December 2, 2024 • 33 mins
In this episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, Seran Glanfield dives into the essential legal protections every boutique fitness studio needs, featuring legal expert Cory Sterling from Conscious Counsel. With his specialized knowledge of the wellness industry, Cory shares must-have agreements and policies to keep your studio legally secure. Together, they explore topics like liability waivers, independent contractor agreements, privacy policies, and membership agreements.
Cory’s insights highlight the importance of having comprehensive, customized legal documents to protect your studio’s interests and ensure a strong foundation for growth. Tune in to learn practical steps that can shield your studio from legal headaches, allowing you to focus on what you do best—serving clients and building your business.
Connect with Cory at: www.consciouscounsel.ca
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you're running a studio and pouring your heart
into it, the last thing you wantis to leave yourself legally
exposed.
Today, we're diving into thelegal essentials that every
studio owner needs to know toprotect your business, your
clients and yourself.
From liability waivers toindependent contractor
(00:21):
agreements, I'm covering the toplegal must-haves you need in
place to keep your studio safeand secure.
Well, hi there, I'm SarenGlanfield.
I'm a business and marketingstrategist just for boutique
fitness studio owners like you.
If you're ready to be inspiredand make a bigger impact, you're
(00:41):
in the right place.
All you need are a few keystrategies, the right mindset
and some support along the way.
Join me as I share thereal-life insights that will
help you grow a sustainable andprofitable studio.
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast.
Welcome back to the PilatesBusiness Podcast.
(01:06):
I'm Sarah-Ann Glanfield, yourhost, and today we are taking on
a topic that every studio ownerneeds but few love to dive into
, and that is the legalessentials.
I know it's tempting to perhapsfocus on those parts of your
business that you love teachingthe movement, maybe, the design
and the decor, the colors of thelogo, even but there's one
(01:30):
thing that I've seen over andover again in this industry.
It's that it's really, reallyimportant to protect yourself
and your business from a legalperspective perspective, and we
don't want you to make anymissteps in that area, which is
why I've invited our favoritefavorite lawyer, corey Sterling,
(01:52):
founder of Conscious Counsel,back onto the show to talk all
about it.
Welcome, corey.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Thank you, saran.
Thank you so much for having me, and it's been a while since we
had a chance to have aconversation, so I'm really
excited to be here and thank youfor having me.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Yeah, of course.
I mean, the last time you wereon, just for everyone listening,
was episode 17, which was wayback in 2021.
And this is episode 194.
So you know, a couple of yearsago and that was a while ago,
and I know that a few years ago,um, and that was a while ago
and I know the few things havechanged in that time, um, so
we'll definitely we'll hear someother updates, um, of how
(02:32):
things might have shifted, butwhy don't we kick off, um, why
don't you begin by introducingyourself conscious counsel, um?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
and what you do, I would be be very, very happy to.
I also want to acknowledge youfor your consistency Holy smokes
, yeah.
Continually showing up for yourcommunity and for your
listeners, which is really,really amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So all my respect, never miss a week Never miss a
week.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
You know what?
Yeah, I started a podcast andI've missed a week twice.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
But that happens Anyways so I acknowledge you.
I'm striving for yourconsistency, but you're awesome
and it's so cool to be chattingwith you.
Okay, I run an online law firmcalled Conscious Counsel.
We provide heart leading legalservices and legal solutions for
professionals in the health andwellness industries,
(03:24):
specifically yoga, pilates andhealth coaching and retreats.
So when I originally started mylegal practice, I started just
in yoga and then I was like thenI got into Pilates so I was
like cool, why don't I also helpout different Pilates studio
owners?
And now fast forward a coupleof years.
We've worked with more than1400 clients, we've got 393 five
(03:49):
star Google reviews, we won anaward in 2024 for best health
and wellness lawyers and we'rehaving a really, really fun time
doing it.
So my job is very, veryinteresting.
I'm essentially a lawyer fordifferent studios and I help
them through legal problems andlegal challenges and legal
issues.
For me it's so interestingbecause I get to go through this
(04:11):
journey of watching my clientsgo through things for the first
time, even though I've done itso many times and I've seen the
same problems time and timeagain and it's just interesting.
You see someone going throughfor the first time and for me
it's like, oh, this is.
I know exactly where we are andwhat you need to do and how to
take care of it, but you areright that a lot of people who
(04:35):
run studios they love doing theschedule, they love doing
Instagram, they love doing allthe fun, amazing, juicy parts of
it and they don't have thelegal foundation in place and,
unfortunately, that can comeback to bite them.
So I stand up, I take a standto provide heart leading legal
solutions for studio ownersaround the world and do
(04:57):
everything I can to share myexpertise and my information so
that whoever's listening doesn'tmake the same mistake that one
of my clients has already made,and to do it in a fun and
interesting and entertaining way.
So here I am.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
You are and I think you know when we were so.
Business owners wear so manyhats, especially small business
owners, and you know, when youopen a business, there are
things that you sort of expectthat you might not know so much
about, and, and there are thingsthat you know expect that you
might not know so much about,and and there are things that
you know that we will never.
(05:31):
You know, you can never expectto know everything about the,
the legalities of business,right, which is when it's really
, I think, quite important tobring in experts to give you
guidance and to give you support.
And when it comes to all of thelegal stuff, right, I think you
know you you're not going to goget a law degree to then write
your own documents, so it'simportant to have someone who
not only can help you from alegal perspective, but I think
(05:52):
it's also helpful to havesomeone who can help you and who
understands your business andthe industry that we're in, so
that they can make sure thatyou're fully protected in the
right way.
So, when you start with, whenyou, if you were starting a
studio, what would you say?
Are the um?
This, you know, how shouldsomeone just sort of make sure
(06:14):
that they are protected from thebeginning.
What were, what are the sort ofbasics?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, you want to look at what different
relationships you're going tohave in your business, right?
So the different relationshipsyou have is you probably, if you
have a studio, you haveteachers that work for you.
So what relationship do youhave with them?
Are they contractors or arethey employees?
You have your clients, who youhave two types of relationships
with your clients.
One is it relates to liabilityand them getting injured, and
(06:41):
one is it relates to you know, aconsumer provider relationship
in terms of you sellingsomething and then buying
something.
You have a relationship onlinefor all the information and
photos and images and personalinformation that you collect
online, and if you're renting aspace, you have a relationship
with your landlord as well.
So usually it's the first stepalways is just zoom out and
(07:04):
think who do I have differentrelationships with and how can I
want to have with that personor with those people, and really
(07:27):
like, in the most simplisticsense, the true purpose of the
lawyer is to give peace of mindand security and confidence,
because I see so often that it'seither something that people
want to sweep under the rug andjust not think about and be like
I'm just going to hold hopethat nothing happens, or
sometimes that happens, orthey'll just be like, ah, like
I'm just going to hold hope thatnothing happens, or um, is
sometimes that happens, orthey'll just be like, ah, like,
(07:48):
okay, it'll, universe has myback, everything will figure
everything out for itself.
And so what I've learned moreand more that I've done this,
and probably what's changed alot since being a guest on
episode 17 is realizing that my,my role as the lawyer really is
to give people freedom and givethem security and give them
peace of mind and be like cool,I've got this part for all these
(08:09):
things that you don'tunderstand.
And so you go off and like signas many members as you want.
I'm starting to work with a newstudio who's doing a build out,
so it's like a seven figureproject, custom build out, all
of the things.
And I saw I saw that theystarted selling like their
legacy memberships withouthaving a membership agreement
(08:31):
and I was like okay, like we, wegot to talk about this Like
this, this is something that youneed to have in place, you need
to take care of.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
So why don't we dive?
Can we dive into that reallyquickly?
So tell me about the membershipagreement and how.
What falls under that.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, so really important.
The way that you want to thinkabout the relationship that you
have with your clients is howcan things be as easy and simple
for me and my team as possible,in accordance with the laws,
subscription, pay, expectations,behavioral expectations, what
to do if someone does not followthem, payments, rescheduling,
(09:17):
cancellations, hygiene, respect,what's included, what's not
included All of those differentelements want to be addressed in
the membership agreement,because this is the relationship
that you have with your clientsand that if and when you have a
problem with one of yourclients and one issue I've
consistently had with my clientswho are studio owners is
they've wanted to stop workingwith a client who's either
(09:40):
making instructors feeluncomfortable, making other
members feel uncomfortable,whatever issue comes up around
that If you have a generictemplated agreement that doesn't
outline the specificexpectations of your studio,
you're going to have a really,really difficult time removing
that person from the studio.
And then, when you try to kickthem out, they're going to say,
oh, you're discriminatingagainst me because of ABC Cause
(10:01):
usually the person that you'retrying to kick out has some form
of mental imbalance or somelike there's some issue that's
going on there usually, and sofor me as the lawyer.
It's like we tell people whatwe expect of them.
They follow the behavioralstandard that we set.
If they don't, we have a legalreason to kick them out and not
provide a refund for whatthey've paid based on breach of
(10:21):
contract.
So it's again.
Is it the most fun thing tothink about?
Not really, but what I say toevery client when we're doing a
studio membership agreement islike think about all of the
headaches and issues you've hadin the past dealing with your
clients, whether that it's notpaying, showing up late,
whatever it is not wearinggrippy socks, you choose the
(10:42):
issue.
You're not taking care of theequipment properly.
Let's put all of that inagreement.
Let's get your clients to signit.
If anything comes up, you havesuperior legal position.
You can address it immediately.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Your clients to sign it If anything comes up, you
have superior legal position.
You can address it immediately.
Yeah, and it's about like thatpeace of mind.
You know, because I think youknow we're dealing with often.
You know hundreds and hundredsof human beings and everyone has
comes into this, into yourstudio, from a different place,
with sometimes differentexpectations, sometimes
misconceptions and all of thesethings, and so never quite know
what's going to come at you, andso protecting yourself is so
(11:15):
important.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
The point of all of it.
It's like you start a studio,you get five legal agreements
and then, if there's a problem,you send me an email.
That's the most simple, that'sthe most simplistic way.
You know you're not going toget sued, you know that if
there's an issue, you have astronger legal position and you
know that you have someone whounderstands your business.
You can take care of it for you.
(11:37):
So it's like, I think, in my inthe earlier years of my career,
I was much more law focused,where I'd be like well, this is
the law and this is what we do.
And now I'm much morerelationship focused, where it's
like cool, a problem comes upforward me the email, I'll take
care of it for you, because youshould be focusing on growing
your business or having greatmessaging, or building your team
(11:58):
or whatever else it is thatbusiness owners should be taking
care of.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
For sure, for sure.
So what are the sort of keylegal agreements that you need
in place?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
As it relates to operating online, you need a
privacy policy in terms ofservice.
This is the collection ofpersonal information in 2024,
turning 2025.
It's more important than ever.
Any third party that you shareor facilitate the sharing of
personal information with youhave to list them on part of
your privacy policy.
A lot of people ask like whereand when you know?
(12:32):
Can't I just copy this?
What, when, when would I usethis?
I think it's something like 60plus percent of data breaches in
a professional context happento small business owners, and so
the reason why you need aprivacy policy other than the
fact that it's mandated and thatif you're going to be
collecting it, give a mailinglist If you are holding people's
(12:52):
personal information, you needto let them know how you're
going to use it, but also, ifthere's a data breach, you have
to show that you follow theappropriate steps and you let
people know what would happen,and like a data breach is a
reality in 2024.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
It certainly is.
It's scary and it happens yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Compromise information happens.
So it's one of those thingsthat a lot of people think like,
oh, like, well, what do I needthis for?
But, a, you need it becauseit's a rule.
And two, there can be databreaches, and I've had clients
who have had informationcompromised and then got sued
because they didn't have theappropriate privacy policy in
place.
So it's sort of like we justwant to take care of all of it.
So once privacy policy, serviceslash, membership agreement we
(13:32):
spoke about waiver of liabilityis a really big one.
So this is before you areproviding services to someone,
you tell them what you're goingto do, how you're going to do it
, where you're going to do it,what equipment you're going to
use, what can go wrong, and thenthey agree not to sue you by
virtue of their participation.
So if they suffer damages bydoing the activities that you
(13:57):
said in the way that you saidyou're going to do it with the
equipment that you said you weregoing to do, god forbid,
there's a problem.
Um, then the waiver ofliability is is what you stand
on to say hey, before we worktogether, before I allowed you
to come into the studio, yousigned this document.
We told you we were going to beusing the Cadillac and the
Pilates ring and a Bosu ball andlightweights and whatever, and
this is the reformer and this isthe accident that happened and,
(14:20):
as such, you agree not to holdus responsible.
I went through something.
A client of mine is a Pilatesinstructor doing home Pilates
and their clients are elderly,elderly client base.
Unfortunately, there was aninjury.
Someone got really, really hurtand then threatened them,
(14:40):
blamed them all the bad things.
We have the waiver of liabilitysigned.
I was able to respond to theperson immediately with a copy
of the signed waiver.
It goes away.
So that's privacy waiver,service agreement, a media
release and a social mediadisclaimer.
If you're going to be takingtestimonials, if you're going to
be taking photos, if you'regoing to be taking videos, using
(15:01):
them on your website, usingthem on promotional campaigns,
if you run Instagram lives whereyou give information that could
be construed as professionalrecommendations, you want to be
covered in the event that you dothat.
And then the last agreementwould be either a contractor
agreement or an employeeagreement, based on your state,
based on the scope of servicesbeing provided.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
That covers a lot.
Which ones typically are missed, would you say?
Speaker 2 (15:36):
you say, what I see missed the most are not paying
enough time or attention to theindependent contractor slash
employee question.
I think that clients don'tunderstand the ramifications of
making that classification andusually they'll want it both
ways.
So, in plain English, it'scheaper and easier for you to
have contractors, but you haveless control over the services
that they provide.
Also, you're not entitled tothe benefits of things like a
(15:56):
non-competition, which is likeprobably one out of four issues
that I'm resolving for clientshas to do with non-competition
or them wanting to precludesomeone from working somewhere
else in some capacity.
So when you're with independentcontractors, you can't really
have any non-competitionprovisions in.
Even with employees it can bedifficult.
It has to be draftedappropriately.
(16:17):
I think that's missed.
And yeah, I mean.
Look, if a client is doingthings properly and getting all
of these agreements customized,then they're in great shape.
What half of my legal practice?
Half of my legal practice isgetting emails from clients who
(16:38):
use chat, gpt or use theirfriends documents and now we're
having a problem and are payingme.
You know four times what itwould cost to have done it the
right way.
And half of my clients arepeople who are like okay, I know
that I need to take care ofthis.
So if I get a hold of someoneand if I have an opportunity to
speak with them and explain whatI do and why I do it and all
(16:58):
the different experiences I'vebeen through, I think then
nothing gets missed, becauseit's just like hey, I have.
You can choose any of thosedocuments.
I've got 15 stories for each ofthem of things that I've been
through with clients.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
And so yeah, so tell me a little bit about what I
think the biggest things, thequestions that I mean in the
conversation that I have withstudio owners that come up, um,
are around, um, well, a likewhat the waivers?
So we kind of we've talked aboutthat.
Obviously it sounds like thatneeds to be quite specific,
actually, um, and so you can'tsort of pull a generic, you know
(17:36):
copy and paste perhaps fromsomething you found or chat to
produce, created, but the otherup following that, I would say.
The next one that mostly comesup is about employment agreement
or independent contractors, andyou know, obviously there's a,
there is a distinction therebetween the two.
And because I think the nextquestion is always well, how do
(17:56):
I protect my business if I havea teacher, and especially for
folks who often have teachertraining programs, how do I
protect myself and grow thisbusiness and offer this um
service, um, and ensure thatthese people don't then become
my competition, you know?
So how does that look?
And because I know some of therules have changed, there's been
(18:18):
some shifts in that way, so canwe talk a little bit about that
?
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Yeah, sure, I'd be happy to.
So essentially and you'reabsolutely right, and and the
the biggest, most expensiveissues that I've that I help
clients with, are waivers andour independent contractor
issues, or or employee issues.
The contractor, employee issuesalways it's almost always the
same People are afraid thatwhoever they're working with is
(18:46):
going to start steal theirclients and start start their
own studio, like always.
That all it and it's what's sointeresting is like law of
attraction.
The people who always bring itup that they're afraid that it's
going to happen.
It sort of always happens tothem, um, and and so what you
want to do is you want to createa contract that is, to the
(19:06):
maximum extent possible, asprohibitive as possible for
those people to be able to docertain things.
So non-competition usually isnot permitted, but
non-solicitation is permitted,and also one is able to make it
a condition of them working withyou that they're also not
(19:27):
allowed to work in a certainplace.
So I'll break this down right,non-competition typically says
okay, if you work here, if youwork at my studio, then you're
not allowed to work at any otherstudio within a three mile
radius.
Right, cool, non-compete.
Now the issue what happens isthe person the employee works
for the business, leaves thebusiness and then goes to work
(19:49):
at another studio within a threemile radius, and then my client
calls me freaking out, wantingto enforce that provision.
That's an example of aprovision that's very, very
difficult to enforce.
One thing that I do coach myclients on is and you can do
this with contractors oremployees you are allowed to put
in restrictions to say, ifyou're working here, you're not
(20:12):
allowed At the same time thatyou're working here, you're not
allowed to work at anywherewithin three miles.
And that is something that youare able to do because you can
say cool, as a condition of ouremployment, you understand that
if you're working here, you'reonly going to work at our studio
and nowhere else within a threemile radius.
That's different from saying,once you're done here for a
period of two years, in a threemile radius, you're not able to
(20:34):
do what it is that you want todo.
So there are legal fixes andways to do it, but it's a little
bit tricky.
And the most important thing isthat you have documents in
favor of your legal position sothat in the event you want to
try to enforce something thatyou have a strong agreement that
and you have the superior legalposition.
(20:54):
And I'll just break down thisone concept because it's so
important to understand Of allof the issues that I've been a
part of, none of them have goneto court.
Okay.
So we always think that, okay,I'm dealing with a lawyer and
when I'm in court, I'm goingcourt.
That's not where the rubbermeets the road.
That's not where the actionhappens.
The action happens is there's adisagreement, someone does
(21:18):
something and now you'redemonstrating the strength of
your legal position.
Agreement that's signed by theother person, that puts you in a
superior legal position.
Let's say that person wants todo something.
It's as simple as me sending anemail saying hey, attach as a
signed copy of the agreementthat you sign.
You're not allowed to do A, bor C.
(21:44):
If we find out that you do A, bor C, we reserve the right to
bring an action against you.
Plus fees, plus costs, pluseverything, and that's like
usually 99% of the time,everything stops there.
So it's like it'scounterintuitive, because of
Hollywood and television and howwe think that things work, that
it's like the grand finale isgoing to be in the courtroom,
but it actually.
Everything happens in thein-between.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Right.
That's really helpful tounderstand in a little bit more
detail.
Thank you.
So obviously you know legalprecedents change on a regular
basis and one of the most recentrulings that has come into
effect or is about to come intoeffect is a ruling called the
click to cancel rule.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat and how it might impact
(22:28):
studios Can?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
you talk a little bit about that and how it might
impact studios.
Yeah, look, I think this iswhat I'll say about it.
So it's something new that'scoming in and the intention of
it is to create clarity in arecurring subscription payment
model and it's also intended tobenefit customers.
It's for consumer protection.
This is what I can say.
(22:52):
I haven't done too muchresearch into it, but in looking
at the policy, so at law, thisis like law school 101.
When a new ruling or a newpiece of legislation comes in,
it's always a reflection ofpolicy, of society at that time
where the lawmakers are like,hey, we don't think that this is
working for the general public,so we want to put something in
effect that will support themand that will be more
(23:13):
advantageous or fair to them,because it's like things happen
and then the laws always have toadapt and change afterwards.
The intentions of the click tocancel policy are not and I can
say this with 100% confidence.
The FTC was not looking atPilates studio memberships and
thinking we've got to stop thesepeople.
(23:35):
It's really for a little bitmore sinister types of
businesses that have recurringpayments and have tricky,
misleading, deceptive businesspractices that make it easy for
people to opt out of recurringmemberships, which is like
overall, this is a very, verygood thing, like it's not, it
(23:57):
doesn't, it's not going to hurtstudios.
To me, how I interpret is thatit emphasizes the need for a
clear membership agreements andalso what the opt-in and the
opt-out process is.
So most of what the actualpractical implication for this
is going to be is like whatprocess is available for someone
to opt out of a recurringpayment, right?
(24:17):
So it's just like you have todisclose this, you have to show
this, you have to make it easyfor people to be able to opt out
and not have issues.
What I will say will be very,very important in terms of
chargebacks and in terms ofprotecting studios If you're
selling someone something at acertain price ie you're
purchasing an annual membershipat a recurring payment rate of
(24:42):
$100 a month that it's $1,200,but if you just paid for three
months, it would be 600, right?
I'm just.
You want your membershipagreement to say in the event
that you terminate this early,there will be a price adjustment
to reflect that.
You know, because if you don'thave that in place, someone can
(25:02):
sign up for an annual membershippay on a monthly basis for that
particular price.
Opt out early Cool.
I got my four months of Pilates, coming six times a week,
paying $100 a month, which wouldbe an absolute steal, and then
walking away and be like, ohcool, well, I'm allowed to
cancel it, subject to thewritten agreement between the
parties.
So in, yeah, sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
So as long as you have the within your terms and
conditions very clear, so theycan still cancel.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
But there would be an additional sort of termination
fee, then, yeah, the click tocancel is abrupt.
Just think of the procedure.
It's the procedure in which waysomeone is allowed to cancel a
recurring membership membership.
So it can't be hidden, it can'tbe deceptive, it has to be
present, there has to be like ayou know, a negative opt-in,
whatever.
It is all of all of those sortsof things what the issue that I
(25:57):
foresee happening is thatpeople sell something at a
certain price based on a promiseto pay over a certain amount of
time.
And if someone now has thesestronger consumer rights that
they can cancel something at anytime, cool, you can cancel
whenever you want, but thepayments and the amounts owed
should be reflective of howeverlong you actually were paying
(26:18):
for the services.
Have I explained that clearly?
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah, so if they are committed, say, to the 12 months
, and they were paying a hundredbucks a month, yet if they were
going month to month it wouldbe $200 a month.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yes, the risk for the studio owner is that now that
it's easier to opt out, theycould opt out after a certain
time and now they're paying halfthe amount for having gotten
something else.
So it just is a reminder totighten up studio membership
agreements.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
And so, in that scenario, would you recommend
that folks don't have a 12-monthcommitment on their membership,
or what would you say?
Speaker 2 (26:59):
I'm not so concerned about that.
I think that a 12-month optionmakes sense.
Again, what I'll say is likeit's not about us in the Pilates
industry, this ruling it'sreally definitely.
It's relevant in the sense thatit applies to everyone and
anyone who has recurringsubscriptions.
But I think the most importantthing always is to manage the
(27:22):
relationship and communicate theexpectations, and so long as
you're doing that appropriately,there may be a couple of people
who try to take advantage, butthat's why you want to be
prepared with the rightdocumentation.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Right, okay, so as long as you tighten up the
membership agreement, there isno need to change anything
within your pricing structureper se, other than the fact that
perhaps tighten up the earlytermination clause.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, no, there's no need to.
And also, again, what this isabout is it's procedural, it's
the process of which someone isallowed to opt out of a
subscription.
That's all that this is about.
It doesn't change the laws,it's just either certain, in the
same way that a privacy policyhas to have certain things in
order to be at best practices.
On a procedural level, it'sjust they're applying this to
(28:09):
opt-outs for subscriptions.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
I think whenever these sorts of new rulings come
out, it's always a little bit ofokay.
What does this really mean inpracticality for studio owners?
So it's always helpful to haveyour insights.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
With pleasure, with so much pleasure.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
All right.
So, as we kind of look into,kind of you know, the legal
landscape and the industry as awhole, what sort of
recommendations would you makefor studio owners new and
perhaps those who've been inbusiness for a while, to make
sure that they're protectedlegally more?
Speaker 2 (28:45):
generally, In the most simplistic sense, you want
to get a package of documents toreflect the relationships that
you want and you want toregister a trademark for your
business name.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yes, we did not talk about intellectual property yet.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Yeah, intellectual property, and we can do it
quickly because I want to bemindful of the time.
But the way that it relates toPilates studio owners is that
copyright relates to protectionof written works, teacher
training manuals, studio manuals, anything related, anything
that you write or that youcreate is protected by copyright
(29:20):
.
Trademark has to do with havingexclusive use to a word or a
series of words or a logo, as itrelates to your business.
So they're both very, veryimportant, and some of the
biggest issues I see come aroundtrademarks and not registering
a trademark, especially in thePilates place, where it's
(29:42):
actually amazing how similar somany of the names can be, which
makes it tricky to navigate butalso enforces the importance of
making sure trademarks are inplace.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Yeah, I know I've had many clients who have very the
same name for their studios andI'm like wait, is that Jane from
that Pilates or is that Sallyfrom that Pilates?
It's the same name.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Yeah, there are a lot of them that are the same like
movement Pilates as an example.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
I could list them all , but I won't.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, it's just like there's a lot of movement
Pilates.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, this was so helpful.
I really appreciate you comingon and sharing, corey, all of
your insights and lovelyreminders of how we can make
sure that we are able to reallybe protected from a legal
perspective and legal standpoint, and I know that people are
going to want to be able to getin touch and to get your help.
(30:36):
So what's the best way forpeople to connect with you and
to perhaps make sure thatthey've got all of their ducks
in a row?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Yeah, you can shoot me an email, corey, at
ConsciousCouncilca.
We're going to put our websitein the show.
Coryatconsciouscouncilca, we'regonna put our website in the
show notes.
Consciouscouncilca On Instagram.
It's at consciouscouncil.
And yeah, and thanks so muchfor having me and for the
opportunity to chat.
Once again, I hope theinformation was helpful and it's
just like the way that you justwanna think about law.
(31:05):
Is that, like A, it's the costof doing business.
Like, if you're going to hangup a shingle and put up, open up
a space, you're going to needlegal documents to make sure
that you're protected.
And like B, it doesn't have tobe difficult or stressful or
challenging and it's notsomething that you, the end
consumer, have to do.
It's something that you have towork with someone who knows
what they're doing in order tomake sure that you're protected.
(31:27):
And having a series ofprofessional relationships
whether it's an accountant,whether it's a bookkeeper,
whether it's your business coach, whether it's a marketing coach
, whether it's a lawyer, whoeverit is it's like this is the
team that helps you grow up andlevel up and get to the next
level without any issues.
So thank you so much for theopportunity and it's a pleasure
to chat with you, as always.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Always, always, Thank you.
So I'm going to pop all of thekey links in the show notes, you
guys.
So pop in there and grab those,and I really hope that this was
helpful to you.
I hope that it's given youperhaps a little bit of homework
.
To go and just double check youhave all of those documents we
mentioned in place and I hopethis is really helpful to you as
you go about building yourboutique fitness studio business
.
If it was be sure to never missanother episode, Just go to
(32:14):
wherever you're listening tothis and hit that follow or
subscribe button.
It would mean a lot.
Take care.
Did you love this episode andwant more?
Head to spring3.com and checkout my free resources that will
help you runa profitable andfulfilling studio business.
And before you go, one lastreminder there is no one way to
(32:38):
do what you do, only your way.
So whatever it is that you wantto do, create or offer, you've
got this.
Thanks again for joining metoday and have a wonderful rest
of your day.
If you're running a studio and pouring your heart
into it, the last thing you wantis to leave yourself legally
exposed.
Today, we're diving into thelegal essentials that every
studio owner needs to know toprotect your business, your
clients and yourself.
From liability waivers toindependent contractor
(00:21):
agreements, I'm covering the toplegal must-haves you need in
place to keep your studio safeand secure.
Well, hi there, I'm SarenGlanfield.
I'm a business and marketingstrategist just for boutique
fitness studio owners like you.
If you're ready to be inspiredand make a bigger impact, you're
(00:41):
in the right place.
All you need are a few keystrategies, the right mindset
and some support along the way.
Join me as I share thereal-life insights that will
help you grow a sustainable andprofitable studio.
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast.
Welcome back to the PilatesBusiness Podcast.
(01:06):
I'm Sarah-Ann Glanfield, yourhost, and today we are taking on
a topic that every studio ownerneeds but few love to dive into
, and that is the legalessentials.
I know it's tempting to perhapsfocus on those parts of your
business that you love teachingthe movement, maybe, the design
and the decor, the colors of thelogo, even but there's one
(01:30):
thing that I've seen over andover again in this industry.
It's that it's really, reallyimportant to protect yourself
and your business from a legalperspective perspective, and we
don't want you to make anymissteps in that area, which is
why I've invited our favoritefavorite lawyer, corey Sterling,
(01:52):
founder of Conscious Counsel,back onto the show to talk all
about it.
Welcome, corey.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Thank you, saran.
Thank you so much for having me, and it's been a while since we
had a chance to have aconversation, so I'm really
excited to be here and thank youfor having me.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Yeah, of course.
I mean, the last time you wereon, just for everyone listening,
was episode 17, which was wayback in 2021.
And this is episode 194.
So you know, a couple of yearsago and that was a while ago,
and I know that a few years ago,um, and that was a while ago
and I know the few things havechanged in that time, um, so
we'll definitely we'll hear someother updates, um, of how
(02:32):
things might have shifted, butwhy don't we kick off, um, why
don't you begin by introducingyourself conscious counsel, um?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
and what you do, I would be be very, very happy to.
I also want to acknowledge youfor your consistency Holy smokes
, yeah.
Continually showing up for yourcommunity and for your
listeners, which is really,really amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So all my respect, never miss a week Never miss a
week.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
You know what?
Yeah, I started a podcast andI've missed a week twice.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
But that happens Anyways so I acknowledge you.
I'm striving for yourconsistency, but you're awesome
and it's so cool to be chattingwith you.
Okay, I run an online law firmcalled Conscious Counsel.
We provide heart leading legalservices and legal solutions for
professionals in the health andwellness industries,
(03:24):
specifically yoga, pilates andhealth coaching and retreats.
So when I originally started mylegal practice, I started just
in yoga and then I was like thenI got into Pilates so I was
like cool, why don't I also helpout different Pilates studio
owners?
And now fast forward a coupleof years.
We've worked with more than1400 clients, we've got 393 five
(03:49):
star Google reviews, we won anaward in 2024 for best health
and wellness lawyers and we'rehaving a really, really fun time
doing it.
So my job is very, veryinteresting.
I'm essentially a lawyer fordifferent studios and I help
them through legal problems andlegal challenges and legal
issues.
For me it's so interestingbecause I get to go through this
(04:11):
journey of watching my clientsgo through things for the first
time, even though I've done itso many times and I've seen the
same problems time and timeagain and it's just interesting.
You see someone going throughfor the first time and for me
it's like, oh, this is.
I know exactly where we are andwhat you need to do and how to
take care of it, but you areright that a lot of people who
(04:35):
run studios they love doing theschedule, they love doing
Instagram, they love doing allthe fun, amazing, juicy parts of
it and they don't have thelegal foundation in place and,
unfortunately, that can comeback to bite them.
So I stand up, I take a standto provide heart leading legal
solutions for studio ownersaround the world and do
(04:57):
everything I can to share myexpertise and my information so
that whoever's listening doesn'tmake the same mistake that one
of my clients has already made,and to do it in a fun and
interesting and entertaining way.
So here I am.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
You are and I think you know when we were so.
Business owners wear so manyhats, especially small business
owners, and you know, when youopen a business, there are
things that you sort of expectthat you might not know so much
about, and, and there are thingsthat you know expect that you
might not know so much about,and and there are things that
you know that we will never.
(05:31):
You know, you can never expectto know everything about the,
the legalities of business,right, which is when it's really
, I think, quite important tobring in experts to give you
guidance and to give you support.
And when it comes to all of thelegal stuff, right, I think you
know you you're not going to goget a law degree to then write
your own documents, so it'simportant to have someone who
not only can help you from alegal perspective, but I think
(05:52):
it's also helpful to havesomeone who can help you and who
understands your business andthe industry that we're in, so
that they can make sure thatyou're fully protected in the
right way.
So, when you start with, whenyou, if you were starting a
studio, what would you say?
Are the um?
This, you know, how shouldsomeone just sort of make sure
(06:14):
that they are protected from thebeginning.
What were, what are the sort ofbasics?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, you want to look at what different
relationships you're going tohave in your business, right?
So the different relationshipsyou have is you probably, if you
have a studio, you haveteachers that work for you.
So what relationship do youhave with them?
Are they contractors or arethey employees?
You have your clients, who youhave two types of relationships
with your clients.
One is it relates to liabilityand them getting injured, and
(06:41):
one is it relates to you know, aconsumer provider relationship
in terms of you sellingsomething and then buying
something.
You have a relationship onlinefor all the information and
photos and images and personalinformation that you collect
online, and if you're renting aspace, you have a relationship
with your landlord as well.
So usually it's the first stepalways is just zoom out and
(07:04):
think who do I have differentrelationships with and how can I
want to have with that personor with those people, and really
(07:27):
like, in the most simplisticsense, the true purpose of the
lawyer is to give peace of mindand security and confidence,
because I see so often that it'seither something that people
want to sweep under the rug andjust not think about and be like
I'm just going to hold hopethat nothing happens, or
sometimes that happens, orthey'll just be like, ah, like
I'm just going to hold hope thatnothing happens, or um, is
sometimes that happens, orthey'll just be like, ah, like,
(07:48):
okay, it'll, universe has myback, everything will figure
everything out for itself.
And so what I've learned moreand more that I've done this,
and probably what's changed alot since being a guest on
episode 17 is realizing that my,my role as the lawyer really is
to give people freedom and givethem security and give them
peace of mind and be like cool,I've got this part for all these
(08:09):
things that you don'tunderstand.
And so you go off and like signas many members as you want.
I'm starting to work with a newstudio who's doing a build out,
so it's like a seven figureproject, custom build out, all
of the things.
And I saw I saw that theystarted selling like their
legacy memberships withouthaving a membership agreement
(08:31):
and I was like okay, like we, wegot to talk about this Like
this, this is something that youneed to have in place, you need
to take care of.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
So why don't we dive?
Can we dive into that reallyquickly?
So tell me about the membershipagreement and how.
What falls under that.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, so really important.
The way that you want to thinkabout the relationship that you
have with your clients is howcan things be as easy and simple
for me and my team as possible,in accordance with the laws,
subscription, pay, expectations,behavioral expectations, what
to do if someone does not followthem, payments, rescheduling,
(09:17):
cancellations, hygiene, respect,what's included, what's not
included All of those differentelements want to be addressed in
the membership agreement,because this is the relationship
that you have with your clientsand that if and when you have a
problem with one of yourclients and one issue I've
consistently had with my clientswho are studio owners is
they've wanted to stop workingwith a client who's either
(09:40):
making instructors feeluncomfortable, making other
members feel uncomfortable,whatever issue comes up around
that If you have a generictemplated agreement that doesn't
outline the specificexpectations of your studio,
you're going to have a really,really difficult time removing
that person from the studio.
And then, when you try to kickthem out, they're going to say,
oh, you're discriminatingagainst me because of ABC Cause
(10:01):
usually the person that you'retrying to kick out has some form
of mental imbalance or somelike there's some issue that's
going on there usually, and sofor me as the lawyer.
It's like we tell people whatwe expect of them.
They follow the behavioralstandard that we set.
If they don't, we have a legalreason to kick them out and not
provide a refund for whatthey've paid based on breach of
(10:21):
contract.
So it's again.
Is it the most fun thing tothink about?
Not really, but what I say toevery client when we're doing a
studio membership agreement islike think about all of the
headaches and issues you've hadin the past dealing with your
clients, whether that it's notpaying, showing up late,
whatever it is not wearinggrippy socks, you choose the
(10:42):
issue.
You're not taking care of theequipment properly.
Let's put all of that inagreement.
Let's get your clients to signit.
If anything comes up, you havesuperior legal position.
You can address it immediately.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Your clients to sign it If anything comes up, you
have superior legal position.
You can address it immediately.
Yeah, and it's about like thatpeace of mind.
You know, because I think youknow we're dealing with often.
You know hundreds and hundredsof human beings and everyone has
comes into this, into yourstudio, from a different place,
with sometimes differentexpectations, sometimes
misconceptions and all of thesethings, and so never quite know
what's going to come at you, andso protecting yourself is so
(11:15):
important.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
The point of all of it.
It's like you start a studio,you get five legal agreements
and then, if there's a problem,you send me an email.
That's the most simple, that'sthe most simplistic way.
You know you're not going toget sued, you know that if
there's an issue, you have astronger legal position and you
know that you have someone whounderstands your business.
You can take care of it for you.
(11:37):
So it's like, I think, in my inthe earlier years of my career,
I was much more law focused,where I'd be like well, this is
the law and this is what we do.
And now I'm much morerelationship focused, where it's
like cool, a problem comes upforward me the email, I'll take
care of it for you, because youshould be focusing on growing
your business or having greatmessaging, or building your team
(11:58):
or whatever else it is thatbusiness owners should be taking
care of.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
For sure, for sure.
So what are the sort of keylegal agreements that you need
in place?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
As it relates to operating online, you need a
privacy policy in terms ofservice.
This is the collection ofpersonal information in 2024,
turning 2025.
It's more important than ever.
Any third party that you shareor facilitate the sharing of
personal information with youhave to list them on part of
your privacy policy.
A lot of people ask like whereand when you know?
(12:32):
Can't I just copy this?
What, when, when would I usethis?
I think it's something like 60plus percent of data breaches in
a professional context happento small business owners, and so
the reason why you need aprivacy policy other than the
fact that it's mandated and thatif you're going to be
collecting it, give a mailinglist If you are holding people's
(12:52):
personal information, you needto let them know how you're
going to use it, but also, ifthere's a data breach, you have
to show that you follow theappropriate steps and you let
people know what would happen,and like a data breach is a
reality in 2024.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
It certainly is.
It's scary and it happens yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Compromise information happens.
So it's one of those thingsthat a lot of people think like,
oh, like, well, what do I needthis for?
But, a, you need it becauseit's a rule.
And two, there can be databreaches, and I've had clients
who have had informationcompromised and then got sued
because they didn't have theappropriate privacy policy in
place.
So it's sort of like we justwant to take care of all of it.
So once privacy policy, serviceslash, membership agreement we
(13:32):
spoke about waiver of liabilityis a really big one.
So this is before you areproviding services to someone,
you tell them what you're goingto do, how you're going to do it
, where you're going to do it,what equipment you're going to
use, what can go wrong, and thenthey agree not to sue you by
virtue of their participation.
So if they suffer damages bydoing the activities that you
(13:57):
said in the way that you saidyou're going to do it with the
equipment that you said you weregoing to do, god forbid,
there's a problem.
Um, then the waiver ofliability is is what you stand
on to say hey, before we worktogether, before I allowed you
to come into the studio, yousigned this document.
We told you we were going to beusing the Cadillac and the
Pilates ring and a Bosu ball andlightweights and whatever, and
this is the reformer and this isthe accident that happened and,
(14:20):
as such, you agree not to holdus responsible.
I went through something.
A client of mine is a Pilatesinstructor doing home Pilates
and their clients are elderly,elderly client base.
Unfortunately, there was aninjury.
Someone got really, really hurtand then threatened them,
(14:40):
blamed them all the bad things.
We have the waiver of liabilitysigned.
I was able to respond to theperson immediately with a copy
of the signed waiver.
It goes away.
So that's privacy waiver,service agreement, a media
release and a social mediadisclaimer.
If you're going to be takingtestimonials, if you're going to
be taking photos, if you'regoing to be taking videos, using
(15:01):
them on your website, usingthem on promotional campaigns,
if you run Instagram lives whereyou give information that could
be construed as professionalrecommendations, you want to be
covered in the event that you dothat.
And then the last agreementwould be either a contractor
agreement or an employeeagreement, based on your state,
based on the scope of servicesbeing provided.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
That covers a lot.
Which ones typically are missed, would you say?
Speaker 2 (15:36):
you say, what I see missed the most are not paying
enough time or attention to theindependent contractor slash
employee question.
I think that clients don'tunderstand the ramifications of
making that classification andusually they'll want it both
ways.
So, in plain English, it'scheaper and easier for you to
have contractors, but you haveless control over the services
that they provide.
Also, you're not entitled tothe benefits of things like a
(15:56):
non-competition, which is likeprobably one out of four issues
that I'm resolving for clientshas to do with non-competition
or them wanting to precludesomeone from working somewhere
else in some capacity.
So when you're with independentcontractors, you can't really
have any non-competitionprovisions in.
Even with employees it can bedifficult.
It has to be draftedappropriately.
(16:17):
I think that's missed.
And yeah, I mean.
Look, if a client is doingthings properly and getting all
of these agreements customized,then they're in great shape.
What half of my legal practice?
Half of my legal practice isgetting emails from clients who
(16:38):
use chat, gpt or use theirfriends documents and now we're
having a problem and are payingme.
You know four times what itwould cost to have done it the
right way.
And half of my clients arepeople who are like okay, I know
that I need to take care ofthis.
So if I get a hold of someoneand if I have an opportunity to
speak with them and explain whatI do and why I do it and all
(16:58):
the different experiences I'vebeen through, I think then
nothing gets missed, becauseit's just like hey, I have.
You can choose any of thosedocuments.
I've got 15 stories for each ofthem of things that I've been
through with clients.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
And so yeah, so tell me a little bit about what I
think the biggest things, thequestions that I mean in the
conversation that I have withstudio owners that come up, um,
are around, um, well, a likewhat the waivers?
So we kind of we've talked aboutthat.
Obviously it sounds like thatneeds to be quite specific,
actually, um, and so you can'tsort of pull a generic, you know
(17:36):
copy and paste perhaps fromsomething you found or chat to
produce, created, but the otherup following that, I would say.
The next one that mostly comesup is about employment agreement
or independent contractors, andyou know, obviously there's a,
there is a distinction therebetween the two.
And because I think the nextquestion is always well, how do
(17:56):
I protect my business if I havea teacher, and especially for
folks who often have teachertraining programs, how do I
protect myself and grow thisbusiness and offer this um
service, um, and ensure thatthese people don't then become
my competition, you know?
So how does that look?
And because I know some of therules have changed, there's been
(18:18):
some shifts in that way, so canwe talk a little bit about that
?
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Yeah, sure, I'd be happy to.
So essentially and you'reabsolutely right, and and the
the biggest, most expensiveissues that I've that I help
clients with, are waivers andour independent contractor
issues, or or employee issues.
The contractor, employee issuesalways it's almost always the
same People are afraid thatwhoever they're working with is
(18:46):
going to start steal theirclients and start start their
own studio, like always.
That all it and it's what's sointeresting is like law of
attraction.
The people who always bring itup that they're afraid that it's
going to happen.
It sort of always happens tothem, um, and and so what you
want to do is you want to createa contract that is, to the
(19:06):
maximum extent possible, asprohibitive as possible for
those people to be able to docertain things.
So non-competition usually isnot permitted, but
non-solicitation is permitted,and also one is able to make it
a condition of them working withyou that they're also not
(19:27):
allowed to work in a certainplace.
So I'll break this down right,non-competition typically says
okay, if you work here, if youwork at my studio, then you're
not allowed to work at any otherstudio within a three mile
radius.
Right, cool, non-compete.
Now the issue what happens isthe person the employee works
for the business, leaves thebusiness and then goes to work
(19:49):
at another studio within a threemile radius, and then my client
calls me freaking out, wantingto enforce that provision.
That's an example of aprovision that's very, very
difficult to enforce.
One thing that I do coach myclients on is and you can do
this with contractors oremployees you are allowed to put
in restrictions to say, ifyou're working here, you're not
(20:12):
allowed At the same time thatyou're working here, you're not
allowed to work at anywherewithin three miles.
And that is something that youare able to do because you can
say cool, as a condition of ouremployment, you understand that
if you're working here, you'reonly going to work at our studio
and nowhere else within a threemile radius.
That's different from saying,once you're done here for a
period of two years, in a threemile radius, you're not able to
(20:34):
do what it is that you want todo.
So there are legal fixes andways to do it, but it's a little
bit tricky.
And the most important thing isthat you have documents in
favor of your legal position sothat in the event you want to
try to enforce something thatyou have a strong agreement that
and you have the superior legalposition.
(20:54):
And I'll just break down thisone concept because it's so
important to understand Of allof the issues that I've been a
part of, none of them have goneto court.
Okay.
So we always think that, okay,I'm dealing with a lawyer and
when I'm in court, I'm goingcourt.
That's not where the rubbermeets the road.
That's not where the actionhappens.
The action happens is there's adisagreement, someone does
(21:18):
something and now you'redemonstrating the strength of
your legal position.
Agreement that's signed by theother person, that puts you in a
superior legal position.
Let's say that person wants todo something.
It's as simple as me sending anemail saying hey, attach as a
signed copy of the agreementthat you sign.
You're not allowed to do A, bor C.
(21:44):
If we find out that you do A, bor C, we reserve the right to
bring an action against you.
Plus fees, plus costs, pluseverything, and that's like
usually 99% of the time,everything stops there.
So it's like it'scounterintuitive, because of
Hollywood and television and howwe think that things work, that
it's like the grand finale isgoing to be in the courtroom,
but it actually.
Everything happens in thein-between.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Right.
That's really helpful tounderstand in a little bit more
detail.
Thank you.
So obviously you know legalprecedents change on a regular
basis and one of the most recentrulings that has come into
effect or is about to come intoeffect is a ruling called the
click to cancel rule.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat and how it might impact
(22:28):
studios Can?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
you talk a little bit about that and how it might
impact studios.
Yeah, look, I think this iswhat I'll say about it.
So it's something new that'scoming in and the intention of
it is to create clarity in arecurring subscription payment
model and it's also intended tobenefit customers.
It's for consumer protection.
This is what I can say.
(22:52):
I haven't done too muchresearch into it, but in looking
at the policy, so at law, thisis like law school 101.
When a new ruling or a newpiece of legislation comes in,
it's always a reflection ofpolicy, of society at that time
where the lawmakers are like,hey, we don't think that this is
working for the general public,so we want to put something in
effect that will support themand that will be more
(23:13):
advantageous or fair to them,because it's like things happen
and then the laws always have toadapt and change afterwards.
The intentions of the click tocancel policy are not and I can
say this with 100% confidence.
The FTC was not looking atPilates studio memberships and
thinking we've got to stop thesepeople.
(23:35):
It's really for a little bitmore sinister types of
businesses that have recurringpayments and have tricky,
misleading, deceptive businesspractices that make it easy for
people to opt out of recurringmemberships, which is like
overall, this is a very, verygood thing, like it's not, it
(23:57):
doesn't, it's not going to hurtstudios.
To me, how I interpret is thatit emphasizes the need for a
clear membership agreements andalso what the opt-in and the
opt-out process is.
So most of what the actualpractical implication for this
is going to be is like whatprocess is available for someone
to opt out of a recurringpayment, right?
(24:17):
So it's just like you have todisclose this, you have to show
this, you have to make it easyfor people to be able to opt out
and not have issues.
What I will say will be very,very important in terms of
chargebacks and in terms ofprotecting studios If you're
selling someone something at acertain price ie you're
purchasing an annual membershipat a recurring payment rate of
(24:42):
$100 a month that it's $1,200,but if you just paid for three
months, it would be 600, right?
I'm just.
You want your membershipagreement to say in the event
that you terminate this early,there will be a price adjustment
to reflect that.
You know, because if you don'thave that in place, someone can
(25:02):
sign up for an annual membershippay on a monthly basis for that
particular price.
Opt out early Cool.
I got my four months of Pilates, coming six times a week,
paying $100 a month, which wouldbe an absolute steal, and then
walking away and be like, ohcool, well, I'm allowed to
cancel it, subject to thewritten agreement between the
parties.
So in, yeah, sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
So as long as you have the within your terms and
conditions very clear, so theycan still cancel.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
But there would be an additional sort of termination
fee, then, yeah, the click tocancel is abrupt.
Just think of the procedure.
It's the procedure in which waysomeone is allowed to cancel a
recurring membership membership.
So it can't be hidden, it can'tbe deceptive, it has to be
present, there has to be like ayou know, a negative opt-in,
whatever.
It is all of all of those sortsof things what the issue that I
(25:57):
foresee happening is thatpeople sell something at a
certain price based on a promiseto pay over a certain amount of
time.
And if someone now has thesestronger consumer rights that
they can cancel something at anytime, cool, you can cancel
whenever you want, but thepayments and the amounts owed
should be reflective of howeverlong you actually were paying
(26:18):
for the services.
Have I explained that clearly?
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah, so if they are committed, say, to the 12 months
, and they were paying a hundredbucks a month, yet if they were
going month to month it wouldbe $200 a month.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yes, the risk for the studio owner is that now that
it's easier to opt out, theycould opt out after a certain
time and now they're paying halfthe amount for having gotten
something else.
So it just is a reminder totighten up studio membership
agreements.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
And so, in that scenario, would you recommend
that folks don't have a 12-monthcommitment on their membership,
or what would you say?
Speaker 2 (26:59):
I'm not so concerned about that.
I think that a 12-month optionmakes sense.
Again, what I'll say is likeit's not about us in the Pilates
industry, this ruling it'sreally definitely.
It's relevant in the sense thatit applies to everyone and
anyone who has recurringsubscriptions.
But I think the most importantthing always is to manage the
(27:22):
relationship and communicate theexpectations, and so long as
you're doing that appropriately,there may be a couple of people
who try to take advantage, butthat's why you want to be
prepared with the rightdocumentation.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Right, okay, so as long as you tighten up the
membership agreement, there isno need to change anything
within your pricing structureper se, other than the fact that
perhaps tighten up the earlytermination clause.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, no, there's no need to.
And also, again, what this isabout is it's procedural, it's
the process of which someone isallowed to opt out of a
subscription.
That's all that this is about.
It doesn't change the laws,it's just either certain, in the
same way that a privacy policyhas to have certain things in
order to be at best practices.
On a procedural level, it'sjust they're applying this to
(28:09):
opt-outs for subscriptions.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
I think whenever these sorts of new rulings come
out, it's always a little bit ofokay.
What does this really mean inpracticality for studio owners?
So it's always helpful to haveyour insights.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
With pleasure, with so much pleasure.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
All right.
So, as we kind of look into,kind of you know, the legal
landscape and the industry as awhole, what sort of
recommendations would you makefor studio owners new and
perhaps those who've been inbusiness for a while, to make
sure that they're protectedlegally more?
Speaker 2 (28:45):
generally, In the most simplistic sense, you want
to get a package of documents toreflect the relationships that
you want and you want toregister a trademark for your
business name.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yes, we did not talk about intellectual property yet.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Yeah, intellectual property, and we can do it
quickly because I want to bemindful of the time.
But the way that it relates toPilates studio owners is that
copyright relates to protectionof written works, teacher
training manuals, studio manuals, anything related, anything
that you write or that youcreate is protected by copyright
(29:20):
.
Trademark has to do with havingexclusive use to a word or a
series of words or a logo, as itrelates to your business.
So they're both very, veryimportant, and some of the
biggest issues I see come aroundtrademarks and not registering
a trademark, especially in thePilates place, where it's
(29:42):
actually amazing how similar somany of the names can be, which
makes it tricky to navigate butalso enforces the importance of
making sure trademarks are inplace.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Yeah, I know I've had many clients who have very the
same name for their studios andI'm like wait, is that Jane from
that Pilates or is that Sallyfrom that Pilates?
It's the same name.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Yeah, there are a lot of them that are the same like
movement Pilates as an example.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
I could list them all , but I won't.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, it's just like there's a lot of movement
Pilates.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, this was so helpful.
I really appreciate you comingon and sharing, corey, all of
your insights and lovelyreminders of how we can make
sure that we are able to reallybe protected from a legal
perspective and legal standpoint, and I know that people are
going to want to be able to getin touch and to get your help.
(30:36):
So what's the best way forpeople to connect with you and
to perhaps make sure thatthey've got all of their ducks
in a row?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Yeah, you can shoot me an email, corey, at
ConsciousCouncilca.
We're going to put our websitein the show.
Coryatconsciouscouncilca, we'regonna put our website in the
show notes.
Consciouscouncilca On Instagram.
It's at consciouscouncil.
And yeah, and thanks so muchfor having me and for the
opportunity to chat.
Once again, I hope theinformation was helpful and it's
just like the way that you justwanna think about law.
(31:05):
Is that, like A, it's the costof doing business.
Like, if you're going to hangup a shingle and put up, open up
a space, you're going to needlegal documents to make sure
that you're protected.
And like B, it doesn't have tobe difficult or stressful or
challenging and it's notsomething that you, the end
consumer, have to do.
It's something that you have towork with someone who knows
what they're doing in order tomake sure that you're protected.
(31:27):
And having a series ofprofessional relationships
whether it's an accountant,whether it's a bookkeeper,
whether it's your business coach, whether it's a marketing coach
, whether it's a lawyer, whoeverit is it's like this is the
team that helps you grow up andlevel up and get to the next
level without any issues.
So thank you so much for theopportunity and it's a pleasure
to chat with you, as always.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Always, always, Thank you.
So I'm going to pop all of thekey links in the show notes, you
guys.
So pop in there and grab those,and I really hope that this was
helpful to you.
I hope that it's given youperhaps a little bit of homework
.
To go and just double check youhave all of those documents we
mentioned in place and I hopethis is really helpful to you as
you go about building yourboutique fitness studio business
.
If it was be sure to never missanother episode, Just go to
(32:14):
wherever you're listening tothis and hit that follow or
subscribe button.
It would mean a lot.
Take care.
Did you love this episode andwant more?
Head to spring3.com and checkout my free resources that will
help you runa profitable andfulfilling studio business.
And before you go, one lastreminder there is no one way to
(32:38):
do what you do, only your way.
So whatever it is that you wantto do, create or offer, you've
got this.
Thanks again for joining metoday and have a wonderful rest
of your day.
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