We recently connected with Cristina Johnson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Cristina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I believe my biggest risk was starting a home studio and small business just three months after the birth of my son. Ever since I became a yoga and Pilates instructor I had the dream of owning my own studio. I was actually really close to buying the studio that I was currently teaching at. So close in fact that I had expressed to the previous owner that I would be ready to take over as soon as April. As in April of 2020. Right before the pandemic. I had been so excited and so ready to make the deal happen but seeing what we dealt with those first months, I was hit with the realities of owning a business with employees and many clients to manage. I started to think how that could impact my life especially then as a new mom. My mindset quickly shifted and I started to really consider how I wanted my life to look. I wanted more control over my schedule. More say in who I worked with. More say in how things were done on the business side of things. More time with my baby. Honestly I just saw many things that I could do differently if I were to start my own business.

I knew how to teach but I had no idea what it took to run a business but I literally just took it one step at a time. I got support from my husband and cleared out a room in our home. I invested in a couple of Pilates machines, hired a woman to help create a website and started posting on social media. I was extremely nervous about getting clients. I didn’t love the social media aspect to selling my services and didn’t feel I was good at it for quite some time. I wasn’t connected to a lot of places where I could market and just didn’t see how it was going to happen. But God was good and I was blessed with quite a few of my previous clients who followed me to continue working with me. From there my confidence grew. I kept at the social media side of things and learned how to promote myself better. I got myself on google and made sure I was showing up for people searching yoga and Pilates in my area. My clients referred family and friends to me. And I joined a women’s entrepreneur organization that has helped me tremendously in promoting myself and my business as well as learning from other amazing women business owners.

My business, Honor Your Path Studio, opened in 2021. With just a little over a year in business I am happy, incredibly grateful and really very proud to say that I have never looked back or regretted my decision. A big, life-changing risk? Yes. And also one of the best decisions of my life.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Practice what I preach. There are days I don’t do yoga or Pilates. There are days I don’t eat the most balanced of meals, stress too much or just don’t feel my best. But on a consistent basis I am actually doing the things I teach to my clients whether in a yoga practice, a Pilates workout or a health coaching session.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Talking to people and genuinely caring when they confide in me the struggles they have with moving their body or their relationship with food. So many people I think are just craving for someone to listen to them and believe them about what they are going through and when I listen they open up. When they open up I hear how I can potentially help them and then I ask permission to reach out. I show up confident that I can help them and when they show up, I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hypstudio.live
• Instagram: @honoryourpathstudio
• Facebook: Honor Your Path Studio
• Youtube: Honor Your Path Studio