Money talks.
On Monday March 18, 2024 I posted the following stories on Instagram (click on any image to enlarge).
The response was both predictable in nature and overwhelming in number. Here’s what came back from the polls (click on the image to enlarge):
Below, I’ll share some of the messages from yoga teachers (all of whom will remain anonymous). Many of them have walked away from studio teaching altogether, blaming the imbalance of power between studios and their contractors and employees. Below that, I’ll share some of what was sent in from studio owners and managers.
There is a LOT to be gained from what’s been shared here—thank you to all who bravely stepped up to voice frustration and concern. I’m not sure what the next steps look like, but hope that in reading others’ responses you’ll see that you’re not alone in your experiences.
Here’s some of what yoga teachers shared:
“Past instructor here. I’ve left teaching yoga (was a side-passion) because I found the environment to be quite the opposite of what “yoga” is. It was wildly cut throat and competitive. The pay was not good. We were expected to be there 30 mins before and 30 mins after, and not paid or compensated for that time. I had over 20 students attend my classes, and was told that it wasn’t enough, and I had to get more students in. We also had no props to work with and I had to get real creative for some students who needed them. Honestly, I taught for 2 years and gave up. It was so stressful - not the energy I wanted to carry into a class.”
“One thing I never understood is that, anywhere I’ve taught, it’s the same pay/class, regardless of class length. Also, the studio where I teach expects teachers to arrive early to open the studio, sign in students, take payments, make sure students sign waivers, etc, etc. That’s fine for a quieter class but, when you’re responsible for 30-plus students, it’s a lot to expect for a class that pays a flat rate.”
“I no longer teach at any public spaces as it is way more viable to run my own classes. I teach a few by-donation classes for studios and even this brings me more than any studio would ever pay me.”
“The industry feels like an MLM—buy our fancy life-changing training, get a class to teach and you too will have this lifestyle. Teach a class for a flat rate whose hourly is so poor. No days off. No benefits. Oh, and you’re replaceable by the new ytts that just graduated. Experience or knowledge doesn’t really matter in if you get/keep the job it’s just a matter of will you show up day after day week after week.”
“This sounds terrible… but I’ve just noticed the quality of teachers is going down. At least where I am. But it’s kind of hard when you pay $35 a class. Studio owners don’t take into account prep time, driving time, opening studio time (yup - as a teacher you have to be the receptionist, setter upper, attendant let - all of it) and then being present for your students, and teaching. Oh! And how much our trainings cost. Those old school teachers are hard to find with competency.”
“I managed a studio for a few years pre-pandemic & taught... never could make enough between those two jobs to make ends meet even though I was considered one of the most successful teachers in my area. I always had to waitress or do something else on top of it. I got paid a minimum 20 + $3/head at some studios, others I got paid $7/head with no min or max. One teachers co-op paid me $10/head.
I gave it a shot to see if I could support myself one year on just the yoga industry. Teaching 8-10 classes a week and managing a studio (about 25 hours a week) and I made just about $25k in 2018, in a very high cost of living area (small resort town in the U.S.). That barely covered my costs so I pretty quickly changed gears!”
“I rent a studio to teach out of. The hourly rental is so expensive that unless I have 10 students I don’t break even, never mind make money! And I still have to charge $25-30 per head for a class…”
“Definitely doing it for the love, I’m paid $55 NZD for a class. A casual drop-in is $22 per person, I often have 15-20 people and half are casual members. When I signed my contract it was 55/hour and I said oh great so that’s 1.25 hours since you wrote I have to be there 15 mins early. Oh no that’s just the time I expect you to be there, you get paid per class. I argued why does it say per hour then? It didn’t seem to sink in 😅”
“I only teach one class per week, but am paid depending upon # of students who attend. Nowhere near enough to cover the time put into preparing for the class, unless class is full. No way I could see this being sustainable as a full-time job. In addition, the studio policy is to refund no-shows and cancellations. I have legit prepared and showed up to teach and had no students, therefore no pay. It’s a good policy for the students, but not for the instructor.”
“I stopped teaching in studios because I had to HUSTLE to make a living …no health insurance…no retirement. I’ve had many people tell me my classes were more helpful than years of therapy (and I bet many teachers have had similar feedback because yoga is awesome lol!) and I remember feeling frustrated that I was helping people and struggling to pay my bills.”
“When I was teaching full time, the chain studio I worked for as a subcontractor made it mandatory for teachers to be there 30min prior and 30 minutes after my scheduled class (all teachers really). That was at $50/class however they did not want to pay for the 1hr of pre and post. I quit almost immediately after the change happened. There was a per head bonus that was so high it was nearly impossible to reach consistently as well. Studio classes alone do not cut it anymore. It leads to burnout, and at least up here, many teachers do not practice daily.”
“I’ve gotten $35 per hour class at one studio since I started teaching 4 years ago. And it hasn’t increased even though the studio has expanded and increased class/membership prices.”
“I quit the studio I worked at for 7 years bc they insisted on having hybrid classes (still!!) of zoom and in person. They have always paid flat rate + $2/head , but don’t increase the flat rate for teaching hybrid. I think hybrid classes should make 2x the flat rate bc it’s teaching two classes!”
“I don’t teach yoga anymore because I didn’t earn anywhere near enough even teaching many studio classes on top of several private clients. It was very stressful and not sustainable. I never knew how much I was going to make and it was never enough. Now I just enjoy practicing yoga when I can.”
“I’ve worked at a studio as a teacher before that paid annual salary which sounds like a good idea in theory but we were all just worked to the bone and required to do everything under the sun because we were essentially paid to be on call. The salary itself would have been below poverty level for San Francisco and it contained exclusivity so we couldn’t teach anywhere else.
It was a very toxic environment cloaked in the “attitude of gratitude” that we should be thankful at all to have a salary as a yoga teacher. We were reprimanded any time we criticized the model or asked for it to be changed or for accommodations. We taught private after private too and didn’t see a dime. It all went to the studio.”
“There is no way to make a living as a fitness instructor. Always had to hustle several jobs. Now doing my masters to try and establish a career that pays enough.”
“I’m not sure how studios got to be in the position of being able to dictate what they pay independent contractors. It’s a rare payment model, as technically the contractor is a service provider and the studio is the client. In virtually no other service provider relationship does the client dictate what they pay! […] Now, if a studio hired their teachers as employees, where they were guaranteed minimum hours, vacation pay, sick days, cpp contributions etc I could understand some of the rates.
However, for $40 per class, the math very quickly stops adding up for independent contractors. They have to make their own deductions, pay for things like insurance, music subscriptions, and sometimes multiple commutes. Additionally, they have to get there at least a bit early and are expected to stay to answer students’ questions after, not to mention the time put in to plan their classes/playlists. If they live in the [Greater Toronto Area], where a living wage is now considered $24/hr, they are very likely not earning a living wage.
I’m not sure what the solution is. I understand that studio owners have set costs, so they see the rates/wages they pay as one of the ways to cut expenses. Additionally, because they are competing with gyms with “unlimited“ memberships and, giving them some altruistic credit, want to keep yoga accessible, there is a limit to what they can charge the students. However, i think if studio owners want to practice the yoga they preach, there are two options: Hire fewer teachers, but as employees, with a set schedule, and all the employee perks and protections OR Realize that the usual service provider model needs to apply. So: the contract teacher sets their rates and a studio pays them what they’re asking. The studio then factors that into their set costs and structures their rates for classes/memberships accordingly (They can even use that as part of their ethos/marketing, since students often really appreciate their instructors and would be happy to know they’re paid well)”.
Here’s some of what studio operators shared:
“Rates are determined by length of class (45/60/75 min) and by experience level (training amount + length of teaching). Rates are increased yearly with a new independent contractor agreement each time. Rates per class typically increase by $5-10 per year of experience (depending on if ppl did a lot of continuing ed or not). We do have a per class ceiling for our most experienced instructors, who then get a yearly bonus if the studio is making enough revenue. I strongly believe flat rates are important for encouraging comradery amongst instructors and limiting competition for prime time slots.
Also feel as a studio owner that we are never able to pay what I think our instructors are worth. With inflation I feel we should be raising pay rates more but can't get as we are still recovering and repaying debt we took on in the pandemic. Unless you're also running a ytt or in management, it seems untenable to make a full time salary (even a small one) as a full time instructor. The only ppl teaching exclusively are also doing admin work, and none of us make enough to be a single income household.”
“As a studio owner I am teaching the bulk of my classes myself. All of my instructors have full time jobs and teach one or two classes a week on the side.”
“When I was living and teaching in Portland OR (where I met you!) some studios got audited and penalized for misclassifying instructors as IC’s instead of employees so most studios tightened up on IC parameters or made their teachers employees - both shifts came with necessary pay structure changes….employees make less per hour but are paid for all of their time (pre/post class, meetings etc) while IC’s generally get paid more per hour or per class (service) but what the studio can ask of them is pretty minimal. The normalized blurred lines between these classifications are, to me, a big part of the reason studios and instructors are stuck in an under-valuing/under-paying situation.”
“If we could pay more we DEFINITELY would love to. Local industry standard per class minimum base rate and then over a certain # they also get attendance bonus. The base rate is higher for teachers with more experience/credentials. They dont make enough. Theres barely anything left over to pay myself even though I’m working long hours almost every day of the year. Closed on Christmas lol. Rent/payroll and upkeep take almost all of the revenue these days. Especially post pandemic.”
“As a studio, of course I would like to pay teachers more… but between market costs per class and the Class Pass apps… it’s just not possible 🥵.”
While most studio operators didn’t share their “base” rate of pay, the general consensus was to use a model where base pay + a per head bonus over a certain number of students was the norm. Some felt like rewarding teachers for higher numbers wasn’t fair and led to competition for prime class times. Others recognized the hustle instructors put in to grow their classes and remunerated them for this accordingly.
I received horror stories from teachers who had to chase pay checks, or put up with gas lighting from managers over “agreed upon” expectations re. unpaid time. But I also received a number of encouraging messages from both students and studio owners, sharing how some spaces are doing the concientious work to correct the imbalance of power.
There’s a lot to unpack here. I don’t have all the answers. But I do have some ideas. I’ll share those with you soon. For now, I just want to say:
If you’re reading this as someone who attends studio classes, consider the effort that goes into every class—the effort of the teacher who plans the class, curates a playlist, and pays attention to what YOU need, as well as the effort that the studio puts in to ensure your experience is nothing short of excellent. Most of us are out here doing our best for very little pay because we genuinely want to provide a valuable and memorable service. A “thank you” after class goes a long way. This is how we build community, even in tenuous times.
For more on what teachers and studio operators have to say on this topic, check out the comments on this post.