An Interview with Della Wheeler of Yoga Teacher CEO

Today I’m excited to bring you an interview with Della Wheeler of Yoga Teacher CEO. She is an established yoga teacher and the founder of Yoga Teacher CEO, a community dedicated to helping yoga teachers grow their businesses. Della is a badass, a powerhouse entrepreneur, and an all-around inspiring person. I’ve been a fan of her work for a while and it’s honor to share some of her story here today on Alive in the Fire.

When did you start teaching? What inspired you to become a yoga teacher?

I began practicing yoga in a dark basement classroom for college credit at a time where I really needed to forge a connection between my mind, my body, and my spirit. At the time I was incredibly depressed and discombobulated in so many ways— yoga provided me a safe place to begin to heal parts of me that I may have never even noticed if I hadn’t found the practice. After a few years of diving into the physical practice at various gyms and studios during college, I moved home to Chattanooga and fell in love with a studio called Yoga Landing. When they started advertising their yoga teacher training, I felt a tug at my heart. Although I was fearful that I wasn’t experienced or advanced enough to be a teacher, I went for it.

If I wasn’t in love with the practice before teacher training, I certainly was after. I found connection, community, and so much depth— there was no end to the amount of things I could learn about Yoga. When we were done with the program, I dove right into teaching. Practicing AND teaching yoga have been so deeply transformative to me that I couldn’t help but share it with whoever would listen. To this day, my mission is to spread the practice to as many people as possible.

What were your biggest challenges when you first started teaching? How did you learn, grow and evolve through the experience of your early days teaching?

My biggest challenge when I began teaching was an anxious attachment to how many people were showing up for class. I think the root of this is a fear of rejection. It was the first time I took something I loved deeply, packaged it up, and started sharing it with others. Anyone who does this knows that your students can either take it or leave it. If they decide they don’t like your class, it’s not really personal. But because it comes from such a deeply personal place, it’s hard not to take it that way. To this day, my challenge is to cultivate confidence as a teacher. To offer what I know in my own style unapologetically. In my opinion, the most successful teachers are those who humbly offer what they know from an authentic and vulnerable place. My task is to do this without the anxious attachment. I’ll admit it’s something I still struggle with from time to time. Like most things, it’s a work in progress!

What's your biggest advice for new yoga teachers?

My favorite piece of advice I ever received from a veteran teacher is that Yoga is magic all by itself. It doesn’t require you to give a transformation. As teachers, we are simply a conduit for this ancient practice. As the instructor, if you come in to teach and all you do is offer breath and pose names, most people are going to feel better after class. Anything you add on is bonus material.

What led you to start your business and move into coaching? What do you enjoy about being a coach?

When I was introduced to Yoga in college, I was pursuing a degree in Graphic Design. As I discovered my own Yoga practice and participated in teacher training, I was also working in the corporate advertising and marketing world as a designer. In 2017, the ‘heart tug’ came again in the form of quitting my job and living in a van for a 3 month road trip around the US. I distinctly remember riding through Yosemite National Park thinking, “I never want to go back to a desk job.” When I got back home, I started working at my local yoga studio as a manager. Once the studio owner learned of my graphic design and marketing skill set, she had the bright idea to add a business portion to our yoga teacher training programs.

This set me down a path of providing business coaching for Yoga Teachers and eventually building an online community called Yoga Teacher CEO. I love that this path combines my obsession for yoga with my love for business and marketing. Learning about business and stepping into this entrepreneurial role has been the most unexpected personal growth opportunity. For me, business growth and spiritual growth go hand in hand.

What did you wish you'd learned in yoga teacher training?

I wish I had learned more about how to be a professional yoga teacher. From what I know, almost no teacher training program is going into the details of how to make a living as a teacher. It’s just not knowledge that’s available to most people. So when teachers get out of training and start teaching, they realize they have to teach 10-20 classes per week and they’re still living paycheck to paycheck. That road only leads to burnout.

Even worse? There’s a toxic narrative in the yoga community that in order to be of service, we need to be broke. So teachers are accepting rates way below what the service is worth.

From my experience, the more we learn about how to build a business and make an abundant income, the more we push the professionalism of yoga forward for all teachers. It’s about opening our minds and seeing new ways to make money. I want all yoga teachers to see what I see - which is YTs who are making $100K and beyond) a year working just a few hours a day. This gets to be your experience once you see money as a force for good instead of evil. As a yoga teacher, you have the power to make decisions from a place of abundance and support (instead of desperation and lack) and THAT has the power to change the world.

What common challenges do you see with yoga teachers who want to increase their income? What helps them do this best? Is it a mindset shift or is it more tactical/practical action steps?

The challenges I see are *mostly* mindset related. Because of what we’re taught about service and money, so many YTs are accepting the paycheck to paycheck life even though it’s causing them a lot of pain. The current model is to trade your time (teaching classes or 1:1 sessions) for money. So when they think, “I want to make more money” the thought of teaching more is debilitating. For someone who’s already burnt out from teaching so many classes a week to scrape by, the answer isn’t to teach more. It’s to find different ways to make money.

My goal right now is to empower teachers to create offerings that step beyond the time/money trade. There are so many beautiful ways to passively bring in money (mostly online) that completely frees us from the burden of always being ‘on.’ That’s where the tactical/practical action steps come in. From there, my advice is to seek out a mentor or coach. It’s a million times easier and faster when you’ve got the support of someone who’s already done what you want to do.

What's your recommendation for someone who wants to build confidence in their life, as a yoga teacher or a coach, or just in general?

My recommendation is to do more things that feel a little uncomfortable, awkward, or maybe even scary. My confidence skyrockets when I do things I previously didn’t think I could do. This usually starts with a ‘heart tug’ - there’s something inside of me that says, “For some reason I really want to do this,” and then my pesky brain says, “You can’t do that… what will people think?!” The trick for me is to consistently shorten the distance between desire and action. It gives my brain less time to pull in all the reasons I shouldn’t do something. If that is too overwhelming, I like to find simple ways to consistently feel empowered. Things like going to a challenging yoga class or trying out a new recipe. Baby steps!

What are you working on now? What are some of your current projects or goals and why are you excited about them?

Right now, I am building and launching a comprehensive Email Marketing course for Yoga Teachers called Email Ease. It has been so much fun building a new course and creating all the resources for it. That will start in September and be a passive course after the first live cohort. In 2023, I am launching a program called Yoga Boss Academy. That will be a 4 month immersive course that will show YTs how to build an online business. Many exciting things are on the way…

What do you enjoy doing for fun? What helps you relax and stay balanced with your busy schedule?

In some ways I consider myself a renaissance woman. I’m music obsessed so I do lots of shower singing, attempting to learn instruments, and seeing live shows. In recent years I’ve become quite the cook so I love planning and executing dinners at home (my kitchen is informally called Della’s diner). I also live in an incredibly outdoor centric town so I love hiking, getting in the water, and sunbathing with my dog, Henry. I find relaxation in my personal yoga practice, taking baths, and just sitting around the house in silence. I am a projector in human design so downtime is KEY to living a healthy, balanced life.

Anything else you want to share?

A book that shifted the trajectory of my life (and still does to this day) is called The Crossroads of Should and Must by Elle Luna. It’s seriously the reason why I do so many of the things I do today. I am on a mission to keep following ‘must’… 

Wow, thank you Della! Such insightful and wise words. Appreciate you being a part of the blog!

To learn more about Della or connect with her, visit her website, add her on Instagram @yogateacher_CEO, or sign up for her Email Ease course.