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

Alright, Jessica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

I think the biggest challenge to profitability in the yoga and wellness industry starts with the business owner’s mindset. Many who teach yoga and hold space for others tend to put themselves last and encounter roadblocks to accepting a fair wage for what it is that they offer this world. It’s such a common mindset because those who share these teachings and care for others have the biggest hearts, but this mindset doesn’t truly serve anyone in the long run.

One of my teachers said that ‘the yoga is free and the electricity is not.’ We must remember that our bills need to be paid in order to serve, or else our ability to share is dimmed or even extinguished. We can’t give from an empty cup and thus the student’s that are waiting for us to share these practices in our own unique ways will not receive them.

Jessica , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I spent 15 years honing my expertise in marketing & events while working for several Fortune 500 companies. I traveled all over the country producing events and building relationships for brands with intimate events for 30 to massive crowds of 30,000. I had a blast and learned so much about marketing, event production, and especially myself.

The fast-paced nature of my events and marketing career sent me in search of stress relief and onto the yoga mat. Yoga and meditation filled my cup and after years of practicing off and on, I knew I wanted to share this peace with others.

I dove into learning to teach yoga in 2015, and I have since gone on to complete hundreds of hours of additional training and taught over thousands of classes.

This deeper knowledge of yoga and having a new way of helping others opened up more possibilities in finding meaningful work than I ever imagined.

Delving into the practice of yoga also opened the world of meditation and sound to me. And of course, I had to train in these two areas as well. I later founded Sound for Stress, a company that provides a space to let go of stress through the power of sound.

Through Sound for Stress, I train aspiring sound practitioners and lead incredible retreat experiences and calming sound events all over Texas.

In addition to Sound for Stress, I also consult for wellness business owners and host the Marketing Off the Mat podcast.

I am especially passionate about helping yoga teachers, studio owners, sound practitioners, meditation teachers, and energy workers drop the constant hustle and get past the roadblocks that stop them from building the business of their dreams and serving their ideal clients.

I truly want to save them time by sharing all the pitfalls, ‘wrong turns’ and challenges I’ve encountered (and continue to do so!), from an authentic place. We need empowered teachers and practitioners holding space from a rooted place now more than ever!

How did you build your audience on social media?

This is one of my favorite questions as a social media nerd, and particularly with Instagram.

I see a lot of advice out there about how many times to post, when to post, what to say, what not to say, how your content should look perfectly curated and on brand. This is the exact advice that I followed in the beginning and it took me exactly nowhere.

It wasn’t until I started posting as my true self, instead of some personna that I thought people wanted, that my connections grew.

So how did I do that? I have 3 secrets for you for those who are just starting out or are ready for a restart on social media.

One: Be a human

Two: Just post and let go

Three: Take care of your nervous system

Post what’s on your mind. Post about how people can get the thing that you’re offering. Share what you’ve learned on your journey and how you can help others benefit from your challenges. Tell people about what scares you at night and what you’re doing about it. Show them you are a real person and let them connect to you, not just your brand colors. Just get the content out there and let go of any attachment to the outcome.

The more you share from an authentic place, the more you teach your nervous system the fact that you ‘didn’t die’ from being visible online, the easier this all gets. If your post helps one person, and they truly connect with your content, isn’t that our goal, versus having a lot of followers who you don’t connect with at all?

Remember that your followers are looking for connection and not perfection and you’ll do just fine!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jessicacross.co www.soundforstress.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicacross.co/ https://www.instagram.com/soundforstress/
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-off-the-mat/id1561236072

Image Credits
Riley Reed and Julie Afsahi