Stephanie Falk, Co-Founder of Pause to be Present
Name: Stephanie Falk
Founder: Pause to be Present
Who is Stephanie Falk?
Stephanie Falk is the Head of Engagement and Development at Pause to be Present and oversees all business aspects of the hybrid wellness studio including marketing, development, special events and community outreach. Mindfulness and Meditation has had a significant impact on her life by providing necessary balance while juggling a busy career and raising three children in Westchester, NY.
Prior to co-founding Pause, Stephanie worked as Director of Development for Gilda’s Club Westchester, a non-profit that provides FREE emotional and social support to anyone impacted by cancer. Before Gilda's Club, Stephanie worked as a Vice President, Retail Brand Director for Lady Foot Locker and then as a marketing and communications consultant, providing strategic planning and brand development for corporate clients in the areas of special events, retail and marketing. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Syracuse University.
In less than three sentences tell us about your company and what you do.
Stephanie Falk and Cheryl Brause founded Pause to be Present to help busy people thrive and find calm in today’s stressful world through a highly accessible approach to mindfulness and meditation. Our practice and programming is designed to build a supportive community through relatable, customized content and strategies that are simple, current, and practical. Our transformative process promotes greater wellbeing, happiness, and fulfillment, in all aspects of our lives.
What does BEING a FoundHer mean to you?
Cheryl and Stephanie pride themselves as being FoundHer's and changing peoples lives for the better each day. While we serve men, women, teens and children, a majority of our clients and members are women. Many of these women have begun working for us, with us and are inspired by us! We both have young adult daughters who watched us start this company, pivot during the pandemic and see it thrive since then! We are so proud to be role models for them and all the women we work with - anything is possible! We both started this company in our mid-50's!
How do you support other female founders and women in business?
We offer workshops and opportunities for networking in our physical studio and online. In fact, next week we are hosting a "What's Next" workshop to help women dive deeper inside themselves to see what they want to do in their next chapter. 90% of the consultants we work with and teachers we employ are female entrepreneurs and we are so proud to help and support women in business like ourselves.
At what point did you make your company a full time gig? How did you know the time was right?
I was a stressed out working mom of three when I took my first class with Cheryl (my now partner) and a year later when I asked if she would want to grow this business and reach more people she immediately said yes so basically a few months into starting the business I stepped away from my job at Gilda's Club. I knew it was the right time because people were coming to us from all over looking to learn how to easily access tools to find peace and calm - and we could do help them!
What lesson or skill did you take with you from a prior job to help you succeed in your role today?
The lesson I took from my prior job to help me success in my current role is not to be afraid to ask for something - the worse thing someone can say is NO! and that is ok! My skills as an engager, connector, marketer, publicist, and people-person come into play every single day. Cheryl's past role as a Corporate Litigator and executive on Wall Street help her understand the stress that working people experience every day and how important it is to learn how to be in the present moment, relax, de-stress and find ease in life.
Let’s talk social media—who handles it for your company (you, an internal team member, an outsourced solution?) and what is the secret to making it successful? What is the biggest challenge?
For the first three years of our business (coming up on five years!) we handled social media on our own. We knew how important it was to be on social to get the word out about our business but it truly was a challenge and we spent so much time on it. we finally hired a great small social media agency, The Silver Linings Group, who specialize in social media for small businesses in the wellness space and it is a great investment for us. We still spend a lot of time planning the calendar, updating stories and creating events but it is managed much more efficiently. The biggest challenge is staying relevant, fresh, exciting, fun and current. Also challenging to stay on brand and stand out from all the other amazing wellness companies out there!
How did you land your first client?
Our first corporate client, COMBE INC, came to us through a close personal friend who was a VP Marketing and shared our work with her HR team. We also landed our second big client - a hedge fund when they simply googled us! Most of our corporate clients we secure are via word of mouth.
What is something you do differently from the industry standard?
The difference between Pause to be Present and other meditation studios or Apps out there is that we are all about COMMUNITY, support, connecting and sharing relatable ways to easily be present and meditate. We have something for everyone - a virtual studio with live daily classes each morning, a Peloton-style studio with on-demand themed classes - stress, sleep, difficult conversations, focus, etc. so that people can listen to a themed class that resonates with them, We also have a free APP on the Apple Store that people can download so that they can breathe and listen to a guided meditation anywhere and anytime! We also have 8 amazing teachers who each specialize in different areas - ie; a positive psychology coach, a psychologist, an outdoor mindfulness expert, a yoga teacher and more!
Did you raise capital? What was the process and avenue you chose to take?
Me and my partner Cheryl chose to each invest equal money in the business year one and proud to say since then we have been profitable since then!
What would you do differently if you were starting your business today?
Nothing! We are having fun, changing lives, creating a great product that people seem to want and like and truly need!
What are three strategies you use to market your business, grow brand awareness and generate bottom line growth?
We do a weekly blast every Sunday that has a relatable mindfulness topic and also promotes upcoming classes, workshops and programs.
We have a dedicated social media strategy - at least three posts per week, stories, etc. on linked in, Facebook and instagram.
We invest in updating our corporate pitch book and keeping it current and try to pitch new companies and potential clients every few weeks.
What was an obstacle you overcame to get your business where it is today? Please share the story behind it.
The biggest obstacle was the pandemic! We started our business April 2019 and opened our brick and mortar space in Mamaroneck NY November 1, 2019. Four short months later Covid was here and of course we were forced to close our doors. We had clients who were stressed and needed us, we had a new lease, and we had just invested a significant amount of money in a new business.
My temple approached us the third week in March and asked us to hold a virtual meditation class for the congregants since they wanted to establish community even though everyone was at home and from that point on, we realized we could do the same thing we were doing in a studio space in a ZOOM room. We spent the entire spring and summer creating our VIRTUAL Mindfulness and Meditation studio and holding classes throughout the day. We built it and they came - not only from Westchester, but from Chicago, from Maryland, From CA, Florida and more!
In the last year many of our clients have asked for in-person so we have a NEW studio for in-person classes, but we have kept our virtual studio and all our programs are offered HYBRID so everyone is happy!
Do you want to share your story and advice with the Dear FoundHer… community? CLICK HERE to submit your information.
Follow us on Instagram @dearfoundher and join our Facebook community for more conversation.
Make sure you tune in to Dear FoundHer… for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.
