The Studio CEO: Business Coaching For Yoga & Pilates Teachers & Studio Owners

From Business Owner to Leader: The Shift That Changes Everything

• Jackie Murphy

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Leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about how you show up for your people. For many studio owners, the shift from teacher to leader is where things get real. In this episode, I share the moment that cracked me open—and how it reshaped the way I lead my business and my team.

If you’re stuck in operator mode, constantly putting out fires and feeling frustrated by your staff, this conversation is your invitation to step into a new kind of leadership—one that centers care, connection, and real growth.


In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • The identity shift from business owner to leader
  • Why your team craves meaning, not just management
  • How to move from burnout to aligned leadership
  • What to prioritize daily to build a strong, people-first culture


Ready to develop both your business and leadership skills? Check out the Studio CEO program, designed specifically to help yoga and Pilates professionals grow thriving, sustainable businesses. Use our special discount code for $200 off when you join this week!

Work with Jackie Murphy
Say Hi on Instagram @thebusinessofyoga
Learn about The Studio CEO Program
Apply for the The Grow Mastermind

Speaker 1:

Have you ever gotten feedback that stops you in your tracks? This was me running studio number two, thinking that I was doing great, until my team told me they didn't feel seen, supported or like I cared about their growth. Y'all I cried in the bathtub and then I got to work. This week's episode is about the moment I stopped just being a business owner and I truly became a leader. Tune in now to listen. Welcome to the Studio CEO, the only podcast that empowers yoga and Pilates teachers and studio owners to step confidently into their role as CEO. If you are ready to show up with passion, take your business seriously and scale to new heights without burning out, you are in the right place. I'm your host, jackie Murphy, an award-winning certified business coach with over 12 years of experience inside the yoga industry. I have seen firsthand what it takes to build a profitable and scalable business. Join me as we dive into strategies, insights and real-world advice that will help you grow your revenue, build a thriving team and create a business that serves you as much as you serve your students. It's time to embrace your inner CEO and make more money without working more. This is just the beginning. Hello, and welcome back to the Studio CEO Podcast. I am Jackie Murphy and I am so honored that you are tuning in today to listen to this podcast.

Speaker 1:

This is an episode that I originally didn't have planned for today. I actually have another episode ready to go about when people are clicking but not converting. So come back next week and we'll do that episode. But I really wanted to share this kind of story behind what is a rebrand for this business, and some of you have been around since the Yoga Boss days and you've listened to every episode of Yoga Boss, and now we are in the studio CEO era and I want to make sure that you understand what transformation I went through, going through to say, all right, it's time for a pivot in my business. And today we're going to talk about something that most business owners don't want to look at. My guess is that you did not start your business because you love managing people. Maybe you do, but I'm guessing that's not why you started your business. Most people start their yoga or Pilates business because they are passionate about what they're doing. They're gifted in their skill of delivering a class or teaching what they are meant to teach, and they want to share it with people. Most people don't come to me and say hey, jackie, I love running payroll every two weeks. I want to make sure that I have a way to do that. But it is so important for you to realize that when you start a business, you're not just responsible for learning marketing and sales skills. You are now leading people, and there is a difference between building a business and leading people, and that is where I think real growth lives and where your opportunity for quote unquote next level growth is.

Speaker 1:

So the first kind of identity shift that I went through was Yoga Boss. I had this moment where I finally realized that, as a yoga teacher, I was not quote unquote just a teacher. Right, I had this mindset that I was just a yoga teacher and that the only way I could teach is if I were to get hired places and teach classes at different studios. So much so that that first year I was quote unquote just teaching yoga. I drove 40,000 miles in one city I was in the triangle of North Carolina, if you're familiar with it, and I drove between Chapel Hill, raleigh, durham, southern Pines, and I just taught, but I didn't have any business skills behind it. So the end result of that year was only $15,000. And I always share that, and I share.

Speaker 1:

Like I'm a white woman in America, I have a lot of privilege, and making $15,000 is not something to be diminished or looked down upon, but for me, at that moment in time, it was not going to be enough for me to create a sustainable, long-term career where I would still be serving in the yoga industry a decade later, and so I had this realization. I read the e-myth revisited and I was like whoa, I am a business owner. I need to do what I need to do to acquire the business skills that I need so that I can take this $15,000 that I made in one year and learn how to make it in a month, learn how to make it in a day, because that is what you do as a business owner. You collapse time and you divorce yourself from thinking time equals money and you start to realize that, as a business, your value, your service, that's what creates money, and there is no limit on what you can create when you understand that mentality.

Speaker 1:

However, I want to take you back to a story that happened when I was operating studio number two. If you are familiar with my story, you may know that I had the opportunity to open and run three different yoga studios in different markets. So for those of you who say, like, oh, I can't grow because it's a new market People here only know me. That's just not true. Part of my skill set is learning how to infiltrate a market and then dominate that market, and this is what was happening with Studio 2.

Speaker 1:

But Studio 2, I didn't quite have the skills that I had opening Studio 3. And so it felt like so much more of a grind. It was just hard, it felt salesy, it felt pushy, it felt weird. It wasn't fully aligned yet for me. I didn't fully have the skills that I needed yet to have the success that we had with Studio 3. So, business-wise, we were doing fine. We opened with 200 members that was our goal. The classes were full, we had a consistent enough amount of new students every single week and the community around us was talking like they were aware that we were there. From the outside, looking in, you may have thought like wow, that's such a win, like look at her, she's living her dream life. But I just couldn't quite shake the feeling that something wasn't landing, like something wasn't clicking, kind of like I mentioned, it didn't feel aligned.

Speaker 1:

And so what we did is called an upward feedback survey, and this is something that I now offer my private clients with their teams. But you do a survey where your team can give you the leader feedback that maybe normally they wouldn't feel comfortable to give you, because it can be done through a survey and delivered in a really professional way. Where they're not there, they're not the ones telling you what it's really like to work underneath you. The survey does it. And so we did this upward feedback survey. I had invited in this feedback. I wanted the feedback, oh, but man, when I got that feedback, I will just tell you. I remember it. It was either a Monday or Tuesday afternoon. I got the results and then I had to teach.

Speaker 1:

I had a class right then, and so I remember just crying, going outside of the studio, sitting on the curb in the parking lot, calling my best friend at the time being, like I don't know if I can do this, maybe I'm not cut out for this, like nobody's happy, and I just felt awful. And so I, you know, let it all out for a moment, got myself together, went to teach class, and then I went home that night and I sat in the bathtub and I just had this moment that I will never, ever forget, where I decided to become a leader. I had gotten the feedback that my team didn't feel seen. They didn't think that I personally cared about them outside of the studio and they weren't sure how they could actually grow with us. They told me that they didn't feel like they were getting enough feedback and attention. They weren't sure that, like I really cared. And let me tell you, nothing will humble you more than hearing your team doesn't want to be led by you. So that night I was in the bathtub.

Speaker 1:

I didn't try and write a plan, I didn't try and fix it with strategy, I just sat and I let it land. And I got down to the truth of it that I had spent so much of my energy and focus on the business of being the business owner that I really didn't even put too much effort or intention to being a good leader. And there is a big difference. What I wanted was to create a space, a business that felt alive, that felt vibrant, that magnetized the right students and the right teachers, that kept the right teachers. I wanted a place where we weren't just running a business but we were creating a community, a place that people really felt like they belong.

Speaker 1:

But what was I actually doing? Like it's always in the actions you can see, I was managing people's schedules, I was solving problems, I was inviting new students, I was optimizing our systems. I was in operator mode, do it mode all of the time, and that matters. But if you stop there right Like the business, stuff matters. But if you stop there your culture will suffer. Your people will feel like my people did they were just a part of a machine and you'll miss the powerful engine of what could be your real growth, which is your team. And there's so many different reasons why this didn't work. People don't want just tasks, people want to contribute, they want to be a part of something, they want ownership, they want to know like do you see me? Do you recognize my talents and my strengths? Do you care about my growth? Is there a space for me here? And the survey showed me I hadn't made space for any of that. And so that night in the bathtub I was like you know what this sucks, and I also know that quitting is not an option for me. This is what I love to do. This is the industry I'm meant to be in and so I'm going to figure out and I'm going to literally put time and intention and effort into becoming a leader.

Speaker 1:

And I started with coffee. Literally, I did one-on-one coffees or we had a juice bar right next to us. Gosh, what was that place called Kill Me Crazy? Kill Me Crazy was right next to us and we what was that place called Kill Me Crazy? Kill Me Crazy was right next to us and we did one-on-one juices or coffees with every single teacher and I didn't talk. I wasn't like, oh my God, I saw what you said on the survey. I just went like they didn't know I had gotten the results right, like they're not aware of this was happening. They filled out the survey and probably forgot about it.

Speaker 1:

But I went and I had these coffees with them and I didn't talk, I just listened and I asked them how their current life was and what was going on. And some of them were pregnant, some of them were getting married and some of them had jobs that they wanted to talk about. I asked them about their personal goals. I asked them about their goals in the studio. Did they want to teach workshops? Did they see themselves leading teacher training. Did they see themselves doing this full time? I asked them about what kind of impact they wanted to have and I really wanted to get clear on who was the human in front of me and how could I pull out their dreams and their goals and weave them into our business growing. And so I started to think about okay, this teacher has this skillset and the strength of X, y and Z like let's add it as a workshop here or let's pull them in on this project over here. And they started to really feel seen, valued and heard.

Speaker 1:

And then, because of this effort and time and attention that I poured into my people, I read books, I studied, I got more feedback, but over time, people wanted to be there. The community shifted right when your teachers didn't really want to be there. Your students can feel it. And the teachers started to feel an ownership over the community. They wanted to be around for the continuing education offerings that we were doing. They showed up when we did a teacher photo shoot or a teacher event. They stopped just clocking in when it was their time and they started being a part of the community. And so I really want you to think about how you're showing up in your business and you may not have a team of teachers that is going to give you feedback like I had. And I want you to know that whether you're leading a team of teachers or you're leading your Instagram audience, or you're leading yourself in your business, or maybe a VA in your business, you are still a leader, and shifting your mindset from business owner to leader will inherently change the activities that you prioritize every single day. For example, monday morning, when it's go time, you may prioritize checking in with your team instead of going right into writing an email or managing the schedule or doing something that you want to do.

Speaker 1:

Over time, I poured into this work and I did do another upward feedback survey and it had significantly improved. I got the feedback that my team was now happy, so I had hardcore data that the effort I put in worked, which I think only fueled my love for leadership even more so. By the time we got down to Studio 3, I wasn't questioning myself as a leader. I poured into the people, I poured into the team. We did a vision and goals exercise in the studio when the drywall was up and I had them write out their goal right Not the studio's goal, but their goals, and I really just made it a point to say we want you here, we want your growth here, we want to support you, we want to pour into you and in return like we hope that you pour into us and that team felt so different and so aligned and working together from day one.

Speaker 1:

So if you're listening to this and you're thinking like Jackie I am also stuck in operator mode too it's okay. It doesn't mean you're bad. It doesn't mean you've thinking like Jackie I am also stuck in operator mode too. It's okay. It doesn't mean you're bad. It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong Like I was there. It just means you've hit your growth edge. And you may know that it's your growth edge if you are constantly feeling frustrated, annoyed or burnt out by dealing with the people in your business. If that is how you're feeling, then I would say there's probably this leadership growth edge that you're right up against, because that's not how it should feel. You actually should feel invigorated, supported and more alive being around your team.

Speaker 1:

Leadership in its own is a skill set, right. So it looks like doing less, listening more. It looks like less fixing, controlling and more curiosity and coaching. It looks like more co-creation collaboration. I want you to think about if the next phase of your business isn't actually about building more, but it is about leading better, because when you become the kind of leader that people want to follow, everything gets easier, retention improves, culture thrives and you get to stop carrying everything on your back.

Speaker 1:

So what can you do today? I want you to start with this Just pick one person on your team, even if that's you All right. Pick one person in your audience. Pick one person that you can reach out to and say, hey, I'd love to connect. Do you want to grab coffee and just go and listen and be there for them? And if this is, you, go and be present for yourself, because that is how culture is built. That's how you wake up and you have a team and a business that you look forward going into or you look forward to talking to the people. You don't need a perfect strategy, you just need to care loudly and consistently.

Speaker 1:

So because of this experience that I had gosh, this was in 2016 or 2017. Now, because I had this experience back then, leadership became so much a part of my personal work and I have, at every stage of my business, really leaned into more of like, all right, what does it take to be that next level impactful right? Like? What does it take to feel like you are not just showing up and clocking in and doing the work, but you wake up and you really feel like, wow, I'm a leader. And that takes intentional effort of building those leadership skills? So I'm so happy to announce to you, to tell you, that we have rebranded the Business of Yoga program and made it the Studio CEO program, because this is really what is most important when it comes to you growing your yoga and Pilates business, and the Studio CEO program is the place for you to do that.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you're listening to the podcast, the week that it airs, april 15th, there is a discount code that you can use to get $200 off of the Studio CEO program. This week, you will be able to join a group of people that is also learning these leadership skills right alongside of you. Plus, you'll also learn the business skills that you need. We might have to define your offer or really teach you how to get people interested in what you're offering, or help you realize, like, what does a sales conversation look like? And, step by step, what do I say or maybe we really just need to sit down and teach you some leadership skills when it comes to managing your business, finances, some money in your business. All of that is included in the course of the Studio CEO program. Plus, then you get weekly support coaching calls where you can come and ask your specific question, get specific strategy for you so that you know what to do to grow your business forward every single week.

Speaker 1:

This program has been around for gosh almost two a year and a half. Now, almost two years, and we have seen hundreds and hundreds of people come into this program and refine their business skills, refine their leadership skills, learn how to self-coach, learn how to really show up intentionally for their business and create massive results. We've had people quit their jobs and go full-time into their work. We've had people hit their highest revenue months ever and celebrate that. We've had people launch courses, do privates. This is not about how quote unquote you set up your business. This is about you having a business that you want to grow.

Speaker 1:

So the Studio CEO program is for you.

Speaker 1:

If you have any questions or you like that discount code, you can send me a message on Instagram at thebusinessofyoga and I'm happy to answer your questions, help you.

Speaker 1:

If you feel any kind of doubt or hesitation at all about joining, I can fully say that there is no program out there that is this specific for this group of people. Listening to this podcast right now, at this price point, you will be able to feel really good about investing in yourself, investing in your business, investing in your leadership skills, knowing that you're going to have the support, the strategy and the community to make sure you see a return on that investment. Plus, anytime you enroll in a program like the Studio CEO program, that actually is a write-off on your taxes. So this is a smart business move for some of you and I would love to have you in the course to see if we can help you grow to the next level even more. Again, send me a message on Instagram the link will be in the show notes for the Studio CEO program sales page. You can check that out and join us right there. Otherwise, I will talk to you in the next episode.