Episode 6: How do I find good teachers, and keep them?

Tania Huddart: I know of a studio where the team started every meeting with a dance. A silly little dance they made up together. You'd think that's the least important part of the meeting. I think it might be the most important. Those teachers became each other's biggest supporters. And the clients noticed. You can't fake that kind of energy in a room. People feel it the moment they walk in.

Host: Welcome to Build Confidence and Purpose with Pilates. I'm here with Tania Huddart: Pilates teacher, teacher trainer and author of Pilates & Purpose. Both voices you'll hear are made with AI. Every word Tania says is her own, and she's approved each one.

Last time, we talked about marketing without feeling salesy. Today, the people who'll carry your studio's story every single day: your teachers. Tania, how do I find good teachers, and keep them?

Tania Huddart: That's such an important question. Because your teachers are your studio. Most of my students came to me because they'd taken a class with one of my trainees. That tells you something. People follow good teachers. When someone loves a class, it's usually the person teaching it they love.

So finding the right people, and keeping them, isn't a side job. It's the job.

Host: Where do you start?

Tania Huddart: Before you hire anyone. Know what your studio stands for. We talked about that a couple of episodes ago, and this is where it pays off.

Qualifications matter, of course. But you want more than a certificate. You want people who share your values. People who care about how a client feels when they leave. So when you write the job description, put your values in it. Community. Welcoming everyone. Caring for clients. Not just the skills and the hours. The right people read that and think, "Oh. That's me." The wrong people often don't apply. And that saves everyone a lot of heartache later. It's tempting to hire the first qualified person when you're desperate to fill a schedule. Try not to.

Host: And where do you actually look?

Tania Huddart: Go where good teachers already are. Teacher training programmes. Pilates networks. Local wellness events. Workshops and conferences are lovely for this. You meet someone in person, you watch how they talk to people in the tea break. You see things a résumé will never show you.

Notice how they listen. Notice whether they're curious about other people's ideas. Those are the things that make someone good to work with. You can teach someone your booking system in an afternoon. It's much harder to teach them to care.

Host: Then the interview. What would you ask?

Tania Huddart: Practical questions. Real ones. How would you support a nervous beginner? How do you keep your teaching fresh? How would you handle a class where everyone's at a different level?

And then, if you can, ask them to show you. Give them a small scenario and let them teach it. A client with a sore shoulder. A beginner in a class of regulars. You'll learn more in five minutes of that than in an hour of talking.

Host: Why does that matter so much to you?

Tania Huddart: Because I ran a teacher training school for twenty-one years. And I started it for one reason. So many trainees could do the exercises, but they couldn't explain them so that others could follow. They couldn't teach.

Doing Pilates and teaching Pilates are two different skills. Someone can have a beautiful practice and still lose a room full of beginners. That's why I'd always want to see someone teach before I hire them.

Host: Should the rest of the team be involved?

Tania Huddart: Where you can, yes. Your teachers will notice different things to you. And they're the ones who'll be working alongside this person every day. If they've had a say, they're far more likely to welcome them in. In a small studio, that might just mean a cup of tea with your one other teacher before you decide. That still counts. It also tells your team something. That their opinion counts.

Host: Should you be looking for teachers who teach the way you do?

Tania Huddart: No. Look for people who share your values, not people who copy your style. Those are different things.

Teachers from different backgrounds bring different ideas. One might come from dance. Another from physiotherapy, or from years of teaching older clients. Your clients get to meet new ways of moving, and your classes stay fresh. A studio full of little copies of the owner gets stale. A studio full of different people who all care about the same things is a lovely place to be.

Host: Let's say you've found someone. What happens on day one?

Tania Huddart: Ideally, a lot happens before day one. This is onboarding, and it's where so many studios let good people down. They hire someone wonderful, hand them a schedule and say, "See you Tuesday."

The first thing is the paperwork. The agreement between you, and whatever tax forms apply where you live. Check their qualifications, their first aid, their insurance. Whether they're a contractor or an employee is a real decision, so talk to an accountant where you live.

The second thing is the welcome. Give them access to your booking system. Give them your studio policies, and something about your culture and what you stand for. Show them around properly. Where the equipment lives, where the emergency exits are, who everyone is.

And the one people forget is the mentor.

Host: Tell me about the mentor.

Tania Huddart: Pair every new teacher with someone experienced. A buddy. Someone they can ask the small questions they'd feel silly asking you.

It's lonely starting somewhere new, even if you've taught for years. Every studio does things a little differently. A mentor gives them guidance, and feedback, and a sense of belonging. Encourage your teachers to learn from each other too. Let someone lead a discussion on the thing they're best at. That's good for everyone.

Host: And after the first week?

Tania Huddart: Keep going. In the first week, let them watch a few classes, so they can see how your studio teaches and how clients are greeted. Let them practise teach with a senior teacher if they need it. Then sit down and ask how it's going.

At the end of the first month, have a proper conversation. Look at the feedback from their first classes together. Not to criticise. To help. Over the first three months, check in regularly. And at the end of the first year, do a full review. Talk about where they want to go. What they'd love to learn next.

Along the way, keep giving them chances to watch other teachers. Not because they're doing it wrong. Because everyone teaches better after watching someone else teach. And gently check that they can adapt exercises for different people. The beginner, the client coming back from an injury, the one who's been coming for ten years. That's the skill that keeps a class together.

Onboarding isn't a day. It's a year.

Host: How do you get a new teacher to understand your culture, and not just your policies?

Tania Huddart: Talk about it. Out loud, and often. When you show someone around, don't only tell them where the mats go. Tell them a story about a time your team got it right with a client. That says more about your values than any handbook.

Then bring your values into your team meetings. Pick one and ask, "What does this look like on a Tuesday morning?" If one of your values is connection, what does that mean in practice? Maybe it's chatting with clients before class. Maybe it's learning everyone's name in the first week. Let your teachers share their own moments. That's how a value stops being a word on the wall and becomes something people do.

Host: So why do teachers leave? Because they do seem to move around a lot.

Tania Huddart: Often it's because they don't feel valued. Or they've stopped growing. Or they're tired.

So keeping them comes down to a few simple things done over and over. Check in with them. Not just about the schedule. Ask how they are. Listen to what's worrying them, and celebrate what's going well. Say thank you. A handwritten note. A mention in a team meeting. It costs you almost nothing, and people remember it for years.

Then help them grow. Keep training them, in teaching skills and in the human skills. How to talk to a client who's having a hard day. How to make someone feel welcome. Help pay for their continuing education if you can. And look after their time. Flexible schedules where possible. A tired teacher can't give clients their best.

And pay them fairly. We talked about that in episode three. Fair pay won't keep someone on its own. But unfair pay will lose them, however lovely your team meetings are.

Host: What about when a teacher's unhappy, but doesn't say anything?

Tania Huddart: That's the one to watch for. So make it easy to speak up. Keep some time in every team meeting for teachers to share what's been hard. A tricky client. An idea they've had. A problem with the schedule.

They need to know they can bring you a problem without getting into trouble for it. Ask for feedback now and then, in a short survey or a group chat about how things are going. And then act on some of it, and tell them you did. Nothing stops people talking faster than feedback that disappears.

Host: You've got a story in the book about a studio that got this right.

Tania Huddart: I do. A studio I know started two simple things. A team-building activity once a month, and regular check-ins with each teacher. After three months, the teachers said they felt supported. At the one-year check-in, the owner said her staff were staying longer. And her clients were happier.

Nothing fancy. Nothing expensive. Just done consistently.

The team-building doesn't have to be grand either. A group class together, where the teachers get to be the students for once. A walk outdoors. A meal. A morning setting goals for the year. Anything where people get to know each other as people, not just as names on a schedule.

Host: Is it really that simple?

Tania Huddart: Simple, yes. Easy, no. Team spirit doesn't happen by chance. It takes steady, deliberate effort. That studio with the dance did weekly huddles and small team challenges as well. The dance was just the fun part people remember.

Celebrate the small things too. Birthdays. A teacher finishing a new course. Someone's first year with you. A friendly challenge now and then, like who can bring in the most new friends this month. Make it about working together, not competing.

And it starts with you. As the owner, your behaviour sets the tone. I talked in the first episode about being too proud to ask for help. An owner who never admits a hard day teaches her team to hide theirs. So share your own challenges. Keep your door open. Ask your teachers for their ideas, about new classes or events, and then use some of them. When they help shape the studio, they want to stay and see it grow.

Host: So, three things to take away?

Tania Huddart: One. Hire for your values, not just a certificate. And watch them teach before you say yes.

Two. Onboarding is a year, not a day. Give every new teacher a mentor.

Three. Keep them by noticing them. Check-ins, thank-yous, and time together that isn't all work.

Host: And the question to sit with?

Tania Huddart: How do I show my teachers they're valued, beyond the day I hired them? Be honest with yourself on that one.

Host: If you'd like the teacher onboarding checklist from the book, everything from the first day to the end of the first year, it's free on Tania's website, taniahuddart.com.

Next episode: your clients. Why do people try one class and never come back?

Tania, last word?

Tania Huddart: Just this. Look after your teachers the way you want them to look after your clients. They'll learn more from how you treat them than from anything you tell them. Find them carefully, welcome them properly, and keep noticing them.