On today's very special podcast episode of Ancient Wisdom For the Modern Wellness Professional, I have a very special guest today.  I'm really thrilled to have, not just a brilliant teacher here today, but also one of my clients. Her name is Nicole Coon’s. Nicole is based in New Jersey. She is a brilliant yoga teacher, specifically focused in the area of prenatal and postpartum care. She's not just a yoga teacher, she really is passionate about supporting mothers from start to finish. Nicole also specializes in working with women who've had trauma around their births. Today we not only dive into Nicole's business and how she uses Yoga to help others, but we also talk about her "Why". 

On the podcast today  we're diving into a question asked by one of our listeners on the West Coast. She asked me to discuss how I come up with my pricing, and what goes into my decision making around this topic, and, of course, I’m happy to oblige. 

I want to start by saying there's no one “right” way to do this. Everyone has different mentality around what they feel comfortable charging, and I'm going to share with you which factors go into how I charge for my level of expertise and the time and attention I give my clients, whether it's an a one-on-one setting or in a retreat setting. The bottom line: you need to feel comfortable with the prices you're charging. If you don't, your offerings will not sell. So today, instead of me telling you what you should charge, we're going to go through several factors that come into play when I set my prices for any given offering so you can go forth and make the best pricing decision for your business. 

Today's podcast episode is all about balancing the short game versus the long game in running a business. If you let yourself go down the online business rabbit hole, you’ll hear conflicting theories as to which is more important and why. Here's the honest truth: you need both.

The biggest challenge yoga teachers and healers face is that they are so busy seeing client after client, they never push pause long enough to pick their head up from the daily grind and plan their long term game. You can’t create a strategy for the long term if you never assess what you want your destination to be, so it’s not surprising many wellness professionals feel like they never achieve their biggest dreams because they are so stuck in the day to day work.

I know this is true because I've lived the life of a freelance yoga teacher and I remember exactly how it feels. I'm guessing that you're in that mix right now. Instead of staying stuck, dive into today’s podcast episode to uncover what it really takes to make your long term career vision come to life.

Today on the podcast, we are taking a closer look at the topic of investing in yourself. Is it ever the right time to do it? If so, how do you know when it’s the right time? The reason we're examining this today is because time is probably the biggest excuse people make when they choose not to sign on with a mentor/coach/healing professional. When people say, “I don't have the time” or “it's not the right time”, what they're really saying is ”I'm scared of this commitment”, “I'm afraid I won't make the time to do what I needs to be done.” “I'm afraid that I won't be able to show up powerfully right now because other circumstances are weighing on me too heavily.”

In today’s episode we’re going to get clarity on this topic so you can identify when this occurs amongst your own clients. It will also provide you with the ability to see when you’re behaving this way as a client, of course, so you can have a firm talk with yourself and nip the wishy washy behavior!

On  today’s podcast  we take a closer look at the important topic of how to know when a client is NOT the right fit for you or your work. When is it appropriate to hand off a potential client? How can you know whether or not you’re able to fully support them? 

Too often, a “problem client” situation could have been prevented by you not taking on the client in the first place. The reason is simple and straightforward: You’re not the best person to support this individual at this point in their journey. 

Yet, people do it all the time and often regret it later. 

As you listen today, please remember that this topic comes from a place of abundance. When you can say to someone, "Hey, so and so, thank you so much for your interest in my work. I don't think we're the best fit to work together, but I know someone who'd be perfect for you and I'm going to give you their information now so that you can get supported by somebody who's ideal,” it comes from a place of service and generosity. Clinging to clients does not.

Today's episode is going to be a bit of a doozy. It might ruffle a few feathers and that's okay. This is intended to start a very important conversation, which I want you to be part of even if you don't agree with everything I say.

And our topic for today is Yoga: The New MLM. If you're not familiar, an MLM stands for multilevel marketing. If you're like my parents, you call it a pyramid scheme. Basically it's when someone creates a product/service and sells it to someone else but also enrolls that person into selling that product or service(and makes money from that enrollment). So it becomes very focused on enrolling more sales people and sometimes less focused on the quality of the product or service itself.

As we dive into this topic today, I want to start by saying this industry is full of brilliant teachers who do amazing healing work. It's also a hot mess!

Today in this very special podcast episode where we're going to find out if you've been spending too much time in the friend zone. And by friend zone, I mean a place where you're having lots of warm and fuzzy interactions with people, which don't actually lead to income in your business.

Let's be clear here. Having like-minded friends is healthy and it's important for your wellbeing, you can't expect to get everything you need from your spouse, your clients, or even your mentors. But at what point is it enough? We’re diving into this today because the healing industry has many blurred lines around this topic. 

People in the yoga and healing industry are in the work of helping others. They want people to feel good, they want their interactions to feel good, but at some point you've got to remember that you can't pay your rent with warm, fuzzy feelings. So today, I'm going to show you how to get clarity around your relationships so you can get out of the friend zone and welcome in more paying clients.

On today's podcast episode we are  talking about the impact retreats have had on my clients. This is an important topic to think about if you're considering leading a retreat, because retreats, let's just face it, are amazing experiences and they also take really strong management skills and attention and time to plan.

 So you might be wondering, is it worth it? What's in it for me? What's in it for my people? And today we're going to highlight what your clients can receive from an experience like this, which is different from how you work with them on the regular.