Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in training and education but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Chris Kummer, Owner of AnatomyShow, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

AnatomyShow offers modern fascia-based movement anatomy education for practitioners and teachers of yoga, fitness, Pilates, and other sports.

Tell us about yourself

My business idea already started very early in my life. In primary school, I was diagnosed with scoliosis, an unhealthy sideways bending condition of the spine. After multiple years of unsuccessful medical treatment approaches, I was prescribed specific exercises by a yoga physiotherapist. With daily practice, my spine recovered and the realisation that movement and postures, when appropriately practiced, could change your health and life. Later I studied medicine, eventually becoming an N.D., a Naturopath, specialising in musculoskeletal complaints. Many of my clients were yoga practitioners and sportspeople who suffered from to me rather predictable injuries.

AnatomyShow arose as an idea to better educate people who move, especially those that teach movement, in a readily comprehensible and practical format. Drawing on decades of clinical practice, longstanding experience in team and individual sports, competitions as well as yoga practice, AnatomyShow is the medium now of teaching individuals and groups to move and be injury free.

Today I offer courses, workshops, and training both in-person and online to audiences around the world. I thrive on and get motivated by connecting with people who like to learn and practice to feel better, be more comfortable in their bodies, and want to teach more effectively with greater confidence. Living the passion of meaningfully improving people's lives takes the work out of work.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Any course is only as good as that part of the material that is, or can be, understood by the attendee. Being able to see people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and experiences transformed from successfully completing a course is a validation for me that the years of study, effort, and work are well spent. I see one of my great strengths in taking complex anatomical and physiological concepts and processes and teaching them in readily comprehensible, relevant, and useful classes and practices. Being able to do this full-time allows me always give my best without distractions.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Easy, when your business is about connection and people, then the necessary business aspects that are not about extending benefits to people take the most effort.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Whatever business you want to run, make sure you have a real interest in at least a large part of it. This can carry you through the time when it’s not all smooth sailing.
  2. Be ethical and congruent. In today's world, we already have enough stress. Ask yourself, does your business make the world a better place for people or in general?
  3. Be clear about what you want. The vast majority of businesses are not short-term adventures. Are you willing to still be running that particular business in some years? What will it look like, and how will you get there?

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Sustainability and low environmental impact need to be priorities for any modern business. Consider what products, including packaging, transport, and delivery, are really necessary. Is there a better option? We don't have to reinvent the wheel, but we can make choices that set us apart and ahead of other businesses in the field.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.anatomyshow.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anatomyshow/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anatomyshow/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-kummer-8758b630/

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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