Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and fitness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Erin Godfrey, Founder and Somatic Educator of Being In Body, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I own a movement health and education platform called Being In Body. Based on research from rehab science, the study of functional movement, and somatic education, our programs act as a part fitness routine and part somatic therapy, helping you build strength while balancing the body in subtle ways. This work has helped people process their stress as well as trauma. It can help you soothe your body's pains, re-awaken, and enliven the way you move.
In the BEING IN BODY studio, we have new mothers, elite athletes, therapists, grandparents, body workers, working professionals, artists, and movement enthusiasts. Truthfully, the people here do not fit neatly into a demographic. What I do notice is that students share a desire to understand their bodies more deeply.
Tell us about yourself
I started my movement journey in dance, but after a serious illness in my early teens, I was bedridden for several years. This period in my life was transformational in prioritizing my health in a new way and opened my awareness to seeing the body as a whole system.
The fitness industry tends to be quite superficial and can be fixated on changing mostly the outside—I was curious to create something with more depth. I developed an approach that bridges injury sciences with fitness and movement in a way that is accessible and sustainable and looks at the whole human being—Being in Body was born.
This journey started over 24 years ago, and I have since trained in many movement modalities after studying anatomy and biomechanics in school. I followed by opening several studios in Toronto, training teachers, and offering workshops. Recently it has evolved into a new online program. Even after all these years working with people—I am still in awe that everyone has a body and that our bodies are the place we experience our lives, and yet we have been taught so little about them in a deep and real way. I am moved when people discover a real connection to their bodies and cultivate a deeper sense of self from being comfortable in their own skin and working in harmony with their bodies' rhythms and potential.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I think creating our recent online membership. It was a huge undertaking that took over 2 years before we launched it to really get it right. I wanted to synthesize over 20 years of teaching movement in a way that was both easy to start and offers a range and depth of knowledge that I feel is missing from a lot of online movement programs.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
I think balancing the ongoing development of your craft with the external work of marketing and working on the business. I have always put the quality of what I was making first before the "selling" part, and I think that is really important in the long term to make sure you are giving people something really great and well-developed.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Keep growing in your craft, and make it a priority to keep learning about the thing you are sharing.
- Don't be afraid to change if something isn't working. Try and learn from it and move towards what works better.
- Take care of yourself—it is very easy to run yourself into the ground as the list of "to-do's" can seem endless, and most of them have your name on them. Take time to centre yourself the best way you can each day before you work so you are coming to creating and sharing with fullness and clarity.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.beinginbody.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beinginbody/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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