Pilates Teachers' Manual

Special Guest - Claire Mockridge

March 04, 2021 Olivia Bioni, Claire Mockridge Season 4 Episode 9
Pilates Teachers' Manual
Special Guest - Claire Mockridge
Show Notes Transcript

Claire Mockridge, Pilates teacher trainer, host of The Pelvicpreneur Podcast, and all around business and marketing expert joins me on the podcast today. We talk about how she arrived in her niche, what makes health approach to pelvic floor health different, and what Pilates teachers can do to improve their business. Tune in!

I want to hear from you! Share your thoughts and follow the podcast on Instagram and Facebook @pilatesteachersmanual. Full show notes, episode transcription, and chapter markers can be found on the podcast website here: http://bit.ly/pilatesteachersmanual. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast for updates, and rate and review wherever you listen!  Episodes now available on YouTube: *https://bit.ly/YouTubePTM*

Email pilatesteachersmanual@oliviabioni.com with your feedback.   

Show Notes:

You can find Claire on Instagram @clairemockridge and find her on the web here. Her master class is free, so be sure to check it out if you're interested in working with clients with pelvic floor dysfunction!

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Episode Music:

Tracks: Tobu - Good Times, Tobu & Itro - Sunburst 
Tobu Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tobuofficial
Itro Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/officialitro
Released by NCS 
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Olivia: [00:00:00] Welcome to Pilates Teachers' Manual, your guide to becoming a great Pilates teacher. I'm Olivia, and I'll be your host. Join the conversation and the Pilates community on Instagram at @pilatesteachersmanual and visit buymeacoffee.com/OliviaPodcasts to support the show. Today's chapter starts now.

Hello, hello everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I am so [00:01:00] excited to be on with Claire Mockridge today. She is incredible. A Pilates teacher, she specializes in pelvic floor dysfunction and really focuses her efforts on teaching teachers, not just how to work with pelvic floor dysfunction, but also how to grow in their careers, find the clients they want. She does some business adventuring with them as well. She's also the host of Pelvic Preneur podcast, which if you love this podcast, you would love her podcast as well. Talking about business, talking about pelvic floor stuff. Absolutely awesome. You should check it out.

So Claire, thanks so much for joining me today.

Claire: [00:01:38] Thank you so much for the invite, Olivia. I'm really excited to get started. 

Olivia: [00:01:42] Yes. So the first thing I always like to know is how did you first find Pilates? 

Claire: [00:01:47] You know what? I really had to search the memory banks to answer this question. And it is because I think my very first experience of Pilates, was back in my early twenties.

I was in a corporate sort of [00:02:00] situation and you probably could have given me an award for the amount of sitting I was doing at that time of my life. And I got back pain very quickly, actually. And so then I went to book some sessions with a chiropractor in my local area. And it wasn't until like afterwards, if you sort of see what I mean, that I realized that she was doing reformer Pilates with me. But it was actually a good 15 years after that, that I actually decided to qualify or even enter the fitness industry and do my Pilates qualification. But that's my very first taste of Pilates. 

Olivia: [00:02:36] Excellent. I've found that that's a bit of a theme that there are some professional sitters out there who end up with a lot of pain or with carpal tunnel or with just like stuff going on because you know, our bodies are not really designed to sit for 18 hours a day. And then what inspired you to teach after that taste of Pilates? 

Claire: [00:02:57] Well, yeah, again, I'd like to sort of say it was like this [00:03:00] instructor or that instructor, but actually I had to qualify as a Pilates teacher really due to necessity. I entered the fitness industry via the personal trainer, jumpy-jumpy aerobics, body conditioning route. And I got injured very quickly. I got plantar fasciitis from high-impact work and Pilates was sort of really a good option. 

I suppose, really cause I was, I had actually decided that high-impact is not my future. That's not good for me. That's not healthy. And so what I actually decided to do was like, Hmm, I think I need to pivot somewhat here and find a client group that's low impact. And that's when I actually decided, ah, pregnancy and postnatal, that's really what I need to do. So that was like a saving grace and let's face it actually, Pilates is really, really beneficial for the pre and post partum client.

So they were kind of like, you know, it's a natural sort of progression for them as well as my business would agree. Well, yeah, I got plantar fasciitis very quickly. Took me about 18 months to [00:04:00] actually get over it and no word of a lie actually had foot pain for five plus years. And Pilates was useful in the sense that I was no longer jumping about like an idiot, obviously but, I can remember like teaching three back-to-back Pilates classes on a Tuesday and like entering that third hour of teaching, my feet were on fire.

They were just like burning and it just, you know, I just felt a bit of a fraud if I'm honest. Really. So, yeah, I know we're going to kind of get to that perhaps in the next, uh, next sort of a question. But it was necessity for me. And the other thing I will point out as well, the reason I decided to teach Pilates is because it sells. Because like, you know, when I qualified, I think it's about 2009, something like that.

I- medical profession,  midwives in my network, they're manual therapists. They're all referring their own clients to Pilates. And I thought, Hmm, I'm on a bit of a winner here, [00:05:00] so yeah. And let's face it. I mean, Pilates is still a financially, you know, good investment, like as far as the qualification goes, because it lives with you forever. You're always going to get that return on your investment. Yeah. So marketing wise, it's, it's a fairly easy sell and I, I made a little money from teaching Pilates classes as well. So a good business decision. 

Olivia: [00:05:21] I did notice- and I did my certification, you know, several years after that in 2017- but it was the type of thing where I was teaching yoga. But, you know, clients aren't interested really in private yoga sessions or- and there's so much on YouTube, there's so much on DVDs that it's just so saturated that, you know, you're just another kind of face. But Pilates does kind of set you apart as, and I mean, the training itself is much more intensive. Like you do have a lot more that you can offer as well as I think, as a Pilates teacher. 

Claire: [00:05:54] Well, I think Pilates is actually as a qualification like everyone should do it if they're in the movement industry, because I think it's [00:06:00] like, it gives you that huge like foundation of exercise repertoire, but also gives you the freedom to be incredibly creative.

There are lots of different variations of hands and knees, for example, there are lots of different things that you can do to a shoulder bridge and those sorts of things as well. So I think it gives you that confidence to be creative with a movement modality as well. 

Olivia: [00:06:25] So what marked the big transition for you that you were like, I am teaching and enjoying teaching. I'm assuming that you were having a good time teaching, but you know, how did you decide like, no, I'd actually rather work with teachers or I'd actually like to pivot, you know, kind of once again, 

Claire: [00:06:43] Yeah, well, I'm going to bring everything back to the foot. So I'm going to say the foot and the feet a lot in this interview, actually, because it's an integral part of movement.

So going back to my five years of foot pain, the traditional approach of like [00:07:00] rehabilitating someone at a foot pain is go and see a physio, do the exercises. Then if they're not, if the client isn't actually getting many results, then push them to an insoles orthotics person. So I had probably at least three sets of custom-made insoles, um, done for my feet over the course of five years.

And it was a pinnacle moment for me actually, when my partner and I were on holiday in Croatia, where if you've never been to Croatia just a quick history or geography lesson here, most of the beaches are pebble. They are not sand. And it was that moment where I'm like stepping off the beach towel, in bare feet to go and walk to the water's edge. 

Excruciating pain. I can't actually walk. It's like so incredibly uncomfortable and painful. Every step was like making me jump into the air, like three miles. It was not pleasant. And so yeah, foot pain, foot pain, foot pain was really the transition for me to go and [00:08:00] seek out a different approach. And this is actually when I discovered the work of Katie Bowman.

So I'm one of her restorative exercise specialists. I literally bought one of her books off Amazon worked through the suggestions of the exercises and bits and pieces from there. And I started actually like fusing the foot first full body approach that's used to the teachers inside her biomechanics training, to then actually apply it to the pre and postnatal client who often have pelvic floor dysfunction. 

So the foot, immobility of the foot, the fact that the muscles, the intrinsic muscles within the foot are incredibly like weak. Like if you had a, I didn't actually have a photograph of my feet way back when I was in the depths of foot pain, but I wish I had as a good benchmark.

But the muscles on the arch, the inside of my left foot had become so atrophied. And I could actually like week on [00:09:00] week, see the muscles building themselves back up with this work that I was doing. And I was able to wean myself off, just like a child, wean myself off the insoles and then transitioned into barefoot shoes. And I just became a foot nerd from there. 

But there is a huge connection between the foot and pelvic floor function. And I think that is like where, where I was heading from there. And I really enjoyed it. My clients really enjoyed it and I went, I've got to get this out to the world. So that's when I started like, you know, teaching teachers to fix their client's vaginas, et cetera, from there.

Olivia: [00:09:41] I mean, that's so wonderful. And. I love that you have this personal connection, because I find that that's really the most inspiring thing for you because you've been there. And you know, when, when things aren't working in your foot and especially pain is a gigantic motivator [00:10:00] to uh, to make a change. 

Tell me more about this transition from teaching full time to either workshops or even what inspired you to do this podcast. Cause you took your teaching and you're still teaching, but it's, it's different than, you know, group classes and sessions. 

Claire: [00:10:17] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. When I kind of actually had like two businesses, two income streams for a long time, it's been eight years actually that I've been teaching teachers in some capacity, if it's just where I very first started out doing in-person workshops. Remember? Those seem like a distant memory now, but yeah, I used to kind of tour the country actually here in the UK where I'm based actually. And I did pregnancy and postnatal exercise and marketing workshops for instructors. And so, yeah, that, that was a good introduction, but I was still teaching my fitness and Pilates classes some as my main sort of source of income.

And as I say, when I started going a little bit more [00:11:00] all in with the teacher training, I then decided actually, I don't think I can continue teaching my fitness and Pilates classes full-time anymore. So it was actually at the end of 2019. This is pre COVID here, people. It's like I had a premonition that something bad was going to happen in 2020.

And I, yeah, I quit my classes. And then I've actually a second ago gone all in with the teacher training, uh, your pelvic matters sort of, uh, programs and stuff like that. And I'd listen to podcasts for a long time. You know, when you sort of think back to like some of the people that you'd meet that have been in your ear buds for a long time, like providing that little weekly dose of inspiration and a, and that sort of stuff.

And I wanted to give back to the pelvic floor dysfunction industry. And that's why I decided to kind of brand myself, I guess really as the pelvic prenuer because my podcast, it sort of bridges the gap a little bit. There is [00:12:00] I'm filling a void in some aspects actually on my podcast because there are pelvic floor podcasts, but they're more for the physical therapists that do the internal examination sort of stuff with their pelvic floor clients.

Whereas also over here, we stay on the outside of the body and we treat like exercise and that sort of stuff, external, you know, whether it's like movement or manual therapy of some description, but we don't, don't put our head torch on and, and go in. And I feel like there's because I've been in the trenches, teaching fitness and Pilates for like 15 years.

By the time I launched my podcast, I know it is like, it's not, not all rosy all the time. And sometimes I do kind of have some, some moments where like I get real and, you know, sort of to share some of the like really annoying clients that have worked with. Like the teacher training community needs someone like us, you know, to be able to be that voice of reason and just be that like [00:13:00] that voice of inspiration.  And like, you know, you can, you can almost pretend that you're a friend into someone's ear sort of on a weekly, weekly podcast show as well. 

And I do, you know, what it's, you must get DMS and messages yet from, from fellow trainers all the time. It's just like really likes you up when someone reaches out and says, thanks, thanks so much. You've inspired me or whatever. It's really quite touching. 

Olivia: [00:13:24] And I think that you're addressing not just the gap in terms of like working externally, working through exercise, but also this gap that in teacher training, you're prepared to like teach exercises, but at least my teacher training, there wasn't a marketing component.

There wasn't a like how to run a business or how to say no to clients. It was just like, all right, now go teach. And it's like, well, who do I like to teach? And how do I like to teach? And what kind of schedule do I want and how do I get people in my class? You know, all of these things. I think that the business and the marketing side [00:14:00] are super important. Especially if you're going like the way of teaching your own thing and not necessarily working in a studio or even being in a studio, but doing workshops for yourself. That's huge. 

Claire: [00:14:11] Yeah. And I think like the  industry as well, or anyone that works in movement, you know, we're sort of like qualification collectors. We like booking ourselves on anatomy based courses, but if you're not going to get a return on investment of that qualification, just really do think twice. Is it really like how much of it are you only going to be using? 10% of that new knowledge? Because inside, you know, this is, as I say, like inside my programs, all of them, all of them have business and marketing skills because I want to make sure that you're not just working on another qualification and then not being able to sell it because you know, that kind of keeps the lights on. Doesn't it really? 

Olivia: [00:14:55] I mean, especially as teachers, because, um, I'm just thinking about group classes. It's just, [00:15:00] you've got to, depending on your studio situation, of course, every place is different. Every like I'm in a city. So I have access to tons of people all the time in every neighborhood I go to. But, you know, I have listeners who are in like rural Australia and it's like, where like, okay, now I've got this thing.

Like, what do I do? Like how do I get the word out? And things like that.

Hi there. I hope you're enjoying today's chapter so far. There's great stuff coming up after the break, too. Be sure to subscribe wherever you're listening and visit buymeacoffee.com/OliviaPodcasts to support the show there you can make a one-time donation or become a member for as little as $5 a month.

Membership comes with some awesome perks, including a shout out in the next episode, a monthly newsletter, a monthly zoom call with me and more. You can also visit [00:16:00] links.OliviaBioni.com/affiliates to check out some sweet deals on products I use and love. Now back to the show.

So, what is your advice for teachers or maybe things that you've seen being a teacher for so long and now working with teachers, what would solve the problems of polite teachers? 

Claire: [00:16:37] Yeah. Well, do you want me to sort of answer that as it pertains to, um, more like the pelvic floor dysfunction client? Cause I've definitely got some, some points to sort of share there.

Olivia: [00:16:46] Yeah, no, let's go there. That's your specialty. 

Claire: [00:16:49] Yeah. Okay, cool. Cause that's, that's my niche. Yeah. So I'll talk about that. We've had enough of the foot, but that's going to come back in here, people. So, uh, take your shoes off, barefoot shoes if, if you're wearing those. 

Um, [00:17:00] but yeah, I suppose some of the things I would say that I've learnt as a result of rehabilitating, many, many clients with pelvic floor dysfunction, it's, I'm almost like embarrassed to say it, but it's not exercise that's going to solve their problems. And I think this is a big missing link in solving pelvic floor dysfunction. So when I say it's not exercise, I'm actually talking about lifestyle factors that affect pelvic floor dysfunction. So excessive sitting, not walking the shoes that someone's wearing, the actual, like the body, not why I call them body casts, which is like the clothing that someone's working.

So, you know, when they say like, go niche. Yeah. I'm even more niche than just pelvic floor dysfunction. Love me a prolapse. The clients with prolapses are the ones that get the best results. But to give you an example of a body cost for a pelvic floor dysfunction client, it'll be something like skinny jeans. All right. Prolapse is a pressure issue. So if they've got a [00:18:00] really tight waistband, that's pulling their abdominals in. There's only so much displacement of pressure in incorrect displacement of pressure there. So that's an example of a body casts, belts, underwire bras, those sorts of things, anything that's gonna lack well, you know, stop the, the body parts moving through their full range of motion. 

Even like comfortable clothes. You know, when you like put a t-shirt on, you're constantly adjusting it, the collar or something like that. You get that damn thing off and put something else on. I mean, obviously during COVID here, we're all sort of like, you know, sweat pants all the time. So it's, there's probably going to be some benefits here to those, with those, with prolapse, but at a natural sort of a progression there.

But yeah, I would say don't focus on the exercise. That's, that's kind of tip one and I think we need to with pelvic floor dysfunction clients, get them off their back and standing more. So, yeah, if you're not doing like a lot of standing exercises or standing work, or actually even [00:19:00] teaching your clients how to stand more optimally, you kind of doing them a slight sort of disservice as well.

The listeners might be intrigued when I say this is, well, I have not prescribed or cued a Kegel in six plus years. So if you don't want to Kegel is. That is the squeeze release, uh, draw up and hold isolated contraction of the pelvic floor muscles. So in like old Pilates terminology, it would have been like the zip-up and hollow type cues that would have been used. I don't even cue engage your core. I don't. So therefore I don't cue squeeze, you vag, whatever, whatever you, you jellyfish. I mean, I'd be, it's been such a long time. I can't remember what the cues would have been or that I used. So. I'm just saying I'm not anti Kegal, there's only a place for them, but I tend to attract the clients that have been over-Kegeling and actually tightened.

And we come to their pelvic floor and then when they sort of find my approach, they're like, Oh, you know, angels start singing. And they're like, wow, [00:20:00] this person knows their stuff and this is something different. And so there's that. 

And then I would also look at the foot. Okay. So if like, just observe, just observing your client's feet cause they will tell you a story. My question, even if it's like the teeniest, like start of a bunion that some feasible or really not old bunion. Yeah. I can tell you now that that person is not walking as optimally as the person without bunions. I mean, sometimes there is a genetic trait of bunions, but it's quite small as it pertains to, to like a genetic sort of strain more often than not, the bunions are caused by incorrect footwear.

So tight shoes, heeled shoes, putting too much pressure, but yeah, there's a huge connection between gait and pelvic floor function or pelvic floor health. So yeah, do, do start looking at your, your, your client's feet. 

And I think it's great to collect qualifications, but the other thing [00:21:00] is, well, I tried to use Pilates to rehabilitate my clients with pelvic floor dysfunction. Limited results, people. And it was just demoralizing. So I'm just going to kind of say that I don't really believe that one exercise modality in isolation will actually rehabilitate any clients' problems. So fitness fusion is definitely the future. So you go gather the cream of the crop of all of your qualifications and merge them together into this fitness fusion to help your clients would be my best advice then.

Olivia: [00:21:38] I think we're seeing that beyond just like one modality for me, even broader. It's like just having multiple languages to speak to people. Because to some people yoga is just like, Oh yeah, this breathing in this like, mental centering that I'm doing is really connecting. For some people it's like, no, I want you to talk about the muscles. Or, and like, [00:22:00] even now I've, I'm also studying motor learning theory and like talking about the muscles isn't super useful necessarily, but for some people that's the language that they speak and like, that's the way that you connect with them.

And just the fact that you have like this big- people call it like a toolbox. I kind of think of it like Santa's sack. And you're just like, have this like massive bag of tricks. Like it's not just a toolbox. It is a sack full of presents. And you can just like, pull out these things. And these, um, these qualifications. And like you said, the fact that you're able to use them is much more important than having them. You can have them, but if you can't use them, then, have a nice wall of diplomas. 

Claire: [00:22:36] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Uh, but also make money from the people. Okay. So just go let them collect dust on the wall there. You got to bring them down and dust them off and use them.

But yeah, I was also going to kind of say really. Pilates-  I touched on this earlier- it like gives you that creativity, but I tell you what also Pilates provides you with not just the foundation and the creativity. But it's also like the permission [00:23:00] to fuse other modalities into it. Now, obviously, if you were trained in a classical sense, we don't want to be like fiddling with that. That's your bag, but there must be something else on your timetable that appeals to the masses or appeals to, you know, the back pain client or the knee pain client or a niche within a niche, if you kind of see what I'm saying. So that you then providing a really beneficial master of everything approach, because you're gonna, you're gonna think about kind of exercising and education as not just benefiting you, but benefiting your client as well.

Olivia: [00:23:37] So I am loving all of this. You are just like full, I can see that this is where your passion is. And I'm so glad that you've niched to the niche because I mean, this is fantastic and stuff that, you know, even doing like pre or postnatal trainings that like, we don't always get this kind of business side [00:24:00] of things.

So I love that you're offering this to people that you work with because. It's like, it's funny. Like I was a, did an episode earlier where I was talking about, you know, career paths and I was like, well, I don't want to talk like all about money, but like, part of it is about money. Like you're making a living, whether this is your full-time thing or your part-time thing. Not all of us have the luxury of just like doing it because you love it. Like you also need to eat. 

And so finding that balance of, of course you want to help people, but like also like getting the word out. And like I was reading it. You're also talking about, it's not just, you know, raising your rates, it can be raising your rates. So it, it's not just raising your rates. It's also, you know, tailoring your services in a way that you're attracting big ticket clients or those sort of things where it's like a package beyond, you know, just exchanging your time for money. I teach this class, I'm paid this much and then that's it. If I don't teach, I also don't make money. 

Claire: [00:24:55] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I suppose there's kind of three things that my teaching [00:25:00] within the teacher training community provides. The first thing is like simplifying what it is you're prescribing your clients. 

Like, I mean, take myself back a hundred years ago when I first qualified in Pilates. I did actually give my personal training clients too many exercises to do. So I know one of the biggest pain points with Pilates instructors is if only the client would do their homework. All right. How about you take it a little leaf out of your own book here, or page out of your own book, how might you give them fewer exercises to do. Simplify it. So if you're giving clients eight exercises, I'm going to challenge you here today to knock that down to five, five is a much like smaller number. Yeah. But you know, the, the chances of them actually doing all five exercises is going to be broader.

Okay. So that would be the first thing. The other thing I realized actually, cause obviously I have a niche client group [00:26:00] and they all sort of come to me with similar things. All right. So they all have foot immobility. Some of them have foot pain. They all have eye-wateringly tight hamstrings. And they all have like glutes that have been on holiday for several centuries. All right. So if I could just summarize how to rehabilitate clients with the full body approach, it would be systemizing. All right. So I covered in that first point is simplifying. So cop down what it is you're doing. Don't overload, don't overwhelm. I keep it simple. Okay. And the second thing, as I said, it's kind of more the systematizing type thing.

So because the client that's coming to see me all is having like similar imbalances, similar dysfunction in their different, like major body parts and muscles and things. I was actually able through like guinea pig testing of my own clients to put [00:27:00] levels of exercises together. So I've got foundational exercises, intermediate, and advanced exercises. You are never going to give an advanced exercise to someone on appointment one. And it says looking actually through like the journey of the client, in fact, you don't even need that many exercises because it's the lifestyle factors that you need to sort of really look at.

So that's the second sort of thing. So is there some way that you could make it easier on yourself by prescribing similar exercises to the same client? And that's why niching down is so useful. Because you end up almost doing it on autopilot. They've done the first five exercises appointment two. We know we're probably going to introduce at least number six in at least seven, and then we start to play a little bit after that, but it's like, can you get a plan? Can you get something together? If you treating the same types of dysfunction and all the same types of, you know, sort of clients. So that [00:28:00] is our simplifying, systemize. 

And the third thing is the big one that we don't like to talk about and that is selling because if you can't sell, you have to get comfortable with selling. But you know, you kind of, if this is the first time you have experienced the foot first full body approach to pelvic floor dysfunction that, you know, I'm sort of saying I haven't prescribed a Kegel in six plus years. You're like, where do I sign? It, it sells itself. Doesn't it? And I think, um, yeah, that's, that's all, I would say. They're the three, the three Ss, when it comes to pelvic floor dysfunction for the clients with the full body way. 

Olivia: [00:28:36] Fantastic. Where can listeners find you? I will link to all of your stuff in the show notes, but if you can tell me a little bit about what the courses you're offering, they are virtual, which I'm.

I am trying to like silver lining this pandemic and I am loving all of these, you know, online offerings, the fact that you can take class in Spain, in England, in, you know, [00:29:00] Australia like across the country, you know. I just started working with an online studio that as teachers in DC and New York and California, and just like, we can all be part of the thing together. So first of all, I love that, but please tell me about your adventures and how we can continue learning. 

Claire: [00:29:16] Yeah, sure. So I guess some good signing point would be to head over to your podcast app and subscribe to the Pelvic Preneur podcast if you'd like to hear more about me, my journey. Um, and just, you know, general talk about vaginas and stuff like that. I'm, I'm your woman. So do go and check that out. 

And Instagram's probably a good place to connect with me because I do put some polarizing content out that makes you dig a little bit of a sharp intake of breath every now and again. So if you like someone who tells it as it is, or calls you out in this industry and also provides you with some helpful advice as see, act, play more courage is probably the best place to hang out with me. I answer all my own DMS. As I mentioned this, it's not a [00:30:00] robot that you're talking to. So just know also that approachable is my middle name. So if you want to reach on, on any sort of issue to do with  business or, or whatever, I'm certain I can kind of help you. 

Via the Instagram bio, there's actually, um, a fantastic resource that's available for our pelvic floor Pilates instructors. So it's an online master class and it's really for Pilatess instructors who want a bit more time freedom. So if you want to work the hours that you want to work without having to attract unmotivated pelvic floor clients who expect instant results from you, go and check that out.

Olivia: [00:30:37] Excellent. Is there anything else that you want to throw out or share about your adventure things? 

Claire: [00:30:45] Well, I suppose I'm on a bit of a journey this year to kind of get clients, to get teacher trainers, particularly to think about boundaries with their clients. Think about, yeah. Some of those like icky things [00:31:00] could you get rid of someone off your, off your time to toxic clients? You know, the energy vampires. That's one, one big thing that, uh, I don't like to see, you know, you don't, you don't, you don't need to be like pushed around by your clients is your business. You became self-employed for yourself. So maybe setting some boundaries.

And I guess my second piece of advice is if you have not raised your rates in 10 years, or even indeed five years, have some words with yourself on that as well, because you are worth so much more than $5 an hour, five pounds an hour, whatever it is. So maybe have a little think about that. 

Olivia: [00:31:34] Claire. I am so glad that I was able to connect with you and thank you so much for just dropping mad wisdom.

I really do recommend checking out her masterclass and her podcast. Just full of wisdom and really doable things to make your life a happier version of life. Like I absolutely love it and I think you will too. So thanks so much for hopping on today from [00:32:00] across the pond. 

Claire: [00:32:01] Thank you so much for having me. It's been really great fun.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

Olivia: [00:32:13] Thanks for listening to this week's chapter of Pilates Teachers' Manual, your guide to becoming a great Pilates teacher. Check out the podcast Instagram at @pilatesteachersmanual, and be sure to subscribe wherever you listen. For more Pilates, goodness, check out my other podcast, Pilates Students' Manual, available everywhere you listen to podcasts.

The adventure continues. Until next time.