It’s no secret that greed is the driving force behind most corporations in America. We see it when we grocery shop and our favorite cereal is now twice the price that it was just a few years ago. We see when our apartment complex raises our rent every year with no updates made to improve the property. And now, we see it when we want to take a yoga class and the cost of a drop in is now $35 when it was $25 just a few years ago (which is often more than what the teacher is even being paid for the class). The owners of these corporations will say its inflation as they drive off in their G-Wagons.
I’ve been teaching for seven years and over the course of my experience as a teacher I have worked for a total of ten yoga related businesses. These businesses were located in Florida, Pennsylvania, and California - so let's keep politics out of it as I can vouch that a state’s political affiliation has nothing to do with whether a business owner will be greedy or not. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve worked for some amazing business owners over the last seven years. As a new business owner myself I strive to be like the ones that left a good impression. Unfortunately, I was left with more bad impressions than good ones.
In my experience, I found that the good impressions come from those who are yogis themselves. Those who have witnessed the powerful and healing benefits of the practice. Sure they want to make a profit to sustain themselves, but at the end of the day their intentions for starting the company were good. They are not looking for investors to help them expand to every major city in the country. Profits help compensate instructors and other staff fairly, keeping everyone happy. In turn, people do their jobs and they do them well. Instructors are not burnt out therefore delivering a better experience for their students. This creates a ripple effect that ultimately helps the business thrive.
I took offense early this year when I found out that fast food workers in the state of California are now being paid the same hourly rate that I was getting to manage a yoga studio just one year prior. I’ve invested thousands of dollars into my education as a yoga instructor. Aside from teacher training, I’ve participated in numerous workshops, events, and continuing education courses to further my education. I’ve taught over two thousand yoga classes and I had once dreamed of getting to a management level. I experienced a period of grief when I realized that my dreams were not sustainable due to the greed of others.
You mean to tell me I was getting paid the same to climb on a ladder and rewire LED light strips as someone who simply clocks in to flip burgers for a few hours then go home? And trust me, this is not a diss to those who work at fast food joints. My first job was at a Dairy Queen when I was in high school and I’ll forever be grateful for what that job taught me about work ethic. However, there was no education needed to work there. I didn’t need to be proficient in sales or customer relations. I didn’t have to reach out to a class of 30 people at 5:30 AM to let them know their instructor had an emergency and class was canceled. I didn’t need to develop a continuing education course in restorative yoga and then go on to train over 20 instructors in it. You get the point.
The average salary of someone in a management position in San Diego county is $155,120 according to MIT’s livable wage calculator. I understand that while my work as a yoga studio manager may not have equated to quite that, it was surely worth more than what someone who works an entry level position at McDonalds gets. I was struggling to make ends meet, and working my ass off in the process.
Over the course of my experience as a manager, I witnessed the starting wage for instructors new to the studio decrease time after time. The rules regarding raises also changed. What was once an increase in base pay became just a few cents added per head. Complete and utter disrespect in this economy especially because naturally some classes will be busier due to the time they’re at. Only annual raises were given at the end of the calendar year after an employee had been with the company for 12 full months. In other words, if one was hired in January, they would work for the company for 23 months before seeing any higher compensation for their efforts.
It felt like the longer I was in this position, the stingier those above me became. I’d like to note that this is also not a diss to my direct manager as she always had my back when I voiced how I felt, and she had very little control over the decisions that were made regarding pay. I’m referring to those behind the scenes that oversee major company policies. I felt like the longer I represented this company, the less it aligned with my values.
Aside from the pay, I really did love that position. I loved the connection I had with my staff and I valued building everyone up to their fullest potential. I never wanted to be someone that disciplined, but rather worked with someone to find a solution. Whether it was a teacher that got a bad review or a cleaner that continuously called out, I tried to see the best in everyone and remind them that I was there to work with them, not against them.
During the pandemic, I studied for and passed my exam to become a licensed Realtor in the state of California. For a while I didn’t touch the license, as I felt passionate about my career at the yoga studio despite the pay. I got to a point where I realized I was disrespecting myself by staying in that position. They weren’t able to offer me more money for my work, but were able to open 3+ new locations a year. I would cringe when I opened Instagram to see that yet again, another location was opening as I was still struggling to make ends meet. I came to the conclusion that I would be better off going into a commission based career (real estate), literally making no money at all for the first several months, than to continue to work for less than my value. It was heartbreaking.
Fast forward to 2024 as I write this from my cozy little home in NSW, Australia. My career in real estate was short lived but I had a wild amount of success for someone who was new to the industry in a post pandemic high interest rate market. I’m grateful for all that I learned, but I was never passionate about selling houses the same way I’m passionate about yoga. Looking back, I can see clearly now that I went through a long period of grief following this experience. We often think of grief as something we feel when someone passes, but grief can take many forms. I was told my whole life “do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Upon realizing I had been lied to, I found myself grieving the life I was promised.
I came to the conclusion that I quite literally needed a break from America and the systems that run the country. So I sold nearly everything I owned, and headed to a new country on a visa that would allow me to gain a new perspective and slow down. Ironically, I just finished my new student promo at a local studio here in Australia and realized not a single person has sent me a text or an email trying to get me to commit to a membership. The two women that own the studio are devoted yogis who put their heart and soul into their classes. Everyone who teaches here is talented beyond measure. If the studio were to expand I have no doubt that profits would increase, however that does not seem to be the intention of the owners.
It's soul crushing to witness small businesses being overrun by big corporations in America. It's even more upsetting to see it happen to an industry that is supposed to be based on the principles of union. I understand that there are benefits of the big corporations such as giving new teachers a platform to begin their career as well as providing a convenient place for members of the community to practice, but where do we draw the line?
If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it's that in America we vote with our dollar. The more you are able to support the small businesses over the big corporations, the more you are contributing to a more equal and unified society. As the old saying goes, “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.” I’d love to hear your thoughts below.
