Grit is Golden

I had the opportunity to spend 3 days at the MINDBODY BOLD conference, an annual gathering of business owners and leaders in the wellness, fitness and beauty industries. I have to say, I traveled back from San Diego full of optimism and inspiration about the boutique fitness industry in the coming months...after many, many hard months, our industry is primed for tremendous growth for those business owners who are still in the game and unwilling to throw in the towel.

Here are my 5 BIGGEST takeaways from the conference:

—> GRIT IS GOLDEN. This was one of the "themes" of the conference. I heard story after story from survivors of accidents, illness, abuse....and the grit and determination to succeed and survive. Business owners like you have shown tremendous GRIT in pivoting, re-inventing and continuing to press forward to support their communities.

—> IN-PERSON CONNECTION CAN'T BE BEAT. I have met so many amazing people over the past 18 months, and I finally had the opportunity to look them in the eyes, and give them a handshake, a hug or a fist bump. Virtual classes, learning, appointments and happy hours are convenient, but NOTHING beats real life personal connection. And that is not going anywhere. Our boutique studio communities THRIVE on human connection and that need is stronger than ever.

—> THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR MORE LEARNING. We've all spent the past 19 months learning SO MANY NEW THINGS. Just when I was sure there was no more room for more, this conference reminded me that there is always room to learn more from people who know more things about different topics than me. There is no doubt that the business owners who are going to see the most success post-pandemic are the ones who are willing to dive in and learn new systems, software and strategies.

—> IN PERSON FITNESS IS HERE TO STAY. Despite the closures, capacity limits, and struggles for boutique fitness businesses over the past entirely-too-many-months, in person classes are going to come roaring back, and you may already being seeing this in your studio. You have to be READY now to capture this growth, and set your studio up for tremendous success in the remainder of 2021 and heading into 2022.