How Valerie Kiser Simplified 20 Years of Operations and Positioned Sunrise Yoga to Sell

Highlights

Problem

• Patchwork of 4+ platforms that didn’t sync reliably
• Automation errors caused by data handoffs between MindBody and third-party tools
• Manual password management for a video library
• Costly WordPress maintenance with ongoing plugin fees
• Overpaying for features needed for a potential studio sale

Solution

OfferingTree’s Studio Max Plan

Results

• Consolidated 5 platforms into one — MindBody, BrandBot/LenzVU, Vimeo, WordPress all replaced
• Reliable automations with no data sync errors
• Significant monthly cost savings
• Cleaner, more sellable business operations
• Responsive, 24/7 support that far exceeds prior experience

Overview

Valerie Kiser has been running Sunrise Yoga Studio in Clemmons, North Carolina for over 23 years. What started as a solo operation out of a single room (no internet, index card punch passes) grew into a thriving studio with 25–30 classes per week, nine instructors, two subs, and three office staff.

Before opening Sunrise Yoga, Valerie spent 11 years in information technology. That background gave her a sharp eye for operational complexity, and a low tolerance for it. When she looked at the tangle of platforms holding her business together, she knew something had to change.

Today, Valerie runs Sunrise Yoga entirely on OfferingTree, with an eye toward eventually selling the business. The platform consolidation hasn’t just saved her time and money. It’s made the studio cleaner and more transferable, something any future buyer would value immediately.

The challenge

Five yoga studio platforms that didn’t work together

For over a decade, Sunrise Yoga ran on MindBody. It worked. Mostly. But as the business grew, so did the software stack. By late 2024, Valerie was managing five separate platforms to keep things running:

• MindBody for class scheduling and booking
• BrandBot (later replaced by LensView) for email marketing automations and student reminders
• Vimeo for hosting a video library built during the pandemic
• WordPress for the studio website
• A manually managed Excel spreadsheet for tracking guest passes

Each platform cost money and required maintenance. Most critically, they didn’t always work together.

“Lens View and MindBody didn’t work together all that well. Sometimes it wasn’t a perfect gel because you were transferring data back and forth.”

When automations went wrong (a student reminder sent to the wrong person, a membership status that didn’t sync), Valerie had to bring in outside consultants to figure out which platform was the culprit. That troubleshooting time added up fast.

The video library situation was its own ongoing headache. Members who paid for video access all shared the same Vimeo password, which had to be changed monthly. Every month, Valerie’s team had to identify who had the right membership tier, manually send the new password, and track down anyone whose access had lapsed.

“We had to manually send out a password and manually change it once a month.”

The WordPress site wasn’t much better. It took hosting fees, a stack of plugins, security costs, and constant upkeep just to keep the site functional and connected to the booking system.

And then there was the bigger question. Valerie had been thinking about eventually selling Sunrise Yoga. Walking through the business with a buyer meant handing off five different platforms, all their quirks, and the institutional knowledge required to keep them in sync. That was not a clean handoff.

Her MindBody contract was up in March 2025. She gave herself a self-imposed deadline: either make the switch by then, or wait another year. She started researching in late 2024.

The solution

Replacing MindBody with one all-in-one yoga studio platform

Valerie compared several options — Wellness Living, Wix, and others — but OfferingTree kept standing out for one reason: it actually covered everything she was managing across five separate tools.

The video library piece was the deciding factor. Valerie had built hundreds of videos during the pandemic, and most platforms had no clean way to host and permission-gate them. OfferingTree let her upload everything directly into the platform, tied to membership tiers, with no separate password management required.

  Offering Tree said you can upload absolutely everything into Offering Tree. It’s included in the price and they set everything else up for us.

She also appreciated that OfferingTree handled website hosting, maintenance, and security — all wrapped into one monthly price instead of scattered across plugins and third-party services.

The onboarding experience helped too. Valerie’s IT background meant she came with pointed questions about backups, disaster recovery, and data integrity. Rather than deflecting, OfferingTree’s team arranged a Zoom call directly with co-founder Arvind so she could get real answers.

Migration anxiety was real — Valerie had nearly 23 years of customer data, memberships, and credit card records to move. She chose to overlap both systems for a few weeks, running them in parallel while confirming that memberships, class registrations, and payment info had all transferred cleanly. They had.

  The migration actually was really, from the Offering Tree standpoint, they made it as easy as it can be… We did not have any issues. We did not have any data errors. We did not have any credit cards lost.

The results

Fewer platforms, real savings, a business ready to sell

Valerie switched to OfferingTree in early 2025. Here’s what changed.

Real cost savings

When Valerie added up what she had been paying (across MindBody, LensView, Vimeo, WordPress hosting, plugins, and consultant fees) and compared it to OfferingTree’s single monthly price, the savings were significant.

“When I added up how much that was in a year and then how much OfferingTree cost me in a year, I mean, it was a huge financial savings.”

A streamlined video library

What used to be a monthly ritual (changing the Vimeo password, identifying eligible members, sending the new credentials, chasing down lapses) is now fully automated. Members log in with the same credentials they use to book classes. When a membership ends, access ends automatically. No spreadsheet or manual emails.

Automations that actually run

With everything in one platform, automations no longer depend on two systems talking to each other correctly. When an automation is set up right, it runs. No debugging data transfers between platforms, no consultant needed to figure out why a student reminder didn’t go out.

  With Offering Tree, it’s the same software platform. And so all the data’s in one place, we’re not having to transfer data between the two softwares. That has been really nice.

A smooth guest pass system

Sunrise Yoga offers members guest passes — two per month, one-time use for people who’ve never been to the studio before. What used to be tracked in an Excel spreadsheet and managed with physical cards is now handled entirely within OfferingTree. Students add a guest when signing up for class, the guest is automatically enrolled, and their name appears on the roster so staff can greet them by name. Automations then kick in to follow up with the guest afterward.

“It automatically enrolls them in the class… we know who they’re a guest of when they walk in the door so we can greet them by name. Hey, glad you’re here, I saw Deirdre invited you to come to class.”

Granular staff permissions

One lingering concern from the MindBody days was staff access to sensitive client data. Teachers needed to be able to check students into class but that access previously opened the door to phone numbers, emails, and more. OfferingTree now lets Valerie set precise permissions by role: teachers can check students in without being able to pull contact information, front desk staff get a different access level, and subs get a different one still.

Students stopped asking for help

After the initial transition bump, Valerie’s students largely stopped asking for help. That silence is a success metric in itself. Her office manager used to spend significant time walking clients through sign-up and login. Now, for the most part, people just figure it out.

“Once we got through the initial setup, it’s been pretty smooth sailing.”

Support that actually responds

Valerie has worked with a lot of software vendors over two-plus decades. She describes OfferingTree’s support as the best she’s experienced from any company, in any industry. Responses come back quickly including on weekends. Feature requests get logged, followed up on, and often shipped. Updates are announced proactively, not discovered by accident.

  Some of the softwares that I’ve used before, you could send an email asking for help and it could be days before you get a reply… The response time with Offering Tree is just completely different from what I’ve experienced with other softwares.

A business ready to sell

The benefit Valerie didn’t expect was what the switch meant for selling the business. She’s not selling tomorrow, but she’s positioning Sunrise Yoga so that when the time comes, the handoff is clean. One platform. Intuitive operations. No institutional knowledge required just to keep the lights on.

“I feel confident that I’m handing over as clean of a business as I can. It’s one thing. And so to me, if I were buying a business, I would like to know that it’s really simple. Here it is. It does everything and it’s all put together for you.”

For Valerie, the question she asks prospective switchers is the same one she asked herself: what would it feel like to have it all in one place? A year in, the answer is clear.

“Once you get past that initial headache — I don’t mean it to sound that dramatic — it’s really been so simple for us. It was worth it, for sure.”

Ready to consolidate your studio’s tech stack? Start a free trial or book a demo to learn about how OfferingTree can help.