Emilie Perz is widely known for her strong, creative, and educational vinyasa flow classes. Voted one of California’s best yoga instructors, Emilie’s detail-oriented teachings reveal how yoga asana mirrors the practical movements we make in life and how learning to align the body precisely can create energy and equanimity in the body and mind. Perz recently launched Sequential Body, a new online fitness platform.
Home Business Magazine recently caught up with Perz, who was happy to discuss her business journey.
HBM: Can you briefly walk us through your story and how this led you to your current venture?
EP: “I have always been interested in both athletics and medicine. Looking back, this interest began at age five but took precedence at 18 when my father passed away. Out of desperation to manage both my depression and anxiety, I was introduced to the yoga practice. The key disciplines of the practice — movement, meditation, and mindfulness — became the necessary tools I relied on to help with my ongoing healing. Through regular practice, I was able to get off medication and take back my life again. It also made me inquisitive about the human experience and ways in which the practice could be used medicinally to treat people similar to myself.”
HBM: Tell us about Sequential Body. What makes the platform special?
EP: “Sequential Body was designed to care for the human spirit during the COVID-19 pandemic. To serve my large existing clientele, I came up with a monetized business platform that would offer me the ability to continue to work and earn money (I wasn’t able to work in person), as well as provide a safe place for people to practice during such a difficult time. By offering many streaming options — live stream, on-demand, rentals, and pay-per-view events — I was able to keep my existing audience while expanding my global reach.”
HBM: Tell us about launching Sequential Body during COVID-19. Has it been smooth?
EP: “Ha! I’m not sure if any entrepreneur would tell you that their first business adventure launched smoothly. Before COVID-19, I knew my strengths as a public speaker but lacked the technical, marketing, and PR capabilities to build my brand past a certain perimeter. In the initial days of quarantine, I did my best to educate myself on creating a business, including the technical abilities of high-stream live classes, filming, editing, etc. I also took the time to educate and learn from key people in marketing on how to do email campaigns, make ads, and get organic press. None of these skills or information was something I had any interest in before, but learning it has been highly valuable. Through many months of trial and error, we are finally on a smooth path to success.”
HBM: What are some tangible tips you’d share for those who want to make a difference in regards to improving their health while working from home?
EP: “Make a plan to move every day. Consistency is ALWAYS key and, yet, no matter how much we know this, most people lack discipline. We have a tendency to get excited about taking care of ourselves and will go on a health kick and then immediately become distracted by other, perhaps more pleasurable, distractions like TV and Zoom happy hour. Weight gain, muscle atrophy, tightness, and stiffness are all signs that our bodies need movement.
Key tips for staying optimally healthy: Set up your timer for 20-, 15-, and 30-minute increments and press play each time you begin your exercise to hold you accountable. Wake up 20 minutes earlier than usual and get in a fast walk. Put on ankle weights, invite a friend, or even take your pet with you and walk at a fast pace for 20 minutes, focusing on even, complete inhalations and exhalations. By incorporating deep breathing techniques into your daily walks, you will stimulate your lymph system, energize your body, stretch your muscles and tissues, and get in cardio.
Bring your headphones and do meditation as you walk to improve your focus and concentration for the day. Take this to the treadmill if you need it. Take 15 minutes before eating lunch to stretch. Get up, do a short yoga class on Sequential Body, and release your joints, muscles, and tissues from sitting so much. Your low back deserves it.
After sitting all day, the BEST thing you can do is MOVE. Do a 30-minute vinyasa class, go for a run, dance, jump rope, or take an online workout class. To restore posture, stretch open your front body, and build strength, you will need to move for a prolonged period. Think of this exercise as an apple a day keeps your body from decaying. Viola, you’ve now completed 60 minutes of exercise a day!”
HBM: What are some tips you’d share with new wellness entrepreneurs just starting out?
EP: “Launch. Your fears and concerns are valid, but if you know what makes your product or offering unique, have full trust in that and launch it. The right people will fall into place to help you lead the way and you don’t need to know everything to get things going. Ask questions, do your homework, believe in what you already do know, and be willing to hustle. Fear evaporates but the feeling of freedom will last forever. It will take time to learn, grow, and build, but you’ll never be upset for trying. True success comes from healthy risk and experience.”
HBM: What are your plans for the near feature for Sequential Body?
EP: “Sequential Body’s mission is to build a mindful, meaningful community, so we are launching a brand-new texting platform that allows beauties to opt into a challenge, course collections, and special events where they can work more intimately with me and likeminded beauties for real results.”
HBM: What are some key learnings you hope to bring from your time with working at Equinox and YogaWorks to Sequential Body as the platform grows?
EP: “Value everyone’s time. Offer a premium experience at an affordable price point. Be different. With so many variables at play with other fitness brands, allow your uniqueness to shine through so you garner the right audience who will follow you after they fall in love with you.”
