5
Getting a Regular Class Gig
You Picked Up This Book either because you are a prospective or new teacher just getting your start, or because you’ve been teaching for a while and are eager to take your career to the next level. Either way, you are likely ready to secure new teaching slots. Here’s how to get started—in person or online.
gym
A gym is a typical first landing spot for students fresh out of teacher training, and it’s a good starter gig. There’s a built-in membership of students, which means you’ll get plenty of people in class with a wide range of bodies and ages. This is a wonderful way to hone your teaching skills.
Approaching the Gym
Start by taking a look at the website to see if there are instructions on how to apply. If not, drop in and ask at the desk. While you’re at it, see if there is a day pass rate or some other way for you to spend some time in the facility, and ideally to take at least one class. Ask who programs group fitness and the best way to contact them. Meet them in person if you can, introduce yourself, and if they are amenable, get their contact information so you can follow up with a résumé and cover letter.
If you can’t meet in person, send an email with a paragraph introducing yourself, detailing briefly your experience and availability, and offer to come by in person for an interview at the programmer’s convenience. If you get such an interview, arrive early with a big smile, and offer to give an audition, which we’ll discuss in a moment.
Payment
Typical payment per class at a gym can range from $15 to $45. An added perk is free gym access, which can be worth $100 or more each month. This is especially useful if there is free child care and you have a young kid—your child can be cared for while you teach or work out. And free membership can give you a chance to take other group exercise classes, as many of the fundamental skills of a good movement teacher carry across disciplines. You might find that your time in a Pilates, cycling, or weightlifting class elevates your awareness of classroom management, good pedagogy, clear cuing, kinesiology, and anatomy in ways that directly improve your abilities as a yoga teacher.
Most places—gyms, studios, corporate gigs—pay an hourly rate per class. This could be $15 to $45 or more at a gym or studio, and might be $85 or more for a corporate class that brings a teacher into the office. At Carolina Yoga Company, we use a different, less common model, $x/head. This rewards teachers who work to attract and retain students, as teacher pay increases with class size. Depending on experience, x may be anything from $5 to $6.50. We pay 70 percent for series and workshops. But most gyms and studios pay by the hour. We will explore money in great detail later, as well as how you might eventually grow your part-time job as a yoga teacher into a full-time profession.
studios
Approaching the Studio
Go to the studio. Teaching yoga is a public-facing job—see how it appears to the public at the places you would like to teach. Applying for a teaching slot is not like applying for an office job, where it would be odd to show up and spend time in a cubicle to get the vibe of the place before sending a résumé and cover letter.
That you should start by visiting the studio should be patently obvious, but we regularly get queries about teaching positions from people fresh out of some other studio’s teacher training who have never been to our studio. These naive applicants get a stock answer from us:
We have an overabundance of teachers right now, both on our schedule and on our sub list. When we do hire, we like to choose from among the folks who have been practicing at the studio regularly. If you’re interested in teaching at Carolina Yoga Company, that’s a great place to start, so that we can get to know each other and so that you can understand the studio culture and student needs. We definitely extend our student/teacher class rate to yoga teachers!
To avoid being the recipient of such a brush-off, be sure to go to the studio. Sign up for their intro offer and go to several classes. This not only shows the hiring manager that you are earnest but also gives you a chance to be sure this studio is a good fit for your teaching. It may not be, so doing your due diligence is critical. Ask students about their experience and their suggestions of classes and teachers. Take a broad sampling of the studio’s offerings, which will position you well to talk about them with authority.
Speak to the teachers after class. Pay them an honest compliment about something you especially liked in class. Tell them you are interested in joining the staff. Ask how frequently the schedule changes and who is in charge of writing it. And after you have made several visits, approach that person with a humble introduction and enthusiastic offer to audition. This ideally would happen face-to-face, at a moment when the hiring director is not busy. If that’s tough to manage, write a kind, clear, error-free email. Either way, your message should hit these points:
▸ You’ve had a positive experience at the studio, with reference to the classes/teachers you’ve enjoyed and what made them memorable
▸ You are a new/experienced teacher interested in teaching there. If you have a specialty or special interest—yin yoga, prenatal yoga, kids yoga, yoga for healthy aging, yoga en español—mention it! If your schedule is especially open, or you love early-morning or late-evening classes, mention that.
▸ You are a graduate of X training program and its lead teacher is happy to give you a reference. (Of course, confirm this by asking your teacher trainer first; you may have already done this when you constructed your résumé.)
▸ If applicable: You have studied from or learned alongside a particular teacher already on the studio staff.
▸ Since your graduation, you have led classes to Y students in Z locations.
▸ You are eager to offer an audition and to sub a class or guest teach a portion of class to give them a sense of your teaching style.
▸ If applicable: You are familiar with the business side of MindBody software, if the studio uses it, or other relevant platforms.
Include your résumé and a link to your website, where the hiring manager will find a smiling picture of you and a short bio. These don’t belong in the email, which should be as short as possible while covering the above points.
If you don’t get a response, follow up in two weeks or so, then again in two months. Timing is everything. At Carolina Yoga, for example, our schedules are written quarterly. Someone who approaches us just before the new scheduling period opens is more likely to get our attention than someone who catches us right after the new schedule begins. Ask when schedules are set, and present a reminder of your enthusiasm just before that period.
Payment
There are many different models for payment at yoga studios. While you may not find much wiggle room when you are hired, it’s useful to know the models you may encounter.
Some pay a flat fee per class, as you saw in the gym model. This rate may depend on your experience and on your level of training, including any specializations you have, such as prenatal yoga. As at a gym, it may vary from $15 to $45 or higher per class, and some studios offer a no-show payment of $15 or so if no one comes.
Pay rate: $15 no-show, $25 per class
Zero students: $15
Six students: $25
Twelve students: $25
Thirty students: $25
Forty students: $25
Some studios, like ours, pay per head at either a set rate—in our case, up to $6.50 per student—or a percentage of the revenue that the student brings in, such as 50 percent. This has some obvious advantages. The more students you can bring in, the bigger your paycheck. Both the studio and the teacher are invested in attracting students. On the other hand, if no one comes to class, you don’t get paid.
Pay rate: $6.50/head
Zero students: $0
Six students: $39
Twelve students: $78
Thirty students: $195
Forty students: $260
Many studios offer a hybrid between the per-class and per-head rates. There is a base rate for a class, and if the class has over a set number of students—say, ten—you’re paid a set amount of bonus per student—say, $2. There may also be a maximum, so that you are never paid more than a set amount—say, $65.
Pay rate: $25 base, $2/student bonus for everyone after ten students, cap $65
Zero students: $0
Six students: $25
Twelve students: $29
Thirty students: $65
Forty students: $65
Some studios are run as donation studios. This model can take various forms: It can be on a sliding scale, with a suggested range of money to pay; an invitation to pay what you can; or even a chance to do chores or donate goods in exchange for a class. (Once, visiting Colorado Springs for work at the Olympic Training Center, I brought a copy of my first book to a donation studio there. Another student offered a few heads of broccoli, and the teacher was equally enthusiastic about both.) The concept behind donation studios is very sweet, and it echoes the origins of yoga as a practice where the students supported the teacher. When the donation model mixes with capitalism, though, problems can emerge. I spoke to a teacher who reported that at the donation studio where she taught, her average donation was $4, of which half was to go to the studio for using the space, meaning she was earning $2 per student. And I worry that the students were not valuing the class or her time as they might have if the rate were set at even $10 per class, or an hour of chores in the space.
interviews and auditions
Depending on the hiring process at your prospective new host business, you may be run through a series of interviews and auditions. Treat your interview as you would any job interview. Do research about the business, take a close look at its current schedule, and see where you could fit in or add value—by adding a class at a time that is currently not used, for example. Prepare questions to ask about the business, and especially about its clientele. Be ready to demonstrate that you are an ideal candidate to serve this student base.
Come prepared with a document listing your skills (like the workshops offering form I describe in chapter 10, but with descriptions of classes) or be eager to describe the various classes you can teach. Some gyms and studios have set sequences or tight parameters around what they offer, in which case they may need to train you. Be careful about committing to lots of expensive training on your dime. Ideally, your employer will train you on the clock or for free as an apprentice.
Some gyms and studios use in-class or faux-class auditions as part of the hiring process. If you are invited to audition, ask smart questions so you can get a clear picture of what is expected of you and how you can succeed. They might include:
▸ Logistics: Note when, where, how long, and whether you should use music, and whether hands-on assists are standard at the studio.
▸ Subject matter: Would your hiring contact like a full class or a segment? If a segment, which segment—the beginning, middle, or end of class? (Sometimes several candidates audition together, each leading a small portion of the class.) What style of yoga would they like to see you teach?
▸ Audience: Who will your students be in the audition? If they are staff or studio owners, should you treat them as new students or as the experienced practitioners they are? If they are students, what level of experience should you expect them to have?
Once you know what to prepare, treat it as a regular class. Think through what you want to teach, how you would expand or contract your teaching if the available time changes, and ways to modify for different bodies and needs. We’ll explore how to prepare in depth in part 3.
At the end of your audition, ask for feedback if it is not immediately given. Your auditioners have likely seen many people teach and should have some useful commentary for you, whether or not you are ultimately hired to teach for them. As with any interview, follow up with a thank-you note or email in a day or two, regardless of the outcome. A “no” this time can be a “yes” next time if you make a good impression and work to improve between tries.
online
Getting Started
As the yoga industry adapts to a changing world, many teachers and studios are migrating online. Not every teacher will want or need to have an online presence, so you should consider whether it’s the right move for you. You’ll know it’s right when you are excited, if a little scared, and eager to share your teaching in platforms beyond face-to-face classrooms. Breaking into the online world as a brand-new teacher will involve a little ambition, a measure of comfort and agility with the platforms you choose (social media, video, audio), and a healthy dose of self-promotional hustle. Just like with your in-person teaching and promotion, it helps to be really clear on who you are, what your message is, why you are teaching, and most importantly, who your audience is and how you can help them with yoga. Getting clear on the answers to those questions will help you decide where and what to teach online, and it will help you craft a marketing message that feels authentic.
Approaching the Host
As a result of social distancing initiatives brought about during the coronavirus pandemic, many studios began to offer online content alongside in-person classes. This content can be either live streams or recordings of classes at the studio—or a separately created library of classes and tutorials. While studios’ online teachers are often the same as their existing in-person teachers, if you have skill with teaching on video, you may be able to work your way into the rotation. (We will discuss hosting your own online offerings in chapter 10.) If you are just getting started as a teacher, this can be a mutually beneficial relationship. You get to use the studio’s equipment, expertise, and platform—and they get the benefit of your teaching.
Start as you would with an in-person class: Get a sense of what is being offered. Watch several different teachers’ classes to have a sense of the aesthetic, tone, and energy that the studio puts forth. Is there much demonstration? Is there much back-and-forth with students in live classes? Do students turn off their video cameras or leave them on? Is there music? Do the lessons presume students have their own props, suggest how to make do with things around the house, or go prop-free? How does what you have to offer complement the existing content or fill a niche that is not being served?
Next, approach the hiring manager with an expression of interest—in person, if possible, or online. Detail the classes you’ve taken, the vibe you’ve picked up on, and how your own offerings will be a good fit. Send a link to a short clip of your teaching online (don’t send the video file itself; these can be too big for email). If the studio offers video recorded only on set in their own space, seek to create a space that echoes the studio brand. If you don’t have access to professional-grade equipment, explain what you used to record your sample. Offer to give a full-length audition or interview, as per the practices previously detailed.
Payment
Just as there are a range of payment practices for in-person classes, payment for video classes varies. Some studios will offer only a set fee per live stream or recording. Others offer royalties based on views of the video when it is viewed from the studio library.
Since video classes can be archived in ways that live classes can’t be, be clear with the studio about who owns the intellectual property rights to the recording. If you were to leave your association with the host, would your videos still be available on their platform? Would you still be paid? Be clear on the terms, and have a written contract.
Likewise, be clear on whether you are allowed to mention your other content in the videos you create for this platform. Effectively, you’re taking the in-person contract and adapting it for the online environment.
do it yourself
Outside of the gym or studio, there is a world full of places where you could teach yoga! This includes community centers, church basements, middle-school gymnasiums, martial arts and dance studios, art galleries, hotels, and the great outdoors. Increasingly, it means online in video classes, social media posts, and other formats. If you would like to take a do-it-yourself approach to offering a class, we’ll discuss options for setting up alternative classes in chapter 10.
Whether you are looking for a regular class gig or already have one, it’s important to make sure you’re prepared when it comes to money. A little knowledge will serve you well as you agree—or even negotiate—to take on your first class. Not all of us have this knowledge up front! As I moved from being a very part-time teacher to becoming the owner of several wellness businesses, I had to learn about good business practices around labor law, accounting, and other back-of-the-house issues. Let these lessons I’ve learned guide you as you talk to professional advisers about how to structure your own business.
employees versus independent contractors
In the United States, yoga teachers will be hired in one of two categories: employees or independent contractors. Employees fill out a W-4 form at hiring and have estimated income tax, Social Security, and Medicare deducted from their paycheck. They receive a W-2 form at the end of the tax year. Full-time employees also may have some rights and benefits, like the ability to file for unemployment, paid vacation time, and, in larger companies, health insurance. Independent contractors fill out a W-9 form at hiring and receive a 1099 form at the end of the year if they earned at least $600 over the year. Payments to independent contractors contain no deductions; it’s incumbent on the contractor to track and pay all taxes.
Employees may be told what to do, when they will do it, and exactly how it should be done. Employees are subject to work evaluations, and in general can be far more tightly controlled. Independent contractors are not: They are hired to achieve a task and should be left to their own devices as to how that work is done. A major upside of working as an independent contractor is being able to write off all reasonable business expenses, which we will touch on in a moment.
To teach at a gym, you will likely be hired as an employee. If you create your own classes, you will be a sole proprietor, which functions similarly to an independent contractor. But if you teach at a studio, the situation depends on the individual company’s structure. Many studios prefer the ease of classifying teachers as independent contractors, as it cuts down on hiring paperwork, payroll costs, and taxes paid by the studio. Others are making the shift toward employees. California, for example, has a law requiring studios to treat all teachers as employees rather than independent contractors. You generally won’t have a choice between the two. Be clear on what basis you are being hired, and educate yourself about the tax implications.
Either way, be aware of what your paycheck should include. Keep track of your hours worked or number of students taught, and be sure that your paycheck accurately reflects it. There’s plenty of room for error in payroll processing, as humans are involved in many steps of the process—and of course the programs themselves can have a glitch. When in doubt, ask!
banking and bookkeeping
The exciting part of securing this new job is that you will be paid! When you receive your paycheck, you need to think carefully about where it goes. First, know what your status is: an employee or an independent contractor. If you are an employee, the money from your paycheck can go right into your personal bank account; you might be wise to save a little extra for taxes, but most of your taxes will have been deducted. At the end of the year, your US-based employer will send you a W-2 form for your taxes.
When you are an independent contractor, your paycheck should go into a separate business bank account. Most banks will offer you free checking and savings accounts. When your paycheck arrives, shunt 30 to 50 percent (or whatever your accountant recommends) into savings to cover your tax burden and save you from a tax-day shock. The rest can be used for your equipment, continuing education, and other legitimate expenses. When you draw from your business checking to give yourself pocket money or cover non-yoga expenses, you’ll record this. These are your distributions: your net earnings. At the end of the year, your business clients (they aren’t technically employers when you aren’t an employee) who paid you at least $600 for the year should send you a 1099 form.
Beyond simply depositing money into the bank and using your debit card or checks to pay your expenses, you’ll need to track your income and your expenses. This is bookkeeping. This could be something you do yourself in software like QuickBooks or FreshBooks. If you’re really busy, you can pay a bookkeeper. Having orderly books means you can quickly see how much you are earning from month to month, which reduces surprises and makes tax reporting simpler.
Since none of us are born knowing how to keep books or estimate taxes, it’s worth paying a professional for help. You should start as you mean to go on: The sooner you establish good systems in compliance with the law, the easier it will be to scale as your work increases. Even if you’re getting only a few hundred dollars a month from your independent contracting, you should be developing clear bookkeeping systems that can scale up as your yoga business grows. If you haven’t worked with an accountant before, it’s worth investing some of your yoga earnings to buy an hour of consultation. You might be able to find some free consulting: Some municipalities, counties, and states offer free or reduced-rate advice to sole proprietors or small-business owners. Paying for accounting advice is itself a business expense.
When you are an independent contractor, you can deduct from your taxes legitimate business expenses. Your adviser will help you understand what counts as a business expense. These include supplies like yoga mats and other props, as well as any equipment, including a computer or cell phone, that you use for your business. Your website and any services you use to deliver online content are business expenses. Sadly, you cannot write off your yoga clothes as a “uniform”—that category is for things like mechanic’s jumpsuits that you would wear only for work and not for recreation. Continuing education classes—trainings, workshops, even regular classes—and out-of-town travel for continuing education can be deducted. Travel for teaching can probably not be deducted. You will do best to find an accountant who’s used to working with small-business owners and sole proprietors, and ask their advice.
Knowing what you really earn from your teaching will help you make smart choices about which jobs to pursue and which offers to take, as well as how much you can spend on operating expenses and professional development.
sole proprietorship versus incorporating
In my own journey as a teacher, I have moved from sole proprietorship to being a shareholder in several different corporations. I’ve had to learn along the way, with help from professional accountants and attorneys. As a solo teacher, whether you are hosting your own classes and private lessons or working as an independent contractor for several studios, you will file taxes initially as a sole proprietor. These taxes will not be taken out of the paychecks you receive as an independent contractor, so it is critical that you set aside one third to one half of what you take in from your teaching to cover your quarterly tax burden.
When you are making more than five figures a year from your teaching, or if you have plans to hire people to work for you as assistants or teachers in a space you manage, you’ll probably want to form a corporation. This is a legal entity that holds your business operations. In the United States, it has its own tax identification number called an EIN, for employer identification number, rather than the Social Security number that is tied to you as an individual.
If you choose to incorporate in the United States, talk to a professional, who will outline the choice between forming an LLC (limited liability company) or an S-Corp (S Corporation, which usually has the designation Inc. after its name). LLCs do not have to pay payroll; S-Corps generally do. If you expect to hire employees down the line, S-Corp may be a wiser choice; if you intend to stay a solo venture, LLC may work for you.
At this stage, you should stop taking your cues from my experience and instead spend the money to talk to a lawyer, who can help you form the corporation, and an accountant, who will explain your tax liability and can prepare your quarterly and annual tax forms. If you’re not yet making enough to afford to pay such professionals from your teaching, there’s your answer: Incorporation can wait.
liability
There are several steps that you should take to manage your liability in the event that a student is hurt in your class and sues. These are sometimes called “veils of liability,” each of them a curtain between a litigant and your assets. A good attorney will quickly pierce these veils, but that doesn’t mean they can be neglected.
Teach Well, Communicate Clearly
The most important self-defense is to cue a safe class and to encourage students to make smart choices at every stage. Several studies have shown that doctors who communicate clearly and cultivate a positive bedside manner are less prone to receiving malpractice lawsuits. Spending some time reminding students to listen to their bodies while also explaining why you are cuing a pose and how to move into and out of it safely is always smart professional practice. We’ll discuss safe teaching practices in part 3.
Waivers and Disclaimers
Any student you come into contact with, in a gym or studio class, in a class you host, in a group you visit, or in a private lesson, should sign a waiver and release of indemnification acknowledging that they are taking care of themselves in the class and waiving their right to sue you. This should be signed on paper or electronically at the original contact with the student, then filed somewhere safe for your reference. Since state and national laws vary, it’s worth running your waiver draft past a lawyer. Meanwhile, something is better than nothing, so don’t hesitate to use the boilerplate waiver you’ll find at yogateacherhandbook.com.
For online offerings, include a disclaimer, indicating that viewers practice at their own risk. This can be accomplished through text on the website hosting your videos as well as a quick title card you insert before any video. Run this past your attorney and your insurance agent.
Insurance
While any facility that hires you will have its own liability insurance, that insurance is to cover their obligation of liability, not yours. In the event of a suit, the venue’s insurance company can be quick to cast the blame on you. You must therefore carry your own liability insurance.
While generally shopping around is a smart plan when buying insurance, in the case of yoga teaching liability insurance, you will find the best deal when you go with the guild and buy either via Yoga Alliance (which uses Alliant for coverage) or Yoga Journal (which uses the Philadelphia). Either of these costs less than $200 per year for tens of thousands of dollars of coverage. Research both and decide which suits your needs. If you are teaching online, talk to the provider about coverage.
Some venues, festivals, and retreat centers will ask you for proof of insurance, and some will ask that you provide a document from your insurer listing the venue as an additional insured location. This is (somewhat) easy to do on your insurance company webpage—you’ll navigate to document production, input the venue’s name and address, and generate a PDF. If you find it isn’t so easy, call the insurer.
Incorporation and Separate Accounts
If you have incorporated as an LLC or S-Corp, you will have an additional veil of liability: A suit would, in theory, go against you as the manager or president of the corporation, and hold against its assets, not against you as an individual with personal bank accounts, a home, a car, and so on. The corporation is sued, not you. This is another reason to keep your yoga income in a separate account under the name of the business. In order for this to work, you need to clearly respect the distinction between your business and personal assets and avoid commingling them. An accountant can help you understand how to do this cleanly. Again, canny lawyers may be able to punch through these veils, but they are useful to have.
Are you still awake? I realize that very little of this is sexy, but it’s critical that you think through how to protect your assets and your livelihood. Let it remind you to teach responsibly and to empower your students to make smart choices about their bodies and their movements.
Prepare Your To-Do List
If you do not already have these items in place, write yourself a timeline for getting them as soon as possible, with the next step or steps for each of them.
Accounting
▸ Open business checking and savings accounts.
▸ Find an accountant and prepare a list of questions to ask.
▸ Understand your tax liabilities.
▸ Develop a system for tracking expenses and bookkeeping.
▸ Set up a service for credit card processing.
Liability
▸ Draft a waiver and disclaimer and have a lawyer vet them.
▸ Buy or renew insurance.
▸ Consider incorporation.
Although working through the back end of your business can seem tedious or even overwhelming, it’s a great problem to have: It means you are earning money as a yoga teacher! To continue coping with your success, you’ll want to look at the front end of your business, too: the classes you are teaching and how you might arrange them into the most sustainable schedule, so you can serve your students for years to come.