Diana Spiess, owner of Essence Mind Body Studio Q: Before we go into how you and Essence Mind Body Studio maintained a high level of resilience during this pandemic, can you tell me how you came to this practice/business? Diana Spiess, Owner of Essence Mind Body Studio Two Local Businesses Embody the Spirit of Resilience Essence Mind Body Studio and Aqua Hut Scuba and Travel Stay Engaged and Focused Through The Pandemic By Ed Conn In the first week of March 2020, Saga and I were in the San Francisco Bay Area taking care of family matters, visiting and socializing with old friends, and jumping from one hotel and restaurant to another. The Coronavirus was here on the west coast, we knew that, but outside of taking a few precautions, we did not feel a sense that this would turn to a full-scale pandemic. A week after our return home to Ohio, that metric shifted dramatically. On March 16, Governor DeWine issued all gyms and fitness clubs to shut down, a day after he had issued no indoor service order for restaurants and bars. Over the next couple of weeks, countries began to restrict travel to residents only, and then a complete shutdown of access in or out. Page 4 Fitness and travel businesses would be severely affected by these orders, but would be devastated if they lost their entire client base. Diana Spiess, owner of Essence, moved quickly to set up online Zoom classes from her offsite studio space. A: I have been in the fitness/ wellness industry once I was 19 years old...so for 30 years! I was a 2-sport all-state athlete in high school and began teaching fitness class in college at 19 years old after going through an extensive training at the University of Toledo. Since then, I’ve done decades of training and education non-stop and, before starting essence, I was a fitness Director at the YMCA of Greater Toledo where I managed over 70 wellness staff. Q: Early this year, we started getting news about Coronavirus hitting the west and east coasts even before the first reported case in Ohio. When did you start preparing your business for what seems to some to be the inevitable spread of the virus? A: I closed essence a day before we were mandated closed and through the entire closed period, I watched and planned. I had a lot of experience with online teaching due to my health coaching and I taught classes through the entire shut-down. My husband is a maintenance I so love helping my clients live their healthiest Diana Spiess Jeff Davis, owner of Aqua Hut began to monitor the countries where he had trips booked and kept his clients informed of restrictions and closures. Both Diana and Jeff went beyond and above to keep their clients connected, healthy, and engaged. I had the opportunity last month to exchange Questions and Answers with Diana and Jeff to find what they did to stay resilient in 2020. filled me in on all that is used for sanitization and sterilization and I began my search for UV lights, strong hepa filters with UV lights, and more. I studied what they were finding out with COVID and combined it with my education in exercise science. Q: Fitness related studios in Ohio were some of the first businesses to be required to shut down. How quickly did you transition to online classes? How did your customers and staff react? A: I started teaching 24 hours after the mandated closing online. The essence clients jumped right specialist and has worked as a Director, at a state facility, and now is at a COVID hospital. He in. The staff did not start teaching online until we opened back up. This was so unpredictable and figuring out how to deal with payroll and unemployment based on an unknown time-frame for the closing was not easy at all. So, during the closing, I taught all and a couple instructors subbed for me. Then, once we opened, I transitioned them to teaching in-studio and online both. Q: During this time when studios remained closed under state order, what did you do personally to maintain a level of resilience? How did you stay grounded? A: I practiced what I teach. I took lots of time to do what brings me joy: time with my kiddos, my photography work, time in nature, kept strong my yoga, meditation, and works outs, and I kept a daily journal. Q: Many of your classes are a hybrid of in-studio and Zoom. How is this working for you and how is it being received by your clients? What are your in-studio protocols? A: We have received great feedback with the hybrid and options to be both in-studio and online. Currently, we have pulled back to only online since Lucas County has a stay-at-home order in place. Having the hybrid makes it easy to transition as the COVID numbers are going so high. We have a strict mask protocol for everyone in-studio and we keep spring space requirements. We have folks sign in to agree to all protocols at the door each time, we take temperatures at the door, and we limit how many are coming in at once. Our staff sanitizes and UV sterilizes after all equipment and spaces have been used. Q: With no clear end in sight of the virus, how do you see your business going forward into 2021? A: I am doing all I can to see things moving forward cautiously but still moving. We have a very strong community at essence and I am doing all I can to help folks stay on course with their health and wellness care. We will sustain the online options indefinitely and, as the community numbers allow, we will be in-studio as much as we can be. Q: Anything else you would like
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