In this episode of Yoga Biz Camp, host Michael Jay sits down with Shaelyn, the executive director at Yoga Pod Tucson. Shea is known for her calm and non-reactive nature, as well as her ability to make everyone feel seen. Michael and Shaelyn discuss her journey in yoga and her role in teacher development at Yoga Pod Tucson. Get ready for a value-packed conversation!
Episode Highlights:
Shaelyn is the Executive Director at Yoga Pod Tucson, where a big part of her focus goes to teacher development and creating and executing 200 and 300 hour yoga teacher training programs. Shaelyn has been teaching yoga since 2011 and facilitating teacher training programs since 2018. As a lifelong student, she’s completed multiple teacher training programs, many with a strong emphasis on yoga anatomy and therapeutics such as her training through the International Yoga School, Yoga Medicine. Shaelyn is most passionate about empowering students and teachers to remain curious and using knowledge and intuition to better understand their experiences so they can play a larger role in their personal wellness journeys. As the Executive Director at Yoga Pod Tucson, Shaelyn hopes to expand the larger yoga community and elevate the role of the yoga instructor.
LINKS FROM EPISODE
Yoga Medicine Trainings
Yoga Pod Tucson
Yoga Pod Tucson Teacher Training
GET A FREE WALLA DEMO
USING MY PREFERRED PARTNER LINK
_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Michael Jay - Yoga Biz Champ
Michael Jay, the Yoga Biz Champ, stands as the go-to Yoga Business Consultant, embarked on a mission to elevate yoga studios from mere survival to genuine thriving.
With a rich background as a yoga teacher, former studio owner, marketing expert, and yoga studio business coach, he possesses the insider knowledge necessary to elevate your yoga venture to new heights.
His passion for yoga, combined with a sharp business acumen and a sincere desire to see studio owners excel, encapsulates his professional ethos. Michael is not one to offer one-size-fits-all advice; instead, he's dedicated to providing tailored guidance, tangible outcomes, and supporting your studio to emerge as the next Yoga Biz Champ in your community.
FREE RESOURCES AND BOOK A CHAT LINK
https://yogabizchamp.link/podlink
________________________________
Subscribe, Rate, and Review:
Don't forget to subscribe to Yoga Biz Champ. Follow us on social media @yogabizchamp, rate, and review the podcast. Your feedback helps us grow our community and reach more yoga enthusiasts like you.
FREE RESOURCES AND BOOK A CHAT LINK
https://yogabizchamp.link/podlink
In this episode of Yoga Biz Camp, host Michael Jay sits down with Shaelyn, the executive director at Yoga Pod Tucson. Shea is known for her calm and non-reactive nature, as well as her ability to make everyone feel seen. Michael and Shaelyn discuss her journey in yoga and her role in teacher development at Yoga Pod Tucson. Get ready for a value-packed conversation!
Episode Highlights:
Shaelyn is the Executive Director at Yoga Pod Tucson, where a big part of her focus goes to teacher development and creating and executing 200 and 300 hour yoga teacher training programs. Shaelyn has been teaching yoga since 2011 and facilitating teacher training programs since 2018. As a lifelong student, she’s completed multiple teacher training programs, many with a strong emphasis on yoga anatomy and therapeutics such as her training through the International Yoga School, Yoga Medicine. Shaelyn is most passionate about empowering students and teachers to remain curious and using knowledge and intuition to better understand their experiences so they can play a larger role in their personal wellness journeys. As the Executive Director at Yoga Pod Tucson, Shaelyn hopes to expand the larger yoga community and elevate the role of the yoga instructor.
LINKS FROM EPISODE
Yoga Medicine Trainings
Yoga Pod Tucson
Yoga Pod Tucson Teacher Training
GET A FREE WALLA DEMO
USING MY PREFERRED PARTNER LINK
_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Michael Jay - Yoga Biz Champ
Michael Jay, the Yoga Biz Champ, stands as the go-to Yoga Business Consultant, embarked on a mission to elevate yoga studios from mere survival to genuine thriving.
With a rich background as a yoga teacher, former studio owner, marketing expert, and yoga studio business coach, he possesses the insider knowledge necessary to elevate your yoga venture to new heights.
His passion for yoga, combined with a sharp business acumen and a sincere desire to see studio owners excel, encapsulates his professional ethos. Michael is not one to offer one-size-fits-all advice; instead, he's dedicated to providing tailored guidance, tangible outcomes, and supporting your studio to emerge as the next Yoga Biz Champ in your community.
FREE RESOURCES AND BOOK A CHAT LINK
https://yogabizchamp.link/podlink
________________________________
Subscribe, Rate, and Review:
Don't forget to subscribe to Yoga Biz Champ. Follow us on social media @yogabizchamp, rate, and review the podcast. Your feedback helps us grow our community and reach more yoga enthusiasts like you.
FREE RESOURCES AND BOOK A CHAT LINK
https://yogabizchamp.link/podlink
YBC-Shae
Michael Jay: [00:00:00] What's Shay's secret sauce? She stays
TUCSON YOGA POD STAFF: calm under every scenario I've ever seen her faced with. She shows enthusiasm when it's appropriate, but she stays calm, and she, I have never once seen her escalate.
Michael Jay: I've heard she's not reactive.
TUCSON YOGA POD STAFF:: She's non reactive, but she's enthusiastic. She's personable. She is articulate.
TUCSON YOGA POD STAFF: She can explain things thoroughly. She's magic. Shay is just one of those people who is a very humble and quiet leader. Yet she's very engaged with her team. And She just has this special energy about her. Shay's secret sauce, I think, is that she makes everyone feel seen. Shay is a person that you feel like you can talk to and relate to, and she's a [00:01:00] person that always has a solution.
TUCSON YOGA POD STAFF: I think is one of, one of her secrets is that she finds a way. And that's a magnetic purse.
Michael Jay: I'm so excited to release this conversation. If you've been following my podcast, you would have listened to a couple of interviews with Lisa, the owner of YogaPod Tucson. They are my largest yoga studio client, and I work with three key people on their team.
Michael Jay: One of the things that crops up for me working with other studio owners are teacher issues. But I'm always amazed how I never hear about these issues, even though they have a team of 60 instructors. So I'm so excited for you to meet Shea Lin, as this episode is value packed. Enjoy.
Michael Jay: Welcome to another episode of Yoga Biz Camp. I'm super excited today because I have somebody on my podcast that my clients talk about every single week and her and I have not had a chance to really do a deep dive here. [00:02:00] And this is Shea Lynn from YogaPodTucson.
Shaelyn: Thanks, Michael. I'm excited to be here.
Michael Jay: I'm so excited to have you here because we feels like we're related. We're in the same family. Absolutely. So one of my largest clients you work for them and I've had the owner Lisa on my podcast multiple times. And I work with multiple people in your team on your team that talk about you every single week and they are constantly praising you.
Michael Jay: And I have got questions. I want to pick your brain. But first I'm going to just read your your bio and then I'm going to, I'd like to know your kind of. Journey to how you Perfect. Got to where you are today. So here we go. Shaylyn is the executive director at Yoga Pod Tucson, [00:03:00] where a big part of a focus goes to teacher development and creating and executing 200 and 300 hour yoga teacher training programs.
Michael Jay: Shaylyn has been teaching yoga since 2011 and facilitating teacher training programs since 2018 as a lifelong student. She's completed multiple teacher training programs, many with a strong emphasis. Is on yoga, anatomy and therapeutics, such as HER training through her international yoga school, yoga medicine.
Michael Jay: Shen is most passionate about empowering students and teachers to remain curious and using knowledge and intuition to better understand their experiences so that they can play a larger role in their personal wellness journeys. As executive director at Yoga Pod Tucson Shalin hopes to expand the larger yoga community and elevate the role of the yoga instructor.
Michael Jay: Hey, Shailene.
Shaelyn: It's funny. It felt so short when I wrote that, but when I was hearing it, I was like, wow, I think I could have been more concise [00:04:00] and
Michael Jay: congratulations on your new position. A little shuffle around and some new positions created. And yes, congratulations. That's a big deal. Thank you so much.
Michael Jay: So tell me a little bit how, how did you get into yoga? I'd love to know a little bit how you got into yoga and your brief journey, how to go, you got to where you are today.
Shaelyn: Sure. And I'm sure no one ever feels like it's that brief, I, but of course, I started yoga. I want to say almost 20 years ago.
Shaelyn: And I feel like I came through much of the same path that a lot of people come from. I was running, strength training, doing probably too many is in yoga, we would call it young things. And I found myself with some version of what I think now is Piperiformis syndrome and I just couldn't run or do anything anymore.
Shaelyn: So I started out at the gym yoga classes, and then I found this studio that I really loved in Phoenix. And I was one of those that went from never practicing to practicing every [00:05:00] day, and once I did
Michael Jay: that for a year, I think there's a lot of people listening to this podcast will relate
Shaelyn: there.
Shaelyn: Yeah. I think I just recognized something so beautiful in the practice and It's one of those things where so many of the amazing aspects of my life came from yoga. I think of all my friends and my husband now, and we can go into that later. But I went from practicing never to practicing almost every day at the studio.
Shaelyn: And a year in, I decided I was going to do the teacher training and I. I'm trying to hide it now, but I really was not great or enjoyed
Michael Jay: nobody is when they come out. Yeah I, yeah, I got that one with you.
Shaelyn: I wasn't one of the teachers that was like creating my playlist while in teacher training and like daydreaming about my first talk class.
Shaelyn: I pretty strongly felt like I was not going to teach. And I was really just there because I wanted to understand how this seemingly simple practice. Had changed me so much. I think it had changed my outlook [00:06:00] on my relationship with my body. It had changed even the people and experiences I was gravitating towards.
Shaelyn: And coming from someone that had a pretty strong like movement background, I was like, why is this? Why is this kind of school of movement so different? So that's why I did teacher training and that was in 2010. And again, I came out of the program loving it, but also feeling like I just got what I needed to maybe have a deeper more informed experience in my practice.
Shaelyn: And I had a friend at the time who. Was teaching at a local studio and I don't know how she had this pool, but she put me on the schedule at this studio and I pretty much had I had a toddler panic about it, but I try to be someone that kind of sits with. If I don't want to do something, why?
Shaelyn: And the why felt pretty fear based. So I decided to teach and it started out as just once a week. And I'm surprised I didn't give myself an ulcer because every time I taught just [00:07:00] felt like sick to the stomach. I, I hope there's other teachers or maybe want to be teachers out there that are listening and can relate.
Michael Jay: I relate. Honestly. My, my class notes said, breathe in, do this, breathe out, do that. I had a, my, I had a fear, exactly the same thing, fear of public speaking. And I was on the mat in my Ashtanga classes back then. And I was asking my teachers so many questions. And she's Michael, please just take the teacher training.
Shaelyn: I
Michael Jay: had no intention of teaching like zero. And I think a lot of the good teachers that I know, such as yourself started that way. There's a humbleness to, and I also feel that, like you said, I taught, I mentored many teachers over the years and I don't feel like you're ready after teacher training.
Michael Jay: It's, [00:08:00] you're emulating people at that stage. You haven't found your own voice yet. Oh
Shaelyn: yeah. I think we have to make that a whole nother, either podcast let's,
Michael Jay: it can't on. I know. I'd love to do that. But yeah I think a lot of
Shaelyn: people could relate with that. I felt that, yeah, maybe I knew I wasn't ready. I look back and I'm like, gosh, I'm so glad we weren't streaming classes in those days.
Shaelyn: 'cause I'd hate to see what I taught back in 2010 or 11 or whenever. That was, but I did stick with it. And I,
Michael Jay: what kind of teachers, what kind of clients were you teaching? Were you teaching beginners or were you teaching?
Shaelyn: So I was teaching in Phoenix and I was teaching at the time it was a Sumits, but I was teaching Vinyasa, which I think is actually a challenging position to be in because people that do Sumits, which is like a variation on Bikram, dare we say his name.
Shaelyn: Okay. People aren't usually open to vinyasa and I think it's changed so much and I see a lot of we don't have that attitude at [00:09:00] yoga pod but I was trying to teach a creative custom sequence at a studio that was mostly set sequences, but the advantage I had is, so much easier to teach I think in a studio environment where you say down dog, and people say down dog, I've taught in a lot of other environments like, I don't know, martial arts studios or different treatment centers where you might not even do a down dog.
Shaelyn: So at least I was teaching in an environment where if I said a word, if my cues weren't all that great, I think people still got into the pose.
Michael Jay: Yeah. Yeah. Or the basic shape of the pose.
Shaelyn: Yeah. Yeah. He got like 80 percent there.
Michael Jay: I was thrown into, I was thrown into teaching beginners right away. Oh, I think that's the best, but that was the way to learn it was so hard because they don't know anything you're and you're like, okay, is their body doing what I'm saying?
Michael Jay: That's the
Shaelyn: way to learn the best learning environment, if you're doing, if you're not giving great instruction, it's reflected [00:10:00] right back to you, right? You can, you
Michael Jay: can see it. That person's facing the opposite way.
Shaelyn: Oh, yeah.
Michael Jay: Okay, sorry.
Shaelyn: Oh no I'm good with these fun little tangents. So I think the amazing thing is I stuck with it because I do find that a lot of.
Shaelyn: People that come out wanting to teach yoga envision the glamorous side of I'm going to step into this room with this magical playlist. And there's going to be 50 people who are all going to think I'm great. And I'm not saying everyone has that perspective, but that's the idolized version.
Shaelyn: And those first few years, or at least my experience was a lot of times you think you're teaching a group class and only one person shows up and or you're subbing for this great teacher and people see it's you and they walk out of the room. So I
Michael Jay: have to, yeah. That's the worst, isn't it, ?
Shaelyn: Yeah. I think it's all,
Michael Jay: it's coming.
Shaelyn: They like. Make you check in with, am I teaching for the right reason? Because I'm not really getting like a shiny spotlight over me. So [00:11:00] I survived those first few years and I started just teaching a lot. I was working my background that I have since left, since I've been full time for the last year and a half was in market research.
Shaelyn: So I was working in market research straight out of college. And so as I'm teaching, I always had a full time job, but I. Kind of, as I taught more, had this vision of one day, could I do just this teaching? And so as I had my full time job, I was always like watering this garden of yoga. That was how one of my teachers phrased it, where I recognize that I couldn't necessarily thoughtfully step from like this full time corporate environment to full time teaching and have it be what I wanted.
Shaelyn: So while I was working full time. I was always doing more continued education, teaching more classes. I remember when I was single, before I had a family, there were, years where I taught 10 classes a week while working full time. And I think it was just getting reps under my belt. I hate that's the only way to do it.
Shaelyn: That's
Michael Jay: how [00:12:00] you found your voice. I bet though.
Shaelyn: yEah, I think that's how we all have to do it because that's where the integration happens, before then it's just knowledge, whereas once you start teaching, you're actually playing with it and seeing what works and seeing what feels true to you.
Shaelyn: So I did that for a while and then I got to the space maybe four or five years into teaching where I was having a lot of students come up to me and I think this is really common just asking, I've got this hip pain, what should I do, I've got this shoulder issue. It's And, not any nastiness against the teacher training I did, but I didn't feel like it really equipped me with a tool belt of anatomical knowledge beyond like muscle names.
Shaelyn: And I was really feeling like I wasn't serving my students because when they were asking, how they might alter a pose. And of course, I don't think they were expecting me to be a doctor that's out of scope, but I was thinking, gosh, I should know how to shift a posture. Based on something someone has going on.
Shaelyn: So that prompted me to [00:13:00] starting the yoga medicine teacher training program, which they do 500 and a thousand hours that are really done more of in a module format. So instead of just diving in straight to 300, I would just do 60 hours with them a year. And I just did that. I still do that.
Shaelyn: I've been doing that on and off for 10 years with them, in addition to other trainings. And I feel like that was such a pivotal moment for me because. I can't say enough good things about yoga medicine. It's a program created by Tiffany Cruickshank, which some people will know, but are you familiar with that, Michael?
Shaelyn: Yeah.
Michael Jay: Yeah. Oh, Tiffany, not the program.
Shaelyn: So yoga medicine was the company she created. And I think it was, I started with them in 2014, but the big thing that it changed for me is. It really helps me to understand things conceptually and start questioning things. I think so much of just like you said, those early years of yoga, are you here?
Shaelyn: And you copy it. You see a sequence and you copy it. And when I started studying with yoga [00:14:00] medicine, I was really learning why things, if you say a few, why are you saying it and I was starting to learn the body in a really conceptual way less about. Muscles, ligament names and more about how's it functioning as a whole, and what are common postural patterns, even that my students might have that I could actually help balance out if I have thoughtful sequencing.
Shaelyn: I think it was almost my differentiator not Like I went in with this intention of what's my niche or how can I differentiate, but it helped me really learn what I was most passionate about. I think, which was, and still is using yoga as a form of taking some ownership in our health and wellness, which oftentimes means not doing what the teacher says and having a deeper understanding of what's happening in the body.
Shaelyn: So since I've been doing those trainings, I use a lot of myofascial release. I'd say even my sequences [00:15:00] that are more on the challenging level, if it's say a hot vinyasa class are still, I know this is a word you have to be careful with yoga lines, but therapeutically based. And in my mind, that just means they're constructed with the idea of like long term longevity, it's not about getting into birds of paradise.
Shaelyn: It's maybe about. What's going on with the pelvis and how can I create a practice or a class where people are probably going to have a healthier functioning hip joint versus prioritizing getting their foot behind their head. So that was a huge shift for me. And the yoga medicine trainings have a lot of people in them sometimes a hundred plus.
Shaelyn: So I felt like after I did a lot of trainings with them, I started going back to a smaller 300. Participated in where I got a lot of one on one feedback, which sometimes, you need someone to look at how you're teaching and give direct feedback. And after that, I started teaching teacher trainings.
Shaelyn: And I was in Phoenix for a long time. I think that was until 2016 [00:16:00] and then. My husband, I quit our jobs for a year and traveled abroad and then ended up in Tucson just cause we felt like it was a quieter version of Phoenix. And that was when I landed at Yoga Pod and I had always taught at multiple studios.
Shaelyn: I think. That's I know, at least that's the way it was the hustle,
Michael Jay: the teacher hustle.
Shaelyn: It's like driving around all these freeways, trying to be calm in traffic. But when I landed at yoga pod and I didn't start out in this position, I was, just on the teaching staff, there was just something special about it.
Shaelyn: It's I don't think I'd ever had really a yoga home because
Michael Jay: we there as a student or as a teacher
Shaelyn: as a teacher and I was a student to I've always tried to practice where I did Lisa. So the person that was in my position before me hired me so I am very grateful for that, but she hired me as a teacher and then she had [00:17:00] said hey if we do a teacher training would you help support me.
Shaelyn: Yeah. And I'd say pretty quickly, I let go of my other gigs and I just wanted to be at Yoga Pod, not from a space of, no one at Yoga Pod ever told me to do that. I think I just wanted to have more time and energy. If you're a sub at five different studios, you can't sub as much. Whereas if your eggs are all in one basket, you can direct all your energy there.
Michael Jay: Can we talk about the play? It's a beautiful, when you walk in, it just has a, the fountains and it just has a spa like experience. It just feels good, doesn't it? Everything about it when you walk in.
Shaelyn: Oh yeah, absolutely. I think the thing that makes it unique and it's probably one of its number one differentiators, if you want to call it that, is that it has.
Shaelyn: Such a beautiful atmosphere, but yet it feels so welcoming. And I'm not just saying that because I feel that way. I hear that from all different guests [00:18:00] actually
Michael Jay: in the videos on Instagram. I
Shaelyn: think so too. And that doesn't even begin to capture it. Most of the time, when we think of this more spa, like experience, we think high price point, which of course we do have a, I think now it's about market rate in our area, but we do know,
Michael Jay: but you, yeah, you have a high price point, but you have value because you have 80, 90 classes running. That's the
Shaelyn: value that what is, what kind of sets the high price point apart is if it even is that, like I said, I think it's very.
Shaelyn: Fair based on what you experienced is the students all feel welcomed. That is just, that was one of the key aspects Lisa wanted from the beginning. And I don't think she just wanted it. She lived it. And when you create that from the foundation. It leaks into all the staff that work there. So we truly work to make everyone feel welcome.
Shaelyn: And it's not
Michael Jay: dive into that. Okay. Yeah. Let's just tell me, finish. How did you [00:19:00] get into the position? Oh, yeah.
Shaelyn: So I started out teaching the teacher trainings. And the beautiful thing about Lisa and yoga pod is, when you come from the corporate environment, if you want to be elevated, you have to come in with a business case.
Shaelyn: You need to prove why you're valuable. All these things, Lisa will identify that you are doing a beautiful job before you even do. So I would find it's I would do something, maybe it was a. Your training. She's Oh, I'd love to have you for this position. And then I would be doing that position.
Shaelyn: She'd say, Oh, can we elevate you to this position? And she's always noticing everyone's special talents. I think before they even do. And I think that kind of takes people off this guard of let me prove my value to you. And instead it's Let me just show up and do what I love and try to be of service.
Shaelyn: And then that's recognized. I don't have to play this other game. She really is.
Michael Jay: And I've mentioned this lots of times. I recognize that her superpower is spreadsheets. [00:20:00] Yeah I think that's definitely lean into that. Lisa lean into that. That's your thing.
Shaelyn: thEre's a gift to using data so that it's not just, I sent her
Michael Jay: a that said.
Michael Jay: Spreadsheets are my superpower. She,
Shaelyn: yeah, and that's very rare for a yoga studio owner, right? She has such a business mind, but she also really has good intuition and she can feel, with her staff and with her studio when people are in alignment with the mission and are in service of it and when people aren't.
Shaelyn: Yeah,
Michael Jay: I want to talk about your alignment now because okay, so I work with Lisa on team leadership I work with Kendall on front of house systems and operation stuff, and I work with Mallory on mug too. Kendall's amazing too. Kendall is amazing. Honestly. It is, with the reshuffle, I have to take a little pride in making the role for Mallory because she's so [00:21:00] fantastic at, her and I brainstorm on marketing stuff like no other.
Michael Jay: It's so good. But they all share with me every single week. I hear these stories about you and what I don't hear. So here's a common thing. This is where I want to really, I think this is where you can. offer so much value is all, not all, a lot of my studios, we deal with teacher issues, right? It's Almost especially on, you've probably seen this on your journey in the communities, the smaller community size of things.
Michael Jay: There's the divas that kind of wield a power.
Shaelyn: I was like the first word coming to my mind,
Michael Jay: but yeah but there's the divas that wield a power over the owner, so it's pay me more because I've got this or or inconsistency of showing up. I never ever hear about that from your [00:22:00] studio.
Michael Jay: I'm sure it exists, but they all say you have a way about you and that you you listen, you, um, are not reactive and that you give chances. But you're also very clear about your expectations. And if people don't live up to expectations, you make changes. So I really want to watch your first thoughts when you, when I bring
Shaelyn: that up that's so nice.
Shaelyn: They say that it definitely inspires me to continue to work in that direction. And I can't, I cannot take. All obviously like even a big chunk of credit for the lack of drama. But I do have quite a few thoughts. So feel free to interrupt, but I think the first thing that comes to mind and you articulated a little bit that probably [00:23:00] any studio is going to have something going on, it makes me think about.
Shaelyn: whAt's the difference between conflict and almost just interpersonal challenges and drama? Because even though I really do agree that we don't have a lot of conflict. We have a staff of a teaching staff of almost 60 teachers. We have almost no, did you hear that
Michael Jay: folks, 60 teachers and not many problems.
Shaelyn: Yeah. And there's virtually no instructor turnover. Almost the only time people leave. Is to move. I could maybe
Michael Jay: people want to be there. That's what everybody, your rest of your team is that people want to work for yoga pod.
Shaelyn: And I think so there's let's dig into, I think about why, and I do think there does need to be a distinction between conflict and drama.
Shaelyn: We do sometimes have with so many teachers to will bonk heads and all kind of be brought in as an intermediary to help. Solve that. But the difference [00:24:00] is I sense that anytime that happens, and I really believe this, they're solution seeking. And I feel like what's unique to drama versus conflict is with drama.
Shaelyn: I think people are not seeking solution. They're seeking attention. And I really don't see, I can't even tell you the last time I saw that at the studio. I'm sure it's happened before. Maybe people hide it from me. I don't know, but it definitely is not. And I think there's a few reasons for it.
Shaelyn: So one of them, when I taught in Phoenix and so many wonderful teachers there that I've learned so much from, but I felt like what I saw was a lot of what you're talking about with the divas. I remember being frustrated because there were so many teacher training programs, yet there were like three to five teachers that ran the whole.
Shaelyn: City and they taught at every studio. They made a lot of, I don't want to say a lot of money. They were deserving of their rates, but they made a much higher rate than all of us. And none of us got developed. These [00:25:00] teachers were kind of Yogi superstars. Wonderful. I've learned so much from them, but.
Shaelyn: Someone, I don't know if it was on the studio's responsibility or on those individuals, was not breeding the next versions of them. And so I think what happened is this kind of diva attitude on their end and then on everyone else's end that was new and upcoming teachers. I think drama maybe comes from lack of confidence and insecurity.
Shaelyn: Why don't I get this opportunity? Why does this teacher always get this? And when I moved to Tucson and as I got elevated in my role, I really wanted that to be different. I've never been like a celebrity teacher, which I think if I was, that would be fine. I don't think that's a bad thing. I think whoever had good
Michael Jay: retention, I bet.
Michael Jay: Yeah. Yeah. People wanted to come back. Is
Shaelyn: in that position has the responsibility to be growing teachers that they hope to be better than them. And so I feel like. There's almost two components. One thing with YogaPod is we do not [00:26:00] hire divas. And what I mean by that is if you come in with the attitude that you should be grateful I teach here, like that right there has, is someone that is not in service of their community.
Shaelyn: And so I, in service
Michael Jay: to your mission and vision values,
Shaelyn: Exactly. And I think that's like the first, most easy thing to address. All of the teachers I can think of feel like I'm so grateful to be teaching here. And in my mind, I'm like, Oh my gosh, we're so grateful to have you. You're amazing.
Shaelyn: Like how many, we continue to develop our teachers and give them more opportunities as they grow, but they don't come in with this. this concept of you should be grateful to have me. And because Lisa is our founder, as people do amazing things, be it shown by the data and even just things we feel, they continuously get more opportunity.
Shaelyn: And so it's been so cool to watch the teachers grow at the [00:27:00] studio. That to me is one of my biggest missions is to look at our staff and be able to say, Oh my gosh, if I look at this Okay. Yeah.
Michael Jay: I think of, like Lisa's when I work with Lisa, her job is to empower her team, which is you top level, at the studio.
Michael Jay: But then your job. Is to empower your team and I always think about, every time I talk to studios and they're talking about a class, why it may not be doing well. And, I think it becomes whoever's in charge of the schedule. It's like detective work, right? You've got to, it's, it's the magic formula of time, style and teacher.
Michael Jay: Yeah. I always say if something's not. working on one of those, if it's the teacher do we need to develop that teacher more to [00:28:00] be better in that role? Or do we need to change the class? Do you know what I mean? But I'm saying, I see that your job is. To empower your team and up level them,
Shaelyn: right? And I wonder if one way to think about it is instead of us thinking, okay, let's just keep an eye on the classes.
Shaelyn: If some class numbers low, then we need to go work with that teacher. I think I'm working with the teachers all the time. There are certainly ones that like. We have so many different class styles, which I think is a whole nother thing that is interesting to look at in terms of the energy of and drama that maybe helps prevent, which I can talk about later, but I think that it's very the culture of our studio is to know that I, if.
Shaelyn: I'm in class. I may say something afterwards, but it may just be totally so excited about how much you've grown and just fully complimentary, but I can guarantee if I say something, it 100 percent comes from the space of me seeing how [00:29:00] incredible the teacher is and their potential. And I want to hold that vision for them and so I'm, I try not to be waiting until a number is low to have that conversation.
Shaelyn: It's just something that's always happening. We also have lead teachers that can do that as well. It's not just me. I
Michael Jay: want to get to that to your structure as well. But I am curious though, on the So let's just say somebody is consistently late or it's just, you've got to deal with it.
Michael Jay: I want to know how does Shay, what's Shay's magic approach to handling issues that do?
Shaelyn: I feel really lucky that it doesn't happen a lot and it's not just me. I'd say one big thing we've added that's been really powerful for things like that is when we onboard someone now. Yeah, it comes from the onboarding, right?
Shaelyn: We have a woman, Hottie Rye, that's our cultural excellence director. And she started out as a student. She'd been teaching for a long time, but was one of those that just kept quiet and just was practicing. [00:30:00] And then finally I found out she was a teacher and onboarded her. And she's just one of those that's continued to do incredible things.
Shaelyn: So she keeps getting elevated. And one thing she really captures is how to reflect yoga pods. values and mission in how she shows up. And it does show up in terms of how she connects with students, the time she arrives at the studio, all those little things that might not seem that insignificant or might not seem significant or just rules.
Shaelyn: I think she takes them to a level 10 because she's thinking about how it impacts the community. And so we have her now. As the official onboarder. So once I say hire a teacher, they spend an hour with Hadi Rai going over these things. So it's not just, Oh, arrive 15 minutes early, but why? Why would you arrive?
Shaelyn: And I think that is a game changer.
Michael Jay: Yeah, I think so [00:31:00] as soon as I get a new studio, I ask about the onboarding process because I have a document that. Obviously, it's not a legal document, but it's just one of those things that you put everything in and it's and it's not actually that they sign it at the end, although that just help does help a little bit, but it's actually the conversation.
Michael Jay: Are we in alignment on all these things? Yeah. And so and by the end of it, it's if they're not in alignment on stuff, that's a red flag, right? From the get go. And but for me, it's a place to come back to because it's we've had this conversation. wE're a couple of months in, really not upholding what we, so it's a place to come back.
Michael Jay: Hey, remember, we had this conversation. Exactly. That's great. But I hear that about the chances from you, like, how do you, so what's your.
Shaelyn: I guess two things. One thing is I do think sometimes in the very beginning if something's [00:32:00] been shared in terms of the onboarding process and the why it's important for people to understand the why.
Shaelyn: So they're not just breaking a rule, but they understand they're not. In service of the culture, I think another thing I have noticed is sometimes even just saying it once again and then asking people to attend other classes and be a part of the community culture is contagious, right? So if a teacher is going to other classes at the studio and they see that they see how the other teachers are showing up, I've seen quite a few instances where say the person's energy and effort is lower than the studio.
Shaelyn: One of two things happen. They're either going to see what is expected at the studio and see how powerful it is to be a part of that. And they'll rise to that occasion or they won't. And I feel very blessed that a lot of times I don't even have to let go of someone. I feel like there must be some magical, they just fired themselves.
Shaelyn: Yeah. There's something happening in the universe. There's some quiet game. [00:33:00] Yeah. They're just like, Oh, I have to move or, and we've had plenty of awesome
Michael Jay: people move, but. Yeah. I celebrate that with my, with the ones that they've been just been iffy on and it's if you actually hold them to expectations and they can't meet them, they usually will just fire themselves.
Michael Jay: And it's exactly, but you do have to hold them to an expect a level of expectation.
Shaelyn: Absolutely. And there are, like I said, there aren't tons, but I've had to have that conversation a lot. I feel like I've never had so many challenging conversations as in this job in a good way, but I, I think I'm a recovering people pleaser.
Shaelyn: So to have these isn't easy, but I think for me. I just try to be very clear about my intention going in and I don't enjoy the power trip of this job telling someone that they're not doing something the way I expect or even giving people feedback in a class is not something I really enjoy. So if I'm doing it, it's because I believe it's in service of our higher mission.
Shaelyn: That's [00:34:00] really a great because I believe. That I'm holding them to an expanded version of themselves that I want to see if I think someone's not capable of rising to a certain level, either won't hire them, or I might not even have that conversation we might just. Cut our losses. If I'm having a feedback conversation with someone about their behavior or their class, it's because I feel like they can give more.
Shaelyn: And it's hard because there is a part of me that feels like, gosh, was I too harsh on that person? I just had a conversation with this about one of our 300 hours. I gave her really intense feedback after a sequence. And I thought, gosh, was that the right thing to do? And then I thought, Yeah, because I want to see that version of her and I know it's there, but someone needs to pull it out, you
Michael Jay: know, I think I became a good teacher because I didn't want to be a teacher.
Michael Jay: And then. I got hooked and my teacher, uh, mentored me for a year and what I mean by mentored written [00:35:00] assessments, which I still have. And I looked through not Michael, you're saying this word too much, Michael, this word doesn't mean anything like words matter. And so that combined with teaching beginners and I think mentorships have with the mass amount of teacher trainings going on right now I think mentorships have gone array. And I know you guys are big on mentorship,
Shaelyn: right? Yeah. And I think it's for that point you mentioned earlier about, I truly don't think, I think very few people can come out of a teacher training, actually ready to be leading.
Shaelyn: Classes that people are paying for and I do hope we continue to do more. I see like Our growth as this can be one of the elements that will grow. But right now we have two different things we do. One of them is if someone has graduated from one of our training programs, we will actually do what I would perceive is to them a free mentorship, meaning we have a Monday [00:36:00] class at 4 PM.
Shaelyn: That's a free community class. And we have, we'll pay one of our lead teachers to be there and she'll accept maybe one person for one to two months. They'll usually be someone that's a recent YTT grad, but they have to have done still a decent amount of classes before this. And she'll mentor them. I'll also provide some support.
Shaelyn: And over the course of one to two months, we'll try and get them to a point where they're ready to teach. And then the side benefit is that to our community, we're able to offer. A free class, which I think is really nice. And then we're also able to build that teacher that's doing the mentoring as someone who could eventually be leading two and 300 hour trainings with me.
Shaelyn: We also have a paid version. That's a lot more in depth. The person can elect to work with myself or another E R Y T 500. And they'll pay a certain amount of money to work with us for three months. It's about 10 hours a month and then it goes [00:37:00] towards 30 Yoga Alliance continued education hours. And then I'll also say that some of us will just mentor under the radar just because we want to see people grow, I...
Michael Jay: How do you monitor so you've got some, I'm sure some great... Teachers that are doing really well. How do you monitor their level that they're doing? I'm sure with you, it's not just based on attendance.
Shaelyn: I am excited that with this new software we're going to have, which, you know the side about that.
Shaelyn: I'll have dashboards where I can have... We
Michael Jay: can say it. We're switching to Walla.
Michael Jay: Side note here on my preferred partner, Waller. So I've been a partner with Waller from the get go, from when they opened. And for some studios, I was really hesitant about getting them to go onto the platform, the booking platform, just because they didn't have a really good... Marketing partner or built in marketing.
Michael Jay: That's all changed. They've all got built in marketing [00:38:00] now. It's no add ons. It's all in there. So now I can really confidently switch clients over to this platform, knowing that they've got all of their needs. They've got lead generation. One of my favorite things. About Wallet is the ease for a client, the student, which is not easy on all platforms, to sign up.
Michael Jay: And it's the easiest, basically on a phone, you can one click autofill, one click Apple Pay, and away you go. They also have branded app add ons but for me, the marketing suite with the new Journeys is everything, and I'm doing build outs for my clients on that. I encourage you, if you've been, if you're starting a yoga studio Do diligence and shop around and meet with different partners, different software platforms, for sure.
Michael Jay: And if you're an existing studio, I encourage you to at least book a demo. It's gonna cost you nothing just to check it out and see the beautiful dashboards and the ease of everything and the great reporting. I'm a preferred partner, so [00:39:00] you can just go to either my website, to my partnership page, under my freebies resources and click on the link there.
Michael Jay: Or... Of course, it'll be, the link will be in the show notes. Anyway, carrying on this amazing conversation with
Shaelyn: Shea Lim. We have amazing looking teacher dashboards where I can not just look at attendance, but also responsibility in terms of, what percentage of classes they actually teach. I think attendance is really tricky.
Shaelyn: Even myself, I teach a lot of weird hours. I teach a 6 30 AM. I teach them 11 a. m. I teach some myofascial flows. Those aren't always the prime times. And so I try, I never want our teachers to feel like we're breathing down their neck, looking at the numbers. There are some classes where say we have, we don't call it a beginner class, but we have a class that's a little more foundational.
Shaelyn: And I know it's not going to be busy, but it's important to have on the schedule and the teacher that teaches that is amazing. And if she gets five people, every class, I'm not [00:40:00] counting that. Yeah. It's really weird. I think sometimes you can feel it in their energy. And I hate to even say that because I know it feels so ambiguous.
Shaelyn: And
Michael Jay: I get it. I'm a big believer in gut. Especially when hiring. Yes. And you can have it all on paper, but gut instinct plays a role.
Shaelyn: And it serves so much as like a forecaster for how that teacher is going to do all even even my own energy. I feel like if I'm off a little bit maybe I'm going through some things at home.
Shaelyn: My class numbers will reflect that and it's wild I can be doing everything I can to not show that, and then it could even just be. Doing some continued education classes of my own, making a new playlist, thinking about things a little bit differently, reading books, all of a sudden my classes are big again.
Shaelyn: And so there's almost, I think there's a very practical side of it where students feel that. But there's also almost some magical thing that [00:41:00] happens where it's like the space the teacher is in is like the creator of what shows up in their classroom. And so I can usually feel that. In the studio. It's almost if I feel something's off, then I look at the numbers.
Shaelyn: And if multiple numbers over an extended period of time reflect something, that's it, I'm not looking at the numbers every day. Yeah. Yeah, it's tricky. It's tricky. Cause I certainly don't want us to seem like. My job is just seeing who's doing good enough with attendance. That's definitely
Michael Jay: not it.
Michael Jay: Yeah, your job is to create great teachers. A studio is only as good as its teachers. End of. Absolutely. End of. You have nothing else. Fan founder.
Shaelyn: And rain showers. I'm just joking.
Michael Jay: Yeah, you guys do have all the perks. What do you think? I'm I think there's a, there's a lot, you guys have become a very big studio.
Michael Jay: We've seen, I've been working with you for a year now [00:42:00] and we've seen. What is it 40 percent growth in students? We've seen about 20 percent growth in sales. And I think an amazing number because we've bought on a bar studio group of teachers too. And I think the last I heard was 760 something new people through the doors in 90 days.
Michael Jay: That's insane. You've got a lot of classes, a lot of teachers, like it's a big kind of thing that you guys are holding together. Yeah, it's a huge operation, but it still feels like a community studio. What, all of this kind of knowledge that you've gained. A lot of our people listening are a community studio that might be, that you've toured at, that doing 20, 25 classes a week.
Michael Jay: What would you say that you've learned that you could pass on to that studio owner?
Shaelyn: I think I'm going to say something broad and I'm thinking out [00:43:00] loud. But the first thing that comes to mind that I think is unique to what I've seen in in other communities, usually you've got either the giant studio, that's very finances driven, or you have a small mom and pop studio that maybe says they don't care about money.
Shaelyn: I think that we're all, it's true, right? Say that they'll teach for free. So two lenses to this. One of them is I think we're really clear on why we want growth. I think in the business world, sometimes it's like you just say, Oh, I want to grow because that's what you're supposed to do.
Shaelyn: And you know that pleases the shareholders or there's money attached to that. When I think of why I want the studio to grow. I love our space so much. I practice there all the time. I love our students. I want more people to be exposed to that and more people to have that opportunity. I want our teacher trainings to be more successful so we can give more scholarships.
Shaelyn: This year we'll give four scholarships to our training program. If we were smaller, we couldn't [00:44:00] do that. And so I think sometimes people create two different polarized ideas where to be in service and be doing something that's heart centered. You cannot be abundant and receive profit, or if you're receiving profits, suddenly you are not heart centered and you're greedy.
Shaelyn: And we run into that. I, it doesn't happen often, but some people who haven't spent a lot of time at the space will give that feedback to me while you're yoga pod. And, there's this assumption that we're just making tons of money and greedy with it. And again, not often, but I'm just. saying based on our size.
Shaelyn: And I think Lisa has really been incredible for helping me bridge those two ideas and not compartmentalizing them in terms of financial success being different from what you love doing as a passion project. Passion. Passion. And so we have been able to maintain the passion and the intention. And the beautiful thing is that feels the [00:45:00] growth.
Shaelyn: So we know that if we are more successful and we grow, we have more to give. We can be more generous. And Lisa and Brian, her husband are the epitome of that. You, every time we grow, she finds a way to be of service of more people. And oftentimes gives that to the growth of the staff. So I think that in my mind.
Shaelyn: And this won't be relevant to everyone, but I think if someone is noticing they're smaller and they're more boutique, and if they love what they're doing, and they feel really good about that integrity, I would almost ask, are there any kind of beliefs or blocks that person has? To being more financially successful.
Shaelyn: Do they somewhere, and maybe it's more in their subconscious, believe that if they grow, they're no longer doing something more soul oriented. Are there any childhood beliefs? I know I've had some weird money stuff. I've worked
Michael Jay: through, you're [00:46:00] hitting on that because that's a big percentage of my clients that come to me, it's to break through a lot of those things. I always say coaching isn't always about the damn KPIs. Absolutely. It's, I, one of my clients said the other day, blah, blah, blah, just really in passing, blah, blah, blah. We're coming into the slow period. And I went, Oh, interesting. I'm like, that's a mindset.
Shaelyn: And I'm guilty of that too, but those, like you said, words are powerful and words reflect beliefs and beliefs. I think your reality and if you
Michael Jay: think November's, if you think November's slow, let's do something about it.
Shaelyn: Oh yeah. Yeah. And sometimes it might just be a mindset shift. I think the last thing that's lingering in my mind around this, that I had a shift with this year is, I think, again, since.
Shaelyn: I always had these two kind of compartmentalized things. I had my research career in corporate [00:47:00] America, and then I had my yoga career where for so long, I was in the negative, we were all contractors and I would do tons of CEs and I would, go to do my taxes for my yoga business. And it was negative because I did tons of CEs and was like, Oh, I don't care.
Shaelyn: Don't even pay me. But as I've had this shift and I've noticed, I'm able to make a good living doing this. I think I realized that I had this belief that if I'm making more or the studio's making more, that must mean someone else is making less. And now I'm evaluating that. Logically, I don't think it's true.
Shaelyn: Maybe there's some scenario in which there's a finite number of resources and more to me means less to someone else. But my experience of things is if I'm doing better, I'm able to share and give more. If I don't have to work three jobs, I can be so generous with my time. And so the moment I had that reframe of gosh, if I want to elevate the collective community, or at least do my best to try, it doesn't mean taking [00:48:00] less.
Shaelyn: And I think when Not one people, but a whole business has that mindset. Growth is incredible because it's fueled by passion versus just the pure drive for growth.
Michael Jay: Jay, I got the shivers right now. I think that's a great place to end it. Thank you. Honestly I so want to have you back cause I think we could do multiple conversations that would be really great value.
Michael Jay: And so my usual three questions that I end up tell the listeners something that most people wouldn't know
Shaelyn: about you. Okay, I'm gonna do something yoga oriented. That kind of goes against the rules, but hopefully you've gotten to know me a little bit so you won't judge too much. So I met my now husband of almost seven years while he was on a blind date.
Shaelyn: In my yoga class with someone else, I think I might just leave it at that, but I will say that I had never dated anyone that was a student and [00:49:00] he only went to a few of my classes, but it's a fun little thing to think about. And just one, so the fact that I feel like yoga has always given me so much.
Michael Jay: I love that. I've had people meet in my classes. Actually one little story. One of my clients came and he, his wife was coming, then he came, then he lost his wife and he kept coming through the practice and he was in the back. We left him alone through probably a year of him just still coming, like it was just amazing.
Michael Jay: And then he met a woman in the class, a year later, they started dating and they're still together many years later and I've got photographs of them in Shavasana, holding hands in Shavasana. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so there's amazing things that can happen in a yoga space. Oh, I
Shaelyn: love that. I lost my dad a year ago.
Shaelyn: My mom is starting to be back in that phase. And I feel like that's such an expansive story for people that just melts my
Michael Jay: heart [00:50:00] so much. And I use his story a lot about when I talk to people about just keep. Going just, you don't have to be doing the best, but he just came. He was against the wall in the back.
Michael Jay: He looked sad all the time, but he just kept coming. And that I feel like when you can take care of yourself, that's it was, anyway, it's just a beautiful thing to see. We've in a yoga studio. We could probably do a whole episode on just stories within a yoga studio.
Shaelyn: You should do like a send in your story.
Shaelyn: Yeah. Because you know what, when you're loving, when you're doing something you love and you're in this space of self worth and self value, you never know who's going to come along, right?
Michael Jay: That's right. Your favorite work. App, tool, website, something that is your, what's your go to
Shaelyn: that you can't live without.
Shaelyn: I'm not the super innovative techie, so what I share might be something a [00:51:00] spreadsheet
Michael Jay: person?
Shaelyn: No, I mean I was a data analyst, but, I think probably a lot of bigger studios are priority using this, but for me, sub sync, or I think it's now called Studio Ease, and when we're with Walla has a built in version of this.
Shaelyn: It's a built in. Yeah. Was such a game changer. Yeah. Like I can't even remember how we did it those days where. You teach at multiple studios, you'd be on like five text chains. Someone would need a sub. The email, people
Michael Jay: wouldn't respond to emails. If some studios are still doing emails. Emails. The poor
Shaelyn: soul, the poor soul who has to go in and change the names in MindBody, like StudioEase or SubSync or whatever we want to call it now.
Shaelyn: Makes my job, especially with 90 classes, so much easier. I can't imagine. Yeah, because
Michael Jay: usually your job would be the in between person for all those subs. Oh yeah, that could be like a part of my job. How do you, and you can manage in there what kind of level that they can. Type of
Shaelyn: class. For [00:52:00] every class, you can write down who can teach that class.
Shaelyn: But it's all automated. The only time I jump in is if a class isn't easily picked up, which does happen a few times a week. I'll know who can teach it and I'll reach out directly. But yeah, it's
Michael Jay: going to be all built into your wallet as well as your automations. I'm going to be working. I'm already working with Mel on the automation stuff.
Michael Jay: And she's excited because she's like. We can start from scratch. Oh, yeah. She's really excited about that. And okay. So favorite personal app website. Go to escape.
Shaelyn: This is going to just make me seem so connected to yoga, but most of in my personal time, it's usually still yoga stuff, which I guess means I'm doing what I love, but okay.
Shaelyn: So I, a lot of the time when I just need inspiration, I love that there's so many streamed classes now. I don't do them every week, but if I'm feeling a little stale, I love doing classes on either house of [00:53:00] flow or yeah. They're awesome. One of the teachers, Erica and her husband, Grant created it and they just are very inspiring.
Michael Jay: And by the way, they are a perk in your
Shaelyn: membership. Yeah. Yeah. We loved it so much. We built them into our membership. And I also love doing the classes on yoga medicine still. I feel like Tiffany's so inspiring. So I don't know between my job and my kiddo and my family, usually like sometimes my free time is just.
Shaelyn: Taking a class from someone else that's outside of the studio online and getting inspired.
Michael Jay: And I think one of the beautiful things about Yogapod, we've got so many systems now in place that have given the team leads the team leads More of a structure, right? We didn't get into your structure, so I think we'll, I think we'll, I think we'll have another chat on your structure, because I think that's a really good conversation, too, about how to empower teachers.
Michael Jay: So I'm going to say thank you so much. I'm [00:54:00] really thrilled to have been able to spend this time with somebody that I've probably heard about every week for a year.
Shaelyn: The same is true on my end, Michael.
Michael Jay: We get to hang out because I have convinced your owner to take all of you guys to the Pasadena Yoga Show.
Michael Jay: Yeah. I love, which I'll be attending in. And so we're gonna spend a few days and I'm gonna have you guys hiking up the Hollywood Hills. Oh, that, that's awesome. We're gonna go biking on Venice. I would love that. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to have a fun few days. So I'm super excited. So anybody come January Pasadena yoga show, come hang out.
Michael Jay: Yeah. Thank you, Shay.
Shaelyn: Thank you so much, Michael.
Michael Jay: If you are getting any value out of this podcast, I really ask you to help me out. And that's a simple thing as making sure you're subscribed, whether you're on Apple, [00:55:00] Spotify, Google. Amazon just make sure you subscribe to me so you'll get the latest episodes and if you're really enjoying it please take a moment to rate and review.
Michael Jay: If you are looking to work with a business coach Thinking about opening a yoga studio, please go to my website, yogabizcamp. com. Feel free to book a no obligation free strategy session with me. Again, that's yogabizcamp. com and follow me on Instagram at yogabizchamp. See you next episode.