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

The Wellness Efficacy Problem: What the Industry Won’t Say (But You Need to Hear)

• Jackie Murphy

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In this episode, we’re naming a hard truth: wellness has an efficacy problem. The data is clear—spending is up, but outcomes are down. So why aren’t people getting healthier?

You’ll hear:

  • What the stats really say about wellness in 2025
  • The sneaky ways the industry prioritizes aesthetics over outcomes
  • Why your drop-in class isn’t enough anymore
  • What the next generation of wellness brands are doing differently
  • How to build containers that actually create change


This episode is your call to lead differently—because people don’t need more content. They need transformation.


Work with Jackie Murphy

Speaker 1:

Wellness is booming, and so is obesity. If your clients know what to do but still aren't changing, this episode is going to break down why and show you what to do. This is not just a marketing issue. It really can be a delivery issue, and you are the perfect one to solve this problem. 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.

Speaker 1:

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. More money without working more this is just the beginning. Hello, and welcome back to the Studio CEO Podcast. I am Jackie Murphy, I am your business coach, I'm your podcast host and I am so glad that you are listening to this today. This podcast has been something that I've produced for five years now, and I'm just so grateful for the opportunity to have longer time with you. A social media post, an email it's not enough for me to really go in depth with what I think and can teach and can help you with, and so I really appreciate this format and this medium for talking to you guys. So I'm really happy that you are listening today, and we're going to talk about a post that was inspired by fit insider.

Speaker 1:

Now fit insider put a post on their Instagram that said wellness is booming, but it's not making us healthier. Essentially, they're saying wellness is booming, but so is obesity. We are spending more than ever on wellness around $2 trillion. This is in the US but obesity rates have actually climbed from 30% to 42% over the last two decades. Chronic conditions have also climbed and account for 90% of healthcare cost, and what they say is happening is that wellness has an efficacy problem, meaning that what we produce, the services and programs that are being offered, aren't consistently producing real, lasting results for people. In their posts, they go on to say that the market is mostly built off of vibes and aesthetic and not outcome, and what is popular doesn't always move the needle. Fit Insider also went on to say that, while we are spending more on wellness, some people still view this cost as optional, not essential, and a real change is going to require access, consistency and education.

Speaker 1:

Now, finally, their last point in this post was that we don't have an awareness problem. We have an action gap. People know what to do, they know how to be healthy, but it is hard for them to follow through, and so their whole idea is that wellness 2.0 is not going to be about trends, it is going to be about outcomes, and what I have to say to that is they are absolutely right. Now we differ on a few of our beliefs. We're going to talk through that today, but this isn't just a problem in the industry. This is actually a leadership opportunity, and if you are a studio owner, a teacher, a leader, a wellness coach, this episode is your reminder that your work matters now more than ever, and I want you to step into really deeply owning that more than you ever have before, because the numbers are loud and numbers don't lie. The data never lies, so let's just name what's happening.

Speaker 1:

They pointed out obesity is rising, chronic illness is increasing, mental health challenges are at an all-time high and still 4.4 trillion projected global wellness spending and we're not seeing it make people healthier. That isn't an awareness issue, that is an efficacy issue. People don't just want more fluff. They're craving actual change, real outcomes, and the truth is they're willing to invest, but they have may been burned before. They've done a month at this studio, a month at that studio and they didn't see the result that they wanted. So now they're cautious to invest at any studio. So if you want your business to thrive in 2025 and beyond, it has to deliver more than good vibes. It has to deliver results. And I wish you could see my hands right now, because I just like raise them out of conviction, because this is something that I work with clients on nonstop.

Speaker 1:

Within our industry, we have been brainwashed almost to really think about the what of what we do the yoga class, the meditation, the Pilates reformer class, the hot Pilates class, the scope class, like you name it, and a lot of the times we talk about what we do, but we don't talk about the result or the transformation of why we do the thing, and a lot of what I do is help my clients get really clear in their marketing and their selling, even in their offer, of what is the result that you deliver to your clients, what is the transformation. And that can feel strange if you're new to that idea, but this is the data that is saying hey, not only do you need to know what result you deliver, you need to be able to track it for your students, show them that they're getting results and really create transformation and change, and that is something that our industry hasn't done before. I think the easiest example I can give you right now is retreats. I think there's just been this massive shift in the retreats that I see that are selling out right away are retreats week long that deliver a result at the end of that week, not just a yoga retreat. It's specific, it's niche, it's for a certain person, it's to do a certain thing, it's to have a certain something by the end of the week, and so I really want you to think about and be curious, compassionate and bold with yourself of what is the result of what you offer, what is the transformation of what you offer.

Speaker 1:

We have sold the aesthetic instead of the outcome for far too long. And I'm not saying, look, I love a good aesthetic, don't get me wrong. A pretty Pilates studio, oh, chef's kiss, I love it, but that can't be the bread and butter of what you're offering your people. Your playlist doesn't truly matter, it's not going to make or break the result or the transformation that someone is going to get with you. So ask yourself are my clients changing and how? Hey, if you have current clients, go ask them what's different for you. Give me examples. My hands are back up in the air, y'all. I'm fired up about this. Give me examples of what shifted. What are you feeling in your body? What are you feeling mentally, emotionally, in your social world and community? Like what has changed for you, so that you can get really clear on what that change is that you offer your people.

Speaker 1:

Number two we have positioned and we have thought of paying for wellness as an optional nice to have thing, a luxury, and not just a baseline of health, and a lot of times people treat it that way and we let them treat it that way Something they'll get to later, something that's important if they have time, something that, if all their ducks are in a row, that they're going to end up paying for. Most recently, I had a client write in we have a community where you can get written coaching. And she wrote in and she said I have one of my members who's gotten a new job and is going to have a new schedule and wants to stop their membership to see if it will work with her new job for her to come to class. And I was like, okay, this is the moment where you have to stand for her and say, hey, regardless of what your schedule may look like in the future, it is vital that you make time to work out, to come to yoga, to prioritize your health and wellbeing. So instead of canceling your membership right now, it's actually more important that you keep your membership to help you navigate this massive change, which can be highly stressful, knowing that you're going to have a place to turn to to keep yourself well.

Speaker 1:

But I think that level of standing for our clients when they tell us they're too busy or they don't have the money or maybe they'll come back later or it's not the right time I'm not saying that you need to pressure people to be with you forever, but I do think there needs to be a strong communication of your beliefs about prioritizing and besting in wellness. For example, it's okay for you to tell your people, hey, like paying for your monthly membership and prioritizing that over going out three Saturdays every single month is a hundred percent, completely worth it. Like we have it backwards. I was specifically thinking about newly. I rent my clothes on newly and it's like a hundred dollars a month and I was like you know that $100 a month I would not be spending on new clothes if I could not also be taking care of my health and I have multiple different memberships of different places that I work out, meditation apps that I do, because that is top priority. Wearing a new outfit just isn't going. It makes me feel good in a moment, right, but it's not going to contribute to my overall long-term health and wellbeing. And then we haven't really done the work to solve and take responsibility for solving the action gap.

Speaker 1:

Like our clients know what to do, they've seen your schedule, they know that there's a retreat out there, they know that they can work with you privately, but it is so hard as a human to stick with it and I think we all can admit that. Say that's true, say that's real. There's times where I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm making it to class three times a week and I'm walking and I'm meditating and everything feels good, and then I fall off and then I come back to it. But it is something that is so ingrained in me that the behavior change, of coming back to it, of staying consistent even in off weeks that is who I am now, and so we want to build containers and communities that make behavior change possible, not just offer a good class, like I want your people to come into your business, being the kind of person that dreads working out, that really hates going, and they leave after being with you for a year or six months or however long, and they're like, oh my God, I love this, I love working out. I will never not work out. Yeah, there are days where I wake up tired, but I know I'm going to work out because real behavior change and transformation has happened, and so what's interesting is this is what I'm already hearing from my clients.

Speaker 1:

This is where I get really fired up, because the people that I work with they want to do it differently. I had a client tell me this week she's like Jackie, we're offering Pilates, we're sold out, we've opened a second studio, but what I really want to offer is my intuitive eating plan support group that I also have running in the background but my members don't seem to care about. Right, like, how do I get these people who are so interested in Pilates to also be interested in what they're putting in their mouth? And I hear from yoga clients who have studios that they're like I don't want this just to be a place where they come work out. I want this to be their third place where they belong and there's a cold plunge in a sauna and they have this sense of wellbeing because their life happens here. They belong here.

Speaker 1:

Like people want to teach more than just the poses, the asana, the workout. They want to help people change how they think, how they feel, how they live. They want to be a part of the solution and I'm guessing, if you're listening to this right now, that is also you. You want to deliver more for your people. You want to deliver true change and transformation, and so, in order to do that, we need to be really honest with our people. We need to tell them that dropping in one time in a month is not going to be enough to overcome this epidemic of illness that we have. We can help them get started there, but then we also have to tell them what's next and what they need to prioritize and who they can become, because they don't know.

Speaker 1:

I want you to think about it just like this become because they don't know. I want you to think about it just like this. It's been so common to hear like, oh my gosh, pop in anytime, get a class free or do our drop in, join us anytime. Essentially has been the message for so long. But I want you to imagine that if we shifted that in this industry and our message became hey, stick with us, stick with us for a year, and here's what's really possible. Hear this client story, hear this transformation. Not like come in and out whenever you want, not optional, not trendy, but foundational. Like truly being like hey, this is what is going to support you in true change, true transformation. And it doesn't happen one time in a class, it happens one class at a time, but that adds up over time.

Speaker 1:

And you want to make sure that you are. You want to make sure that you are facilitating I'm not going to edit that out that you're facilitating a container that holds your students and helps your students get there. So like, are you pricing for transformation or for convenience? Is your onboarding designed just to get people in or is it really designed to get buy-in for long, lasting change? Is it just information? Are you helping them understand who they can become and what that would be like? Do you offer, do you have a student or client journey, or is it just classes that you're selling?

Speaker 1:

Now, I want to say this here because I can like hear someone's brain being like, oh my God, that's a lot. I'm getting a little overwhelmed. What I'm talking about doing in your business is not going to happen in like an overnight thing. This may be a process that you work on in your backend, meaning your containers and your delivery and your onboarding and your offboarding sequences and it'll be a process that happens on the front end, like what do we say in our marketing? What do we say in our sales conversations? That will take time and that's okay. This doesn't need to be a rush thing, like, yes, this is something you want to do and pay attention to, but this is not an urgent matter. That needs to happen right away. Right? One of my mentors used to say, jackie, there's no yoga emergencies, and so keep that in your mind, like if we're talking about really being the change for the people and stepping into that leadership role. That doesn't need to happen overnight, it needs to happen over time.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so here's what I think Wellness 2.0 will look like. I think the brands that will thrive are the brands that don't just teach movement, but they're really clear about the mindset that they have and that their members take on at their studio. They aren't just selling packages, but they're building programs, selling those programs that create lasting results, and they're not just saying, hey, we care, we want you here, we want you to be a part of our community, but they're proving it with systems and support so that you really deeply, actually feel like you're embedded in the community. They're going to build in accountability, prioritize consistency. Talk about wellness like it really matters. Be the leaders, be the change makers of this, because it does. This is what it will take to close that efficacy gap.

Speaker 1:

So I want you to be loud about your beliefs in wellness. Be a thought leader in the industry. Don't water it down. Say what people need to hear, not just what they want to hear. Help your clients move from dread to loving the process. Normalize that that transformation takes time and show them how that's a gift. Engage your community strategically, intentionally and consistently with real accountability. Create containers that hold people through the hard parts. For example, most people drop off at six months. Do you have a container that supports them through that gap? Speak clearly and consistently about what's actually needed, not just about what's trending.

Speaker 1:

Know and be able to say exactly what result you help people get. Say it often, say it proudly, own it. Show testimonials. Your work isn't just a vibe. You may create vibes, but what you do matters so much and the results that you deliver, the changes that you offer in people's lives, are literally invaluable, and I want you to own that and know that.

Speaker 1:

So if you are ready to be a part of leading this new chapter, if you want to be the business that doesn't just offer classes but actually delivers transformation, I want to help you. What I want you to do is go to the link in the show notes and join the studio CEO program where we can work together for the next year to help you identify the result that you deliver. Figure out how to talk about it in your marketing and in your sales conversations for true transformation, how to deliver to your people so that they see change. So we can stop acting like our careers, our passion, our purpose is a trend. We can stop letting people tell us that, oh, pilates is just trending right now, yoga was just trending, but we can start leading it like it is the solution that it truly is. Your people don't need more options, they just need more you All right, my friends, get to work. I'll talk to you in the next episode.