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

Wanting to Quit to Thriving in Her Studio with Nicole Byars

• Jackie Murphy

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If you've ever found yourself running your studio on fumes, resenting the business you built, and quietly googling "how do I sell a yoga studio"—this episode is for you.

Nicole Byers has been in this industry for 11 years. She opened her first studio in 2015, franchised during a pandemic, dissolved the franchise, rebranded, and eventually hit a wall so hard she was ready to walk away entirely. She wasn't burned out because she was weak. She was burned out because she'd been operating in fight-or-flight for years with no systems, no support, and no off switch.

If you're a yoga or Pilates studio owner who's tired, stuck, or seriously questioning whether this is still worth it—listen to this one before you make any big decisions.

Timestamped Outline:

[01:25] Nicole's introduction and background
[05:01] Opening first studio with no business experience
[09:05] The opening weekend illusion
[15:46] How Live True Yoga became Honest Yoga
[24:50] Hitting the wall
[27:44] Joining the Grow Mastermind
[35:00] What to do when you're in a dark place and considering selling

Key Takeaways:
✓ Burnout isn't a character flaw—it's a systems problem.
✓ Don't make a permanent decision from a temporary emotional state.
✓ Consistency beats perfection every time.
✓ Alignment isn't just a mindset concept—it's a business strategy.

Pull Quotes:
"Right when you're about to get over that hump—people sell or quit. And then that hump never gets crossed."
"I needed to cultivate that feeling of safety from within. You can't sell a studio and find peace if the peace isn't already in you."
"I quadrupled the investment. It honestly changed my life and changed the trajectory of my business."
"It's not about the business. A lot of it is mindset coaching—and that came before the business stuff could even work."

FAQ Section:

Can a yoga studio in a small town be successful? Yes—but it requires intentional strategy. Nicole opened her first studio in a town of 30,000 people and grew it to the point of expansion within 18 months. Location matters to some extent, but consistent marketing, a strong class schedule, and membership sales systems matter more.
What are the biggest mistakes yoga studio owners make when franchising? Not vetting franchise owners carefully enough. Nicole dissolved her franchise after learning that passion for yoga and willingness to invest aren't enough—franchise owners need both business acumen and genuine knowledge of what they're selling.
How do I stop feeling resentful toward my studio? Resentment in studio ownership usually signals a systems problem, not a passion problem. The answer isn't to quit. It's to build systems that let you lead instead of just survive.
Is it worth joining a business mastermind as a yoga studio owner? If you're ready to actually implement what you learn—yes. Nicole tried multiple coaching programs and says the Grow Mastermind was the first one where she exceeded her investment, not just learned from it.
How do I know if I should sell my yoga studio or keep going? Try this: close your eyes and envision having sold—really sit with it. Then envision a thriving version of your studio. Notice which scenario your body responds to. Many studio owners are clo

Work with Jackie Murphy


Welcome And Guest Setup

SPEAKER_00

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 height without earning 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 strategy, 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. All right, welcome back to the Studio CEO podcast. We have another client interview for you today. My client Nicole is here to share her story, her expertise, and her wisdom. So welcome, Nicole. We're happy to have you. Why don't you give us a brief introduction? Who you are.

Teacher Training And First Classes

SPEAKER_04

All right. Well, thanks for having me. Um, really happy to be here. Um, so yeah, my name's Nicole and I grew up in Minnesota. Um, and grew up in Minnesota, went to college out in Arizona, graduated with a finance degree. Um, and from there, I, and I'm telling you all this because I'll get back to the whole finance degree thing in a second. From there, I started working in corporate America, um, kind of behind a desk for quite a while, maybe like four or five years. And I knew right away that that was not gonna be for me. I knew I needed a little bit more freedom. I needed more flexibility. Um, and so after I worked in corporate America and I had gotten married and had two boys, I decided to stay at home with my kids and leave that part, that chapter, I guess, if you will, in my life. And so I was home um with my boys until they were about five. But when they were two and three years old, because they're 15 months apart, I really didn't love staying at home with my kids. Yeah. And so I um ended up, I was going to yoga and I saw this 200-hour um sign-up that you can get trained to become a teacher. And I just kept coming back to it. And I kept coming back to it. And I think being unfulfilled um at home, and don't get me wrong, I love my kids. I just knew that there was something more for me out there. And so I saw this uh teacher training sign, and so I decided to jump in. And I knew I had always loved yoga. It was something that I had always come back to. Um and actually, I was first introduced to yoga in an eating disorder program when I was 25. And I, you know, it was a big part of my recovery. I was kind of a palm-the-pavement cardio, you know, workout type of punishment, um, I guess exercise, if you will. And so um at that, so that's how I was introduced to it. And so I knew, and it honestly saved my life. Yoga did. Not to sound, you know, over dramatic, but it really did. And so after that experience, I kind of was always dabbling back and forth with yoga. When life would get more chaotic, when I felt like I was losing myself, I would always come back to the practice. So, you know, fast forward to 31, 32 years old, when I saw the teacher training, I just felt this pull because yoga has had been and still is such a big part in my journey and in my recovery. Um, and so yeah, I jumped in, got my 200 hour, and started teaching all over Minneapolis, community centers. I was in weight rooms, I was in, you know, lunch, you know, cafeterias, just teaching everywhere and getting a ton of experience. And I did that for about a year. From there, I basically was seeing how all these other businesses was were, I guess, were running their yoga studios. Um and not to sound egotistical by any means, I just thought that I could do it better. And so, you know, you see all the things that are working, you work for different businesses, and then you also see a lot of the things that aren't working. And where we lived, um, we lived in a smaller town, there was no yoga studio. And so after a year of me moving um or teaching everywhere, I decided to jump. That's me, that's just how I've always been. Two feet, jump in, and I opened up my first yoga studio back in 2015.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, when you say smaller town, do you know your average population size?

SPEAKER_04

So I I feel like that's probably it wasn't maybe a smaller town. I mean, it compared to like where I'm at now, there's like 200,000 people at the studio that I have now. At that time, I it was more like I 30 to 40,000.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Okay. I always ask because we get a lot of comments that are like, you know, what you teach, Jackie, is so dependent on location and demographic and size of the town. And it is to some extent, I agree with them. But there also is a way to have a successful business in a smaller town when you're doing it strategically. So you like jumped in a year into teaching into studio ownership. What was that like?

Opening A Studio From Scratch

SPEAKER_04

Um gosh, you know, it was, you know, I look back and I can I remember it so clearly. It was a 900 square foot space. It was small, and it was in an office building, and it was a photography kind of like developing um studio. So it was dark, and I just knew like, all right, I'm like, this is what Nicole does. She jumps in head first, we're gonna do it. And it was, I think it was um$900 a month, the lease was. And to me, it just felt like a lower cost or barrier to entry. I definitely um will I'm not afraid of risk. And so I said, all right, let's go. What I didn't realize, A, I've never run a business. Now I kind of circle back to the finance degree. That was really helpful for me in the beginning, and it still is today. Um, but what I didn't realize was how hard and long it was gonna take for me to grow a community. Um that, and honestly, I didn't know what I was doing. I was just figuring it out day by day, you know, and I started off by teaching 18 classes a week. Oh yeah. To keep my overhead costs down. Um, and I would not recommend that.

SPEAKER_00

No.

SPEAKER_04

And I had hired, you know, two or three teachers at the time. And, you know, the teachers were supportive, but a few of those teachers had come from already bigger studios. And so for them coming into a new studio, it was really hard, I think, energetically for them to be a part of this studio that I was trying to grow because a lot of times they were teaching to one person, to two people. And so I did end up losing a few teachers that just, you know, they they didn't, it was just becoming too energetically draining for them. And so I found myself really teaching a lot of the classes and growing the community myself.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Interesting. Okay, so let's talk about growing that community. You said it was it was harder than you expected. Did it take longer?

SPEAKER_04

No, no, my my initial thought was I wanted her to say yes.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

No, I I I think my expectations are really probably too high. You know, did I I think I thought going into this that like the people were just gonna come, you know? Never run a business. I just thought people would hear about a new yoga studio in St. Michael and they would be like, that's the city that I was in. Whoa, this is amazing! You know, like we're gonna. I just thought people were gonna flock. And honestly, opening weekend, we had all three classes and we were packed. And that was such an amazing feeling. We didn't do any pre-membership sales, I had no coaches. Um, and I can give a piece of advice, it would definitely be to hire a coach right off the bat. Yeah, um, I mean, literally, there was no money coming in on the weekend that we opened. Wow. Yeah, and then Monday comes and our schedule has like maybe one to zero people in every class. Yes. And that's when I really realized like, okay, this is the reality of like, this is the reality. That weekend where it was sold out and packed because it was free, we're gonna get there. Because I I loved everything about that weekend, but it's gonna take a long time to get there. And I figured it out after that first week that it was gonna take me a long time to grow our membership base. So within a year and a half, you know, we had grown enough with memberships, and it was unlimited memberships, where I expanded actually into the space next door. So a year and a half in, I expanded into the space next door. We did a big remodel, and then my rent went up to you know$2,500. We had a bigger kind of operation running, and it just began to expand from there. And honestly, it was because I kept showing up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

My husband always says, you know, with small business or just business owners, it's like literally every day just hitting the repeat button. You keep showing up, you keep teaching your classes. And I also had found that having at least like 25 to 30 classes on our schedule was important to sell the membership, as opposed to having 10 classes on the schedule a week. And so I started to learn things. I learned things the hard way. Um, but I think just continuing to show up every day, keep a pretty solid schedule, stay consistent with it. I was running beginners um yoga series as well, and that was really helpful for bringing in new people. Um, and it just started to grow from there.

SPEAKER_00

You did all of that with two young kids, too. Yeah, like right, you said they were two and five when you looked at teacher training.

SPEAKER_04

That means like they were actually two and three.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, oh, two and three. That's right, because they're 15 months apart. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Like and let's keep going. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00

My brain is just imagining you teach 18 classes, you're doing the studio operations, you're growing that business, and then your mom at home.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, a full-time stay-at-home mom, too, because at the time my husband was working full-time. Yeah. So um, yeah, and I guess, yeah, the boys at that point were um, I think they were more like uh four and five. But you know, they were still in preschool, they were still home a lot. And I was trying to do it all. I guess.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

What what would you say to that version of you now? Like looking back at that time, that version of the studio.

SPEAKER_04

Oh my gosh, like first of all, I hope like you are so proud of what you started and what you created. And also to to give myself um grace during that time. I think that I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing. And um to just to trust, you know, just trust yourself, you know, like if you just keep doing what you're doing, you keep showing up in the way that you're showing up, everything's gonna unfold. And I think I did lack that trust, you know, in myself. And it's still something that I need to work on is you know, just trust yourself, trust in your capabilities. You you will continue to grow this business. And I think if I had, I wish I would have had more trust in in what I was doing and what I was creating, because I probably wouldn't have been as overwhelmed and and as stressed as I was, you know, um opening and just running with the studio.

SPEAKER_00

It's interesting because you've just described the mindset of so many people opening studios right now. If I just open it, build it, then students will come. And it almost implies like a too much trust in other people to make your business successful. Like they'll just show up. And then reality typically is you actually do have to do the marketing and the sales work and the business side of things to get those people in the doors. But in order to do that level of work, the trust in yourself, I will show up every day, I will keep doing what it takes, I will figure this out, has to be really high. So it's like, let's dial back the trust that people are just gonna arrive at your doorstep and let's dial up the trust that you can do what it takes to get those people in the door, which you prove to yourself you could the hard way, right? Like really showing up and doing it time and time again. Was it honest yoga then, or was it something else?

SPEAKER_04

No, so what I opened up, uh it was live true yoga. That was uh yeah, so it was live true yoga and it started in 2015. Wow. Um but yeah, I think self-trust is again, and I know I've you know, working with you, it's something that I'm constantly having to work on as far as just trusting in myself and kind of doing the fact checks as far as looking at the facts of what you've created, whether or not it's the sales, the membership growth, whatever it is, and just okay, I've done those things, like I know that I can continue to build and to grow what I'm doing. It just starts with that trust within.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it does. Live true. That's what you said. Yeah, so how live true how did live true become honest yoga and what it is now?

Pandemic Purchase And Franchise Lessons

SPEAKER_04

Um, so funny story. So yeah, live true. People used to call it live true, and I just used to try it. No, it's live true. Um, oh gosh, that's that's a that's a crazy story. So um, you know, so live true started started in St. Michael, this smaller town in in uh Minnesota, and we grew. And eventually in 2020, um, actually right when the pandemic hit, which people will probably think this is insane, um, I bought a yoga studio, another studio. So, and at that time it still was live true. So I had Live True in 2015, still running this studio. Um, and then 2020, an opportunity came up to purchase a studio that was in um a much bigger city, about 20 minutes outside of Minneapolis. And I can explain it to you, but I just had this really strong pull towards this studio. It had been a studio that had been around for 20 years. Um, and she had kind of hit a spot, she was ready to retire, and then the pandemic happened, and um, she just she didn't want to do what you needed to do, you know, in order to kind of keep the studios running as far as going on Zoom. And I understood she was kind of moving in towards the end of her career. I was still like, I'm still ramping up, right? So she had this huge customer list, uh, loyalty of all these customers. And so I decided um that I really wanted to move forward with purchasing this studio, and the pandemic happened, right? March 2020. The sale of this studio happened May 2020.

SPEAKER_00

Wow. So you bought it in the pandemic.

SPEAKER_04

And but part of I think the benefit of that was I got a better deal on the lease and the buying of the studio.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um and like I said, I just felt this tug um to purchase this studio. And so I have one studio in the smaller town. Now I bought this other studio. At the same time, I start franchising. So I um franchising as far as the whole licensure and how long that took, that takes about a year. And so I had already started the process of franchising in 2019. And then all of this hit, you know, in 2020, and that's like when we became legal to start franchising. And so I thought, all right, well, and again, this is me just kind of jumping in, um, not too afraid of risk, um, but I'm learning from that. So I start franchising. Um, I've got the two studios, and then I have, you know, a few people approach me about franchising a live true. And I didn't do any vetting for these owners. I thought, oh my gosh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

They want it.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, they want it. I'm excited. They, you know, two totally different backgrounds. Um so I said, so we I said yes, they were all in, and so we opened two franchise locations, again, in smaller communities. Um, so at that point, we have two corporate uh live true yoga locations, and then we have two franchise locations in that span. Um I believe it was in 2021, I sold my original studio. I sold my original Live True, and um it was one of the franchise owners that actually ended up taking that over, and that became a franchise location. And so we've got these franchise locations. I've got now my one corporate location, which was a studio that I bought in 2020. Um and it turned out to be a disaster. And this is gonna bring me to why I'm now honest yoga. So what I should have done is I should have vetted the owners and I should have spent more time really making sure that it was a good fit for Live True, that both um the owner and that it was just a good fit for everybody. And what I found out was just that, you know, the people that owned the franchisees, they were really good people. They really meant well, but they didn't have really what it took to run the studios and keep the studios going, especially during such a difficult time. Yeah. And so I ended up two years in um dissolving the franchise. It became frustrating, you know, at times because part of my role was to do a lot of business coaching and to look at the profit and loss statements and to look at where are we bleeding money? And here's where we can um change things, here's where we can shift, here's where we need to cut expenses. And unfortunately, the two owners they we didn't see eye to eye and they weren't willing to make those changes in order to be successful.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So I ended up dissolving the franchise um and the live true franchises. And so all of those locations ended up closing, and that is why then um I rebranded in 2022 to Honest Yoga, and that was the studio that I had bought in 2020 from the woman who was ready to retire.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, there's so much I could ask you about there. It's just such a story. During the hardest time in our industry ever, too. Like I just can't imagine. But I did have someone just reach out to me on Instagram and they are looking at beginning the franchise process. And I kind of looked over their sales page and I just was like poking around. And the the entire sales page was written in a way. That was like, we're looking for someone who wants to passionately impact other people's lives. And I was like, that is so sweet. But what you need is a business-minded person who's like ready to come in and make this business work. And I think with franchisees, sometimes they're expecting the business to be given to them. It's like business in a box. I'm going to pay for the business, and then it's just going to work for me. There is no business that exists like that on this planet. Like every business takes effort and execution. So is that what you would have vetted for? Like someone who was more dedicated to the business's success versus just that I liked the idea of opening a studio.

SPEAKER_04

Sure. I'll give you because the both owners were very different. And I think it's a really interesting, um, I think it's really interesting to think about. The one owner had such a strong background in business, and she was very strong in sales. Now, what she didn't really have was a lot of the yoga knowledge. Um, she wasn't able to step in and teach classes, even though she had her 200 hours, she just was terrified to teach. And so she was really strong on the business side, but she lacked um the ability to and to even just like talk about yoga or write about it. And so that was kind of missing. And I guess I have opinions about that that might differ from a lot of people. But then you also had this other owner who actually had a lot of money and was a stay-at-home mom and had the uh yoga background. Unfortunately, she didn't have the business background, yeah. And so you have two very different people. If I could have combined them both together. Yeah. And that's what I have just found, I think, over the years. I think when you're able to have both the business background and you're knowledgeable about what it is that you sell, and that you know, you are able to step in sometimes when needed to teach or to put on workshops or to do teacher trainings. I'm not saying that that's what you need to have in order to have a successful business. I just have found that that has really worked for me in my business.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I would agree. I I think like you don't have to teach to run a successful studio. And it really helps to have the knowledge, the background when it comes to leading a team of teachers because there is that certain communication level that is just inherently there if you're both on the same page about what you're delivering and what the service is. So fascinating. Okay, so let's go to honest yoga. I I'm trying to remember how you came into my world. Was it a challenge?

Burnout And The Need For Systems

SPEAKER_04

Or was it like um yeah, I think it was. I mean, you you came into my world in such a crucial point time in my business and honestly, just in my life. And it was such a godsend. And I I seriously mean that because I had gotten to a place, because it was in 2025, it was just this last spring of 2025. And I had just gotten to a place um where I just couldn't keep up anymore with the hustle. And I didn't have systems, I didn't have processes in place. I am will be very honest with people, I was narrow-minded in far as far as I've been doing this for 10 years, I know what I'm doing. And at the end of the day, my business was totally running me. And I just couldn't get off the hamster wheel. And I was starting to feel resentful. And that was all me, right? You know, because I was just starting to resent the business. I had the payroll, present the leases. You know, it just was starting to feel overwhelming and like I was drowning. And I just at one point before I met you, I just wanted out. Yeah. And I think part of that too was from the pandemic of just being in this really high state of fight or flight, and just like, I gotta keep going, I gotta keep doing, I have to keep hustling. I honestly, to to this day, just even working with you, Jackie, it's I need to remind myself that we're not there anymore. And we don't need to operate at that level. Um, but I think what I realized um back in the spring, just how um much I was impacted from the pandemic and working at such a high level and how I couldn't sustain that anymore.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. I I remember you coming in, and maybe this was before you joined the mastermind or like right after you joined the mastermind, but you were like really debating do I sell and do I get out and do I just like call it quits right now? And that's such a I never want to tell someone, like, yes, you should keep your business, because obviously you should do what's best for you. However, you don't want to make that decision from that place or fight or flight. That's like, I'm still stressed for whatever reason from the pandemic, from whatever's going on in your life. So I'm making the decision from there. And that's what it felt like. So I remember talking you through, like, that's an option, and that's a good option, and this is an option, and just like getting you to like both you can choose either. You can choose whatever you want, but do it from a place of safety instead of I feel like I have to.

SPEAKER_04

And I think, you know, coming into your mastermind group, um, that you talking to you and being coached by you, by you doing that, it gave me choice. And I think where I had created this narrative in my head that I was stuck and that I didn't have a choice and that I just wanted out. And as we continue to, I think, talk through this in the mastermind group, I started to like kind of start to like come out of this like kind of dark hole that I was in because I remember being on those calls and just kind of like my shoulders were hanging. I just was just, I don't know if I'm in this, you know. And I think as I started to realize that, hey, I've got choice here and I'm in control of what I want. If I want out, I can get out, you know. If I want to stay in and I want to change things and I want to grow, I can do that too. And what I started to learn from the group was oh my gosh, the support of those women, all of them running studios, whether it's Pilates or yoga, I learned so much from them. And my my narrow-mindedness started to shift. Like it started to widen. I started to see things from such a um a wider, just perspective um lens. And it just shifted in in how I wanted to run my business.

A Free Week That Added 50

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I remember it was like, I don't know, it was Marisa or Mia. Someone just did like a big launch and brought in like a whole bunch of members at once, and you were like, I want that. I want to do that. And you did. You went and you turned around and like was it your anniversary or was it just like a fall?

SPEAKER_04

Well, okay, so July, I was like, I'm recommitting. I'm back into the studio, I'm all in, I'm here to learn, I'm ready to put my systems in place. I want my business to become much more predictable as opposed to me just being reactive. And then I and then I started to see what the other ladies were doing in the group, and that was really motivating. And then, yeah, it was Marissa. I think it was Marissa, or is it Marissa, yeah. She um she had she brought in, I can't even remember how many new members. And I was just like, damn, I want that. And so with your help, we did the five-year anniversary week. We did free classes all week. We busted our butts, and we ended up with 50 new members, unlimited uh members, which is insane. And really, I mean, you can do the math of like what that starts to bring in then for your business on a recurring basis. And one thing that I will say about doing that is a lot of those members have stayed. These were people that they have stayed. It wasn't just people trying to get kind of, you know, that free week, or I'm just gonna get the you know, half off membership. It was really people that that were all in. And these were clients now that have really sticked. And so I have just had, I think I've grown a ton since this last spring. And what I'm finding is that as when I grow and when I'm in um healthier mindset, I'm taking care of myself, um, I can my business is gonna reflect that. And for, you know, a decent a couple years, you know, prior to meeting you, I was really stuck. And the business stayed stagnant, you know, it wasn't it wasn't growing, but it wasn't, we weren't losing money necessarily, but it was just very stagnant. And now it's it's so different and it's really, really beautiful to see.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I think it's so even like the idea of saying I got 50 members from this one week thing that we did, for most studio owners, they're like, that's insane. How do you do that? But it could be normal, it could be like a quarterly thing that you do, and then you have a regular influx of members as well throughout. And I think that's the thing that I've seen you do really well. Like we did this really strong marketing and sales campaign, but then you have stayed consistent since then, whether it's for you running a challenge or you're doing a 200-hour teacher training, you launched your 300-hour teacher training. Like you've continued to be like, How else do I grow? Which has brought its own problems, right? Like it brings a whole new, unique set of situations to deal with. But it wasn't like this one and done. It was truly this recommitment to the studio. This kicked things off and changed things, and then you've kept going from there.

SPEAKER_04

And I have. And I what I'm what I am really trying to do now, and you know, I always, you know, I joke around and I probably shouldn't because it's kind of me making fun of myself. But it's like, oh my gosh, it took me 11 years to figure this out. Cause this is my 11th year of owning different studios and being on this journey. And but I just I think we are continuing to grow, we are continuing to evolve as people. And in the journey that I that has brought me here, it I had to go through it all, you know, to get here. And I the now in my business, what I'm really tapping into is what is an alignment for me, as opposed to, you know, what can I do to, you know, make more money, which of course, like revenue is important, right? But I think when you are moving towards things that are in alignment with you and for you, the money follows. You know, I'm learning that just even with the 200-hour hybrid that we're doing, the 300 hour that I just launched. I mean, that is where my heart is. And that feels like it is in it's in alignment with who I am, where I'm going. And so everything just starts to unfold when you start to walk in alignment with, I mean, not to sound cheesy, but like what is a genuine and truthful for you.

How To Decide Sell Or Stay

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I don't think it's cheesy at all. I it's so funny because the podcast that comes out a week before you, we have this exact same conversation on. Because it really is like when you can look at your business and say, this is what I love to do, and this is what I want to grow, and this is everything else I need either need to get delegate or get rid of. That is when you're creating a business that, in my opinion, is successful. Like, I don't care if you're, you know, making six figures a month, but you hate your life. That's not the goal. Like, what's the point? What I would rather you do is figure out how much money you want to make and then how do you want to do it and how does that work for you? Which is kind of where you've now started to have this like conversation of where do we go from here and what's next? I also think because you've been in it for so long, you know it evolves over time. So you're not like this is the way it has to be forever. You're naturally like, what is coming and what feels good and what feels right, which is part of your skill set of sticking around for 11 years through COVID, through everything you've been through. What would you say? Like, let's say that there's someone listening who's in that kind of darker place that's like so burnt out, frustrated, thinks selling is the only option, has to get out of the studio. What would you say to them now?

SPEAKER_04

This is exactly what you said to me. I would say this is the first thing that came to my mind. When was the last time that you have put your out of office on for over a week for seven days? Because honestly, that question just really gave me a moment to pause. And because when you aren't, when you are not giving yourself time off, you you are going to get overwhelmed, you are going to burn out. And I was burnt out, you know, and I wasn't giving myself that space to disconnect from my business. So that would be the first question. When was the last time that you've taken a full week off with your out of office on?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. And then from there remembering that you do have a choice.

SPEAKER_04

You know, I think when you open a business, it becomes your baby. You are very, you know, you've grown it, you you're attached to it. But to really um try and take a step back and and really sit with the feeling in your body. You know, if you really sit with, and I did this too, okay, what would it feel like? Okay, so envisioning me selling the business, me walking away from it, not really knowing what was in the future, which is fine, but how does that feel? And honestly, just me talking about that right now to you, my chest is tight, my heart is starting to race. Like, yeah, that's not that's not what I want. And then the other, you know, is is to to sit in what would it look like to keep the studio? What would it look like to um to have a thriving studio? Because if your studio isn't thriving right now or you're going through a dip, because hey, that's part of it, envisioning what it would look like for it to really be successful for you and to be thriving. And then how does that feel? Because in my opinion, I think, and I just saw it with the franchise owners too, is that I think right when you're about to get over that hump people sell or quit right before them. And trust me, I've been there many times, you know, or I'm just like, this is too hard. I don't know if I can keep doing this. But you just keep going, you know, and and and remembering again that you do have choice, you know, and I think to really just sit with either option and pay attention to your body. What is your body telling you? Because your body, in my opinion, is your best teacher. That's where a lot of your wisdom comes from, not up here in your head. We get stuck up there.

Mastermind Value And Inner Safety

SPEAKER_00

It's so good. That's so good. So good. Uh okay. What would you say to the person who's thinking about the mastermind? Joining or not joining?

SPEAKER_04

My gosh. And I'm not like Jackie is not.

SPEAKER_00

I'm not paying her.

SPEAKER_04

This is no. Honestly, I have had several coaches throughout the years. I mean, several through mind body, you know, mind body, you can hire a coach like and pay them every you know month, and they do coaching. Um this by far has been the best decision I have ever made. And again, I have been a part of a lot of groups. I've had a lot of different coaches, I've spent a lot of money on coaches. And I don't know that I can say with those other experiences that I ever exceeded the investment that I put in.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

But with you and the investment in the mastermind, um, I made bad, I mean, I think I quadrupled the investment. And it honestly changed my life. And again, I'm not trying to sound cheesy, like it changed the trajectory of my business. And honestly, at the end of the day, what it made me realize, because what you do in the mastermind uh group, it's not just about the business. Like that's obviously a part of it. We do a lot of that, but a lot of it's mindset coaching. And that was a big part of before I could get to the business. And this makes me think of you and I having our one-on-one call recently, where I was like, I don't want to talk about the the stuff that's bothering me right now. Let's just jump into the business. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Interesting strategy.

SPEAKER_04

But we need to talk about, let's let's talk about what's going on first. Yeah. And it was so important. It was so what I needed. And so a lot of the group is is the mindset piece and the business piece. And you learn from your peers. I learned so much from the women in that room. And it was so supportive. Everybody was cheering each other on. And honestly, I think why I waited to do a mastermind as long as I did was because a part of me was like afraid to see other people doing better than me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

You know, I think the competitive part of me was like, oh my gosh, am I gonna join this mastermind group? And I'm gonna just see everybody just killing it. Yeah. And then I'm gonna be here thinking, oh my gosh, I've been doing everything wrong. That wasn't it at all. We all learned from each other. We all built each other up. I I think what I realized in that mastermind group, and this is a little bit deep, was that, and this comes from the mindset work, is that I was looking for this like peace, this safety outside of myself. Like when I sell the studio, then I'll feel this peace that I'm looking for. When I'm able to walk away from it, then I'll just feel more safe because I won't have all of these responsibilities anymore. But what I realized by going through the group was that I was looking for something outside of myself to create those feelings that I was really, really searching for. And so what I needed to do was first, I needed to cultivate those things, that feeling of safety, that feeling of trust, yeah, of peace. It comes from within. Yeah. You can't you if I would have sold the studio with no plan, oh my gosh, I that would have been um, that would have created so much more chaos and unrest than I already felt. And so that the mastermind, like on a much deeper level, helped me realize that I was looking for something outside of myself and I needed to start within. And so I can't say enough, Jackie, amazing things about your program. It honestly changed, it changed my life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. I've never thought about it the way you just described it. But the when you're talking, I'm like, it really does start with like you feeling safe within yourself, you trusting yourself. That is what makes a good leader, someone who's able to have a team of teachers or have a manager and like actually be there for them. But it's also what makes good marketing and sales content. Because if you're feeling safe within yourself, people can feel that you're not pushy, you're not salesy, you're not weird. Like they have the opportunity then to come to you. And that is that is like the start of it all. I think that's really cool how you just described it like that. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04

Okay, well, it starts with you. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00

It does though.

unknown

Yeah.

Where To Find Nicole

SPEAKER_00

Oh, so good. Okay. Why don't we tell people for the sake of time where they can find you, how they can connect with you? You've got a hybrid training, potentially a future, fully online training.

SPEAKER_04

Yep, yep, yep. So um, honestyoga, just the honestyoga.com. Um, we have a lot of uh we have a 200 hour hybrid coming up in the fall. Um lots of good things happening, I guess if you're local. Um, I also have NicoleByers.com. So that's my own personal brand um site where I do one-on-one performance-based uh breathwork coaching. And so that is another place, and that's also where you can find my book, Living Yoga Beyond the Mat, a book that I wrote a couple of years ago that sold on Amazon.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, we will link both websites and in the book as well, because that's amazing. Okay, thank you so much for being here today and and just sharing your story. And I know it's gonna resonate with so many people. So if y'all want to reach out, reach out to her. Um, and we will talk. Talk to you in the next episode. Bye y'all.