Very Difficult Decision

Not sure if you guys remember this or not, but last February I became a certified Zumba instructor. I was so excited to be teaching something that I loved and enjoyed so much. At first I was only teaching here and there. Subbing really for the regular Zumba instructor who was pregnant. Then when she had the baby, Monday and Tuesdays became my class. 

I knew when I took over that I probably wasn't going to keep everyone. A lot of them were there for her class. But quite a few of them stayed and I appreciated it. And we gained a few new regulars here and there. 

Over the last year we went through a lot of change with the gym. First came new owners who decided that they wanted to turn the gym into more of a Crossfit gym instead of just a regular lifting gym. Because of this they couldn't have cared less about the group classes (i.e. yoga, spin, and of course Zumba.) They were rude at times and not always keen on what we had to say when it came to our class, but we stuck it out and eventually they sold the gym and we didn't have to deal with them anymore. 

This past October/November the newest set of owners came in and started making even more changes. But these changes seemed to be for the better. Brought in more equipment, more weights, more of everything. They were trying to turn the gym back into a heavy lifting gym. And they really seemed to want to get our participation back up in all of our classes. The only downside was that they decided to change how they paid us. We used to get paid a flat rate per class and then they changed it to where we were getting paid per person that attended our classes. It wasn't bad at first, but I definitely wasn't making the same amount that I was before, but I didn't mind too much because I still loved teaching. 

As the months went on, attendance in classes started dropping, which meant I was really not making much at all. Normally I wouldn't have cared, but I had just moved to the other side of town. Some days I was spending more in gas to drive over there than I was making because I just didn't have the numbers. But I stuck with it because I loved the ladies in my class and I didn't want to let them down. 

More and more I dreaded driving over to that side of town to teach. It was becoming more and more apparent to me that I wasn't enjoying it as much. And to add to the non enjoyment, I started having issues with the new owners not wanting to pay me in a timely manner. Every time I would approach them about it, they had some excuse. I was maybe getting paid once a month and when they were paying me, they weren't even paying me the full amount that they owed. And they were doing this to the other instructors too. This got old really quick. 

I finally had enough. This past Tuesday I went in to talk to them about it. And of course, they weren't there. This seemed to be happening more and more too. When we needed to talk to them, they were conveniently never there. So I got on my phone and called the owner and told her I was done teaching. I told her that I was frustrated with not getting paid anymore and driving all the way over there to not make enough to even cover my gas. She was really nice and understanding about it and told me they would call me when they had my final check for me. But I think she was just trying to save face because I still haven't heard from her and still haven't received my last check. 

This was an incredibly hard decision for me. My regular ladies that came to class every week made this decision even more difficult. I love these ladies and they have become great friends, but I had to make a decision for me. I was tired of being stressed out about it. I wasn't enjoying myself anymore. And I am a firm believer that if you aren't happy with what you are doing, you need to not be doing it anymore. So I had to listen to my gut and I quit. And I already feel a million times better since making my decision, but at the same time I am going to miss my Zumba ladies so much. 

I haven't decided if I want to keep teaching or not. I may look around a bit to see if somewhere else closer to my house needs a sub from time to time. But until then, I am going to take some time for myself to re-establish a good workout schedule and just get back into a great routine for myself. I think I owe it to myself and it is the best thing I can do for me after being in such a stressful situation for a while. 

Remember, you have to take care of yourself sometimes. And although sometimes the decisions you have to make to take care of yourself are not easy, they are for the best.