Should you have a membership? Just one option? An annual option? None at all? Secret memberships? Shareable or not? There are more membership options than granules of salt in a float tank, so we’re here to help you sift through them all. Keep your notebook handy because this episode is loaded with ideas. Since The Float Shoppe has been open for 8 years, Dylan has some strong feelings about why membership is a must-have for his business, but Drew is contemplating ditching the membership model all...
Sep 19, 2019•51 min
Because the world of managing employees is so complex, we’re taking an episode to dive into employee scheduling. If you’ve ever wondered about the best ways to schedule your team, you’ll want to tune in. We dive into the need to recognize when employees will perform at their best, the need for anchors and consistency in processes, how to pinpoint when a mid-shifter should come in and leave, and different strategies for who does what when the tanks are full. While scheduling sounds pretty straigh...
Sep 12, 2019•46 min
Continuing in our Employee series, this episode skims the surface of the glamourous world of employee training. The crew starts by dropping some stats on how many employees they’ve ever trained across their careers (spoiler: 5 to 10,000+), so you know they’ll have some varied view points and lots of tidbits to share. You’ll get to hear about timelines for each center owner’s training programs, how to start an employee on Day 1, different delivery methods for training, and when to “check yo’ peop...
Sep 04, 2019•52 min
It’s inevitable that if you hire employees, at some point, someone will say goodbye - willingly or not. You can hire the right people, train and treat them well, but still have to end the working relationship. In this episode, the team talks about practical tips, like asking for a longer notice before an employee leaves, and inspirational concepts, like always appreciating the importance of each individual employee. We’ll leave you with tips for red flags, creating a paper trail, knowing “when i...
Aug 27, 2019•44 min
In this episode, we continue diving into employee issues as the crew dishes on all things employee retention. You’ll hear stories about how one host thinks spending less time at his center led to an increase in employee turnover, while another hashes out the differences in turnover issues across multiple locations and between full-timers versus part-timers. We’ll dabble on employee benefits, and dive into why it’s important to engage, empower, and motivate your team members to be more than just ...
Aug 15, 2019•43 min
It’s a bit of a catch 22…. You need help, but you’re too busy to find it and you’re not really sure exactly what to look for in the perfect float employee. Sound familiar? In this episode, you’ll hear four different perspectives as Dylan, Gloria, Drew, and Kim share their employee structure, including how they include interns. You’ll hear big differences in the way Kim and Gloria manage their internship programs, and a bit about how Dylan’s experience went in the past. The crew talks about diffe...
Aug 08, 2019•47 min
Dylan steps into social media land to share his strategy for social media, specifically using Buffer to help his Instagram game. He shares how he’s creating a consistent brand on his account… and Gloria chimes in with how she breaks those very same rules, but she does create consistency in the types of posts she creates routinely. Grab your Vanilla Ice, baby! Grashkahn is back with a brand new edition… of the Float Con! Graham and Ashkahn of Float On and Float Tank Solutions join us to break dow...
Aug 01, 2019•1 hr 3 min
Grab your adult beverage of choice, put the kids to bed, meditate for a minute, and take a few deep breaths. In this episode, we’re talking about one of the most passionate topics in the float community… GROUPON. (Insert daunting theme music here…) Drew dug up a bit of research about the history of Groupon, and he sets the stage with a little foundational knowledge about how the company came to be what it is today. Gloria flips the coin to share her experiences of watching the company’s evolutio...
Jul 27, 2019•58 min
Volume 2 is officially here! Volume 1 of Art of the Float ran for about three years, so we’re delighted to come back from a little break with a fresh take on the podcast. As we dive into this new year and a new take, we also have some new voices on the show! Drew Kane, owner of New Hampshire Float Therapy is a new host, who came into floating much the same way as Dylan. (Thanks, Joe Rogan!) Drew’s start comes full circle because he’s been a loyal listener of Art of the Float since his start, and...
Jul 17, 2019•34 min
We take a moment to reflect on the past three years of the Art of the Float podcast, and say farewell to 2018. And we welcome the new for 2019: revisiting old topics to inject new knowledge, a new co-host, some tweaks to the format, and yes, a new theme song. Stay tuned for Season 2! Support Art of the Float
Dec 13, 2018•39 min
Kevin Rose from Unplugged Float Essentials joins us to continue our Float Marketplace series this week. Kevin shares his story about how he got started in the float world, as a Joe Rogan fan, and how he’s hoping to own his own center soon. In the meantime, he has started developing an essential oil, epsom salt, water-soluble CBD bath soak to start building brand awareness in his area, and to serve other float centers looking for a complementary retail product. Unplugged blends include unscented ...
Nov 08, 2018•19 min
Tim Warshaw, owner of Float Scents, joins us this week to continue our “Float Marketplace” series. Tim has been managing a center for several years, during after an evening of floaty musings over beers with Stephen Johnson, Tim mentioned the idea of introducing aromatherapy into the float experience. After exploring several ideas, Tim eventually landed on the concept of a lip balm. He talks about the process he went through to research his idea and test a few concepts before deciding to make her...
Nov 01, 2018•25 min
Luke Krueger, owner of Mandala Float Systems joined us this week to talk about his experiences in the industry. Luke started with a tank in his home before opening his own center (Deep, located in South Dakota), where he built his own tanks. He lives by the notion of “you either do it or you don’t”, so he went all in and started manufacturing open float tanks for others, as well as creating Ninja fans for tanks and cabins, and later Spout fans for pods - and these fans seem to have a cult follow...
Oct 27, 2018•31 min
This week we kick off a new special on art of the float we're calling Float Marketplace. For the rest of the year we are going to feature float center owners who discovered a problem within the industry and created a solution with a new product for the float industry. This week we feature Kane Mantyla of RewardMore who's designed a holistic "membership" plan that is low risk for clients and high reward for both clients and float centers. Support Art of the Float...
Oct 18, 2018•40 min
This week, Dylan visited Dana Highfill at her center that’s been open for two months. She talks about her experience over the first couple of months, including starting with employees, why’s running the shop solo now, and how she’s toed the line of burnout. She provides a great reality check about the daily nuances of running a center and all the little things that add up to take a lot of time, really pushing the need for time management skills. You’ll hear her perspective on transitioning from ...
Oct 04, 2018•1 hr
If you missed the Float Conference this year, you missed a fascinating presentation by MC Flux, but fear not! He’s here with us to talk about his research at the Float Clinic and Research Center, where he has been working with Dr. Feinstein. His thesis work explores the intersection of basic molecular neuroscience and mental health treatment. This ever-creative individual even designed today's show cover image! Support Art of the Float...
Sep 27, 2018•49 min
Calling all fashion police! This week, Amy and Dylan are diving into the world of fashion, well, float fashion at least. Should employees wear a specific uniform? Show their personalities? Flash some logo wear? Amy talks about the intriguing reason why she keeps a pretty loose grasp on dress code at her centers, including one particular team member who loves to let his toes be center stage. Dylan obviously doesn’t live in the south, because he thinks those toes should always be covered. (And stu...
Sep 20, 2018•1 hr 3 min
Kim Hannan recently posted a question in the Float Collective, asking others how they handle hosting events and workshops in their float centers, so we invited her to join the show to discuss the topic in person. Support Art of the Float
Sep 13, 2018•1 hr 1 min
The Float Conference offers a variety of free sessions on Friday before the big event. One of those such sessions was Justin Feinstein’s discussion about the Float Research Collective, a way for commercial float centers across the globe to get involved in formal studies relating to floatation therapy. This conversation started at the Rise Float Gathering in St. Louis in April, and since then, Justin has been looking for ways to leverage the industry in order to grow the reach of what’s possible....
Aug 30, 2018•1 hr 12 min
Drew Kane, Kim Hannan, and Dan Larsen join Amy and Dylan this episode to recap the experience of the 2018 Float Conference. Each guest this week has a different perspective, from not-yet-open to only recently open, to “veterans” of the float world, and all experiences for attending the conference. Revisiting the Friday activities, Kim shares some of her takeaways from the marketing forums, Drew and Dan talk about what they learned at Justin Feinstein’s talk about how we can all work together to ...
Aug 23, 2018•1 hr 3 min
145: The Last Float Conference - With Ashkahn by Art of the Float Support Art of the Float
Aug 15, 2018•37 min
Beth Jones is on the show this week to talk about her experiences in opening a float center (and continuing on to franchise) in North Carolina and battling through the strict request from the local health department. After just two years of being open, Beth started working towards franchising her operation after being approached by several interested parties. At Float Spa X, she’s challenging the status quo for how most franchises recruit and establish themselves as a successful venture. If you ...
Aug 09, 2018•1 hr 19 min
This week, Dana Highfill joins the crew to give an update on Float North, the latest center preparing to open in the Portland area. Dana recently hosted an Open House to invite the public out to see her space and learn about floating. She shares how she handled the event itself, and the highs and lows that came immediately after. Her grand opening is just a few days away, and she’s mostly ready. Support Art of the Float
Aug 02, 2018•1 hr 15 min
She’s back! Amy Grimes, our beloved co-host is back from a little leave spent opening her second location in Tennessee. She recaps the challenges of her opening, including going several months past their target date, being over budget, getting through challenging inspections, strained relationships, an unreliable and unethical contractor, and learning and taking over new modalities. Easy peasy stuff, yes? She shares the lessons they learned and how they survived all of the stress of nearly hitti...
Jul 26, 2018•1 hr 19 min
Danielle Savory, a certified life coach and mindfulness teacher, joins us in this episode to share wisdom about avoiding burnout and reducing stress as a small business owner. Support Art of the Float
Jul 19, 2018•57 min
It’s Q&A time! This episode veers away from our traditional model of having a guest or a specific topic, and instead, we’re diving in to answer questions we’ve received from the community. You’ll hear about how to start building the vision and business plan for a new center, how to pick an effective heater to warm up a tank overnight, and what to look for in a pump for a DIY tank. Dylan describes the evolution of his photography for the Patreon photos he releases each month, and the intentio...
Jul 12, 2018•36 min
We’re excited to have Richard Bonk join us this week! Richard started floating through his work with Tom Fine where they began float research many years ago. Through a practice of floating and transcendental meditation (TM), Richard began to explore “alternate waking states” that felt at times like lucid dreams or out-of-body experiences while in an alert, awake state. Find full show notes at https://wp.me/p3DUt1-Hz Sponsored By: Float Helm : Go to Float Helm Support Art of the Float...
Jun 28, 2018•1 hr 2 min
This week is a wild one… we opened up an invitation to the float community to join us for a conversation with and about the Float Tank Association (FTA). Kevin Johnson, Shoshana Leibner, and Glenn and Lee Perry (all FTA board members) join the crew and several float center owners to have an earnest conversation about the state of the organization. Support Art of the Float
Jun 21, 2018•1 hr 42 min
It’s a float podcaster party! Graham and Ashkahn from Float Tank Solutions/Float On/The Float Conference join us this week. With Dylan, they discuss the current hot topic of the Float Tank Association (FTA) and the need for the organization. They’ve been on the road, attending different health department events to discuss float tank water sanitation with the health inspectors and experts across several states. They hold nothing back as they hit another favorite topic: Groupon. They talk about wh...
Jun 14, 2018•56 min
Hilary Sedovic of Float STL joins the podcast to discuss how we can as float centers bring floating to those who might not otherwise be able to float due to income, lack of awareness etc. Please fill out her survey here!: https://goo.gl/forms/Bn4cXgYSBy1hUPeh2 Support Art of the Float
Jun 07, 2018•55 min
