Over The Hill at 6, The Golden Year

Looking back on 2024, we started with a lot of energy. I knew I was hanging my hat on a super productive January New Year's resolve from the residents of Springfield. While we had some fun times, the momentum of 2024 never really took off for new members and students.

Our regular students did their level best to help keep us alive, but in any membership based retail business you lose people because of "life". Financial reasons were cited as #1 when memberships were canceled. Those community members that had to go were not replaced with new ones.

I had a "revelation" one day in May while talking to another yoga teacher friend of mine. I realized, for the first time in my adult life, that the "success" of the business was not tied to its financial income. That Common Bond had fulfilled its mission, as much as it could, in brining mindfulness based fitness to humans like you. Our Movement Community was not a carbon copy performative workout cult, we were an assembly of Humans who wanted to move, breath and feel better.

I had performed this inspite of a bootstrap initial funding, a global pandemic and a technology revolution to my industry. We hadn't been sucked into the pursuit other sales gimmicks or changing our style and spirit just to make ends meet. In fact, over 7 years Common Bond continually refined its values to be just what we needed to be for our members.

Once this new information settled into my heart, I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to turn the lights off. And, in some ways, the 32% decline in sales over last year is just confirmation of what I already knew was true. I am being asked to say goodbye and move forward with the next chapter of my life.

2024 was a great and scary year for our community and the future of our country, but through loss, it renewed my hope in my purpose, my commitment to my family and the relationships I have right in front of me.

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