How Wellness Coaches Can Protect and License Their Signature Method
One health coach developed a unique process that changed their life—and wanted to teach it to others. But without legal protection, it could be stolen or misused. Here’s how they scaled it safely.
Why This Happens
Many coaches and teachers build powerful frameworks—but hesitate to promote or license them because they fear being copied.
How It Gets Messy
If someone copies your method, name, or content, you can’t enforce your rights without a trademark, copyright, or licensing agreement.
What Could’ve Prevented It
Register your IP. Protect your name. Create a licensing agreement. Then grow with confidence knowing your method is legally yours.
Key Takeaways
✔️ Trademarks protect your brand and method name
✔️ Copyright protects your materials and processes
✔️ Licensing lets you scale without losing control
✔️ Wellness pros need real legal structure to grow big
🎧 You built something powerful—protect it before scaling. Press play now.
Contractor or Employee? The Costly Mistake Wellness Studios Keep Making
A studio owner wanted to fire a toxic team member—only to find out they’d been misclassifying them as a contractor for years. The result? Legal leverage lost, thousands paid in settlement, and weeks of stress that could’ve been avoided with the right agreement.
Why This Happens
In the wellness world, hiring “contractors” seems easier and cheaper—but most business owners don’t understand the legal test behind that label. Simply calling someone a contractor doesn’t make it true in the eyes of the law.
How It Gets Messy
When relationships with staff break down, misclassification gives workers legal leverage. If they’ve been treated like employees, they can file complaints or threaten audits—and suddenly, you’re forced to negotiate from a weak position.
What Could’ve Prevented It
A strategic hiring process and an industry-specific agreement aligned with how work is actually performed. When your contracts match your operations, you stay legally protected—and in control.
Key Takeaways
✔️ Calling someone a contractor doesn’t make it legal
✔️ Misclassification can trigger audits or settlements
✔️ Laws vary by state and center on control and behavior
✔️ Working with an industry-specific lawyer avoids costly mistakes
🎧 Don’t let a misclassified contractor hijack your business. Press play now.
Who Actually Owns Your Business?
A wellness studio was booming—until one partner wanted out. No documents were signed. No rules were agreed upon. Suddenly, everything fell apart. Another studio had the same challenge… but solved it in 24 hours. The difference? One piece of paper.
Why This Happens
Most health and wellness entrepreneurs focus on growth, not legal structure. You trust your partner, open your doors, and keep going—without ever defining who owns what, or what happens if someone leaves.
How It Gets Messy
When your co-owner quits or your business hits a conflict, the law assumes 50/50 ownership—even if your time, money, or energy was nowhere near equal. Without a signed agreement, you have no legal advantage.
What Could’ve Prevented It
A clear operating or shareholder agreement tailored to wellness businesses. One that defines ownership, payout rules, exit strategies, and dispute resolution—so you can grow your brand without legal chaos.
Key Takeaways
✔️ No legal documents = no ownership control
✔️ The law defaults to 50/50—no matter what you contributed
✔️ Partnership exits without documents cost thousands
✔️ A customized agreement gives clarity, control, and peace of mind
🎧 Don’t just build your wellness business. Protect it. Press play now.
Too often, health and wellness entrepreneurs only think of lawyers as intimidating, expensive, and reactive. But what if your lawyer truly understood your business—and genuinely wanted you to succeed?
In this episode, Cory shares real stories of clients navigating issues like toxic employees, angry members, faulty equipment, and trademark disputes—all made easier by having a relationship with a lawyer who knows them, loves them, and is ready to help.
Whether it's creating proactive strategies or managing unexpected challenges, having a lawyer who truly has your back can mean the difference between stress and success.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
✔️ Proactive law gives you power—reactive law costs time, stress, and money
✔️ Having a lawyer who knows your business means faster, more effective support
✔️ CC+ membership offers unlimited access and real results for members
✔️ Legal support should be human, heart-led, and actually enjoyable
🎧 Why You Need a Lawyer Who Actually Loves You? Press play now.
No Contract? Welcome to the Wild Wild West
A retreat collab. A great idea. But no contract. When things went sideways, one client had no legal power—and paid the price.
Why This Happens
It’s common: you trust someone, get excited about a project, and start building before you clarify who owns what. But the law assumes both parties share ownership—unless there’s a written agreement.
How It Gets Messy
When things go wrong, you’re stuck in what Cory calls “the Wild Wild West”—where no one has a clear legal advantage, and negotiations are costly and emotional.
What Could’ve Prevented It
A simple written agreement defining roles, rights, and responsibilities. That’s it.
Key Takeaways
✔️ Starting a project without a contract creates legal chaos
✔️ The law assumes 50/50 ownership unless stated otherwise
✔️ A written agreement protects your IP and brand vision
✔️ Conflict without contracts = expensive, stressful, and avoidable
🎧 Legal clarity starts with one document. Press play now.
Are You Bound by a Contract If the Info Is Wrong?
You signed a contract. But later, you realize some of the info in it was wrong. Can you still be legally bound?
This episode breaks down a real $25,000 mistake—and what it teaches about signing contracts without double-checking the details.
Why “I Didn’t Know” Doesn’t Work in Law
There’s a legal principle called “ignorance is not a defense.”
If you sign something—even if the information inside is wrong—you’re likely still bound by it.
One of Cory’s clients signed a commercial lease stating the property was 1,100 sq ft.
Three years later, she discovered the space was only 800 sq ft.
That mistake cost her over $25,000 in rent overpayment—and there was nothing she could do to recover it.
Why This Matters for Wellness Entrepreneurs
Whether it’s a lease, a partnership agreement, or a contractor agreement, the fine print matters.
You need to know:
Key Takeaways:
✔️ If you sign it, you’re usually bound—even if the info is wrong
✔️ Most contracts include clauses saying you had the chance to get legal advice
✔️ The time and cost to dispute a signed contract is rarely worth it
✔️ Review before signing—or risk costly surprises later
🎧 Listen before you sign something you regret.
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Installments vs Subscriptions – Protecting Your Payments
Some clients drop out. Others cancel and stop paying. The legal difference between subscriptions and installments can determine whether you keep the money or lose it entirely.
Subscription vs Installment – What’s the Difference?
A subscription gives clients access month-by-month. They can cancel. Installments mean clients are buying the full program, and you’re letting them pay it off over time.
Why You Need the Right Legal Language
If your agreement doesn’t clearly explain what happens when someone cancels midway, you’re exposed. Cory shares two real stories: one studio lost six figures in revenue, another coach lost 66% of their fee—simply because their contracts weren’t clear.
Key Takeaways:
✔️ Subscriptions can be canceled under Click to Cancel laws
✔️ Installments are not subscriptions—if clearly stated
✔️ Your contract must explain what happens if a client cancels
✔️ Without this, you’ll lose time, money, and control
🎧 Protect your payments. Understand the difference. Press play now.
How to Negotiate Through Your Contracts
Your contract is more than a set of rules—it’s a tool to open communication and set expectations.
Negotiation Is a Good Thing
When someone asks to change the contract, don’t panic. Whether it’s a landlord, client, or team member, negotiation creates clarity—and often strengthens the working relationship.
Why It Matters
This episode shares stories of conscious communication in action, where clear negotiation helped both parties feel confident, supported, and protected. Your legal agreements should reflect your values and your boundaries.
Key Takeaways:
✔️ Use your own agreements, drafted for your business and industry
✔️ Invite dialogue if someone has questions
✔️ Clarify expectations before signing
✔️ Negotiation creates stronger relationships and fewer future problems
Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later
If you have a wellness business, you will eventually need legal support. The only question is: will it be proactive or reactive?
What This Episode Covers: Cory shares the most important advice he ever received as a lawyer: “pay me now or pay me later.” He walks through two recent client stories—one who got sued for six figures, and another facing an expensive trademark fight—all because they delayed legal.
Why It Matters: When you wait until there's a problem, you're no longer in control. You’re reacting, often stressed, and paying more. This episode shows why protecting yourself before an issue arises is the best strategy.
Key Takeaways:
✔️ You will need legal help—sooner or later
✔️ Being proactive costs less and gives you control
✔️ Waiting means you’ll be reacting under stress
✔️ These stories are real, and preventable
🎧 Press play. Protect your business.
Top 5 Legal Myths Wellness Entrepreneurs Believe
These are the myths keeping amazing wellness professionals from legal clarity. Let’s break them down.
What People Say
Cory shares the top limiting beliefs he's heard in 8+ years of working with 1,600+ clients:
What Actually Works
Each myth gets lovingly debunked with real stories, client examples, and Cory's strategies for building a solid legal foundation.
You’ll learn why size doesn’t matter, when "later" is too late, and how real protection gives you the freedom to grow.
Key Takeaways:
✔️ Legal protection matters at all stages
✔️ Friends + free sessions still carry legal risk
✔️ Generic templates can create huge vulnerabilities
✔️ Clarity gives confidence—and stronger sales
✔️ The law applies to you whether you believe it or not
🎧 Press play to get legally empowered.
Why I Left Traditional Law (And What Makes Our Firm Different)
Cory didn’t plan to be a lawyer. And he definitely didn’t plan to leave Big Law to serve yoga teachers and wellness entrepreneurs. But the system was broken—and so was the experience for clients.
What Traditional Law Gets Wrong
Long hours. Poor communication. Lawyers that clients don’t actually want to work with. Cory saw the flaws first-hand and decided to do things differently.
A New Kind of Legal Support
Fun. Human. Industry-specific. Conscious Counsel was built for heart-led entrepreneurs who want to feel seen and supported. And it all started with one principle: be the lawyer you’d want to work with.
Key Takeaways:
✔️ Big Law didn’t support wellness entrepreneurs
✔️ Most law firms create friction instead of clarity
✔️ Legal should feel fun, light, and aligned
✔️ Clients deserve respect, transparency, and care
🎧 Press play and meet the lawyer behind Conscious Counsel.
Can Signing the Wrong Lease Bankrupt You?
When COVID hit, many wellness businesses went under. The #1 reason? Lease agreements they didn’t understand.
What Goes Wrong
From outrageous personal guarantees to vague use clauses, most lease documents are written to protect the landlord—not you. Cory unpacks the most common red flags that get studio owners in trouble.
What You Can Do
You can negotiate. You should ask questions. And you must understand what you’re signing before locking yourself into thousands of dollars of monthly rent.
Key Takeaways:
✔️ Always clarify permitted use for your space
✔️ Ask for a non-compete clause if you're in a shared building or plaza
✔️ Avoid personal guarantees when possible
✔️ Get clarity on all costs (rent, taxes, CAM, insurance)
✔️ Consider early morning/loud use restrictions if needed
🎧 Press play to avoid costly lease mistakes.
📞 Book a legal call: https://www.consciouscounsel.ca/Schedule-A-Call
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Are You Legally Protected from Sexual Harassment Claims?
One yoga studio in Florida faced a nightmare situation: a studio manager accused a co-owner of harassment. No procedures, no policy, no clear legal protection.
What Went Wrong
No employee handbook. No staff policies. No owner agreement. No way to enforce removal of the accused owner. Without the right agreements, the entire business and community was exposed.
The Hard Legal Truth
When you don’t have written procedures and clear studio rules, you’re not just vulnerable—you’re negligent. Cory walks through exactly what needs to be in place to keep your staff safe, your business compliant, and your legal risk as low as possible.
Key Takeaways:
✔️ Include consent clauses in all waivers
✔️ Create clear studio policies for inappropriate conduct
✔️ Ensure contractor and employee agreements outline behavior and consequences
✔️ Add ownership enforcement terms to your shareholder/operating agreement
🎧 Strong policies = safer spaces. Press play now.
📞 Book a legal call: https://www.consciouscounsel.ca/Schedule-A-Call
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👥 Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1017810176528069/
They built a seven-figure wellness brand—then lost it all in legal mediation.
When partnerships work, they’re magic. But when they fall apart without legal guardrails, the fallout is expensive and emotionally draining. In this episode, Cory shares a cautionary tale about two successful wellness entrepreneurs who triggered each other into a costly legal battle—because they never signed a partnership agreement.
You’ll learn what legal protections are essential when co-owning a business, why assumptions can destroy even the strongest partnerships, and how to build agreements that protect both your business and your relationships.
Links & CTAs:
🌐 consciouscounsel.ca
📞 Book a free legal consult: Schedule Here
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Wondering when to stop being a sole proprietor and start a company? Cory breaks down when it makes sense to incorporate—legally, financially, and practically.
In this episode, Cory shares three real-world stories to help wellness entrepreneurs decide when forming a legal entity is the right move. From an Ayurvedic clinic inheritance to a Pilates studio inside a family home, to a heli-skiing adventure business—these cases illustrate how incorporating can protect your assets, reduce taxes, and manage risk.
If you're unsure whether to stay a sole proprietor or create a legal entity like an LLC or corporation, this episode offers clarity and guidance in under 15 minutes.
Links & CTAs:
→ Visit: https://www.consciouscounsel.ca
→ Book a free call: https://www.consciouscounsel.ca/Schedule-A-Call
→ Follow: Instagram | Facebook Group
A rash. A yoga mat. A $1 million lawsuit. Here’s why your waiver needs to go beyond the basics—and how to fix yours.
In this jaw-dropping episode, Cory shares a real story about a yoga studio that got sued for over $1 million—because of a rash allegedly caused by a shared mat.
The lawsuit wasn’t just shocking—it was expensive. And the worst part? The waiver the studio used was a generic template. It didn’t mention specific equipment. It didn’t mention skin reactions. And it didn’t give Cory the legal footing to dismiss the claim outright.
If you're using templated waivers or have no idea what yours says, this is a must-listen.
You’ll learn:
Links & CTAs:
Visit: https://www.consciouscounsel.ca
Book a call: https://www.consciouscounsel.ca/Schedule-A-Call
Follow: Instagram | Facebook Group
What Should I Put in My Contract? How to Build Agreements That Actually Work
What goes into a great contract? It depends—but in the best way possible.
In this episode, Cory Sterling shares a real story about a Pilates studio collaborating with a celebrity guest teacher for a retreat, and how they reverse-engineered the agreement based on what actually made the relationship work.
You’ll learn:
If you’ve ever wondered how to set terms that truly protect your time, energy, and money—this episode is for you.
🔗 Resources:
👉 Book a free legal consult
📸 Follow Conscious Counsel on Instagram
How to Legally Remove Difficult Clients Without Refund Drama
Yes, you can fire clients—but only if your agreements give you the power to do it.
In this episode, Cory Sterling shares two real stories: one where a retreat leader had to remove a guest for breaking a no-alcohol rule, and another where a studio owner struggled to kick out a disruptive member because they didn’t have a contract in place.
You’ll learn:
If you’ve ever had a nightmare client—or want to prevent one—this episode is for you.
🔗 Resources:
👉 Book a free legal consult
📚 Download our free legal bundle
📸 Follow Conscious Counsel on Instagram
New FTC laws are changing how you manage subscriptions. Here’s what to update now to stay compliant—and avoid costly refund requests.
In Episode 5, Cory Sterling unpacks the 2024 Click-to-Cancel law and how it affects gyms, studios, and online programs that use recurring billing. You’ll hear two real client stories: one where outdated agreements led to a refund and lost revenue, and one where a proactive legal update protected the business and enforced a fair cancellation fee.
If your business collects recurring payments, this law applies to you. Learn what needs to change in your contracts, systems, and cancellation process so you can stay compliant, protected, and profitable.
👉 Book a call: https://www.consciouscounsel.ca/Schedule-A-Call
👉 Free legal bundle: https://www.consciouscounsel.ca/
👉 Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consciouscounsel/
Misclassifying your workers can cost you everything. Here’s how to get it right and avoid expensive legal fallout.
In this episode, Cory dives into one of the most misunderstood areas of law for wellness businesses: how to classify the people who work for you. Are they independent contractors or employees? The answer impacts your legal risk, your relationships, and your bottom line.
Cory shares four powerful stories—from six-figure penalties and audits to quick legal wins—to help you understand the rules, risks, and responsibilities that come with worker classification. If you’ve ever hired someone for your studio, retreat, or online business, this is essential listening.
👉 Book a call: https://www.consciouscounsel.ca/Schedule-A-Call
👉 Free legal bundle: https://www.consciouscounsel.ca/
👉 Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consciouscounsel/
