Pilates Business Podcast

The 5 Key Traits of Wildly Successful Studio Owners (That Most People Overlook)

• Seran Glanfield • Season 23 • Episode 226

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In this power-packed episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield dives deep into the five essential traits that distinguish thriving, confident studio owners from those stuck in a cycle of burnout and overwhelm. These aren’t surface-level tips—they’re the mindset shifts and leadership qualities that drive sustainable growth, financial freedom, and a more balanced life in your Pilates studio or boutique fitness business.

Whether you’re tired of juggling a million roles or wondering what it really takes to grow a team and scale without chaos, this episode offers a roadmap for transformation. If you’ve ever felt stuck, overworked, or unsure how to lead effectively—this one’s for you.

You’ll learn:

  • The leadership shift that changes everything
  • Why “hustle” isn’t the answer (and what to do instead)
  • How to build a team that runs with your vision
  • The emotional skill most studio owners overlook
  • How to lean into your strengths (and get help where you need it)


This is the kind of insight Seran teaches inside her Thrive program, and it just might be the missing link you’ve been searching for.

Learn more at www.springthree.com/thrive



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Work with Seran:

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🌟Enroll in the Marketing Intensive and get everything you need to finally master your marketing and stand out from the competition


Speaker 1:

What if the difference between feeling totally stuck in your studio and finally stepping into the role of confident, empowered leader came down to just five traits? These aren't surface level habits, by the way. They're not about how often you post, how many hours you teach or even how long you've been in business. In fact, the most overworked studio owners I meet are usually missing at least one of these five, and it's often what's keeping them overwhelmed and underpaid. So today I'm walking you through the five traits that separate surviving studio owners from thriving ones, and how you can start stepping into them today.

Speaker 2:

Well, hi there, I'm Saren 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. This is the Pilates Business Podcast.

Speaker 1:

Well, hey there and welcome back to the Pilates Business Podcast. This is where we talk about all things that help you take the passion for what you do, the movement method that you teach in your studio, and help you to also step into becoming confident and strategic CEOs of your business. I'm so glad you're here today because this episode is one that I wish someone had handed me many, many, many years ago, because the thing is that many boutique fitness owners I talk to don't go into this because they want to run a business or build an empire. They did it because they love movement, they love helping people feel strong, feel empowered and confident in their bodies, and somewhere along the way, they discovered themselves to be the owner of a business. And further beyond that, that discovery of becoming a business owner and stepping into that role, that dream of perhaps what initially was thought to be freedom and being able to finally make the income that they wanted, actually turned into exhaustion and admin and staffing issues and not enough new clients, and many folks start wondering is this just what it is to be a studio owner? Is this just what it's like when you own your own business? And sometimes I'm fortunate enough to get to find those people at that moment, before they decide to perhaps throw in the towel completely and let them know that the answer is no, you don't need to work more hours. It isn't what it's like for everyone. Then, if that is where you're at, then what I will tell you, just like I told them, is that it's often not about doing more. It's about evolving your skillset and perhaps upgrading some of your systems and what you're doing in your business to reach that next level.

Speaker 1:

And today I'm sharing the five specific traits that I see most in studio owners who are not only growing, but doing it without feeling burnt out. And these traits aren't necessarily personality-based. You don't have to be born with them, you don't have to be loud or an extrovert or type A to embody them. They're actually skills, and, as with all skills, you can learn them, you can build them, you can practice them, and these are the skills that I help women just like you to develop inside of Thrive. And so, by the end of this episode today, my goal is to help you to know, perhaps, which one you might need to lean into next.

Speaker 1:

Now, over the years, I've gotten such incredible. I do find myself to be so lucky actually to get to work with so many fantastic studio owners. I love nothing more than helping studio owners to take the passion they have for what they do and help them to grow into that role of a leader of their business. And when I do that, sometimes it takes a few months, but typically it actually takes more like a few months, but typically it actually takes more like a few years. And at every stage of growth there is not just growth in the business but there is often a growth that comes from within that studio owner, that they develop a new set of skills, they get more comfortable with doing certain things and they take on a different set of skills and lean into different things and different parts of themselves at each stage of growth. And it's fabulous. I can't tell you. It's so incredibly rewarding to see people evolving in that way and really enjoying their business as they do that.

Speaker 1:

So some people come to me and they have the tenacity, they have the tech know-how. Some people come to me and they have the people skill set, they know how to connect with people. Some people come to me and they just really had a knack for marketing right. And some people come to me and they're willing to be open and learning and all of these things, and it's so incredible to see how we have to sort of develop different parts of ourselves to become really strong leaders, right? So let me dive into some of these traits that I see some of the most successful studio owners that I work with embody.

Speaker 1:

I think the first one is a sense of humble confidence, and I want to start with this because this is where I feel like I see so many studio owners often playing small. Now, many of the wonderful people that I speak to when it comes to business each week are incredibly humble about their skills, right, and I think many of us actually confuse humility with with shrinking, with, with with with being small, right, and if I don't shout too loud, then everything will be okay. Or if I ask for too much, then maybe I will get. You know I won't work, and then. So I'm going to stay humble, but I'm also going to stay small, and that often means that we undercharge or we hesitate to promote our classes and avoid perhaps even taking up space, even though we're literally helping people to change the way that they live their life and access happiness and confidence in their lives.

Speaker 1:

So humility isn't about self-doubt, right, you can lead confidently without having an ego. Lead confidently without having an ego. And I think this is where a lot of folks kind of trip up, because when we think about being a leader, we think about someone who has a big ego. We think about being a leader, we think about someone who loves being the center of attention. We think about ego. We think about someone who is as loud and bossy, right, but the most successful studio owners that I know, they're not shouting from the rooftops, but they also don't second guess every decision. They don't have a massive ego. And I think the first thing that we kind of want to shift is that idea that being successful means that you have to have a massive from the rooftops. You don't have to be the center of attention, you don't have to step into that at all, but you can be humble and believe in the value of your work, and when you do that, you actually find that you lead those around you forward more effectively anyway, right. So I'd encourage you to start off by thinking about right now you know, where do you kind of sit within this trait? Are you downplaying your abilities, the value that you add, your leadership, perhaps because you're worried about how likable you are, right? Or are you willing to show up powerfully, to step into your light, to recognize that you have value to offer to the world and to perhaps stand alongside that mission that your studio has? Take a moment to have a think about it. It's kind of interesting, an interesting one right Now.

Speaker 1:

I encourage the studio owners that I work with to find their own way, their own voice. And, again, I think, when we often are struggling to reach that next stage, sometimes it's because of these associations that we make with what that leadership role means. That's the first trait. I would say that the studio owners that do really well, that grow well and find themselves in a place of having confidence in their business, but they don't necessarily have an ego about it, all right.

Speaker 1:

Next trait is what I would say is someone who is hungry, right, and not like physical hunger hey, we don't want anyone skipping lunch here, right? That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is this internal drive, right, that hunger for impact, for more, for growth, for better, and some folks have that, but it's often confused with what we might call busyness or hustling, or working for the sake of working Right Now. The problem is is that often too many studio owners are busy and they're not focused. Right, they're spinning their wheels, trying everything, doing those reels, finding the trending audio, trying to get referrals and Google reviews and perhaps offering workshops, but they don't really have a clear path or a strategy. Now, truly successful owners of every business is hungry, right, not just for busyness, but for results. They're not just trying things to throw spaghetti at the wall to hope things work out. They're measuring what is working and they're looking for what they can measure, and they don't panic when it's quiet. They're planning, right, the next thing. So I want you to think about whether you're just busy right now or you're just keeping busy or whether you're strategically building your business, because they're not the same thing. So that second trait is hungry being hungry, hungry or on hunger for success. Now, the third trait is a big one and it's often overlooked. Now, there's no way to avoid it.

Speaker 1:

To be completely honest and real, there is a lot of emotion in business, right, and you care about your clients, you care about your team. When someone cancels or complains or disappears, you know. Yes, it hurts, right, but there is a difference between emotionally reactive and being able to perhaps manage your emotions in a professional way right, and that level of sort of professional emotional professionalism perhaps is what sort of separates some from the others and when, when we can acknowledge that yes, gosh, that was I. I thought that client was going to stay forever and they've just disappeared and they didn't buy the next package, and you can say and recognize that, hey, that that kind of was a bit of a shock to the system. That wasn't what I was expecting.

Speaker 1:

Emotionally mature leaders don't avoid emotion. They manage it right. They don't start spiraling when that client didn't buy that next package and question their pricing and everything else. They don't snap at their team when they're stressed. They pause, they reflect, they consider their response and they slow down. Actually, they consider their response and they slow down. Actually, the more emotionally grounded that you are in your business and when it comes to your business, the better decisions you will make, right. And when you have a team and when you have clients around you and you are perhaps in the outside, at least convey that maturity and professionalism from an emotional perspective. Those around you will feel very, very steady as well and they will also embrace that too. So I want you to be aware of how your emotions are driving the ship right now. If they are driving the ship, if everything that happens is you're having a feeling about it and having a reaction to it, then that might be a sign that it's time to perhaps spend some time to unpause and reflect and to find a way to lead from a calm place and to choose where to focus your energy and your efforts with more intention.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm going to add that, having been in business for as long as I have, and from supporting the many, many studio owners that I have done very, very closely, this is something that is a practice. You know, there are ups and there are downs to every business. There are setbacks and challenges that we never see coming, and I encourage you to embrace those opportunities to practice this particular trait as often as you can, because, just like anything that you practice, you do get better at it, right. So that's the third trait I would say is being emotionally mature. Now the fourth trait is somewhat tied to that and a little bit similar but slightly different, and that is self-awareness. I mentioned already, you know, with our third trait of being emotionally mature.

Speaker 1:

Self-awareness is a part of that right, and you know, but in a slight different way we also want to recognize that we have. In a slight different way, we also want to recognize that we have strengths and we have blind spots, right, and if we're not aware of what those are, you might find that your business is in a constant state of stuck. Right, maybe you're a fabulous teacher, but you've been avoiding marketing. That's okay. Maybe you're super duper organized, but you perhaps resist delegation Very common. Maybe you micromanage because you're really concerned that your clients are not going to get the best, best, best experience right, and you're worrying that perhaps your team won't deliver as much as you will. And so perhaps, even if you won't admit it out loud, that's really why you are sort of micromanaging everything or doing everything yourself.

Speaker 1:

Right Now, those leaders of the business, those successful business owners, those successful studio owners no one is perfect, right, but they do often have an awareness for the things that they enjoy doing, things that they don't enjoy doing, things that they're good at, things that perhaps not so good at. They know where they shine, they know where they need help and they know what they need to work on for their business to get to that next level that they want Now inside Thrive. This is something that we look at very early on, because you can't scale something, anything if you are blocking your own growth. And so the first thing we want to help you to figure out, as you are growing your business and as you're evolving your business, is what are you holding on to, what could you let go of, and where do you want to spend your time and energy and focus Right? And we do this every single quarter and every single year inside of Thrive, and, to some degree, every month actually. So this is something that we sort of learn as we go. But this level of self-awareness is really incredibly powerful, because once you start to realize that we're not all good at everything, no matter the fact that we are a business owner, then it actually frees you up to focus on the things that you do care about. So seller awareness is really important as a leader and as a business owner.

Speaker 1:

Finally, trait number five this is a good one, and that is that the most successful studio owners will have a team first mindset. The truth is, you can't scale on your own. Yes, you can teach amazing classes. Yes, you can manage the schedule. Yes, you can post to social media. Yes, you can be the cleaner. Yes, you can be the admin. Yes, you can. But at some point you will hit a bit of a ceiling and you will stay there if you don't start building and leading a team.

Speaker 1:

And the shift is that it's not about just having staff or having anybody to do something. It's about having a team, and that starts with you leading them, being clear with what your business is about, consistently showing up as the leader and making sure that your team has everything they need to be able to do what they need to do successfully. So those studio owners don't just build businesses, they build cultures, they build community, not just with the clients, but amongst their teachers as well, and they invest in themselves and their team's growth. And that's how you build and scale successful businesses. You cannot do everything and scale successful businesses. You cannot do everything. Instead, you want to start creating systems that others can run, things that others can do. So if you've got other people working with you right now, that's fantastic, but are they empowered to deliver the experience you want your clients to receive? Do you give them the tools they need to be able to do that as best they can as well as you could, or are they just executing tasks while you carry all of the load?

Speaker 1:

Okay, so quick recap the five traits that I see most in the most successful and happiest year owners. I will say that is also quite important. We're not just here, for I would say most of us are not just here to make a quick buck. We're here to have a fulfilling career and to be in our business for as long as we continue to enjoy it and make an income that we want. And these traits, I would say, fall across the most studio owners.

Speaker 1:

I've seen over the last decade, plus of coaching studio owners at every level, at every stage, and that is humble confidence. You lead with purpose, right, not with ego. You're hungry. You seek growth. You're looking to cut the chaos, but you are focused on what matters. You're emotionally mature, so you're responding with clarity, not reaction, and, like I said, this does take practice. You're self-aware. You're aware of your strengths, but you also know where you need to go to get help.

Speaker 1:

And this is when a lot of folks reach out to me, because they're not really sure what they need, but they know they need a little bit of, some support and some tools and some accountability, and you are team orientated, in that you're not just managing people, you're actually leading them forward. Now, the good news is that you should not expect to master all five right now, now that you know them, that doesn't mean that you should be them, but if one of these traits made you perhaps pause, then that's probably the one that is calling for your attention right now. And if you want to stop the guessing game and you are ready to actually grow your business without completely losing your mind, then I would love to invite you to learn a little bit more about Thrive. Thrive is my leadership and business development program for studio owners who are ready to build strong teams, who want to scale sustainably and want to become confident, empowered leaders without doing it all alone. Inside Thrive, we go deep on these traits. We build systems, we help you clarify your vision and your goals and we support you every step of the way, not just with the strategies and the playbooks, but with real, ongoing coaching and community.

Speaker 1:

So if you're curious, simply go to sprint3.com forward, slash Thrive or head for the link link in the show notes, or just send me a DM on Instagram and let me know you're interested and we can set up a time to chat. So I'm here to let you know that you do not have to white knuckle your way through all of this. There is a better way, and it starts when you decide how you want to be as a leader. All right, that's it for today. Thank you so much for being here, thank you for doing the work you're doing, and just a quick reminder leadership isn't something that you're necessarily born with Many aren't actually. It's something that you invest in and something that you build.

Speaker 2:

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.