Pilates Business Podcast

How to Grow Your Pilates Business Without Burning Out

• Seran Glanfield • Season 23 • Episode 229

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In this heartfelt and eye-opening episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield flips the script on what it truly takes to grow a successful Pilates studio. It's not just about strategy, systems, or marketing—it's about YOU. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, depleted, or secretly resentful of the business you love, this episode is your wake-up call.

Seran reveals how burnout is quietly sabotaging your success and why self-care isn’t selfish—it’s smart business. Packed with relatable truths and actionable insights, this episode will help you reclaim your energy, reset your mindset, and rediscover the joy in your studio.

Perfect for boutique fitness studio owners who are craving more balance, more impact, and a business that supports their life—not the other way around.


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Speaker 1:

you've probably said it yourself I just need to get through this week and then next week comes and you're still pushing, still teaching, still doing all the things, still holding the weight of your studio, your team, your clients, your inbox on your two shoulders. But let me ask you this what if the very thing that's keeping you from growing isn't strategy or marketing, but actually your own depletion? Today I'm diving into the truth that many studio owners ignore until it's too late, and that is the non-negotiable need for self-care, not as a luxury, as a leadership strategy. So if you're on the edge of burnout, or even just dancing close to it, this episode will feel like an exhale. Let's talk about how you can reclaim your energy, your boundaries and your brilliance.

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:

Welcome back to the Pilates Business Podcast. I'm Saren Glanfield and I'm so glad that you're here with me today. I am on coffee cup number two, which means I'm ready to talk about this topic exactly, and I think that it's something that we often ignore, avoid, don't talk about enough in the boutique fitness world. Maybe it's because, day in, day out, we're trying to, or what we do is wellness, well-being, health, movement and all the things that are helping other people to feel better, stronger and more energized, but perhaps you are not in that place. Perhaps you are in a place where you are depleted of energy. Are you tired or exhausted and perhaps dancing with burnout? Now, if you're like a lot of the women that I work with, you didn't open your studio to become a spreadsheet wizard or do a lot of late night admin marathons. You started because you love what you do, you love the method, you love the movement, and you probably wanted other people to experience that too. You wanted to make a difference with what you knew was possible, with what you're teaching, and you're teaching from your difference with what you knew was possible, with what you're teaching, and you're teaching from your heart, and you're giving your soul to what you do, to creating a space where you can share this love of movement with others, where your community also gets to experience this amazing joy that comes from being healthy in your body and being stronger, and be more connected and more grounded right. But somewhere along the way maybe your business kind of took over and so that balance that you perhaps once had or want to have is no longer or has never been there, because maybe your days are packed with teaching classes, fixing issues, responding to team messages, subbing, chasing down missed clients and maybe, just maybe, trying to squeeze in that little bit of extra marketing. Hey, why not sprinkle that on top right and you and your workout practice, your self-care, your downtime, your evenings, your morning meditation. That's a nice idea for maybe someone else. Maybe that's what you tell your clients to do, maybe that's what you talk about in your marketing, but maybe that's not what is happening in your world. And the truth is that your studio can't thrive, it cannot grow, it cannot be energized if you are running on empty. It cannot grow. It cannot be energized if you are running on empty. And burnout doesn't just affect you, it actually affects everyone around you. It's a trickle down effect through and through. It affects your team, it affects your clients and it generally affects your business growth.

Speaker 1:

When I see studio owners and business leaders take time out of their business and truly take time out, I don't mean like going away and then working on your business. I mean truly take time off. You come back to your business with more energy, with more enthusiasm, with more inspiration and probably with a lot more of an open mind about what's possible. Right, you might even be a little bit more optimistic about your growth and all the potential that's in your business. I know, I certainly feel that way, and so, although we cannot take, you know, a vacation every other week wouldn't that be nice? There are some things that we can do to reclaim our energy, to recenter ourselves and perhaps really define what you need in order to be successful over the long term as a studio owner Not someone who is just surviving, but someone who is truly enjoying your business and that you're thriving within it.

Speaker 1:

Now, one of the things that happens is that we don't often, we don't always know when we're at the point or on the edge of burnout. Right, it doesn't always look like lying on the floor crying. Right, sometimes it looks like just being resentful of your schedule, right, being resentful of that client, being resentful and not knowing how to fix it, it's, it's, there's this perhaps that sort of deep feeling there that you have towards your clients, because they get to work out, maybe, and you don't, or that teacher that doesn't want to work on a Tuesday night and so you have to and and and. So that resentment is often sort of a I would, an indicator perhaps that you're on the wrong side of this coin. Perhaps you find yourself sometimes snapping at your team or even your loved ones, even though you adore them, because you're exhausted. Maybe you find less excitement and joy from teaching and you don't have that spark like you used to, right? And maybe you thought more than once about throwing in the towel completely, not because you don't love what you do, because it's just because you can't see a way forward. That isn't just more of the same.

Speaker 1:

Now, this is pretty familiar and the reality is, is that where you're at right now, it's not, and if this is feeling like you're feeling, it's not the end right, it's not a failure, it's the world sending you a message, okay, and a very wise one, right? Because it's really this? Is your nervous system really asking you to pause and to pay attention, to stop sacrificing yourself for the very business that was supposed to give you the world, to set you free, to give you freedom and joy and everything that you want, right? And so, instead of powering through, I would encourage you to choose to listen, and when you do that, it's not a weakness. It's actually a very wise thing to do, because taking some time for you, setting boundaries for you, isn't about being weak as a leader. It's actually a prerequisite for sustainable leadership. Being aware of what you need is important for you to be able to show up as your best self in your business, and so what would change for you if you honored those needs with the same care that you give to your clients right Now?

Speaker 1:

One of the most common traps that I see with studio owners and this is, I would say, true for many entrepreneurs, business owners and especially women who've started their own businesses and perhaps been that solo teacher for a while is that we often kind of overlap ourselves and our business, and there is not necessarily a separation between the two. Right, and so if your business or your studio is not super successful, then that means that you are failing right. If a client leaves, it's because you are not your business. You are a whole human being with a body, with a nervous system and with needs, and your business is an expression of your gifts, of your knowledge, of your expertise, and not a measure of your worth. One of the most powerful mindset shifts that you can make as an entrepreneur is to let go of this sort of entanglement that combines and puts you together always with your business, because what happens is when you can let go of these two, when you can separate the two, it frees you up to lead without losing yourself in it.

Speaker 1:

So when we think about our business as separate and distinct from us, right that your success can happen regardless of the success of your business. What boundaries, would you say, need to be in place so that your business can continue to grow without draining you? How can you build a business that genuinely, truly supports you and what you need? Now, the part that no one tells you is that prioritizing self-care actually makes you more profitable, more successful, and this is because of something I already mentioned earlier, which is that you get a lot of clarity around, rested, when I've slept well, when I've got my movement practice in when I've been able to sort of be very present in my day to day. I am a lot more. I feel a lot more positive about not just my business, but a lot of things in life.

Speaker 1:

Right, and we're human beings, we're not machines, so we cannot expect to show up every single day as the same. You know, in the same way that life happens outside of our studio, things happen, we are pulled by lots of different things happening in our lives, and so we need to make sure that, in order to show up as our best selves, we're making sure that we're taking care of what we need to be able to do that. And some days we will still have perhaps a little less sleep than we need. Maybe we'll need that extra coffee, maybe we'll need to take some time off in the afternoon to perhaps push something else to the next day, right. But what we know is that if we can take care of ourselves and we know how to do that, then you become a lot more clear about what you need to focus on in your business.

Speaker 1:

Creativity flows when your nervous system is calm. I know for me this is 100% true. I see more opportunities, I am more confident, I am happier, right. These are all things that most of us feel that we need, and what also happens is that you find solutions to the small things that come up when your tank is not empty and your energy, when you show up in your business as your best self. It's contagious. So when you are grounded, you are joyful, you are present, your team feels it too, your clients feel it and your business feels it.

Speaker 1:

The most successful studios are not run by martyrs. They're run by women who know how to protect their energy right Like it's sacred, because truly it is. So. Instead of asking how can I do more, how can I get more done there's not enough hours in the day, how do I make more time Ask what do I need in order to lead with more joy? Okay, now, I know this is a little bit of a different approach than what you might be used to hearing from people like me who talk about business and marketing growth, but what I know to be true is that you have incredible gifts to give to the world, to share with your community, and if you're at the point where you're feeling resentful, if you're at the point where you are feeling like this is not enjoyable for you, then you're more than likely to show up in your business in a way that doesn't encourage others to show up as their best selves and you're probably going to make, perhaps, decisions that are not as powerful as they could be, and so it is unsupportive of your business growth.

Speaker 1:

So what happens sometimes, and what I've seen, is that for those studio owners who don't have a lot of structure, who don't have the support behind them of people who say, yeah, you don't have to reply to that text message you got from your client at 10 o'clock at night. That's okay, yes, you can delegate that task. No, you don't have to do those things. Then you're able to really get focused and you feel okay with saying no, with reprioritizing things, with delegating things, and you take away a lot of the pressure and a lot of the emotion and entanglement that comes with being the leader, being the boss and being the driver of your business, and sometimes you don't even realize we're burning out until we have already passed some of the warning signs. Now, I've been a business owner for well over 15 years myself and you know there have been seasons where there have been a lot of ease and flow in my business and there's been seasons where there has been a lot of struggle and angst and anxiety for sure, and so one of the most important things is that we're aware of how we are feeling about our business, feeling about our impact and aware of what that means for us and how we show up.

Speaker 1:

So if you start the day you know tired, if you are not excited about being in your studio, if you have stopped doing all of the things that you know fill your cup right, like maybe your own movement practice, perhaps being around other teachers, perhaps teaching others that you really like to teach, or even outside of the studio, journaling, taking time for yourself to do something nice for yourself that you enjoy taking walks, quiet time, reading things that you know energize you right Then that's a sign that perhaps it's time to perhaps incorporate those into your more regular schedule. If you find yourself operating in a fully reactive mode and you're constantly putting out fires and you keep adding more to your plate and you're not saying no, right, and that's also a sign that you're in a place that's only going to lead to perhaps more stress, overwhelm, anxiety and eventually complete burnout, and maybe you don't even know what has gone well in your business because you're so busy rushing onto the next thing that you haven't even stopped to celebrate what you have accomplished and achieved. So if you've nodded yes to more than one of these, my friend, it is time to pause, to reset right and to take a moment for yourself. You have that time. You can take that time, even if it's just a 10 minute walk, and leave the phone behind right. So this isn't about overhauling your whole life. You just need to take one step, one action that's going to give you a little bit of space, that's going to free up your time for something else, but also perhaps just free up some mental space as well.

Speaker 1:

Now the part that's going to challenge every high achieving part of your brain, because I know you guys are all high achievers, and that is that the less you do, the better your business truly becomes. Because when you stop trying to hold it all together, you can also allow and facilitate your team and the people around you to rise up. Your systems can stretch, your clients will become more confident in you as well. You're not the glue holding it all together. You are more like the conductor guiding the orchestra right, and when you give yourself permission to rest. Give yourself permission to delegate, give yourself permission to completely unplug. You don't just avoid burnout, but you actually invite in growth. So perhaps think about two or three things right now that someone else could own. Someone else could do right If you trusted yourself enough to just let go okay.

Speaker 1:

So I hope I've given you some food for thought here today. We've talked about the real cost of burnout, and truly it is real. I think, with all of the studio owners that I have worked with over the years, this is something that is common at some season in your business life, right, and I want you to remember that you are not your studio. Your self-care is a very smart business move, not a selfish one. In order for you to show up and be your best energetic self in your studio, to be able to deliver an experience for your clients that they feel empowered by, you need to also show up as your best self. So it is, in fact, a leadership practice, and so think about some of the signs that you might be experiencing in your life if this is something that you're concerned about, and perhaps make some changes before you reach the edge, and the one thing that I hope that you remember is that your business will only grow to the extent that you are willing to take care of the person leading it, and that person is you.

Speaker 1:

So maybe that next step looks like blocking off one non-negotiable hour each week just for you to do anything Reading a book, painting, taking a walk, whatever fuels you and perhaps brings down that stress level a little bit, brings down that anxiety level a little bit. Maybe it's finally saying no to subbing that extra class, to teaching that extra class, to teaching that client who can only work out with you on a certain day and a certain time, or maybe it's booking an entire weekend off the grid. Whatever it is, I want you to take that step, not next quarter, not next year, not when things calm down, but now, because this is how you build a sustainable business, this is what success actually feels like. And if you want support to sort of make this shift, if you're ready to build a studio that grows without costing you your soul, I've got you, because inside of Thrive, this is how we help studio owners to grow really sustainable, consistent businesses, studio owners to grow really sustainable, consistent businesses, and we help to build the business on the timeline that works for you on your terms, because I know, having I have three young children, life is busy. There are seasons of incredible busyness and there are seasons where there is more flow and openness, and so we want to make sure that, as you're building your business, and openness, and so we want to make sure that, as you're building your business, you're not burning yourself out and you're able to show up and enjoy a business that feels fulfilling to you.

Speaker 1:

And so, inside Thrive, it's not just a program, it's a path to building your studio on your terms. We create a business that is not only profitable but is also sustainable. So I show you how to use systems that help you protect your time. We support you in creating and setting boundaries, and we help you to build a business model that lets you lead without burning out, so you don't have to do it all alone anymore. You can grow. We encourage you to rest, I encourage you to take a vacation and you can still succeed. Yes, you can all at the same time. So if you want to come and join us inside of Thrive and build the next version of your studio, the one that truly supports the life that you want to live, head to spring3.com forward. Slash Thrive to learn more. Thrive to learn more.

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.