Special Guest - Cory Sterling

Ever wonder how the law applies to your Pilates business? Cory Sterling, founder of online law firm Conscious Counsel, joins me on the podcast to talk all things legal responsibilities, protecting your business, and setting yourself up for success. This was such a fun conversation! 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:

Cory is the founder of the heart-leading law firm Conscious Counsel, a lawyer, small business owner, group fitness instructor and yoga teacher. He wrote The Yoga Law Book and has served hundreds of clients in the health and wellness space all across the world, the majority of whom own or operate a fitness/health studio. He has presented at conferences around the world, teaching about the law in a FUN and practical way. 

He won the award for "Highest Rated Session" at MindBody Bold, amongst a field of the health and fitness leading minds and best presenters. In March 2020, he completed the MindBody Business Consulting Program in order to learn overall best business practices for studios and is the only lawyer to hold the certificate. You can find him on Instagram @consciouscounsel and online at https://consciouscounsel.ca 

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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 
https://www.youtube.com/NoCopyrightSounds

Transcript

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 [00:01:00] so excited today to have Cory Sterling of the online law firm Conscious council on today. He's also the author of The Yoga Law Book. And I'm personally, I'm really excited because this is definitely a part of Pilates teaching that we don't really talk about in teacher training and that's the fact that you have like legal responsibilities sometimes. So I'm really glad to be able to discuss this with Cory today. Thanks so much for being on.

Cory: [00:01:28] It's a pleasure. Thanks for having me, Olivia. And I love how like legal responsibilities sometimes. I like, I love how that sometimes is thrown in there.

Olivia: [00:01:37] Okay. We can always have legal responsibilities, I guess. 

Cory: [00:01:41] Yeah. The way the law works is your, there are rules all around us that are always taking place. So when we're driving a car, there are rules. When we're walking on the street there are rules. When we're in a store, there are rules. When we operate our Pilates business, there are rules.

So, yeah, but that did make me laugh. I'm smiling. 

[00:02:00] Olivia: [00:01:59] Thanks. Um, but before we even jump into how Pilates in the law have this relationship, can you tell me a little bit about Conscious Counsel? And I can just say I'm, I'm also working with Kinexology with Chelsea Corley and I read some of your legal documents and they were quite fun.

So thank you for those awesome terms and conditions. 

Cory: [00:02:19] Fun is the magic word that we're looking for. So I'm very glad to hear that. Yeah. I, um, I started a law firm a couple of years ago and it's grown into something really beautiful and enjoyable and we're on, we're on a mission to transform the way that legal services are provided for wellness professionals, because sometimes wellness professionals have legal responsibilities and they just don't really know anything about it.

So why not educate and empower and make such an important process, something simple, easy and fun. And we do it online. It's, we're very much a 2021 law firm. And I'm super [00:03:00] proud of that. So the future is now.

Olivia: [00:03:01] I was going to say it was like, it's awesome that you're online. This is something that the wellness industry has had to shift to just in the past 2020 as we went from, you know, especially in Pilates, a lot of teachers teach with the equipment and you go from like having this reformer and the springboard and the tower and the chair and all of this. And suddenly it's like back to like basics almost. So it was a big pivot for us, but you are structured that way, which is super duper awesome. 

Cory: [00:03:26] Yeah, we got that structure because three years ago, I just wanted to be a lawyer and travel the world. And I was like, what services can I provide without having to see anybody or be in front of anyone or do anything that requires me to be there physically. And I sort of reversed engineered it that way. And yeah, that's, that's how it happened. 

Olivia: [00:03:47] Your book is The Yoga Law Book. We spend a lot of time as Pilates teachers explaining that yoga and Pilates are not the same thing, but in this regard, I would say that they are, that the responsibilities that we have and the rules [00:04:00] for businesses and operations are very similar.

So, I guess I would ask you why is knowing the law important for especially heart leading law, which is your thing, which I love, I think that's super duper awesome. Um, is, you know, why is that important to Pilates teachers? 

Cory: [00:04:20] It's important for Pilates teachers and for heart leading professionals, because there is inevitably an intersection between the law and your business. Inevitable. It's the same with accounting and filing taxes. Like you're not getting around it. And the truth is if you have a business that you are using either to partially support yourself or fully support yourself and your family, there are going to be legal issues that change and that are required to be dealt with. So if we're going to be dealing with them, we might as well do it in a fun way. 

And I think, and certainly The Yoga Law Book would apply to Pilates professionals because I mean, you could just substitute the word Pilates for yoga and the, and you know, all of it [00:05:00] would be the same. But it's sort of, it goes through the different issues or questions that I see, you know, all of my clients going through.

And when I wrote the book two years ago, it was because I saw that everyone had the exact same question and everyone was making the exact same mistake. So I was like, okay, cool. Why don't we just write it down? And I can share some of the crazy wild stories I've been through with my clients, because everyone else out there, if you are going to build your business with an intention to grow and become more successful and help more people and build a bigger community, you're going to have to, you will have to address these issues.

And so the, the chapters are things like, you know, choosing a corporate structure, LLC, or sole proprietorship. The importance of waivers of liability, you know, why should I not download contracts from the internet? When is the appropriate time to trademark? What should be included in a privacy policy? All of, all of these things that Pilates professionals will come up against, inevitably, I just try to like, be [00:06:00] like, yo, here's this super basic thing that you need to know and why it's relevant to know it.

And God help us all. I hope the message got through. 

Olivia: [00:06:10] I think that this is important, not only in a, um, taking something that is very necessary and not always fun way, and then making it fun, but also from a framework of like being trauma informed as well. Like one of the components of being a trauma informed Pilates teacher, movement, teacher, anything like that is that you want the documents that you're giving people to sign, to be clear, to be comprehensible to be like something that, you know, as they're filling it out there, you're not feeling like you're being tricked into something or that like some convoluted, like terms and conditions can be like that sometimes. And so to have something that's very clear, very, to the point, um, and understandable, I think can really help make what you're doing more accessible.

Cory: [00:06:57] Definitely the, the golden rule we [00:07:00] have at conscious council is that if a seven-year-old cannot understand it, then it should be rewritten. And the reason why, and you hit the nail on the head, the issues come up, the legal issues that I have to deal with, or put out fires that I put out for clients usually arise from some form of misaligned expectations or a lack of clear and concise communication.

So we practice what we call proactive law, and it's like, Okay. You're we're coming into this relationship. We're going to be working together. Here's everything: what you can expect from me, how scheduling works, how payments work, all of the everything that you need to know about this relationship is on this piece of paper.

You know, go have a coffee, read it, have fun, get in a good mood and then decide if you want to enter into this relationship with me. And if you don't, that's totally cool. And if you do, awesome and let's honor these terms, because the, probably the best thing you could do is give someone a document with, you know, [00:08:00] outlining the relationship you want to have.

And someone saying like, actually that doesn't work for me. I don't think I want to enter into this relationship. Like that just saved you time, stress, tears, whatever. It's like, it's, we can be upfront with people. We can communicate openly and honestly. We can say what our needs are and we can let people know what we need from them. And why not? 

Olivia: [00:08:23] That sounds like the dream. I'm currently in the process of buying my first house, actually right now, and like talking to lawyers and I'm like, kind of wish, like, do you do houses? 

Cory: [00:08:34] Absolutely not. But I'm, I'm stoked for you. And I wish you best of luck. 

Olivia: [00:08:38] Thanks. No, it'll be fun. Can you talk a little bit about how COVID has changed the landscape and maybe things that you had in your liability waivers, even beyond -maybe this is a misconception and maybe it's a popularly held misconception.

But like, when I think about law and Pilates, like the first thing I jumped to is like the liability waiver. And I [00:09:00] think you've already really opened up the conversation from there that it can be like, this is our relationship contract as well. And not just, this is how you can't sue me necessarily for things, but how has COVID changed, maybe how things work. 

Cory: [00:09:15] Okay, I'm, I'm gonna I'm gonna circle back at the, it's going to be beautiful, how I circle back to COVID at the end, but I just, I want to just chat a little bit about waivers in the communicating openly, and honestly, so. No big words. I'm just going to explain, you know, what a waiver of liability is and how and why it works. 

So at law, you have a responsibility to make sure that someone's going to be safe if they are participating in an activity that you are facilitating. Cool. At law, it's an implied relationship. If I'm coming into your studio, at law, you have to make sure that I'm going to be safe.

There are instances where someone can, or that obligation that you have at law can be nullified or canceled out. If someone signs a piece of paper saying like, Hey, cool, I totally get that [00:10:00] normally you would have this responsibility to make sure that I'm going to be safe, but because you've clearly told me what we're going to be doing and what the risks are and all of the other things that need to be included, because you've communicated openly and honestly with me, and you've, you've actually told me the type of relationship we're entering into and, and what's going to happen, I'm allowed to sign away my legal right to hold you responsible for anything that happens while I'm doing this activity with you.

 In law, there's, there's a word that's called policy. And like, I love policy. So what happens is something will happen in court. And like in law school, you only read like this super all-star cases, you know, like read the ones that no one cares about. But when a judge is making a decision about a case, one of the factors they'll always weigh in will be policy. And policy basically means like, okay, well, look, it's, we're, we're trying to make the world a better place. And in our country we have values and we have ethics and we have standards. And how would either allowing this or disallowing this, [00:11:00] what would that say about where we are today and what type of society we are? And when our grandkids read this judgment, cause they're going to read all my judgments, what are they going to say or think about, you know, how I was as a person?

And the principle behind waivers, the policy behind is like, okay, cool. Well, obviously the government said, and you know, the courts say that you, you have a responsibility to make sure that someone's going to be safe for a good reason. That makes sense to have it. So if we're going to let you get out of that and not be bound by that responsibility, the only way we're going to let you do that is if you'd like 100% clearly told someone what activities you're doing, what equipment you're using, what the risks are, what the outcomes of the risks are, you know, letting that person voluntarily participate them, affirming that they're healthy enough to participate and ultimately then releasing you of liability. And that's all you really need to know about waivers of liability and why they exist. It's like all of it relies [00:12:00] on this notion that you can clearly, that someone was clearly told beforehand what they would be doing and what the risks are and then they agreed. 

COVID is different because everything with COVID is different, but COVID is also different because now the risks of what we're doing are different. Because now if I'm choosing to go into your Pilates studio, Sure. There's a reformer. And there's the, the little hoop thing that I squeezed with my thighs sometimes. And the other, like the slinky thing that my legs go up in, I just, I don't know any of the technical terms for Pilates, but all of these risks that existed before still exist, but also there's a communicable disease that's highly contagious that's going around. And as such, if I'm participating in these activities, I also have to accept the risk that I will get that disease. And so if you're going to be hosting this, you have to clearly tell people that risk. And then, only then, you know, can they [00:13:00] accept the additional risks and additional outcomes to then voluntarily participate and sign away legal rights? Does that make sense? 

Olivia: [00:13:06] That makes the most sense out of every, any liability waiver I've ever read. So that's really wonderful. And it's not just for the in-person classes where you are in this new situation, that it's all the risk and benefit of working with the equipment and all of that plus COVID. But then also we're doing a lot of teaching virtually as well.

And so now, you know, we might be doing it over zoom or Google meet or Hangouts or anything, but you're still teaching movement. Does that change how we enter contracts as well? 

Cory: [00:13:41] For sure it does. And I also want to give you props for not mentioning zoom because everyone's always just like zoom and you through out, you through out meetups and Hangouts. Oh yeah. Like I'm, I'm into those. Well done. Olivia that's it's impressive. 

Um, okay. This is how it changed. So remember, the whole thing about law [00:14:00] is law is a series of relationships and we want to communicate our expectations openly and honestly, in each, in each relationship. Doing things online, now our relationship has changed. So because the relationship has changed the legal arrangement or the legal document we had for that relationship needs to change as well. 

And if we're staying with waivers and we're talking about classes provided on meetups or Hangouts or even evergreen content like videos on demand what's changed is now the instructor is not in the room. The instructor is not able to verify that the space is safe enough. The instructor is not able to provide in-person adjustments. And if someone's doing something totally wrong and they're watching a Pilates video on demand, no one's there to, you know, no one's helping that person. So. Yes, it has changed. 

And like to keep things super, super practical. The thing that we always want to consider is what is the relationship [00:15:00] and has that relationship changed? And if the relationship has changed, let's put in documentation or communication evidenced in writing around it so that everyone's on the same page. And if an issue comes up, there can never be any question about what we had agreed to. 

Olivia: [00:15:17] I definitely spend a lot of time when I am teaching through video call format, or also FaceTime. We can shout out to FaceTime. That's happened too, but you know, you spend a lot of time being like, you know, I'm not sure what's out of the screen. Like, I don't know what's behind you. So look out when you reach your arms overhead because you know, I can't check to make sure there's not like a coffee table or something.

But no, that makes a lot of sense. Do you have any legal tips for virtual teaching? Is it just changing the document changing just like clearly stating that your relationship has changed? What, what can we do Cory? Share your wisdom. 

Cory: [00:15:54] Well, we, we look from, from a legal perspective and you're, you're opening a can of worms here because I've [00:16:00] got a lot of opinions, but, um, to keep it strictly legal, which would be the great agreement for a podcast.

If I ever have one, a strictly legal. Keeping it strictly legal, make sure that you just, you capture the type of relationships you want to have either with your clients or with your team or with your landlord or with whoever else you're working with, if you've got a business partner, whatever the context is, make sure that you just, you, yeah. You continually update the relationship through written agreements. 

How to make an online class better. I've done a total of zero online classes. I'm just not, I'm also where I am in Brazil. Uh, so long as you use a mask and you bring a towel, you can, I can continually participate. So like I played tennis last night and I did Pilates on Monday, which was delicious. So I don't, yeah, I don't know, but I hope, but I always hope Olivia. 

Olivia: [00:16:58] I mean, I've, I've [00:17:00] gotten to do a vast combination of things. Over in Chicago, we had to shut down in March and then we opened again in July and then we shut down in November and now we're back and better than ever in the new year. And yeah, I mean, they're, they're definitely different. Like, I can see how the relationship between the teacher and the student, like, even though that's still there. There's less that you can do. And also more that you can do, if that makes sense, like in terms of being able to offer physical adjustments, like, definitely I can't do that, but in terms of like promoting autonomy and getting you to sort of find things for yourself or use equipment where it's like really on you, like, I can do that also in terms of scheduling, I can now like book on the hour on the half hour, because you just like end meeting and then start a new one, you know? So like the commute's also great. I will say that about virtual. 

Cory: [00:17:55] Yeah. Love, love a good commute. There are endless things that are wonderful about virtual. And I [00:18:00] think all of it's just a perspective, right? It's just choosing to see it as something that's really awesome that's happened or choosing, you know, the alternative, which, which I won't, which I won't do.

But that being said, the cool thing is like, we still have access to work with our favorite professionals and we still have the opportunity to grow. And, and yeah, like you, like, I think if, obviously it's sort of moot just to say that we don't know what we can expect from life, but the one thing we always control is the outlook and the perspective and our attitude that we can have about it. So yeah, like there are endless wonderful, positive things. And as long as we continue to stay healthy, let's just enjoy the ride.

Olivia: [00:18:46] 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. [00:19:00] 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 links.OliviaBioni.com/affiliates to check out some sweet deals on products. I use and 

Cory: [00:19:26] love. Now back to the show.

Olivia: [00:19:40] I do want to touch on something that doesn't apply to me in particular, but definitely I know that listeners, in addition to being teachers, they're also studio owners. And for things like renegotiating your lease, or even if you're just working for yourself, like having a home office and suddenly [00:20:00] like you're teaching at home all the time.

Are there any considerations for studio ownership, whether they're even switching to virtual entirely, which I know a bunch of us did, but now we're switching back, but who knows? You know, it's like that. Yeah. 

Cory: [00:20:14] It's a big who knows. And I think the most important thing for anything in life is knowing what you want. Once you know what you want, it's really, really easy to come up with a roadmap of how to get there. The confusing part is when you don't know what you want, and then you're like, Well, if you don't know what you want, where you going, because how do you know how you're going to get there? 

So I think when it comes to choosing a structure, you know, uh, you have to think, what is it that I want, do I want to physical space? Do I want, am I okay if there are continual shutdowns, do I accept rent as being, you know, the highest expenditure on my balance sheet each month? Even if it's something that I don't necessarily need, do I want to travel? Do I want to stay where I am? Do I, whatever it is, it's like the, the clearer you can get on- I call [00:21:00] it reverse engineering. Like you can reverse engineer your whole life. You can reverse engineer your entire Pilates practice and your business. And just start at the end of like a super dreamy outcome and just like, cool. This is how much I'm making. This is how many people I'm helping. And this is the hours I'm working and go from there. The sky's the limit. 

Olivia: [00:21:21] You have such like a wonderful, bright perspective. Like I'm really excited that, you know, through COVID and then through being able to meet people online that I'm able to connect with you because like, this is super fun and I feel better about legal contracts that I've entered into. Cause I was like, yeah, well, if that's what it said, then I'm okay with that. 

Can you talk about, um, maybe what 2021 looks like for- I don't know if you can speak to the whole fitness world, I don't even know if you can speak to the whole Pilates world- 

Cory: [00:21:50] Looks good. It looks really good. Um, firstly, it's, it's lovely to meet you too and thank you for having me. It, it is cool. Like a silver lining as well of all of [00:22:00] how everything's happened is that this is how easy it is to connect with, you know, other professionals in the industry and how, how cool it is to share ideas and connect with people in such a simple way. It's like if it used to be how it was before, you'd have to travel places. You'd have to wear clothes, you know, like all of those laborious tasks that you now it's just like, Oh cool. I can actually do whatever I want and chill at home and click a couple of buttons and be able to connect. So, so yeah, I'm very happy for it too. 

And 2021. Oh my gosh. Just get ready for the best one yet. That's the first thing I'll say and get ready for more- I don't want to say surprises, but be prepared for more inconsistencies and curve balls, because it's going to be a continued mix between online and in-person. And for the month of January, we did a whole like privacy policy sale, because that was the, that was one of the areas that I saw most, the [00:23:00] majority of our clients were very vulnerable in, in the sense that like, no one really takes the privacy policy seriously or like, Oh, whatever. I'll just copy something from my friend and then put it at the bottom of my website or do I even need one? 

But, uh, one of the students on our team did a whole bunch of research into it and like 60% of the, of businesses that get, get cyber attacked are small business owners. In addition to that, there are serious legal repercussions if you don't have a proper privacy policy in place, like outlining, okay, like this is what happens if there's a breach or, you know, all those sorts of things. 

And also it's like, if you think about your phone, like 10 years ago, I don't even know what was happening 10 years ago, but 10 years ago it's like, Oh, my phone was a phone. Let's say 20 years just to be safe. And I'll date myself. 20 years ago, like you had a flip phone that maybe you could send a text message with and then like, Oh, your phone then became your camera. And then it also became your iPod. And then it also became your computer, which is crazy that it's all those things.

But in the [00:24:00] same way, our websites have become like the website used to be a business card /magazine. And now it's like, we do our schedule through our website. We collect payments through our website. We do, we post all of our videos and all of our intellectual property on our websites and the, in the same way. It's like, yeah, just have the appropriate legal documentation for all of that stuff as well. 

I'm like that's yeah, for 2021, I see a lot more privacy stuff. I've continued to see a lot of trademark stuff and clients with having needs for trademarks, just because more people like it used to be your clients were just coming from your studio, like down the road at Chicago lakefront. Yeah. Is that, is that an, is that a neighborhood in Chicago? 

Olivia: [00:24:45] I mean, it is Chicago is the city and there's a lake. There is lake front in Chicago. I mean, I'm in Hyde park. You can say in Hyde park.

Cory: [00:24:52] In high Hyde park. Is that where Lollapalooza is? 

Olivia: [00:24:56] Um, Lollapalooza is in. Okay. So [00:25:00] Hyde park is a neighborhood. Grant Park. I've actually never been to Lollapalooza. I've only been in Chicago for five years. Hold on. I don't want Chicago. Chicagoans is coming from me, but, uh, Lollapalooza happens outside, downtown, in a park that is an actual park Hyde Park has parks, but it's also the name of the neighborhood. 

Cory: [00:25:17] I'm into it. So I know this is Pilates, but I'm just going to go with the deep dish example.

Right? Olivia doesn't like the deep dish example. You've been there five years. It's deep dish. Um, okay. So let's say what it used to be is that let's just let's use Hyde Park, right? Okay. So I've got my Pilates studio in Hyde Park. It's awesome. All of my clients, we go to Hyde Park together and they come to the studio and then we drink kombucha afterwards in the park with a picnic blanket and have fun.

Now your clientele is like, from Hyde Park, Idaho, and from all these other places in the world. So you have more eyeballs who are looking at your business and your business name. And like, what I [00:26:00] saw at the end of 2020 was a lot more of people needing to register their trademarks because the, either there's some more people copying and using it, or even some instances where someone else would register a trademark and then they were not allowed to use their business name any longer.

So 2021, the year of trademarks and privacy policies. 

Olivia: [00:26:20] That makes sense too, because definitely pre COVID, all of my clients were from my neighborhood and now I see people who live in different states, like I'm working at Kinexology, which is in DC, but there's teachers from New York and also in California somewhere. And we're just like all jamming and doing the thing. 

And in a lot of ways, that's exciting because you can- um, I love the way you phrased it, but like really we're, we're making money and helping people. Like that's a pretty sweet deal. I like it. I'll do that for the rest of my life. And you get to meet more people, connect with more people and help with more people.

I think in 2021, because now we know that this is an [00:27:00] option because maybe starting a brick and mortar studio has like a ton of startup costs. And not that there isn't startup costs for an online business, but you could have an online studio that has no physical location. 

Cory: [00:27:11] Totally. If you're awesome. Hopefully you're a qualified professional. Well, certainly you should be qualified professional, but also if you're great at marketing, like that's all you need. Obviously you need the actual skills to teach and Pilates is something that's way more technical than a lot of other things out there. But yeah, you're the, the overhead cost for starting an online business, mat, right? Mat Pilates, you need a couple of those like balls, like the smaller balls that are like sort of weighted. You need the circling hoop things. Right. 

Olivia: [00:27:41] Magic circles, sometimes ring of fire. 

Cory: [00:27:45] To do, if like, if this is now actually like a life fantasy of mine, if like some, if there was someone could record me in a Pilates studio and I would just share the names that I had for all of the equipment. And then I find out what it's really called, you know, it's like, Oh, like the springy [00:28:00] slidey thing. All that stuff. 

Olivia: [00:28:02] And they're like, that's called the carriage of the reformer, Cory. 

Cory: [00:28:06] I would bury my head in my hands. 

Olivia: [00:28:09] No, I think your names are more fun. Um, honestly we should refer to it by that. 

Cory: [00:28:15] But do you know the leg when I'm talking about, when you're on you're on the reformer, you're lying on your back, you put your two legs straight and then, and then you bring the legs down.

Olivia: [00:28:25] It's much more fun when you describe it. We call it feet in straps or legs in straps. Feet straps. Cause it literally your feet are in straps, 

Cory: [00:28:33] Talk to Joseph and let's change that one. Yeah. 

Olivia: [00:28:36] Like, no, dude, I will say that we definitely differ on some exercise names, but then they have like really great names for things like dead bug and I'm like, all right. I would also call it that. 

Cory: [00:28:49] I love the, yeah. It's also so difficult to describe. 

Olivia: [00:28:52] It is a difficult conversation. If I like I take rideshare to and from studios and they're like, Oh, you know, what do [00:29:00] you do? And you're like, teach Pilates. And they're like, is it yoga? And you're like, not quite. You lie on this thing. It's like a bed, but it has springs. And also it moves and has straps. It's not a torture chamber. It's like, there's a lot of navigating. 

Cory: [00:29:14] That's lovely. That's uh, that's also a t-shirt. And I also, I do like I'm I'm into, I was so into Pilates when I was doing it five times a week. I'm just getting back. As I said, it was back Monday, but.

Is it like it's better? I don't know. I don't want to say it's better than anything else, but it's awesome.

Olivia: [00:29:33] Because I was a yoga teacher first, and then I became a Pilates teacher. And the way I've described it is it's like using a different language to get you to what could very much be like the same place of feeling more energized, feeling, calmer, feeling, stronger, feeling, more confident, all of those things you can do both of those things. Um, for me, the big divergence is that Pilates is more, the exercise method and yoga could really be like the [00:30:00] lifestyle. Pilates is like trying to be a lifestyle right now, but it doesn't need to be a lifestyle. It can just be like a cool thing that you do. 

Cory: [00:30:05] Yeah. And it's just the, the feeling that I have every time is like, that was probably the most intelligent thing I could have done for my body. That's how I feel every time when I get out of Pilates. 

Olivia: [00:30:14] That's awesome. Your Pilates teacher is very proud of you and very pleased with themselves.

Cory: [00:30:19] Leo! Hi Leo! Love you, Leo. I love you, man. 

Olivia: [00:30:25] This is fantastic. Everything is fantastic. I feel better talking to you now about law. Is there anything that you think Pilates teachers need to know about uh, the law or the importance of the law, or like, if you, you have the ear of several Pilates teachers, like, what do they need to know? What do they want to take away from this conversation? 

Cory: [00:30:49] I, in my, my earnest and honest advice, which, which comes from a very heart leading and loving place is like, Yeah, I get that it [00:31:00] sucks to pay for legal agreements. I get that there's a lot of cool things to spend money on and maybe there's less money than there was before, but the stress and the problems and the challenges I go through fixing problems for Pilates professionals that don't have agreements in place to start. That part really, really sucks. 

And it's like, and not having legal agreements is like, riding in a car without a seatbelt where it's like, you don't, you don't need a seatbelt until you need a seatbelt. And then a seatbelt really, really helps you. And, and what I would say, you may think like, Oh, nothing's going to happen or it's okay if there's not going to be a problem, like you can call me anytime and I can share all of, not all of the stories, cause there's a lot, but, but I've gone through a lot of very unexpected things with a lot of different people. 

And what I would say is like work with someone who understands the industry and just like, get it done. And once it's done, you never, ever, ever have to think about it. It's like car insurance [00:32:00] or it's like one of those things, like, you know, you need it if you're going to be operating your business. Like, you know you need it. So right, like we said, everything is a choice. We can choose how we look at things and choosing to feel empowered and excited that you're securing your brand and protecting your assets.

Like, cool. Like I can do that instead of being like, Oh, blah, blah, blah agreements. So yeah, it just comes from a place of having put out a lot of fires that ease were very easily preventable. 

Olivia: [00:32:32] It sounds like one of those things that like you put in the effort, the energy and get yourself kind of squared away upfront, and then that's going to serve you for a good long while.

Cory: [00:32:41] Yeah. There's no reason that you'd have to think about it again. Really. 

Olivia: [00:32:45] I think that that's a great note to end on. So I'm going to go ahead and thank you for coming in from Brazil. This is like, I literally talked to a Pilates teacher just like when this episode comes out several weeks ago, but actually a couple of weeks ago, who was like in [00:33:00] Barcelona and like that's so cool. I'm talking to someone on Saturday who's like in London, I'm like, this is so cool. So thanks for tuning in and for coming in from Brazil, it was really amazing chatting with you, Corey. 

Cory: [00:33:12] Yeah. What a, what a party and, uh, you know, anyone who comes to Brazil, come visit us. The name of the town is Careiva. The name of the Pilates studio is Studio Terra spelled T E R R A. They don't, when there's two Rs, they don't pronounce it. Terra.. Uh, which means like the land studio and yeah. Have fun, be awesome for your community. It's a pleasure to be here, Olivia, all the respect to you to, you know, coming up with, uh, a communication channel to share important issues for Pilates professionals. And have fun, stay healthy. Enjoy it.

Olivia: [00:33:54] Thanks for listening to this week's chapter of Pilates Teachers' Manual, your guide to becoming a [00:34:00] 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.