COVID-19 and the Immediate Future of Bolstr and Movement Studios

Hi there,

In the past week or so there’s been a clear shift in the air around discussions of COVID-19. You’ve probably heard enough of this from every direction, so I’ll keep this short and focused on your career in movement, rather than your health and safety (there are better sources for that than me).

Movement studios and teachers have been affected already. Despite efforts to organise studio spaces and classes around COVID-19, students have frozen their subscriptions, class numbers have dropped, and many studios have put a hold on hiring any new teachers.

These real-world effects have been mirrored online: after an incredible uptake on Bolstr by both teachers and studios, usage of the platform has stalled. No new jobs have been posted in the last week.

I want to say a few things:

First: this will get worse before it gets better. Australia has not been hit as hard as other countries yet, but it’s almost inevitable that we will. Any disruptions to your career will get worse, and we will all need to get creative as to how we can keep teaching movement in these constrained times. 
I like this quote: "Constraints focus the mind and provide fertile ground for creativity."

Second: this will pass. Things will be difficult for a time, but eventually we will get back to “normal”. There may be a shift to doing movement at home, online, but I strongly believe this will be temporary. Teaching, socialising, and general interactions done in-person will always be better than online.

Third: Bolstr is not going away. There will be an obvious lull during this period, but we are not pivoting to focus on online teaching, and we are not shutting down. I have learnt an incredible amount from speaking to all of you, with all of your ideas on how to improve the platform. We will be using this period to make the platform even better, so that when we all come out the other side, Bolstr will be there to support you.

Thanks, as always, for your continued support.

Cheers
Morgan