[00:00:00] Welcome to Pilates Teachers Manual, a podcast for Pilates teachers by a Pilates teacher. I'm Olivia, and I'll be your host. Jump in the conversation on Instagram @pilatesteachersmanual. Today's chapter starts now.
Hello, hello everybody. Back at it again with Pilates Teachers' Manual. Today talking about building a Pilates support network, but first, just checking in, I hope that you are all doing well and taking care of yourselves. If you are listening to this right when the episode comes out, you'll know that we are in the middle of a self [00:01:00] isolation adventure.
I live in Chicago and the city has been shut down since the end of March and will continue to be shut down through April 30th. So if you are in a place that is similarly isolated, know that I am with you in spirit, and there's lots of ways to connect beyond in person interactions. So highly recommend that you reach out on Instagram or reach out to your friends on Instagram. I don't want anyone feeling alone.
This is a super timely episode because my Pilates support network is something that I'm really relying on as I am unable to physically interact with teachers, students, clients, or anything. So it's really, really good that I had this kind of structure in place before we went into quarantine. But in quarantine and beyond, I think that having a Pilates community that you can call your own is super valuable.
So when [00:02:00] I talk about a Pilate support network, I'm talking specifically about other teachers, your clients, or students, and the staff members at your studio. So those are the kind of groups that I'm focusing on. I do think that you could take it even bigger than that, but that's where I'm going to be talking today.
First of all a Pilates support network is incredibly important. As I said, now being in quarantine, even though I have been in my apartment for two weeks, I feel very connected to what's going on in Pilates land. I'm supported by friends of mine who are teachers that were able to talk about our clients, get second opinions. If someone's reaching out to you and they have something going on in their body that you're maybe not familiar with. It's just great to have someone to kind of talk with about that in a professional way.
I've been talking with teachers about the transition to online content. Starting this week, I will be offering some classes and [00:03:00] workshops on line via zoom, which is a video conferencing system, on Facebook live. So these are all new things to me and new things to a lot of us. So it's really nice to have people that you can talk to about that.
I've reached out to, you know, my studio owners to other teachers just to get their hot tips because we could all use some nice hot tips. Right. As well as the transition to offering perhaps remote privates. And what does the pricing look like? What are those sessions look like? How do you lead a session over a video call or on the computer? So even with the, all the craziness and isolation that's going on in the world, I do still feel connected. And I owe that a lot to my Pilates support network.
From a professional standpoint, having a connection to other teachers, to your students, and to the staff at your studios means that you have their entire network [00:04:00] at your disposal. Whether you're looking for a job at a new studio and you want to know what a studio is like or what the owners are like, having people in your industry who you are close to can really give you eyes and ears inside studios in that situation, and really offer you advice in terms of advancing in your own career path and that you can then offer advice to new teachers in return.
I love traveling to conferences and taking workshops and learning like crazy. When you have other teachers in your support network, you can go to conferences with them. And then you have a friend, someone to sit with when you have lunch and also maybe share a hotel room or split transportation costs. And while you're at that conference, it's great to have other teachers who you know and trust to cover your classes while you're away. Really, there is no downside. We should all have people and recognize that we're not an island.
Another thing that's [00:05:00] huge is that you are shaping the next generation of teachers by having relationships with students who are progressing through their own teacher trainings, you're really shaping the trajectory of what teaching Pilates looks like.
I really have hats off to the PMA and to the national certification program for Pilates, because they've really set amazing standards in terms of what it means to be a teacher that this is a profession, it's not a silly nonsense, right? This is something that we take seriously and there are standards for it. There is a code of conduct and there is a scope of practice and those things really help set Pilates apart as a professional institution. And I think that's incredible.
On a very personal level. I find that having this support network also keeps me accountable or holds me accountable to being my best self, to teaching my best classes, knowing that what I [00:06:00] am sharing with the community is something that I'm proud of, something that my teacher friends and my studios will be proud to have as part of their offerings. Holding me accountable to my own workout habits. Like how often do we tell our clients? Oh yeah, you should be doing Pilates, you know, two, three times a week, at least. And then you look at your mat and you haven't been on it for a while. So holding yourself to some standards as well.
Another thing that I feel goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, is that you just have a better work environment when you're connected to and care about the people that you're working with. And that's both other teachers, for reasons I've mentioned, but also people who are working at the front desk who are part of the sales team.
You want to have connections with those people as well, not just because they might refer new clients to you, but because you'll feel better working in a place that has mutual respect, understanding that you really feel that you're a part of .You don't just show up and [00:07:00] teach and then leave. Like, you know the people who you work with, your students, you know the people that you work with, the staff.
From the perspective of having connections with your clients, that's how you get referrals. When clients love taking your classes, that's, you know, they'll bring their friends, they'll bring their family members. They will encourage their colleagues to come hang out with you and try Pilates as well. I talk about that a little bit more in depth in my episode about building your private clientele in the studio, but it's also part of your support network. That you have clients who mean something to you, that you are connected to.
All of those things sound great, but how do you do that? So a couple ways. Way, number one, quarantine style. Good news on that front and that is, I have connected so meaningfully with so many people on [00:08:00] Instagram, through Facebook, on zoom, as I said, video conferencing adventures. And I have done that more in the past two weeks where I haven't left my apartment, then I've probably done for a long time. But it's so easy to connect with people over social media.
A great thing about social media is that you don't have to just connect with the teachers that you work with. You can connect with teachers all over the world and to initiate something like that, a connection with a person, probably we want to go beyond just like leaving the fire emoji on their post. And like, I love the fire emoji. I leave fire emojis on posts all the time, but, you know, reach out and ask a real question or share something real. Start a conversation and, you know, be open to having that conversation. And not everyone's going to want to engage in the comments section of Instagram, but like, that's how it starts.
That's how you begin to build a [00:09:00] rapport. You let the person know, Hey, I see your content. I read your description. I read the post. And you know, I have some thoughts. Like if you want to talk, I'm here to talk. I have used zoom to connect with other teachers about, you know, offering privates remotely. Like, what is that going to be?
Like what is the pricing going to be like for that? Like, I don't know. None of us have done this before, but we've never done it before together. So it's a nice to have, you know, people that you can bounce ideas off of, or, you know, how would I teach this exercise? Not only do I not have a reformer, like I may not have any equipment. Like if I'm just going to break this down into mat, what does it look like? And it's good to have people to bounce those ideas off of for sure.
I've also been able to take so many amazing classes from teachers who I love, who maybe even live in Chicago, but I just don't get to see them because they're on the North side or their class is at the same time my class is. But now that everything's [00:10:00] changed and shifted it's online, I can take people's classes and have conversations that maybe I wouldn't be able to have in an in person way.
LinkedIn is a resource that I would say non fitness people use a little bit more. Like I definitely do not have a LinkedIn page and all of the studios that I've worked at, I haven't needed a LinkedIn sort of profile to get in the door. That's not how I network, but as networking goes, that is something that is available. I mean, I would say that Pilates is a little bit different because there is such like a human connection component. And also this, you know, you're talking to other teachers you're maybe even talking to the studio owners directly.
Like when I started working at Club Pilates, like the owners were the first people that I spoke to. And I really [00:11:00] do love that kind of small world feeling that Pilates has and being close to other teachers and your studio owners and your general managers and your sales staff is a way that that world really feels small, but LinkedIn can offer another point of contact if that's something that you are already doing or that you like doing.
And even the most famous Pilates instructors in the world are just regular people. Right? I have attended so many conferences where the instructor has left their personal email with the people who attended the conference and is like, Hey, if you have any questions or if you want to talk, like I'm here for you, I want to support you in your growth. And that's something that I really cherish about the Pilates community is that it is really open. And I feel pretty confident that if I reached out to someone over email, that they would at least get back to me and say, Hey.
So with that in mind, if there's a teacher that you love, if you've taken their classes on Pilates any time, [00:12:00] or you've taken a workshop or they hosted a live class on Instagram, really reach out to them. We're just people. And we do want to help each other. We all love Pilates. We want what's best for the Pilates community and we are the Pilates community. So we're looking out for each other and that's super great and super important.
Coming up next, I'm going to share some ways that you might build on your existing Pilates support network or start building your network, as well as some experiences that I've had and some really meaningful connections that I've had with other teachers and students. So stay tuned.
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Some ways that you might think about building your support network remotely while you are in quarantine or in isolation is on social media. Right? So March Matness just happened and it's an Instagram challenge that was founded by Benjamin Degenhardt. And the March Matness month long mat Pilates Palooza has been going on for seven years now, or eight years? It's been going on for a long time.
And the idea is that everyone who wants to participate is welcome, that every day of the month, you're going to post a different Pilates exercise. And by [00:14:00] having a hashtag, we had #marchmatness2020, and the @MarchMatness. Instagram account that you would just be able to kind of get all of those Pilates posts in one place.
It's amazing. It's incredible. I have seen so many different ways to do the hundred and kneeling sidekicks, and I'm just, you know, thrilled to bits. It's concentrated content and we're all kind of on the same page and the fact that you could get a jillion people anywhere to be on the same page about something is fantastic.
And I really applaud Benjamin for getting that together. And the other thing that's incredible is that real connections are possible. You know, I was able to talk with teachers in Israel and in Brazil and, you know, compliment them on their brilliant form and their really unique way of doing the exercises.
I personally fell off of the bandwagon because mid-March is when I stopped being able to go to the studio and my house was kind of a mess and I was just not in it to win it, but it was really inspiring to just [00:15:00] see other people's posts, to see their take on things, learn about their teaching styles.
So one thing that you might consider into your building your Pilates network, if you have some friends who are Pilates teachers who are also on Instagram, you might look at hosting an Instagram challenge.
So I'm also part of the yoga community on Instagram and yoga people do this all the time. I don't see it as much in Pilates, but like highly recommend that we hop on that train where you and a few other teachers put together just like March Matness, you know, March Matness is 31 days long. Maybe you put together a seven day challenge or a 14 day challenge, and you put either an exercise a day or a theme or something, and maybe you host a giveaway. Maybe you get a sponsor, whether it's a studio or an equipment sponsor, and you encourage people to post using your hashtag, tagging you. And then that's another really great way to build community engagement. That's something that I wish I was seeing more of in Pilates land.
And maybe when the [00:16:00] weather gets a little bit nicer and we get to go outside, I'm going to consider hosting one, myself with a few friends, of course, but just this idea of building engagement of growing your reach and giving people something to talk about. Like, we all love Pilates, but Pilates is a little bit broad, but if we're all going to talk about the hundred, like great let's. Yes, let's. So that's a nice thing that you could do.
Another thing that I encourage again, when we're back to being in close physical proximity to each other is taking other teacher's classes. And if they're available, if you're available, maybe going out for coffee and talking about it or picking their brain. Every person you meet has something to teach you. Whether they're an apprentice, who's learning how to teach for themselves, or whether it's a teacher who travels the country, doing workshops, like every person has their own unique take on Pilates.
And it's really worthwhile to connect with people and just ask questions, like just humbling yourself and just being open to receive is huge. [00:17:00] One of my closest Pilates colleagues is someone who I met through studying for the PMA exam. And now I like cannot imagine life without their classes or without their kind of feedback and just presence in my life.
Or like sharing workouts. Like you don't even have to teach. You can just get together and work out on the equipment. If you have access to your Pilates studio, like that's huge and fabulous. And I highly recommend another teacher who's a very close colleague of mine, took my class at the studio and stayed after and was like, Hey, I'm a Pilates teacher too. Can you tell me about the studio? Like, yes. I would love to tell you about the studio. The studio is amazing. You're amazing. And then now she works at that studio and I feel so glad that I took the time to talk with her because you're shaping the community. Like I said, we are the community and we can shape it however we want. So let's shape it in a fun way.
Things like conferences and [00:18:00] workshops are great places to meet other teachers. If you're a big on the face to face thing. I'm almost bigger on the social media instead of the face to face thing. I'm not an extroverted person, believe it or not, I'm actually a little bit more introverted. So I like sometimes the distance that social media provides.
But in person, you really get to connect in a different way. Like being in the room with someone, having a shared experience, is super powerful and it's a great way to, you know, meet other teachers in your area, like exchange Instagram handles chat with each other. I think that that's fabulous.
There are also fitness meetup groups, and I'm sure in Chicago there's a bajillion, but in cities across the country, again, when we can meet up with people. That you can hang out in fitness groups and meet maybe people who aren't even Pilates teachers, but might be yoga teachers or might be personal trainers.
Pilates is incredible. And it's one way of approaching movement. It's not the only way of approaching movement. And if you have a client who [00:19:00] maybe thinks that Pilates is slow, but would love to do something with a little bit more weight training or whatever, Pilates is not their language, you may have a connection to a teacher who does speak their language. And so it's great to even branch out beyond the Pilates world, in terms of building those connections.
Just to summarize, building your Pilates support network is incredibly important. I'm talking about your connection with other teachers, with your clients and with staff members at your studios, from a professional perspective in terms of advancing your career or making those career move and on a personal level in terms of having accountability to yourself, to your profession.
And this can go wide, we can talk about shaping the next generation of teachers. This can go small and it's like getting your own butt on the mat and working out. It's about having a positive work environment. It's about having people that you rely on and that rely on you so that you realize that the world of Pilates is fabulous and large and changing and growing and that we're all part of [00:20:00] it.
Thank you for listening to this chapter of Pilates Teachers' Manual. Be sure to visit the Instagram link in the description for the post on today's episode. There, you can leave your comments, ask questions, and join the conversation. Also be sure to support the podcast and take advantage of the great affiliate links in the description.
The adventure continues. Until next time.