Author: Lisé Kuecker

It doesn’t matter whether we think of ourselves as “risk-averse” or an adrenaline junkie, we all experience some level of fear when making significant changes or decisions, even if it’s just a twinge.

Part of this fear is our brain’s natural response to keep us “safe,” but what our brain doesn’t know is that it’s not keeping us safe from an attack by a wild animal (our brain’s primitive reason for this response), but it’s holding us back from expansion and growth.

That’s why it’s up to us to be mentally resilient and make the mindset shifts that will let us move past that fear.

So what does that have to do with today’s episode?

Well, by all intensive purposes the roller coaster of events that Misty Cauthen
went through in growing her first studio and expanding to her second would have had most people throwing in the towel saying, “Forget it, this is too risky…too uncomfortable.”

But not Misty.

Maybe it was the fact that, as she states, failing wasn’t an option and she had to make it work. Personally, I think it’s because she’s a powerhouse woman who can stare at difficult decisions and circumstances in the face and show them that she is a force to be reckoned with.

If you don’t know Misty, she’s the founder of Dragonfly Pilates, a student of The Client Cure who has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years, and one of the new faces of the Studio Grow brand!

In this episode, we discuss her journey to opening her first studio, the roadblocks she faced in growing her business, the move to open her second studio, and how she’s made decisions that have brought her business to the place of being a well-oiled machine.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How seasons of turmoil led to incredible doors of opportunity that opened for Misty
• Why she wanted to open more than one studio {and how her model has changed over the years from hiring to business operations and finances}
• Her biggest challenges with opening her second studio and how she worked through them and overcame them
• How different work relationships have changed Misty’s mindset and moved her business forward

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Visit Dragonfly Pilates.

Connect with Misty and Dragonfly Pilates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Spot Misty on the Studio Grow site.

With grit and gratitude,

Lise

Starting a studio is serious business.

There’s creating a business plan, securing funding or figuring out how you’ll bootstrap, contracts (oh goodness the contracts), purchasing equipment, bookkeeping, and hiring…

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, and that’s before any of the real fun stuff starts, you know, like getting your first clients and opening your doors!

Although all the “non-fun” parts of business are 100 percent necessary to thrive, there’s a case to be made that fun is also a key ingredient to studio success.

After all, as my guests on this episode explain, “You’re only going to stick to something you enjoy.”

And to be honest, I think that can apply to your clients just as much as it can apply to you as a business owner, and no one exemplifies that better than my friends and clients, Tali and Tammar, the co-founders of Off Road DC.

Off Road DC has quickly boomed into a two-location studio in the highly diverse city of DC that offers a trifecta of programs that simply stand out from the crowd of typical cycle studios, big box gyms, and CrossFit boxes.

But beyond their unique mix of programs, what is truly fueling their community’s fierce love of their studio is pure, creative fun.

We’re talking boy band vs. hair band themed rides kind of fun. Y’all, it’s contagious and absolutely the special je ne sais quoi that is opening the doors to a whole other world of possibility for their business growth.

Let’s just say; I won’t be surprised if you see cities other than “DC” after the words “Off Road” in the future.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Tammar and Tali met and together set out to create “The Cheers of Fitness Studios” {while both holding full-time jobs}
• The factors they believe have contributed to their incredible success
• What their clients experience when walking through their doors and how they continually infuse creative fun into the business
• The biggest lessons they learned from starting the business and then expanding to a second location
• Why they felt the need to change to a membership model and the shifts they’re experiencing with their people and profits
• Their approach to keeping clients in a highly transient market
• What’s next for Tammar and Tali {and why the status quo isn’t an option}

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• Download the Growth Book featuring The 6 Most Important Fitness and Mindbody Studio Growth Strategies.
• Learn more about Off Road DC and pay them a visit when you’re in the city
• Connect with Off Road DC on Facebook and Instagram

With grit and gratitude,

Lise

We talk a lot about business here on Ready. Aim. Empire.

Systems, operations, business models, marketing, finances…

We cover pretty much every facet of running a wellness and mindbody studio you can imagine based on my experiences owning a studio, the experiences and stories of other studio owners across the globe, some of which include my incredible students who have gone through my signature program, The Client Cure.

But my experience as a business consultant, funny enough, didn’t start in fitness and wellness, nope, it began with my tailor!

You’ll have to listen to the episode to hear the story, but that’s where it starts.

And in today’s episode, you’ll hear about how we’ve grown past that first little consulting gig into the business we are today, which, I’m so excited to announce, has a new brand identity!

Today I’m introducing you to Studio Grow, how we came to be, where we’re at now, and where we’re going next.  

Things you’ll learn in this episode:

• What lead me to start a small consulting business and how it evolved with time
• Why we decided that my business needed a shift and how one of those shifts included a new name of our business
• Why it took a year to launch new branding and website
• A look forward to meeting my staff in the upcoming weeks!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Download the Growth Book featuring The 6 Most Important Fitness and Mindbody Studio Growth Strategies.

With grit and gratitude,
Lise

Owning a studio inherently makes you a business owner, yes.

But an entrepreneur? Not necessarily…

See, an entrepreneur has slightly different tendencies.

The way they think of operating their businesses involves more systems, more team members and less of themselves.

I know what you’re thinking, “This is my passion, there’s no way I can take myself out of my business!” Your love for your modality runs deep. I get it…

It’s rare to find a studio owner who didn’t first fall in love with their paradigm before the idea of owning a business set in. And there’s nothing wrong with that, I’m a firm believer that you can’t have profits without passion.

But what brings an even bigger payday is an exit strategy, and it’s entrepreneurs who think of exit strategies.

My guest on today’s episode may have started as many studio owners do (with a passion and a purpose), but you better believe Brooke Bowersock is cut out to be an entrepreneur.

During our chat, you’ll hear about her journey and how she built her first studio to empire proportions, sold it, and how she’s building her second studio with a unique membership model and the same entrepreneurial spirit that made her first studio thrive.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The reason Brooke made the decision to sell her thriving business and how she planned her exit strategy

• The opportunities that Brooke identified and influenced her decision to branch out from just Pilates

• Why she supports her trainers on their path to find their own unique set of skills and the benefit of hiring instructors who will work to build community

• What Brooke says is the hardest part of building a business and how she embraces it

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Download the Growth Book featuring The 6 Most Important Fitness and Mindbody Studio Growth Strategies.

Visit Brooke’s website for Align Austin.

Follow Align Austin on Instagram.

With grit and gratitude,

Lise