Amanda Kingsmith is a world traveler, yoga teacher and also the podcast host for two shows: The World Wanderers and Mastering the Business of Yoga aka. MB.OM. She's passionate about helping yoga teachers discover careers they love and enjoys working 1-on-1 with yoga teachers to help them build their business. In this episode, she tells us how she managed to create a life filled with travel and adventure; all while doing what she loves from anywhere in the world. We get business savvy as she shares three key concepts that will help you succeed in creating a business out of the thing (or things...yes, you can have more than one) you love! This episode is for you if you're a yoga teacher, yoga teacher to be or if you're in the business of succeeding in doing what you love. Plug in those earbuds and listen in!
Key Nuggets:
- The world is so much bigger than you think, which is great because it also means that there are so many more opportunities than you think. Travelling can help broaden your view of possibilities.
- There’s not one right path in the world of teaching yoga. Hone in on what you do really well. Your unique skills. And bring that out to the world
- The first step in teaching is to teach! Try all sorts of things and see what resonates with you.
- In choosing your teaching path, also meditate on the lifestyle that you want. That will help you determine your path as well.
- Amanda’s 3 most important concepts in the business on yoga:
1. Ask for help. Don’t try to wear all the different hats.
- Hire people who can help alleviate your time so that you can focus on what you’re good at
- Think about the time that you’re giving up when you're taking on a task instead of getting help with it and consider if it's worth it. For example, you can choose to use your time to do your own accounting or that time can be spent reading a book to sharpen your skills in yoga.
- The form of asking for help doesn't always have to be a monetary value. Energy exchanges are an option too - for example, Amanda exchanged private yoga lessons for her logo to be created.
2. Define your niche
- Take as many opportunities that you can when you’re starting off so that you can see what you like and what you don’t. In Amanda's words “Say yes until you get your no”
- Narrowing in on what you offer will better position you to become the expert in that area. It's important to note that this doesn’t mean you’re pigeonholed into just that specialty. Ex. If you specialize in prenatal it doesn’t mean you can’t teach vinyasa
3. Diversify your portfolio and expand your offerings
- Consider all that you want to offer, from classes all the way to retreats.
- Imagine your offerings as a funnel and each layer of that funnel will attract a certain portion of your students. Each layer of that funnel will also be a stream to bring in revenue.
- Funnels don’t always have to be just one thing. For example, Amanda does yoga teaching but also business and website development. You can couple a few other things that you like to do.
- The opportunities are expansive! Don’t limit yourself to what you think it has to look like.
- Financials – how to make this business sustainable
- Start by figuring out your budget and looking at what it would take to meet that budgets. Ex. If you find out that you need to teach 40 studio classes every week, are you willing or even physically capable to?
- Yoga teachers need to understand their max. Self-care for yoga teachers is pertinent. There is such thing as a burnout point, make sure you take self-care and don’t overextend yourself. Each person’s own burnout point is different.
- Amanda’s advice for new yoga teachers or yoga teachers to be:
- Go ahead, do it! Dive right into your own personal practice and journey.
- Delve into your own journey and
- If it doesn’t become a business, you won’t lose out! You’ll gain something.
One of Your Biggest Lessons So Far:
You aren’t going to know it all but that’s okay! We’re all human and it’s okay to make a stumble here or there, we all do. Don't hold back from diving into it because you’re afraid of the stumble. Hopefully they’ll love you anyway but if not, that’s okay too. You’re not going to be for everybody, and that’s fine. Just remember, if you try to please everyone you’ll please no one.
Links:
If you have any questions for Amanda or want to learn more, connect with her through:
Websites: www.mbomyoga.com
Email: info@mbomyoga.com
Facebook: @amandakingsmith and @masteringthebusinessofyoga
Instagram: @amandakingsmith and @masteringthebusinessofyoga
Resources:
Amanda is co-hosting a retreat in Nicaragua in spring 2018! Click here if you're interested in taking this adventure with her.