We recently connected with Kathryn McCann and have shared our conversation below.
Kathryn, appreciate you joining us today. Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?
Covid-19 has completely altered my business model. Prior to Covid, we taught yoga, sound healing, and meditation classes on-site at different corporate businesses throughout various cities. For the past two years, we’ve been teaching remotely via Zoom Classes.
This has caused both positive and negative effects. Although we’ve lost the personalized connection that an in-person class provides, we’ve managed to streamline our classes by offering one class in multiple time zones and cities. That way, one instructor can teach to a few different corporations at the same time. Moving forward in 2022, I think Hang Zen Yogis will adapt to a hybrid model of both in-person classes, as well as Zoom offerings for those employees working remotely.
Kathryn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Aloha! My name is Kathryn McCann and I founded Hang Zen Yogis seven years ago in San Diego, California. For the past two years, I’v been teaching remotely in Honolulu, Hawaii due to the pandemic. We specialize in workplace wellness, through different modalities of healing. This provides a better work-life balance for employees and creates a more cohesive working environment for all. We teach on-site classes, at different corporate offices to encourage physical, mental, and emotional health. Our classes offer a cost effective solution for companies wanting to reduce health care expenses, relieve workplace stress, and promote employee well-being & productivity. This is a free service and benefit for the employees, sponsored by the company. As a result, employees feel happier and healthier!! Who doesn’t love that?!
Have you ever had to pivot?
Yes I have, and pivoting can be terrifying!! I can recall a pivotal point in my career, where I had to learn how to surrender my control and trust the outcome. In the beginning of 2019, there came a time where I had to step away from teaching and focus more of my attention on expanding the company and ultimate vision. I had a goal in mind. This required me to step outside of my comfort zone, which was very unfamiliar to me. My specialty is in movement, as a ballet dancer and dedicated yoga practitioner, so business development was not in my skill set. However, I knew that if we expanded the company to different corporations, in various cities, that it would benefit the health and wellness of so many more people. It was something that could be scaled to a much larger platform. That alone, was the driving force behind my motivation to embody the “bigger picture”. As an entrepreneur, you must be willing to take risks. No risk = no reward.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
I wholeheartedly believe in the “side hustle”. Even to this day, I have a few other side hustles that are entirely unrelated to my business. I believe in multiple streams of income. Sometimes, passion projects turn into full-time businesses. My journey began as a professional ballet dancer. When that career ended, I naturally transitioned into the yoga world. After teaching for different yoga studios throughout San Diego, I built up my resume & reputation, and started teaching yoga in corporate offices as a way to supplement my income. As time progressed, I hired my friends to teach for me, as I couldn’t teach in two different places at the same time!! From there, it snowballed, and I eventually stepped away from teaching studio yoga to work predominantly for myself. That was such a liberating moment in time. I’ll never forget that epiphany! If there’s one piece of advice I can offer an aspiring business owner, it’s that CONSISTENCY will set you free. I feel as though my business blossomed because of my commitment, dedication,
dependability, and my overall consistency. You never know where your side hustle might take you in this lifetime. Go for the gusto!!!