Running a studio with multiple programs — or dreaming of expanding into new locations — can feel exciting and overwhelming all at once. In this episode, graduate studio owner Mary Ellen Bryan shares how she grew her business to three thriving spaces using simple systems, strong team support, and a beautifully sustainable approach to creativity. If you’ve ever wondered how to scale without losing the magic, you’ll love this conversation. Listen in and feel what’s possible.
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Transcript:
Chantelle Bruinsma (00:04):
Welcome to Your Studio Podcast, sharing strategies for studio owners. I’m Chantelle Bruinsma, here with Michelle Hunter. And together we’re the CEOs of Studio Evolution, where for over a decade we’ve helped thousands of studio owners around the world from dance, music, acting, art, yoga, and pilates studios transform their passion into thriving profitable businesses. So if you’re a studio owner, grab a cup of tea and settle in. You’re in exactly the right place.
Michelle Hunter (00:31):
Hello friends. Welcome back to Your Studio Podcast. It is Michelle Hunter and Chantelle Bruinsma here, and we have a special guest joining us today. We have a graduate in our Studio Evolution community. Welcome, Mary Ellen Bryan.
Mary Ellen Bryan (00:50):
Thank you. It’s such an honor to be here and so fun to see you both and it’s just such a pleasure.
Chantelle Bruinsma (00:58):
What a treat, hun. You have been just such an inspiring studio owner to watch your journey and to watch how you’ve shaped your studio, to really be in alignment with your total vision for yourself and how you like to express your creativity. And we think you’re great example of what’s possible for studio owners, and you’re such a dynamo. So do you want to tell us a little bit about Central Studios and how it’s come about? And I know you’re in Missouri in the USA, would you want to share a bit of a background on your studio?
Mary Ellen Bryan (01:29):
Yes. So Central Studio, yeah. St. Louis, Missouri is our location. And the way it came about was I’m a multi-passionate entrepreneur, hyper creative.
Chantelle Bruinsma (01:44):
This woman is as creative as they come, I tell you.
Mary Ellen Bryan (01:48):
So I’ve been a classical trained ballet dancer in my professional dancing career as contemporary ballet. And so I had this great passion and love for ballet, and through that process, the magic of a Pilates method and Gyrotonic method came to me. And so while I was having babies, I decided let’s go through Pilates training and teacher training. And so I kind of simultaneously was dancing and teacher training. And then by the time it was here to open a studio, I actually worked out of my house for about 10 years when babies were little. And then so there’s building relationships in town and building clientele between teaching for some studios and in my home. And then I thought, well, this is the time. And I opened the studio in 2012. And so I kind of always jokingly, it’s all my favorite things under one roof, which is a youth dance program, an adult dance program, Pilates and Gyrotonic program, and we have time massage, so it’s kind, that was part of the dream. So it sounds like it was very spread out, which it was. And when Studio Evolution came into my sphere, Chantelle talked about the Apple marketing and ripple effect. And in the ripple effect, you focus on one thing, which I had a very difficult time figuring that out as a multi-passionate.
Chantelle Bruinsma (03:42):
There was a bit of pushback, there was a bit of pushback, but I think we worked through it in a really great way and I’m proud of where we landed.
Mary Ellen Bryan (03:50):
Yeah, no, it’s been good. And I’ve been continuing to, I still have all those things under one roof, but I actually have almost separated the businesses a little bit. I learned that it really is, it’s very difficult to market to everyone all at once. And I had this dream that we would have, oh, the babies would come in and be dancing and the parents would be taking classes and it would be this whole family experience. But then I realized parents need to drop this kid off, run over here to go do that, and then somebody else is in a different season of life and needs this particular type of work. And so I’ve sort of sifted through and created very focused positioning for each of our offerings. So it doesn’t look like this studio with everything. When somebody looks up our Central Studio Academy, which is our youth program, it looks like a youth dance school, then when they look up Central Studio Pilates, it’s a Pilates studio. We have a really very robust adult dance program, and all three have very different needs. And so it’s kind of fun, but running three different businesses at the same time. But what’s helpful is the ability to streamline with the systems that were established through all my learnings from Studio Evolution.
Chantelle Bruinsma (05:29):
So if I can dig in here a little bit more, I think it’s quite interesting because there’s many studios out there that have different arms, different kind of branches within the business. And so I really love hearing that you have honored that. It’s just you can’t promote everything to everyone. It’s just ineffective. So how much are you marketing for and what’s your philosophy on marketing for the three separate sections of the business?
Mary Ellen Bryan (05:56):
The marketing that needs, I would say the most nurturing is the youth program.
(06:06):
There’s a lot of messaging and also there’s this season of sport and that musical instrument, and we just need family vacation and all of that. So a lot of our energy in the studio goes to our youth program. Our Pilates program basically feeds itself because we have very long time students and clients and relationships. And I mean some from 20 years. And referrals are the biggest keepers, more than any money marketing that you can do. I would say referrals are number one, and maintaining good relationships and respect within the studio culture as well as respect for other efforts and studios around town. So I think that those go hand in hand. So I’m not sure if I’m answering your question exactly, but the adult programming, I would say referrals, a hundred percent youth programming, if you get friend groups to show up, those are good stickers, they stay, but there is a little bit more of a nurturing process that goes there because it is seasonal where adults just like to keep going forever. It’s in their schedule. So it’s just sort of like, and they work year round versus the pulse of school schedule. So you just learn about the different needs and you just pay attention to wherever your eyes are, that’s where the energy flows. And the second you turn your eyes, then it kind of goes down a little bit.
(08:08):
So I do like the referral relationship.
Chantelle Bruinsma (08:13):
You’re very good at it.
Mary Ellen Bryan (08:13):
version because it’s easier and sticks.
Chantelle Bruinsma (08:17):
And that’s the idea. If you can build about strong culture, you’re going to have a hugely stable business, and that’s magic. So you spoke before a little bit about the systemizing. So you’ve recently grown to three locations, and maybe it’d be really fascinating to hear about what was needed to happen in this kind of creative systems designed, if you will, really creating this beautiful framework for the experience. I know you’re such a passionate human too, and this lovely balance between creativity and structure, but how that’s actually enabled you to be creative and create phenomenal growth at the same time.
Mary Ellen Bryan (08:57):
Well, one of our themes that we stick with, which is also gifted through Studio Evolution, was the idea of finding things simple. So the good phrase is just slap it with a simple stick and it has to be sustainable. But one big thing I always say is you cannot strip the magic. So the process that we go through with our key team
(09:29):
is that we get together and we dream big. I say magic wand, it what is the ultimate dream? If we had everything that’s in our minds and in our just dream big and dream bigger and bigger and bigger, and what else? And then we bring it down to what is possible right now in this moment with our resources, with the systems that we have in place with our current community. And so that’s the simplicity of what can happen. And then we know is this sustainable? So if we did this this time, can we do it again next year? And what if we double in size? Can we still do it? And then what if we triple in size, can we still do it? And then there is an assessment with as numbers go, but can we at least keep the same kind of rhythm? And then we bring in the magic.
(10:25):
So then we say, okay, we don’t want to strip the magic, so what pieces can we add that’s just that little extra essential studio, love that little special touch that makes us with the care curriculum and community touch. And so those are the pieces that we look at. And I would say the solid systems that have been worked on, it doesn’t, nothing just happened, is very intentional with decision-making. The team that you bring around, so you bring in, I’m a big visionary, and you bring in somebody who is a visionary implementer. So she’s my, systems architect. Yes. So I call her formal name is systems architect. That’s the visionary implementer. And so it’s like what are we going for? What do we want and why? And is the juice worth the squeeze? So we analyze all of this.
Chantelle Bruinsma (11:34):
We’re gonna use that. Is the juice worth the squeeze. Is the juice.. what do you mean by that? Let’s pause there.
(11:39):
Okay, that’s really cool. What do you mean by is the juice worth the squeeze?
Mary Ellen Bryan (11:42):
Okay, so it means that we know that what we can do is magical and amazing and wonderful. Everything takes some effort in some way or another.
(11:53):
And so this delicious lemonade that you have with strawberries and mint and all, however you want to flavor it, is it worth squeezing every single lemon to get what you’re going to get? So in studio business, you’re saying, okay, when we took on our third location, we were saying, okay, so what will it bring? What type of effort, what type of what’s going to happen? And so we just say, okay, these things need to happen in order for us to have this third location. Is the juice worth the squeeze or is it going to be great, but just overextend us just enough that it’s not worth the squeeze? And so let’s just stay right in the pocket that we have. And so that’s kind of like the quick phrase that we use whenever we’re sort of analyzing whether or not to proceed with some exciting vision. And then the visionary implementer / systems architect will take our, whatever we decided to do and just clearly align it with our mission, our vision, and then everyone knows exactly what to do next. She’s a spreadsheet queen, and she knows how to do all the little boxes and all the little
(13:30):
but then you can, yes, and then you can just read exactly what timeline we do our 10 weeks out of a particular event plan of who needs to communicate what. And so there, there’s the flow, the workflow, the system that helps create the simplicity of it, the sustainability of it, and then the magic of what do you put in the juice and squeeze in the juice. That’s kind of our mindset process when we’re discussing things. But I think your team is huge. I do have a key team that’s not, so it’s structured where we do have a key team that makes decisions, discusses things, and then we do have our teaching team and some of our teaching team is on that team, but it’s different roles. So they serve in different positions, but when they’re a key team decision maker with that hat, that’s the role that they’re playing. And then we have a teaching team, and that’s a different setup as well.
Chantelle Bruinsma (14:42):
So I think it’s interesting as a visionary, because you are someone with such passion and such creativity, and you’ve been running your studio now for what, since 2012 was when you opened the space a long time. Yes. It’s been a while. And how do you personally find that ability to really continue to be tapped into your creativity when what we do is quite structured and it is quite cyclical and replicable? How do you still continue to find inspiration and that kind of magic right year in year out?
Mary Ellen Bryan (15:17):
Yeah. Well, what I have found, and this is learned, this is a learned skill gift again from Studio Evolution that actually with the systems creating the replicable systems, it actually makes space for the expansion of your mind. It gives you the freedom to be able to explore and just dive into the little bit deeper levels. And if you think about bring it to ballet where my first love is, but when you think about the structure of a ballet class or whatever, I’m sure in singing and in martial arts and everything, you have your plie, you have your tendu, you have your degage, you have your rond de jambe, you have your whole structure. And as you build upon those skills and then you enter the stage, you have so much freedom. You fly, you feel like you transcend. And so I see that in studio business as well.
(16:22):
So you have that consistency. Consistency is key in everything. Anything you do, if you want to move forward in anything in life, consistency is always key. But when you have that and you have the structure, then you feel you actually truly feel the freedom inside to fly, and then you don’t feel bogged down by the systems or by the replicability. What I see that what the systems provide is calm for your whole team. They don’t feel like they’re being pulled one way or the other. And so there is an expectation. And then everyone has the freedom within to color outside the lines, even though there is a structure of even though there is a canvas there in front of you, there is room for the paint splash because you have the structure of the canvas. And so I’m sure it’s kind of abstract. If you want more concrete, it’s beautiful.
Chantelle Bruinsma (17:31):
I think it’s really a lovely idea of that structure sets you free. And that by having the consistency, and I’m sure there’s many studio owners who never get to that place of actually having consistency in their business to allow them to have creativity. It takes a certain degree of mastering consistency and mastering structure in the business to enable you to get to that place of calm. Do you think a lot of studio owners struggle with that? Or what was your journey of actually embracing consistency?
Mary Ellen Bryan (17:58):
Well, I think possibly the struggle could be everyone has these great ideas and they really want, I’m sure every studio owner, you love your baby, you birthed this baby, you went through all the process of going through that, and you’re still living every day within the, oh, I want to do this, and how do I get there? And you see, it feels so close and attainable, but then so far you just can’t ever reach it. It’s just right out of reach. And I think that when you’re able to actually step back and see where I say where the starting point was, even if you’ve been in business one year, I’d say one year to even 20 years, you could just step back and say, oh, this did happen. I had one teacher hired and now I have two teachers. And so two teachers relieves some stress of the hours that you’re teaching, but it’s also another person to manage. So you’re always balancing
(19:12):
where the freedom is, I think. And the way that I personally look at, and I think that maybe would be helpful for studio owners is I literally see little compartments in my brain. And so you can enter your space and Oh, I love my baby and I love to nurture my baby, and here’s this compartment. And then you’re like, oh my goodness, I have all these things that I have to do right now in this moment. So then you step back and you say, okay, what have I done? And then what will help? What have I done over the course of the year? I think kind of stepping back and looking at your year and what worked, what didn’t work, and you have to be okay with letting things go.
(20:04):
And I think that you can find peace and calm with that. And it’s just more like, yes, this worked, this didn’t work and it’s okay, or this didn’t work, but maybe it’s just needs a little tweak. So you really actually have to be okay looking at yourself and analyzing. And you have to separate the ego a bit, and you have to be completely okay with the fact that you tried something and it may not have turned out the way you wanted it to and letting it go. And then sometimes it comes back to you in a positive way later in five years and you’re like, oh, this a good idea. I just didn’t have the skillset yet or the team to help with the process. And so yes, I’m sure there’s a lot of stress that comes with any business, any ownership of business. And I do remember the first year of running a business, not the home business, the home that was easier, but the actual, oh, I have rent now. And I just looked at any small business, like a clothing store or a restaurant, I’m like, oh my
(21:23):
goodness, I had so much more respect for any business owner ever. And I’m like, how do you do this? Just look them in the eye thinking, I get you. But you do get over that sticker shock a little bit after a while. And I do think just being able to compartmentalize in your brain and giving yourself grace to step back, walk away, kind of let the ego settle, especially when things don’t happen the exact way. Sometimes there’s different magic. And when you allow for the voices of your team to really sing within the chorus of what’s happening, you’re like, wow, I never actually thought of that. And you see it flying, all the doves coming out and it’s like, oh, this is amazing. And so that’s part of it too, is really allowing the strength and gifts of your team to be present.
Chantelle Bruinsma (22:33):
And so you’ve had this journey of really getting this kind of core structure for the main central studio location, and you’ve expanded to three locations. Would you like to talk us through your philosophy of satellite locations and what you’ve learned along this way and what’s really been helpful and what that journey’s been expanding the business now?
Mary Ellen Bryan (22:56):
Yes, absolutely. So I had my first location for a solid 10 years. And so through that 10 years, we built some structure and systemized we’ve been talking about and the flow of what is, and there’s always tweaks. It’s alive, it’s a breathing organism. And then this opportunity came for the second location and I was like, okay, can we really do this? Is the juice worth the squeeze? And we decided it was. And so we have this second location and what I chose to do was put myself in that space in just as not quite as much energy as the first location, build hiking straight uphill. But I felt like, oh, we have structure so we can create it in this new community. But I put myself presently in the space and it was like, wow, all the fruits of our labor are just happening. So it was a lot less work, but it was because we did all the setup in over the first 10 years. Then we’re like, okay, did you get it? This is flowing. Go ahead.
Chantelle Bruinsma (24:27):
I was going to ask, did you get much pushback when you kind of stepped away at the first location, just like even, did they feel that? Did they notice much?
Mary Ellen Bryan (24:35):
So the first location, what I learned is it can function well without me because of how we set things up. So that was more my heart, my soul, my heart is with that space. When I walk in the doors, I’m like, this is home. It’s my breath. So I have deep, deep affection. I always say if there may come a time when we do leave that particular location, I have another vision for something else, which would mean I’d probably put the energy towards that. And we would leave that location and go to, because I want a space with a theater and the space does not have, it’s not larger for it. So there will be a day, and I know my heart will be torn, but the pushback wasn’t there. It was just more like some of the clients and the students, they were like, they warned don’t spread yourself so thin that the quality will lessen. And
(25:46):
they would use those words, but I trusted, I had full trust. I’m like, just trust and just do it. And really, even without my full presence, our adult dance program is just like, boom. It’s just as big as our youth program. And it’s just unbelievable to see that. And the other programs, they’ve sustained and done natural growth. And so I’m like, oh, okay, we can do this. The second location I do believe really needed me because it needed the feeling of stability, the heart and soul of what the business is. And plus I didn’t know how to have two locations yet. The third location opportunity, it’s a learnable skill.
(26:37):
Yes. And I honestly believe that that location doesn’t need me because I learned, okay, how the structures are in place. And even our key team, I basically proposed this situation and I was like, we’ve done all this work to lay out the land. We saw how the second location happened and is doing really well. And so then the third location situation came. And what needs me is the team. The team. So they know the mission and the value system and they need training on our processes, but my presence does not need to physically be there. And I promised our team, our key team, you won’t have more work with this third location. And the only big push was the build out, the painting and the laying the floors.
Chantelle Bruinsma (27:48):
Seems like the internet’s. Oh yeah, we lost her.
Michelle Hunter (27:51):
Yeah, we just lost her. What a powerhouse
Chantelle Bruinsma (27:54):
Dynamo.
Mary Ellen Bryan (28:01):
My systems architect / visionary implementer
Michelle Hunter (28:06):
From one implementer to another.
Mary Ellen Bryan (28:10):
Yeah, she’s my, the person I was telling you about, my systems architect. Okay.
Chantelle Bruinsma (28:19):
Thank you Visionary architect.
Mary Ellen Bryan (28:21):
Okay, well the third location opportunity opened up and when I talked to my key team about it, I basically mentioned that all the work that we’ve done over the last 10, 12 years to set up all the systems and the fruits of our labor was just basically happening in the second studio location. And it just felt very natural and very right to bring it to this third location. And so we’ve had that particular location for about six months now and it’s really flowing. It does not need my physical presence in the space. Basically the new team as just, they just embrace the mission, they embrace the value system, and we just train them up on our programming and they start to learn the systems that we have in place. And it’s really fun. Everyone is having a good time with it and actually very excited.
(29:31):
The families are very excited about what we’re bringing forward in this particular community. And another really key point that I didn’t know actually was very important, but all of the locations are basically within eight minutes of each other. So I always say we have this little triangle of eight minutes, eight minutes, eight minutes with traffic, 15 minutes. So there are options to even take classes at each other’s studios. It’s easy to, if you need to troubleshoot or send an employee over a teacher over somewhere to help cover a class, it’s just gives it a really team feel, a really family feel. You feel the care, you feel the community. And that’s really important in what we bring forward. And so it’s been a really great experience and the team is also excited as well to see this all come to life. Just lay out before us and especially the team that’s been there through the time of building the structure and the infrastructure and the systems.
Chantelle Bruinsma (30:41):
Well, Mary Ellen, I tell you what, seeing how you have really stepped into this part of yourself that allows the team to support this growth and the expansion through locations. I know your student numbers have grown by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds over the years and it’s been just such a joy and magical, magical thing to watch you keep your creativity, really have these structures. And again, like you said, you’re not going to sacrifice the magic. I think Michelle and I are also totally going to steal your phrase, what’s the phrase, is the juice worth a squeeze?
Michelle Hunter (31:17):
So using it.
Chantelle Bruinsma (31:17):
Is the juice worth a squeeze? We’re going to find out. So we’ve just been hoping Mary Ellen would come back. We’ve had some little tech issues with internet connections, but we are just so bloody proud of this woman. She has grown her studio by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of more students and just creating such a beautiful home in her community for the students. Hope you have really taken away some gems from this one. What’s our favorite gem takeaway from this episode? Michelle, what’s yours?
Michelle Hunter (31:41):
I just think the gift, how she’s a visionary, but the gift of her growth mindset and her systems is also a gift to her team because it allows them to implement the team, implement the vision so seamlessly, because that’s a very hard skill. You can be a visionary till the cows come home, but how you can actually clearly have a process that implements everything clearly. It was just like a from one implementer to another. I was just, yeah, so impressed.
Chantelle Bruinsma (32:08):
That said, she was telling us that the name of that role is systems architect. She’s the visionary implementer. So implementing her vision, she knew that she needed someone who could just like I do friend, you are my person. Yeah, that’s right. But you do need, if you’re a visionary creative, finding that person who is the systems architect is what opens up a whole world of growth, but also freedom as well, right? Because some of us aren’t born for spreadsheets.
Michelle Hunter (32:35):
No.
Chantelle Bruinsma (32:35):
I mean I love a spreadsheet, but I’m not born for it
Michelle Hunter (32:38):
yes
Chantelle Bruinsma (32:38):
The truth, right?
Michelle Hunter (32:39):
And what’s so important in that when working with implementer, she keeps on saying, can we deliver this if we double, if we triple? I love that. Those questions, if you’re an implementer will, it just gets the. It’s like, aha, I see it now I see it.
Chantelle Bruinsma (32:52):
Yeah. And then because that triggers such important efficiencies conversations, can we sustain this level of output and triple the input that we receive as a company? Just fascinating conversation. And again, we’re going to hold that. Is the juice worth the squeeze as a core match for you and I now from now on
Michelle Hunter (33:14):
Getting the tattoo? Maybe not.
Chantelle Bruinsma (33:16):
Well, you might, I won’t. But that’s each their own. Thank you Mary Ellen, we just love you to bits.
Mary Ellen Bryan (33:22):
Thank you so much for having me on. It was so great to see you both, and I look forward to seeing you in the Campfire.
Chantelle Bruinsma (33:30):
And thanks everyone for watching this episode of Your Studio Podcast. See you next time. Bye.
(33:34):
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