Eight years ago, Jenny Melville was teaching Pilates at multiple studios across her city, burning out, and ready to build something of her own. Her business partner backed out a year into planning for their own studio. Jenny opened the business anyway.Jenny opened West Seattle Pilates after a year of planning; alone, in a space she secured herself, with no guarantee anyone would show up. Eight years later she runs a studio that survived a pandemic, moved to a larger physical location, and built a team of instructors who stay because she endeavors to pay them fairly, considers them equals, treats them with respect, and communicates openly.In this episode of the Passion to Prominence podcast, Jenny talks about the self-doubt that followed her into the early years and the specific techniques she used to manage it. She talks about her overnight pivot to offering Zoom Pilates classes when COVID hit, how that decision reconnected her with some clients she had lost touch with, and how the relationships she had built before the pandemic were ultimately what carried her business through it.She also shares her experience with being a plus-size fitness instructor in an industry that has spent decades telling people their body is the problem, and how she built a studio where that narrative simply does not exist.This conversation is for every small business owner who has questioned the decision to start, any manager trying to build a team worth keeping, and every entrepreneur who wants to hear what eight years of "getting it right" actually looks like.

Michael Berkimer knew the need was there. As a licensed massage therapist running a solo private practice in Washington State, she could see that people in her community were actively searching for skilled practitioners like her. The inquiries existed. The interest was real. What she could not figure out was why her schedule was stuck at part-time capacity when the demand clearly existed.

In this episode, Michael shares the honest story of what it felt like to admit her business was not where she wanted it to be, what she had already tried, and what finally changed. She talks about the specific shifts she made in her marketing approach, how she started thinking about the energy her business was putting into the world, and why showing up consistently became manageable once her strategy was built around her actual life rather than someone else's playbook.

Within ten days of implementing a tailored 90-day business growth strategy guide, Michael went from part-time bookings to fully booked, more than doubling her weekly scheduled appointments. She has maintained that momentum, without burning out, without sacrificing time with her kids, and without doing more than her body and schedule can actually sustain.

This conversation is for every solo practitioner who is skilled at their craft but still struggling to build the business around it. Michael does not hold back about what was hard, what surprised her about working with a consultant and implementing a new strategy, and the specific mindset shifts and practical changes that have made the biggest difference. If you are doing everything you think you should be doing in your small business and still not seeing the results you want, Michael's story will provide some valuable insights.

A McCarthy Group Podcast | www.mccarthygroupllc.com