How I Quit my 9-5 Job to Teach Yoga Full Time
The raw and real journey I took from the 9-5 grind to making yoga my full time career. It wasn’t easy but it’s definitely way more possible than I even realized. This can be your story too.
We all know that teaching yoga full time doesn’t happen over night. It’s not a traditional career path and it takes commitment emotionally, physically & mentally to make it as a full time yoga teacher.
While the idea of teaching yoga full time may seem financially impossible for now and it may even ripple a fear throughout your body, there is a way to do it. And actually there’s a lot of teachers that do find a way to do it. Let’s start to normalize this reality.
In this blog post, I’ll be sharing how I was able to successfully quit my corporate job to teach yoga full time and how I plan to not go back. Ill be covering:
How to build your yoga business while working your 9-5 job
The key factors to consider and prepare for to make the transition out of corporate as smooth as it can get with ease
If you are ready to take radical moves to quit your job and make your yoga teacher dreams come true, then you’re in the right place! All of this is about to change for good.
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The 5 STEP METHOD TO BUILD a PROFITABLE YOGA BUSINESS WHILE WORKING FULL TIME
Step 1: Master a profitable niche. You’ve probably heard this before, but let me tell you—it actually works. The point is to focus on mastering one thing now to get the pay off sooner than trying to master a bunch of things at once that will take way longer to see a return on investment, and not to mention just leave you scattered brain. When I looked at the pay gap between my corporate salary and the studio hustle, it was obvious that teaching drop in classes wasn’t going to cut it. I needed a niche that paid well, so I went all in on private clients.
Here’s the thing, money gets a bad rep in the yoga world, but let’s be real. If you ever want to leave your full-time job and make yoga your career, you need to be paid well. It’s not just about the passion but it’s about making this lifestyle sustainable.
You might also like: How to Find Private Yoga Clients
Step 2: Follow a SIMPLE business model on repeat. We overcomplicate business way too much in the beginning. When I first started, I asked myself: What do I need to do right now to start making money? The answer? Find private yoga clients. Instead of getting lost in a complicated sales funnels or spending months creating courses, I went all in on a simple 4-part business model that I refined over time:
Generate Leads
Introduction Call
Introduction Session
Class Package Conversion
No fluffiness, just a straightforward, repeatable system that created consistent income. If you want to hit six figures and quit your 9-5 job, keep it simple. Once you’ve mastered the basics, then you can add more complexity and scale.
You might also like: 4 Part Business Model Layout for your Private Yoga Business (Coming Soon!)
Step 3: Build an emergency fund. Quitting your 9-5 job comes with a risk to not downplay. For someone who can be more risk adverse, one of the best ways to keep yourself in a peace of mind through the transition is to build a solid savings. If you have nothing in your savings right now don’t panic and start small. When you start to bring in the extra income from growing your business while at your job still, choose to save that money instead of upgrading your lifestyle and you might surprise yourself on how quickly you can build up a savings.
Step 4: Build multiple safety nets. Quitting your job successfully involves smart and intentional planning. I didn’t just build one safety net with my emergency fund I built multiple layers of stability. Even though I had a strong yoga foundation, I lined up multiple studio and corporate yoga gigs. I made sure to build a network and gained teaching experience with a small following first. That way, I wasn’t relying on just one income stream but I had multiple options. Creating safety nets within your own business gives you more financial security and confidence so you can go all in without second guessing yourself.
Step 5: Treat it like you are switching to a new job. When you have a traditional job you likely get the benefits, 401k, health insurance, PTO, etc. Plan all of that into your business as if you are quitting one job and going right to another. Quitting your 9-5 doesn’t mean throwing structure out the window, you create the new benefits for yourself on your terms. I made sure to set up self-employed retirement options, research health insurance, and factor in time off. Burnout is real, and if you don’t give yourself PTO, resentment will creep in fast. This part can feel overwhelming, but trust me, when you quit your job and already have a plan in place, you’ll be so relieved. You’ll be able to take time off without stressing about income, and that freedom is worth every bit of planning.
Top 3 Factors to Consider for a Smooth Transition Out of Corporate
1. Treat yourself like an employee and create a benefits package for yourself. Review all the benefits you have right now with your current employer and start to research and plan how you are going to translate these benefits into your own business. It likely won’t be exactly the same but there are ways you can adapt and work around. This is ESSENTIAL to having a peace of mind once you quit.
2. Figure out your taxes. While I won’t share specific tax advice, what I will say is prioritize this. Don’t ignore it, figure it out. Do your own research, hire a tax expert and so on. This will save you a massive headache in the long run when doing your taxes as a business owner. Experience the nuance and stressful things now about owning a business while you still have the stability of your job.
3. Stick to your plan because even once you’ve hit all your goals you still won’t feel ready to quit. Once I hit all my savings goals, paid off debts, built consistent clients, etc I still thought it didn’t make sense to quit my job. I felt ready but I was SCARED. When you reach this point it’s bittersweet because the hardest thing you have to do now is to follow through and actually just quit. So in the beginning get REALLY clear on what exactly you need to have prepped to quit your job and stick to the plan.
OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU
Building my private yoga business IS the ultimate reason why I was able to leave my corporate job, if you don’t want to be stuck teaching 20+ group classes a week as a full time yoga teacher to barely make ends meet I highly recommend all yoga teachers to start building their private yoga business to start to gain more independence. The business model for a private yoga business is simple and repeatable.
If reading this created any bit of excitement and curiosity, you are ready for the next level- investing in yourself. Because of how much success I had in my own private yoga business, I decided to create a course specifically for yoga teachers to grow a fulfilling and profitable private yoga business.
If you made it this far I know you are serious about growing your private yoga business and this course is for you.
But even if you are not ready to invest yet, I have something for you that will help you get started for free. Fill the form below and get my 5 step guide on how to start building a thriving private yoga business.
Get the FREE guide for your Private Yoga Business Starter Kit
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