Unedited Michiko Kusunoki Part I

Another 12 Point Plan, this time from Pro Member Michiko Kusunoki in Tokyo. Michiko is a new student at BodyChance, but already runs here own studio, with classes at two different locations, in slightly different niches. She one of a new breed of students at BodyChance – already successful practitioners in their own field, excited by the possibility of bringing Alexander's Discoveries into their niche. Michiko is an enthusiastic member of my CareerThinking class on Sunday nights – we will meet up again next Sunday. This is Michiko's vision for her future. She is developing it simultaneously with her Teacher Education. This is one of the innovative aspects of BodyChance's program – from the day you enter the doors, I start working with students who join CareerThinking, and this website, to develop a life long career path (with a retirement plan built into it.) My format below is to publish Michiko's 12 Point Plan in full, with my comments following each of the numbered points after you see the three asterisks, like this: *** 1. What drives you toward your career? I feel very happy to help and inform people how to use Yoga as a good tool to keeping body in good condition. Yoga  helped me a lot to improve my health condition while I was under high stress. It also helped me to go through hard time in my career. What I’m learning in Body Chance gave me a different perspective on how Yoga is useful mentally and physically. It also gives me answer to why some injuries happen by misuse in Yoga practice. I would like to share my discovery to all the Yoga practitioners. I love teaching and helping people who has high motivation to improve their life, career and health conditions. *** What Michiko leaves out are her dreams for building her Alexander Yoga presence as a path for her business of making income, good income. Right now she is choosing her niche, and engineering her direction with Yoga and Alexander. What is your niche who will you teach? 1: Yoga beginners and lovers who has interests in improving their health, carrier and life (female around their 30’s and 40’s). 2. Yoga and Pilates instructors who has injuries, or has interests in better performance, improving their teaching methods (mainly 30’s in Tokyo) *** There are very few Alexander experts in Yoga that have focused exclusively on the "new" Yoga market, a market remarkably similar to the wave of BodyChance teachers I plan to send out from our Alexander Technique Teacher Education. In Yoga these days, niching is happing all the time. To start, there are many different kinds of Yoga itself, then so many hybrids have appeared, things like Yogalates and YogaTuneup. There are also stars – it is a personality driven business model as we have always done in Alexander communities. (The "Master Teachers" as a key attraction for the first four International Congresses – basically till they all died off.) The Yoga Journal released a 2012 study which documented that 20.4 million Americans practice Yoga and spend $10.3 billion on it in various ways. Among the Yoga teachers in America, Japan has a wonderful reputation as being "wild about Yoga," like, more so than America. Many American Yoga teachers have moved to Japan because demand there outpaced demand in the States. What a great niche to be launching in. It's a wonder to me that more Alexander Technique teachers are not doing the same. Aren't some of them part of the 20.4 million who do it??? Michiko has only to pick up a tiny fraction of that $10 billion of lolly to be doing very, very well. And there's still plenty of room left for the entire Alexander profession. 3. What place will you practice? Yoga studios and seminar rooms mainly in Tokyo. (However, I would like to organize some retreats in oversea nice resorts!) *** There are two paths here: build a front end/back end studio, the back end being luxurious education retreats for students in nice resorts. Or just build the back end of Teacher Education via retreats – but then use money to buy customers through JV deals and advertising in the huge Journals… 4. Describe the kind of service you offer ・Teacher’s training course for Yoga instructors to improve their Yoga skill and health condition using AT. ・Workshops and seminars for yoga lovers ・AT yoga class for better living ・books, texts and DVDs for more health conscious Yoga ・Yoga retreat trips ・Individual health advices based on Yoga and AT training *** Building the content is the thing – research and development, and that's the work that needs to be done during training. To have a product to offer, Michiko is first starting out with a thorough review and analysis of how she teachers now, and is startled by the discoveries she is having. This is the real work of building a service, and why students would best be starting the instant they start their Teacher Education. Learning about how the activity plans of yoga are influenced by the primary co-ordination plan Alexander described is the information Michiko will be bringing in. To articulate it take time, and experiences. Luckily, Michiko has four years ahead of her to develop that masterful depth of understanding at BodyChance. 5. Who are the people who will support/mentor your career development? Therapeutic Yoga teachers and anatomic Yoga instructors; Jeremy and other AT teachers?!; A friend in marketing, web-designers, artist, coaching consultant; I’m looking for a financial advisor.; qigong therapist *** Very clear – Michiko is putting together her team. Are you doing the same? Look around, there may be people already around you that are perfectly suited to supporting you taking the next step with your career, but you have yet to notice their support is readily available to you… A nice exercise is create three columns: in the first column write down as many names of family, friends and acquaintances as you can remember; in the second column write down their chief skill set; in the third column write down how they could help build your business. Your last column is a roadmap to the future if you follow your own promptings. NEXT: Michiko's Steps 6~12. Many of the 12 Point Plans have short answers for  these next 6 steps, things like "Not sure" or "I don't know." Michiko's 6~12 steps are clearly laid out. If you are a trainee reading this, let that be true of you too!