It’s a painful thing that no entrepreneur or business owner expects to have to undertake in less than 2 years of operating.

I opened the announcement with;
'Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.’

Although we had 2 glorious years of running the business, it was around 5 to 6 years in the making. I was exhausted and had very little of myself left to give. I am a big believer in ‘never giving up’ however there comes a point where its better to lose it all than completely lose yourself and this is the point I had gotten to.

I want to share this story because I think it’s important to be transparent and authentic and by sharing the raw emotions of this chapter of my life, it may well be someone else's survival guide.

We are now 8 months or so on from that decision and I have spent a good portion of this time hanging on to the negative narrative like a ball and chain. The pity party I threw for myself was a long one which detracted from every other amazing thing that actually happened in the two years.
The thing is now, I actually don’t view the business as a failure. If you are looking at this from a monetary point of view then I absolutely did not come out the other side with a wad of cash in my back pocket, far from it. However if you look at the objective that I set out to achieve and ask if this was met then I would say that it was indeed a great success. 

The mission of Empower Studios was to create a community of like minded people and encourage them to investigate their limits both physically and mentally.

Following the closure of the business, I disappeared from life to an extent and didn’t really want to see or speak to anyone. Then something wonderful happened. I received a phone call from one of my regular students and was asked to go to her house for a coffee. Unbeknownst to me, the community that I had to set out to build had come together in the most amazing way. My aim was always to give every individual a sense of belonging and meaning and to make people aware that there would always be someone that had their back. There had been a gathering between the regular students and they wanted to continue to build the community and keep ‘Empower Studios’ alive in a different way. The Ayrshire Yoga Co op was born. The teachers that taught at the studio would still continue to teach, the students would still to continue to receive high quality classes BUT the wider community would also benefit. Ayrshire Yoga Co op is a not for profit company and is run completely by the students themselves and the money that is made from these classes goes to pay for food for local food banks. 

So if you asked me now if I think Empower Studios was a success then I’d say very much so.

I’ve learnt to let go now of that negative narrative I had at the beginning as I came to realise that Empower Studios was never about me. It was always about the people and friendships that were created within the studio and the actual building itself was simply bricks and mortar. Yes I absolutely loved my flooring and the small intricate details within the studio but ultimately it was the students that made Empower Studios what it was and that has continued to live on. 

As I sit here writing this today, we are (hopefully) coming towards the end of a major pandemic which has changed the normal world as we know it. I recently read an article that stated due to the new requirements needed, a gym or facility like Empower Studios would now need 16 square metres for each student. So a space that would normally hold 30 people would only be able to accommodate 5. There is absolutely no way that Empower Studios as it was ran then would have survived beyond this pressing time that we are in. I have huge admiration for any entrepreneur or business owner who has learned to adapt in this situation and those who have been pushed out their comfort zones to keep their establishments thriving. I am surrounded by people like this who constantly motivate me and inspire me every day to be more, do more and give more.

At the beginning when the studio was being built, I read the phrase ‘Everything is happening around me and I am being taken care of.’ This became my mantra and I can’t help but feel something far greater than me was at play throughout the closure of the business in order to protect me. 

We must only look back to see how far we’ve come and learn to let go of the failure narrative.

Whenever I initially thought about the business or Empower Studios, it would feel like a huge empty hole in the pit of my stomach. I have since learned to look back and reminisce. From super hot, sweaty classes with good laughs and an abundance of sassy students - you know who I’m talking about ;-) - to our very own Motown night. Our Christmas dinner and Cash For Kids Christmas class. Being able to deliver bags and bags of Christmas presents for the children of Ayrshire was one of the highlights of 2018 thanks to all of the wonderful students of Empower Studios. How could I forget the Fit Ayrshire Dad classes!! And of course the evening with Scotland's strongest men providing me with perhaps the best photo opportunity from my full time of being a studio owner. It’s easy to get lost in amidst the trials and hard times but when you bring your head back above the water again, you can see that there were indeed so many wonderful times also and it was all absolutely worth it.

Always remember who was by your side during the tough times.

As mentioned at the beginning, I wanted every single person to know that their was a community of people who had their back in any situation. I wanted this for my students but I received this ten fold when I needed it most. I had the best team of people around me and still do to this day. I was fortunate to have some of Scotland’s best teachers who all brought something different to the studio. Many of the students themselves have become great friends and I am beyond grateful for the way this community has continued to flourish and grow thanks to particularly Jackie Reid, Fiona Holliman, Katrina MacFarlane and of course Phyllis McKenzie.

Embrace the change and the lessons learnt and trust the magic of new beginnings

Finally, I’ve come to learn that we must go through some turbulent times to ultimately make way for greater things. Lord Shiva is referred to as the grandmaster of yoga and is also known as the destroyer God. The evenings during my teacher training with Jimmy Barkan were all about philosophy. We would sit on top of yoga bolsters listening to Jimmy talk about how he met with Bishnu Ghosh and how he practised yoga for 8 hours a day. I remember asking how the Lord of destroying could be connected to yoga and Jimmy replied ‘because he allows for new life to begin.’ I think this very thinking allows us to walk boldly into tough times with the knowledge and belief that something wonderful is waiting at the other side. So trust your intuition, trust that whatever you are going through will not last forever and that calmness, clarification and stillness awaits you.

Love, As Always,

Steph XXX