IAM032- Author & Pilates Teacher Coaches Pilates Teachers & Studio Owners to Grow Their Businesses

Lesley Logan has been teaching Pilates for 10 years, leading Pilates retreats in Siem Reap, Cambodia and Maui, Hi for two years and after publishing her book “Profitable Pilates: Everything But the Exercises” has been coaching Pilates teachers and Studio Owners on how to grow their businesses.

• CEO Hack: Taking care of scheduling first. Put your goals for your life in your schedule first. Work your calendar so you have YOU in it.
• CEO Nugget: Choose your choices and start where you are.
• CEO Defined: Being free and bringing value to more people

Website: https://www.profitablepilates.com
Website: https://lesleyloganpilates.com/
Website: https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LesleyLoganPilates/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profitablepilates/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/@profitablepilates
Instagram: http://instagram.com/@lesley.logan

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place, Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:28

Hello, hello, hello this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Lesley Lohan of lesleyloganpilates.com.

Lesley, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Lesley Lohan 0:38

Thank you so much for having me.

Gresham Harkless 0:40

What I wanted to do was read a little bit about Lesley so you can hear all the awesome things that she's been able to accomplish and do and learn a little bit more about her. So Lesley Logan has been teaching Pilates for 10 years leading Pilates retreats in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and Maui Hawaii for two years after publishing her book “Profitable Pilates: Everything But the Exercises”. She has been a Pilates coach and teacher and studio owner on how to grow on helping business owners to grow their businesses. Lesley, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Lesley Lohan 1:11

Let's do it.

Gresham Harkless 1:12

Awesome. Well, the first thing that I want to ask was to kind of give you the mic so to speak, and hopefully tell us a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business?

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Lesley Lohan 1:21

Oh, yeah, well, I never thought I was going to ever be like a CEO. You know, I kind of just thought I would sell jewelry for high-end retail companies, and then keep growing in their company and like I don't know, being adopted child but ends up like running their stores for them. And then the recession hit.

Gresham Harkless 1:42

Are always fun, right?

Lesley Lohan 1:43

Yeah. And I happen to have been learning to teach Pilates as a hobby, which is it's so ironic because I really tell a lot of teachers today like teaching Pilates is not a hobby, it is a job stop treating it like a hobby, but I thought it was a hobby and like make some money to pay for my Pilates pants and, my Pilates classes. And what was crazy was in this recession, I ended up becoming so busy teaching Pilates, that I had to quit this, you know, job where I would work for other people and run my own business. And I couldn't be in denial that I was running my own business for very long, because you have to do all the things and you start to you know, it's all you.

I was really grateful, I got to actually run nine studios for a corporation because of my management background. And so I really got to like dive into the Pilates world from both sides of the business, just teaching it and then managing teachers and hiring teachers. And then I also got to be a teacher trainer teaching people how to teach Pilates. And, a few years ago, after I published my book, I launched my second website profit applies to commerce, like a hub for teachers is everything but the exercise like the book says, and that forced me to learn, like, oh, I have two brands now and start to think of things as more than I just teach, you know, my clients each week. And so it's been an organic growth into being a CEO. And I think I probably didn't admit that I was one until the bank made me say what my time was when I opened my account, but you know, sometimes it just finds you.

Gresham Harkless 3:19

Yeah, you're absolutely right, the universe has a way of doing it. And in order for the bank, I should say make sure that you understand that you're the CEO by having this sign that signature on your name. So I wanted to take some time to drill a little bit deeper. I know you said you had two separate brands, I wanted to get an idea of what you do and what your products or services are for each of those brands.

Lesley Lohan 3:38

Yeah, so they're and as we speak, literally just launched a third website. So there is fewer of them Pilates, which is lesleyloganpilates.com so has a couple of heads. So I do teach Pilates still to people in Los Angeles when I'm in town, I also teach via Skype. So we have offered sessions both in person and on Skype. But because I can't be everywhere to everybody, it's really important that I had online access for people so I have on my Mac classes that every week there's a new class and less like employees also has YouTube videos and why that's important for the brand is that we actually had to split it off because it became so huge. And so the third website that just launched this week is onlinepilatesclasses.com so I'm sure people listening have been there. You're like totally doing the project and all of a sudden you realize some of these projects kind of take on their own journey. And so to keep things really clear when people come to Lesley Logan Pilates, we had to go okay, how do we make it easy for people to find the exercise information that they want and then also the classes so that they're not getting confused with where are they taking their session. So the last one implies also retreated. So I lead retreats all over the world.

I have a retreat center in Siem Reap, Cambodia, my favorite place to take people. And so you know it has this travel aspect but we're trying to keep Lesley Logan Pilates it's more of you know you're working directly with me and then taking the online stuff over to onlinepilatesclasses.com. Then the other little tree of this family and a little branch is a profit, Pilates. And there we have my book, which is now an ebook in English and Spanish. And then we have online courses for people who want to whenever they want to take a course for their business and like how to attract new clients and how to retain clients. Most Pilates teachers don't learn any business skills. When they are in their teacher training. A lot of them fall in love with Pilates because they discovered it at the gym or as a dancer. And so it's not necessarily in their anatomy, or their business, they're like their repertoire to be talking business, right? And so I was lucky enough to not come from a dance background, I came from a business side of things. So I've made all these courses that I know teachers struggle with, do you struggle with. And then we started creating online webinars. So every two weeks I go live and people can join me for a one-hour workshop on one topic and they can get their questions answered life, which we find is really popular amongst teachers. There's that accountability aspect of like they have to show up at a certain time. And then they feel like they have direct access to me. And then we have weekly blogs, I just give out information for free to help people because I believe that the more teachers that are successful, the more people who are doing Pilates, and then they keep me in a job.

Gresham Harkless 6:42

It's very important to do that. Yeah, I mean, that's, awesome how you're able to kind of combine all those things and be able to make it easy for people to digest and understand exactly what it is that you're doing, and be able to find the relevant information like you mentioned before, and I wanted to ask you, I guess a little bit more and drill down a little bit more I know, obviously, you're able to do have that rare ability to have been able to teach Pilates, but also understand the business aspect of it. And combine that together. Do you know if there's any other kind of maybe secret sauce or unique aspects of your business that makes your organization unique?

Lesley Lohan 7:14

Yeah, you know, I definitely think the way I have a team, which I don't think a lot of people in the Pilates community really have the ability to have in their studios. And if they do, I don't know that they are able to use it as much as I think that they should. And I think this goes for any business, having a team is really essential. So that you can show up as your unique self, it's really hard to be all the things. And so one thing I know for sure is I'm not very good at a lot of things. But I'm really good at a few things. And the more I rely on my team, who I specifically hired based on what their strengths were, the more I get to be fully myself. And so for example, I went to an event a couple of weeks ago to teach 50 to 100 people in each class. And when I actually had my partner there, and he was filming, and he was able to talk to people, he was little things that are not necessarily my total springs.

So I could just show up, teach the class and be the person that I am and that everyone expects to show up and get a classroom and not worry about oh my god, I have to remember to email that person like I didn't have to keep all those notes. Until I think it's really important when you are running your business, that you know exactly what you're really good at. And then you hire people whose strengths are your weaknesses, and you just go I'm not good at those things. And you let them do them. And you let them do that their best way. And that I mean, it's maybe it's not a secret, but it feels like a secret sauce to me.

Gresham Harkless 8:39

Yeah, I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this can be like a resource, a book, or just an app or something that you use or turn to on a regular everyday basis that makes you more effective and efficient.

Lesley Lohan 8:52

I am a big fan of taking care of my schedule first. So any scheduling software that you like, I say is a hack. And you have to put your goals for your life and your business in the schedule every week, like standing appointments. So whitespace for creating, if you love to work out has to be in there. My own personal was everything that really helps keep me inspired to grow and to continue on. And like almost sometimes it's like a reward, right? I put those on my calendar first. Because then I actually have no problem, you know, sitting at my computer one day and reading six hours of blogs, because I got to do something that was really important for me. So I don't have a calendar that I would recommend for you necessarily because I think we all have things that we like to work but work your calendar so that it actually has you in it. And that would be my hack, and it's not very original, but it is something I think people forget. They go to work every day and work becomes a priority when the business becomes the priority and we forget why we started doing what we're doing and what the purpose was at the end. Like where is it taking you?

Gresham Harkless 10:00

I love it. I love it. And like you said, it may not be the most original thing, but it's probably one of the most vital things that I can definitely echo to as being in making sure that you set up your schedule and time block and make sure you have and devote time to the important things. And then also making sure that you put the deadlines and everything in there as well. So that brings me now to what I call a CEO nugget, which might be like a word of wisdom or piece of advice that you might have for other entrepreneurs and business owners. Do you have a CEO nugget for us?

Lesley Lohan 10:25

Yeah, choose your choices and start where you are. Those two things, I have to constantly remind myself, sometimes we don't like where we are, but the choices we made brought us up there. So choose them so you can own them. And once you own them, you can reverse engineer and rework even failures to being benefits and learn lessons from things. So if you find yourself in a spot that you don't like, recognize that you made the choice to be there, and you can make the choice to change it. And then starting where you are, is really important because I think in the day of social media, it is really easy to compare where you are and your outtakes to other people's like perfectly edited real. And I know for a fact that you know, I'm definitely guilty of making sure that all the Instagram channels and Facebook posts and everything like my life looks and sound amazing. I mean, people have a hashtag winning at life. Oh, hi FB because it's not real, because they think it's perfect. But, you know, my very first YouTube video is still on YouTube, I hate it, it sucks. Because you have to start where you are. And so I think it's really you can look at other people's stuff, and you can see the potential for you. But you cannot compare that to where you are today. Because you are exactly where you're supposed to be and that you started there and you have to grow. And it's important to grow organically. Because if you end up somewhere too quickly, you're not going to be able to sustain that business.

So those are the two little nuggets that I remind myself of when I write them down, especially when I know, lunch doesn't go as well as I thought or I see a friend of mine launch a similar product. And it did better than mine. I'm like, Okay, well, she's actually been teaching for 20 years, and I've been teaching for 10 The fact that I was even in the realm of things is actually awesome.

Gresham Harkless 12:09

Exactly, exactly. And it goes back to you know, being able to celebrate the wins that you have, and not being able to compare yourself because it's a really huge thing that a lot of people get caught up in it can sometimes be a downward spiral. So it's great that you know, you gave those awesome words of wisdom because I think you can often sometimes forget that.

Lesley Lohan 12:26

Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 12:27

And I wanted to ask you this was probably my favorite question is kind of like the definition of what it means to you to be a CEO, because we'll have different types of quote, unquote, CEOs on the podcast, and I wanted to get an opportunity to hear from you exactly what you think being a CEO means to you.

Lesley Lohan 12:42

I think it means being free. And I know people all the time, who say freedom, but being free. I definitely did corporate world for a while and would get frustrated when I wanted to do the business. It wasn't that it wasn't appreciated, wasn't that they didn't think it was right or good. It was impossible to implement. Because it's a corporation, everything has to be done a certain way in a certain order, and asked me very much the same everywhere. And so when I stepped away from that to do my own thing I was I felt almost lost. I didn't know where do I start. Where do I go? Where do I go from here? And then I realized, oh, I can go anywhere because I'm free to do anything. And so in being free and working for myself, you know, I wanted to have a retreat space in Cambodia. So I did it. I wanted to change my schedule. So I did it. I wanted to change how we build clients, I can actually do all the things I want to do. And it's not like knee-jerk reactions or gut reactions that I feel make the user experience friendly, make me able to reach more people, I think, I don't know if anyone's ever heard of a law of income with a law of income is, you know, the more people who you bring value to the more lives bring value to is the correlation to higher income. And so we wonder why like athletes make so much money well think about when they play a game, how many millions of people's lives, are they adding value to not saying that it's the best value, but they're bringing something to them.

So for me, I'm always trying to figure out how can I bring what I love so much, and I think people can do to more people. And if I wasn't my own CEO, I would probably not get my way as much as I want. I think it's when you own that title. And you really go okay, this is mine, and what feels right for me. You're gonna come up with ideas that are really going to take you to the next level. And that's pretty darn cool and very freeing. In this world to be, we have so many things we can do in it. It would really suck to feel like you were tied down.

Gresham Harkless 14:46

I love it. I love it. Yeah, you have that limitless limitless feeling whenever you're CEO because not only can you think it but you can also execute it and implement it. So I think that's an awesome definition. I appreciate you for that. I appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. I want to give you the mic one more time to see if there's anything else you wanted to tell us Lesley about your business or any pieces of advice, and then also how people can best get a hold of you.

Lesley Lohan 15:08

Well, first of all, I know many people who are CEOs are, at their desks all the time. And even if you're at a standing desk, you probably are not in the best posture. And it's really important to me. If you want to find more information or talk about anything, the best way to reach me is actually by email. I know it sounds crazy to get your email on a podcast, but you can email me at lesleyloganpilates.com. And I'm happy I read all of those emails. If you are more of a social media fan, then I have two Instagram, @Profitable Pilates, and @lesley.lohan  you can check out either one of them.

Gresham Harkless 15:45

Awesome. We will have those links in the show notes just in case anybody wants to follow up. But Lesley, thank you so much for all the awesome things that you're doing and all the incredible value that you provided to us. I truly appreciate you and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Lesley Lohan 15:59

Thank you. You too. Hopefully, maybe I'll see all your CEOs in Siem Reap one day.

Gresham Harkless 16:04

We'll add it to the list.

Lesley Lohan 16:05

Sounds good. I'll talk to you soon.

Gresham Harkless 16:07

Have a good day.

Outro 16:08

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless.

Thank you for listening

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