Ashley Hanna, founder of Titanium Yoga, never imagined herself working in the fitness industry. That outlook has changed when she suffered life-threatening injuries from a fatal car accident where she underwent multiple surgeries and two years of rehabilitation.
By immersing herself into yoga, she experienced unimaginable results and eight months after the crash, Ashley could walk again.
Titanium Yoga is named for the hardware inside her body. It’s the only yoga studio in a very affluent part of Florida with an aging population. This isn’t by mistake either. Ashley found her people by diving into her demographic, listening to their needs and ultimately creating the perfect space for her community.
She spoke with Studio Savvy co-hosts Nick and Dan about how she did it. (And how you can too!)
This is how Ashley pinned down her target audience and served them better:
In this special episode with Ashley, you'll learn:
[1:50] How Ashley's near-death car accident changed her perspective about yoga and helped her deal with the pain she was enduring. Within 6 weeks of practicing, she went from using a walker, and then to a cane, and eventually, she was free.
[4:10] How Ashley's entrepreneurial spirit met the fitness industry and sparked the idea for Titanium Yoga.
[8:40] How Ashley decided to do what works best for her—slow yoga. She discussed how she wanted to do fun, hip hop yoga classes but her clients prefer comfort and that teaches her to truly listen to what her clients are into.
[11:40] Ashley's honesty on how hard it is at first to accept that her target demographic won't welcome her new style of yoga she loves. She started focusing on cultivating relationships instead and stuck to what was working in her business.
[14:10] Ashley shares her love for ideas and utilizes a suggestion box to give clients the opportunity to contribute to the betterment of her studio.
[19:28] Ashley's golden nugget on finding your target audience: the importance of networking and marketing.