We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amy Christman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy , thanks for joining us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

If I could go back in time, I would absolutely start my business sooner! I didn’t start The Fierce Collective until 2020. Every time I thought or talked about starting my own business, I put it off because I didn’t have the confidence to start. I was also a little lost on what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to stay connected to fitness in some capacity.

At the time that I started, it was at the very beginning of the pandemic and my 9-5 was with a non-profit doing work I wasn’t entirely passionate about. When the pandemic hit, I felt like the world was ending, and if I didn’t start, I would regret it. In January 2021, I started The Fierce Collective and at the time, I wanted to make it an opportunity for fitness pros to be able to showcase their expertise virtually. I hosted monthly virtual events with a Q&A or an educational component after the workout.

Eventually, it evolved into a membership platform, and I took over the movement component by teaching yoga at each event. As more and more things are moving offline and into real life, I felt like it was time for a change. I still want to promote my sisters in the fitness and wellness industry, thus The Fierce Collective is now an online directory where you can find a movement practitioner, nutritionist, or wellness pro all in one place.

On top of that, I always received really positive feedback at the events about my yoga teaching. As The Fierce Collective was evolving, I felt I needed to start putting more time and energy into teaching yoga. I honestly wish I would have started teaching yoga much much sooner!! I think starting my yoga business Ayama with Amy sooner would have helped my confidence in my other endeavors. I derive so much confidence from teaching, and I think had I started teaching more consistently, I would have had more clarity on the impact I want to have, rather than just owning my own business. I would have stayed more focused on ‘my why’ other than spinning my wheels as much as I have.

Building a business is not for the faint of heart, you need to have grit, and truly believe that what you’re doing is impactful and that you’re good at it. That kind of confidence doesn’t come easily, but if you start putting one foot in front of the other, it’s WORTH IT to be able to live on your own terms.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in a super small town where sports were pretty much my life. Being active has always been in my DNA, so it only felt right to pursue a career in fitness. I received a degree in Kinesiology from Arizona State University, as well as a post-bac in Nutrition & Dietetics. Once I graduated, I started my career in corporate wellness at an on-site facility for a big engineering company where I learned so much about the power of community centered around movement. I bounced around to various jobs within the industry, until in 2018, I had my son and pivoted out of the industry all together. I was burned out and needed a change. While moving into an entirely different industry, I slowly started planting the seeds so starting my own business. Part of my own personal values is lifting women up and valuing collaboration over competition. I’ve always loved helping people gain visibility in their businesses and feel like I help other’s see their beautiful and unique gifts. Which is ironic, because I did not see my own gift as a movement instructor for a VERY long time.

The impact I want to make in the world is to help everyone realize how unique and talented they are. They should lean into their gifts, embrace their own weirdness, and laugh at yourself. I think there’s a misconception out there that yoga has to be all handstands and can be very serious. I love making it playful, fun, and weird!

Ayama = Expansion. I want people to be able to expand the relationship with themselves through yoga.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn has to do with money. When I was in college I fell prey to those predatory credit card offerings on college campuses. I ran up so much debt that I ended up having to move back in with my parents after college. I borrowed so much on my future that I didn’t do a lot of the things I wanted to do in my 20’s. I had no money, and it was embarrassing when all of my friends were landing jobs and were able to afford to go on vacations, or buy their first cars, I was still sleeping in my childhood room and working two jobs to pay for my mistakes in college, literally.

I’ve learned so much about money management, but also what I’m capable of. I paid off all of my debt and have never looked back!

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Meet your people where they are and don’t push them into things they don’t want to do. They will only resent you. I always kept morale high by setting team goals and creative incentives for meeting those goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ayamawithamy.com, www.the-fierce-collective.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ayamawithamy/, https://www.instagram.com/thefiercecollective/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-christman/

Image Credits
Stiina Dokken, @femmepowercreative