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

Hi Robin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

As a 20 year old I came across a yoga class in my college course catalog, after learning it would count for some of the credits I needed for becoming an elementary school teacher, I quickly signed up. Not knowing what to expect, but having heard that yoga has countless health benefits, including stress relief and mindfulness, I was hopeful and excited. That class rocked my world! It was just what I needed and started me on my lifelong path of yoga practice. Fast forward about 15 years, I became a wife, mother, elementary school teacher, and was on the fast track to burnout. So what does any smart woman do? Heap some more tasks on her plate! Lol! Honestly, my kids were watching me practice, wondering how they could take yoga classes too, and the idea was born. In 2014 I started Family Balance Yoga, a place for adults to practice yoga on their own, or attend family classes together, and a studio where kids could take classes too!

Robin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a teacher at heart! Initially I thought “How can I teach adults? I’m an elementary teacher!” It turns out I love teaching adults too! My absolute favorite person to teach is the beginner to yoga. They are often amazed at how flexible, strong, peaceful, and calm they feel after practice and can’t wait to take their next class. Watching that connection be made between how good they feel and their yoga practice is really energizing for me.

I also just love teaching kids classes for the same reason! Kids classes don’t look or sound like adult ones: they are full of play, songs, games, and are tons of fun, but kids still notice a difference. They may not also be able to verbalize it, but they are generally calmer, more grounded, and so kind to themselves and each other after class.

I’m so proud of this little business, that has just barely made it through the pandemic. Family Balance Yoga is a tiny, homegrown business operating only on the income it generates, no business loans! It’s my third baby and seeing how it has weathered the storm of shutdowns and very little business in 2020-2021, and emerged intact is amazing. Being able to be flexible has been key as a business owner. Sharing studio space, bringing classes into schools/daycares/preschools and corporate settings has allowed us to bring classes to our clients instead of waiting for them to come to us. It’s also helped us keep costs manageable.
We are definitely a unique business; offering yoga classes to the whole family, as far as I am aware no one else in town is doing what we’re doing.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

We had to make a major pivot in March of 2020, as did many businesses. We were 3 months into a lease at our new studio space and all of a sudden had to stop holding classes there. It was about a week turn around time and our whole team was offering classes on Zoom. Teaching online is a whole different experience for the teacher and the client. All of a sudden you’re trying to watch clients through a screen and give them alignment and safety cues, all while holding space for them to maintain intention and stay mindful. For kids, working to engage them online was funny. As a teacher you feel like an actress trying keep them interested in the screen but also feeling the yoga poses and trying to practice breathing. It was the same with school teaching. What an incredible time! I know my team and I will all look back on that experience with awe someday, but for now everyone is just happy to be able to practice in community once again.

Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?

I haven’t bought a business, but am taking over classes for another yoga teacher who has her business for sale. It’s intense! We had a lot of classes and clients to begin with, and adding in hers has been a huge challenge. Of course our team of teachers only has so many hours in the day to teach, and we haven’t been able to bring on enough new teachers. Hiring for yoga teachers for adults is much easier than hiring for kids yoga teachers. We look for people who are certified yoga teachers and school teachers when possible. Teachers that know child development, know yoga, and also can teach a rockin’ adult yoga class is a pretty unique set of skills. So in short, acquiring another set of clients and absorbing it into our existing business has been tough, but we’re making our way through.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.familybalanceyoga.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/familybalance
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/familybalanceyoga/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/family-balance-yoga-fort-collins