Last week we had the honor and privilege of celebrating our 15-year anniversary as a small business. That means Jessica and I have been business partners for 16+ years and counting.

Yes, there have been some ups and downs along the way – we’ve dreamed, we’ve laughed, we’ve cried and we’ve shared many sleepless nights worrying about the long haul.

But regardless of what each of us had going on in our personal lives, we keep choosing to put the business first.

Here are 5 tips for having a successful long-standing business partnership.

1. Commit – We have a saying, “commit to your commitments” - it’s our guiding star. Years ago, we agreed to embark on this endeavor together and because of the commitment to business we made we both agree to do whatever it takes to keep the business running. Sometimes this means doing something we don’t really want to do, but if the decision is ultimately the best for the business then we are...

Literally 2 weeks before the pandemic hit we had just signed a new lease with a big master plan to expand our studio and grow our business. Then in a matter of days we went from thriving to hanging on for survival.

In NC the shutdown for gyms and studios just lifted about 2 weeks ago which means our studio was officially closed for 6 months.

Friends… this has been a dark period. And honestly, we were kind of operating in this mode that getting the studio open was our “finish line.”

Not so…it is clear there is more work to do, and now we realize that we are actually at the starting line as it’s time to kick into a rebuilding mode.

Here are 3 steps we’re taking to get back to thriving!  

Step 1  - Defining Our Hybrid Model  - For years we had it on our “to do” list to build out our virtual services, but there were always more pressing issues. Hello pandemic and then bam we’re operating our entire business...

It’s long been said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over yet expecting a different result.

Well friends if you are trying very hard to run your studio or business the way you used to then it’s likely you are feeling out of sorts and like you’re fighting an uphill battle.

The world has changed, and it’s likely we’re not going back to the way it was before… at least not for a long time. 

So as business owners where should we put our focus?

No, we don’t have a crystal ball, but here’s our best “one foot in front of the other” guess of how business will shift in the coming weeks, months and years.

1) The future of fitness is personal – With so many opportunities out there and different virtual platforms available (ones with presumably larger budgets than we have as small studio owners) it is going to be hard to compete in that space… unless you already have a lot of notoriety...

As a business owner it can feel like your work is never really done. Your business, your clients, your team is always on your mind - so much so that sometimes you forget to stop and take stock in all the other important aspects of your life and if you are even HAPPY. If you are anything like us you not only started our business because you were passionate about helping people, but also because you wanted to create a lifestyle for yourself and your family that allowed you to truly enjoy this one precious life you have to live.

So today we are pondering this question: how do we learn to embrace the journey of our lives (inside and outside of our business) and find gratitude and joy in the day to day? 

Here are 5 tips to get you started:

1. Embrace Joy – Imagine this… you had a good day. Maybe something amazing happened or maybe your day was simply absent of thrills. Essentially the day went your way – you...