We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Susan McCulley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Susan below.

Susan, appreciate you joining us today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

In 2000, I was working in a corporate job for a company that sold electronics and I hated it. I hated sitting in a cubicle, putting energy into selling TVs and car stereos when I had no interest in either. The culture was the embodiment of the patriarchy with a sexist, greedy, unkind owner and a bunch of male executives who ran around trying to please him.

Miserable, I talked to my partner and he said, “Quit.” I laughed, thinking he was joking. He wasn’t. He’d been trained as a lawyer and hated it. After 6 years of practicing law, he quit and started his own house renovation business. It had been challenging and was also a great move for him. With his support and encouragement, I started teaching movement classes and looking for more places to teach. At the beginning, I supplemented my teaching with helping him on job sites while also investing in my own continued training and learning.

At first, I struggled to fill classes and find places to teach a mindful movement form that was unfamiliar to most people. It took an act of courage every time to show up when there were often only one or two students. Over time, my classes grew and I led a team of 3 teachers at the local fitness and wellness center. In a few years, the program grew – more teachers and more classes, I continued my training, and started leading workshops and retreats.

Having a partner whose business was also doing well really made my new business possible since it was slow starting out. Persistence and consistency were key: I learned that it often takes a year or more for people to figure out what you’re doing. Another key for me was to support the businesses where I was teaching. Inviting people to classes and extolling their offerings (not just mine) in newsletters and by word-of-mouth was a major way I built both my own teaching practice and the businesses that supported me.

TL;DR
Do what aligns with what matters to you and with your skills and gifts.
Keep showing up. Even when it seems like no one else is.
Keep learning and growing.
Support those who support you.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In 1999, I was dragged kicking and screaming to my first mind~body movement class by a friend. I was a hard-core gym rat complete with step aerobics (and thong leotards), running (which I hated but did because I thought I should) and weight-lifting. The class felt weird and wildly different than anything I’d done before. I felt a little silly and didn’t really understand everything. And even so I couldn’t stop thinking about it and looked forward to going back.

I did my first level of training in 2000 and have been teaching since. I love how mindful movement feels in my body and how it ripples out into how I feel and move through my life. And I love sharing the holistic approach – that is, the way you do anything is the way you do everything – with people. Over time, I started to see that while a physical practice is important (our bodies are designed to move in a wide range of ways and most of us move in fairly limited, habitual ways), what I was really interested in was helping people to increase aliveness and awareness. I wanted to help people thrive.

The big focus for my teaching is to encourage participants – no matter what body they are in – to move in ways that feel great to them. EveryBODY is welcome. I have participants moving on their feet and others on the floor or in a chair, barefoot or shod, big movements or small. The practice isn’t about looking a certain way or doing it like I do but rather listening to the body and doing what feels good. My job is to offer movement suggestions to experiment with. Like a tour guide, I point out things they might not have noticed. Their job is to do what feels great to them.

Over time, my classes grew and I expanded into workshops and retreats so I could offer more than just movement. I offered meditation, free movement, creativity and cooking experiences both locally and internationally.

More than 10 years ago, I started writing a blog to share more about the body~mind connection and offering resources for deepened practice. About 5 years ago, I started making art and illustrating books about mindfulness, presence and self-care. I see my art and authoring as being an extension of what we do in movement classes: deepening awareness, curiosity and kindness for our bodies, ourselves and each other.

TL;DR
My business promotes awareness, aliveness, presence and deep care.
I teach through movement classes, workshops, interviews, retreats, shared resources, writing and art.
Once you know the big vision, the Big Why, of what you do, explore all the ways you can do that.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Like many people, the global pandemic required change. I had three pivots within the COVID pivot.

1. The day before we went into lockdown in March 2020, I was teaching 5-6 classes a week at locations around Charlottesville. On the day of lockdown, that all went away. Thinking we’d be in this situation for a month or two, I said to my partner, “I wonder how I could offer classes online?”

I had no idea how to do it and neither did he, but we jumped into researching and he helped me set up my home studio so I could offer classes on Zoom. I had roadblocks, backfires and snafus all over the place (especially at the beginning) and now, nearly three years later, I find that I enjoy teaching in this way. People can join from all over the world with no commute and I can offer recordings so participants always have classes available.

2. At the same time I was making the shift online, I saw that my participants (and I) needed community and connection in the midst of isolation. We’ve been taught that we are unnecessary and invisible. Which is utter bull hockey, of course. In response, I created The Age of Becoming, an online community for women 50-ish and older. We share resources and practices, ask questions and share experiences, and offer each other support and encouragement.

3. Working completely for myself by shifting my work online made it clear that two organizations I’d been working with – the organization with which I’d done my training and the fitness club where I’d taught for two decades – were out of alignment with me. I found that the culture and business practices in both organizations diverged from my values around diversity and inclusion. I’d been considering breaking ties with both for a decade but had been afraid to do it.

Injury Pivot: in March 2021 I broke a bone in my left foot that required surgery and a long recovery. In July 2022, I broke a bone in my right foot that didn’t need surgery but did need 3+ months of healing. I made 2 pivots around these injuries.

1. Even though I was non-weight bearing for 2 months, and then in a walking boot for weeks, I kept teaching classes. I taught from a chair, on a balance ball and on the floor. It challenged my teaching/leading skills, my creativity and my body to rework everything I did to both include people who were also non-weight bearing or otherwise injured AND those who were on their feet. A founding premise of the work I do is inclusivity (everyBODY welcome) and moving the best you can in your Right Now Today Body. Being injured allowed me to demonstrate that even without the use of a foot, movement was still possible.

2. Teaching with a broken foot inspired me to create a series of 3 classes for anyone who can’t stand and walk. The SkyDance series is a unique mind~body approach to movement on the floor that is great whether you’re injured or not since it strengthens the core and stimulates and strengthens the bones by bearing weight on parts other than the feet. It was a classic situation of necessity being the mother of invention! And when I then broke my OTHER foot 18 months later, I returned to the SkyDance practice gratefully.

TL;DR

COVID offered three pivot points:
1. teach classes online,
2. create The Age of Becoming online community for women 50+
and 3. breaking ties with two organizations that didn’t align with my values.

Two broken feet offered two pivot points:
1. teach in creative ways to accommodate my injury and encourage participants to find their own ways to take care of themselves no matter what the circumstances.
2. create SkyDance, a new kind of class for anyone who is unable to be on their feet or who wants to challenge their bodies in new ways.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

My main strategy for growing my business is the same one that got it started:

• Do what aligns with your values and skills.

• Keep showing up. Even when it seems like no one else is.

• Keep learning and growing.

• Support those who support you.

In addition, having a regular newsletter in which I offer free content and promote my work is huge. I have designed my website to encourage people to join my blog/newsletter list and to share it with others. And I keep showing up with the newsletter content to offer value and invite people into what I’m doing.

Supporting the work of people who you think are amazing and who support you, is another way of connecting with more people who might be interested in your work. With that in mind, I regularly interview cool people to share with The Age of Becoming and my newsletter list, accept invitations for podcast interviews, and teach collaboratively whenever I can.

TL;DR

Do what aligns with your values and skills.
Keep showing up. Even when it seems like no one else is.
Keep learning and growing so you always have something fresh to share.
Keep communication open with your people in the best way for you (e.g., blog posts, free offerings, newsletters, interviews)

Support those who support you. Spread the word about those who you think are doing amazing things and share them generously with the people in your sphere of influence.

Contact Info:

• Website: susanmcculley.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanjmcculley/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susan.mcculley.5/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXuiofI3kQy4opQFzCYVZqQ
• Other: The Age of Becoming Community for Women over 50 on Facebook ~ https://www.facebook.com/groups/411723369813607

Image Credits
All photos: Rebecca George Photography