Closure of Planet Earth Pilates

I have closed my studio. Exactly ONE YEAR AGO.

Sorry if I took longer than expected to announce this on P-Latte. It was not easy for me to recover from the heartache of shutting down something which I have put so much effort and time (not to mention $$) in. In fact, I was like a cowardly ostrich and was not motivated to talk about it.

You may wonder why was the studio closed, well, in short and cliche, due to partnership problems.

The history was, Planet Earth was meant to be P-Latte Studio and was really meant to be the manifestation of my passion and love for movement and should have been operated by myself. My very close Uni-mate cum ex-boss, pleaded me to combine my studio with his organic food business. His wife called me and told me how devastated he was when I rejected the idea. In the end, I joined the partnership.

I gave up the 800-square feet dream-unit overlooking the greenery of MacRitchie for a 2100 sq.feet office space in order to house the organic biz. In the end, some partners did not do what they were supposed to do, they point fingers at each other for low revenue and slow growth. They felt that the only salaried staff aka me (as they all continued their full time, stable day-job), was not doing everything under the sun as they assumed I would. They felt that I should not only teach Pilates, but also to man the organic shop, wash toilets, water the plants, housekeep, stock-take, do sales calls and even deliver. In reality, I simply couldn't do all those all at the same time.

When the biz ran low on cash flow, they stop paying me the monthly salary as promised, claiming that I could take the revenue of Pilates classes in return. Then suddenly they demanded rental for my studio space. And suddenly they were closing their organic biz and asked me to take over their shop space if I wished to continue my studio, however I would need to pay them a reasonable "take-over" fee.

I was hoping to find a solution to be able to afford the rental of the huge extra space, but yet again, another "surprise" came suddenly from the landlord who called me the day before Christmas eve in 2010, our rental unit will be repossessed in 24 hours because my partners had not been paying the rent for months, and I needed to pay the outstanding of $10k or i vacate within 24 hours!

at this nick of time, my partners were uncontactable, they left me alone to settle the issue. They had no sense of urgency, no moral values, no ethics. They had been pocketing the rental I paid them and left me alone to solve all the problems they created!!

At last, after few stressful weeks, I was lucky enough to have found a Church which could take over the rental lease, such that I did not need to pay any penalty. I closed the studio, stored or sold my equipments. Said teary goodbyes to my clients, and finally  I broke clean from the "partners" and ended the year-long nightmare.

A precious lesson learnt.

So that was it. The short-lived Planet Earth disappeared.

From then, I was very depressed, beaten and lost. For months, I doubted myself in all aspects: my ability in decision making, my ability in trusting others, my ability in teaching, even my intelligence and my self-esteem; I could not even look at other people in the eyes because of the intense shame and sense of being a loser in me! The whole business experience negatively impacted my emotions, my family well-being and my relationship with my husband...

One year has since passed, I finally got myself up and look at the flipped side of the failed business. I rediscover my strengths and weaknesses, I am more awareness of my blindspots, and most importantly, I learnt that I am surrounded by people who truly believed in me, loved me and supported me. My husband and son who stood by me throughout the year and bear with my endless bouts of unreasonable emotional roller-coasters; great friends who helped me and encouraged me during the most difficult time (like Elsie Tan & Jason Lim); and also clients who showered me with endless understanding, trust, support and loyalty; through this difficult period, I was brought much closer to God and I now understand that there is really a reason for everything that happened. All this happened because it is part of our Master Weaver's plan.

 

My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me;
I may not choose the colors–
He knows what they should be.

For He can view the pattern
Upon the upper side
While I can see it only
On this, the under side.

Sometimes He weaves in sorrow,
Which seems so strange to me;
But I will trust His judgment
And work on faithfully.

‘Tis He who fills the shuttle,
And He knows what is best;
So I shall weave in earnest,
And leave to Him the rest.

Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needed
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

~~ Author Unknown ~~