Pilates Business Podcast

What It Takes To Grow Two Businesses - With Jackie Hinton from Good Citizen Pilates Loops

March 25, 2024 Seran Glanfield Season 16 Episode 158
Pilates Business Podcast
What It Takes To Grow Two Businesses - With Jackie Hinton from Good Citizen Pilates Loops
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

In this insightful episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield chats with special guest Jackie Hinton, the proud owner of Good Body Pilates studio in Santa Monica and the founder of Good Citizen Pilates Loops. 


Jackie shares her unique journey from being a Pilates instructor to becoming a studio owner and entrepreneur. She sheds light on the challenges she faced in navigating the changes in the industry, including the transition from independent contractors to employees. 


This episode is a goldmine of information for anyone looking to improve their strength, balance, and flexibility while also delving into the business side of Pilates. 


Tune in to learn more about Jackie's innovative approach to Pilates, her tips for time management, and her views on the importance of creativity and problem-solving in running a successful Pilates business.






@goodcitizenla 

@goodbodypilates

https://www.goodbodypilates.com/

https://www.goodcitizenla.com/




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Speaker 1:

Want to know what having a figure it out attitude can get you. Well, that's what you're here to learn in this episode of the Pilates Business podcast with my very special guest, Jackie Hinton, CEO and founder of Good Citizen Pilates Loops. Now you already know that running a boutique fitness studio business requires you to wear a lot of hats and to learn a lot about things you never ever knew were necessary. But when you start the very first company to sell Pilates Loops to studios, you learn a whole lot more. Listen in and hear about what Jackie overcame and what she's focused on now in her businesses. Well, hi there, I'm Sarah Glanfield. I'm a business and marketing strategist just for boutique fitness studio owners like you. If you're ready to be inspired and make a bigger impact, you're in the right place. All you need are a few key strategies, the right mindset and some support along the way. Join me as I share the real life insights that will help you grow a sustainable and profitable studio.

Speaker 1:

This is the Pilates Business podcast. Welcome back to the Pilates Business podcast. I'm Sarah and I'm here today with my very special guest, Jackie Hinton. You know how much I love bringing on guests onto the show to share their stories about their experiences in our industry and the journey that they have been on and where they're at and where they're going. And I'm really excited for this conversation today with Jackie, because Jackie started teaching Pilates, learned to teach Pilates in 2006 in LA and she's worked with professional dancers and athletes to film and television performers, youths, adults and anyone in between who are looking to improve their strength and balance and the flexibility she's also the CEO and founder of Good Citizen. Now. This was the very first company to bring personal Pilates loops to the market and she founded that company in 2015. Today, she is the proud owner of Good Body Pilates Studio in Santa Monica and she is navigating the challenges of being a studio owner, as so many of you are. So I'm excited to dive into all of that and more with you today, Jackie. Welcome.

Speaker 2:

Hi, thank you for having me. It makes me tear up hearing you say all that I'm like.

Speaker 1:

I've done all that.

Speaker 2:

It's weird.

Speaker 1:

This is why we have people on, because you're in it and you don't see. I see all of these people doing all these great things and I'm like we need to talk about this.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm such a crier sometimes it's ridiculous. Sorry, no, you're good.

Speaker 1:

It's all good. I mean, you know it's always interesting. You often very rarely get to reflect on your kind of career and progression in this way, so it's always good to kind of look back and see we how far you've come and what you've built. And it's incredible what you've done and the number of lives you touched. Well, thank you. So why don't we start off? Why don't we start off? Why don't you tell me a little bit about you know what it is that you love most about what you do and being in this industry? Because you've been teaching, like I said, since 2006. And obviously the industry has adapted and evolved and changed quite a lot over that time, but you're still here and still loving what you do. So tell me a little bit about what it means to you to be in this industry and and doing what you do.

Speaker 2:

I think the thing that makes me the happiest about my job is when I really affect people's bodies and I make them feel better in their bodies, like there's nothing better than that, because you do have people come in and they're just looking for a workout, but then you have people who are just miserable in their bodies. They have no awareness and they just want a fix. And when you're able to help them so much that it literally has changed their entire life, like that is collaboration with them. So we're doing it together. It's not just myself, but I just love being able to help people. It's really nice.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's truly amazing when you get to touch people in that way and you know, shift the way that they feel, but also how they feel about themselves and what they're able to do. It's one of the most magical things for sure. Keeps you energized, right it?

Speaker 2:

does. Those clients are the ones that get you through the maybe not so fun client.

Speaker 1:

Keeps you going Exactly. So tell me a little bit about how your world looks right now. So you recently purchased your studio. Tell us a little bit about what that looks like and what you offer today in your studio.

Speaker 2:

So I purchased Good Body Pilates Studio in 2023. And so I've been a studio owner for one year now. It has been an interesting ride. I've learned a ton. I just went from my small little group of clientele to now a bigger scaled version of this and it's really amazing. I lucked out because I used to work at this other studio before I was, so I worked here for 12 years and then I purchased the studio because the owner wanted to get rid of it, sell it, so I purchased it from her and so I just I've been here. I know these people, I know this community, so it was a super easy transition.

Speaker 2:

But when COVID hit, there was a studio I used to work at and this woman who I adored her name is Frances and she's the cutest, most adorable little British Pilates instructor you've ever met. She contacted me and was like where are you teaching? And she came over and started teaching over here and she has been like my right hand person besides my husband, of course, but she is just amazing. And so it's just been the two of us for the past year, and because I've been having issues hiring new instructors, which is very challenging for a lot of people right now, especially in California because we just had the AB5 law that changed in 2020. So it's been me and Francis, so it's been a lot of teaching and a lot of us covering each other and this, and that we do offer private stewets and group classes and we are.

Speaker 2:

I feel like our clientele is more of a person who really wants to learn Pilates like classical I wouldn't call myself a classical instructor, but I'm a little bit of classical and contemporary but people come here to learn how to do all of the original exercises. They love learning that stuff. They like to learn about alignment and the breathing and they're really committed. Like it's really amazing our clientele Like they get excited about tiny little things that I get excited about. So it makes it more fun for us.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yeah, for sure. You know, I think it's very. It's always interesting for me to be able to hear the way teachers talk about their clients and how they teach and what their clients are excited about as well, because what I always see is how, you know, you just really lit up when you started talking about all those things and, like, imagine that if I was your client, you would get lit up when you kind of you'd get excited about certain things. That was, you see, when you see your clients moving a certain way as well, and that energy is so contagious when you're teaching someone right, and so it's no surprise that your clients are as excited as you are about some of these changes that you're able to get, help them to achieve at all. I always say you bring the buzz, you bring the energy into the room, exactly, yeah.

Speaker 2:

You're responsible for the energy that you bring into the studio. That's like my constant reminder to everyone.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely Show up ready, right and ready to go for sure. So it's really great to hear a little bit about how you're working with your clients right now and what your business looks like right now. And yeah, it has really truly been an interesting kind of time and adjustment in our industry across the board, not just in the Pilati space but across all of boutique fitness in when it comes to managing and hiring and your employees, your team, because it is a shift. It's also a shift that's happening beyond California and so it's not something that really many of us can continue to ignore or avoid perhaps is the right answer, the right way to say it but it's happening and we have to kind of evolve with it. Right, and so with that, there's always new challenges in the business world, always new things tripping us up, but it sounds like you've navigated it really well, because finding someone you can work alongside really really closely with is, I kind of think, is just kind of the ultimate dream for most business owners, for sure.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's been great. And another thing I will add is the transition from going from instructor to studio owner. I worked with the amazing Katie Santos who like, literally, just here you go, this is how you do it, and it was so seamless. It was amazing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so Katie is a coach inside of my Thrive group coaching program, so I get to see her every single week.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's awesome, yeah, and she supports all of the studio owners inside with all of the HR insights, info and resources and guidance that they need. And so, yes, she's a fabulous, fabulous resource, and I actually have a link to her on my resources page on my website for those of you who are listening and looking for perhaps a little bit of HR advice. So a big shout out to Katie Santos from HR fitness Fitness HR. I should say she's a fabulous human being. I've known her a really long time. We have a. We go back, way back. It's kind of a thing.

Speaker 2:

Oh wow, she's great.

Speaker 1:

She's awesome Now. So one part of your world is your studio and your teaching, but we need to talk about the other part of your world or one of your other worlds, I should say, which is good, citizen loops. So tell me a little bit about how that came to be, because you founded that company way back in 2015. And I mean, I know it's not the ground scheme of things was not that long ago, but kind of a long time ago right, it's not a long time ago, it is, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So when I was getting certified back in the 06, I've always been a little bit of a germaphobe. I blame my mother for that. She was a very clean lady and we made us very clean. So when I was getting certified I was like, oh my gosh, like you would see because when you're getting certified, you're really doing a lot of hours of the studio, so you're watching people come in and out of the studio and seeing who's using the loop and it could be anybody and some people wear socks and some people don't wear socks.

Speaker 2:

Well, I personally think there's nothing that's more disgusting than feet, and so to imagine people put their bare feet in the straps and then I'm gonna stick my hands in there and not to mention, we're sweating on top of all of this it totally grossed me out, and so I was like, well, why can't we have our own loops? So I knew you could buy loops from Balanced Body or whomever and bring your own in. But I was like I want mine to be cute. And so I was like does this exist? And of course, I went online and looked through everything to find something and it didn't exist. And so I was like, okay, well, I'm gonna figure out how to do this. Like, how can we make loops that are cute and I can just take them to class and are people gonna let me do this? That's the other big thing. So it took us quite a long time to get samples made and just try different materials and things like that until we finally figured out, like what products, what materials and stuff we wanted to use.

Speaker 2:

So then we launched in 2015. And that was pretty interesting because it had never been done before. So people were people do not like change and so Really, no, that's also when you're teaching Pilates, like it's so funny, but people don't like change. So we went to. The first event we went to was a Bassey learned from the leaders, like out in Newport Beach, I think it was like 2015 or 2016. We had a little booth and people would come up and be like, oh, these are loops, and we'd explain it to them. It was like why would we do that? Like, this is different, I can't do this. But then slowly we've been able to convince people, which is amazing. Now people are taking their own loops all over the world to their Pilates studio and being cleaner and cuter at the same time.

Speaker 1:

I love it, I love it.

Speaker 2:

You're so funny.

Speaker 1:

You're right, no, I can imagine it was kind of a tough nut to crack this industry in the beginning.

Speaker 2:

Heck yeah, and I mean back then I was much younger and you're like a new teacher sort of. I mean that was still I had been teaching for a while, but you know it's hard to get in when you're newish.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yeah, for sure you know and I will add to that that you know you didn't have a background. I don't imagine you had a background. I don't think you had a background in product design or you know any of the things that you need to. You probably learn along the way that you could are a complete expert in by now. But yeah, I imagine there was a lot of things that you had to figure out as you go.

Speaker 2:

Yes, thank goodness for the internet, because I mean you can learn everything you know, as long as you make sure it's correct and everything. But I also had a friend in fashion and she kind of directed us to some manufacturers, so that was super helpful. And we live in LA so there's a lot of stuff made here, so that was super helpful and all of our loops are made here in Los Angeles, so we wanted to stick with that and that was super helpful.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, very cool. And so today you wholesale sell them to studios to sell to their clients Me too.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so we have studios all over the world that buy wholesale from us and then you can sell them to your clients. It's a great another resource to bring in money to your studio, just like with grip socks or selling water, other things like that, you know, like athletic wear. So, yeah, and then we also have a website where you can also purchase.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and they're all fun colors and styles. I love it, yeah, and I always think it's always really neat when you know when, when you're able to as a studio and have been able to sort of make these recommendations to your clients, that benefits everybody in the room. You know that everyone. You can say you know you probably need, probably need some socks maybe, probably need some loops maybe, and here's some that, if fun and cute and it makes kind of everybody happy, right, everyone wins.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, also like having people have like hot, pink, bright loops on the reformer while I'm teaching. Also like helps me be energized and just gives me a little pop during class. If I get a little, you know I'm tired or whatever. Yeah, it's cute loops yeah. I love it.

Speaker 1:

I love it. So tell us a little bit about how, that kind of how do you manage your both your businesses and what that looks like, Because you know, I think I know that running a studio business is, you know, wearing a lot of hats and you're wearing a lot of hats for two different businesses. So how do you manage your time and what does it look like for you?

Speaker 2:

So one of the first things I learned very early on when I started teaching Pilates was at first I just like took clients. I was like I'll take you at any time, blah, blah, blah, whatever. And then I realized, oh no, I can't do that. Then I can't do the things that I want to do. So I made sure that I figured out a schedule that for teaching that works for me. So I teach Monday through Friday from 7 to 11, and then Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and that's it. So then I have Monday. I do teach Monday and Wednesday at four o'clock to a Zoom class for my mom and her friends, but that's amazing.

Speaker 2:

That doesn't count. That doesn't count. So I have Monday, wednesday and Friday afternoons off, and then the weekend I don't teach either. So I have those days to do admin work, shipping and all of that kind of stuff. But I try like last year was a little bit of a mishmash of things.

Speaker 2:

I was trying to kind of figure out how to add the studio stuff into my schedule, but my goal for this year was to start doing everything a month in advance. I do that with my finances, so I was like I should try that with planning. So I do everything a month in advance. I'll sit down and do all of my Instagram posts, like some things I'll post day of or whatever, but a lot of it, like anything that's done on Canva, I do an advance. I look at the next month and see like what kind of events can we have at the studio. But I try to make everything super organized. I use my calendar on my iPhone and my husband and I have a shared one so that we know where each other is at every time and like we have to meet at this time. Okay, good, you can do this and I can do this, and it's a great time to work on whatever. So I'm super organized that way. I like write everything down in that calendar.

Speaker 1:

Yes, time blocking like that, what you're describing, where you you've kind of carved out time for teaching, carved out time for marketing, carved out time for admin is, I think, one of the most amazing things that you can do for yourself.

Speaker 1:

I think it's like a form of self care in so many ways, especially if you're a business owner, right, because I think one of the most difficult things when you are wearing a lot of hats and you know you we talked already about you know knowing your employment laws and marketing and schedules and clients, and you know fulfillment for you as well, with, with, with this, with good citizen that you need to be able to complete a lot of tasks, but they might not be all that, they might not overlap so much, and so it's really, I think, very draining when you are in a situation you're thinking about something that you need to get done, but you don't have a place, you don't know when you're going to do it, and so time blocking like that so that you can be 100% focused on your teaching when you're teaching and 100% focused on your marketing when you're marketing, and then you know when you leave all of that behind at the end of the day, or when you go to you know, do your own workout, you know that it's all going to get done because you kind of carved out time for it, right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, totally, it's, it's, it's amazing.

Speaker 1:

I'm so glad you do that, because otherwise, I'm sure in my head, because I already overthink everything right, so yeah, yes, any pen and paper girl or you an app task list on the phone type person.

Speaker 2:

I do a list on my notes in my phone and then I also have one on my computer and then I'll like crop cross reference them. But I saw some cool thing on Instagram where you put everything in and then it organizes it for you, but I haven't looked into it enough. I'm like what's that? Somebody's going?

Speaker 1:

to do for me. That's an AI or something AI. I'm sure it's out there. I'm sure it's out there with all the things that you can do. So tell me a little bit about. You know you recently purchased your studio. You knew the client, so it was kind of, relatively, you knew the business you were buying, which is, I think, one of the best positions to be, and when you come into the situation that you've come into and you know the client, you know the business, you probably kind of knew how you wanted to continue with the business and what that looked like. But there are probably some things that kind of popped up along the way. Can you share with us a little bit about one of the what were the sort of the hardest parts that you might not have foreseen when it comes to buying a studio?

Speaker 2:

Well, my number one biggest problem and I would love to talk about this for like 900 hours, because I think it's really important that we we've got to get to the bottom of this is the in California, and it has happened in other states and I feel like it potentially will be nationwide, but in California and 2020, ab five, the AB five law passed where and this is how I understand it from the people that I have spoken with lawyers, business consultants, things like that that an instructor at a Pilates studio can no longer be an independent contractor. They must be an employee. This I personally feel like if you sit down and you do the numbers, it is more beneficial for a Pilates studio to financially have employees than it is to have independent contractors. Plus, it protects you so much more.

Speaker 2:

But when this shift happened, not everybody has joined in and are following the law, so it has been very difficult for me to hire an employee, an instructor. Luckily, I just am in the process of hiring one instructor and then I hired somebody in October, so I do have two people that I'm putting in at the moment, but that has been such a huge challenge. I do know for a fact that there are other studios that are not following this law, because I have friends that are working at the studios and whatever. So I just feel like that's been my number one problem. I've talked to the city, I've talked to the tax people and they basically are like yeah, we're trying to get through it and help everyone, but it's going to take a minute.

Speaker 1:

It is. To add to that, you're not alone in that situation that you're in, and we've been working with our studio owners inside of my Thrive Group coaching program for a long time to support studio owners as they make the transition. And I will say that many studio owners outside of California are actually electing to become employers and have an employer-employee relationships only in their studio. Because it does. There are a lot of benefits to that for both the instructor and the studio, and it is, but it is a transition, it's a change Again. It comes back to perhaps just a change, right, and it's a change in the way that we do business, one that is often, I think, a little bit out of. There's a lot of misunderstanding around that, but it is going to be the way that it's going to be done, and so it's kind of how it's going to be. So you're not alone in your frustration with it at all, but it is ultimately going to. You're going to know more about it than anyone else.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm an expert at this point. I'm like if somebody has a question and needs to talk and like, just go off on it, call me, I'm serious Like.

Speaker 1:

I get it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we talk about it a lot and there's a you know, and I think that when you're a studio owner and you're kind of working through some of this, it can feel like you're in uphill battle because you look around and you probably are seeing other studios that are not not upholding the law, like you said, that, unfortunately, and so you're kind of like doing the right thing, but you're, it's a struggle, right, and that's kind of feels like it shouldn't be the way, but you're doing the right thing.

Speaker 1:

So you're, you're it is the right way, but it is a struggle and it's a lot of education we have to, we have to kind of we have to, we have to educate ourselves on a lot of these things, and the laws are constantly changing, especially around employment, so it does keep you on your toes, but this is one of the. This is one of the. You know, I think outside of our industry, this has been something that people have been dealing with forever and it's just kind of a little new to to this industry and to us, and so yeah, I also feel like it got a lot of information came out.

Speaker 2:

When it happens, like Plutty's anytime did a great bunch of like, a whole series of stuff, it was great and now nobody's talking about it. So I just feel like we need to like needs to be talked about more. Like it's better for you if you're a studio owner and if you're a teacher, like you're protected, you don't even you don't have to do so much when it comes to taxes. It's so much easier.

Speaker 1:

So much easier.

Speaker 2:

There's just so many benefits.

Speaker 1:

I mean, I was. I supported hundreds of studios owners throughout COVID, and the studio owners that had employees were far better off through that, through that challenging time as well. So there's many, many, many benefits and it is, it is going to be, the weight of our industry as a whole and I think a lot of people are just slow to to. You know, change, make the change, you know. But yes, we need to keep talking about it for sure. So tell me about. Okay, I have another question kind of similar, similarly, and maybe this we've already answered this a little bit, with more conversation about time management and so on but what would you say is sort of the number one skill that you've developed as a business owner that has allowed you to be able to build two businesses simultaneously? And what, what do you see as something that kind of comes quite naturally to you, that has supported you in that? The deep question I know Think about it.

Speaker 2:

It's okay, I'm, I don't know. I really like to be creative and solve problems, and so I you know I'm, I'm a dancer originally. That's how I got into Pilates. And so I I'm like, oh gosh, I can't dance forever, so I need to figure something else out, but something that's similar to dance. And so my creative side gets to like make loops and pretty things, and then the movement side gets to teach Pilates and then also like figuring out and solving problems for the studio Also, like it's kind of like learning, like a dance combination, Cause then you're like you learn a dance combination. You have to figure out like how do I move my body and do this, but then you can apply that to like a business, running a business. So it's like figuring out and solving problems. So maybe that's the answer. I think that is the answer.

Speaker 1:

I think that even comes back to what we were talking about in the very beginning, when you said you bring the energy. You bring the energy, you bring how you show up, and you're showing up with that amazing frame of mind of let's figure it out. I'm going to figure this out, and you've done it to build a good citizen and Pilati's loops, and you've done it to be able to take on a new studio and manage all of that and still be smiling and enjoying it and making an impact as well. So congratulations.

Speaker 2:

I think there's a lot to learn. You should have seen me last night. I was not smiling. It's okay now. No, we have to tell the truth.

Speaker 1:

We have to tell the truth.

Speaker 2:

We do have to tell the truth. People know it's true there are ups and downs.

Speaker 1:

For sure, yes, for sure. Well, I'm so glad that we got to have this conversation, jackie, and to share that. I really appreciate you being so open and honest about all the things that you have experienced on your journey, and I'm excited for what's to come this year. I have no doubt that, with the ethic growth that we are seeing in our industry right now, that you will do incredibly well this year, so I'm excited for you.

Speaker 2:

Oh, you're so sweet. Well, I'm so glad I got to do this. It's fun, so fun.

Speaker 1:

I'm talking to you.

Speaker 2:

I'm like I don't get to talk to, I'm just always with my clients. So like to talk to other people that are Pilates instructors or in the Pilates industry. It's like lovely, we should do this. Like we need like a happy hour where we can all hang out and chat.

Speaker 1:

I love it. I used to host one of those actually.

Speaker 2:

It's super fulfilled, like this is fulfilling, you know, like I feel like, oh my gosh, we like talked about things. We talked about all the stuff exactly.

Speaker 1:

So tell us a little bit about where people can find you to learn more about where they can find you and learn about you as a teacher, but also where they can find you to get their hands on some of your amazing loops.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so my studio, good Body Pilates, is in Santa Monica, california. Our website is goodbodypalatescom, our Instagram is goodbody. Yeah, just goodbody. And then Good Citizen Pilates Loop is GoodCitizenLAcom. And yeah, so those are the two places. Oh, and Instagram is Good Citizen LA too. So they're all just the same Good Body and Good Body, and then Good Citizen LA, good Citizen LA.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, awesome, and I will link to all of those in the show notes as well. And, like I said, for all of those studio owners listening, if you're keen to perhaps add a little bit of extra merch into your studio store loops are a great little extra addition that I think you'll might find your clients already enjoy, and you might also enjoy having them in your studio and selling them and seeing there's flashes of pink and all the other amazing colors that Jackie has created, and I highly recommend that you check them out. Thank you so much, jackie. It's been a wonderful having you here. Thank you, I appreciate it. So I hope this is helpful to all of you as you go about building your boutique fitness studio business.

Speaker 1:

If you loved what you heard today and you'd like to hear a little bit more and learn a bit more, then please go to wherever you're listening to this and rate and review this podcast. It would mean so much to me. I want to help to get this out there into our amazing community so that more teachers and studio owners, just like you, can feel encouraged and supported on their journey in our industry. Did you love this episode and want more? Head to spring3.com and check out my free resources that will help you run a profitable and fulfilling studio business. And, before you go, one last reminder there is no one way to do what you do, only your way. So whatever it is that you want to do, create or offer, you've got this. Thanks again for joining me today and have a wonderful rest of your day.

Studio Owner's Pilates Instructor Journey
Cute Pilates Loops and Multiple Businesses
Studio Buying Challenges and Time Management
Adding Merchandise to Studio Stores