Local woman up for major award after moving business online

An Athlone woman who adapted to the Covid-19 crisis by taking her pilates business online has reached the national finals of the Network Ireland Businesswoman of the Year awards on October 2.

ABOVE: Athlone businesswoman Alison Hogan, of pilatesonline.ie

Alison Hogan has been in business since 2011 and operates her pilates studio in Monksland Business Park. When the pandemic struck, she redeveloped her offering to include live and pre-recorded online classes, in addition to in-person classes with small numbers to comply with social distancing.

Her achievement in developing pilatesonline.ie during these unprecedented times has seen her qualify for the Network Ireland Businesswoman of the Year finals which take place on October 2.

Alison has also been recognised by the Roscommon branch of Network Ireland, picking up its businesswoman of the year award in the 'online business transformation' category.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent this week, she said the award success had provided a real boost, especially given how challenging this year has been.

"I'm absolutely delighted. I honestly didn't realise how much of a boost it would give me," she said. "A lot of business owners were reopening in July and were wrecked at that stage because they had been working so hard behind the scenes.

"I got into a bit of a slump by the time July came, after working so hard from April on, so this was a great boost and really helped to push the energy forward and do a bit more."

For Alison and her two other instructors at the studio, Paula Sheppard and Paula Gannon, this year started particularly well, with numbers at the classes increasing steadily between January and March. Then lockdown arrived, and everything had to change.

"We had to create an entirely different business model," she explained. "We had to close the studio, so I completely redid the website to become an online 'virtual' studio.

"We rolled out pilatesonline.ie and started offering online, pre-recorded, fully comprehensive programmes like my pregnancy programme, my post-pregnancy programme, and 'restore your core' for women's health in general.

"Then, from May 1, we brought back our full timetable. All of the instructors were teaching the full timetable, as it had been in March, but it was all virtual. Everyone was just logging on via Zoom."

In-person classes at the studio in Monksland resumed in July, but the recent restrictions have limited numbers to just five participants and an instructor. However, people can now take part in these live classes online, which has opened up the service to people from all over the country and around the world.

Alison said the response to the online classes had been positive and she said the fact that people became more familiar with Zoom during the lockdown was a big help.

"I don't think it would have been so easily received if people weren't so used to using Zoom. Covid just upskilled everyone, across the board, and the resistance to using it was gone."

She pointed out that there was a major difference between watching a pre-recorded instructional video and taking part in a live class with an instructor who can see you on screen and can give feedback in real time.

"There's a big difference there, and I think people see the value in that as well. It's the same as turning up to the studio - you have to be ready at a certain time, you have to be on Zoom.

"We obviously have everybody on camera as well, so we give feedback to people at home the same as if they were in studio. It's very interactive. The value is in that interaction and that accountability, rather than just saying 'oh, I must do that video sometime.'"

"I have a girl who has been taking two or three classes a week for the last couple of weeks and she's in Dubai. So that's amazing! It just goes to show you the potential that is there if we can harness it."

Alison is married to Michael and the couple have four children, Amelia (7), Michael (5), and twin 1-year-old girls, Elsie and Ivy.

She said the move online was an absolute necessity because her studio would no longer be viable if it was relying on in-person classes only.

"The business model that we had was completely unsustainable with the restrictions that we still have in place now," she said.