 All right. Welcome everybody to the next FloatCon webinar. Today we are very excited for Laura Foster to give us a little presentation and lead a discussion about sensitive areas and pre-float conversations. I'm sure you all know that there's a lot that goes into a customer's experience and it's not just the float itself. There's everything around it. And yeah, let's get started. Go ahead Laura. Hi everybody, I'm Laura. I have been in the float industry for the last seven years now and I'm on the board of directors for the float collective. So there's a group of us that are a couple Canadians that are behind the scenes on that. And then for the last couple years I've been taking part in the float conference doing a chat about sensitive areas and this kind of concept of the pre-float conversation and these things that need to get overlooked sometimes. So one thing that I found when I got started with float, I had to travel a couple hours out of town because this is going back a few years. It wasn't really the industry that it is now in size. So and I happened to start floating because of a brain injury. So when I went in even though they had a really good setup and the conversation was fantastic, I forgot a ton of it. And so that was something that always stuck with me when it came to getting ready to open my own center is making sure that everything was kind of accessible and that through the best that we can get our clients to have the best experience possible with being comfortable in the facility and not feeling like they're doing something wrong or not knowing what to expect. So through that, one of the things that I've looked really closely with my team on is getting comfortable with doing more of a conversation or like interview type booking process with the client when they're booking over the phone. So we'll touch on a couple different areas. We can do the online booking, booking on the phone and then kind of that conversation that we can do behind the scenes with emails and then get sent to the client. So for us, we do still take a lot of bookings over the phone. I think there's a lot of clients that are nice tech savvy that still rely on having that conversation, calling, talking to someone, asking questions, especially because float is something that people can get a little bit nervous about doing. They're not necessarily familiar with the concept. They just know, oh, somebody mentioned to do a float and they wanted to try it out. So I have basically like a guideline sheet that we keep at our front desk so that staff can follow and everybody can make their own. You don't necessarily have to ask the same question, but there's some things that we really tend to focus on so that the client knows exactly what they're getting into and why floating may actually not be the best thing for them at that time if they should wait or if there's some restrictions that are going to prohibit them from having the best float experience in that initial time they're thinking of booking. So what comes to mind obviously is the sensitivity to skin or any sensitive areas. So when we are having that very first conversation, we're going to talk to people about any medical issues that they may have that might just make the float an intolerable environment. And when it comes to the skin, eczema and psoriasis are two big things that for the most part are going to be tolerable for everyone. Assuming they don't have cracks in the skin or like open wounds, most of the time if you're providing an end ointment or a vasoline in the room, that will be enough. So I don't actually find eczema and psoriasis are a barrier to floating. It's just something that we tend to have a conversation with about beforehand so they know what they're getting into. If it's something that they're dealing with all across the whole body, obviously that's going to be something that's tougher. And there are different skin conditions that will cause rashes or a lot of sensitivity that we don't really want somebody lathering that head to toe in vasoline and then going into the float. So that's one of the first things that we touch on. And then we ask them about basically like things that may do with major organs in the body. So do they have any issues with their kidneys? Obviously the float industry is a whole. We shouldn't be saying that we're absorbing magnesium because we don't have really solid evidence to quantify that. But we do know from years and years of study we've conducted with use of Epsom salt baths that there's benefits there. But that also means that kidneys are going to be processing anything that's going to be flushing from the body. So if someone has a kidney disorder or less function in their kidney, that's just something you want to make aware. If they are on medications for kidney function and they just don't have. Usually what we say is you want to make sure you have 50% kidney capacity. That's what medical professionals have advised us when we are building our policies. So my business partner, when I opened up actually only had one function in kidney and it only operated at like 75%. And there were times where she would float and she really just did not feel well for days after. So yes, it was tolerable, but it was something that we kind of found out with trial and error and kind of put the pieces together. Because the last thing you wanted someone leaving a float experience, feeling groggy, irritable, having any kind of other mental conditions flare up because we didn't give them this information. So kidneys are a big thing. So anybody who might be dealing with even things like cirrhosis with the liver, any kind of any kind of organs or anything in your body that's processing, if they're having issues with their lymphatic system, if they're having issues with their thyroid, it doesn't mean again that they can't float. But those are just things that you may want to know or have information on your website about. Heart sensitivity is another big one. If there's been a recent heart attack, a recent stroke, or if they are on blood pressure medication for low blood pressure, they don't have control of low blood pressure, it may not be advisable for them to float because you're naturally going to lower your blood pressure while you are floating. And you don't want to get into any situations where the person is not feeling well, not able to get themselves out of the tank. Or if they have a heart condition that I've had people float, they have kind of stent put in or you have a case maker, those things are fine. But we're just always going to defer to their position in that situation. And our personal policy at our facility is they have to be six months plus depending on the situation. If it's something minor, it's months. If it's like a heart attack, a stroke, typically we'll wait a year when I'm getting that medical clearance. Now something that my team is looking at right now, that we kind of have to address with recent COVID, there are people that unfortunately are having issues with their heart that are vaccinated. So although it's not an issue I want to speak on as a whole, or kind of dive into that. I don't think as an industry we can ignore the fact that there are people who have had issues with their heart or other reactions to the vaccinations that have happened. So it's not really something again that I touch on or want to get into like political conversations with clients about. But doing our due diligence, I do think that it's something that has to be aware of or at least it might even be something that you want to talk to your insurance company with and touch base on because the insurance industry as a whole is actually seeing a rise in policy payouts or deaths in certain age groups, younger demographics and it is from some you know not typical things. So as a whole health care has really changed in the last two years so it's just something to be mindful of. The other thing is seizures. Unfortunately if someone is having seizures or has a seizure disorder, float is not likely going to be something that's going to be a good match for them. That being said, every person, every medical situation is very unique. I do have a client who has seizures in her sleep. She floats with her partner. They do couple floats. Her partner is very aware and knows the signs to look for when there is going to be a seizure that may happen. So in that case that was something we trial and erred with her for months before we really gave them clearance to float regularly. So again with every single medical condition always always defer to the physician. We are not medical professionals, most of us, I have a background in health care working with physicians but by no means do I ever feel comfortable making that call for someone. And seizures are one that when you combine water safety with a complete loss of control of the body like that the risk of drowning is just way too high or not being able to get out to give themselves help. So in my opinion seizure is one of the biggest red flags that we make sure we ask someone on the phone for booking absolutely every time. The other big kind of complicated one is oncology treatments or oncology medications. There's a lot of different treatments and there's a lot of different, sorry if you can hear my talk, horrible time to be laughing. There's a lot of different oncology treatments. So there are people who are taking a pill on a daily basis that are taking the lower host medication. There are people that will get infusions every so often. What I found when we consulted with an oncologist was because of the compromised immune system when someone's receiving cancer treatments, although we know that floating is very safe, it is very sanitary, when you're adding something like float to somebody's health care treatment and they are already dealing with something that has compromised their immune system, they're very likely to pick up an infection if something were to be exposed or just the concept that this is the new thing that they've added to their day that they haven't tried before. It would be very easy to make an association to blame a reaction on correlating it to float. So again, you are floating in the magnesium, like I said, we can't use the word detox, we can't prove that we're absorbing magnesium, but we do know that there are benefits to the body and for some people that can be hard on their system. So I know that some float centers really vary on this because of course when someone is getting treatment, the more that we can help them relax, more than we can keep them calm, positive, activate their parasympathetic nervous system, all the wonderful things that happen with float, we want to do that for clients and sometimes it can be really tricky to say no. So I'll give you an example, I've been operating now for six years, I've had two different centers, we've recently expanded and I have more medical health professionals and I started getting a lot more referrals when I was working closely at the hospital. So one of them started the oncology and I have one client who has leukemia, she is on a regular medication but with working with her physician and her pharmacist, we were able to realize that the medications that she's on are actually very tolerable, we'll say, or not necessarily a high risk for her to develop an immune reaction or complication. She's not necessarily dealing with the same type of heavy dose treatment. So for her, she does float once a month, she has great results with her, her oncologist and I have had multiple conversations with them and we keep tabs on. I have other clients that, I mean, I'll actually, this is a really good example, it was a really difficult situation to deal with. I had a friend call wanting to set up a gift card because she lived out of town for a friend at first who was going through cancer treatment. Wonderful idea, it was a lovely gesture. So I talked to the friend over the phone and I said, just make sure that you speak to her about her treatment if she's not at least four weeks, ideally 50 past treatment before she's coming in to float, otherwise I don't want to sell you a gift card for something that she won't be able to use. So that was great, she went back, she talked to the friend, the friend talked to her oncologist and they decided themselves that they were going to try to float. So they called me back, I set up the gift card, it was purchased online. A couple weeks later, the client calls to book in and this is a pretty substantial gift card, it was over $400 combined. When she talked to her oncologist, it wasn't a clear conversation and I think the client just really wanted to try a float. So in her opinion, because she eats healthy and she takes care of herself and she leverages her immune system in her mind is better than other people's who have cancer. And I don't know if it was partially a denial thing, like the true impact of chemo on the body or if she was just really adamant she wanted to float, but it was a situation where I just could not let her float, she's regularly getting treatment on a weekly basis. So it was never going to be something and it's hard. This one was terminal, she just lost her mom from the same type of cancer, like it pulled on every possible heart string. But as an owner, knowing that if I let her come in and something happened, the liability is completely on me. So long story short, regardless that her physician apparently gave her the approval, I still said no. And it got a little messy because the first thing the client did was go to Facebook and say, I stole all her money and I was just refusing to give it back. And I was being biased because she's got cancer and horrible person. Thankfully, I have an incredible group of clients and support in the community. So very quickly people came to bat for me and said this really doesn't sound like something she would do. And it was cleared up very quickly. I ended up just refunding them all because even though I have other services, even though I have massaged, this client really wasn't someone I actually even wanted to bring in the facility because she wasn't truthful with me and she was actually quite sick. So as much as in that situation I would love to bring her in, I would love to have her float and relax, it was just not something that we could do. So long story short, she took her float, her comment down and everything was great. But this is why you have these kinds of conversations because the last thing you want is somebody having paid for a service or having value in your facility and they don't feel like they can use it. So whatever your policy is on refunds, I would never normally refund a gift card. I think that's pretty standard policy with most places. In this situation I made an exception and quite honestly it was worth it just from the customer service perspective as well. So I know that there's been conversations in the float clusters about oncology and some people have given different opinions. I think as an industry though typically four weeks post-treatment, depending on the complications for the client, it is usually where people land for safety. And then of course mobility restrictions. So when we're looking the float with the client we always ask them if they're able to get in and out of the bathtub on their own. And that's just a very common example that we can use. Everybody knows what the bathtub is, they know how it's shaped, how to get in and out of it. And so going through this conversation doesn't typically take very long. It's just a few minutes just saying do you have any restrictions with kidney issues, recent heart attacks or strokes, seizure disorders, oncology medications, or restrictions getting in and out of the bathtub. Very simple, doesn't take very long, but then they will tell you if any of those things are an issue. Especially because you're on the phone it gives you the opportunity to understand exactly what their situation is. I think that the more someone has information about their float and what to expect and how they're going to feel, it puts them at ease coming into their appointment. And it is such a different experience. If someone's gotten a massage they typically know what a massage is, but they don't necessarily know something with float. So it also gives the opportunity for talking about sensitive areas. So typically we have youth floats at our center. I know a lot of centers do, but this is one of the conversations I absolutely want to have with a parent before a youth is coming into a float. Because what we find is especially in females, I really don't have success with females under the age of like 12 to 14 floating. Boys seem to do a little bit better. My son was five when he started floating. Aside from like mix and cut on little kids, that can always be an issue. And goggles, recommending goggles for kids. I found helpful. Females, I find vaginal sensitivity is just too big of an issue in that age demographic. And right now I've seen an increase in youth requests for floats, but you know, there's the anxiety and depression piece that really makes float a feeling. So having this conversation around the needs for Vaseline, not just with young women, obviously, but in that age group, and also in the age group of menopopal women, I do find that that's good with the two demographics that are really important. And the reason that I say to bring it up on the phone and have the conversations with parents first is you want to give the parent or the guardian the opportunity to have the conversation with the child first and have them understand what to expect that they might need to apply this to a sensitive area before they come into your center. And they have another adult who's a stranger talking about such a private spot. And what also comes with that when you're doing it in person is remembering your positioning in the room and your body language and tone. So especially if it, like I have a male staff member, I see male staff members, just making sure that everybody's as comfortable as possible. But when you're involved, I think that that's definitely something that the first part of that conversation should be had at home comfortably. That might even trigger them to say, you know what, I don't like the idea of being naked in the float, or if you allow bathing suits, we allow bathing suits with kids and have the parents in the room. But with older teens, they might be on their own. And it might be dad dropping them off for a float and then they just going on their own or whatever the situation is. We have a conversation about sensitive areas on the phone on our website, on the confirmation email, and in our booking video. Hating it all four times, I think it's very important or as much as you can put it out there because the last thing that you want is somebody coming in and having an irritation with the sensitive area. It's something they're embarrassed about or they think something is wrong with them or with the float, and then they will just leave and never say anything. Or they may say something to friends or publicly when they don't just don't understand it could have been a very simple solution to just cover the area. Or wait, you know, like in some situations, like over the age of 40, like a significant amount of men actually deal with hemorrhage. So it's a very common issue for men or anyone who's sitting all day long. If you have an issue or an active issue of hemorrhage, I would not see how floating would be tolerable. Again, you can use the Vaseline, you can try it. But the more that we can kind of bring up these little sensitive areas to people, in my opinion, it might seem uncomfortable or it might seem like a lot of information. But those are really little things that can have a huge impact on somebody's float experience. And all of those things are happening before they're even getting into the float tank, so that when they initially sit down in the float, if anything stings, that will make a breakthrough. So that's kind of our, I know I went in a few directions there, but that's kind of our like phone, when it starts on the phone, we remind them to check the confirmation email and to watch the pre float video, even though they're going to get a reminder, my system is amazing, I love float home, but for whatever reason the server I'm on with my website, we are landing people's junk mail all the time. So on the phone, we're constantly telling people to make sure that they're checking their email or just reiterate that they're looking for a confirmation email and that everything that you've told them is also going to be in that email, so they know they can check it later. Having these things on your website, but that's typically the other way that people will book sessions is through the website. And between having a frequently asked questions, the landing page that somebody can end up with, say after you've booked and then you land on that page and they can have this kind of what to expect, and then having a dedicated page on your website, filtering that information in through your website as well. So when you're talking about the float experience, I think it's really important to mention that people float naked. People are surprised all the time, even though we put it in emails and we mention it in marketing and all the stuff, what they see when we advertise floating is somebody in a bathing suit, so they think they're wearing a bathing suit. And it's one of the hardest things to, not hardest, but it's a pain when someone washes their bathing suit the night before, uses fabric softener, comes in floats next thing you know, you're spending a day trying to get your water solution back. So little things like that kind of peppered in throughout your website, I think are important. When on our website, there are things like, sorry, one thing actually I didn't mention in the book and conversation over the phone is hair dye and tattoos. I talk about hair dye all the time with everybody, even if they float regularly, because there's so many variations again of hair dye, their semi-permanent box dyes, there's professionally done colors that are still going to bleed out the entire time, blacks, reds, purple, green, blues, any of those high-pigmented colors are going to bleed. But then you also have shampoos that are used between washes that will also bleed out. There are henna dyes. This time of year, spray tans and like bronzers are going to become a huge thing and then also things like waxing, laser, shaving, all that kind of fun stuff that you know, it's bikini season coming up. So those would be very sensitive things. I mean, your tattoo artist will tell you don't soak your tattoo four to six weeks. The float's not going to hurt it. My last tattoo I floated after three weeks, it healed, it had peeled off. I took that, it's fine. But you don't want someone investing, you know, six, seven hundred dollars into a tattoo and then floating two weeks later and then it's getting cloudy or they're having an issue. Same with hair dye. They pay a lot of money to get their hair done. You want to make sure that the integrity of their color, but also we don't want our pink stains. We don't want our towel stains. We don't want our flooring stains and we don't want it to have to shut down the float tank for the client who's looked after them. So it still happens on a regular basis as much as I talk about it. I still have people who show up and they're like, oh, do I forgot, sorry. So reminding clients if they are regulars or if they are floating, just reminding them I always plan to float before I get my hair done again. And it's kind of like a good reminder that when you know you're going to get your hair done, book a float for those days beforehand. And then it kind of takes away that problem. Medications as a whole are a difficult one because we're not infirmity. We're not healthcare providers. To my knowledge, other than oncology medications and very high, I would be careful with someone who's on a variation or very high painkillers. Just like they shouldn't operate heavy machinery. You want to just be aware of someone coming in, filling out their waiver and they've got a ton of medications on there. You want to understand what they're taking because they may not think, oh, I haven't had a heart attack, but I've had this or this with my heart. I have both my kidneys, but they might not be thinking that it's something that affects. So on our waiver, we do ask about medications. And on our website, we do basically just refer them to their physician or pharmacist. A lot of cases, if this is a pharmacist, can go over your medications. We see a lot quicker than a physician does. And they're actually more knowledgeable when it comes to interactions with things like the magnesium. menstrual cycles. Let's go there. I think there is a, there is a misconception that you can't float when someone is on their cycle. We have no restrictions in my facility. I do have client to the calls. They all, you know what? It's my heaviest day. I just don't feel like coming in today or like my cramps are bad, something like that. You all have your own cancellation policy. Typically, most people will have a general idea of when their cycles are coming, but it changes all the time. So you never know. If you've just had a baby and things or, you know, whatever cycles change. But as far as I'm concerned, I don't ever limit anybody. I just ask them to think protocol they would if they're going swimming. So our facility provides tampons in the bathroom. You know, you mentioned use of diva cups or whatever it is that they want to use as long as they're not contaminating the water. And just like we do have two variations of the contamination fee. We have one that's $200 that falls for like things like staining repair dye or if like there was a menstrual issue with the urinated in the tank. And then I have a heavier $2,500 fee. And that would be if they really contaminated the tank, like a fecal matter where we would have to drain and restart. And I put those two different fees on there so that people understand just the verity of what we expect from them if they're damaging our tank or if they're damaging, not necessarily damaging, but altering the water, the solution in a way that might require a heavier shock or extra sanitation, a filter change. We just want them to be aware. So as far as menstrual cycle goes, the issues I've had around that have been more related to women who have started or changed their birth control or after they're going through like pregnancy or menopause because typically like vaginal sensitivity, dryness and just hormonal changes can make it more intolerable to float. So again, simply when talking about the vaginal is very important. Around that topic as a whole as well, I do think it's important that you and your staff and even your wording on your website is not one-never-seeming-gender either because we may have clients who are transitioning or identify in different ways that keeping it, I know I've said women and girls quite a bit actually today on the call, but just keeping an open mind about that, but there's a lot of different situations where that sensitive areas look different to different people. And so does hormones. Men deal with hormone issues as well and men have different sensitive areas as well. All of our bodies are different. All our bodies are unique. We all have different issues and sensitivities. So that's generally something that I would just, she's like, just don't make assumptions. I guess we'll put it that way. But the idea of sexual activity as a whole is something that we do talk about on our website and our welcome information because micro terrors occur. You may not think it's an issue, but if you've had recent sexual activities or I have a client who's a spin instructor and she cannot float after a class because of like the bike just puts pressure or you know, what just makes it too sensitive. So I have another lady who is, she's, she is fairly overweight. She has skin lesions in different areas of like skin folds on her body. And sometimes she just cannot float because that's intolerable. So as much as we try to kind of hit all the bases of all the different things that might be sensitive, like you might, like there might be random things that come up all the time that you've never thought of. And it's always great to be able to share those things in the float collective because we're constantly learning as an industry and we're constantly finding new things that we should be aware of, or maybe we just haven't thought of, or we don't deal with ourselves. So we never considered it could be an issue for someone else. So things like working out, just regular chafing, like in the summer, ladies are size chafed. It's humid here. I don't know about there, but like that is an issue down here for women. Sarai, this is Deema, like I said before, even things like diabetic ports or someone who is regularly taking insulin or different kind of sensitivity drugs for injections, whatever it is, that you just have to be aware that there's sensitive areas. And by having this on your pre float conversation on the phone, by having this on your website, by having it in your video, it really leaves less opportunity for there to be any surprises or discomfort when someone actually comes into the center. So we do have a laminated page that we keep in the float rooms as well, because look at everything that I just talked about and all the information we just went through, and we're going through this in little tidbits with the client, while also teaching them how to float, and they're going to forget things. Earplugs is a perfect example. We have them and Vaseline and the float halo and the towels all out there. You would think it would be self explanatory, but not everybody knows that, you know, why are we putting Vaseline? They may not think of the areas it might need to be applied. I've had women try to take their makeup off with the Vaseline, having no idea what else it would be there for. So, you know, like when you don't know, you'll try anything. I know that we've had chat before where someone had like back, like they were like little scented things in the float room. And even though it was up high on a shelf, the person poured it in the float tank, thinking it was going to be a scent addition to the tank. So not having anything in the room that you don't need, and making sure you have those extras like pool proof communications, because they will forget what you said as soon as you walk out the door. So, in line with the earplugs, if you don't have a vinegar ear rinse, like a little squirt bottle in your showers, I highly recommend that you start adding that to your facility. You can get them at a craft store, dollar stores, you can usually have them, just a tiny little squirt bottle, and we do 50-50 water vinegar. Even though I rinse the earplugs, I rinse my ears after every float, because if any salt is going to crystallize in their ears, it can cause ear infections. It can sound crunchy if it dries. I've had clients, actually a very good friend of mine from high school, floated. I thought he loved it. Two months later, I ran into him, because my ears have been bothering me ever since. He wouldn't come, he still won't come float. He's like, it really hurt him. And I felt horrible, but he was like, it was the first week I opened, I had a bunch of friends in, I was so excited. I didn't have vinegar ear rinse. Whether we told him to use the earplugs or not, either way, he didn't use them. And he had a pretty bad experience in the week after the float. So it's not just in that moment, but think about all the scenarios of, you know, how are they going to be feeling after they leave? Have I missed anything? Does anybody have any questions or anything that they've run into? I've got some things I can just comment on while people think about their questions or gather up the nerve to say them, if that's helpful. And I'm going to start at the beginning, even though that might feel, because we've been talking about a lot of different stuff. So I just wanted to say slash, see if you had any thoughts on this, like you, you, Laura, specifically have experience in the medical industry where you have worked with physicians and you have a really, clearly a really good understanding of how, of a lot of different things that, that might affect a person or a person's body in relation to a float. And I think that really plays really nicely into this, the way that you're able to have a conversation with each client before they even decide if they're going to float or not. But not everybody obviously has experience in the medical, with a medical background. And I know that everyone has some type of waiver waiver and they could put it on their website. I guess I'm just wondering, how can we, how can other people who don't have a medical background still be able to have those like intelligent conversations with people and make sure that their clients are getting the best experience or choosing not to float if that's right for them? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I don't think that you have to have experience with it, right? I, because I did patient charting and I had, I worked closely with physicians, it doesn't necessarily mean I was seeing anything that they were doing day to day, right? I have an understanding of, you know, the function of the body in the medical system, but I don't think you actually need that to have most of these conversations. I think if you're at the point where you're already opening a center and you're operating, you should know about these contraindications for floating. And if you don't, then you really need to take some time to do some research, because what I noticed when the float, when I joined the float industry seven years ago, I was traveling three hours to float because there was nowhere else around me. Joe Rogan was really starting to like talk about float and other people as well and like sports industries were starting to take it on. But there was this really massive growth to our industry and people who were like, and I'm one of them, I floated for the first time and I was like, this is what I'm doing with my life. I absolutely loved it. Took a year, did all my research, worked with float centers, talked to physicians in the area. I did have access to them, which was nice, but you could also reach out to physicians local to you and say, listen, I own a float center and I just want to make sure that my policies are the best they can be. Here's what we do and what the tank consists of. Do you have any recommendations or points that you could see that might be an issue? Go to a local pharmacy. Honestly, pharmacists are such a good resource. When your physician prescribed you a medication, in many instances, they're getting their information from pharmaceutical reps. They did eight years of schooling maybe 30 years ago. In Canada anyway, you don't need to take even a nutrition course at this point to become a physician and so much of our health also surrounds like your gut biome and there's a lot of different things that are involved with your health, right? So if you're on a medication and then you're on a different medication than a different medication, your pharmacist is like your best friend to understand all of that and how it's going to work with your body. So not that everybody should run out to their pharmacist or run out to their doctors, but those kinds of resources, I don't see why they would not give you information if you were asking about something specific. But also there's so many good resources in the float industry. If you go to the float collective and you type in the search bar any of the topics we've talked about tonight, you're going to see threads of conversation and there are a lot of medical professionals that are actually in the float collective and the float industry that give really solid advice on there as well, maybe even better in the sense that they can explain more of the things better than I can, but the float industry as a whole and the education that's offered through the float industry, if you're just getting into the industry and you're starting to research my best advice to understand as much as you can, flow as much as you can, talk to other owners as much as you can, but just respect their time and if you're joining the float collective, you may not quite honestly, we've changed so that we don't let you join the float collective until you're in the process of actually opening a center because we did see in that shift and that growth, a lot of people get in the industry had no idea what they're doing. They just floated once. They didn't want to pay for resources. They didn't want to take courses and they just wanted to slap a tank in an existing like the soft center. You're going to do a disservice to your clients if you do that. The other point I was going to say is just to reiterate that it is okay to tell a client that they shouldn't be floating or that they 100% need to go talk to their physician. I just think that's important for us to remember. You told a story about a client that it was like a whole thing with the gift card and you had to tell her no and that sucks. It's unfortunate to tell her no, but I think your business and your liabilities is really important to remember too. Unfortunately, you live in a day and age where people will sue you and you can lose your entire business for it. To me, when I thought about liability getting in the float industry, it was more about stupid falls. That's what I was really worried about. I didn't think about things like medications or complications until I really got into it. I actually didn't talk about it, but pregnancy is a whole different category. For us, we don't limit floating in the first trimester, but we absolutely have a conversation with the client first because the first trimester is a very sensitive time and even though we know floating is safe, if anything happens during that first week of the pregnancy and again, the first thing that there was a new thing that they introduced to their life is the float, there's going to be an assumption there or there could be an assumption there. I used to have 40 weeks of my cutoff for pregnancy. I had a friend of mine float on 40 weeks and then her actually she was at 38 weeks and her water broke in the lobby after and it was her third child and that baby came really quickly so she was good and relaxed, but that would be a situation where it's a much higher contamination fees and it'd be shutting down the tank. You're worried about her safety, getting in and out, or she getting to the hospital inside, all those things. So pregnancy as a whole, if someone's been put on bed rest, if someone has been deemed a high-risk pregnancy, they're likely not going to be floating at my center. If they're OB or they're doublah or whoever their like pregnancy care person is, wants to call or have a conversation with me and they can explain to me why it would be safe for them to float, I may allow that, but generally as a whole, if someone's deemed on bed rest or any kind of physical limitation like that, it's not safe for them to float, even if a partner is getting in with them. Pregnancy is just one of those things that so many things have to go right for a baby to be born healthy and for mom to get through a safe delivery, that you just don't want to be the one thing that causes a problem or maybe they just have an issue or perceive it to be an issue associated to float. So the other thing that I find with pregnancy, quite honestly in the first trimester and sometimes longer, some women just have nausea and can't tolerate or motion sickness and actually I should clarify it's not just to do with pregnancy. I have a lot of the vestibular issues, that's why I started floating. There are days when floating is fantastic for me and it will help reduce like tinnitus that I deal with or the vertigo feelings that I have and then there's times and I don't know the difference when I get in a float and I feel like I'm rotating and I just cannot float. So anyone who's already talking about if you're looking at your waiver and they've written anything down for vestibular issues or even migraines, I typically don't let someone float if they've got an active migraine. In theory it sounds like it would be relaxing but there's so much light sensitivity and nausea and vomiting that can also be associated with migraines. And the the FTA just hosted a webinar about pregnancy last week so for those of you that are members I think that's up on their website too you can and their members only content I believe you can go check that out. Learn all about that. Did anybody else have any questions? Laura I know that a lot of people are obviously looking for relief right because of the last two years so are you finding a higher percentage of people that are actually having issues or like what percentage do you think you're having to have these more specific conversations because they have potential contraindications? I don't think that these conversations are being prompted more in the last two years. These were things that I was seeing even the beginning as well. We think that I've just really honed in on building a really good practice around the conversation and the more that I stepped out of being there full-time and have my staff there making sure that each one of my staff are really comfortable having these conversations and they have the importance of why but yes there has definitely been an influx of new people trying floating in the last few years. What I'm noticing is people who are dealing with autoimmune diseases obviously stresses a huge impact on that and they can be dealing with more flare-ups. Certain things like arthritis and fibromyalgia I find are harder for some people in like the winter months. Same with things like seasonal depression so we're kind of coming off the tail end of that but anxiety disorders and stress and depression is at an all-time high so even with that there are times when I've had clients who've come in that are in a pretty manic state and I have three psychologists that work in our facility as well so in that sense I'm I guess unique that I do have that medical piece of things that I may have a little bit of like day-to-day exposure to but if somebody is really agitated or even if they're just a very anxious person or claustrophobic or they or you're seeing any of these kind of like hesitation just assure them that they don't have to do the float that day. It might mean that you have a last-minute cancel but it's better than someone trying to force themselves through or feel obligated to have to complete a float and then have a bad experience and relay that afterwards. So in my opinion as much as you can kind of tackle those things head-on not only does it make you look like you know what you're talking about but it also shows your clients that you really actually care about their experience and their health. Thank you. And Sierra said in the comment there's a good article by Ogil Float about why people shouldn't float. So that's Julie who's on the float board with me through the float collective. She has done some really great articles on lots of different topics so that's actually a great recommendation. And then there's also a comment about fresh waters. Yes so having your fresh water bottle and towel at the tank for somebody like I joke with my clients when I do the walk-through my only rule is don't touch your face and you know it's a laughing point but it also they remember she said don't touch my face and it takes like one time of just like oh I'm just going to scratch right here and the water pools too. I'm like it's less than learned as soon as it happens but you want to have that fresh water accessible to them and also make sure that you're changing that water all the time. You don't want that water to stay stagnant in the bottle because they are spraying it into their face and eyes right so you want to make sure that clean water and you're not getting funky water spraying in someone's eyes. I also just love the vinegar rinse I don't know I cannot get your plugs to stay in my ears so I don't use them and the vinegar rinse is huge such a such a game changer. Yeah these are all simple little things right like none of it is that complicated. If you are if you want to in the float collective it should be along the top as one of like the saved videos or like talking points you can't remember the heading but I did put a post up that summarizes a lot of this and has a link to my the video that we use in my float center if you don't have a video of like the pre-float conversation I would recommend investing in that your local like economic department or like something through your city a lot of times you can get grants for those types of things so even look into that as an option for like a marketing grant but the more that you can put it out there for them to see and put a visual and have have this kind of information out there the more comfortable your client's going to come in and prepare especially when you're dealing with anxiety and depression you're already coming in in the sense of like operating at a higher level right and you want to bring them down to relax so if they know what they're getting into they have visuals even better I was okay anybody else have any last minute questions before we close things out don't be shy turn on your mic if you have a question or you can ask it in the chat if you want we can answer or you can raise your little hand on zoom too Irene would like to know where they can get a copy of the articles is that are you I think she's maybe referring to those float collective ones oh um we actually don't know I don't know the best place to look for them let me see if I can find a link or even on OGO OGO flow even through their website I think she does have a link to things that she's posted but I'm pretty sure she has posted them in a float collective so I can touch base on that awesome great so I'll just leave you guys with a couple things that we have coming up for the float conference so I think this is going to be our last totally free webinar for this year starting with the next one our webinars will be accessible to those that are registered for the float conference so if you are not already registered um I hope you will consider joining us um I did secretly launch the virtual tickets yesterday without telling anybody so if you're considering attending from home that is an option um I will say it's not going to be quite as fun or interactive um we are choosing to go with a more simple virtual event platform from last year if you attended last year then you probably know why but you'll be able to watch all of the main stage talks and you'll be able to chat with all of the other attendees and you'll still be able to see the each of the sponsors will have some sort of profile page type situation and you'll be able to chat with them as well if you have questions for sponsors um so that is available um and we're still going to be doing probably one webinar a month um it's just going to be open to those that are registered for the float conference we did put some of our speakers up online but we are still looking for workshop facilitators so if you or someone you know has some knowledge that you'd like to share with the float industry about literally anything um still looking for some good marketing or small business logistics talks would be good ones um basically anything and then one more thing if you uh we're also looking for wellness activity leaders um so things like yoga or um sound therapy music therapy we always have Nadia come out and do chi gong if I said it correctly I always mess it up um so all of that we're still looking for all of that so head on over to our website and let us know if you're interested in helping and thank you Laura again I feel like I've asked you to do this conversation like five times already but it's it's so important and I'm still hearing people comment or seeing people comment on the collective that you know oh someone was burning in our tank and and we don't know why what's wrong with that person and I just want to make sure that we're all clear it's it's not the person it's not the float um it's just the situation and and if they're knowledgeable about it then we can remedy that situation and make sure that everybody has a good float experience so thank you so much for your expertise and your time you're welcome thanks for having me I uh I think it's funny that I always end up talking about like vagina as a sense of the various but I you know it is such an important part of the float um and at the end of the day like I said like we always want to make sure that the clients leave with the best experience and so much of that falls on us and our staff to prepare them from the very start exactly and someone has to talk about it so yeah yeah here you are all right well thanks everybody I hope you all oh look we got a link thanks Kim oh perfect thank you Kim um yeah thanks everybody hope you all have a good uh evening I guess it's evening now and uh we'll see you next time