Karma Doesn’t Pay the Rent!

The Value of Your Time as a Freelance Fitness Instructor: Interview with Alley Ramon

Apparently you need to pay rent to live on earth. So how do you price your time as a fitness professional?

I’ve spent some time interviewing fitness professionals and, specifically, discussing their provider rates. I am often aghast, stunned, and ultimately brokenhearted at what instructors will take for their time. I’m outraged when I see some instructors trading their time for $35 per class while teaching at a studio. A studio where the students will say their yoga, Pilates, or dance class is the best part of their week.

There’s an ECON101 fault here. There’s a disconnect between the monetary value the instructor receives for their time, and the value the students receives.

Let’s look at yoga instructors. Researching Yogis for hire reveals yoga instructors are charging $50-$250 per hour.

Yoga isn’t your thing? Okay, let’s look at a Personal Trainer. Look to spend $120 for an hour of sweating one on one.

Need a massage after all that workout? Massage Therapists are $120 to $200 an hour.

Pilates? It’s interesting to see the equilibrium price for Pilates stay consistently at $85.

With those rates above, why is a prominent-fitness-clothing-company-who-shall-not-be-named, valued at $3B (that’s a B as in Billion), asking for instructors to teach free classes? Because instructors will jump at the opportunity. Still. Why? ECON101. Your friendly large-mega-corps are banking on instructors to evaluate their Risk and Return. More simply, the risk-reward trade off of giving up $35 today for a chance of “discovery” and a better long term gain.

So I had to ask. What’s your time worth as a fitness professional? Where did you get that dollar amount? I sat down with fitness instructors in San Francisco and asked the hard questions.

These instructors are full-time teachers (and good business people to boot.) They love what they do; are able to pay their expenses and save money for their future. The conversations we had will make up a series of essays around value, worth, and tips of the trade to get you where you want to be as a freelance fitness instructor.

First I sat down with my dear friend and colleague Alley Ramon, M.A., E-RYT.

Who is Alley Ramon?

She is a therapeutic counselor and life coach offering individualized coaching sessions, public yoga classes, private meditation, yoga instruction, and corporate wellness programs. Full disclosure: Alley and I talk about this topic a lot.

When I approached Alley with the above, I asked Alley what does value mean to her?

Alley: Part of what we value, when we put a monetary amount on our time, or our services, we need to really believe in the value of ourselves… and we should not sell ourselves short. Anytime you sell yourself short, you’re selling the whole Wellness Community short. So, if everyone was charging these prices, that would be expected, and we would all elevate each other and the profession.

Alley: You know, businesses like SoulCycle came out and said, we’re charging $35 a class and it’s packed and nobody flinches. That was pretty radical. It’s almost double the cost of yoga or other classes. So, I think it’s totally possible and that everyone, in the profession, should uphold the value we provide. It’s not just about the individual, it’s about the entire profession. Molding and sculpting a profession, and how it’s seen, and oftentimes how professionals are seen, is how they’re valued monetarily.

Alley: We’re doing great work! How many minutes do Doctors spend with their patients? Like twenty to twenty-five minutes? Not that a fitness instructor is a Doctor, but there is such a huge benefit to having an hour with someone who is really interested in your health and well-being. We truly become role models for our clients. If we are walking the walk, it’s worth every penny.

Mandi: So what about getting to know who your-actual-client is and who your-ideal-client may be? You are trying to find those people — that’s basic business 101. Have you gone through that exercise, if so who’s your target customer?

Alley: I live with a really smart entrepreneur who’s successful and has built companies and businesses and makes good money. He has a really good strategic business mind. So, we talk about this a lot.

He’ll be like: “Oh that client canceled on you again, or that client was annoying, or they took up too much of your time. That’s not your ideal client.”

Or

“This client: every time you come back from their sessions you talked about how you love them and how great they are.”

So, I have an idea of who my client is.

I work really well with people that are a little bit older, so a lot of my private clients are in their fifties, sixties, or seventies. I like to teach Vinyasa classes publicly, but I LOVE offering slow flow and breath with people who may be injured or have challenges and physical limitations.

Mandi: Do you have an hourly rate, that defines your value?

Alley: I have different hourly rates depending on what kind of services I’m offering and the type of client it is.

It’s not just about the money, it’s also about the work. Sometimes I find the work really valuable, but someone can’t pay as much, but I know that they highly value it. So I’m willing to come down in my hourly rate. If I feel like someone is really valuing the work (which has happened before) I’ll barter because I know what it means to them.

Alley: My typical hourly rate is between $150 and $250. If it’s a big corporate class, they’re going to get charged more. But if it’s a private client I charge between $150 to $195 depending on the type of service.

Alley: This is a huge issue because a lot of teachers are undervalued, in terms of the dollar amount. Didn’t you tell me once that you taught at a yoga studio, and you got $4 a head and there were three people, so you got $12 bucks for an hour and a half of your time?

Mandi: Yes I remember that was a defining moment for me.

Alley: That’s ridiculous. I think a lot of people go down the Yoga path, with the promise that they might become a famous teacher or something. I was never interested in that.

Alley: There are some people who are super strict and they say: “this is my worth and is this is my value and is this is what I’m going to get paid.” And I think there are other people, for whatever reason, and maybe that’s their own challenges with money, that need to work through their worth. I’ve definitely seen both sides to it and for every individual it really depends on: what is enough? Everyone should ask themselves that question. For instance, what’s enough in terms of an hourly rate, a monthly rate, a yearly rate, depending on your financial goals in your life.

Mandi: Business schools teach a standard formula for determining an hourly rate:

• Add up your labor and overhead costs;
• Add the profit you want to earn;
• Then divide the total by your hours worked;

Mandi: This is the minimum you must charge to pay your expenses, to pay yourself a salary and earn a profit.

Depending on market conditions, you may be able to charge more for your services or you might have to get by on less. Have you ever done this exercise before to come up with your rate?

Alley: No I’ve never done that calculation.

Alley: Well… when I started teaching I was maybe making $60 or $70 a class. Now I’ve been teaching for 10 years. Having the kind of experience and the type of clientele that I interact with in San Francisco; $60 to them would feel like a joke. If I charged $60 they really wouldn’t take me seriously. So, there is an element of charging more that represents my 10 years of experience. Here’s my reason though.

Alley: Someone could do a hundred trainings and not have the actual hands on experience of client after client and know exactly how to tailor a program or how to interact with that particular client and make them feel seen, heard and valued.

Alley: A lot of my corporate classes are done at companies worth millions of dollars — and their employees come out of my yoga class feeling refreshed, able to communicate better, and ready for a meeting that leads them to a better idea or strategy.

Alley: I know that so many of the people I teach are thankful for that hour; to just decompress while not having to leave their office building at the same time. Leaving could take up to two hours, disrupting their work days, and these are busy people. So they’re thankful for it.

Mandi: So what if the value of your time was based on the value of their time? For instance if an attorney gets paid $400 an hour, should the session be valued at $400 an hour? If you are making the attorney’s time more valuable by helping them decompress, gain clarity, communicate more effectively, therefore land more clients maybe it should be.

Alley: That’s a really good point, and a great way to think about it. The other thing is I know what I provide is valuable. My clients often say this is my favorite time of the week. Or “WOW I feel so good after our yoga sessions”, or “a meditation session”, or “our coaching sessions.”

Alley: You know, it’s the work of yoga teachers, the work of coaches, therapists, of meditation teachers, if we’re doing good work — if we’re doing the work right, and we believe in it, it’s a fantastic thing to be compensated well for it

Alley: The value to the client is innumerable. For me, some of my yoga teachers, coaches and therapists have provided me with the most valuable things in the world. It’s hard to put a price tag on it. That’s why I price it a little higher than most people do. But I also really value myself and my time. I also wholeheartedly believe wellness is the core of everything and it’s not only valuable, but essential to our overall experience in life. I know I’m a good teacher and I know I have a lot to offer. So it’s easy for me to set a higher price and it’s easy for me to walk away from something that isn’t going to pay.

Alley: I’ve always been pretty good with money. My mom is a CPA and she’s taught me from a very young age about value, the worth of a dollar. So I think it’s just something I’m naturally really good at. That’s another thing, many people that get into yoga and wellness may not realize that they are also an entrepreneur and they need to build a business if they want to make it a full time career that supports them.

Alley: And these are two very different hats to wear. I think that’s where some yoga instructors or personal trainers, or coaches, get into financial trouble. They’re into the healing and wellness part of it but they don’t know how to build a business.

Mandi: So can you think of any life lessons that you learned from your Mom that applies to how you run your business?

Alley: It has been to value myself; I think I was always given that message. Set your standards high. Don’t settle.

Alley: I was told that I am valuable and I’m worthy and I’m loved and don’t sell yourself short. And I still feel that way! I work with a lot of clients on feelings of self worth and I think a lot of people walk around feeling unworthy, or unlovable, or like they’re not valuable. And I’ve never felt that… I actually feel very worthy, and am also very humbled and grateful for that gifts I’ve been given.

Alley: I was always encouraged to follow my dreams and passions and, if you fail, get up again. So I have an underlying foundation that I can achieve a prosperous life. I think that was another thing I really held in my mind when I was first building my business: I had a mentor say to me “just to do good work and the money will come” and that always resonates back to my mind. If you do good work and people feel it, they’re not going to question the value.

Mandi: I have an issue with that. I believe a lot of teachers are walking around thinking: I’m doing good work, and the money will come?!?! I think is the opposite of wearing the two hats of: I’m a yoga teacher, but then I’m also a business person. The money isn’t always going to come, you have to work at the business side too. Right?

Alley: Definitely, that doesn’t mean that you slack on your business acumen it just means you want to also be doing good work. That’s the value that you’re providing, you want to get something back in return. And the way the system works, is the exchange happens to be money. I think that’s another piece of it, that you can’t really do this work and not take care of yourself.

Alley: You know, self care is really important. A piece of self care is financial health. So, I’ve always been motivated to make money and be able to take care of myself and to save, and I have just never seen that as a negative thing. Also, the more you save and are savvy with your finances, the easier it becomes to say YES to the clients/classes that truly fit, and no to the ones that don’t. That is freedom.

Alley: I think some teachers are like: “oh, money…I don’t want to touch money. I’m just in the energy world”, but-like-the reality is you have to pay your expenses and save for your future.

Alley: So I take full responsibility for that. And I don’t think that I’m in this like fantasy, magical Yogi world. I also recognize that I need to keep my shit together.