Author: Lisé Kuecker

We’re kicking off the season with a little silliness and a whole lotta gratitude.

I stick to business pretty exclusively here on Ready. Aim. Empire., but today I wanted to shift gears a bit as we head into the holiday season and reflect on the year we’ve had, and boy has it been a BIG one…

Beyond the massive rebrand, and introducing Studio Grow to the world (which you can listen more about in Episode 257), we had a ton of growth and change in our family life.

From adding a new baby boy to our brood to moving into a new home, it’s really just the tip of the iceberg because there is so much more that is happening and what’s to come in the year ahead.

In this episode, I’m sharing more about these new shifts along with my darling hubby, who is joining me on the mic today… you’ll see what I mean with the silliness within the first few minutes!

I hope you’ll join me for this short-and-sweet gratitude reflection and get a better picture of the behind-the-scenes of this operation because this is the life that brought me to build Studio Grow and to do the work that I so wholeheartedly love and believe in.

I could gush on and on, y’all. Just know we’re so grateful for you being a part of our community, and really, a part of our family.

Love, blessings, and happy feasting!

In this episode you’ll hear:  

• • What life is like for our family, with a behind-the-scenes look!

• • How we’re all embracing the newest arrival to our family

• • The reasons we love where we live so much, and how we’ve handled the multiple moves we’ve made to get here

• • Why this Thanksgiving is so special to us

• • What we’re grateful for, including the amazing team and clients we get to work with every single day

• The new chapter we’ve said “Yes” to…

With Grit & Gratitude,

Lisé

LINKS:

https://www.brandbot.com/

Text “brandbot” to 33444 for your personal demo!

We use the term “branding” a lot in the business world, and sometimes it gets thrown around a little loosely…

For example, do you associate the word “brand” with “logo”?

While, yes, your logo is a piece of your brand, I like to think of it as the very tip of the iceberg because a brand, especially one that is compelling and irresistible, has nothing to do with a logo and everything to do with experience.

Our guest on today’s episode, Natalie Wheeler,
who is the co-founder of Vasu Studio Yoga and Healing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut, knows this well as she is creating a brand experience that’s truly unique and fires on all sensory cylinders.

In addition to offering yoga, Vasu Studio is also a spa and apothecary (and in case you were wondering, yes, all their spa services do incorporate their bespoke blends from their apothecary… dreamy, I know.)

Even as you listen to Natalie describe her services and the space of her studio, you can see it in your mind’s eye and immediately transport yourself there… if only it were that easy!

However, while bruising a truly remarkable brand experience that compels is no easy feat, if you don’t have the business structure to back up that brand, that’s where you can begin to flounder.

In this episode, Studio Grow coach and consultant, Niki Riga, chats with Natalie about her and her team’s “Summer of Focus” as they navigated their way through The Client Cure and how it has radically changed the inner-workings of her business’ structure and organization.

She’s a testament to the art of creating a brand that compels, and now she’s transforming her processes into ones that close.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Natalie and her twin sister (her business partner) have grown a unique business that intertwines yoga, apothecary, and spa while building a community and an open forum for wellness and connection
• Why it pays to be fearless and true to you as you revisit your mission over and over and explore new possibilities with your business
• What Vasu Studios looked like before The Client Cure and how they were able to become more intentional with their processes, follow-up and conversion rates
• The three most influential changes they made in their business that has drastically bumped up their sales
• How the Vasu Studios team plans to grow and implement the processes from The Client Cure to other parts of their business moving forward

With grit and gratitude,

Lise

The Golden Rule.

Kill ‘em with kindness.

Or, as I always heard growing up in the South, “you attract more bees with honey than you do with vinegar.”

Whatever your phraseology, it all boils down to being nice.

Of course, as a business owner, it feels like common sense that we would be kind to our customers, yet it doesn’t require deep digging to find negative reviews in a flash, so clearly, some business leaders aren’t quite getting the memo.

But as Niki Riga, Studio Grow coach and owner of Flex Fusion Studios put it, it’s better to be killing with kindness instead of killing your business because negativity spreads like wildfire, especially online.

Today I’ve got Niki at the microphone as she teaches us all about what it means to go above and beyond with kindness (something she calls the Alpha Phi Effect that she learned back in her sorority days) that leaves both parties feeling good and happy, even when the situation feels a little sticky.

If you find yourself feeling the pressure to be a “yes woman” to try to appease everyone, this is for you.

If you have a studio that has garnered even one so-so review from a client claiming they weren’t treated nicely, this is for you.

And if you fear having boundaries and policies makes you seem “not nice” or “mean” or “non-understanding,” this is for you.

Because being kind is in fact, all about holding firm your boundaries so you can benefit your business, your bottom line, and not bruise any egos in the process.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Niki realized she needed to change her “yes” behavior and act like a business instead of an expensive charity
• What is the Alpha Phi Effect and how you can apply it to a variety of scenarios in your studio
• Why the concept and practice of kindness needs to be embedded into your studio’s culture and steps you can take to make that happen
• How policies actually give you room to be kind, understanding and give you greater freedom than being a “yes person”

With grit and gratitude,

Lise

I’ve always believed in the idea that if you’re not at least a little bit afraid of what you set out to accomplish, you’re not dreaming big enough.

Big dreams should shove us over the edge of our comfort zones and into uncharted territory where we’re forced to learn to fly.

And if you’re like today’s guest, Jo-Anne, maybe you’ll understand that flying sensation from a slightly different perspective, one that she said was more “flying by the seat of your pants.”

Listen, when it comes to taking action on big dreams, sometimes that’s the kind of flying you have to do to get your dream up and off the ground.

However, what you’ll eventually find, much like Jo-Anne did, is that that mode doesn’t work in the long haul, and if you want to have sustainable success, you’ve got to have a flight plan that involves systems and processes.

For Jo-Anne, who founded the Calgary Pilates Centre 10 years ago and has built an incredible team of 15 people, she realized that after a few business roadblocks, it was time to get to the nuts and bolts of her business so she could achieve a greater level of success and freedom for her business, her community, and her personal life.

In today’s episode, we’ve got Studio Grow coach and consultant, Erin Haag at the helm as she chats with Jo-Anne all about how she has worked with our team to overhaul her pricing and packaging structures and navigating (and overcoming) some of the fears that come with that process.

What I love about her journey is how thoughtful Jo-Anne is about the changes she’s made and what she’s working on now… there’s a reason why she built a successful studio prior to working with us, and I just know you’ll glean some golden nuggets from her story.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Jo-Anne and her team were able to survive {and thrive} through natural disasters, recessions, and competition that threatened the success of her studio
• What lead her to The Client Cure, the hesitations she had to overcome, and what ultimately helped her decide on making the leap
• How she managed her time and energy to be able to implement the teachings within The Client Cure and some of the fears she had to overcome in the process
• Which strategies and processes from The Client Cure Jo-Anne has put into place and how they’ve performed thus far (plus what she’s focusing on next)

Connect with Calgary Pilates Centre:

On their website

On Facebook

On Instagram

With grit and gratitude,
Lise