How to start in stealth mode, Candace Bertram, Studio88

0:00What makes a studio is that people see familiar faces all the time. divorces horrible scandals mental health miscarriages you name it i think that they feel really safe there there's no price that you can put on that followers just started to build so i was documenting the journey like anonymously so i never showed who i was like i don't even know how i'm getting home right now no electric in my car just winging it so many bad things have happened and i'm like okay let's find a way to fix it welcome to how to start up the podcast that dives into the stories of startups and scale-ups told directly by the founders.

0:33I'm Juliet, founder of Fallowfield & Mason. In today's episode, we're joined by Candice Bertram, founder of Studio 88, a fast-growing Pilates community in Birmingham. Celebrating her first birthday today, the day this podcast goes live, we are thrilled to talk to her about her amazing success that she really tried to shy away from, but has now decided to own. So keep listening to hear her insights on how to build a community before launch, why she did it anonymously, and how she's embedding diversity, inclusion, and true community in the foundations of her business. Hi Candice, welcome to How to Start Up.

1:09It's wonderful to have you on. I'm so pleased we get to have this conversation. Before we get into the nitty gritty of this episode, it'd be great if you could kick off with an introduction as to who you are and a bit about the business that you have started? Hi, Juliet. Nice to be here, finally. I know we've been talking about this for a few months. I'm Candice Bertram. We originally spoke about a startup that began last year, which is Mapolato Studio, Studio 88, based here in Birmingham. Originally started in one location last November, and this May grew to a second location in Birmingham, where we offered the same thing in two separate spaces so yes I love that because I know when we chatted you was like it's taking me a bit by surprise how this has grown so quickly and the fact that you've opened a second location so fast is obviously testament to the first so under studio 88 this wonderful Pilates studio and when we chatted you were saying that it's more than just a Pilates studio it's community and you've got this amazing tribe almost of people who have become really loyal clients but you didn't know that that was going to be a thing until it is today so what motivated you to leave your secure role and take this leap into opening your first studio so I was really unsure about leaving work completely when this studio became a question and a conversation I started working as an instructor in another studio that I didn't own and my plan when I qualified was to always open my own studio I just didn't know when I would do that and I also didn't know how because who knows where this money is just going to magically appear from.

2:46And you were a single mum. Yeah. So it was like, OK, I'm going to open this business. No deadline, no time frame. So it almost feels like it's good to say it because it just sounds like it's going to happen. And I didn't really put any plans in place. And then the end of last summer, I came across a space really close to my secondary school, which is probably sounds a bit weird to people. But I speak to everyone still from my secondary school and even primary school, even the teachers because I became a teacher myself were all quite connected and my dad lives really close to the space as well and it just felt right and I went into this sort of lease really blind the space was like a derelict building and I was like okay I'm just gonna go for it and then I just took the key down and then I thought about it like two days later what have I done so the plan was to open a studio a very small studio so I always knew that I wanted to have a very intimate space and I could only imagine the types of people that may walk through the door but I never thought anyone would book because why would they just book me you know what's so good about this over the period of time of refurbing and renovating the space followers just started to build so I was documenting the journey like a bit anonymously so I never showed who I was I had a separate Instagram profile too of course my personal one nothing overlapped so this was just an imaginary page almost showing like the highs and lows equipment being delivered renovations happening and by the time we were ready to put the bookings out we were unlike 2 000 followers and i was like where have you people come from and the white this isn't that good what are you looking at so the imposter thoughts are there loud and clear all the time literally every day walking to the space hiding under the shelters to make sure people didn't know where it was everyone was asking where's this studio going to be I've diverted their attention to the other side of the area saying just located at the road from there's like a well-known trampoline park and then all these messages kept coming in from real people that I've now gone on to meet and absolutely love at the time they were just strangers like I'm so glad that this is opening I cannot believe there's something outside of the city center when is it opening when is the opening at this moment in time like I'm still waiting for my savings to like am I really going to use every penny I'm still questioning things I've spent loads of money on the refurb it's time to make final payments and I'm like it's really happening because it didn't feel real for a long time even though I could see people doing things and then when the equipment got delivered it was about a week before I was going to announce schedule location prices and I was like okay this is it so we started with reformers only so all of the reformers got delivered and I was like I own these reformers okay this is a bit insane no money left at all like I don't even know what how I'm getting home right now no electric in my car just winging it everything just seemed to work out every single day and then when the bookings got released we're now on two and a half thousand followers we only have five reformers we might be able to fill some classes there's a lot of people looking and we released the schedule 10 days before the studio opened and I put the schedule out for about a month and within about two days the whole schedule was full full full full fully booked waitlist messages oh my god even more people finding out about it repost reshares and I was just like okay what's gonna happen here staff were already in place so that was a good thing and that's a whole story in itself they didn't know that it was me because I knew a lot of them already and I didn't tell them I was opening a studio I didn't try to get them to move from anywhere out so they're teaching this was a completely anonymous so you built this as a ghost as a ghost I was a ghost and someone spotted me she told me afterwards and I was like I'm glad you didn't say anything but it was really organic nobody was told about this my mum my dad my daughter my sister about five people knew even my auntie I know she's probably still thinks about it now I didn't tell anyone until I announced it on Instagram that it was me.

6:53When we were already four, we already had everyone in place. Why was that? Why did you want to keep it private to you? I think that I didn't believe that it would happen to begin and I didn't know when it was going to happen. So very differently to the second studio, I was just really open. We're opening in three months, come along on the journey. It's already open now, so there's nothing to hide. But I think with the first space, it was at a time when I just really wanted it to work and it felt really really good that nobody knew there was no outside influence nobody told me the beds that I should buy the reformers I chose everything that I personally like I always ask everyone how does this look how does that look and I get 10 different answers and I stopped doing that a long time ago and it really played a part in the business building because it was how I wanted it it was like the first time I could get to put my true identity on something because I suppose working as a teacher and working under people, we have a job description.

7:50You need to be like this. You can't crack those jokes at school. You can't do that in that particular space. And I was like, this is me. If I'm going to go in there with eye patches on every morning, which I do, they're going to know that's what I do. And no one's going to look at me any differently. So it was really important that I stay true to myself. That's why nobody knew about it. And as I said, I didn't believe it was going to open. I thought the money was definitely going to run out earlier than it did. So I didn't want people to think, oh, she's just saying she's going to do something and then it doesn't happen.

8:20So obviously everyone can relate to that. We all care what other people think of us. And as much as exercise is magic and it can really help bolster your confidence and give you endorphins, we care. We really care. And with the rise of social media, everybody's looking. Well, actually no one's looking until you tell them to look. So you were building it anonymously, but it just proved the minimal viable product. There was demand there. People wanted a Pilates studio in that area and it almost didn't matter who was behind it. Now you've sort of come out into the world and announced that it's your studio.

8:52Have you seen a difference? In people or? Yeah, in the reaction to your community. Yeah, I just want to say I have been so blessed with positivity from the most far removed stranger that I would never cross paths with in any lifetime. And I have felt so much love from strangers, like it's quite emotional, actually, that I've had just a good run. People have been so supportive of a new small business that doesn't have a big backing. I'm not sitting in the middle of the Caribbean, I wish I was, on a yacht telling people what to do. I'm on the ground with them. I'm cleaning the floor. I'm cleaning the toilets.

9:34I'm meeting the clients. I've probably taught 90 % of the people that I've walked through the door. I'm on the ground. I was going to say you were filling in when your team were sick or couldn't make a class. You were the filler for everything. Yeah. And I will be the filler forever because I definitely wanted to be teaching forever and I want to be involved forever. And that's another reason why when you mentioned that you're going to do another thing, absolutely not because I'm stretched now. I think that the reception has been amazing. I can't even explain it. When people walk through the door and I'm like, this lady's been here 75 times she's still paying I know it's not little old me because before it gets to me we've got everything else out but you're trusting in the studio that much that you would come again and again and you're booking classes until the new year and you're telling your friends and family about it and I just think what do you think it is this is a million dollar question quite literally what do you think it is that you have built that people love so much a safe space where everyone is just themselves.

10:38So a lot of people have a view of Pilates in some respects that you need to be stick thin. You have to have a matching, really expensive pink outfit on. Your hair has to be perfect. You need to have makeup on. You have to have a Stanley Cup. Not just anyone, the most expensive one. And everything about you has to be in line with this imaginary thing. And probably live in West London, privileged, white. Yeah, you drive a Range Rover that's been like gifted to you and you've got so much disposable income that this literally doesn't do anything to your pocket. And we probably have 100 % opposite to that.

11:16There is a few really hot, super hot ladies that come and guys, but that does not make the studio. What makes a studio is that people see familiar faces all the time. So blessed that the same team is here from the get go till now. We've had a lot of people join, but they are just consistent and loyal people. We often cover for each other, which means everyone gets to see each other and everyone gets to build relationships. And the space, why I say it's a safe space is because without trying, all of us have worked with people in our previous lives, whether it's in fitness or in another aspect of life, care, nursing, that kind of thing.

11:54Everyone has really got a nice and compassionate side. so the things that clients feel comfortable to disclose to us is like they probably haven't even told their best friends at this moment in time divorces horrible scandals mental health miscarriages you name it the things you see on these soaps they're real life so from day one people have just been telling us the worst things and now six months later you look at them and I'm like oh my god what's going on you look amazing I've been coming here I'm vibrant I feel good moving my body yeah no I'm running I'm confident enough to go to this thing and I'm like they tell us it's a safe space I don't know what the answer is because I'm just doing what I said I was going to do and teach and give good quality classes and I know everyone else does that but I think that they feel really safe there which there's no price that you can put on that I don't think yeah and that loyalty we were talking in a previous episode about this that client acquisition is quite a cost but once you have a client and they maintain to be loyal they're with you for as long as you maintain to be offering the same thing but that community element how important do you think that is in a business because I think it's hard because there's so many different types of business out there but for you how important is that to you and how important is that to your business to me so if this was just like a restaurant there doesn't really need to be a push on a community element because you will have different people coming in you're going to have your regulars but I don't think they're coming there because the community they just really like the food with somewhere like this the space is really intimate so we have one studio with five reformers and one with six so most people see the same people all the time because they go at the same time it fits in with their life and even without telling them that we're building a community it has been built just through them walking through the door so nobody has told them we need to build a community this has happened again very organically and I think it's really important in this space because nine out of ten people that have joined with anxiety not diagnosed or anything but who have told me that they felt anxious about doing fitness have said it's because of the size of the studio so if they feel number one that the studio makes sense to them and how they feel about working out whether it's body issues or anything they're number one being in a small space helps them but also seeing people who number one they look like them they live very similar lives they got real life things going on and it's so consistent where oh I've seen that lady and I walk up to the coffee shop and she's in there this community was built through those clients it wasn't even us we are like removed once they leave the studio we're still there and they go ahead and decide to meet up I think it is crucial in this field Pilates is a bit more than just working out it's a whole wellness side it's a whole have you mentioned how good it makes you feel doing most forms of exercise but I think there's just something magical about Pilates and you do need other people to be doing it to get why you're so invested so everyone's on the same page and the community there it is it's right there so it's everything it's everything I think given that you have grown to two studios in six months which is quick especially when it's a physical place how did you manage that pace of growth without compromising your quality well I've got concealer on now but I'm still recovering with the baggy eyes I will be honest I did not make a strategic plan when I took on the second space there was no normal thoughts coming through my head I'm very I'm not erratic but I'm impulsive and I believed in it and I was like you guys are going to believe in it as well somehow you're going to believe in it and I didn't make as much of a plan as I did with the first one so the first one business plan got everything looked at checked it through made all these big decisions just me and myself by the way but second one was like I wanted this location already before the Sturchley studio once in a place called Sturchley the second studio is in Hall Green and shops and commercial spaces like that never come up never ever ever come up so this shop was like a really prominent carpet shop in the 80s 90s and it's been shut down for a while so we already made sense that I've been going past this shop for so long dealing with this pace I did take my time with the second one because I had an amazing rent-free period which I pushed to be as long as it could be there was a lot of work to do and I just said when it's open it's open I didn't put any pressure on myself and things kept going wrong so even more than hall green like the builders I don't know if we would I call them cowboys I don't know how we got there but we did there was no pressure on an opening date which meant I'm going to open it when I'm ready I'm making it sound really calm it was crazy it was crazy looking back but I was just like I've been here before I'm just gonna take my time I think I'm paying for it now because I'm really tired now yeah yeah yeah someone else said this is like you've got to plan for success not for failure because what does success look like is it 10 day weeks whatever we're taking a quick 30 second break from this episode to ask are you thinking of starting your own podcast if so this is great news because we run a course that will train you how to produce your own podcast yourself this course is for people who do not want to outsource and pay someone else to do it you want to learn how to do it yourself we teach you everything that you need to get up and running with your own podcast show and so much more just dm us at hello at Fallowfield Mason to book your spot.

17:35How important is diversity and inclusion in your business? Again, up there with community. We live in Birmingham, so you walk out the door, you will see 10 people that look very differently to each other. And being able to open the door to 10 people that look very differently to each other, or five people, is I think what has kept the studio going as well, because there is a place for everyone. and I know it's lots of buzzwords, diversity, inclusion and all these things that we talk about. It should really not be a major topic of discussion all the time because we should all know, especially living in the UK, that there are lots of different people here and they will be born every single day.

18:17So I do like to mention it, but I don't like for it to be everything because I'm so used to this where I live, school, where I've been at work. Everyone looks like everyone. when we're in a multicultural space, if this was in a whole nother city where we might not see much diversity, then the answer would be really different. But I think to me, this is my norm. To the clients, this is their norm. They go in there, they see their friends, they see people that they've not met before, and it just works. But it is definitely important across the board, because this is a human race. We are all going to want to do similar things to each other, and we shouldn't be in sections or the only thing I would say about inclusion at our studio in Hall Green we have a very different dynamic in Hall Green in terms of race and culture and we've had to put on a lot more female only classes based on the demand that's the only real it's not even a separation this is what was requested so other than race and culture and background some ladies just prefer to work out with ladies and we've always said like we're never going to be a female only studio but we have double the amount of female only classes over in hall green because that is what is keeping the studio open so we're just going with what works at the moment and as things change if they do change then we're always there to follow what the demand is yeah fair enough and in terms of your business development what have been the hardest challenges for you to overcome other than imposter syndrome?

19:50Finding really good instructors is probably the hardest thing. Luckily for me, because I've worked in the field and I've been doing Pilates for a long time, I knew a lot of people who, again, organically started to apply for roles at the studio. They didn't know it was me. They saw the studio was opening. They followed the page. They must have liked what they saw and applied. And I'd put on, I don't know if I was telling you this before, these teams meetings to have interviews because I wanted to do a proper recruitment process and it wasn't until two weeks before the studio opened that we did an interview like this and they knew it was me so they applied to work at the studio I didn't go and find them and say come over because there was no expectation that just because you know me you must work here I think as we grow now so we're heading now to be more of a fully equipped Pilates studio So at the moment, the Sturchley branch only has reformers in there, which is great, amazing.

20:46I love reformer. But as my knowledge deepens and the instructor's knowledge deepens, we are going to add more equipment. We already have started to in Hall Green. So finding instructors that, number one, want to follow a growth plan and are not just happy to stay in the same place is difficult. But luckily, it has been really easy because they are the best. and finding people that are reliable and consistent. Luckily, again, has been absolutely amazing. But there's been a lot more applications than recruitment actually happening because some people are just, they're not really fit for the studio.

21:22So it would be easy to just take on everyone. But there is a clear mission here that I'm on and we have to have the best people on site. So that's been the hardest thing. Define the best person, because obviously they need to be technically capable. but what else do they need to have? The best person is someone who has a positive outlook on life. So when they see someone walking in the studio, like I said, that isn't perfectly put together. That does not scare them because I've been in places where if you don't look a certain way or carry a certain handbag, they don't even say hello to you. And that is crazy to me.

21:57So for me, you need to be an open-minded person because we have had every type of person walk through that door. We've got blind people, people with no arms, people with partial hearing, etc. This is a real space that we're working in. Someone that is open to learn. So I'm on a learning mission at the moment, even as a studio owner. I do not know everything about Pilates, but I will be learning every single year of my life now to get deeper into my knowledge. And I don't want anyone to work there doesn't want to learn more because you just get stuck and you can get left behind you know over time and also is a good communicator because energies do not lie and if you cannot communicate in that room with five or six different people they will probably not want to come back and I've seen it before and it's not a one thing it's just a trait or a skill set I guess but you have to be a good communicator because you're working with people all day giving them your energy and if you cannot translate to that person and I'm not on about language barriers here I just mean normal you put someone at ease yeah if you can't be approached and stuff it's a problem again I have not faced these issues I've seen them happen people have told me about things they're going through and I guess it will happen one day so I'm just trying to always be open to those kind of things happening but yeah the first thing is just not being afraid to learn more so important because every day is something you're like what learn that now and you've got to be at peace with that is that roller coaster again but talking about energy you are in the health and wellness space which is obviously massively talked about as an industry at the moment it's booming it's growing everyone's much more aware that they need more health in their life how do you protect your energy and your health as a founder just cry when you're joking really i haven't cried for a long Sometimes.

23:51How do I protect my energy? I really do believe in Pilates. I've been doing Pilates for about five years now, a lot less in the last year. I've done hardly any, even though I'm teaching all the time. So I've got to get back on it. But my outlook on life has changed so much since I started. Would you call it a practice? 100%. Yeah. So it's a practice that you keep evolving, you keep learning and you chip away at it regularly. Yeah. And because it's complex and extensive and it can be done in multiple ways on multiple different things, you will never get to the end of it. It's not like a game where it's I've learned it all now because once you've done that, we can make it a bit different.

24:30So for me, the way I protect my energy comes down to the outlook I have on life at this moment in time. So I don't know what it is. Sometimes I think this bubble is going to burst soon. I cannot feel any other way but happy every single day. I feel happy the moment I wake up. I feel happy right now. I feel happy when bad things are going on, good things are going on. And my outlook has become so positive over a number of years through different life experiences. I'm putting most of it down to Pilates. I know it's going to sound really cliche. Honestly, I say it to people all the time. When they tell me how happy they're feeling, I'm like, this is what I was trying to tell you.

25:09Didn't want you to think I was sending you something. And the way that I protect my energy is it feels like it's always protected. I don't think I'm actually trying to do anything to protect my energy. because you're doing that practice you're building up that strength I mean so many bad things have happened and I'm like okay let's find a way to fix it like I cannot be down in the dumps for long I might have a little moment where I'm like damn this client really went to the bank and said I didn't deliver the goods and you want to claim money back off me that keeps happening lately as well just to say it's not all not all flowers and roses and then I'm like okay how do deal with this now strategically and that's not the worst thing that can happen of course we've been through loss and all the rest of it but my outlook is now just like it's going to be fine and every step of the way when things got hard something just turned for me like it could be the littlest thing I need to do this by today and there's absolutely no way it's going to happen it just happens for me I don't even know how to explain it other than someone's protecting me I don't know who it is and I can't put it down to anything other than I don't really know how it's been protected for this long.

26:17I don't feel like I'm physically doing anything. I'm not sleeping enough. I'm definitely not eating the best. I'm not working out as much as I should be. So I can't put it down to that, but I just feel great. It must be the black soap. That black soap is amazing. My skin, my goodness, I actually look forward to washing my face now. Follow Candice for more beauty tips and tricks. One pound black soap has transformed my life. But that's really interesting because I think energy is everything I'm learning this the whole way that if you have a positive mental outlook you can do anything you can take on anything nothing's a problem if you're having a day where you're down in the dumps oh this oh that and it spirals and it gets worse it's like vicious and virtuous circles you're in this vicious circle that's bad and that's going to knock on that and what's the point of it all and we were talking earlier going to the gym you boost yourself back up again it's almost like the endorphins make you a little bit deluded that everything's going to be great but then everything is great so who cares I think I might be delusional that's what it is well something's working but this is it I think if you've built that baseline of confidence and courage and you keep going you now witness the business give back to you you're seeing the success of what you've put in and you're seeing your clients really enjoy the classes and your team keep learning like that's going to be boring you up as well so I feel like you've done a lot of the hard work and now you're reaping the rewards and if that reward is just feeling cheerful and buoyed up and that's bloody brilliant who wouldn't want that at work that's rare at work I know and I've never I've not called in sick yet and I'm like I technically can call in sick but I'm like there's not been a day you know like when you get into the end of a really bad job and you're like is this a day that I just say that I'm not coming in you know I've done it before and I'm like that's when you know you're not meant to be doing something or for much longer and I'm like I haven't felt like that don't get me wrong I'm tired I have to wake up at 4 30 a.m for 6 a.m start but once I get there and I open the door I'm like I'm back on it okay I'm awake now so the tiredness is real but you just I would caveat that though because I remember having my first sort of bad day at work and it's been five and a bit years and I was like oh and I was tired and I was overwhelmed there's so much going on and I was just like actually even if you make up a job for yourself you can still have a bad day at work and that's normal that's okay it isn't realistic to say that every day is going to be a rainbow but as long as your baseline is consistently good you're in the right place and because it's a job you've made up for yourself you can change it you can tweak it and go you know what I don't want to do that bit anymore you have that autonomy to be like fine someone else can do that now and I often oscillate it's like can I remember what it's like when I work for somebody else and what are the pros and the cons?

28:59And you forget the cons because you're not there anymore. It's quite easy to think rose tinted glasses. And you think, God, I had someone I didn't respect telling me where to be, what to do, how to do it. And it's like, no, now I get to ask people I respect for advice via a podcast and then my team as well. But you're the master of your own destiny in the sense of you can choose who you listen to, which I think is a huge freedom. And you've earned that freedom, but it comes at the cost of hard work, long hours, stresses and strain. Yeah it's not all that simple. No it's not. For you in the business what's next?

29:33What are you looking at in the next six months of the year given the successes you've already experienced? So the next step for the studio so we're going to continue to work towards being fully equipped and on a sort of quick summarized note at the moment we offer reformer pilates, mat pilates and we have a piece of equipment called a wonder chair or a combo chair. There's about three or four other pieces of equipment that we need to be fully equipped and this will make our classes a little bit more to the truest form of the practice or the movement. So growing in terms of having more knowledge, more training as a team to be able to deliver classes on more equipment and then I would say everyone keeps asking me for clothing and this is a field that I probably won't be stepping into on a deep scale because it's a whole other thing it's a whole other specialism I just love too many brands and I'm like I'm not on this level or this path but maybe some merch that they want to be feeling part of the studio so like things they're like hoodies and stuff we are going to be sunning and I know we spoke about the socks before the grip socks so grip socks have to be worn in each class so it was a no-brainer to create our own and this was just supposed to be like get a few pairs made couple hundred pairs made wow we've gone like six rounds since the first pairs of socks in I want to say like February time so all I'm doing now is talking to my manufacturer every week about new colors and here we are looking at a box of six different pairs of socks they sell out so quickly I'm like I'm sure you have enough socks now no they want every color so we're just going to keep selling socks because I just said to them what should we do next and they're like can you do black with hearts right coming up and then they're sold so that's been going really really well it was not meant to be anything other than just a few socks to sell as I sit in my khaki green socks at the moment love it yeah and just hopefully being able, I'm currently taking a fully comprehensive course, which means I'm learning at a deeper level, et cetera.

31:43I would like to be able to train instructors in the future. So whatever I need to do to get there, then I'm going to do that as well. I don't really have a time frame on that because when I get some sleep, I'll start plotting that one. But yeah, I love to train instructors because the instructors that I've joined that are newly qualified I don't know if the word is flattering they chose to observe a lot of my classes and I see some of the things in their teaching and I'm like they got it I'm not the best instructor I think everyone should be way better than me in the studio because I probably spend sometimes the most amount of time but then sometimes when everyone's back in post well they're just doing one job they're doing their instructor role you're doing 10 jobs so it's hard to do all ones yeah if what i teach is recognized by them and they take things that they've seen me do that's like okay i'd love to be able to train people from the base level to be fully comprehensively trained as well so yeah back to my teaching life maybe doing it in this field back to the original passion yes back to the passion so something that we do is a question from the previous guest which was jeanne from diome which is a wellness brand she launched with one product called rested and it's to help with sleep and anxiety and it's completely amazingly high performing but very natural she spent three years in r &d launched the product and it's utterly amazing so her question for you was what was the most difficult decision you've had to make as a founder and what lesson can you share from that experience oh the most difficult decision basically every day is a difficult decision but what is like for you a standout one that you're like oh god that's hard I'm trying to think what is like shooting out to me at the moment I haven't had to let anyone go so I think that would be quite difficult I physically haven't had to say to anyone you have to leave and the only way that would happen is if they do something to breach GDPR or policies or anything like that so that's great and as I said everyone is amazing difficult decision is remaining true to myself has been the most difficult decision remaining true to who I am because it is so easy in this field to be led by what is popular, trending, Instagrammable, what everyone else wants to do or not do.

34:00And I have always been quite, like I mentioned to you before, I wanted this to be the truest form of who I am. I could be led by so many different things. People contact me all the time. Do you want to collaborate? Do you want to offer this? Can we do this with you? Can we do that with you? And the hardest thing is to be like, yeah, I might make some quick cash, but what is that going to do in six months time? Probably nothing. So it's been easy and hard, sometimes hard. No, most of the time hard to stay true to myself when you see people just like scaling or looks like they're scaling or opening and just like we're giving you everything for free why don't you come to us or having very similar staffing as other places where we probably are not very far from each other but staying true to myself and knowing that number one this is studio 88 this will always be studio 88 we're not positioning ourselves as better or worse but we are who we are and understanding that actually no one's going to have the same view of this business as much as me that's why it's even harder to stay true because everyone else will tell me to do other things.

35:11I think there's been quite a few things that I've mentioned in the answer, but the general thing is like remaining just a hundred percent true to who I am and not being led by the negative things that I've seen, the positive things also that I've seen. And just knowing that in 20 years time, I still want to be doing this. This is not a short term get rich quick scheme where if I sell as many classes as I can at a really cheap rate for the six months, I can go on an all expenses paid. Actually, in 20 years time, I want to see my client's grandchildren in the studio or children. So keeping it as it is, when you walk in, you're going to see what you saw yesterday.

35:49You will see the affirmation card on the box and the tea bag. You will see that we're using the same things that you saw last year, because if it's not broken, why try and fix it? And yeah, just doing what I was sent here to do, which is to deliver high quality lattes classes and And smile. With a smile, I should say. And what would your question be for our next guest? Ooh. And ironically, given that you're in the health and wellness place, she's a founder of a chocolate brand called Fatso, which I love. And it's beautiful, rich, gorgeous chocolate. Okay, let me wonder what I would ask her. And it can be anything on entrepreneurship starting up.

36:29Okay. My question to her will be, with what you know now about creating a product, what would you have done differently if you started again now? Or maybe if she was creating another chocolate bar, like a secondary product, what would you do differently? Yeah. Thank you so much, Candice. It's wonderful chatting to you. Congratulations on all things Studio 88 and all the socks. I'm a testament for that. The socks are amazing. So very, very happy to have chatted and thank you for everything you've shared. Thank you so much. If you'd like to contact Candice, you can find all her details in the show notes, along with a recap of the advice that she has so kindly shared.

37:11And tune into our next episode to hear Ella from FATSO's answer to her question about what she would do differently.