Creating Your Dream Life Through An Impact Driven Business with Lesley Logan
Hey, Tribe! How was your week? I hope you moved through each day with intention and chose to be grateful for what you had! I think that’s one of the first steps to creating the life of your dreams — something we will be talking about lots today. And it’s something I’m working on choosing more, too!
Are you ready to start living the dream life you envisioned for yourself when you began your entrepreneurial journey? Whether we get into entrepreneurship to have time freedom or financial freedom, it’s easy to get lost in learning the nitty-gritty details. Before you know it, you’re miles deep in launch plans, social media scheduling apps, and coaching calls.
Don’t worry — I’ve been there, too. That’s why I’m so excited to have Lesley Logan join us today! From the moment I met her, she’s been inspiring me to live my dream life in every moment! She knows what it takes to run an impact-driven business, make sacrifices, and say “yes” to her dreams, even in uncertainty. Lesley is the brains behind the onlinepilatesclasses.com, and she’s busy traveling the world (when there’s no COVID-19, of course).
In this conversation, we jammed out all about how she went from being homeless to helping people build successful pilates businesses and started traveling the world as an entrepreneur. I love this interview so much because Lesley didn’t just share a bunch of ideas. She shared exactly what she did to be able to live her dream right now!
If you’ve been wondering what it takes to shift from working a million hours a week to living your dream or you need a bit of encouragement to get through a hard time, keep reading!
Who Is Lesley Logan?
Lesley is a Pilates Instructor, a host of Pilates retreats worldwide, and a fitness business coach. Lesley was introduced to Pilates shortly after college and fell in love with how it made her feel. Soon after, she began teaching Pilates to earn extra money to pay for her new and expensive habit.
Eventually, she got so busy teaching Pilates that she decided to quit her job with benefits and pursue Pilates full time. Even though Lesley chose to make this transition in the middle of the recession of 2008, she said she didn’t think twice about the leap because she loved Pilates so much!
“While people were like cutting off their cable bills and, literally in LA, stopping their water delivery, I was quitting my safe job with the salary income and health benefits and going all-in on Pilates fitness. I didn't even know that it was a bad idea because I hadn't lived through a recession as an adult ... I realize looking back, that it was my enthusiasm for what I did and how I made my clients feel in their sessions that made my business grow so fast.” - Lesley Logan
Not long after that, Lesley started managing studios. That’s where she met incredible instructors who were leaving the fitness world because they were unsuccessful at building a business. Even though she never intended to become a business coach, that’s exactly what she got into — teaching Pilates instructors how to run a business and market their studio in such a way that people wanted to sign up for a membership and not just a 6:30 AM class on Mondays.
At that time, none of her business was online. She knew what Facebook was but didn’t leverage it for business. When she met her husband, about two and a half years ago, all that changed:
“When I met my husband, he saw all that I was doing and how entrepreneurial I was, and he was like, ‘If you want to teach around the world and you have this call, then we should do that.’ So he's the one that helped me get set up on YouTube … and doing the online classes.” - Lesley Logan
Since then, Lesley’s business has been steadily growing. Her husband joined her team as the CEO, allowing her to dive into the artsy side of her business. They started traveling the world and hosting exotic Pilates retreats. Best of all, Lesley leads from a place of service led by her desire to make an impact in the Pilates communities and the lives of each of her members!
If you’re ready to hear the steps Lesley took to transition from hustling long hours to living her dream of working from anywhere in the world, then keep reading!
How to Transition from Husliting to Happily Ever After
On the first mastermind calls Lesley and I were both in, she and Brad were already traveling the world. They were in Cambodia, and it was pitch black on their end because it was 3:00 AM. I was inspired by the business they had built, which truly helped people, and how they didn’t wait to travel the world. They got up and did it! It wasn’t a future thing for them. It was a right-now thing.
As I got to know Lesley more, I learned that — COVID-19 aside — they travel about 140,000 miles a year and hit about eight countries. They actually started this lifestyle on their honeymoon!
“If you have a dream of wanting to work anywhere, you actually have to kind of walk it before you live it. So like, I just started telling people I teach workshops around the world. Then we went on our honeymoon. When I met [my husband, he] was in a pop band. … [So,] in 14 days, he had me on nine flights. He basically treated our honeymoon like it was [a music] tour. And, it was so fun!” - Lesley Logan
During those 14 days, they started dreaming about what it would be like to have a fully online business that allowed them to work from anywhere in the world. One of their stops was in Cambodia. While they were there, Lesley grilled their tour guide about what it would look like to live there and teach Pilates. Long story short, before Lesley and Brad left for the next destination, they had decided to host a Pilates retreat there for the following year.
And that’s what Lesley said her secret to running a business and traveling the world was:
“We just did it. We were like, ‘Okay, we want to go back [to Cambodia]. Let's build the retreat here.’ And then I wanted to go to London. I had a friend who teaches in London. So we planned a workshop together. Once I started doing those things, people started calling me to come to their places. … So, if you have this dream of wanting to go somewhere, you actually need to work backward. Like, ‘How can I get there, and what will I do when I get there? And why do people need to go there to experience what I have to offer?’” - Lesley Logan
In other words, know how you want to impact others and where you want your travels to take you. From there, start creating your dream reality. Also, don’t be afraid to speak into existence what you want for your future — like Lesley started telling people she taught Pilates around the world before she did, I did, too — well, not Pilates. I wanted to be a speaker, so before I had ever spoken on someone's stage, I decided to start claiming my dream until it happened.
The beautiful thing about claiming your dream before it’s happened is that you begin to associate yourself in other people’s minds with what you want. So, when someone needs what you said you do — whether that’s a traveling Pilates instructor or motivational speaker — you come to mind. And just like that, you get to walk out your dream because you dared to own it before it was a reality.
If you have a dream that hasn’t come to fruition yet, get clear about what it looks like and ask yourself, “In what ways can I start living this dream right now?” Do you need to go on a week-long vacation and take your work with you? Do you need to start talking about being an author? Whatever that is, start doing those little things and see where they lead you!
How Being Homeless Equipped Lesley to Thrive During COVID-19
If it feels like everything in your business is falling apart no matter what you do, know that you are in good company. While Lesley is living an incredible life and traveling the world, there was a time she was homeless. Lesley said that this experience taught her that life is happening for you, even in the most challenging situations.
It was 2013, and she was teaching Pilates full-time. She decided to leave her boyfriend of five years, and as she was driving away, she totaled her car. Then the building she rented studio space from was sold. In a matter of days, she went from having a car, place to live, and studio space to sleeping on a friend's couch, transitioning studios, and not having a car!
Every time another thing fell through, Lesley said she just kept moving forward and believing that the Universe was giving her what she needed. About that time, Los Angeles Magazine called and said they wanted to feature her as the best Pilates instructor in LA. That was enough to encourage Lesley that she was on the right track.
Let’s fast forward to 2020, where Lesley has a thriving online business and has several in-person Pilates retreats lined up. Then COVID-19 rocked all our worlds. Instead of worrying about how many people would cancel their membership, Lesley said she had one thought, “I can create money.”
“When COVID happened, it wasn't like, ‘Oh my God, this is happening.’ Like we lost 60% of our guaranteed income overnight. All of our travel was canceled. All of our workshops were canceled. We had to refund thousands of dollars ... [and] all I could think of was, ‘I can create money. I can pivot. I can change because I've been homeless. I still have a place to live. And we still have clients. We can actually do this.’” - Lesley Logan
From there, Lesley committed to sticking to the core of her purpose — introducing people to Pilates so that they could experience the amazing feeling of connection and freedom that it brings. This focus inspired her and Brad to relaunch their online Pilates membership with a seven-day free trial. The launch generated $60,000 and allowed them to move from their tiny apartment in LA to a beautiful house with land for their dogs.
Lesley said that believing they could create money and sticking to their core purpose is what allowed their business to thrive even during COVID-19:
“If you're sitting there and you feel like you're in the depths of it, [know that] it's actually preparing you for future things. ... So if you can stick to what your purpose is with your business, like for us, it was, ‘How do we bring more Pilates to people?’ [it will lead you to where you ultimately want to be] ... And it's why we get to be in our beautiful house right now.” - Lesley Logan
I want to point out two things: One, Lesley wasn’t motivated by income to relaunch her program. That was a result, but she was motivated by making an impact. When people were facing a lot of uncertainty and stuck in their homes, she provided an opportunity for people to move their bodies and release stress as well as join a community. Secondly, Lesley embraces hard seasons as an opportunity to grow. As a result, her business, income, and the size of her house grew!
Growth happens when you are motivated by the impact you want to make in the world and willing to try new things as you pursue your purpose.
How to Keep What You Love from Feeling Like a Job
Sharing the story of how Lesley built her impact-driven business and now travels the world was really special to me because it helped me to jump into RV-life with Pat earlier this year (you can peek into our RV life on Instagram). So, I hope this conversation inspired you to start living your dream life now!
While Lesley is living the dream in so many ways, she shared a specific piece of advice about how to keep what you love from feeling like a job. I thought it was relevant because so many of us entrepreneurs turn what we love into a business. So, here's what she said:
“If you don't fill your cup first, you can't fill anyone else's. If you're not clear on what gets you feeling strong and ready for the day, then every day is going to feel like a slog. And so what I really want for entrepreneurs is to get really clear on what they need to fill themselves up and then be accountable to that. ... Like I have to get my workouts in before I can pour into other people and be on this podcast, ... otherwise, it's going to feel like a job.” - Lesley Logan
Guys, I cannot applaud this piece of advice loud enough. I often say that my energy is my superpower. If I didn't have my energy, I would not be able to help people and make an impact the way that I do. You have so much more power than you realize. Set aside time each day to pour into yourself so that you can put your full power into impacting others and creating your dream life!
That’s it for today, Tribe! Make sure you follow Lesley on Instagram, try one of her free Pilates classes, and check out her official website! She’s so worth the follow!
If you enjoyed this conversation, it would mean the world to Lesley and me if you shared this with a friend. Just take a screenshot of this and share it on Instagram. Tag Lesley, @lesley.logan, and me, @thejennkennedy, and let us know what you loved most!
I can’t wait to talk with you again soon!
