Nikki Johnston, owner of Sea To Sky Fitness, has taken her love of outdoor fitness and created a complete wellness offering with personal training, nutrition coaching, stand up paddle (SUP) fitness and yoga classes.  She is also adding an international standup paddle adventure retreat to her business this year.

In this interview, we discuss:

• Nikki's background and what drove her starting a business in outdoor fitness
• How she started training on the water before she trained off the water
• How paddle instructor training drove her to get Yoga certified
• The entrepreneur mindset reflecting after 3 years in business
• Marketing strategies for a SUP business
• Water access and how a partnership simplified it
• How she gives back to new SUP instructors and travels with Master Training certifications
• Sea To Sky Fitness class structures and options from SUP Yoga, Sunset Paddles, Surfer Sculpt and Progressive Series
• Information on a once in a lifetime SUP retreat to Tulum Mexico co-hosted by Nikki Johnston - January 20-25, 2018.

Find out more: Episode 9

Dave Aidekman is the CEO and co-founder of Trip Tribe, a company specializing in coordinating destination retreats for yoga, photography, wellness, hiking, fitness, cycling, mountaineering and much more!  They handle the logistics and let you be the host taking care of payment, providing checklists, marketing tools and a network of interested participants.

In this interview, we discuss:

• How early in advance to start planning a retreat
• Where to start as an interested host or participant
• What Trip Tribe provides to hosts to minimize the headache of planning, booking, accepting payments, marketing and more
• How many participants is ideal
• Contingency planning for weather and hurricanes
• What types of excursions can be included and how its arranged
• How the host makes money
• Marketing tools provided by Trip Tribe
• Most popular trips and destinations by season
• How properties get added to the lists
• Options for individual travelers finding their tribe within their age range and interests
• Training, guidelines and education for hosts

Find out more on Episode 8

In this episode...

Julie walks you through a tutorial and checklist on why you need a Facebook business page and how to optimize it so that you increase your followers, brand awareness and engagement.

Did you know over 1 BILLION users login to Facebook worldwide?  Having a presence on Facebook is a MUST if you are a business owner, entrepreneur or professional athlete. From optimizing your cover photo, profile picture and about page to using Facebook live video, there are so many nuggets of information in this episode that you don't want to miss out on.

This is an episode not to be missed.

Find out more ->> Episode 7

Tyona Vallejo, a yoga instructor, mind and life coach, is hosting her second retreat in October of 2017 in Puerto Vallarta.  Working directly with the resort, she has taken a do-it-yourself approach and has lessons learned and tips to share with others looking to embark on a destination retreat. Find out more at Episode 6

Jake Kelsick, a professional kiteboarder and content creator from Antigua walks us through his MUST HAVE video equipment, accessories and editing software.  His tips and expert advice is perfect for anyone running an active sport business in kiteboarding, stand up paddleboarding (SUP), kayaking, windsurfing and other outdoor sports or fitness business.  In this episode, he discusses the following:

• How he was introduced to the sport of kiteboarding at the age of 11
• His unique approach to providing value to sponsors and what being a professional kiteboarder entails
• Instagram and YouTube strategies and tips for growth and engagement
• MUST HAVE video equipment, water accessories and editing software
• What GoPro he recommends and why
• How adding vlogging to his YouTube channel has created more engagement and brings subscribers back weekly to his channel.
• Cross promotion strategy for video and photos to YouTube, Instagram and Facebook
• How he secured his sponsors and how he adds value

Find out more information at Episode 5

Krissy Snyder is the owner and operator of Stand Up Paddle Club in Chicago, Illinois. She is a World Paddle Boarding Association (WPA) certified instructor and is also certified by Paddle Into Fitness to teach Gentle Wave Paddleboard Yoga, Surfer Sculpt and Intro to Paddling. In this interview, we discuss:

• How a stand up paddle board excursion during a Hawaii vacation spurred a new passion and business
• The struggles, challenges and successes of starting a new business
• How she worked with a venue to provide safety, lifeguards and what was required of insurance
• The importance of proper standup paddle technique and proper stroke
• The mindset of a startup entrepreneur
• How the paddle board delivers a new level of stability and fitness performance
• Her plans to run a retreat with both yoga and standup paddle boarding in Costa Rica

Find out more on Episode 4

The Paddleboarding CPA Podcast by Julie Merrill helps adventure seeking and active sport-related business owners create and grow their business around their passion.  Helping tours, lessons, retreats and trips in stand up paddle boarding (SUP), SUPyoga, SUPfitness, SUPsurf, kayaking, windsurfing, kiteboarding, fitness, and other outdoor sports. 

In this episode, Julie walks you through how to recommend products to your customers and make passive income by doing so.  Using Amazon's Affiliate Program combined with Kit.co (FORMERLY Kit.com), your user experience and ease of setup is amplified.  Explode your traffic by adding on a YouTube video and a customized URL.  

This information, the show notes and a downloadable checklist are all available at Episode 3

SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW!

The Paddleboarding CPA Podcast by Julie Merrill helps adventure seeking and active sport-related business owners create and grow their business around their passion.  Helping tours, lessons, retreats and trips in stand up paddle boarding (SUP), SUPyoga, SUPfitness, SUPsurf, kayaking, windsurfing, kiteboarding, fitness, and other outdoor sports. 

Julie interviews Roxy SUP Racer, Sports Model and Paddle Into Fitness owner Gillian Gibree.  In this interview, they discuss:

• Paddle Into Fitness and Float Into Fitness: Gillian's stand up paddle board (SUP) flat water, yoga and fitness certification program, what's involved and who it's for.
• The Master Trainer Program for students of Paddle Into Fitness and Float Into Fitness wanting to run their own certification programs
• Racing tips and preparation on training for stand up paddle races
• How to approach and obtain sponsors
• Sports Fitness modeling
• Behind the scenes insight into running and attending retreats
• Travel tips for equipment
• How Gillian balances being a business owner, model, athlete, wife and soon to be mom.
• Advice for new business owners wanting to start a business around their passion

Find more on this episode at Episode 2

SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW!

The Paddleboarding CPA Podcast by Julie Merrill helps active sport-related business owners create and grow their business in standup paddle boarding, SUPyoga, SUPfitness, SUPsurf, kayaking, windsurfing, kiteboarding, fitness, and other outdoor sports.  SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW today!

In this introduction episode, Julie talks about her back story and how she combined her passion of standup paddleboarding with her business experience as a CPA and startup company consultant to create this podcast to help active sports business owners and adventure-seeking entrepreneurs build their business, expand their reach, improve their marketing and make more money.

This episode and podcast can be found at Episode 1