Yoga teachers – living the dream?
I love everything about being a yoga teacher. I love the creativity of weaving intentions and philosophies into the classes I teach. I love seeing the physical benefits of the practice in others, and the realisations achieved by those students on so many levels. I love the connection with other yogis and yoga teachers, the community, and the sheer bliss you experience when you start to see that we are not simply individual personalities disconnected by our bodies, but that we are all one. I love connecting with other yoga teachers.
I completed my first teacher training back in 2004. At that time this was a huge leap of faith from a regular, stable (dull) career in dentistry into the frightening unknown. Thoughts like, ‘can teaching yoga be sustainable?’ circled my mind. In my experience though, whenever I follow my heart’s calling, the path is always illuminated. Since making that decision to follow my heart, I have had so many incredible opportunities and experiences. And yes – it is sustainable!
Can yoga teachers be career driven?
As yoga teachers, we are generally healers, philosophers, and creatives – not business minded, methodical bookkeepers (perhaps despite our wishes or attempts!). I have been in this industry for a long time now, and have never come across a single system that is specific enough to manage my business needs. Whether we like it or not, keeping track of all our bookings and managing our invoices is essential. With my background in the medical industry, it has always bothered me that there is no requirement or specific facility to keep a record of medical histories, injuries or progressions of clients.
A solution for the industry’s shortcomings
I work at a large studio on the Gold Coast and the biggest issues have nothing to do with the quality of classes, but the frequency and consistency of teachers issuing their invoices and sometimes forgetting about class covers that they hadn’t scheduled into their diaries. After a meeting addressing these issues, I came home and discussed these painful industry points with my husband, who prompted me to create a solution.
Bringing the dream to life
I started dreaming up concepts, visualizing how to create simplicity in my own career – thus creating a valuable tool for other teachers. My original concept was much more complex, and after taking my first sketches to a friend and web developer, we decided to create the ultimate app for teachers as our first offering.
One year later we have just launched OMM Collective in BETA, which means we will be releasing it to the world to use, with the understanding that it’s still not perfect and needs testing in the open market place. So anyone who uses Omm Collective App is actually part of its critical formative stage, and we welcome as much feedback as possible to make the best product out there for our industry!
Hollie Bradley is the founder and creator of OMM Collective App, a product designed by teachers, for teachers. The app takes care of all yoga teachers’ essential business needs – from scheduling and invoicing, to financial reporting (for tax time) and recording of students’ medical details. www.ommcollective.com
