Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and fitness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kristi Sesso, founder and CEO of The Harmony Group Energy Balancing Pilates Studio, LLC, located in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We are a one-to-one in-person and online Pilates-based Physiotherapy service called BioVibe. Customers are ages 35-90 years of age. We specialize in the alignment and balance of the physical, mental-emotional, and spiritual bodies, including subtle body layers and energy centers within and beyond the physical form.
Tell us about yourself
I got started in 1982 after spraining an ankle as a member of the Milwaukee Ballet. That was the end of my ballet career at age 18. I spent two months in NYC at the Pilates Studio, then returned to college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I taught Pilates Mat to local theatre players and dancers.
In 1990 I was Artistic Director of the Kanopy Dance Company & Academy, and in 1996 Acting Chairperson of the Musical Theatre Department at Beloit College, where I included the Pilates Mat in company class, basic modern dance, and ballet.
In 1999, I moved from Wisconsin to NYC and found a home in Northern New Jersey. One day I was invited to a gym to work out, and long story short started a Pilates practice in Bergen County, NJ. I didn't think it would last, and here I am, 24 years later.
What motivates me is the stand I took in 1999. "I will offer my service until people no longer wish to participate." That is what got us through the Covid shutdown and many other financial storms.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Designing 3 Studios over a 24-year period and weathering the COVID shutdown in 2020. Managing finances such that we are still in business.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Managing the staff.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Establish a target audience.
- Establish your own principle in what you will offer and will not offer.
- Set protocols and policies and follow them to the T. Policies make things work. They are not designed to punish or constrict the customer.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://pilatesbiovibration.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bodyconnection
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biovibe_pilates/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/enhancepilates
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristisesso/
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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