Now that she knows how to teach on Zoom, Raegan Lopez, owner of B.Well Studios, says there’s no reason she shouldn’t expand her reach.

By Kelly Burch, Granite State News Collaborative

Like many businesses owners, Raegan Lopez, owner of B.Well Studios in Merrimack has spent a lot more time behind the computer in the past year. 

“As a creative, the hardest thing is the technical part: getting [everything] working in the same world,” Lopez said.

Normally, Lopez teaches 30-35 dance and fitness classes a week at the studio. The pandemic interrupted that, and even after reopening Lopez has offered a Zoom option for people who are not comfortable with in-person classes. With an online option for almost every class, she’s learned a lot in the past year.

“Now, it’s better,” Lopez said, before adding that internet issues in the Granite State can still give her unexpected challenges. 

In order to teach online, Lopez has had to adjust how she engages her students, many of whom are young kids.  A typical in-person dance class might include games, props like the parachute, and group interactions. 

“They don’t want just a lecture and steps, they want activities,” Lopez said.

Through trial and error Lopez has learned which teaching tactics translate will into a digital class, and which don’t. With that under her belt, Lopez is looking at ways to expand her business to reach customers beyond Merrimack.

“I think zoom is huge for the future, because everything is online,” she said. 

She’s currently teaching a fully-online class that she markets via Facebook and Instagram ads. The class includes some dance instruction, reading a book and doing a craft, the supplies for which Lopez mails out ahead of time. The success of that class has Lopez thinking about other ways to teach online and reach more customers. 

“I should be open to anyone,” she said. “It’s a work in progress, but it seems to be working really well.”

As more people become comfortable with digital learning, she thinks interest in online activities will grow. 

“The biggest thing with virtual is access, and everyone feeling like they can access it easier. Zoom is rough on some people,” Lopez said. 

To combat clients’ frustrations, Lopez strives to create the same safe, welcoming space online that she does in the studio. 

“Everyone needs to relax and take a breath,” she said. 

For the people who are attending in-person classes, Lopez wants B.Well to feel like a refuge. 

“So many people are so emotional right now,” she says. “Everyone is overwhelmed with everything. I want to be their safe space.”

In that vein, Lopez said she’s focused on customer service, even more than she has been in the past. 

“I try to make the customers super, super happy. I always did, but now I go the extra mile because I want to make sure they’re happy.”

As she works with her clients, teaching dance both in person and online, Lopez hopes the pandemic has brought about new ways of expanding B.Well. 

“There’s different opportunities that you would not have had before,” she said.

This story is part of the 50 Businesses, 50 Solutions series, shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative, that aims to highlight how business leaders across the state, from mom and pop shops, to large corporations have adapted to meet the challenges and disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus in the hopes others may be able to replicate these ideas and innovations. Tell us your story here. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.