Author: Lisé Kuecker

For our 300th episode, we’re shaking things up a little. Studio Grow Coach, Christina May Wolf, is taking over as host to interview not one, but two incredible studio owners: Dana Hood and Lola Manekin.

Now, both Dana and Lola are black belt Nia teachers, studio owners, and all around amazing human beings. But that’s not all they do, together they’ve been hosting successful Nia retreats everywhere from Costa Rica to Mexico to Bali and in between.

If you’ve secretly been dreaming about hosting your own retreat someday, pull up a chair, because these ladies drop some serious strategy bombs.

Tune in to the episode to find out why hosting a retreat is a fantastic idea, the signs you need to watch for to know you’re ready, working out the logistics of building an audience, picking a venue, adding complementary modalities and more.

Plus, get tried-and-tested solutions to the problems most retreat hosters face (like unexpected eventualities, scheduling issues, and partner-chaos).

We also dive into the difference between a retreat and a vacation and the key to making a group of people who arrive as strangers leave as one big, fat, happy community.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What Nia Yoga really is

• How to know when you are ready to host a retreat and where your participants will come from
  
  
• The kind of audience to build before announcing your retreat

• Tips on choosing a location and venue, along with possible red flags

• Advantages and disadvantages of doing retreats with other facilitators versus as a solo
  
  
• The solution to all your scheduling woes

• Finding a balance in your retreat itinerary

• Preparation time and theme importance

• How to create a sense of community between participants

LINKS:

https://www.embodycentralia.com/

http://ibodydenver.com/

https://www.themvmtlab.com/

With grit and gratitude,

Lisé

Meet Studio Grow Coach Christina May Wolf. Christina dreamed of creating a boutique studio and wellness resource to serve her community, and six years ago, she made that dream a reality.

Join us as Christina spills the beans on the strategies that helped her build a successful, thriving boutique business within her studio.

Offering retail options in your studio isn’t just a way to pad out your profit margin (although it will definitely help with that), it’s also a way to deepen your relationship with your clients as a trusted resource and serve your audience in as many ways as possible.

If you’re considering bringing retail into your studio or already have retail and are looking to up your game, hunker down folks, because Christina lays out exactly what you need to do, the factors you need to consider, the products to choose, and the items you should always, always have in stock.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Christina created a successful boutique within her studio

• The reasons and benefits for offering retail products within your studio

• Why you should make sure what you bring into your business aligns with you and your brand {and its core values}

• Strategies for facilitating the sense of community with brand-specific merchandise

• What to consider in relation to the demographics and psychographics of your members

• The importance of managing your inventory, vendor relationships, and client interests

LINKS:

https://www.embodycentralia.com

With grit and gratitude,

Lisé

Between Groupon, Classpass, social media, and all the noise on the internet getting yourself found on the internet can feel trying to make yourself heard at a Katy Perry concert.

If that hits a little too close to home, then pull out a notebook, because you’re going to want to take some notes.

Join Studio Grow Consultant and Coach Maura Vella as she chats with veteran studio owner, and current Client Cure student, Rachel Davis.

With over a decade of studio ownership under her belt, Rachel talks about the things that have worked best for her in her business, the systems that proved the most efficient, and the secrets behind her gobsmackingly high membership conversion rates.

Here are just some of the juicy bits they covered:

…How Rachel transitioned nearly 100% of her existing clients onto profitable membership programs

….The changes she's observed in the industry over the last 10 years

…The strategy she's found most effective in creating those long-lasting client relationships

…And the incredibly simple, but oh-so-effective productivity hack might be just the trick you need to make marketing feel more manageable.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How to prioritize progress in your business without burning yourself out

• Ways to build the foundation for a good  client relationship

• How to transition existing clients onto a membership plan seamlessly

• How to use delegation, teams, and systems so you can hire and expand hassle-free

• When you should be testing, pivoting and trying something different

LINKS:

https://barreatcdr.com/

With grit and gratitude,
Lisé

What does your studio need to have in common with Chipotle in order to be successful?

Tune in to this episode with our very own Studio Grow coach, Erin Haag, to get the answer.

Join in as Erin walks us through her journey from being theater student, to a corporate professional, to a brand new studio owner, and finally, the things she did to take her profit from a mere 6% to a massive 47%.

Erin reveals the secrets behind high intake conversion rates, and the key to finding those emotional hot buttons that help you connect with your clients on a deeper level.

If your revenue numbers are great, but your profit’s looking a little sad, this is one episode you can’t miss. We’re digging into the steps to automate your system, the changes you need to make to maximize profitability, and the secret behind turning your studio into a hot commodity.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Erin went from a theater student to a business owner

• The magic behind profit margins and total gross revenue

• Why understanding what services are the most profitable is necessary

• Your studio peak hours of profitability matters!

• Why you won’t want to expand until you’ve maxed your studio’s capacity

• How to create a profitable studio schedule
  
  

And, of course, the Chipotle rule!

With grit and gratitude,

Lisé