August 26, 2025 • 27 mins
:
🎙️ Female emPOWERED Podcast Episode:
How Hosting Workshops Can Grow Your Revenue, Community & Credibility
Episode Summary:
In this episode, Christa Gurka shares everything studio owners need to know about hosting in-house workshops — not just attending them. If you’ve been searching for new ways to increase revenue, train your team, and build your brand’s authority in your local wellness community, workshops may be your next power move.
Christa breaks down exactly how and why hosting workshops (for clients and instructors) can be a profitable and strategic tool for boutique fitness studios. She also shares all the details about her upcoming workshop, Pilates for Injuries & Special Populations, happening on October 25th at Balance Yoga & Pilates in Glen Ellyn, IL — and how you can attend or bring her to your studio in 2026.
🎓 Learn more & register for Christa’s Glen Ellyn workshop:
👉 https://www.balanceyogapilates.com/pilates-workshops
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
- Why hosting workshops can be a high-value, low-overhead revenue stream
- How workshops help with instructor training, staff retention & CEU savings
- The different types of workshops you can host (staff-only, public, client-facing)
- How to price and structure workshops based on your goals and costs
- The difference between good and great instructors — and how workshops can help bridge the gap
- Real examples of business and movement workshops Christa teaches
- How to partner with guest educators and tap into their audiences
- Tips for testing new services or programming with short-term workshops
📍 Join Christa LIVE at Balance Yoga & Pilates
If you're a Pilates instructor, physical therapist, or wellness pro near the Chicago area, don’t miss your chance to train in person with Christa on October 25th! She’ll be teaching two hands-on workshops focused on Pilates for injuries & special populations, and cueing, corrections, and compensation patterns.
🎟️ Reserve your spot here: https://www.balanceyogapilates.com/pilates-workshops
Interested in hosting Christa at your studio?
She offers customized workshops for owners, teams, and clients in both business strategy and movement education. Email christa@christagurka.com or DM @christagurka to learn more and grab her services + pricing package.
Connect with Christa:
🌐 Website: christagurka.com
📸 Instagram: @christagurka
🎙️ Podcast: Female emPOWERED
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Christa Gurka (she/her) (00:01):
Hey there everyone.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Female Empowered Podcast.
I'm your host, Christa Gurka,and I have an interesting
episode I wanted to share withyou today.
I wanna talk about workshops,but not workshops where we as
practitioners are going toanother like-minded business to
(00:21):
present a workshop.
I'm talking about workshops thatyou host in your place of
business.
We all as technicians we shouldgo get continuing education
credits, we should takeworkshops, we should keep
learning.
If we're physical therapists,most states have some sort of a
renewal process.
Not all of them in the state ofFlorida in.
(00:41):
November of every odd year, wehave to have done, at least 24
continuing education credits.
Pilates is similar, yoga issimilar.
So what I wanna talk about todayis why workshops can be another
revenue stream for your brickand mortar, wellness business.
also there's lots of people thatare also looking for host sites,
(01:02):
where they'll do things Offeryou two free.
Enrollments into their program,or they'll pay for the ability
to host it at your studio.
and what that does, even if it'snot a huge revenue generator,
it's bringing people there,maybe other clinicians, maybe
other local business people, sothat it's just legitimizing you
(01:25):
in the community.
Maybe you get.
Introduced to people who youcould hire.
Eventually, maybe you just getintroduced to other colleagues,
which you can start connectionswith.
So these are all really, reallygreat opportunities.
So I.
now that I've sold Pilates inthe Grove, I have a lot more
time and I love teaching.
So one of the things that I'mdoing, for the rest of 2025 and
(01:47):
into 2026 is I am going todifferent studios and PT clinics
around the country and teachingmultiple things, business
training as well as getting backto my roots, which is.
Biomechanics anatomy,principles, Pilates, et cetera,
et cetera.
So I am actually teaching at aworkshop that is being hosted by
(02:08):
Balance Yoga and Pilates in GlenEllyn Illinois.
It's going to be October, 25th.
And, we'll drop the link in theshow notes here, and I will also
have it on my website and on mysocial media.
But I will be teaching aworkshop for Pilates for
(02:28):
injuries and specialpopulations.
basically what that is is.
With my expertise of being aphysical therapist for over 20
years, oh my God, that's wayover 20 years.
It's like 27 years.
and being a Pilates instructorfor 20 years, I have a very
special knack for being able towork with people that have
special populations.
This course specifically isgoing to be geared around people
(02:53):
that have back.
Issues, stenosis, herniateddisc, et cetera.
osteoporosis.
and so we're gonna talk aboutwhat to look for with those
specific injuries or diagnosesor conditions.
and we're also gonna do pre andpostnatal, what you should do,
what you shouldn't do.
Basically, the idea for me whenteach these kind of workshops is
(03:15):
the more education I can givepeople, the more knowledge we
have about anything, the morechoices we have and the more
confident we feel in saying,this is good, this is not good.
Right?
So the more knowledge we have, Idon't care if you're talking
about investing business, youjust have more choices and more
options versus being like, yeah,I have no idea what that is.
I can't work with that.
So we're doing that workshop inthe morning, and then in the
(03:37):
afternoon I am teaching a.
cueing corrections andcompensation workshop.
And basically what that workshopis going to be is how to look
and see what your clients aredoing on the equipment for
Pilates and what that means.
So, for example, if their kneesare.
(03:58):
Rolling out or they're rollingout onto their foot, the outside
of the foot when they're doinglunges or things like that.
What is that telling you about?
What's happening in their body?
What's happening up the chain attheir knee, at their hip, at
their foot, and how you can cueefficiently and effectively to
get those little nuances thatmake a huge difference in your
(04:20):
teaching.
Okay.
So how you can make those slightadjustments.
How you can look and see withour own eyes what is really
happening with our clients whenthey're performing exercises.
Why do clients cramp when theybridge?
And what are we looking for toimprove that movement pattern?
So those are two workshops thatI am personally teaching.
(04:41):
again, balance Yoga and Pilates.
We'll link that link in the shownotes.
So if you want.
To attend those, I'd love tomeet you in person and, so you
can sign up.
I think there's still spaceavailable.
I think we have like four orfive spaces left.
so me going to teach issomething that I love to do.
And what is that gonna do forthis studio?
(05:03):
Well, there's a couple things.
So for one, obviously they'recharging for the workshop.
Right.
So they can generate revenue bybringing me there.
I think the workshop is if youbuy both of'em, I think it's f.
$350.
Let's say you get 10 people tosign up, that's a$3,500 day for
(05:25):
the studio so it's not only isit$3,500 day, that means that
the owner of the studio can takethat continuing education
workshop for free, getknowledge, get training that
owner can.
Allow, if they want their staffto take that continuing
education workshop for free orfor a low cost.
So that's a benefit that you'regiving to your employees.
(06:04):
So they are gonna be betterinstructors for that reason.
And it creates a lot of buy-inand trust with them because
they're like, oh, I get to takethese education.
My owner, my boss is reallyinvested And you're saving
(06:26):
money.
If you do offer a continuingeducation stipend, you're saving
money by then.
These people don't have totravel.
They don't have to pay for, roomand board somewhere, et cetera,
airline tickets and all of thatstuff.
So it's a win-win for thestudio.
My feeling is even if the studioowner breaks, even on the cost
of bringing that instructor orprofessional in to teach the
(06:48):
workshop, it's still a winbecause.
For example, I'm going toOrlando for a continuing
education workshop in September,and the cost was$800 for the
workshop.
So that's gonna cost me$800 plusI have to get there.
So that's gonna be another,let's say a hundred or$200,
right?
Then I have to pay for a hotelroom two nights.
(07:10):
So that's gonna be another, evenif I get a cheap one at$150 a
night, that's another$300.
So we're talking right there.
Almost$1,200,$1,300 that I'mspending.
So if I look at it this way.
If I have to pay an instructor$2,000 or$2,500 to come in and I
can make a little money bypromoting and selling the
(07:32):
workshop, I'm saving myselfmoney.
'cause now I don't have totravel to go get those
continuing education credits oreven learn, forget about the
credits.
It's really just about.
Absorbing that knowledge andinformation, which I think is
very, very valuable.
And now a lot of people willsay, well, what if I train my
staff and do all these greatthings and they leave and I'm
gonna say it, I say it all thetime.
(07:52):
What if you don't do it?
And they stay?
Competition is really.
Big right now.
And so making your team the bestkind of team so they are giving
your clients high qualityservice is super, super
beneficial for you and yourcompany as a whole.
Plus, not to mention the factthat I love working for this
company.
(08:12):
They bring someone in everyyear.
We're learning, they're investedin our development.
It creates a lot of buy-in and agood culture fit for your
studio.
So.
Some things to consider.
Alright.
There's a couple different waysyou can do these kind of
workshops, right?
You can have, again, a teachingworkshop where you're teaching
the clinicians, the providers,the technicians in your
(08:35):
business, right?
So you can have one where youdon't invite outside people and
you're just educating the peoplein your.
Facility.
And while you won't necessarilymake a lot of money in that
because you have to pay for theprofessional to come in, you are
getting a good training.
It can be very honed in on yourteam and it's creates a ton of
(08:56):
buy in with your team.
So that's number one.
Number two, you can do the samething and open it up for outside
registration.
You can charge anywhere from thegoing rate.
I would say, depending on theinstructor, and depending on the
professional, can be anywherefrom 50 to$150 an hour.
So if you're doing a two hourworkshop, you might sell it for
(09:19):
$99, or you might sell it for$299, depending on the value
that that's providing.
So if you're selling a four hourworkshop, that can be anywhere
from.
You know,$299 to$799 the pricesrange.
And also anything else inbusiness, we should set the
(09:42):
price based on our costs andexpenses.
So instructors, professionals,experts, that provide these
different types of workshops.
they have all sorts of differentcontracts.
So for example, if you bring me,which by the way, if you're
interested in hosting me to cometeach a workshop, I'll talk a
little bit about that at theend.
But you can reach out to me, youcan DM me over on Instagram at
(10:05):
Christa Gurka or shoot me anemail christa@christagurka.com.
The way that I do my contract isI have a flat fee per day.
That's up to.
Seven hours, which is usuallytwo, three hour workshops.
Or you can do three, two hourworkshops and an hour for lunch.
So I have a flat fee for theday.
(10:26):
so that's one day.
And then if you do two days,it's a flat fee for both days.
I pay my own travel andaccommodations.
So that's just basically rolledup into the day rate.
Other, practitioners do itdifferently.
They might have a flat fee, plusthey get a percentage of the
registrations.
there's a lot of different waysyou can broker these kind of
(10:48):
relationships and negotiations,but what you should look at is
what is it gonna cost you andhow do you set your price?
So let's say it's gonna cost you$3,000 to bring in an expert.
For a one day workshop, so let'ssay seven hours.
So you can, again, you can dotwo, three hour workshops.
(11:08):
You can do three, two hourworkshops.
You can do, two, two hourworkshops, and a one hour class
or a 90 minute class.
There's lots of ways that youcan construct it, and most
experts have a variety of topicsand ways that they can come and
work with you and make it.
Custom white labeled for you andyour business.
So then if you're gonna spend$3,000, then I would say you
(11:30):
wanna try to make at least$3,000so you break even.
So you can charge, if you get 10people at$300, you broke even if
you get 15 people at$300, right?
You've made$1,500 in profit.
If you get, five people at.
(11:51):
$600, then you've broken even.
So you just kind of have to makesure, where is the sweet spot?
So you're at least trying tobreak even.
So why are workshops a decentrevenue stream for your
business?
Well, there's low overhead forthe most part.
If you get, a good contractrelationship with an expert
(12:14):
that's gonna come in.
Okay, so it's low overhead.
It's one-time cost.
It's, you know, there's lots ofways to negotiate where it's
mutually beneficial foreveryone.
You can target, excuse me, aspecific audience.
So I was saying before, and Igot a little sidetracked.
You can do it for only yourstaff, your team members.
(12:34):
You can do it for outsidetechnicians or you can have
client ones.
At Pilates in the Grove.
We used to have clients.
Workshops.
You see this a lot in yogainversion workshops, handstand
workshops in Pilates, you can dohow to progress from beginner to
intermediate.
We had won Pilates for golf.
We did Pilates for low backpain.
(12:56):
So there's lots of ways that youcan have also workshops for your
clientele.
And not only your clientele cancome in, but maybe someone in
the community is also interestedin learning about that.
So you can have client facing.
Workshops or just eveneducation, right?
So those are things that you cando as, alternative revenue
streams in your business.
(13:17):
And again, it's very, it's lowcost, low overhead for the most
part.
You can create urgency aroundthese seasonal, or one time.
Offers at Pilates in the Grove,I taught every year a Pilates
for injuries and specialpopulations workshop.
It actually was the end, thelast module of our teacher
training program, and we alwaysheld it in September, October,
(13:41):
which is right before Floridagoes into their physical
therapy.
License renewal.
So it was like urgency aroundpeople being like, do you still
need CECs?
Do you need CEUs?
You should come.
This is a great workshop.
So you can create some urgencythrough one time or seasonal
offers.
You can bundle it in as part ofa teacher training program.
(14:03):
Maybe you do a workshop likePilates for, the advanced client
and you can have teachers comein to learn it.
And you can also have clientsattend, like maybe there are
some clients.
We all know that there's certainadvanced Pilates repertoire that
we don't normally teach in agroup setting'cause it's not
safe.
So you can have workshops aroundthat, maybe clients can come,
and then you get otherinstructors that are learning
(14:24):
the more advanced, repertoire,especially now that Pilate
studios are popping up on everysingle corner.
And so there's a lot of, there'sa lot of instructors that just
don't have the right kind oftraining and maybe they're
looking for more advancedtraining or more in depth
training now that they've beenintroduced to the world of
Pilates and realize that there'sa lot more out there.
(14:47):
Another benefit is it builds youyour studio as subject matter
experts, right?
You can possibly teach theseworkshops if you don't wanna
bring people in, right?
You as the owner or maybe one ofyour practitioners, or, one of
your other instructors couldteach the workshop.
So now the overhead's even lower'cause you're not bringing
another expert or professionalin.
(15:08):
Some of the beauty of bringinganother professional in, is they
get, you get to tap into theirnetwork.
So for example, for this.
Workshop that I'm doing in GlenEllyn, they get to tap into my
network on social media, mycontacts, people that know me by
name that are like, oh, I wannalearn from Christa.
I'm gonna go to that workshop.
So it's a benefit.
It's a win-win for them as well.
(15:30):
'cause I'm also promoting theworkshop through on this
podcast, on my website, throughmy emails, et cetera.
so it's a great way to alsomaybe test new services.
So if you're doing a, advancedPilates choreography or
something like that, and you geta lot of clients that come in,
you're like, oh, this might be agood workshop series.
Maybe you could do a workshopseries, advanced Pilates series.
(15:52):
It's a four week series learningthe advanced repertoire, so you
could test those formats maybein a workshop.
Before committing, you couldtest prenatal Pilates or yoga in
a workshop before committing toa full-blown program.
These are all great ways andbenefits of having workshops at
(16:13):
your establishment.
So like I said, we talked aboutthe technician focus workshops.
The goal really is to educateand uplevel.
Skill-wise, your team, Pilatesinstructors, PTs, massage
therapists, different types ofcomplimentary therapists, yoga
instructors, et cetera.
you could do new teachingtechniques with this.
(16:34):
You could do things like, I'vetaught workshops on how to teach
a great intro session and how toconvert intro clients into
long-term memberships.
You can do things around.
Sales strategies with yourteams, you can do, How to talk
to clients about converting intolong-term memberships.
You can do retention strategies.
(16:56):
So it, it could be not onlyskill-wise, but it could also be
business, right?
So when I go to Glen Ellyn, I amgonna be doing a business
portion on Friday with the ownerof the studio where I'm gonna be
doing an audit, and I'll be inthere during the day and seeing
how their day to day runs.
Talking to some of their staffand their clients and then
(17:16):
giving this business ownerfeedback.
And then I'm also gonna do onSunday of that weekend, a.
Training just for her team.
So on Friday I'm doing abusiness training with her as
the owner.
On Saturday we're doing publicfacing workshops.
And then on Sunday I'm doingtrainings just with her team
where they can bring all theirquestions.
(17:36):
she has a lot of new instructors'cause her Pilates business is
going crazy, bonkers.
And, Giving these newinstructors the ability to see
movement in their clients in adifferent light, right?
How can we step back and see theforest through the trees and
teaching newer instructors whatto be looking for?
So you go from just teachingexercises to really teaching a
(17:59):
method and programming properlyand going from a good instructor
to a great instructor.
'cause my opinion of a greatinstructor is.
Someone who can look at the bodyin front of them, watch how they
move and teach a class A personfeel like they had that class
(18:21):
taught exactly for them, whichis a skill.
It's a learned skill.
So a great instructor can lookat a body moving and say, oh,
they're having struggled doingthe teaser.
If I break down their movement.
What is that limiting factor?
Why are they having troubledoing the teaser?
Is it because their hip flexorsare a little weaker?
(18:44):
Is it because they don't haveactually thoracic flexion in
their thoracic spine?
It's not often just that theydon't have great abdominal
strength.
Are they actually not using thesprings?
Especially if you're doing it onthe reformer properly, to push
into the tension to.
Pull up into your teaser.
So where is the problem and howcan I, as practitioner, as
(19:05):
instructor address it to impacttheir movement?
That's a great instructor,right?
So there are good instructorsthat just teach exercises.
There are better instructorsthat really get people to move
forward.
And then there are greatinstructors that can look at the
movement and dissect it to knowexactly what's going on with
that client, where it's comingfrom, and how to impact it for
(19:26):
improvement.
Okay.
And those are the goals.
When I teach people, I wannateach people how to fish.
I don't just wanna give them thefish, right?
So I don't just wanna give them,oh, here's an advanced
repertoire I wanna give them.
Here's how you get these peopleto move from never being able to
do teaser to being able to doteaser.
effectively.
Okay, so that's the way that Ilike to teach my workshops.
(19:48):
so those are technician faceworkshops.
Now you can have client facingworkshops where your goal is to
provide extra value to yourclient base.
So you can do things like injuryprevention, how to prevent.
Falls when you haveosteoporosis, how to improve
your balance so you don't fallwith osteoporosis.
(20:09):
tips and tricks for clients thathave osteoporosis, pelvic floor
workshops.
Okay, you can do, intro to a newpiece of equipment.
Intro to the chair, intro toAdvanced Reformer, Pilates for
golf.
Low back workshop, knee painworkshops.
There's all sorts of things thatyou can do now.
(20:29):
Usually client facing workshopsare 90 to 120 minutes, and on
average, I would say they cost.
Roughly 45,$50 an hour.
So if you do a two hourworkshop, it could be$90,$129.
if you do a one hour workshop,it should just be more than your
group class fee.
(20:51):
So if your drop in rate forgroup class is 45, that one hour
workshop should be a little bitmore.
but there's all sorts of waysthat you can create client
loyalty.
With this, you can upsell intomemberships and into workshop
series.
You can get more, Position as anexpert and maybe some people
bring their friends with themand it's just a great thing to
do a little bit outside the boxso that your clientele is yeah,
(21:15):
they do a lot of really excitingthings in, our studio.
That's not just the exercise.
It brings people, buildcommunity.
you can use it for social mediaand content and blogs and things
on your website and besidesbeing a good revenue stream, it
is a good way to build communityin your studio.
so lastly what I would say is Iwouldn't advise doing workshops
(21:41):
every month.
I think that that can get verytime consuming and very
daunting, and we've had peoplein.
Our inner circle, and even inFit Biz, our monthly membership
where we talk about workshopsand stuff, and it just is a lot,
it's a lot to keep up.
but maybe doing them quarterly,bi-annually, twice a year or
once a year.
Right.
if anything, maybe test it out.
(22:02):
Maybe look into could you bringan expert into your.
Place and teach your team.
Right.
if you're interested in hostingme to do a workshop again, I
could come in, we could dobusiness training.
I could do with the owner.
I have a whole list of workshopsthat I teach from a technical
perspective, not just business.
We can work with your team onsales strategies, how you
(22:25):
convert intro people intolong-term memberships and.
You can reach out to me, I'mhappy to do it.
you can also see who has certainskill sets on your team who
might be interested in doingworkshops at your studio.
You could do a foam rollingworkshop.
Maybe if you don't have matclass, maybe you could do a
pop-up.
Mat class workshop like once aquarter, but these are just
(22:47):
different ways, especially ifyou're oh, I need a little cash
injection into my business.
You can utilize this strategy toposition you as an expert to
also grow some revenue anddecide oh, is this working out?
Is this something I want to puton my business plan, my
marketing plan for 2026, and howcan I do that appropriately?
(23:11):
So if you're interested incoming to Glen Ellyn, Illinois,
which is just outside ofChicago, I will be there October
25th for the workshop.
I am going to link the workshop,URL in the show notes.
So at some point go ahead andgrab this workshop, URL.
(23:32):
There are still spaces availablefor there.
you can go right to theirwebsite and register.
So if you're gonna be in andaround the Chicago area end of
October, I would love to seeyou.
And then, like I said, if you'reinterested in possibly hosting
me for a Pilates or physicaltherapy or even business
workshop in your facility, andwe can do all three.
We could do one on Friday,Saturday, and Sunday.
(23:54):
Reach out.
I'm happy to share my, rates andmy services package with you.
You can, like I said, DM me onInstagram at Christa Gurka If
you're interested or, email me,I'm christa@christagurka.com.
Alright, thanks so much, ladiesand gentlemen, and until next
time, bye for now.
Hey there everyone.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Female Empowered Podcast.
I'm your host, Christa Gurka,and I have an interesting
episode I wanted to share withyou today.
I wanna talk about workshops,but not workshops where we as
practitioners are going toanother like-minded business to
(00:21):
present a workshop.
I'm talking about workshops thatyou host in your place of
business.
We all as technicians we shouldgo get continuing education
credits, we should takeworkshops, we should keep
learning.
If we're physical therapists,most states have some sort of a
renewal process.
Not all of them in the state ofFlorida in.
(00:41):
November of every odd year, wehave to have done, at least 24
continuing education credits.
Pilates is similar, yoga issimilar.
So what I wanna talk about todayis why workshops can be another
revenue stream for your brickand mortar, wellness business.
also there's lots of people thatare also looking for host sites,
(01:02):
where they'll do things Offeryou two free.
Enrollments into their program,or they'll pay for the ability
to host it at your studio.
and what that does, even if it'snot a huge revenue generator,
it's bringing people there,maybe other clinicians, maybe
other local business people, sothat it's just legitimizing you
(01:25):
in the community.
Maybe you get.
Introduced to people who youcould hire.
Eventually, maybe you just getintroduced to other colleagues,
which you can start connectionswith.
So these are all really, reallygreat opportunities.
So I.
now that I've sold Pilates inthe Grove, I have a lot more
time and I love teaching.
So one of the things that I'mdoing, for the rest of 2025 and
(01:47):
into 2026 is I am going todifferent studios and PT clinics
around the country and teachingmultiple things, business
training as well as getting backto my roots, which is.
Biomechanics anatomy,principles, Pilates, et cetera,
et cetera.
So I am actually teaching at aworkshop that is being hosted by
(02:08):
Balance Yoga and Pilates in GlenEllyn Illinois.
It's going to be October, 25th.
And, we'll drop the link in theshow notes here, and I will also
have it on my website and on mysocial media.
But I will be teaching aworkshop for Pilates for
(02:28):
injuries and specialpopulations.
basically what that is is.
With my expertise of being aphysical therapist for over 20
years, oh my God, that's wayover 20 years.
It's like 27 years.
and being a Pilates instructorfor 20 years, I have a very
special knack for being able towork with people that have
special populations.
This course specifically isgoing to be geared around people
(02:53):
that have back.
Issues, stenosis, herniateddisc, et cetera.
osteoporosis.
and so we're gonna talk aboutwhat to look for with those
specific injuries or diagnosesor conditions.
and we're also gonna do pre andpostnatal, what you should do,
what you shouldn't do.
Basically, the idea for me whenteach these kind of workshops is
(03:15):
the more education I can givepeople, the more knowledge we
have about anything, the morechoices we have and the more
confident we feel in saying,this is good, this is not good.
Right?
So the more knowledge we have, Idon't care if you're talking
about investing business, youjust have more choices and more
options versus being like, yeah,I have no idea what that is.
I can't work with that.
So we're doing that workshop inthe morning, and then in the
(03:37):
afternoon I am teaching a.
cueing corrections andcompensation workshop.
And basically what that workshopis going to be is how to look
and see what your clients aredoing on the equipment for
Pilates and what that means.
So, for example, if their kneesare.
(03:58):
Rolling out or they're rollingout onto their foot, the outside
of the foot when they're doinglunges or things like that.
What is that telling you about?
What's happening in their body?
What's happening up the chain attheir knee, at their hip, at
their foot, and how you can cueefficiently and effectively to
get those little nuances thatmake a huge difference in your
(04:20):
teaching.
Okay.
So how you can make those slightadjustments.
How you can look and see withour own eyes what is really
happening with our clients whenthey're performing exercises.
Why do clients cramp when theybridge?
And what are we looking for toimprove that movement pattern?
So those are two workshops thatI am personally teaching.
(04:41):
again, balance Yoga and Pilates.
We'll link that link in the shownotes.
So if you want.
To attend those, I'd love tomeet you in person and, so you
can sign up.
I think there's still spaceavailable.
I think we have like four orfive spaces left.
so me going to teach issomething that I love to do.
And what is that gonna do forthis studio?
(05:03):
Well, there's a couple things.
So for one, obviously they'recharging for the workshop.
Right.
So they can generate revenue bybringing me there.
I think the workshop is if youbuy both of'em, I think it's f.
$350.
Let's say you get 10 people tosign up, that's a$3,500 day for
(05:25):
the studio so it's not only isit$3,500 day, that means that
the owner of the studio can takethat continuing education
workshop for free, getknowledge, get training that
owner can.
Allow, if they want their staffto take that continuing
education workshop for free orfor a low cost.
So that's a benefit that you'regiving to your employees.
(06:04):
So they are gonna be betterinstructors for that reason.
And it creates a lot of buy-inand trust with them because
they're like, oh, I get to takethese education.
My owner, my boss is reallyinvested And you're saving
(06:26):
money.
If you do offer a continuingeducation stipend, you're saving
money by then.
These people don't have totravel.
They don't have to pay for, roomand board somewhere, et cetera,
airline tickets and all of thatstuff.
So it's a win-win for thestudio.
My feeling is even if the studioowner breaks, even on the cost
of bringing that instructor orprofessional in to teach the
(06:48):
workshop, it's still a winbecause.
For example, I'm going toOrlando for a continuing
education workshop in September,and the cost was$800 for the
workshop.
So that's gonna cost me$800 plusI have to get there.
So that's gonna be another,let's say a hundred or$200,
right?
Then I have to pay for a hotelroom two nights.
(07:10):
So that's gonna be another, evenif I get a cheap one at$150 a
night, that's another$300.
So we're talking right there.
Almost$1,200,$1,300 that I'mspending.
So if I look at it this way.
If I have to pay an instructor$2,000 or$2,500 to come in and I
can make a little money bypromoting and selling the
(07:32):
workshop, I'm saving myselfmoney.
'cause now I don't have totravel to go get those
continuing education credits oreven learn, forget about the
credits.
It's really just about.
Absorbing that knowledge andinformation, which I think is
very, very valuable.
And now a lot of people willsay, well, what if I train my
staff and do all these greatthings and they leave and I'm
gonna say it, I say it all thetime.
(07:52):
What if you don't do it?
And they stay?
Competition is really.
Big right now.
And so making your team the bestkind of team so they are giving
your clients high qualityservice is super, super
beneficial for you and yourcompany as a whole.
Plus, not to mention the factthat I love working for this
company.
(08:12):
They bring someone in everyyear.
We're learning, they're investedin our development.
It creates a lot of buy-in and agood culture fit for your
studio.
So.
Some things to consider.
Alright.
There's a couple different waysyou can do these kind of
workshops, right?
You can have, again, a teachingworkshop where you're teaching
the clinicians, the providers,the technicians in your
(08:35):
business, right?
So you can have one where youdon't invite outside people and
you're just educating the peoplein your.
Facility.
And while you won't necessarilymake a lot of money in that
because you have to pay for theprofessional to come in, you are
getting a good training.
It can be very honed in on yourteam and it's creates a ton of
(08:56):
buy in with your team.
So that's number one.
Number two, you can do the samething and open it up for outside
registration.
You can charge anywhere from thegoing rate.
I would say, depending on theinstructor, and depending on the
professional, can be anywherefrom 50 to$150 an hour.
So if you're doing a two hourworkshop, you might sell it for
(09:19):
$99, or you might sell it for$299, depending on the value
that that's providing.
So if you're selling a four hourworkshop, that can be anywhere
from.
You know,$299 to$799 the pricesrange.
And also anything else inbusiness, we should set the
(09:42):
price based on our costs andexpenses.
So instructors, professionals,experts, that provide these
different types of workshops.
they have all sorts of differentcontracts.
So for example, if you bring me,which by the way, if you're
interested in hosting me to cometeach a workshop, I'll talk a
little bit about that at theend.
But you can reach out to me, youcan DM me over on Instagram at
(10:05):
Christa Gurka or shoot me anemail christa@christagurka.com.
The way that I do my contract isI have a flat fee per day.
That's up to.
Seven hours, which is usuallytwo, three hour workshops.
Or you can do three, two hourworkshops and an hour for lunch.
So I have a flat fee for theday.
(10:26):
so that's one day.
And then if you do two days,it's a flat fee for both days.
I pay my own travel andaccommodations.
So that's just basically rolledup into the day rate.
Other, practitioners do itdifferently.
They might have a flat fee, plusthey get a percentage of the
registrations.
there's a lot of different waysyou can broker these kind of
(10:48):
relationships and negotiations,but what you should look at is
what is it gonna cost you andhow do you set your price?
So let's say it's gonna cost you$3,000 to bring in an expert.
For a one day workshop, so let'ssay seven hours.
So you can, again, you can dotwo, three hour workshops.
(11:08):
You can do three, two hourworkshops.
You can do, two, two hourworkshops, and a one hour class
or a 90 minute class.
There's lots of ways that youcan construct it, and most
experts have a variety of topicsand ways that they can come and
work with you and make it.
Custom white labeled for you andyour business.
So then if you're gonna spend$3,000, then I would say you
(11:30):
wanna try to make at least$3,000so you break even.
So you can charge, if you get 10people at$300, you broke even if
you get 15 people at$300, right?
You've made$1,500 in profit.
If you get, five people at.
(11:51):
$600, then you've broken even.
So you just kind of have to makesure, where is the sweet spot?
So you're at least trying tobreak even.
So why are workshops a decentrevenue stream for your
business?
Well, there's low overhead forthe most part.
If you get, a good contractrelationship with an expert
(12:14):
that's gonna come in.
Okay, so it's low overhead.
It's one-time cost.
It's, you know, there's lots ofways to negotiate where it's
mutually beneficial foreveryone.
You can target, excuse me, aspecific audience.
So I was saying before, and Igot a little sidetracked.
You can do it for only yourstaff, your team members.
(12:34):
You can do it for outsidetechnicians or you can have
client ones.
At Pilates in the Grove.
We used to have clients.
Workshops.
You see this a lot in yogainversion workshops, handstand
workshops in Pilates, you can dohow to progress from beginner to
intermediate.
We had won Pilates for golf.
We did Pilates for low backpain.
(12:56):
So there's lots of ways that youcan have also workshops for your
clientele.
And not only your clientele cancome in, but maybe someone in
the community is also interestedin learning about that.
So you can have client facing.
Workshops or just eveneducation, right?
So those are things that you cando as, alternative revenue
streams in your business.
(13:17):
And again, it's very, it's lowcost, low overhead for the most
part.
You can create urgency aroundthese seasonal, or one time.
Offers at Pilates in the Grove,I taught every year a Pilates
for injuries and specialpopulations workshop.
It actually was the end, thelast module of our teacher
training program, and we alwaysheld it in September, October,
(13:41):
which is right before Floridagoes into their physical
therapy.
License renewal.
So it was like urgency aroundpeople being like, do you still
need CECs?
Do you need CEUs?
You should come.
This is a great workshop.
So you can create some urgencythrough one time or seasonal
offers.
You can bundle it in as part ofa teacher training program.
(14:03):
Maybe you do a workshop likePilates for, the advanced client
and you can have teachers comein to learn it.
And you can also have clientsattend, like maybe there are
some clients.
We all know that there's certainadvanced Pilates repertoire that
we don't normally teach in agroup setting'cause it's not
safe.
So you can have workshops aroundthat, maybe clients can come,
and then you get otherinstructors that are learning
(14:24):
the more advanced, repertoire,especially now that Pilate
studios are popping up on everysingle corner.
And so there's a lot of, there'sa lot of instructors that just
don't have the right kind oftraining and maybe they're
looking for more advancedtraining or more in depth
training now that they've beenintroduced to the world of
Pilates and realize that there'sa lot more out there.
(14:47):
Another benefit is it builds youyour studio as subject matter
experts, right?
You can possibly teach theseworkshops if you don't wanna
bring people in, right?
You as the owner or maybe one ofyour practitioners, or, one of
your other instructors couldteach the workshop.
So now the overhead's even lower'cause you're not bringing
another expert or professionalin.
(15:08):
Some of the beauty of bringinganother professional in, is they
get, you get to tap into theirnetwork.
So for example, for this.
Workshop that I'm doing in GlenEllyn, they get to tap into my
network on social media, mycontacts, people that know me by
name that are like, oh, I wannalearn from Christa.
I'm gonna go to that workshop.
So it's a benefit.
It's a win-win for them as well.
(15:30):
'cause I'm also promoting theworkshop through on this
podcast, on my website, throughmy emails, et cetera.
so it's a great way to alsomaybe test new services.
So if you're doing a, advancedPilates choreography or
something like that, and you geta lot of clients that come in,
you're like, oh, this might be agood workshop series.
Maybe you could do a workshopseries, advanced Pilates series.
(15:52):
It's a four week series learningthe advanced repertoire, so you
could test those formats maybein a workshop.
Before committing, you couldtest prenatal Pilates or yoga in
a workshop before committing toa full-blown program.
These are all great ways andbenefits of having workshops at
(16:13):
your establishment.
So like I said, we talked aboutthe technician focus workshops.
The goal really is to educateand uplevel.
Skill-wise, your team, Pilatesinstructors, PTs, massage
therapists, different types ofcomplimentary therapists, yoga
instructors, et cetera.
you could do new teachingtechniques with this.
(16:34):
You could do things like, I'vetaught workshops on how to teach
a great intro session and how toconvert intro clients into
long-term memberships.
You can do things around.
Sales strategies with yourteams, you can do, How to talk
to clients about converting intolong-term memberships.
You can do retention strategies.
(16:56):
So it, it could be not onlyskill-wise, but it could also be
business, right?
So when I go to Glen Ellyn, I amgonna be doing a business
portion on Friday with the ownerof the studio where I'm gonna be
doing an audit, and I'll be inthere during the day and seeing
how their day to day runs.
Talking to some of their staffand their clients and then
(17:16):
giving this business ownerfeedback.
And then I'm also gonna do onSunday of that weekend, a.
Training just for her team.
So on Friday I'm doing abusiness training with her as
the owner.
On Saturday we're doing publicfacing workshops.
And then on Sunday I'm doingtrainings just with her team
where they can bring all theirquestions.
(17:36):
she has a lot of new instructors'cause her Pilates business is
going crazy, bonkers.
And, Giving these newinstructors the ability to see
movement in their clients in adifferent light, right?
How can we step back and see theforest through the trees and
teaching newer instructors whatto be looking for?
So you go from just teachingexercises to really teaching a
(17:59):
method and programming properlyand going from a good instructor
to a great instructor.
'cause my opinion of a greatinstructor is.
Someone who can look at the bodyin front of them, watch how they
move and teach a class A personfeel like they had that class
(18:21):
taught exactly for them, whichis a skill.
It's a learned skill.
So a great instructor can lookat a body moving and say, oh,
they're having struggled doingthe teaser.
If I break down their movement.
What is that limiting factor?
Why are they having troubledoing the teaser?
Is it because their hip flexorsare a little weaker?
(18:44):
Is it because they don't haveactually thoracic flexion in
their thoracic spine?
It's not often just that theydon't have great abdominal
strength.
Are they actually not using thesprings?
Especially if you're doing it onthe reformer properly, to push
into the tension to.
Pull up into your teaser.
So where is the problem and howcan I, as practitioner, as
(19:05):
instructor address it to impacttheir movement?
That's a great instructor,right?
So there are good instructorsthat just teach exercises.
There are better instructorsthat really get people to move
forward.
And then there are greatinstructors that can look at the
movement and dissect it to knowexactly what's going on with
that client, where it's comingfrom, and how to impact it for
(19:26):
improvement.
Okay.
And those are the goals.
When I teach people, I wannateach people how to fish.
I don't just wanna give them thefish, right?
So I don't just wanna give them,oh, here's an advanced
repertoire I wanna give them.
Here's how you get these peopleto move from never being able to
do teaser to being able to doteaser.
effectively.
Okay, so that's the way that Ilike to teach my workshops.
(19:48):
so those are technician faceworkshops.
Now you can have client facingworkshops where your goal is to
provide extra value to yourclient base.
So you can do things like injuryprevention, how to prevent.
Falls when you haveosteoporosis, how to improve
your balance so you don't fallwith osteoporosis.
(20:09):
tips and tricks for clients thathave osteoporosis, pelvic floor
workshops.
Okay, you can do, intro to a newpiece of equipment.
Intro to the chair, intro toAdvanced Reformer, Pilates for
golf.
Low back workshop, knee painworkshops.
There's all sorts of things thatyou can do now.
(20:29):
Usually client facing workshopsare 90 to 120 minutes, and on
average, I would say they cost.
Roughly 45,$50 an hour.
So if you do a two hourworkshop, it could be$90,$129.
if you do a one hour workshop,it should just be more than your
group class fee.
(20:51):
So if your drop in rate forgroup class is 45, that one hour
workshop should be a little bitmore.
but there's all sorts of waysthat you can create client
loyalty.
With this, you can upsell intomemberships and into workshop
series.
You can get more, Position as anexpert and maybe some people
bring their friends with themand it's just a great thing to
do a little bit outside the boxso that your clientele is yeah,
(21:15):
they do a lot of really excitingthings in, our studio.
That's not just the exercise.
It brings people, buildcommunity.
you can use it for social mediaand content and blogs and things
on your website and besidesbeing a good revenue stream, it
is a good way to build communityin your studio.
so lastly what I would say is Iwouldn't advise doing workshops
(21:41):
every month.
I think that that can get verytime consuming and very
daunting, and we've had peoplein.
Our inner circle, and even inFit Biz, our monthly membership
where we talk about workshopsand stuff, and it just is a lot,
it's a lot to keep up.
but maybe doing them quarterly,bi-annually, twice a year or
once a year.
Right.
if anything, maybe test it out.
(22:02):
Maybe look into could you bringan expert into your.
Place and teach your team.
Right.
if you're interested in hostingme to do a workshop again, I
could come in, we could dobusiness training.
I could do with the owner.
I have a whole list of workshopsthat I teach from a technical
perspective, not just business.
We can work with your team onsales strategies, how you
(22:25):
convert intro people intolong-term memberships and.
You can reach out to me, I'mhappy to do it.
you can also see who has certainskill sets on your team who
might be interested in doingworkshops at your studio.
You could do a foam rollingworkshop.
Maybe if you don't have matclass, maybe you could do a
pop-up.
Mat class workshop like once aquarter, but these are just
(22:47):
different ways, especially ifyou're oh, I need a little cash
injection into my business.
You can utilize this strategy toposition you as an expert to
also grow some revenue anddecide oh, is this working out?
Is this something I want to puton my business plan, my
marketing plan for 2026, and howcan I do that appropriately?
(23:11):
So if you're interested incoming to Glen Ellyn, Illinois,
which is just outside ofChicago, I will be there October
25th for the workshop.
I am going to link the workshop,URL in the show notes.
So at some point go ahead andgrab this workshop, URL.
(23:32):
There are still spaces availablefor there.
you can go right to theirwebsite and register.
So if you're gonna be in andaround the Chicago area end of
October, I would love to seeyou.
And then, like I said, if you'reinterested in possibly hosting
me for a Pilates or physicaltherapy or even business
workshop in your facility, andwe can do all three.
We could do one on Friday,Saturday, and Sunday.
(23:54):
Reach out.
I'm happy to share my, rates andmy services package with you.
You can, like I said, DM me onInstagram at Christa Gurka If
you're interested or, email me,I'm christa@christagurka.com.
Alright, thanks so much, ladiesand gentlemen, and until next
time, bye for now.
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