What is operating well?
An introduction.
We are the product of a realization: studio owners are usually the bottleneck in their own day-to-day operations, scared to leave for a single day, let alone a vacation. Founders open studios so they can do things their way. But now they're who everyone calls when there's a light bulb that needs changed, a shift that needs covering, or a payroll question.
You might be thinking, “well, I can't afford help.” But help is easier to find than you think, and it doesn't take hiring a full-time assistant (though that can certainly be the goal). You probably have a vision for your studio already. You know where you want to end up. It could be full written procedures, so that every question isn't an urgent text to your personal phone at 11pm. It could be automated systems, so that you aren't typing out emails in the waiting room of your dentist's office. It could just mean having weekends again. Getting there is the hard part. It requires energy and time you don't have.
who's behind it?
Operating Well was founded by Holly Swanson, a studio owner who has owned and operated Pilates studios since 2002, and Lida Linville, who builds the operational systems behind small wellness businesses. Operating Well makes downloadable operations systems — coverage plans, policies, operations manuals, and hiring packs — for boutique fitness and wellness studio owners.
Holly has scaled studios to multiple locations, opened a PT clinic, and is currently expanding a newer studio. She learned many lessons the hard way, moving from the bottleneck to someone who can turn their phone off the whole weekend while everything runs itself. With a background in experience strategy and design thinking, Lida started her career helping small private practices and wellness brands operate no matter what, even while the owner is away for two weeks. Through their combined experience, they know where things fall apart, and they know how to build the solution.
the editions.
The editions are downloadable processes, resources, and tools that you deploy yourself. They're easy to understand and implement, and they're yours forever. Every edition also teaches you the skill behind it. Your training covered your craft, not policies or payroll or hiring. The business side never came with a course. The editions are that course, and you take it little by little. We live in an age of rapid technological change, and we use every tool available to make your life easier. Prewritten prompts that go directly into your AI tool of choice are included in every edition, but never required.
the audit.
If you need deeper help, our audit puts your processes in full view. We dive into the customer experience, conduct client and employee feedback, and hand you everything you need to know. This guides your decision-making for the next year. Which classes to add. What keeps your teachers wanting more hours with you instead of another studio down the street. Whether or not your brand has a cohesive voice. Those questions, plus many more, are answered.
Don't guess at your strategy. Create it. Own it.
the partnership.
And lastly, coming soon: a full fractional COO partnership. This is for the studio owner who's tired of doing it alone. She wants the advice, the partnership, and the person she can bounce all of her ideas off of, who she knows has done this before and could do it again.
— welcome. you're early.The editions are where you'll find simple, implementable systems you put in place yourself, made specifically for studio owners.
SEE THE EDITIONS →