Shownotes
The story of how Ana Maria Borrero went from from €17/hr employee to nearly €10k/month in revenue with 6 reformers, 20 classes, and a waitlist in a small Dutch town.
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Transcripts
Welcome to Pilates Elephants. I'm here with somebody I'm very excited to talk
::to today, Anna Maria Barrera. Welcome, Anna.
::Thanks, Raph. Thanks for having me here.
::I'm looking forward to this conversation a lot. I always enjoy our conversations
::and I think you've got a lot, there's going to be a lot of value here for studio
::owners and especially studio owners at the relatively either at a small stage studio.
::So maybe they're a solo operator, maybe someone who's an aspiring studio owner
::or someone who's been, you know, running a solo studio for a while and needs
::some inspiration and some guidance.
::So, firstly, you know, one of the reasons I wanted to have you on is you've
::sort of triumphed against so many obstacles here.
::Like, you've started a solo business in a foreign country where you don't –
::it wasn't even your second language. No, that's right.
::And where Pilates, the Pilates industry hadn't really exploded yet at the time
::when you started your business where you are.
::So can you just give us like a brief overview of who you are,
::where you are and what your business is?
::Sure. So my name is Anna, as Raph introduced me, and I am from Colombia and
::I have been living in the Netherlands for five years.
::I own a Boutique Pilatus studio in the South Netherlands in a place named Sevenbergen.
::And it's nearly a year open. It's going to be one year in January.
::And it has been going very well, I have to say.
::Right, and I'm going to massacre the pronunciation. Seven Belgen is about halfway
::between Rotterdam and Antwerp, right? It's not a very big city where you are. No, no, that's right.
::If you have heard about Rotterdam, we are 35 minutes away from Rotterdam,
::and maybe in any other country that's close, but for the Dutch people, that's been far away.
::So yeah it's a
::lovely place but yeah not a big place so
::so tell us about like
::uh just give us a snapshot of your business
::now you know so like what do you do you
::know what's your revenue how many classes do you run how many reformers
::do you have or all of that kind of stuff okay well
::at the moment i'm running around 20 lessons and
::i just added two more lessons last month and i'm
::checking how those two new lessons will
::go will will do uh i i
::i'm having six reformers at the moment i add an extra this year as well and
::revenue wise uh the goal is to get closer to the 10k and I'm going towards that.
::I'm not far away from that.
::Yes. That's awesome. And that's in Euros, right? You're in Euros.
::That's in Euros. Yes, that's in Euros. Yes.
::Okay, and it's just you teaching at the moment? It's just me and me. I am the cleaner.
::I am the one that gives the lessons. I am the one that does social media.
::I am everything in this place.
::If I make a video just introducing the theme of my studio, it's me on all roles. That's it.
::That reminds me of those old kind of comedy westerns where they go into the
::town and it's like The Undertaker and that the same person is the bartender
::and the same person is the sheriff.
::Yeah, yeah, pretty much. I will just change masks during the day and that's about it.
::So...
::So let's go back to when you started your business a year ago,
::because it's changed a lot in the year.
::Yes, very much. So tell me about, you know, what was, firstly,
::you know, what was the business that you started?
::Like describe to us, you know, when you first opened, what was the setup?
::Okay, so to not go so far away, let's say that I first started with having Pilates
::math lessons and as well as few reformer lessons.
::My idea of the business was that I was going to have math lessons running as
::well as reformer lessons running.
::Uh but that changed
::very fast because uh over
::the first six months pilates reformer was uh much more popular than pilates
::mat and even though my pilates mat people love pilates mat they wouldn't show
::at they wouldn't show as much as they will show for the reformer lessons so
::So those things have changed.
::Personally, I have learned a lot through this month. So I also have changed
::and it reflects, I think.
::Is that where you want me to go?
::Yeah, well, all right. Well, let's go there. What have you learned and how have you changed?
::Okay, so I'll just start by saying that I didn't have a background of being
::a studio owner or any close to that.
::My parents own a business in Colombia, and I've been on the sides,
::but never really on the big shoes.
::So I didn't really know how I was going to run a business.
::I was trying to learn all the things possible when I started.
::But I knew that I needed a better guidance.
::So in the first months I would just join
::different apps and different coachings
::and trying to just do it in a more affordable way
::because I didn't think I didn't know
::if I could invest in better coaching and I did
::it and it was not so bad but I knew that I didn't know how
::to really take action on
::the things that I must take action into or didn't
::know even what what did I actually needed to fix so
::i was doing too many things at the same time and
::then i joined the mastermind program
::from breath education with you and that
::gave me better routes you know to to help
::my business grow and since then i think that i'm
::just reflecting every time and just applying what i'm
::learning and just going through the discomfort of doing
::the things i don't want to do or they're difficult to
::think let's say because very
::difficult all right so what are some of the things that
::you were avoiding that you have done
::oh oh my god yeah cutting the
::math lessons it that really just was very
::difficult my belly uh adding a
::new reformer in the studio that was difficult uh
::for me you know to the people having an
::extra reformer that didn't matter it was difficult to me because of the of the.
::Thoughts that I had about it I thought I was going to lose my clients but I.
::Didn't they're just they just saw the reform and I thought and they thought it was all right and I,
::I guess that I would just be learning to set boundaries, you know,
::and just going through that and not overthinking about the sessions.
::That's like when you're in the back, I'm just trying to keep on going.
::Making videos on another language, I gave my lessons in Dutch,
::but it doesn't mean that I feel comfortable about doing videos in Dutch.
::That, that's uncomfortable. So, yeah.
::Yes. So walk us, walk me through, you know, let's go back to before you,
::you know, to, to the decision to drop the mat classes.
::Cause I think that's a really good point to kind of double click on for a lot of our listeners.
::It's, it's, yeah, it's something I think a lot of people kind of get stuck in.
::So why, you know, why did, why did you make the decision to drop the mat classes?
::Like what was the problem? The problem was that I had these lessons in the schedule
::that were not really full or not nearly full.
::They were sometimes quite empty.
::And although my clients would say that they love the Pilates math lessons,
::they will not show to the lessons.
::You know, they will cancel the lesson in the morning.
::And it was a problem to me because I could use those times to have better reformer
::lesson in which the people was much more interested to join than having that, you know,
::math lesson that would take the same energy or more from me because...
::Yes, I would have to do some stuff or just to let them see a little bit of the
::exercise within my body.
::Not too much. I walk around pretty much and I just give the lessons with my words.
::But sometimes it's just needed, you know, to mock.
::And yes, that was about it. And financially, yes, there was a very big difference
::between the math lessons and the reformer lessons.
::So I really tried to grow my math lessons. I
::try to you know bring more people into the
::math lessons but obviously because I just had them
::two days in the week people would always find excuses to
::say that it doesn't really suits their time they
::have other activities they have the running club the
::walking club the whatever club they are into so
::I didn't work it was not working and I was doing it because
::I thought it was a good way to help people and
::make it more affordable to people but people will
::not show up that was the difficult
::part for me that i was there for the people and people say they love it but
::they won't show up every time so and they were not getting those results that
::i knew they could have if they would show up so yeah that's about it it's very
::interesting to me and now this is not true for everybody,
::but I've observed it to be true for a lot of people,
::that when you charge.
::Less money, clients have less commitment to the sessions and they get less results
::because they're less committed.
::Yeah, I thought it was, yeah, I heard that before, but I wouldn't think that it was real.
::I wouldn't think that it was real. It was that way. They wouldn't really care so much.
::And, you know, and I was giving lessons in a boutique studio.
::So already the price of the math lessons was a little bit higher than in the
::gym, but it's still they would just, they won't show up.
::It was not so, so, so, so difficult to meet, let's say.
::So all of that sounds pretty straightforward when you say it now,
::you know, like the classes were...
::You were charging less per class for the clients. The classes were less full.
::So you were making a lot less money per session. You could have been teaching
::reformer for those sessions. Plus the clients weren't getting the results because
::they were kind of flaking out at the last minute.
::So all of that sounds very straightforward, easy decision. So why was it a hard
::decision for you? And I think it's a hard decision for a lot of people.
::It is. And I can imagine because I guess that when you get into Pilates,
::you want to help people, you get to, I don't know, well, there's a pool of people.
::I'm not telling how you should be as an instructor.
::But I know that there are a lot of instructors that want the best for their
::clients, that know of saying that the people cannot afford something else.
::And so I just wanted to keep that lesson so people could join,
::you know, and make it affordable so they could join.
::But at the end of the day, and the funny part is that when I just finished with
::Pilates mat, most of my clients just stay into the reformer lessons.
::And they are getting amazing results because they are actually just showing up every week.
::And I can just load them a little bit more or help them with the reformer just
::to get easy in positions. And that's very nice.
::But I wouldn't think that way. I could have heard that from a podcast or from
::you or from any other person saying that it could happen, but I wouldn't believe
::myself that that was going to happen. And I thought my clients would just resent me.
::And it was not the case.
::Hugh left because that's reality and it's okay. And I tried to help them find
::another studio or a place where they could follow Pilates Mad License. But yeah, it was not bad.
::It's funny. That's my experience in my business also. So in the business coaching,
::right? So what we're doing together.
::So I have essentially three different levels that I charge for that.
::So I do a lot of free stuff on this podcast and I give away a lot of my best
::content for free on this podcast. Yeah.
::And then I have a...
::Um, like a couple of hundred dollar a month tier, which is kind of group coaching with me plus content.
::And I have a lot of people in that for free because we kind of grandfathered
::the min from other programs they bought and stuff in the past.
::Then I have a paid tier, which is a lot more expensive and it's all the same content, right?
::So there's no like special content in the high paid tier that's different,
::but what you get in the high paid tier is what I find is that now there There are one or two people.
::Like every month I get like a message from somebody on Instagram who's just
::listened to this podcast and they've applied it.
::Like Jennifer Tan, who I had on this podcast a couple of months back,
::she built her own studio and she's now making tens of thousands of dollars a
::month profit just from the free content.
::And that's 100% credit to her for getting off her backside and doing that.
::But by and large, I've got some like 400 people in the free tier of this mastermind
::because I've been grandfathered in from other programs.
::But guess who shows up to the calls, the free calls?
::Not those free people. There's like one or two free people who show up.
::And then the people who show up to the calls are the people who are paying a lot of money.
::Oh, yeah. And guess who gets the results? The people who are paying a lot of
::money. And I think it's just...
::Indicative of their commitment level like people
::who are that committed to spend that much money and then and and then
::it reinforces itself because you think okay well dang it i've
::spent all this money i'm better get the value from it so
::you show up for yourself when you do the work and i think that works the same
::when someone's paying for pilates sessions as well i think the psychology really
::just is when people pay they pay attention yeah yeah and i wouldn't believe
::that you know Like not having this experience with having my own Pilates studio,
::being afraid of being in a little village.
::Well, it's not a little village, but it's not a city, you know.
::And thinking that maybe people wouldn't know what Pilates is,
::I would be very, very scared about having high prices.
::My husband was very scared about me, you know, showing the prices that I was
::going to offer to the people. He thought we were just going to,
::you know, bankruptcy or something like that.
::So walk us through the process. How did you make that change with,
::you know, because you were running two mat classes a week.
::And by and large, you know, those mat people, they weren't reformer people.
::Like there was almost no crossover between the mat people and the reformer people.
::So how did you make that change and what happened?
::How did I make that change? Well, I told the people that I was going to...
::Stop with the pilates math lessons i i
::also i have a two-story place that
::i rent but the second floor or the first floor depending on
::where you are and how you say that anyway the top
::floor um it's not really legally
::available to have like
::a sport activity like the the the
::the man the man i ran the place from
::he just said you can use it but not a lot of people
::for you know just a few days and it
::was okay but yeah there was a situation already
::happening there in the top floor and so yes
::I just shared with my clients that and
::I just told them that I was going to stop with them at lessons that
::we were going towards performer and that if
::they wanted to stay they could try reformer you
::know at the same price for a couple of weeks I think
::it was like a month of having reformer lessons
::instead of mat for the same price of mat and if
::they wanted to you know keep on reformer that they
::could just change their membership to reformer to
::a reformer one and if they wanted to stop i could completely
::understand that i oh that i was going to completely
::stop in mat and yes that happened few
::just took the reformer lessons few
::were very into i don't think i like reformer in.
::The first lesson in the second lesson well it was
::better today than the first one you know and it
::was not the lesson it was just that they were you know all against
::going to reformer and then just like well i don't want to leave the studio so
::i really want to keep on going to reformer and to i really like the reformer
::more more than math you know okay that's amazing thank you and some that just
::really like math you know so just go and find math that's also or write.
::I can help you or not, but if that's what you want to do, that's what you want to do.
::So that was a little bit...
::And so that's a great strategy that, you know,
::we use a lot when we have to make a change, which is it's essentially it's the
::appeal to authority or the faceless third party thing, which is where basically you say,
::oh, look, you know, I'd love to keep running the mat classes,
::but, you know, just legally I'm not allowed to use that room.
::And it's, you know, it's not up to me, it's the landlord and it's,
::you know, so there's nothing much I can do.
::We can also, another great one that I have clients use is playing the family card.
::Like, I'd love to keep seeing you one-on-one on a Thursday, but,
::you know, I need to spend that time with my family.
::And so basically when you say something like that, like, it's not me,
::it's this other person. Yeah, it's not me, it's you, it's not you, it's me.
::It's not you, it's me. So, dear listener, I think that's one you can take to
::the bank is basically if you can find an appeal to authority,
::a business partner, a husband, a wife, family,
::you know, a landlord, then, you know, I would love to give you a discount,
::but my business partner is a real stickler.
::Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't like to do that.
::But, yes, at the end of the day, it really helped, you know,
::and people, you know, had a lot of work. The people were very kind towards me.
::They were like, no, but I hope that things are going to run good for you.
::And I was like, yeah, thank you. But anyway, it was a difficult decision.
::I also thought, okay, I'm just going to lose around, I don't know, 15 clients.
::And 15 clients at the time just felt like 15 clients, you know, very heavy to lose.
::That was a lot. And thankfully, it was not the case.
::And so how many did you lose at the end? I think I lost around five clients
::maximum or something like that.
::And they were not clients that were just on a membership. They were just buying passes.
::They will also just show up, you know, like three times per month or two times per month.
::So it was not so difficult to lose them. Like I miss them.
::And then the other 10 clients converted to a reformer membership,
::which was more expensive. Yes, I know. This is the crisis story.
::Like a thing that about, yeah, I don't know, five from those people,
::something like that, went to two times reformer after two months of reformer.
::They're just like, I love this. I would just go to two times and I'm like, really?
::I spent nearly three months or two months thinking if I was going to stop with
::math and people's very happy about performing half the seven,
::you know, and they want to invest, I don't know.
::Three more times, four more times that what they were investing in Pilates math, not.
::Right. So even so, as the dust has settled on that, that was a few months ago
::now that you did that, that you've got, you ended up with a few fewer total clients,
::but more total attendances and more total money in fewer classes per week.
::Yes, yes, exactly. And more energy for myself because I do love math lessons. They're nice.
::But for some reason for myself, to me, it's just easier to give a reformer lesson,
::you know, and I like it more for myself, you know. So...
::Pretty good decision. And so what are some of the other key decisions that you've
::made over that year that have resulted in, you know,
::the business becoming, because I think what is great about, there are several
::great things about your business and you tell me if you agree with these, but basically,
::I mean, you've created a business for yourself that you're making really good money.
::You know you're making over a hundred thousand euros a year for for yourself which is amazing.
::You are you you have a great lifestyle you know you teach 20 hours a week you
::travel with your boyfriend sorry with your husband and you take time off and
::spend time with family and friends uh and you you work with people you enjoy
::working with and you do what you love so i think you've created a business that,
::you know, you've built a business that is really suited to, to what you want.
::Yeah. Well, pretty much. I'll say that I'm still working to,
::you know, now get a little bit of time off to do those things that I want to do more.
::But yes, I mean, if, if I can go a little bit more back and as I told you one
::time, I'm very happy because I started this journey of Pilates by sitting on a train.
::5 45 a.m in the morning going to Rotterdam
::to give Pilates lessons to be paid I think 17
::euros and a half because it was after COVID that
::was nearly nothing but I needed to begin at
::some point you know I was new in the country I was going I was
::new in the Pilates you know atmosphere here I needed
::to start somewhere and I come
::from that you know and I come from working.
::As many hours as I could to you know make something
::decent in the month to uh yeah
::working less hours and having the people that I
::like to work with which I thought also was going to yeah
::that sound nearly impossible but I really
::like my clients I really love them they're amazing and
::I want to get in a minute to you know where you
::want to go with the business and how you're going to create that more time
::off for yourself because you really want to go back to Colombia a few
::times a year and spend time with your family there right yeah
::um so but what is first what
::are some of the the other key decisions so
::there was the dropping the mat classes that was a big one what are
::some of the other key decisions you've made along the way over
::the last year that have really brought you to to where you
::are right now i very really straightforward i just decided to be in the program
::of the mastermind mastermind program of of breathe i knew i needed a better
::coaching because there were a lot of things that were not clear to me.
::Like which were the steps that I needed to take to really help my business grow.
::And I was playing around with little strategies that I was learning on the way
::and that would help a little bit, but I needed a clear path.
::So that decision really took me to have a better balanced studio.
::That's how I feel by now and I feel myself more self um.
::I feel that that's self-confidence to take my studio a little bit better next
::year, you know, to grow my studio. These are the words I'm trying to find.
::So the best decision was also too. So sorry. But I would just want to say that
::I was thinking about taking this decision next year, you know,
::from 2026. I said, OK, maybe I can join this coaching program in 2026.
::But I really just sat down. I said to myself, OK, this is a program that can
::be a significant investment because it is a significant investment.
::But now it's just bringing so much back that the investment is just the second
::thing you think now or nothing at all.
::And I'm very happy that I took action just, you know, as soon as as soon as
::possible, because it has really helped. And I'm very glad about it.
::Well, I'm very happy that you did that as well, because I really like working
::with you because you, one, you're just always pleasant.
::Like, I don't, I mean, I've seen you stressed, but I've never seen you unpleasant to be around.
::Like, you're always polite and you always have a smile.
::And even more importantly than that, you take action.
::Like, we talk about a plan and we get clear. and then you'd text me back or
::slack me back two days later and you're like, right, I did that. I fired that client.
::I put my prices up. Thank you.
::Yeah. And you've made videos. You've made sales videos in Dutch and you've learned to edit your website.
::I create a landing page out of nowhere.
::Yeah. So I'm really enjoying our relationship and I've enjoyed watching you succeed more and more.
::What do you think some of the tactical things are that you've done that have
::really made the biggest difference in turning the business into a business that you enjoy more?
::I believe that it has been to just got the things that were not working I don't
::know if that responds to the question and if you wanted to give me Yeah, what a community,
::give me an example yeah changing lessons that were not working on the schedule
::even if i wanted to you know i had the wish that they work uh just cutting clients that were not really.
::Bringing back any positive positive
::positive feeling into my studio or into
::my business just cutting things out and
::set up boundaries which i find is difficult but
::that's what i take also from the conversations maybe it's not
::a sometimes a straight conversations about stuff
::but also hearing other people talking about their situations
::just give me a feedback and just make me you know reflect that
::I have to take action so I think that just cutting
::cutting stuff cutting cutting things
::it it it has helping me to
::just be in a more place in place for myself and for my business and i'm still
::working on that to cut things cut things off yeah once you once you start cutting
::you kind of get a taste for it yeah well yes pretty much is this like.
::It's just it's a very you know like very easy
::example of like people who knows me who's close to me
::or that well actually not very close but people who
::i knew from a dance lesson just asking me they want to join but
::just one lesson if and they would just ask me
::if that is possible and sometimes if they were very close
::to me I would say yes sure come to one lesson and by
::now it is people that I know is like no really you cannot just come for one
::lesson I have a package of three lessons that's awesome that you want to join
::you know like I have three three a package of three lessons you're very welcome
::to follow this package and we can meet you know it's nice we I know that I had
::a relationship with you that was not very close.
::You know me, I know you, but I respect my work, so you're very welcome.
::Yeah, that's fantastic.
::That is something a lot of studio owners struggle with.
::And so tell me about, you know, because some of these, another thing that you
::mentioned there was like cutting classes that were not performing.
::And so one of the things we've done is look at your schedule from a very numbers-based
::perspective and we looked at the capacity utilization of each class over time.
::And we've made decisions about which class, you know, which classes to add,
::which classes to take off the schedule, which classes to change into a different
::class type or move to a different time of the week or whatever.
::Yes. And so, you know, what are some of the sort of takeaways for you from that process?
::Yeah, you said one thing that really just stuck into my head and that was like, just do what it works.
::And that's pretty much, you know, just add what it works and that's about it.
::I have, and on my studio, I don't have like many different lessons.
::I just also understood that less was more because I'm a creative person.
::I like to create stuff. I have tried different stuff.
::And there is nothing crazy. I like to create. It's like, I love it.
::But yeah, that creates problems. So I just have at this moment in my studio,
::Reformer Beginners, Reformer Open Level, and a lesson that I call Spicy,
::which is an athletic reformer.
::And i just pretty much
::have reformer beginners lessons because when i have tried to change the name
::to open level the people just get scared about it don't want to show up so i
::just decided that if they like the name beginners it just stays beginners and
::so let's roll with the name beginners and it works so that's about it i have
::lots of beginners lessons.
::Yeah so it's so it's so apt um
::a lot of the people that i work with i would say almost everybody
::i coach they they you
::know we we have that conversation about do more of
::what works and do you know stop doing what's not working and so a typical conversation
::this is not the conversation that you and i had but a typical conversation i
::would have with the studio and it would be like oh you know what i've got these
::you know classes that are really working the open level classes are really working,
::but I've got this like, you know,
::stretch reformer that's not really working and I teach yin yoga on the reformer
::and that's not really working.
::I've got an over 55s class and that's not really working.
::And I've got a men's only class and that's not really working.
::How do I get more men in my class?
::And so, yeah, the answer I always give them is like, well, just kill all of
::those classes and do more open reformer if that's what people are telling you
::that they want and they're voting with their wallet and their time.
::Time i i i think that's you know
::because you want to please more people and
::people just mention how much they love the stretching
::lessons or that i don't know you call
::it it can be whatever name you want to use you want to please that people and
::create that lesson and when you reach out to the people and you say hey would
::you like to join in this day and time that you said it was going to be perfect
::they were going to say to you yes let's do this and then like one week later
::two weeks later, they would just say that now they have,
::I don't know, a new activity or that they can adjourn for any other reason and
::you just have an empty license.
::So yeah, you would just.
::That's about it that's what i have just get just
::the score for myself this year and when i do something
::different i just do it like one time per month you know
::so one time per month this special lesson
::and that's about it you know so it is something special people can
::just look for to eat or not you
::know but it's not in my schedule because when it is in my schedule it
::just create a nightmare so pretty much right now
::i just have reformer beginners
::a spicy lesson for the people who liked the
::athletic reformer and few other levels for the
::people who really wanted to you know go a little bit more quick
::and on the explanations and yeah that's about it and i'm very happy and let's
::talk about your pricing for a minute because you said at the start that your
::husband was really worried about the the pricing big too yes yes well i.
::My husband didn't have a big experience with this work.
::So to him, he wouldn't even know how much you can pay for a reformer lesson.
::I remember the first time we sat down together, I asked him,
::do you know how much a reformer lesson cost?
::He would say to me, I don't know, 10, 12, 15 euros. And I would say to him, no, really, not here.
::You will pay here around 25 normally.
::You know, if you get something less than that, it's because it is a place with
::10, well, 15 reformers or something like that, which is, yeah,
::not wrong, but not my model, you know.
::So when I came to my husband and I
::had the first idea of the pricing I wanted to have oh
::by the way I actually first presented
::my prices to the person I was working to before
::just stepping completely into my studio and she really helped me and I'm very
::grateful that she was there also to support me and when she saw my numbers she
::said you cannot you cannot really work with this it was very good she said how
::are you going to pay your rent how are you going to keep your education How
::are you going to get your social media?
::How are you going to? I don't know. She just made a list for me.
::And it was also very difficult because I thought, oh, but this is for me already.
::Like, hi, you know, like I'm suffering. It feels like too much for the place I'm living.
::So when I just got a little bit higher with a number that I felt a little bit
::more comfortable with, I just said like, I'm just going to go for it.
::If it doesn't work, well, it doesn't work. My husband thought that people was
::not going to buy memberships and it was pretty much the opposite.
::People really started to convert since the first month, I would say.
::A few will just take first, you know, like a package of lessons and they will
::just close into a membership.
::And what are you charging now? What does your average member pay per session?
::My average member pays 29 euros per session.
::And that's pretty much what it can cost. I think that people can pay up to 35
::euros to join a basic membership for a gym in which they can get maybe a lot of smart lessons.
::So that's the big thing to think about.
::That was the reason I was afraid. Thank you.
::And where do you, tell me about your, what's your sort of intro off it?
::You said you have a three-class pack.
::Yes. So I have a three-class pack for 75 euros and it works very well.
::I feel that people really get the value for the lessons and three lessons seems
::to be a very good number for me.
::That has worked, it's been working very good to me so that people have a better
::experience with the reformer.
::That's my intro. And so you have pretty high conversion. Like once someone buys
::that three-class pack, you know, a lot of them become long-term clients, right?
::Yeah, well, I have a little bit of an offer in between because I know that for
::some people just joining into a membership is like too much on ones.
::And I can imagine it would be maybe the same for myself unless I really love
::something from the first, yeah, whatever.
::So after they finish their intro
::offer they can get a you know like
::like a package of lessons five lessons but
::I would add two extra lessons if they close you
::know that package before they trial time finishes and
::if they close into a membership a
::six-month membership they will get three extra lessons so believe it or not
::those extra lessons really help and I really like it because it's a way to not
::like devalue my work with a discount because that discount is always used and it's also interesting.
::But I really like to add lessons rather than just take out value for my product.
::Yeah, I like that. And where do you get new clients?
::Where do I get new clients? Well, there are many clients that walk by the door.
::There's people that follows me on social media I walk with flyers around the town and Meta adds,
::I love him because I had to work with flyers when I didn't want to work with flyers.
::But I mean, you're at a really good situation now where we just put on those
::two extra classes, like you said, at the start of the call, because you were
::pretty much full at that point.
::And we had a conversation about, did you want to add more classes?
::And you were, you're at this interesting stage now where you're kind of teaching
::as much as you want to teach.
::Yes. And so you're, you're in the process of bringing on somebody else.
::Yes. So that you can, you know, go away to Columbia for a few weeks here and
::there and the business can keep going.
::Yeah. And so tell me about the, so sorry, just to finish that thought.
::And so, you know, you need to, you've got this person that you're training up
::to come on board and teach with you.
::And so when she comes on board, you need to have enough classes to give her
::so that she can actually make a living.
::That's right. And you can't necessarily take away too many of your own classes
::because, you know, you make more profit from those because you're not paying away.
::So we needed to grow the business a little bit in anticipation of her coming on board.
::So just before we go there tell me about like
::because you've you've had some of the same struggles that
::i had when i started employing people you know
::just getting wrong fit people and whatever yeah um
::so yeah walk me through some of the the sort of trial and error that you've
::had with hiring uh well this is the first person that i'm going to hire but
::just having the thought about bringing someone in was already difficult because
::although pilates is growing a lot worldwide, and also in the Netherlands,
::not everyone who is teaching Pilates has a degree.
::And I don't mean that they need to have.
::Like a very complicated degree that I
::would be looking for that person but they have no
::education in the background or even physical education
::if I can be a little bit more clear about it and what
::it make it a little bit more difficult here is
::that as I mentioned at the beginning of
::this call in my head
::coming from Colombia one hour
::away from the city is not so far away
::but here in the netherlands 35 minutes is
::come is far away people wants to really work nearby 20 minutes it's good enough
::you know take your bicycle and go to work that's perfect so finding someone
::within the radio who had the who has the education and you know.
::It was a very difficult thing to do. I reached out to some people,
::but they didn't have education in the background.
::And when the opportunity just came in and I could take one of my beloved clients
::who I saw a future in Pilates for, that was an amazing decision.
::So I have one girl that was my client.
::She's still my client, but not really my client. Well, I just got a girl who
::knew me since the beginning here in this town.
::And she's starting with brief education to become a Pilates instructor.
::And she will join my team, my first team.
::Someone else done Anna next year.
::And you haven't employed somebody. And I know in the Netherlands,
::because I've got a couple of client people I coach in the Netherlands,
::there are very challenging employment laws about, you know, hiring somebody. Yeah.
::It's difficult to be an employer. Yeah. So one example I've learned is that
::if you have an employee, as opposed to a contractor, that you are liable if they are unwell.
::So if they have any kind of illness, like mental illness or even pregnancy,
::like whatever, that you have to pay 70% of their regular wage for two years
::if they're unwell and they can't work.
::Which is just very hard as an employer.
::Yeah, that's right. Like loss, yeah, they're not very easy. for getting someone
::as a freelancer and I can get it because...
::A little bit before, there were also a lot of places. I would just talk from
::Pilates because Pilates is the industry I work for.
::But I would just give you an example. It's me when I was a Pilates instructor.
::I would work with a place that made me sign a contract. And they would say that
::I couldn't work for any other place in the city.
::That I couldn't work also in, I don't know, a radio of 20 kilometers away from
::the place. And we're talking about the Netherlands, where everything is close by, you know, again.
::So, yeah. 20 kilometers, you're in Germany. Yeah, pretty much.
::Nearly, Belgium. Yeah. So, yeah.
::So, I understand that those rules are a little bit more tight, but they are not easy.
::So, yes, finding people and finding what kind of contract you're going to offer
::is difficult, but it's not impossible.
::And I think that having Dakota, I mentioned here, having Dakota just studying
::to become a Pilates instructor is amazing. Can't wait for that.
::Yeah, and so the plan is to have her start at, what, five or six classes a week, is that right?
::I think we're going to go for nine, nine classes per week.
::Yes, really, really, just go for it. I trust my coach.
::She'll improve very quickly. The more practice she gets, the faster she'll master it.
::But it is very simple. I think that I understand that I am not anymore just
::an instructor of my studio.
::I am the owner and there are things that have to be taken care of and I cannot
::be everything. Sorry. I...
::I can do everything at the same time and the studio is growing.
::Fortunately, I have a waiting list for next year and I need people.
::I can do everything myself, even if I wanted to.
::So, yes, having hair is going to be a very big plus for the studio.
::That's what I think. That's what I believe.
::And that's what I am going to work for.
::So it sounds like your identity has changed
::a little bit from Pilates instructor to business
::owner there tell me about that yeah pretty much
::yeah i would say that i have completely maybe
::well not completely but i have changed a lot because
::i started as a person who wanted to
::be more independent and not having to find
::hours everywhere to make a living and
::then i thought i was going to have a little
::pilates boutique studio or maybe just
::a little pilates matter studio to then
::having the opportunity to have reformers to then just
::go against what i believed at the beginning and
::just go for a reformer studio itself to keep
::to teach more lessons to yes to
::to think about bringing someone else so
::i've been growing and i like that and and
::i'm very curious about like how the studio will
::keep on you know growing and myself but.
::I'm very happy about it and i am happy that i
::allowed that because i think that sometimes you can really stay
::in the same place just because you are afraid of
::not taking decisions and not not not
::not out of fear you know and i'm
::not going to say it's easy but it is very difficult to stay at the same place
::and just resent your clients understand what you're doing so yes that's why
::I just try have tried to take action as much as I can even though it is not
::comfortable yeah well you've done amazing job of taking action.
::And so what is, you said you're curious about, you know, what the future looks
::like and how the studio is going to grow and how you're going to grow.
::So, you know, and you mentioned earlier in the call that,
::you know, you want to, you know, one of the things that you want to do is really,
::I mean, you've got a pretty good lifestyle day-to-day now in terms of how much
::you work, but you really want to take more extended periods of time off so that you can travel.
::So tell me about your goals there and how, you know, Dakota and maybe other
::people that you're going to hire, you know, fit into that.
::Well, bringing new people to my studio will help me to have that extra time that I want for myself.
::I want to travel more. As you mentioned, I want to see my family during the
::holidays. And by having a bigger team, I believe that I would be able to manage that.
::And also, I believe that I could spend more time learning how to take care of
::my business every time more and learning how to, you know, do basics of marketing
::or having time to do the things that work or not.
::But, you know, to have more time for that.
::That's what I'm working towards, yeah.
::And so do you see that, you know, when do you see yourself achieving that situation?
::I don't know. It's a good question.
::When do I see myself achieving that situation? Well, actually,
::I believe that having, my plan is to have Dakota already in January.
::And I believe that already when she joins, I would be able to have a little
::bit more time for myself and for my own development, let's call it that way.
::So it's not very far away now where I want to be in the future. I don't know.
::Because we said, I think from memory, what we said last time we talked was that
::you're going to build up an extra five classes a week between now and January.
::So that when she takes over nine classes, you'll still be teaching like 15 or 16 yourself.
::Yeah. And she'll be teaching like nine.
::And that means that you can still make great money, even better money than you're
::making now, and teach less.
::Yes. And that when you do go away, like 25 is a manageable number for her,
::like for a short period. She can do that for three or four weeks,
::no problem, so that you do have somebody that can take over.
::Yes yes something like that yeah yeah so what do you feel is the the next level
::of growth for you professionally oh wow that's a good question well,
::I wouldn't say I'm very sure, but I do picture the studio growing a little bit more.
::I don't have this dream of having a studio with 15 reformers. That's not my dream.
::Never say never, because that's how I started this journey.
::I'm talking from, you know, today's Anna, you know, in this year.
::But I do want to have a bigger studio
::in the future when it's possible and being
::able to offer more lessons and and
::just I just really like Pilates I want to keep studying Pilates and just joining
::more courses and just joining the anatomy calls that I miss through the weeks
::and all these things but I really really really like to study so yeah that's
::how I see myself And I really want to learn more about, you know,
::like business and managing because I got to like it. I thought I was not made for that.
::I thought I suck at, you know, selling things. I thought I was not going to be good enough.
::But I actually like it. And I have, you know, enjoy just learning more about it.
::So I'm looking towards it.
::Yeah or you've you mean it's been amazing watching you really just,
::i guess let go of some of those fears or sort of negative beliefs that you had
::and yeah and seeing you really flourish and come into more power as a business owner yeah.
::What, you know, I guess,
::you know, what would you want to say to someone listening to this who's maybe
::where you were, I don't know,
::six or 12 months ago, maybe they have a small Pilates studio,
::they're teaching from home or they're dreaming of opening a Pilates studio.
::So, and they're kind of just, I don't know, they're stuck doing some of those
::same things that you were doing, you know, like teaching classes that didn't
::bring them joy for clients that didn't show up and, you know,
::not making the money they want and stuff. Yeah. What would you say to those people?
::Well, I would tell them to don't trust the motion, just trust the numbers,
::what they see and just take the decision.
::Like the decision the the the
::more time you you you
::you let for taking a decision the more pain you will feel just take a decision
::it will feel awful for maybe a few days maybe a week but then it's going to
::feel amazing so don't stay stuck because as long as you stay stuck you cannot
::do something new so that's about it and just just do it.
::I wish we could put that on a t-shirt. I think we should put that on a t-shirt. Just do it.
::Pretty nice. Yeah, just do it. But I think there's a lot of wisdom in what you
::said there that, you know, the things that we dread, like they're almost always
::more painful in the anticipation.
::And once you do it, you actually, the pain goes away and you feel so much better almost straight away.
::Yeah, that's pretty much it. It is always uncomfortable to do things that you don't know.
::It is always uncomfortable to take decisions you're afraid of.
::But at the end of the day, if you don't take them, you stay still and you cannot
::keep on moving. You cannot keep on growing.
::So you have to go against you and just do it.
::Just send that message to your clients telling them that you're going to stop
::by doing the lessons that aren't working. See what happens.
::You're not going to be hated forever. Just doing it a good way and just be, you know, open.
::It's going to be all right, but just do it. Because as much as you wait,
::as much painful it will just become.
::And that's something that's also useful for me, you know, because I still sometimes
::take my time, but I just go.
::What is your biggest challenge right now?
::Who my biggest
::challenge right now is to still finding
::out what kind of decision is
::emotional what kind of decision makes sense or doesn't make sense yet you know
::because i still feel that i'm new to my to my position as a business owner or
::as a business person because as i said previously I didn't have.
::Really this is something like this experience before I haven't experienced this before so,
::that's my challenge but I feel that I have you know like the support to be able to,
::to overcome that challenge do you know do you understand what I mean I know
::exactly what you mean and I'm thinking of the conversation we had maybe six
::weeks ago where you were feeling quite anxious about, uh,
::you said to me, oh, look, I've got Dakota starting in, you know,
::three months or whatever it was.
::And I won't have, I'm worried I won't have enough clients for her.
::And, and I, and so we said, okay, or how many classes do you want to give her?
::And okay, how many classes do you have now?
::And we worked out how many extra clients you needed in order to give her a full schedule.
::And it worked out to five clients, you had to get five clients a month between now and January.
::And then we looked at like, or how many clients did you get last month?
::And it was like four, you know?
::And so I was like, okay, we have to get you an extra one client a month.
::But it was already, yeah, it was scary. It was scary because it is a lot of
::pricing, you know, but yeah.
::But that's, that comes back to what you said about making decisions based on
::the numbers, It's not based on emotion.
::And like sometimes the numbers do tell you that there's something wrong and you need to fix it.
::But usually a lot of times.
::The thing that feels very scary or like it's, you know, everything's,
::you know, going wrong, then when you look at the numbers, actually, it's fine.
::Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's the thing. So that's what I have been learning.
::And also just to be patient, you know, because I want to do everything at once.
::I want to fix everything at once. I want to be good all at once,
::but I cannot be everything at once.
::So it's just being, you know, trying to slow down and
::understand that that things take their time and
::that i don't have to rush because that rush
::was also just making me crazy so yes that's
::been my experience as well as i grow my business because like where you're at
::now like if you go back like a year like you would have been like excited to
::imagine like having a business yeah that exactly like you have now right you
::would think that would be amazing,
::But now when you're here, you're like, oh, yeah, this is okay.
::But what I really want, you know, is the next incident.
::Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's not just you. It's me too. That's been every stage
::of my journey where I think, oh, if I just make it to this much revenue or this
::many staff or this many students trained or whatever,
::like, and then you get there and you're like, you enjoy it for about five seconds.
::And then you're like, okay, what's next? You know, like.
::Oh, it's so bad. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's, I think it's just,
::you know, it's a well-documented phenomenon in psychology. It's called the hedonic,
::it's called hedonic adaption, adaptation.
::So basically it's the same reason why the first mouthful of ice cream tastes
::better than the 10th mouthful of ice cream, you know.
::Yes. And why, you know, the first year of marriage is more passionate than the 50th year of marriage.
::And, you know, it's just, it's, it's a well-documented thing.
::You know, it's like when you watch the same movie for the third time,
::it's often you don't enjoy it as much.
::Yes. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah.
::But so it's, you know, I think it's a very elusive,
::that kind of sense of satisfaction and accomplishment is very elusive because
::I think what is truly most satisfying is actually the journey towards the goal
::and who you become in the process of,
::you know, of achieving those things.
::Because as soon as you achieve something, and I say this in myself,
::I say it with every business owner I coach, I also see it with all of the people
::who coach me who are further ahead in their business journey than I am,
::is that they're doing 500,000 a month, a million a month, two million a month.
::They're still not satisfied.
::And it's not that they're unhappy. It's not that they're unhappy.
::And for me as well, I've got happier as I've progressed through my business journey.
::I've got happier and I've got more – like I'm way, way happier now than I was
::when I was living in a shitty rented, cockroach-infested apartment with my wife,
::you know, like 20 years ago. Yeah. But –.
::And somehow you kind of envision that once I can do X, then I'll be happy. It's going to be enough.
::Yeah, but it's somehow when you get there, there's always just one more thing you want.
::Yeah, yeah. Well, I hope I can get into a place where I can be happy with what it is that I have.
::I'm very happy with what I have. I'm very grateful with what I have.
::But I am a driven person, so I like to achieve stuff. So what I'm curious about
::is not really what I will get around my studio, but what else can I achieve?
::Because as you say, it feels really good and it feels really exciting.
::And it's just very nice to feel that transformation and that,
::you know, that challenge. I don't know.
::I guess that when you like to be challenged, you also expose yourself towards
::another growing ways, I would say. I don't know.
::I 100% agree Anna I think it's for me it's who I become in the process that
::is that's the most exciting part like you said I think that journey is the same
::for all entrepreneurs that you have to overcome your fears,
::your insecurities your limiting beliefs your procrastination your blind spots.
::And And the process of doing that is scary as hell, but when you have a victory
::over your own fear, it just feels so empowering.
::You feel like you've really taken a step forward in some meaningful way.
::Yeah, that's right. It feels really amazing to do it, and I think it's worth doing.
::So, yeah. Yeah.
::Pretty much. Anna, thanks so much for coming on the podcast.
::I think people are going to, this is going to be one of those episodes I get
::a lot of social media DMs about saying it inspires people.
::I hope that people can get inspired to do things they are very worried or very
::fearful to do because it's possible.
::And that's, I mean, and ultimately that's where the greatest pleasure and satisfaction derives, right?
::I mean, nothing meaning, you think about anything in life, whether it's having
::kids or getting a degree or becoming a Pilates teacher or starting a business or getting married,
::like they're all very hard, you know, like all of the things that are worthwhile
::in life are hard and the things that are easy, like sitting on the couch and
::eating ice cream and watching Netflix,
::they're not satisfying, you know, and they don't make us better people. Yeah.
::So I think doing those hard things is what it's, I think that's what it's all
::about at the end of the day.
::Just keep on moving. Don't stay stuck.
::Yes. Thanks, Anna. Thank you so much, Raph.
