Last March I moved the delivery of all our services to an on-line format. I asked 7 trainers and instructors to teach classes and train personal training clients on their laptops or phones from their homes. Not one of these trainers or instructors had delivered online services before.
We moved over 100 clients onto Zoom and altered the way they traditionally accessed their workouts or practiced yoga. The majority of these people had never used Zoom or accessed online fitness services before. We managed to implement all of these changes in just 2 weeks!
I’m really proud of this business accomplishment. I’m grateful for the support from my team and how our clients bravely joined us on this journey to learn new technology. We forged ahead into something completely unknown, with no prior research or planning and we did what needed to be done to keep our team employed and our clients receiving their services.
And, here we are, over one year later still delivering personal training, yoga and group fitness classes online.
Unfortunately, the fitness industry has been hit hard by Covid-19. There have been numerous lockdowns and restrictions which have prevented us from taking our yoga and fitness classes back on-site. These restrictions have affected the number of classes we deliver and our class sizes.
I made the difficult decision last summer to permanently close my home-based training studio. This decision was partially based on wanting to keep my family safe but truthfully, the main reason involved me needing to carve out a better work life balance for myself. It was time to take back my home.
This decision meant no more in-person training sessions which in turn affected the volume of clients we saw. I had to scale back my staff and return to delivering our training services online myself. I had not trained clients in several years so I had to brush up on my skills.
But these changes have had a silver lining. I’ve found a new way of doing business that’s not only keeping everyone safe but also gives us the opportunity to offer our services to people outside our local community. Body Design is no longer a “local” business, we’re now in the international market!
I’ve had the opportunity to slow down and take more time for myself. I now get out several times a week for hikes with friends. I’m enjoying the time socializing while also getting outside to enjoy nature and some fresh air. I also love hiking by myself. When I’m alone, I talk out loud to myself. It’s a great way to sort out problems.
I now enjoy my house as my home. I don’t care if my space is cluttered or the cat hair has not been vacuumed. I can sit and watch TV in my jammies and not be concerned if a client is coming in or leaving.
However, there have been many times when I’ve felt overwhelmed, out of sync, lost and “discombobulated”. I’ve learned it’s ok to cry and feel lost. I’ve learned that I have to “sit in” my discomfort and get used to it. In the past, I would have kept myself busy, so busy that the uncomfortable-ness could not take hold. Now I’ve learned that “feeling the feels” is the way out of the dark. The feelings of despair do pass, but in the meantime I have to sit in the mire and muck to find the way out. That’s called growth.
I’ve also reached out for help. There have been periods when I knew I needed to talk to someone and that someone was not my husband. I needed a professional who could help me sort out what I was feeling and provide me with the space to talk freely in a nonjudgmental forum. I’ve accessed coaching before but it’s always been business coaching, this time I needed “life” coaching. I’d like to thank Stephanie from @beacon_coachingca and Laura from @soulinspiredgurl for your patience, compassion and helping me find my way.
These changes in my business have not been the only changes in my life over the past year. There’s been some pretty big changes in my personal life too.
Stay tuned for my next KimBits where I share the other things are happening and how I’m coping with the inevitable “changes” that come with life.
Remember….Be Fit, Eat Well and Live Your Life!