Believe: A Ted Lasso Moment
Dear Soul Dive,
If you don’t know who Ted Lasso is I need you to put this email down, open up your AppleTV+ and buckle up for the next few days until you’ve completed all 3 seasons of the greatest show ever put on TV. Assuming you’re familiar with the world’s most beloved football coach, then you may proceed.
A little over a year ago, 4-5 months before Soul Dive opened its doors, and even before we had a fully functioning website, I launched Soul Dive’s Founding Membership program. The offer was 5 years of unlimited yoga for $5,000, which breaks down to $83 per month. It was my answer to a little capital raise to float the business and I was certain I would get at least 10-15 takers. My people are smart, they can do math and there is no doubt this was (and is, by a landslide!) the most affordable yoga for sale on earth. While a couple did come through, the response was largely met by crickets. Apparently, the amount of intelligence was no match for a lack of belief.
As I’ve continued my journey through leadership I couldn’t help but wonder: What would Ted Lasso do? The Lasso way shows a spirit of grace, honesty, understanding, second chances, and humility. Most of all, Lasso offered me this plain and simple: It’s not about me. The Lasso way evolved into the story of Richmond’s most miraculous seasons. It was a story about teamwork, the collective coming together with equal parts strength and stamina. While Ted was at the helm, the success had as much to do with Rebecca’s fearlessness, Beard’s stoicism, Roy’s anger, Leslie’s optimism, and Nate’s heart. While Ted was the lynchpin, he was never the why.
We’ve evolved into a population that has to see to believe. Can the studio make it, can I swing it as a business owner, will the teachers be good, who will come, are they going to burn weird things and put strange iconography all over the space… What if Covid happens again?
What I failed to recognize is that you weren’t looking to see, but rather you needed to feel something in order to believe. I didn’t realize that it didn’t matter how affordable the offer was because y'all weren’t looking for logic. You were looking for connection and community. The oh-so-hard-to-describe feeling of being purely blissed out by the practice - that’s what you were searching for. Oh, how Yoga.
I have always had the gift of blind faith and I am absolutely the type who has to feel in order to believe. But while I pay the rent and pen the emails, this isn’t about me. It’s about you.
And in the spirit of second chances, allow me to remind you about the pricing promotion we have running through July 31. You’ve seen the numbers and you’ve experienced the feeling. Now it’s time for logic. Lock in your rate now and you’ve got it for life.
There isn’t a character out there that had more relatability or felt more human than Ted Lasso. It was through Ted’s honesty, transparency, and authenticity that he stole our hearts and brought even the toughest men to tears. It was through his love that he defied the odds and succeeded in victory. We say it’s the journey, right? The lessons are in the transitions, the closing doors are the redirects and the rejections are our heart’s protection. So let’s bring a little more of the Lasso spirit in as we flow forward. Let’s believe. Let’s believe that we are meant to be here and our mat is our pitch, practicing so we may experience more grace through life’s triumphs and tribulations.
I hear it all the time… Yoga isn’t for me, I can’t touch my toes, I’m not flexible, it’s impossible. Borrowing a line right out of Ted’s book, “When you say impossible, all I hear is I’m possible.” Lasso also says, “It’s the lack of hope that comes and gets you. See, I believe in hope. I believe in belief.” Ted, I couldn’t agree more. May the Lasso legacy live on as we believe in the biggest asset we’ve all got: ourselves.
See you out on the pitch,
