We recently connected with Sarah Spence and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
I am definitely happier as a business owner although every once in a while when I’m feeling a little overwhelmed or flustered I miss the headspace and free time of having a regular job. Being a business owner gives a lot of freedom of expression and creativity but does take up a lot of personal time down time. You never know when you’ll be needed and it can come at the most inconvenient times like when you’re trying to enjoy a vacation or just have some downtime at home. It does help me to reframe my mindset that the business is an a lot of ways an extension of myself and the energy of my amazing employees collaborating and it really is an honor to be a part of something so awesome made manifest! I wouldn’t trade it for anything even on the days it can be quite demanding. I did my time having a regular job and I was ALWAYS left unsatisfied or unfulfilled.
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?
Hot Asana (pronounced ah-sah-na, not ah-sauna) is a hot yoga studio specializing in vinyasa yoga. While we offer many other types of yoga, hot vinyasa is our main product. We also have a boutique that sells yoga accessories and clothing. I think one of the things that sets Hot Asana apart is the quality of classes we have at the studio. I might be a little biased but I truly believe we have some of the best teachers in the city. We audition all teachers beforehand to ensure safety and quality for our students. We also highly encourage individuality in our studio. We don’t make teachers teach a specific way or play specific music or teach specific sequences. We believe their personality coming out in their teaching style is important to authenticity so you could quite literally take a class from one teacher and get a certain experience and take a different teachers class and have a totally new experience and we embrace and love that here. We get a lot of positive feedback about that from our students as well. I think another thing that sets us apart is our towel service. Every student gets a totally free complimentary sweat towel so they don’t have to bring their own if they don’t want to. They can also rent a mat and/or mat towel if they want and every student gets a cold lavender infused towel placed on their forehead by the teacher at the end of class.
I got into this industry back in 2017 when I did my 200 hour Hot Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training with Virginia Gallagher (the founder of Hot Asana) and Angela Hsu in Danville, Virginia. There was a Hot Asana there and that’s how I was originally introduced to the Hot Asana world. I was bartending and had been in the restaurant industry for years and I desperately wanted out because I craved a job that held meaning for me. When I graduated my 200 hour training I immediately quit bartending and dedicated all my time and energy teaching a lot of yoga. I eventually was offered the job of studio manager and I managed that Hot Asana until it suddenly closed due to Hurricane Michael unexpectedly coming through and basically destroying the studio. I was left without a job and without a yoga studio to teach at so me and another fellow yoga teacher, Lauren Mathena, teamed up and opened another yoga studio out there called Firefly Yoga. I didn’t own it although Lauren offered a partnership in that to me. I turned it down because I already knew I wanted to eventually move out to Colorado back then and didn’t want to commit in that way but I agreed to manage it for her and help her open it. I also just didn’t see myself as a yoga studio owner back then. My main goals at the time were teaching and getting into leading yoga teacher trainings. Opening Firefly Yoga was a huge eye opener for me. I learned so much about business from that experience and the hardships and road blocks business owners come across. When COVID struck, the studio closed it’s doors, sold all it’s props, and went virtual like many yoga studios or similar businesses around that time. I taught online for a while and supported myself giving tarot readings and reiki sessions. Because there was nothing to do, I was actually able to save money during COVID and decided I was finally going to move out to Colorado. There was a Hot Asana here in Colorado Springs and I contacted Virginia Gallagher to ask if she was in need of teachers out here. She told me she actually needed another manager! I was excited to have a full time job doing something I was good at waiting for me out here and to be a part of the Hot Asana community again. Fast forward and after managing and teaching out here a while, I found myself craving independence in my career and was quite literally fantasizing about owning the studio one day — I thought it’d be years and years away from those thoughts. A few months went by and the opportunity to buy Hot Asana of Colorado landed right in my lap. While I was super scared, I knew I was never going to say no! I officially purchased the studio in June of 2022 and have survived my first year and a half of ownership and I couldn’t be happier about it! I definitely feel like I’m still learning and growing as an owner but I have had so many great examples in my life that have helped me along the way.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A big lesson I had to unlearn is that I am responsible for every little thing. I think my first six months or so as a business owner I was putting so much pressure on myself to handle everything that I was struggling to juggle it all. Learning to delegate has been really healthy for me and has been a great lesson in letting go.
Any advice for managing a team?
I think my biggest advice for managing a team and maintaining high morale is actually listening to the team and truly showing them your appreciation. It’s really easy to get caught up in the day-to-day stuff and forget there’s real humans dedicating their time and energy to your business so it can run. The studio wouldn’t be what it is without it’s staff and I strive to really listen to their input and needs as an employer even if I can’t always execute exactly what they are asking for. I really hope they all know how much I appreciate and see them!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hotasanastudio.com/colorado-springs-co
- Instagram: hotasanacolorado
- Facebook: Hot Asana Colorado Springs
Image Credits
Photography by Holly O’Donnell Photography