Community Builders Speak Series: Authenticity, Passion and Self-care are the key to building Community

This Community Builders Speak Series was inspired by the first article I wrote a couple of weeks back on The What, Why and How of Community Building. I have had the privilege to meet amazing people in the fitness and wellness space in the last two years and I wanted to highlight what these self-employed individuals understood as Community Building and how they were building Community in their respective businesses.

I am hoping that by speaking to these entrepreneurs/business owners and sharing their story, it can bring greater relevance to others, and will inspire and motivate others to understand the true meaning of Community Building, from a non-social services and non-sales angled approach.

Many are already building Community with their client and follower base, but they do not even know it! This series is for you to learn from different individuals in different stages of their entrepreneurial and Community building journey, and apply it to our own situations, and hopefully reap the benefits from it.

Betsy Chen – Co-Founder, Off Duty Pilates

Today I speak to Betsy Chen, Co-founder of Off Duty Pilates.

Below is our conversation that has been transcribed and edited for you.

Tell me more about yourself and your business

I am a full-time pilates instructor and co-founder of Off Duty Pilates. We just celebrated our one-year anniversary. It has been challenging one year of being a business owner as there have been, and there still are, many things that I am learning along the way.

I place much emphasis of my life in health and wellness because I believe in good balance in life. This is a key motivation and philosophy for me to teach pilates. This year would be six years of teaching for me.

How much of personal branding is tied to your studio?

Before I started my own studio, I was with another pilates studio and was also teaching in a commercial gym. The client-base and Community were fairly sizeable, and some clients moved with me. But the business model and consumer mindset in terms of paying for services is very different in the commercial gyms compared to pay per use boutique studios. The user experience is also different so having classes in a boutique studio might not appeal to some to move with me.

Also, I have other business partners and another instructor who is also a business partner, so I would not attribute the growth of ODP to just my Community of personal followers.

Why should everyone try Pilates?

Pilates is for all ages and populations. It is all about getting you back to ideal alignment. In today’s day and age, with sedentary desk work and use of tech devices, everyone has some form of aches or pain, caused by structural or postural misalignment that need to be addressed. There is a lot of correction involved in pilates, which requires precision and adjustment by the instructor.

Pilates is also a prescriptive modality for doctors, chiropractors and rehab specialists. In some instances, it is even claimable by insurance. From back injuries to other trauma or surgery related injuries, as a pilates instructor, we are the professional eye to get clients strong again without them overdoing and overstraining. It is also for this reason that training to be a pilates instructor does take a longer duration of time because there is more content to be covered. 

Class size is always kept small, because individual correction is important and we do not want to lose that essence. The smaller class size allows me to individually correct every student. Once the class size is too big, I can only rely on verbal cuing to reach everyone. This is the main reason why people pay for private classes. And this is also why pilates generally more expensive as a class than other fitness activities.

What do you define as Community building? 

Building Communities to me is building tribes. When I first started running, things were boring until I joined a running group. It was also then that I started to improve, do better, and be able to push myself to run further. 

A Community has aligned goals, and there is also always that social element where you have fun doing things together. When you surround yourself with people that all want to head to the same place, the support and energy not just helps you achieve your goals, but it also helps you to up your game!

Build community around the business to help grow.

How to translate the Community building energy to the ODP business?

I am fortunate to have business partners who know how to grow the commercial side of the business. How we’ve structured classes is to increase the class size from the usual four per class to seven people for more energy. We want people to see pilates as fun and hip; to be happy to workout. The ODP branding is young and trendy and we have also managed to attract a good new Community of younger clients in their early twenties.

I think we have done a fairly decent job with building the ODP Community because members from Day 1 are still here. Pilates is now an essential part of their life. We call them - Off Duty seekers!

How would you define your Community?

The Community definitely is not just members coming for class. I would define our Community as people who are interested in pilates, and who want to grow stronger from the training. It does not matter that they do not come back to ODP to train, but as long as they have been introduced, they are part of the Community.

When I started, I wanted to bring pilates to as many people as I can, and at ODP we share that same vision. We want pilates to help people feel, walk, look better, have better energy and to be able to benefit their health. It is a small effort, but we believe in doing it one member at a time. People looking for change for their health through pilates are the Community.

How do you communicate this message to the Community? 

We use social media platforms for outreach and education of what pilates is about.

On my own, in my capacity as an Active SG ambassador, I am able to talk and share more about the philosophy of pilates through Community classes, LIVE streaming programmes and corporate or free classes for the public.

Pilates is a method of exercising. Not a type of exercise. It is a precise way of working out which involves breathing and muscle engagement. We bring more awareness to pilates when we teach because of the emphasis on the anatomical part of different movements, from the isometric to eccentric and concentric.

How long did it take for your Community to take shape?

I think this very much depends on the mindset of the business owner. For us we were not too focused on quick gain to break even fast. We kept to our vision of wanting to introduce pilates to as many people as possible. 

As business partners, we all have our preferences on how some things should be done, but we are all equally passionate about what we’re doing. This definitely helped us to not be focused on the numbers for the size of the Community or duration of time for the Community to take shape.

How large is the Community potential?

Of course, it has to first make economic sense. We are also limited by space but if things are aligned, we will definitely be looking to expand and grow the business. The goal has always been, and will continue to be, to continue to introduce and educate as many people as possible to pilates. So that would mean all ages and populations!

Can you share challenges on building Community?

It has pretty much been a trial and error process and keeping an open mind. From class types to class times to making classes fun, it was all about understanding the needs of the Community from feedback. With feedback, we were able to adopt, adapt and roll out changes until the Community was happy.

As our class sample size is small, it was also difficult to gauge responses by number of people who responded or duration of time to gather responses. We definitely harnessed the power of social media and the 1-to-1 interactions we had with members pre and post class. This system of constant engagement and feedback loop helped us get to where we are today.

Do you have any tips to share to future self-starters?

Be yourself. And be passionate about what you want to share.

Take care of yourself. You need to protect yourself first before you can share the goodness of fitness with other people.

Parting Words

Be a role model for your clients and students. Live and breathe what you do as someone in the fitness, health and wellness space.

Establish a deeper relationship with your members or students to more than just an instructor and student. Encourage your instructors to do the same as well. It makes the difference, adds authenticity, and further helps reinforce the Community.

About Alex Loh

I am a consultant and coach in the fitness, health and wellness space, business owner, loving husband and doting father.

My compass is guided by the desire to help people. I coach individuals and business owners to find purpose. Together we unlock fruitful solutions, experience growth and achieve targeted success. Having successfully built and maintained communities across Southeast Asia over the years, my focus is to help businesses and organisations harness community as the vehicle to connect, and build credibility, trust and authentic relationships.

I am a firm believer in wellness being the cornerstone to life. As a recovery advocate, I am constantly exploring how we can manage pain, accelerate healing, boost energy levels and achieve greater general wellbeing. By also engaging in preventive health strategies, we can fulfil our life’s purpose more energetically. We only have one life, so we must live responsibly and be able to enjoy it.

Come speak to me about Developing Wellness Strategies, Finding Purpose, Building Communities and/or in Optimising your Life! 

Photos from Betsy Chen and www.pixabay.com.?

More at https://www.offdutypilates.com/