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Visit onepeloton.com Just

2:00

a girl. Briney Deary,

2:02

founder of Pilates by Briney and

2:04

co-founder of Cloucher, is the perfect

2:06

role model for turning your passion

2:08

into an empire. I discovered Pilates

2:10

actually through a car accident and

2:12

actually one doctor told me about

2:14

classical Pilates. That was my entry

2:16

into Pilates. It changed my life.

2:18

How did you go from turning

2:20

your own healing journey into a

2:22

business? So, started on Zoom. It

2:24

was a real snowball effect. Starting

2:26

her business during Covid, Briney has

2:28

gained one of the largest cult

2:30

followings in the wellness space. I

2:33

definitely have moments where I'm like, what

2:36

the hell? She told me that I

2:38

had literally saved her daughter's life. Why

2:41

do you think you connected so well

2:43

with your following? So, I just think

2:45

the secret to the results is...

2:48

Hi, I'm Abi Clancy and welcome

2:50

to exhibit A. Today's guest

2:52

has taken her personal challenges and

2:55

turned it into a wellness

2:57

movement that has inspired thousands. Her

2:59

journey from overcoming setbacks to

3:01

building a huge online

3:03

community is nothing short of empowering.

3:05

Curious about what it takes to

3:08

turn adversity into a boom in

3:10

business? Let's dive into the

3:12

secrets of success with the gorgeous Briney

3:15

Deary. Welcome Briney.

3:18

So, of course I know who you are, but

3:20

who is Briney Deary? So,

3:23

Briney Deary is a founder

3:26

of Pilates by Briney, which

3:28

is a wellness and Pilates

3:31

online platform and app. I

3:34

am the co-founder of CloudShare, Matcha,

3:37

the founder of the podcast Beyond

3:39

the Mat. And

3:41

yeah, I am just a girl. So,

3:46

Pilates with Briney is a

3:48

hugely successful platform, business and

3:50

now app. When did

3:52

you first discover Pilates? So

3:55

I discovered Pilates actually through a

3:57

car accident. So

4:00

when I was 18, I had

4:02

a big car accident where I was kind of

4:05

put in this position where I had to wear a

4:07

neck brace. I was on

4:09

really strong painkillers and I was in

4:11

and out of the hospital, in and

4:15

out of doctor appointments and rehab

4:17

and physio and all that kind

4:19

of stuff. And actually one doctor

4:21

told me about classical Pilates, but

4:24

in more of a rehabilitation sense.

4:27

So that was my entry into

4:29

Pilates and it's changed my life.

4:31

So it completely healed all of

4:33

my injuries. What injuries did you

4:35

have? So my pelvis

4:37

was twisted. I had whiplash. So

4:40

I had to wear a neck brace for a

4:42

while and I was in college at the time.

4:44

So it wasn't the best look. So

4:49

I had back injuries,

4:52

neck injuries, and I had

4:54

to basically rebuild

4:56

my core strength and

4:59

my spinal alignment pretty much.

5:02

So yeah, it was a crazy

5:04

time, but it sounds

5:06

cheesy, but it has actually really changed my

5:08

life. I don't think I ever would have

5:10

been doing this if I hadn't have had

5:12

that accident. It's crazy to think. So

5:15

what even is Pilates and who's it for? So

5:18

there are so many different types

5:20

of Pilates. You have contemporary Pilates,

5:22

classical Pilates. You've got reformer,

5:25

you've got mega former, you've got,

5:27

I mean, Ligri isn't technically Pilates,

5:29

but some might think Ligri is

5:32

Pilates. You have so many different

5:34

types and my

5:36

method specializes in combining classical

5:38

and contemporary and it's all

5:40

based on the map. So

5:43

I just think the secret to the

5:45

results is the combination of the

5:47

two. And what are the results to get

5:49

a body like you? No, a body

5:51

like you. But I

5:55

think the results is, well firstly, spinal

5:57

mobility. I think you... You are only

5:59

as young as your spine is. That's

6:01

what Joseph Pilati says. And I really,

6:03

really agree. I can relate to that

6:05

as well because I went to the

6:07

gym for the first time today in

6:09

about nine weeks. And I felt 900

6:11

years old. You

6:13

know, when it seems like, Lauren, you do the

6:15

kind of cobra-y thing. I think my back

6:17

doesn't even bend. Yeah, so exactly. I

6:20

know, we've all been there. It's

6:22

awful. I know, it's crazy, but it makes

6:24

such a difference. If you have that spinal

6:27

health and a strong core, you

6:29

move your body completely differently. Your

6:31

posture is good. You know, you walk into a

6:33

room, you have confidence, your shoulders are back and

6:36

down. You have that core strength.

6:38

So yeah, I think those results

6:40

all come with Pilates. For me, you know,

6:42

that connection with your mind and your body

6:44

when you're doing Pilates is difficult for me.

6:47

I need like a high impact exercise, which

6:49

distracts your mind. How do you

6:52

silence your mind and become one? You

6:55

know? That's a really good question.

6:57

I think so many people have that.

6:59

And actually, I used to be a

7:01

hit girl. I used to go and

7:03

do the Barry's boot camps and all

7:05

the high intensity workouts. And my cortisol

7:07

was just through the roof. I was

7:09

covered in acne. I was stressed out.

7:11

I didn't sleep well. So

7:13

now having a low impact form

7:16

of movement has completely changed my

7:18

life and my results. But

7:20

I think- I saw the picture. Yes.

7:22

On your Instagram. The before and after

7:24

when you were like a high impact

7:26

girl to do the Pilates. And it's

7:28

incredible. Well, what's crazy is back then,

7:30

I felt like I was killing myself

7:32

in the gym every single day. And

7:35

I was like dreading my workouts and

7:37

putting my body through its paces thinking

7:39

this is how it has to be.

7:42

But yeah, so for me, the

7:45

mind-body connection comes from, like you

7:47

will be so surprised with the

7:49

classical element. You won't be

7:51

able to think about other things. Because

7:53

there are some misconceptions about Pilates. Yeah.

7:56

People think, oh, you know, I'd rather go

7:59

to the gym. and do weights instead of

8:02

just lying there. But when I have

8:04

done your classes and done them properly, like

8:06

a friend of mine, she's a

8:08

Pilates instructor as well, and she'll come and do it

8:10

with me. And just tweak

8:12

my body, and then you can't do it, because

8:14

it's like, it's so odd. Okay, that's how

8:17

it should feel. Exactly. So it's

8:19

all about the technique. It's all about

8:21

the technique, and interestingly, if you are

8:24

a gym goer, like

8:26

my boyfriend, for example, he loves to

8:28

weight train, but he now does Pilates

8:31

to make his weight training more efficient,

8:33

because you're moving differently. For

8:35

example, if you're on the squat

8:37

rack, you're gonna lift from your

8:40

core. Rather, your core's gonna be switched

8:42

on. You just notice things, you engage

8:44

differently. So yeah, I think. And it's

8:46

also, if you are, because I know

8:48

when my husband played football, they really

8:50

encouraged the Pilates as injury

8:52

prevention. Totally, so I always say

8:54

this as an example, a

8:57

footballer that does Pilates, if

8:59

they just kick the ball without

9:02

connecting their core, they're

9:04

just completely unprotected from,

9:07

you know, attack or whatever, impact.

9:10

If they're really tight in their core,

9:12

and they lift their leg from here,

9:14

they're so strong and connected. You're just

9:16

gonna see way less injuries. So yeah,

9:18

I always use that as an example.

9:20

And what are your thoughts on Pilates

9:23

and body movement versus

9:26

painkillers? You know, there's so many

9:28

people who are in chronic pain. They've got

9:30

lots of different things going on with their body and

9:32

the doctors just prescribe medication.

9:35

So I definitely think there's a time and

9:38

a place for medication and I can't

9:40

speak for everyone, but for me,

9:43

the medication was really not a

9:45

good idea. I mean, I completely

9:47

got hooked on tramadol.

9:50

And tramadol's really, really a big

9:53

deal to take tramadol. And then when

9:56

I tried to come off of it, I couldn't sleep. And

9:58

when I was taking it, I was in

10:01

college, fast asleep in lessons. So it

10:03

had such an impact. And

10:05

for me, it just really didn't work. And

10:08

I've been lucky enough to heal

10:10

my body naturally. And now obviously

10:13

having arthritis, I do, I heal

10:16

that the natural way, but it's not for everyone. I

10:18

mean, some people, I was told that

10:20

I should have injections twice

10:22

a month to deal with the arthritis. And

10:25

for some people, that's the right route. But

10:27

for me, I would rather do Pilates and

10:29

infrared saunas and eye spots and all these

10:31

things and try and do it. It's a

10:33

lifestyle, isn't it? Yeah, completely. It's kind of,

10:36

you know, a lot of people turn to

10:38

Pilates as a part of a healing

10:40

journey. Yeah. Is that why? Definitely.

10:42

I think it's so healing

10:44

and I could like seriously talk

10:46

about it until I'm blue in the face. I

10:49

want every single person to try it. I want

10:51

to teach every single person because it

10:53

will change your life. I really strongly

10:55

believe that. Everyone. Well, I've

10:58

seen the testimonials on your website and

11:00

the results from people are just magnificent. And

11:02

they've said you've changed their

11:04

lives, which is amazing. Oh

11:07

my God. I seriously have

11:09

the best community subscribers ever,

11:11

ever. So yeah. So how

11:13

did you go from turning your own

11:15

healing journey into a business? So

11:18

to cut a really long story

11:20

short, I years down the

11:22

line, so I had my car accident

11:24

when I was 18. I'm

11:26

now 32. So I launched

11:28

my first Zoom class in May

11:30

2021. So I think

11:33

I did that. Did you? That was

11:35

in lockdown. You're one of the people I begged.

11:40

Poor thing. We did

11:42

it all, the whole family. We were all

11:44

doing it. I actually, you know, although lockdown

11:46

was such a terrible time for a lot of people.

11:48

Yeah. You know,

11:50

we had some great times, you know, when you look back on those moments

11:53

when the family, you know, all

11:55

together and you can't do nothing else. And you were

11:57

home cooking food. Banana

12:00

bread. Banana bread, yeah. I was one of

12:02

those. Yeah. Doing Pilates.

12:05

Exactly. But yeah, so then I just

12:07

decided, okay, I'm going to go on

12:09

Zoom. And that was actually the best

12:11

thing that I could have done. And

12:13

I really urged all Pilates teachers or

12:15

fitness trainers, I think, starting on Zoom,

12:17

it sounds counterproductive, but you

12:19

really find your voice. I was so

12:22

shy before all of this. I was

12:24

just the shyest person in the room.

12:27

And then teaching through Zoom, I just

12:29

found my voice, found my cues.

12:31

So it's a really

12:33

good way to train yourself to teach through

12:35

Zoom because you have to be so

12:37

precise with your cues. So

12:40

yeah, started on Zoom. And then... And

12:43

then... And then, so it

12:45

started on Zoom. I was doing two

12:47

live classes a week. And

12:49

as I said, you were probably one of the people

12:51

that I begged to join. There was like 10 people

12:53

on my first one. And then slowly

12:55

but surely I was having like 100 people

12:58

join twice a week. And I was thinking,

13:01

this is quite a lot, I think, like for

13:03

a Zoom class. So

13:05

then I was making... I went from

13:08

basically being completely broke to making quite

13:10

a lot of money each week from

13:12

like two hours of

13:15

my time, basically. I did these two classes

13:17

every week. And then it

13:19

started to pick up and pick up and pick

13:21

up. And then I thought, okay, I need to

13:23

do a January challenge. Like everyone is in this

13:25

like health and wellness mindset in January. So I

13:27

did this big challenge. Although not in our house

13:30

because it's my son's birthday. It's

13:32

my birthday. It's P's birthday. Is it?

13:35

So Feb is on, so you need to... Oh, okay. You

13:37

need to do a February one. I'll take it for a crouch

13:39

clan. Crouch challenge.

13:41

Yeah, exactly. So yeah,

13:44

I jumped on the kind of

13:46

January hype of fitness and

13:48

did this big challenge. I

13:51

had 550 people sign up and

13:53

it was expensive. It

13:55

was an expensive thing. So that month

13:57

my life changed. I never made that.

13:59

that amount of money ever in my life.

14:01

And I thought, okay, I've got something here. I

14:04

need to keep this going.

14:06

But it was pure chaos. Like when

14:08

I think back, my laptop

14:10

was like hanging off of my kitchen

14:12

table. Like my kitchen was also my

14:14

living room, my studio. Like I had

14:16

this tiny studio flat. But

14:19

yeah, I mean, it just snowballed from there.

14:21

So how does it work? So people will

14:23

sign in for your classes. But

14:25

so they were signing up. I

14:28

use Zoom, I use the booking system. And

14:30

then I did these live classes five times a

14:33

week. So it was five times, 25 classes

14:36

in this challenge. And then I recorded them

14:38

at the same time, uploaded them onto Vimeo.

14:41

And I did like really funny things. Like

14:44

I emailed everyone the same code to

14:46

log in because I couldn't figure out how

14:48

to manage it. And

14:51

I was like, hey guys, this is

14:53

your unique code. That's

14:55

incredible though it wasn't, but I just figured it

14:57

out along the way. But yeah, it grew and

14:59

grew. I still can't even do a Zoom meeting.

15:01

Oh my God. After all these years, like if

15:03

someone says, can I do Zoom? I'm like, oh

15:05

no, I can't do it.

15:07

If I touch anything tech, it just dissolves.

15:10

I know and I feel like I've like

15:12

backtracked since then. But yeah, and then

15:14

it just spiraled. And then I did

15:16

a February challenge and a March challenge

15:18

and kept going. And then I

15:21

filmed like 50 classes in one

15:23

month and launched the app.

15:26

I think the unique thing about it is it's, health,

15:31

wellness at

15:33

your convenience. For me,

15:35

when I see the gym classes at the gym and I'm like,

15:37

eight o'clock, I can't do that, I'm on the school run. Anything

15:41

later, I'm at work and then at nighttime, I'm

15:43

not going to the gym at night. I'm

15:46

done. So the

15:48

great thing about yours, you can do it wherever

15:50

you are in the world, whatever time of day.

15:53

If you've got a new baby, you can put the baby in

15:55

that little car seat next to you or its little chair and

15:57

do your workout. Exactly and I

15:59

think. It's cheaper than a gym membership? Yeah,

16:01

it's much cheaper than a gym membership, but

16:03

also I think the results come from the

16:06

consistency. Of course. Your lifestyle doesn't always allow

16:08

you to be consistent and to go to

16:10

the gym or to do that. It's

16:13

not realistic, so I wanna try and

16:15

add as much value as possible to

16:17

this app to bring the consistency, to

16:19

bring the accountability and just make it

16:21

easy for everyone to just do it

16:23

around their schedules. Why do you think

16:26

you connected so well with your following?

16:31

The only thing I can think about is

16:34

that I never knew it

16:36

would come to this, if you know what I mean.

16:38

So I had no following when I started doing this.

16:40

So it's organic or something? Yeah, it's such an annoying

16:43

thing to say, but I really think it

16:45

was just quite natural. I mean, I was

16:47

just posting, it was a real snowball effect.

16:49

Like I was posting 10 people

16:52

that had joined my class and I was like,

16:55

yes guys, you know, thank you so much for

16:57

giving me your energy, tagging, tagging, tagging those 10

17:00

and then those 10 would share and then it

17:02

just happened. Then their friends would be like, who's

17:04

this class that my friend keeps joining? And then

17:06

they would join and it's crazy,

17:09

the effect of word of mouth

17:11

and it really, it happens way

17:13

quicker than you think. And

17:15

I think- But not for everyone. So it must

17:18

be something special that they're

17:20

buying into because I think when something

17:22

comes from a real place, it's

17:25

obvious and obviously with your journey, how

17:27

you got in, how you discovered Pilates,

17:30

the fact that you're a Pilates freak, you

17:33

know, love it. And it's your life. It's

17:36

all that people buy into that authenticity, I

17:38

think. And that's very important to think a

17:40

consumer can spot a sale a

17:42

mile away. Well, thank you. That's so sweet.

17:44

But I think that goes back to the

17:47

book that I mentioned. Start

17:49

with why. I think you always

17:51

have to really like believe

17:53

in what you're doing and not have,

17:55

not think about the numbers or the sales

17:57

and just think, okay, am I adding value?

18:00

What can I do to add more value?

18:02

How can I, you know, help

18:04

someone? And I think lucky, I'm

18:06

so lucky with this platform that I

18:09

can talk to someone and really help

18:11

them and make a difference. And I

18:13

don't want to create like a wishy-washy

18:15

app that someone just has,

18:17

forgets to cancel and just has on

18:19

their phone for years without even realizing.

18:21

I want this app to really like

18:24

change people's lives. And I

18:26

think just everyone kind

18:28

of coming together, it just has

18:31

such a snowball effect. Like last

18:33

weekend, I did this accountability

18:35

Q&A thing on Instagram. And

18:38

I was able to set up

18:40

two people that had just moved to

18:42

Portugal that didn't know anyone, didn't have

18:44

any friends. And they're like now

18:46

going for coffee and they've both messaged me

18:49

saying, they're so happy they now have a

18:51

friend. You know, like social media can be

18:53

so good in that way for all the

18:55

negatives. I think there's so many positives that

18:57

communities... It just comes back to that sense

19:00

of community again. Like it's obviously super important

19:02

to you. Yeah, definitely. What

19:04

do you think the key to

19:06

building a strong digital community is?

19:11

I think as well

19:13

as doing all the classes, like that's fine,

19:15

but you have to actually like show up

19:18

as much as possible in person. So whether

19:20

it's doing like community walks on a Sunday

19:22

like we do, or

19:25

whether it's doing catch-ups with your cup of

19:27

tea, and your matcha, and you just sit

19:29

around and chat. And you know, I think

19:33

I've also got a Founders Club. So it's

19:35

like my OG members, they're on WhatsApp with

19:37

me. There's 40 of them. And

19:40

they WhatsApp me every single day

19:42

and they're like best friends. These

19:44

40 people have come together

19:46

and it's like this huge powerful group. They're

19:48

like going on holiday next year together. And

19:51

I think really giving people your time,

19:53

you have to do that. You can't

19:55

expect them to give you

19:58

everything you have to give back. Has it

20:00

got too big to the point where you

20:02

can't give that same amount of time? No,

20:05

I just think you always need to like,

20:08

even if I had millions of subscribers, I

20:10

would always figure out a way because

20:13

whether it's going on Zoom and doing

20:15

like, ask me anything, like let's catch

20:17

up, ask me about your boyfriends, your

20:19

relationships, where to go in London, whatever

20:21

it is, I think you

20:24

always have to find a way. Community

20:26

is such a big focus for

20:28

us, especially this coming

20:31

year. So you just, you have

20:33

to be creative and figure it

20:35

out. And I think when you

20:37

start from nothing and having no

20:39

financial backing whatsoever, you are

20:42

forced to be creative. And I think it's such a good

20:44

thing. How much did it cost you

20:46

to set up? So I had

20:48

a 40 pound booking

20:50

system and a Zoom

20:53

membership and my iPhone

20:55

and my tripod. Wow. Was

20:57

it? And I promise you

21:00

that was it. You only need like,

21:02

especially if you're in the fitness industry,

21:04

you literally need a 40 pound

21:07

booking system, your tripod, a mat, and you

21:09

can do it. Like there's no excuse. I

21:11

think we're really lucky in this industry that

21:13

you can just put yourself out there and

21:15

go for it. That is incredible. Thanks.

21:18

For anyone listening who wants to

21:20

set up their own subscription business,

21:22

talk us through the steps. I'll

21:24

tell you all the steps. So

21:27

I would start by

21:29

getting a Zoom membership. I

21:32

would get a booking system, like

21:36

an online booking system. I used

21:38

InstaBook. I don't know if that's

21:40

still there, but literally a simple booking system,

21:43

which you connect your Zoom to. Get

21:46

yourself a tripod and just start.

21:48

Like don't overthink it. Don't think

21:50

it has to be perfect. My

21:53

original first ever classes

21:55

that were like filmed from my terrible iPhone

21:57

hanging off my kitchen table. They're still on

21:59

my app and they're still popular. So I

22:02

just think don't overthink. No one cares. They

22:04

want to have a good workout and that's

22:06

all they're worried about. So just

22:08

go for it. And

22:10

then start teaching. Gift your

22:13

time as much as you can.

22:15

Like I reached out to a few people

22:17

that had a big following. Just tried my

22:19

luck. Some people never responded.

22:22

Some people did, you know, just put

22:24

yourself out there. Go for it. And

22:26

what's the worst that can happen? Like

22:28

nothing matters. Just go for

22:30

it. Don't worry about the small stuff,

22:33

I promise you. We were just saying

22:35

nothing but health matters. So

22:37

just go for it. If

22:39

you have a dream and a passion, just

22:41

do it. Get it. Every single person on

22:43

this pod has said that. Who's

22:46

successful, they've just said, just do it. Yeah,

22:48

because you're never ready. Like I could come

22:50

up now with so many reasons to stop

22:52

or to wait or whatever. You're never ready

22:54

and you just figure it out along the

22:56

way. So I would actually, if I were

22:59

you, I'd set yourself a date. I would

23:01

put it out there so you can't go

23:03

back on it. Yeah, true. What

23:06

strategies helped you grow your subscriber base in

23:08

those early days? And have you had to

23:10

adapt these strategies now? So

23:12

definitely gifting my time, training

23:16

people with bigger followings, that

23:18

helped. So I trained someone that had

23:21

even like, non, like nothing

23:23

huge. Like one of my friends had

23:25

maybe 4,000. 4,000

23:29

followers. But she

23:31

just had a baby and I was like,

23:33

okay, perfect. I'm gonna get her in the

23:35

best shape of her life. And I did.

23:37

And everyone was asking her, what

23:40

the hell have you done? You look incredible. You

23:42

seem like a different person. And

23:45

then it snowballed from there. And then I

23:47

asked someone who did have a big following,

23:50

Nadine Leopold, I always say her name because she's

23:52

just the best. And she's

23:54

gorgeous. She's like even more

23:56

gorgeous inside. And I

23:59

taught her. on Zoom. So it just

24:02

picked up and I think gifting your time, you

24:04

have to be able to gift your time. Yeah.

24:06

And we're lucky that it's not a product that

24:08

you have to like pay out for. It is

24:10

just your time. So just make

24:12

it work, work all hours and just

24:15

go for it. How quickly

24:17

can you see the results? Is it just

24:19

you do Pilates every day or is it

24:21

all the factors? Is it your diet, your

24:24

sleep, alcohol? Yeah. So I

24:26

mean, I am like

24:29

the biggest advocate for balanced living. Like

24:31

I posted the other day that I

24:33

was having a burger and I like

24:35

to drink margaritas and go out and

24:37

all those kinds of things. But I

24:39

also like to do my sauna and

24:41

ice bath and Pilates. So I definitely

24:44

do believe in this 80 20 thing. You

24:48

have to sleep. I think sleep

24:50

is so important. Yeah. And you

24:53

can't eat like shit every day. No.

24:55

You have to think about your

24:57

health. But I think

24:59

food is fuel and a big misconception is

25:04

that you have to eat less to

25:06

look better. And you know, this toxic

25:08

diet culture, I really don't

25:10

agree with it at all. You eat a lot. I

25:12

eat three meals a day. I always look at your

25:14

Instagram and go, I'm going to make them. That's what

25:17

I'm going to have for

25:19

my breakfast. I eat so much. I eat

25:21

more than my boyfriend. He's like, what the

25:23

hell? Like where are you putting this? I'm

25:25

like, no, I'm, you know, I'm training my

25:27

metabolism. It's a real myth that

25:29

you have to starve yourself. And also

25:32

you'll notice that you'll get way less

25:34

bloated and you'll see other benefits of

25:36

really fueling your body. So yeah, you

25:39

have to eat well, um, a balanced

25:41

diet, sleep, obviously genetics play a part,

25:43

but I will say that I do

25:46

think you can get the most incredible

25:48

results from using my app for let's

25:50

say a month. Okay. Yeah.

25:53

I really believe in that. It's quite

25:55

a statement, but no, it's not back

25:58

myself. So you would. doing

26:00

your classes in lockdown, they

26:03

became more and more popular. When did you think, oh

26:05

my God, this could be a business. This could be

26:07

a huge business. When I did the

26:09

January challenge, financially

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Not available in all states. Maybe

27:21

quadruple what I've ever made

27:25

in a whole year in

27:28

one month and it like blew my mind

27:30

because I was broke not that long before.

27:32

So that was the point where I thought,

27:34

oh my God, like I have to be

27:36

smart with this money that I've

27:38

made. Like what can I, how can I

27:41

use that to invest in my own business

27:43

and my own future? So that

27:45

January moment was like a real turning point.

27:47

What did you do to invest that into

27:50

yourself? So then I invested

27:52

it into the next challenge and the next

27:54

challenge and the next challenge. Meanwhile, I was

27:56

creating the app, which obviously I had to,

27:59

had to. to pay for. So,

28:20

there are also white label companies

28:30

who do post address Oh

30:00

my God. And yeah, it was

30:02

just, and then when I went to teach, I

30:04

could not stop crying when I was introducing

30:07

it, but you feel such a responsibility.

30:09

It sounds weird because it's like you're

30:12

only a Pilates teacher. And like sometimes

30:14

you can like take yourself to that,

30:16

but actually, like every single day I

30:19

get messages from people saying, you've changed

30:21

my life. Like I now

30:23

have a purpose. I have more confidence. I

30:25

have more self-worth. And I feel

30:27

like a different person in like a boardroom meeting

30:30

or, you know, with my boyfriend, I'm standing up

30:32

for myself or whatever it might be. So I

30:35

think you realize that you

30:37

have a responsibility and it gives you this drive

30:39

and energy and you become like a bit of

30:41

a tribe. Yeah. We get that with the therapy

30:43

coach that we do. You know, me and my

30:45

husband were sitting on the couch, having

30:47

a laugh. And we get messages of

30:50

people saying, thank you. And this one. We get

30:52

people saying, you know, I'm in

30:54

hospital. I've got terminal cancer and you're making

30:56

me laugh. Or, you know, just split up

30:58

with my boyfriend. You know, I'm so upset

31:00

and you're making me laugh. And it's

31:02

that kind of responsibility. If you can put a

31:05

smile on someone's face or make them laugh

31:07

or turn the life around

31:10

for the healthier option. Totally. And

31:13

those moments when you are probably sitting there thinking,

31:15

Oh my God, I'm so stressed. We've got so much

31:17

to do. And then you read

31:19

that. You're like, Oh, no, it's my

31:21

favorite. It's my favorite thing. When I

31:23

get those messages, I'm like, God, this

31:25

is what it's all for. But you

31:27

too are hilarious. Like you were made

31:29

for a podcast. Thank you. I really

31:31

mean that. What was some

31:34

of the biggest sacrifices you made when you were building

31:36

your business? I

31:39

definitely think, um, socializing

31:41

like that took a backseat. I think

31:43

you make, you just make it work.

31:45

And Emma Greed actually

31:48

talks about seeing your life in,

31:50

I think it's thirds. She looks at it like

31:52

a third of the time you're going to feel

31:56

okay. A third of the time you'll feel

31:58

great. A third of the time you'll feel

32:00

not so. great, but in all different areas,

32:02

like whether you're a mum or a businesswoman,

32:04

you can't be all things at once. So

32:08

I think you do naturally sacrifice

32:10

things, but I don't

32:14

have one single complaint. I feel

32:16

like the luckiest person

32:18

ever. And yeah, there's no

32:20

negativity whatsoever. You

32:25

do naturally sacrifice things, but it's part

32:27

of the job. Did

32:29

you face any challenges early on? Yes.

32:33

Apart from the... I was losing my

32:35

mind over the... So

32:44

I had 550 people that had paid me 200 pounds for a challenge. The

32:50

first video, day one, I was doing

32:52

20 minutes, 45 minutes, whatever. The

32:57

first one was a 20 minute

32:59

class and it had taken like

33:01

12 hours to up-place this video.

33:03

And I was sitting there at the computer

33:05

like, please, please. And it

33:08

was just like not moving. And I

33:10

thought, oh my God, like I've

33:12

just got all this money from all these people

33:14

and I'm not doing it. But

33:17

I was like calling millions of different people

33:19

and actually someone I didn't even know very

33:21

well helped me like until like 1am. Oh

33:24

my God. I know, so sweet. So I never

33:26

had any idea that it was going to scale

33:29

like this as quickly. So I think keeping up

33:31

with that was quite a challenge when I was

33:34

just on my own. So

33:36

you moved from the online classes to the app. Let's

33:38

talk a bit more about the app. What does that

33:40

offer? So the app

33:42

offers, this is my little sales pitch,

33:45

between five and 50 minute

33:48

classes with equipment without equipment. Can

33:50

you do a five minute class?

33:52

Yeah, I promise you. Like for

33:54

example, if you on

33:56

the days where you don't think you've got

33:58

any time whatsoever and maybe Maybe you're on

34:00

holiday, you're running down to the kids to

34:02

breakfast or whatever, you could

34:05

do a quick ab session and then on

34:07

the beach you're going to feel that bit

34:09

better, that more confident. Or

34:11

maybe you've got five minutes in between a

34:13

meeting and you're working from home. If your

34:15

mat's already laid out, you can do like,

34:17

I say it's like Pilates snacking, so

34:19

you can snack throughout the day and do these

34:21

quick five minute classes and by the end of

34:24

the day. So yeah,

34:26

and you've also got sound

34:28

baths, breath work, recipes,

34:30

I upload new sound baths, new breath

34:32

work, new recipes every week. So

34:35

you have so much on there. I want to

34:37

create this like one stop shop for everything. Yeah,

34:40

it's incredible. You are my go-to

34:42

for healthy things. I

34:44

love it when we're doing like our boy's notes on the

34:46

DM. I'm like, will you

34:48

just put that body away please? One

34:51

thing you wish you would have known before starting? I

34:53

don't know. It sounds

34:55

cheesy, but I do feel like if

34:57

I had known so many things, I

34:59

maybe wouldn't have had the confidence to

35:01

go ahead with it. So I think

35:04

sometimes ignorance is bliss. And

35:08

also with these

35:10

small hurdles that you almost like get

35:12

over or accomplish, it

35:14

builds that confidence. So bit by bit, if

35:17

you achieve something you didn't think you were

35:19

going to, you're like, okay, I've got this

35:21

onto the neck. So I

35:23

wouldn't change anything. And

35:26

are you celebrating these small wins? Do

35:29

you look back and think, oh my God,

35:31

look where I've started to where I am

35:33

now? I definitely have moments where I'm like,

35:35

what the hell? Like if I'm, I

35:37

don't know, like I was in

35:39

LA recently and someone will stop me in a

35:41

coffee shop and be like, I have your app.

35:44

And I'm like, what the hell? That is crazy.

35:46

Or random, random places. And my

35:48

mum was on a flight the other day

35:50

and someone went over to her and said,

35:52

you're a pretty smart. That is so funny.

35:55

She was like, yes, I am. So

35:58

I think like moments like that. that are

36:01

really special, but it's not like I

36:03

celebrate them and think like, go

36:05

me. No, because sometimes

36:07

you can just get carried away. You

36:09

know, that busy and that focus, you

36:11

don't appreciate. Not appreciate, you don't stop

36:14

and go, oh my

36:16

God, I've done all of this. To

36:18

be honest, like, I, and again, this

36:20

sounds really cheesy, but every single day,

36:22

I think, oh my God, like, I

36:25

am so lucky, I'm so happy. Like,

36:27

my life is amazing. I think that

36:29

every day, but I'm... But

36:31

it's kind of, it's a dream job.

36:33

It is the dream. Do something that

36:35

you love, something you're passionate about. Yeah,

36:37

I feel... And helping others. Exactly, like,

36:39

I'm completely living the dream. I can

36:42

be quite hard on myself work-wise, like,

36:45

I always think I need to do more and

36:47

I'm not doing enough. So

36:49

yeah, maybe I should celebrate a bit more.

36:51

Definitely. And you're doing your

36:53

wellness retreats, you've been working with you

36:55

all. Yes. Lots of amazing

36:57

brands. I know. How did that all come

36:59

about? That actually,

37:02

I don't even know how that came

37:04

about. I think we worked together on

37:06

something, something like

37:08

a smaller partnership, and then they've

37:10

rolled out these, like, huge wellness

37:13

retreats and moments, like, across the

37:16

brand, across the world. And honestly,

37:19

they are just, like, unbelievable.

37:22

That is, like, a real pinch me moment.

37:24

I was on the train, like, in Malaysia,

37:26

on the Oran Express, going into the jungle

37:29

and teaching in the jungle. I was like,

37:31

what the fuck? How is

37:33

it going from the online Zooms

37:35

to teaching actual people? It's

37:39

the best. Like, teaching in

37:41

person, even though I love online, and

37:43

I think it's amazing, this online world,

37:46

but being in person is

37:48

the best. It gives you this energy,

37:50

like, you really feel the energy in

37:52

the room, and I just, I love

37:55

connecting in person. And I'm

37:57

gonna do that forever. Yeah.

38:00

even though I'm moving to Denmark tomorrow.

38:02

People can't believe you're doing this and

38:04

you're moving tomorrow. Are you not freaking

38:06

out or is that your polarity zen

38:09

mind? No, I'm so

38:11

excited about it. I'm honestly, I'm

38:13

like, when am I going to

38:15

actually pack and sort myself out? But anyway, I'm so

38:18

excited. But the reason I said that is because you're

38:21

not going to really feel like I'm gone. I'm

38:23

going to be here doing lots of things and

38:25

meetups and events and stuff. So, yeah, I love

38:27

it. You co-founded

38:29

Cloucher with Rochelle Humes,

38:32

which is your matcher together. Why matcher?

38:36

Well, again, like going back

38:38

to the book, start with why. I

38:40

think you always have to do things

38:42

that are naturally part of you. And

38:44

one thing that I do every single

38:46

day without fail is have a matcher.

38:48

It has changed

38:50

my skin. As I

38:52

said earlier, I was covered in

38:54

acne. Changed my skin,

38:57

changed my anxiety, made me so calm,

38:59

even though it has caffeine. You have

39:01

the L-theanine in there, so you just

39:03

become very calm and in control. And

39:06

I've just been obsessed and Rochelle's the

39:08

exact same. So I was

39:10

actually training Rochelle and we would

39:12

do this thing that we always called mat to

39:14

matcher. So we would do our

39:16

polarity zen, we'd go upstairs and have a matcher together

39:19

and just catch up. So then

39:21

one day we were like, should we just do

39:23

this together? Should we do a matcher company? And

39:25

then, yeah, it came from that really. And it's

39:27

just amazing. It's been so

39:30

much fun. Such hard

39:32

work trying to manage all the

39:34

different kind of... What was that

39:36

process like with you start?

39:39

Oh, God. Well, exactly. That's the thing.

39:41

I think we can overthink, like, where do you

39:43

start? I don't think there's a right

39:45

place to start. I've heard some people start by

39:47

creating a website before they've even got a product.

39:50

But we started by sampling,

39:53

like, millions of different matchers. So,

39:55

yeah, we literally were just taste

39:57

testing so many different types. of

40:00

ceremonial grade matcha and then

40:03

eventually found our our

40:05

culture and then kind of went from

40:07

there. But it was, it was a

40:09

lot, that was a lot harder

40:11

than I thought I would say. It

40:14

took a lot having, because my,

40:17

my business is a service business.

40:19

You having a product is another

40:22

ball game. Which one do you prefer?

40:26

What product versus service? Do

40:29

you know what, the

40:31

Pilates is obviously like in

40:33

me, that's what I do every single day. But

40:35

also the matcha is an extension of the wellness.

40:37

So I kind of see them as one. Yeah.

40:42

So yeah, and also I'm learning so much

40:44

with the product. It's

40:46

less natural to me in that

40:48

sense. So yeah, it's good to

40:51

learn and to develop. How

40:53

long does it take to become a Pilates

40:55

instructor? Because there must be people listening to

40:57

this, you know, going, because if you started

40:59

when you're 18. Yeah, well,

41:02

I started doing it for my own

41:04

sake when I was 18. I wasn't training

41:06

to be a teacher. But

41:08

I think like you can, you

41:10

can become very good self

41:13

taught by going to different classes

41:15

and practicing it yourself. But doing

41:17

the teacher training is a whole

41:19

other ball game. But

41:22

there's a lot of courses out there. You

41:24

can do like a three day course, which

41:26

I would not recommend. It

41:28

takes a lot. Like you

41:31

could do anything from three days to three

41:33

years, to six months

41:35

to, you know, but definitely don't do the

41:37

three day course. Good, like

41:39

go all in. And if you're going to

41:42

do it, do it properly, become classically trained.

41:45

You can do classical mat in a shorter period

41:47

of time than if you do the full apparatus

41:51

and everything. But whatever

41:53

you do, do classical first and

41:55

then you can add on contemporary

41:58

workshops. Running multiple businesses. and

42:00

projects, how do you manage time to stay

42:02

focused? So time management,

42:04

I'm obsessed with time management and I

42:06

always ask how everyone manages their time

42:09

and- Well, can you teach me because

42:11

I just can't do it? Well,

42:13

I think- Four kids, working every day. We

42:15

need your tips because I do not know

42:17

how you do it all. I have my

42:20

knees for an hour and I'm like, oh,

42:22

I'm exhausted. But

42:25

I think what has helped me is having

42:29

key focuses and time batching.

42:31

So I'll, for example, I'll

42:34

have a day for the podcast. And

42:37

that's all I do that day. Or I'll

42:39

have a day for CloudShare or a day

42:42

for filming. And I think time batching, because

42:44

if I'm here, there and everywhere, it's

42:46

really hard to ever get into the zone

42:48

fully on anything. You feel like

42:51

you're just scratching the surface. So I would

42:53

say dedicate key times to certain things, whether

42:55

it's half a day or a full day.

42:58

And I live in my calendar. I'm obsessed with

43:01

my calendar. I put every- I need to show

43:03

you mine. Every inch of my life is in

43:05

my calendar. I'd love to see yours. If

43:08

you got Google calendar. I do, but I

43:10

write the night before. So I like to

43:12

write it down. So everything

43:14

gets written down, what I'm doing,

43:16

what I'm up to, what I

43:18

want to do in the morning,

43:21

my wellness routine, everything. So I

43:23

think having a structured calendar gives

43:25

you actually weirdly freedom. You're running

43:27

multiple businesses. You're doing all

43:29

your live classes, your app. You

43:32

know, burnout. So I never

43:35

really understood the concept of burnout.

43:37

And then two,

43:40

almost two years ago, exactly. I

43:44

started getting these really weird symptoms,

43:46

like really dizzy, feeling

43:50

like I was going to faint all the

43:52

time. Headaches felt a bit sick, felt

43:54

like I couldn't really leave the house. For

43:57

some reason I couldn't, it felt like a big

43:59

deal. getting out of the house, which is just

44:02

so unlike me. And

44:04

I would get emotional. I could just cry at

44:07

the drop of a hat again, which is really unlike

44:09

me. And I

44:11

was having therapy once a week at this time

44:13

because I just thought, actually, it's quite nice to

44:16

do if I am able to do it, if you can

44:19

afford it. I think it's such a luxury to have that.

44:22

And then I remember telling him, and

44:24

he was like, that's

44:27

burnout. What you're experiencing is burnout.

44:29

Those are the physical symptoms. So

44:33

yeah, I've definitely experienced it.

44:35

And then I did

44:37

like the, it was funny because not funny, but

44:39

kind of looking back, when I

44:41

had that burnout moment, I also had

44:43

a trip to Bali booked, which I

44:45

feel like is so like, cliche. Pray

44:47

love. Yeah, I watched it on the

44:49

plane. I literally watched it

44:51

on the plane and then was like, you're the worst

44:53

husband. I loved the boy,

44:56

the guy, the end-up. It's the

44:58

best. So I went and

45:00

had my eat, pray, love moment. And

45:02

I- Yeah, I was questioning my

45:04

life then, thinking, I'm definitely

45:07

not deep enough. I need to

45:09

go deeper. I was already questioning my

45:11

life. And then I did that. So

45:13

no, so I went away for a

45:15

few weeks and had a lot of

45:17

time on my own and just

45:19

came back with a bit of a new

45:21

lease of life. So that really

45:23

helped. But I mean, definitely, recently,

45:25

I was really struggling. I had

45:27

one week where I felt so

45:29

not myself, a

45:31

little bit anxious and just overwhelmed. And

45:34

I think that's normal. Like it

45:36

is normal. I'm not gonna feel incredible

45:38

every single day, even though I'm doing

45:40

all the things that should

45:42

make me feel good. Like you can't have a 10

45:44

out of 10 day every single time. But

45:47

I think speaking to people

45:49

helps. Like I was messaging my

45:51

friend and she has her own business. She

45:54

was like, I'm having a mental breakdown every day this

45:56

week as well, don't worry. And I

45:58

said, well, don't worry, it can't be worth it. and I

46:00

sent a picture of my journal entry that day, and she

46:03

was like, oh, that was

46:05

quite bad. So

46:08

I think it's just, we're

46:10

all normal just trying to get

46:13

by and keep our head above water,

46:15

and we all feel stressed, and we

46:17

all have our moments. So I think

46:19

talking about it helps, because it's almost

46:22

like, and sometimes writing, like it's a

46:24

bit of a download. Yeah, I agree.

46:26

What are you most proud of? I'm

46:31

most proud of building confidence

46:34

in my community. Oh,

46:37

that's lovely. For sure. And I'm

46:40

also proud of being able

46:42

to support my family, my family work

46:44

with my business, like you guys. Amazing.

46:46

So yeah, I'm really proud of that,

46:48

and I love that, and

46:50

I'm proud of them. So what

46:53

advice would you give to others who are

46:55

looking to turn their side hustle or hobby

46:57

into a business? So I would

46:59

say, like I could just say,

47:01

just go for it, and I do want you

47:03

to just go for it, but I also think

47:05

you should test your product, test

47:07

your market, and test if you actually like

47:09

it once it's out there. So

47:13

for example, if you have a full-time

47:15

job, like I

47:17

remember speaking to someone that worked in a bank, but

47:19

she wants to be a Pilates teacher. So I said

47:21

to her, okay, just do a Saturday

47:24

morning class a week, just start with that,

47:26

and keep your job. We've all got bills

47:28

to pay and things like that. So I

47:32

think test your product, test

47:34

your market, and then

47:36

see, and bit by bit slowly try

47:38

and do it as a side hustle,

47:40

and you'll know when the side hustle

47:42

kind of takes over as your main

47:44

thing, and then you can do the

47:46

switch. Because I think a lot

47:48

of people don't realize the

47:50

hard work that goes into it and just

47:52

think, oh, you just, you know. Yeah, I

47:54

mean, that's a big misconception, I think. Like,

47:59

and again, we talk about. From

50:37

yoga and Pilates to sound

50:39

baths and meditations, Allo Moves

50:41

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50:43

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50:47

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