, let me count the reasons…

• She’s successfully converted nearly all of her clients over to a recurring membership model
• Which has brought her conversion rate from new students to annual members from 18% to over 70%
• And doubled her revenue over the last 8 months

All because she knew that if she wanted the chance to make her fitness studio her full-time dream, she had to get help from someone who had walked the path before her

I’m talking about Hannah McDonald, founder of BurnTheory, a barre studio in Australia that’s making waves in her community, so much so that she’s (yet again) planning to scale back at her full-time job, this time for good, to give her full attention to her rapidly growing empire.

If you’ve been struggling along the lonely road of small business ownership, let Hannah’s experience and story be the lightbulb moment that lets you know that bringing support into your business isn’t a sign that your flailing, but that you’re getting ready to fly.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Hannah has juggled a full-time job with scaling her barre studio and the mindset shifts she had to make to spark the shift she wanted to see in her business
• The lessons she learned from working at a failed barre studio to reframe the way she would do business
• Why her breakthrough around support and accountability acted as the catalyst for her exponential growth
• The importance of earning the right to ask for the sale, fostering a community based on commitment, and learning to bless and releas

With Grit & Gratitude,

Lisé

I think it’s the classic entrepreneur conundrum…

One that makes us capable of going after our biggest and wildest dreams while simultaneously struggling to achieve them.

I’m talking about the desire to do and be it all, or as I also like to call it, Carpe Diem-itis.

On the one hand, we’re fiercely driven to make our dreams a reality, and on the other, we’re so concerned with keeping a finger in every pie that we’re actually are driving ourselves into the ground, which doesn’t exactly pave the way for productive business growth.

Maybe you’re reading this, and you’re slowly shaking your head thinking, “No, no, that’s not me,” or “I need to do and be everything, that’s just what starting a business is about!”

Now, I 1,000% understand where you’re coming from because that was also me when I first began my journey in studio ownership…

I thought I had to do it all, but in reality, that quest just led to not getting much of anything done because I either wasn’t best suited for the task at hand, and it left me with no time to focus on the tasks that were truly going to move the business forward.

The day I discovered I was in denial was a day I’ll never forget…

In my childhood bedroom with my newborn baby and tears flowing like the Mississippi (except it wasn’t my son’s tears we’re talking about), my mama sat next to me and said, “This is going to come down to choosing three small things every day, only three. Any more than that and you’ll never move forward.”

For a dreamer and doer who wants to get all done and now, that was a tough lesson to learn.

But in the months that followed, I found my Carpe Diem Cure and created a 3-steps-and-tasks-a-day system that led to opening my studio doors and being profitable from the start in just four months.

It wasn’t magic, it was a mindset shift. Less fumbling with a mile-long list, and more laser-focus on the actions that mattered.

And even though I can’t sit next to you and dry any tears that might be flowing, today I’m going to walk you through that lesson that while tough to learn, was the way of thinking that finally set me free.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why the Carpe Diem Rule is essential for not just your studio growth, but your sanity
• The power behind narrowing down your daily to-dos to only 3 daily action items
• How long your 3 daily tasks should take you
• Why client communication is at the top of the list and the 3 steps associated with it
• What I did with the leftover tasks that didn’t ever or rarely made my to-do lists

With Grit & Gratitude,

Lisé