DAVID GUNTHER: Thinking about your model, and this is the lesson for our listeners, for other studio owners out there, to have a

think about okay,

What else can I do that's going to

tick all the boxes? So it's gonna be profitable for the business it's going to be profitable because it's really useful for our clientele and for the instructors.

And it's not too difficult for me as a studio business owner to bring that into our model. And you talked about challenges with the space of your studio and how you're currently set with your timetable. And we're the same. So we have to really think about, okay, we'd like to do that.

How are we going to roll that forward? So it'll be interesting. I'll let you know. I'll come back to you,

CARLA RICALIS: Yeah. No, I'm curious to see 

David: see how we've gone.

Chris: Pilates business owners, welcome to The Pilates Business Podcast, brought to you by the people who own, operate, and instruct in a successful clinical Pilates studio in Australia.

Our mission is to help you to discover Pilates business assets to build your clinical Pilates business success. And now, here's your host, David Gunther.

David: The Pilates industry is being pulled in different directions. Big box reformer chains on one side,

medical rehab models with the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff on the other. But where does that leave us,

the independent studio owners?

How do we stand apart without losing what Pilates really is for us?

Last time with Carla Ricalis, we explored how language shapes identity in Pilates. Today, Carla's back as we dive deeper into specific business models, private, semi-private and small groups are all options and could supporting

belonging and habit forming be our strongest assets? And is our niche industry uniting around shared values?

Carla's decades of experience make her the perfect guide.

Here we go.

Carla: Your business model's interesting because I remember being introduced to Pilates in Toronto when I, it was like 19 years old at a studio that very much did just that. You had a sort of private session. You got your program and then when you came back you were with a group of people, you were put on a piece of equipment and you kind, you.

So it was self-guided to a certain extent, but there was still Pilates instructor there. And when I first started working at the STOTT studio and on the Danforth in Toronto, we would have certain sessions in the schedule that, accommodated that. So clients would come and they'd have their work and we would just sort of help them as they went about.

And as I said last week it is for whatever reason phased out. I don't know if it just became less popular as private training.

David: Yeah, with your business model that you have now, that's mostly privates and I believe a few semi-private you must look at ours and look at we're like back to the future.

Carla: I think it's great. I think it's great. In fact, I've been thinking about it, but it's just more of implementing it now into our studio, like we, have group classes, but it's very structured. Like it's very, an instructor leads four people. And it's a group class series.

So we tried the drop-in format and we're just not that studio we're not on people's radars for like, oh, you know, let me drop into.

David: Yeah we're definitely not drop in. the processes that we're looking for that time on the schedule for that client, for that new client to, to get them what we call their excellent Pilates exercise habit. Part of building a habit, if you can get the activity to happen at the same time, on the same day every week then, they get to know the instructor, gets to know them, the other people in the session, they feel like they belong. Belonging is a really big, just a human need.

Carla: Part of it. Yeah.

David: and. We, have processes to help them feel like they belong and that they will enjoy that.

Carla: And that right there, is also a key distinction because I do feel like so many of the larger studios, there's that drop in format or that quick sign up, and so people are just there getting their bodies moving, which again, is great and it's important and it's valuable,

but

David: They're missing that socialisation.

Carla: Yeah. You know, where they start to get to know people

David: Psychosocial and habit building and really you can be in a big group like what's an example in a big city with people going past you all the time and you're alone. That could be the biggest form of loneliness there being at a, big place like this.

and having had that conversation with you, Carla, I've already discussed with Claire about perhaps us being able to bring in more private sessions. And again, like you changing our format or to accommodate that is a bit of a challenge, but we will do it because there'll be advantages particularly with updating people's program for their semi-private sessions.

Having the ability to have another, and this is more for at the moment, we don't have as many instructors on the team as what we need. We don't have the slack in the system. There's a lot of pressure. And we're in full on recruitment mode at the moment. And, And this is sort of one of the outcomes of COVID unfortunately, because we've had consistent team for many years now up up until COVID.

Thinking about your model, and this is, the lesson for our listeners, for other studio owners out there, to have a think about, okay, what else can I do that's going to tick all the boxes. So it's gonna be profitable for the business. It's going to be profitable because it's really useful for our clientele and for the instructors.

And it's not too difficult for me as a studio business owner to bring that into our model. And you talked about challenges with the space of your studio and how you're currently set with your timetable. And we're the same. So we have to really think about, okay, we'd like to do that.

How are we going to roll that forward? So it'll be interesting. I'll let you know. I'll come back to you,

Carla: Yeah. No, I'm curious to see

David: see how we've gone, because that's something I've really learned from our previous discussion, which is really, really exciting for me because, that's why I run this podcast so that people like us as real pilates studio owners can learn how can we do things better and make it what is pretty hard gig, really to do what we do with all of the responsibilities that we have. How can we do that better and make it better for ourselves personally, our instructors and our clients, the holy Grail of our business there.

Yeah.

Carla: Yeah. it's interesting to see how different studios, operate in a way

David: What are some bad examples that you've seen of people without naming anybody?

Carla: Oh, no, I mean, I, gosh, I, you know, I was just gonna say, I feel like each country or each area or each geographical location maybe has a slightly different approach

David: it's like good wine, which I don't drink anymore. But it's a, it's like great wine. It's got its own story and its own way that it's been developed. But you've got great wines in France and you've got terrific wines in Australia and in Canada.

Carla: Yeah.

Canada, maybe not. So we have good ice wine.

David: Well, there you

Carla: Oh, no, actually, and I, shouldn't say that. Now I'm being cynical. But the, there's good West Coast and wines, but yes.

David: I think, one of the examples of a difficult situation that studio owners like ourselves, not specifically us, but other studio owners might have gotten themselves into, is trying to compete with those big franchises with having to try to do the same thing as them, as well as what they are best at.

And they're trying to compete and it's really quite difficult to compete with because the big box gyms are doing those things and doing them very well, and they've got budgets

Carla: Yeah.

David: sort of things.

Carla: And they have that backing.

David: I really believe that we should be concentrating on what we do best and that would at least, and this isn't the right word, but I'm gonna use it anyway, homogenize to an extent, our brand of Pilates that would really show the market well in a better way. There's, okay, there's that sort of Pilates not a mixture of that sort of Pilates and this sort of Pilates. There's that sort of Pilates and that sort of Pilates. What do you think?

Carla: Yeah. I agree. And I think it's conversations like this. It's interesting because you saying like history repeating itself or about, way back when there was a lot of the approaches to Pilates, and I think this is one of the issues with our industry is that there is this element of competitiveness or comparing. And so there is this sort of this is Pilates. This isn't Pilates the way I do, it's the only way you're, not doing Pilates. And that was very much, you know, everybody was kind of in a silo, their own sort of like echo chamber in terms of the type of Pilates they did and the method or the approach they took to it.

And I feel, and this is where I go back to this opportunity of now, is that, so if there was four or five major players in this debate, maybe 15 years ago of what was Pilates and who was doing right Pilates, now we're all facing, the same scenario. And collectively, I think that like we're all distinct, even though we're all unique in the way we teach Pilates or in the equipment that we use or in the approach we take, we're all collectively the same in terms of that quality, that movement knowledge, the commitment that we have to our clients and the experience that they have in the studio.

And, that's sort of an opportunity, you know. for us to collectively sort of rise to the top and show that distinction as opposed to this fragmented industry that we were in before.

David: I think you're absolutely right. We're, sort of being forced together. Aren't we? Because on one side we've got the big box gyms with the big reformer classes. And then on the other side you might have medical. The medical side, and we're sort of being squeezed from both sides.

So that is bringing the modalities of what I call clinical what we might call precision personalised Pilates together. But one of the things I wanted to mention, you mentioned repertoire and one of the best things about Pilates that we do, our brand of Pilates, there's so much repertoire.

But I was talking to a prospective student instructor and saying that one of the best things, because it's a lifelong learning we've got different repertoire for different situations to help progress or regress our clients as needed. But Mr. New or Mrs. New prospective student, the worst thing about Pilates is all the repertoire.

There's so much to learn. I know it's challenging for me, but challenging, I think for many people. And there's all different names. What are your thoughts?

Carla: Yep. It's true. It is such a unique. Sort of niche of fitness in the sense of, the names and you can contemplate well, why is the elephant, the elephant and why is, you know, just, just, and why this isn't a stretch, the tendon stretch.

You know, there's certain, things that you think about and I think are probably universal across all the different Pilates education programs. But this is why and I with friends and colleagues who are in the pilates industry, when, this is where a little bit, I guess of our arrogance comes in.

But when you hear of weekend certification, I mean, I just, can't imagine what, it is that's being properly conveyed besides just a workout or a few exercises that could be done repetitively. Because there's just obviously, there's just so much, so much content for people to learn and really dissect and modify or progress so that their clients are ultimately getting the best workout possible in the Pilates.

David: The question that comes up in my mind is, what can we do specifically to bring together more of our brand of Pilates from all the different sub-brands?

Carla: It's interesting because I've never really paid too much attention to it. I think like a lot of the, like alliances and organizations were very much based, and I'm not well versed in this at all, considering how long I've been in the Pilates industry, there's a lot, a few in the States.

I think a couple outta the UK. Canada, as far as I know, I shouldn't say for sure, but I don't think we have any sort of Pilates alliance that's Canadian, like specific. But my understanding from what, I've just heard and over the years seen and read and stuff, is that the focus has always been on, the exercises. So like getting down to, well that's not how we teach and that's not the principles

we teach. And it's interesting 'cause I was just thinking we're almost an hour into this conversation, even our last conversation, we haven't actually talked about the exercises. 'Cause it's almost like, well that's besides the point.

I know you're teaching quality Pilates, you know, I'm teaching quality Pilates. So I think that, what would need to happen is all those Pilates industry leaders coming together on that level. Like what constitutes a recognizable Pilates certification, Pilates studio, how do you meet this criteria?

And that way, the society or, can be the general public can be informed. And so it can be like whether you're in Australia or you're Canada or you're in France or Africa, okay, this is a studio that has been acknowledged by this international standardization, which is again, because we don't have that, this is where an opportunity was seen by these larger, and and even like, I'm not saying it would exclude them, but it would just be like, there would have to be something, I think for these larger business models, for Pilates inspired reformer or classes, or reformer classes to be part of that. This is the training that you need to put in place, and whether it's, coming from one of the established Pilates training programs, somehow to give them the structure. So if you're gonna teach a Pilates class, this is what needs to be in there, it's pretty ambitious, but I think that's something that's just sort of universally acknowledged.

David: And on the fitness side, that's a much bigger organization in Australia and around the world. There's AusFit, I think it's called and more and more Pilates studio owners and also other organizations are recognizing their need to actually be part of that, to champion actually what our brand of Pilates is.

Because knowing that well, for example, the fitness industry has more people in it. So they've got more clout with government lobbying and more ability to get out to the marketplace than say the excellent organization, the Pilates Association of Australasia.

It's terrific group that, our brand of Pilates is very much involved with but they find it difficult. They're like us. They shouldn't be, and they're not, I think they're not trying to compete with the fitness association, which is so big and powerful.

They're trying to work out how do we integrate what we do into what they do or join partner with them in a way that we're not going to lose the identity of our brand, of Pilates. But we are going to be able to surf the wave of what Pilates now is in the marketplace in our society in a, in Australia in that case. But also this must be happening around the world in various

Carla: yeah,

David: as well.

Carla: Yeah. I also think that, , you know, I mean, I have insurance for the studio, I have liability insurance, have general insurance. And everybody's covered. But I also require my instructors, 'cause they're independent contractors, and again, this is just maybe a different business model than yours, but I require them to all have their own insurance, their liability insurance.

And informing the insurance companies for example, the insurance companies that the majority of our instructors use, right on their website, they recognize the STOTT Pilates certification method and they will ensure that. Now, I don't know if it excludes other certification programs.

I'm sure it doesn't, but I think that there's a certain amount of rigorous training, the number of hours and the, number of practice hours and observation hours that are required to be certified in as a STOTT Pilates and I know as a Polestar and, and so it's it's also informing sort of those third parties organizations that validate our industry, like insurance company.

David: Yeah. And that the, those pressures are perhaps what will bring us together in a, in more of an identity and more of a formalized identity over time anyway, with in Australia with our studio and from, for a lot of studios, we employ people because the the laws around independent contractors are quite strict.

And we're just going through a bit of flux at the moment in the industry, fitness and Pilates where those that do, have contractors having to be quite careful about whether they're. Contractors will be classified as contractors rather than employees because if they're all of a sudden an employee leaves and then becomes not happy with for their previous situation and says, oh, I wasn't I wasn't a contractor, I was an employee.

Where's my superannuation? Then there are have been cases and circumstances where those those places, those studios, fitness organizations, I think at the moment mostly are not under a lot of pressure and to be a contractor in Australia, and this is why at the moment we can have contractors, but you need to, there's a test with Fair work government organization.

There's a tax office test as well. This is just in Australia. And I think there's also another government organization that is involved with where you can be caught out as an employer. So just another part of the minefield.

Carla: Just, Yeah. Yeah. For, for studios. yeah.

But I think starting at that high level, if there was a come together of Pilates leaders just to say, okay, well what are the consistent values? And so if the consistent values is training people in quality Pilates, then presumably The training, regardless of what it is, is, is, is a ladder. It's bringing them upwards. It's stronger, it's more complex movement patterns. It's more dynamic strength and endurance needed to do a, a high level Pilates workout as opposed to going horizontally across.

It's not it's a little bit more of a pyramid. Like we're trying to all collectively get to the top with these values, regardless of whether, you call that exercise the elephant

David: Yeah. absolutely. And I believe that is what the PAA, the Pilates Association of Australasia is trying to do with a AusFit at the moment, to trying to work out those values and what that pyramid might look like, I believe. But, I'm not in the politics a long time ago I worked in sport and I know just how much politics can be in these sort of organizations. So I'm not involved in that. What we are doing is we're coming up with ideas, ways for people to think about what they're doing. But let's move on to our next subject. So we've really talked about our brand of Pilates, the Pilates studio models and to a large extent, and then Pilates instructor attractor.

Carla: For sure. For sure. Yep. I'm looking at the, I'm looking at the thing. FYI, yes. Yeah. Yeah.

David: We do pre-plan this. So for all the listeners out there, we do have a good degree of pre-planning, which helps us come up with excellent content like any Pilates work out. And let's start with number A on my list of A to f failures.

Attracting and retaining top quality instructors failures. Have you got any stories that you could share with us about a failure? People like to hear about,

Carla: I don't have anything

David: can I start? I'll start with a,

Carla: Start. Yeah. Oh, you start, go

David: That wraps up today's conversation with Carla Ricalis. We've explored business models, competition, and how our niche industry might eventually unite around shared values. In one of our future episodes coming soon with

Carla, we'll dissect one of the biggest tests our industry has faced this century being the impact of COVID.

What has it meant for recruiting and managing instructors running systems under pressure and making tough financial calls? How do we keep studios alive and able to thrive? It's a raw discussion. About adaptability, leadership and the lessons we can all carry forward. So be sure to subscribe and join myself and Carla for that discussion in a couple of episodes time.

Meanwhile, next week, we have another one of our

special series 11

Pilates Can Change Lives, where I talk candidly with one of our long-term Pilates clients, Kerry Whitaker, about how Pilates has changed her life. If you've been listening and you think there is a story that you would like to share from your experiences in Pilates studio industry, contact me via the Pilates business website, pilatesbusiness.com.au or via my LinkedIn.

We are always on the lookout for good people with useful insights for our listeners. Until then, keep enjoying your important work on and in your wonderful Pilates studio business.

Chris: You have been listening to the Pilates business podcast with David Gunther. If you are enjoying the show, let us know by subscribing and leaving a review. For more information or if you have any Pilates business questions, visit www.pilatesbusiness.com.au.