Personal Reflections: New City + New Opportunity = Different Kind of Yes
I’m considering a teaching position with a new fitness club in my new city. If I accept it, it will be the first perminent teaching position I take in Canada. In considering it, I’ve realized I have a few things to learn about my new home.
I have taught for years. I have trained, studied, created community, certified teachers, led retreats and built a growing online school. And still, this opportunity has brought up questions I did not expect. A new city has a way of doing that. Suddenly I am looking at my experience with fresh eyes and asking what I want my teaching life to look like here.
In the past, I might have led with: How do I show them I’m the right person? Or what do I need to DO to BE the right person?
In the past I would have taken any opportunity give to me bacause I love to teach so much and I have done it for nothing SO MANY TIMES. Doing this has built me inot the teacher I am today and I am so grateful for EVERY opportunity I’ve sid yes to; multiple studios, corporate, small groups and celebrations, outdoor, private, kids, volunteer… ANY opportunity was a YES!
This time in my teaching career feels different, I want to bring my whole self to the room and understand what this club needs. But now there is another question beside it: Are we right for each other?
That shift feels small when I write it down. Inside me, it feels enormous.
Learning to own what I bring
In my previous community, people knew me and knew my work. I did not have to explain my experience every time I walked into a new room. Here, I am unknown. If I want someone to understand what I can bring, I have to tell them.
That has been surprisingly uncomfortable. As I share my training and the work I have done, I sometimes hear myself and wonder, Does this sound like bragging? That is not how I want to come across. I want to be confident in what I know and humble enough to keep learning. For me, the balance between those two is delicate.
I am realizing that I can speak honestly about my experience without pretending I know everything about this club or its community. I have spent years learning how to hold a room, guide people through a practice, and grow as a teacher. I can own that while staying curious about the people I have not met yet.
I am also noticing how vulnerable it can feel to name the value of that experience when a company is deciding what it is worth to them. Pay is part of this conversation, and it matters. So do the time, energy, care, and preparation that go into teaching well. I do not want to shrink any of that just because I am new to this city.
I think that is the kind of teacher I want to be in this new chapter: grounded in what I have learned, and open to what this place may teach me.
What would make this a wholehearted YES?
I have been sitting with some questions: What really matters to me? Why might I be a great fit for this position? What do I need in order to say yes? How excited am I? What could go right? What could go wrong?
The answers are helping me see the shape of a good opportunity. I am looking closely at five things:
- Schedule and opportunity. Is there room to teach consistently, grow meaningful relationships, and still give the classes the energy they deserve?
- Pay. Does the compensation reflect the work and make this commitment sustainable?
- Time off. Can I continue to care for my life and the work I have already built, including my online community and retreats?
- Community fit. Do I feel aligned with the people, the atmosphere, and the way this club wants to serve its members?
- Organization. Does the company have systems in place to make the teaching experience reliable and enjoyable to manage?
I am not looking for a perfect arrangement. I am looking for one I can say yes to with clarity. I want to pour greatly into a local community. I also want to keep showing up for the online students and retreat guests who are already part of my world. Both matter to me. The right role will need to fit within that picture.
That has been one of the surprises of moving: it has made the picture clearer. What I want is beginning to feel less like a collection of separate projects and more like one life. Teaching locally, connecting online, and gathering people on retreat can all be expressions of the same purpose.
Letting the opportunity meet me, too
There was a time when I might have tried to morph myself into a company's vision before I had fully named my own. I can feel the difference in myself now. I am curious about their vision, and I want to know whether it has room for mine.
Maybe we will discover a wonderful fit. Maybe we will find that what each of us needs is different. I do not know yet. I am still in the middle of the decision, and I want to give it the attention it deserves.
What I do know is that I feel called to be part of this local community. I can imagine getting to know people, hearing what brings them to class, and offering a place where they can arrive as they are. That possibility excites me. I want to make space for that excitement as I consider the practical details.
If you are exploring a new teaching opportunity, perhaps you know this feeling too. Maybe you are newly certified. Maybe you are moving, returning to teaching, or finding that the career you once imagined has changed. You can be grateful for an invitation and still ask thoughtful questions about it. You can care deeply about serving students and care about your schedule, your pay, and your time off. You can be open to a new community without leaving behind the work and people you already love.
I am reminding myself of all of this as I decide.
I hope you will give yourself that same permission when your next opportunity arrives: to notice what excites you, to name what you need, and to choose a yes that feels like your own.
With love,
Jill
