QiFlow forever — My entrepreneur love story from successful studio owner to bankrupt loser

3 years, 4 months, and 14 days later and my nightmare is finally over.

This is my love story about how I became a yoga teacher at the age of 30, studio owner at 32, international yoga retreat leader at 34, became a mom at 36, manager/mentor to 80+ yoga and fitness teachers at 38, bankrupt at 44, bionic at 45, created AgeDEFY online at 46, opened Studio BodyAbility at 47, and now, 3 weeks before I turn 48, I am no longer bankrupt!

What a wild ride!

The day I decided to close QiFlow is the same day I was called a loser by the owner of the building.

He said I was a loser and since I was such a loser, he was calling his people and my doors would be locked in the morning. He said he would tell my community of students and teachers that I was a loser and I could do nothing to stop him.

This is how I made the decision to close my studio after almost 13 years in business.

I could no longer do it. I was in Costa Rica at the time and didn’t know how to protect my business from the person who owned my life.

Before I go on, I need everyone to know that I rented from this man for over 10 years and never missed a rent payment.

The only time I asked for a break was in August of 2018.

My studio closed in October 2018.

3 years, 4 months, and 14 days later

I tried my best to save my studio but in the end, my best was just not enough.

My financial trouble did not begin with my high rental rate and terrible lease negotiations, I also took a hit by a bogus State of Colorado audit.

The audit came at a time when large corporate studios such as CorePower and other large chains out of New York were getting hit with unemployment insurance claims and, as a collective, the government went after yoga studios and sued them for having 1099 contractors as yoga teachers.

To this date, I am pretty sure I am the only studio in history to fight back, and I am also the only studio in history to win my case in the courts!

I had no choice but to fight.

The state was trying to sue me for $78,000 and the fines were not going to stop there.

This is why I fought back.

No one thought I would win, not even my lawyer, but the first court appearance was called an evidence appearance and it had to go well enough to take my fight to the next level. I spent 8 hours in court that day and walked out without knowing what would happen next. It would be 6-weeks until I heard back but when I got the call it was the best day of my life!

I won my first (and only) battle!

It was an insane win and I am so grateful for the people who sided with me to this day!

It was a great victory but my win didn’t come without fees.

It cost me dearly to fight for my win. It caused my studio financial devastation in lawyer fees and to make things a lot harder on me, my business partner and I decided to split up and go our own way on the day I went to court.

The lease for our RiNo location was up and he didn’t want to renew. The RiNo location was my home studio, my baby, my world.

I didn’t want to walk away but he did, so we walked in separate directions.

To stay in RiNo, I had to negotiate a new lease with the guy who owned the property.

I agreed to a $9000 per month lease because, at the time, I was already paying $5000 per month, paying 100% of the teachers’ salaries, and splitting my money with my business partner. My thoughts were I could handle the $9000 per month payment but what happened after I signed my lease was completely different than what I signed up for.

To keep my location I had to do a buildout and I wasn’t savvy enough to ask/demand for tenant improvements.

Stupidly, like a teenager in love for the first time, I allowed myself to do a $50,000 buildout on top of my $9000 lease expense.

By the time I reopened the studio after the split, I was maxed out.

My money was gone, I was deep into debt, I had no energy, my spirits were low, and I still thought I would need to fight the audit. Then things got worse.

One year into my new lease I was hit with a $30K assessment charge, and without going into the full details, every single year, this butthead owner hit me with huge amounts of assessment charges.

With each new year of charges, he claimed my monthly rent payment never fully covered my triple net expenses so I was on the hook for another year of makeup payments.

The makeup payments rolled into the next year, which caused my monthly rental rate to grow. By year three of leasing RiNo on my own, I was paying $11,314 per month + $500 per month for a valet person he hired for the neighborhood when he closed down access to the front parking spots due to sidewalk improvements imposed by the city that he made myself and his other tenants pay for through assessment charges!

Looking back, I wish I could have hired a lawyer but I was bleeding money and I had nothing left.

My health took a hit, my relationships soured, and I was having panic attacks almost every single day.

I lost friends, I lost students, and I lost my teachers who I poured all my love into over the years only to have them Leave Qiflow for my ex-business partner’s studios.

I should have closed the studio when this started to happen but I (stupidly) continued to fight for QiFlow for 3 more years and proceeded to get myself deeper and deeper into debt to stay open. My pocketbook took a hit, my reputation took a hit, and my spirits were so low, it’s hard to imagine what I was fighting so hard for.

I wanted out. I wanted it all to come to an end.

This is why I jumped at the offer to dog sit for 4-weeks at a retreat center in Costa Rica in September 2018.

I was depressed and needed a breather.

My 9-year-old son and I packed up and went to Costa Rica for 4 weeks and during that time, I tried to sell my business. I was close to selling it to another cycle gym in Denver but the gym owner met with the guy I rented from during my trip and from there the sale fell through. I told the owner of the building I was in trouble and would not be able to start paying more rent as agreed upon.

This brings us to the “you’re such a loser” part. And it also brings me to why I went bankrupt.

After many tear-filled calls to people back home, I was told to file for chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Chapter 13 was the only way to stop the owner of the building from closing my business until I got home from Costa Rica. So I did it. I went bankrupt in Costa Rica and lost my business at the same time.

Needless to say, it was a long flight home.

Saying goodbye to a business is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I was a broken mess returning home from Costa Rica. I had to call an emergency meeting with my teachers to let them know our studio was closing. Most of them didn’t know I was struggling, as I tried to keep it to myself as much as possible.

It was a devastating meeting and I cried the whole time. I had to say goodbye to the studio, my students, the teachers, and my community but I still had to carry the debt of the business.

My bankruptcy is different than most. I still had to pay 60% of my debt.

The courts used my home as collateral and took the equity in my home to determine my monthly payments. When it first started one real estate assessor had my house valued at $550k, making my bankruptcy payments $1500 per month for 5 years.

Thankfully, my lawyer suggested another agent take a look at my property, and this is how I was able to lower my payment to $932 per month for 5 years.

To make matters even harder for me, this payment change totally pissed off the owner of the building.

He fought me in court but I won that battle and kept my $932 per month payment. Okay here is why I have decided to come out today to tell my story.

Because it’s over!

I just got an email from my lawyer and my nightmare is over!

The only thing I had left after the bankruptcy was my son, my two dogs, and my home. I didn’t have an income of any kind and on top of everything, my hip pain had gotten so bad I could barely walk. This is why I moved my family into my basement and turned my upstairs home into an Airbnb and I got a job at a bar to survive.

I also felt as though I became an immediate disappointment to my family for ending up bankrupt with nothing to show from my 13 years in business.

But they didn’t leave me hanging.

My brother gave me $1000 to start my online business, my parents drove to Denver to convert my garage into a makeshift studio, one set of my son’s grandparents gave me $1200 for a new computer, and the other set of grandparents gave me a line of credit to borrow from for 2 years when I couldn’t make enough money to pay my mortgage or bills.

After I closed QiFlow, the generosity of my family got me through two hip replacements, COVID, the loss of my 15-year-old dog, and past my depression from losing it all.

No matter how hard I worked I was barely making it in Denver, and after two hip replacements, my online business was not working out.

I was only making $600-$1000 per month after 2 years in business. So I had no choice but to sell my house in Denver and move to Missouri this past summer.

It’s been 8 months since my move and my entire life has changed.

My online business has more than tripled in monthly income, I own a home without having a mortgage, and I have become a TikTok person with a large following!

This is why I could no longer handle the label of bankrupt. I have turned my life around and I no longer wish to carry around the anchor of bankruptcy. So I called my lawyer in November and I went back to court. It took 4 months but today I got the notification that my bankruptcy has been discharged and I am no longer bankrupt!

What I am most proud of is paying my debt. I know I got out of paying 100% of it but I paid back over $70,000 over the last 3 years, 4 months, and 14 days. I fought to have it discharged early and I won!

I keep taking on Goliath and I keep winning the battles!

Why do I tell my story today?

Because if I can hang on during my darkest years, then you can too!

Life is hard darling, but so are you.

3 years, 4 months, and 14 days ago I went bankrupt and today, my fight is over.

No matter what I still love QiFlow and even though my business ended in bankruptcy, I don’t regret fighting for my studio.

I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

QiFlow made a difference in my life and in the lives of so many people in Denver and for that reason, I am proud of my fight.

Bankruptcy does not define QiFlow and this is why I celebrate today.

QiFlow is free! It’s no longer bankrupt. It’s a success, and I will remember it fondly for the rest of my life.

Thank you for the memories.

#qiflow #forever