THE PADDLE BOARDING CPA

Ash Bourgeois, owner of Wild Path, shares her story of bringing standup paddle board yoga to the prairies in Winnipeg, Canada. She specializes in going places nobody knows about where SUP is the only way can get around. Connecting through nature, with her customers and community, she leads adventures on land and water honoring her own wildness.

In this interview, we discuss:

• Her summer and peak season strategies, including the four SUP yoga classes she offers weekly (Wild and Free, Float Class, Let Go and Flow and Soft and Sweet)
• Day and weekend adventures plus retreats that she leads with paddling and hikes
• How she connects with her customers and why they keep coming back
• How she honors, respects and works with the local 1st nation community and their traditions
• Her winter strategy and why creating group outdoor activities is a draw for her customers
• SUP teacher training and her unique approach
• Moving to digital in the off-season launching her Inner Compass Challenge
• Email marketing and social media strategies

For more information: Episode 26

Hitting the standup paddle board racing circuit by storm, Seychelle has made a name for herself in 2 short years. Only picking up paddleboarding 3 years ago, she has worked with coaches and implemented an incredibly focused training schedule and nutrition regimen to achieve elite performance. Seychelle is currently ranked in the top 10 women standup paddle board racers in the world.

In this interview, we discuss:

• How Seychelle made the transition from training for a marathon to standup paddle boarding
• SUP Coaching and how she has evolved with coaches from two short years ago, when she was just starting out to now that she is ranked worldwide
• The importance of nutrition, diving deep into Seychelle's nutrition pre-race strategy and training strategy and how being a vegan impacts her nutrition choices
• Sponsorships and how that has changed, her recommendations on how to approach a sponsor and why they are looking for athletes at all levels
• The transition from flat water paddling to racing in surf, her training and lessons learned
• Performance and improvement at the 2016 and 2017 Pacific Paddle Games
• Advice for paddle boarders looking to get into racing
• What being a professional elite stand up paddle board racer looks like on a weekly basis

Find out more at Episode 10

Nikki Johnston, owner of Sea To Sky Fitness, has taken her love of outdoor fitness and created a complete wellness offering with personal training, nutrition coaching, stand up paddle (SUP) fitness and yoga classes. She is also adding an international standup paddle adventure retreat to her business this year.

In this interview, we discuss:

• Nikki's background and what drove her starting a business in outdoor fitness
• How she started training on the water before she trained off the water
• How paddle instructor training drove her to get Yoga certified
• The entrepreneur mindset reflecting after 3 years in business
• Marketing strategies for a SUP business
• Water access and how a partnership simplified it
• How she gives back to new SUP instructors and travels with Master Training certifications
• Sea To Sky Fitness class structures and options from SUP Yoga, Sunset Paddles, Surfer Sculpt and Progressive Series
• Information on a once in a lifetime SUP retreat to Tulum Mexico co-hosted by Nikki Johnston - January 20-25, 2018.

Find out more: Episode 9

In this episode...

Julie walks you through a tutorial and checklist on why you need a Facebook business page and how to optimize it so that you increase your followers, brand awareness and engagement.

Did you know over 1 BILLION users login to Facebook worldwide? Having a presence on Facebook is a MUST if you are a business owner, entrepreneur or professional athlete. From optimizing your cover photo, profile picture and about page to using Facebook live video, there are so many nuggets of information in this episode that you don't want to miss out on.

This is an episode not to be missed.

Find out more ->> Episode 7

The Paddleboarding CPA Podcast by Julie Merrill helps adventure seeking and active sport-related business owners create and grow their business around their passion. Helping tours, lessons, retreats and trips in stand up paddle boarding (SUP), SUPyoga, SUPfitness, SUPsurf, kayaking, windsurfing, kiteboarding, fitness, and other outdoor sports.

Julie interviews Roxy SUP Racer, Sports Model and Paddle Into Fitness owner Gillian Gibree. In this interview, they discuss:

• Paddle Into Fitness and Float Into Fitness: Gillian's stand up paddle board (SUP) flat water, yoga and fitness certification program, what's involved and who it's for.
• The Master Trainer Program for students of Paddle Into Fitness and Float Into Fitness wanting to run their own certification programs
• Racing tips and preparation on training for stand up paddle races
• How to approach and obtain sponsors
• Sports Fitness modeling
• Behind the scenes insight into running and attending retreats
• Travel tips for equipment
• How Gillian balances being a business owner, model, athlete, wife and soon to be mom.
• Advice for new business owners wanting to start a business around their passion

Find more on this episode at Episode 2

SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW!