Thursday, August 27, 2009

The Business of Hooping

One of the inevitabilities of becoming an avid hooper is learning how to contruct your own hoops. New tricks seem like they would work better with a smaller, bigger, heavier, or lighter hoop - you watched a video and were in awe of the mini's with which someone was rocking out. You must have them. ALL!

At this stage it seems impractical to purchase a hoop from one of the online resources - especially since the majority of online hoops are of the 'beginniners' variety. You learn how to constuct and tape and your collection slowly (or rapidly) builds - then, one day you realize - hey - I could probably sell a few of these!

You are now not just a hooper. But, an entrepreneur. A hooperpreneur. hahaah....

I have been in the throws of this more business mentality for a while now and the changes that it brings are suprising.

The joy of sharing hooping with others doesn't seem to fade - but the impact on my personal time is defitely sizable!

The thing is, now that I've started teaching and selling - I don't know that I can stop! I don't have a back-up sub for my classes, nor a staff to help with hoop orders. When I started I highly doubted the need for these things!

This is my learning period. From this time, I would definitely encourage any hoopers considering selling or teaching to think about back up plans in case of illness or exhaustion for classes, and to create hoop order forms with long enough wait times to allow for a few distruptions in orders to happen.

Invite friends to help you out, and have a reliable person as your 'partner' to help with orders and possibly sub classes. Working out payment, how to split up duties and all the other business jazz that merits discussion is something I haven't figured out - as I am flying solo in my hoop journey! I have great folks with whom to hoop, and friends have offered to help with hoop construction - but having a definite hoop making partner would certainly be a help when classes begin and the order crunch is upon us!

Teaching, sharing and creating has been a great experience overall, and I am so excited to continue - and expand - my hoop ventures. Just need to work out the kinks.

Of course, a life sans day job would certainly free up more hoop time - but business isn't THAT booming. That's the difficulty with hooping - it is fun, and when there is a financial gain as well - that's great! But, turning it INTO a day job is a tough prospect.

For now, I am enjoying the stability of a day job and excitment and bliss of my HoopLife.

But... a sick day off from both now and then wouldn't hurt!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

A break from the Hoop

Things have been crazy.

Usually when things get crazy I amp up my hoop time to clear my mind and laugh through the stress. But sheesh.. recently I have barely had time to think - let alone hoop!

It's been almost 2 weeks! I think that is probably the longest I have gone sans hoop for all of 2009. It's strange what being without the hoop can do. For the first few days it actually felt refreshing in a way - kind of the "eureka moment" effect. Distancing yourself from something can give you new insight and ideas. I was daydreaming about tricks, sequences, flow... I was happy to get a break from the routine I almost habitually was doing. So, at first... it was nice.

But now I am feeling kind of glum.

I miss my hoops...

I am a total cheese head for saying so... but I feel like a part of me is missing.

Hooping is not like anything else. It is a time when I can forget the lists, should's, to-do's, what's next... and just, be. in. the. moment.

I love being busy. Going out. Getting things done. Challenging myself and all that jazz - but, hooping is something just for me. I miss that. Another odd part about all this is that hoops are still taking up a lot of my time. But it's time that is not truly for me - I am teaching, making and selling hoops - which, I love - but, it is not the same as clearing a space for yourself to let loose and get lost.

Thankfully, as this week zooms along and the next one comes to a close things shooould be getting back to normal.

Soon I will have a big yard. A vast collection of hoops. and... most importantly, the time to enjoy them.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Letting Things Go & New Connections


Becoming "a hooper" has changed my whole identity - or, rather, completed it.



Sure, I had a decent idea of who I was before the hoop - but it was a work in progress at best. Describing myself awyas consisted of those horribly bland adjectives that everyone uses - "smart, funny..." and of course under hobbies, the ubiquitous, "likes to read." Ugh.

Man! I wanted an exciting hobby. Windsurfing. Mountain Climbing. Cave Diving. But, those things took a LOT of time, money, training... and ...well, did I say money?

Then of course, I found the hoop. For relatively cheap I had something intriguing to say about myself. This lead to a personality shift - or, really, discovery. Suddenly, I was outgoing, adventurous, garrulous, free-spirited, open-minded ... more and more! I became a teacher. I met new people everywhere I went. And the best part was, having this new passion did not feel foreign - it brought out the person I always felt I was.

and...

I could finally let a LOT of stuff [finally, finally, finally] GO.

Bad relationships were in the past, and I could finally KEEP them there. I didn't spend time thinking about what this person or that person were doing now. Pfft - why dwell, when I can go hoop?

My Body was MY body - my one and only body I would ever have - it allowed me to embrace this new art - so I may as well stop hating it so much.

Hooping pushed me out of the stagnant "smart, funny... like to read" rut I had been in, for longer than I had realized. Or, rather, me becoming a hooper, helped me to become so much more!