This past weekend, some of us at Barre Certification got to attend an all women’s entrepreneur conference. It was so incredible to be around women that were dreaming of doing something big and making a difference in the community. It made us think how special it was to help support all of the studio owners and independent instructors out there.
The community of Barre at Business Boutique
One of the major takeaways for us was coming to the realization that solutions come from having problems and talking about them with people that may be in a similar boat. One of the speakers Lysa Terkeurst encouraged us that our “very best idea ever won’t come from a strength [you] have but from a weakness”. Pinpointing a problem you have as an instructor and then reaching out to your community is how you find the best ways around that problem! I know for me, I have a lot of older students with some pretty serious, chronic pain and I started reaching out to my fellow instructors on ways to help them. We started talking about how we used Foam Rollers before and after rehearsals when we were dancing professionally and realized that was a great option for stiffness and achy bodies. So we started a foam roller class at my studio! Our clients have loved it and they all say the same thing, “I have a foam roller at home but I never know what to do with it so I never use it”. It has been so rewarding to see this solution be so helpful for our clients!
There was a lot of discussion on how to overcome fear. When it comes to teaching your first class, signing up for a certification (online!!??), asking your friends to participate in a practical video submission, or deciding to start your own business, we can hit some major mental road blocks. Best advice I heard all weekend? Talk to yourself… when you listen to the voices in your head, all you hear is fear and doubt speaking. But when you talk to yourself, you can say whatever you want or need to hear! We have people of all ages sign up and go through the Barre Certification program. Candace J., our incredible customer support genie, pointed out that “we all have different struggles or fears to overcome and for some it is age. For such a long time the world told us that when you hit a certain age you should stop doing certain things, so people have had to re-program their brains.” Don’t let the negativity swirling around your head dictate whether or not you make a big change in your life.
And then there was this little nugget…”Just because someone needs you to do something, does not obligate you to do it”. Oh boy, did we need to hear that! Christy Wright is the founder of Business Boutique and she did such an incredible job reminding us that we need to focus on protecting the time we have. She pointed out the paradigm that we all see daily, “Do they need me and can I help?” The answer is almost always yes, because why would someone ask you if they didn’t think you could help?? We need to predetermine what qualifies as a necessary ‘yes’ and what can be a ‘no’. “Boundaries aren’t about saying no; they are about saying yes to what’s important to you”.
Aside from the incredible speakers at this event, my favorite part was walking around in our “Barre-tenders” shirts and having ladies come up to us and say “My cousin just opened a barre studio in Illinois!” or “Oh I have taken a few barre classes and it is the hardest workout I’ve ever done”. The amount of openness and community that was present in these ladies was just so comforting and exciting at the same time.
