Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Some people have special ways that they prepare for floating, and how it’s approached depends entirely on the person floating.
Graham and Juliet (Ashkahn’s still missing) talk about their different approaches to floating, whether it’s sneaking in to float whenever they can, or planning entire days around floating to make sure it goes off without a hitch, they share their perspectives.
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: Alright, welcome everyone. I am Graham.
Juliet: And I am Juliet.
Graham: That’s right. We got a Juliet in the studio again. And for those of you who aren’t familiar, she was just on stage at the Float Conference giving a wonderful talk, which will be coming out soon through the Float Conference website. She went on a three month float tour with us around the country. And she’s responsible for a lot of our blog posts and content going into our free product. So pretty important person here at Float Tank Solutions. And she’s also an avid floater, which means she’s going to be helping us go through some questions that are geared more towards the floater specific side of things and a little less technical.
And today’s question for us from you is, “How do you get yourself ready for a float?” I assume yourself they mean like us. And do you have advice to give to customers? So yeah, what do you do? How do you prepare yourself for a float?
Juliet: Typically avoid caffeine. I like if I’m floating later in the day, I like to get in a walk or light exercise. Just get my body to not be so tense while I’m in the float.
Graham: Have you exercised before hopping in the float tank?
Juliet: Yes.
Graham: That’s a very unpleasant experience.
Juliet: I don’t like it, no.
Graham: Yeah, I went on like a really long run, well, a joggle – juggling while jogging – and then I went to float and I just had to have the door open, like, I was so hot, even after taking a cold shower, I was miserable. Okay, so don’t do that, don’t drink caffeine.
Juliet: Right.I don’t know. I look forward to my floats. And I try not to over-hype myself. I think that’s a big problem for some of my floats sometimes, but, I try to create a very present mindset for when I get into a float, so that it’s not such a big deal, and maybe that’s a difficult thing to tell customers to do, but I also think it’s a generally good idea.
There … I don’t know. I’m rarely in a space where I don’t think that a float is a good idea.
Graham: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I hear ya.
Juliet: But, depending on where I’m at in the day, it can really change the trajectory of the float once I’m in the tank. And, I guess, just being open and prepared for that, and letting people know that, I think, for a float center, is probably a good idea, you know. It’s going to take you where it’s going to take you, right?
Yeah, and I try to treat it, I try to treat floats with a little bit of respect, I guess, and be mindful of them, because there are days where, it’s like, I can’t float because I just shaved my legs, or things like that, so I’ll plan like even a couple of days around a float sometimes, so.
Graham: Maybe it’s just as the result of being an owner, and, like, I have this guilt that I’m taking floats that are in prime slots, or when other people would take them, you know? So I tend to just sneak my floats in at the last minute. Like, my, largely my preparation for a float is checking the schedule to make sure that there’s at least one tank free before I walk down to Float On. Which, also living 5 minutes from Float On is a huge boon in this case.
Juliet: Right, yeah, I have to go across town in order to get it.
Graham: Yeah, I guess, like, only when I acutely really like need a float, like I’ve hurt my back, or just been feeling really sore or something like that, I’ll really plan ahead. Or if I’m trying to do something like 10 days of floating all in a row, just do kind of a recenter or something like that, I guess I treat it a little more like this, more of a journey, or like, more sacredly, or something like that.
Juliet: Sure.
Graham: And, often, I’m just “Floating always sounds like a good idea,” so, it’s really just like, “Oh, is there a tank free that I could just hop in right now, because I have some free time?” And that’s kind of how I hit my once a week sort of habit is just like that.
Juliet: Yeah.
Graham: Which is fine. I think that my habits are just very different from my customers, which also sometimes, I guess it doesn’t make it too difficult to still give them good advice on what to do to prepare.
Juliet: Right.
Graham: Do you bring fresh socks?
Juliet: I try to plan around my outfits so that I don’t even have to wear socks.
Graham: I wear sandals when I go to float, it’s like my thing. I really don’t like putting back on socks that are, like, that you’ve been wearing the entire day, you know. I thought that was a good pro tip.
Juliet: I really enjoy being able to wear just like something very casual and drapey. I’ll wear a lot of dresses on my float days, which is awesome. Just get like a … For people who don’t wear dresses, muumuus exist. I recommend it. Maybe just robes, float robes, that you plan to take with you for the rest of the day. Acquire a look is what I’m saying.
Yeah, no, and I do, I plan days around this, so it’s like, I have my float outfit, I wear float shoes and go in and I have my float time, and then I’ll get out and enjoy the rest of the day.
Graham: It’s one of the tips we give to customers, too, for sure. You know, it’s like, half of the tips are things to avoid, kind of like we covered, it’s like don’t shave your legs the day of, don’t drink a bunch of caffeine, you know, don’t get into a big fight with your landlord before heading over to float, ideally. You know, it’s kind of like take it easy before and after your float is also the advice, you know. Make sure you don’t have anything that’s going to put you in this immediately stressful place right before coming in.
And similarly, try not to have any commitments right afterwards, where, you know, regardless of your mind state, you might have to just go and immediately do something. I’d almost say, just, I mean, for me, open time is one of the best things after a float, you know. I would rather do that than even plan for, like, “Oh, I’m gonna go watch this concert,” or do something even if I might enjoy it, just because, once I get out, I don’t even know what kind of mental state I’m gonna be in, you know. Sometimes I want to lounge, sometimes I want to go on a walk, sometimes the concert would sound like an awesome idea, but, yeah, I kinda don’t even want to guess ahead, you know.
Juliet: Yeah, yeah, no, I totally get that. And I think that that lines up pretty well with customer experiences, too, because I think that this is kind of a treat for most people.
Graham: You mean my experiences are universal?
Juliet: Yes, sure. Let’s go with that.
Graham: Yeah, any other little tips for customers, or tips for float center owners to give their customers to prepare?
Juliet: No, I don’t think so. I think that’s it.
Graham: Don’t come in just super sloshed.
Juliet: Right, yeah, yeah.
Graham: Yeah, it’s just all the kind of basic stuff, you know. Once you’ve been open for a week, you kind of have your spiel down for all the little things to avoid. I guess the last thing is making sure people actually pay attention to those, because, often, you’ll be saying things, or your brochure says something like, “Don’t drink caffeine beforehand,” and what the person is thinking, “I get to float tomorrow,” and they’re absolutely not paying attention to your warnings.
So, reiterating that, you know, we say it in our brochure, we say it in our email, we do it during call-aheads, when we’re calling to people just reminding them of the little things that they should do to prepare, so, don’t think that just because you say this in one place that people will internalize it and actually prepare accordingly.
Juliet: Right, yeah. It takes, what, seven times in order for something to get stuck in your mind, sort of a thing? Repetition.
Graham: I don’t know, I’ve only heard that like three times, so it’s hard to remember.
Juliet: Yeah.
Graham: Cool. Well, if you have your own questions, or your own answers, I guess, if you want us to come up with questions, just go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast. And, yeah, we’ll do whatever you want. Just write in your demands there, just don’t hurt us.
Alright, bye, everyone.
Juliet: Bye.
Recent Podcast Episodes
What’s Floating Like Around the World? – DSP 290
Ashkahn and Graham break down the wild world of floating, well… worldwide. They share what they know about the industry in different countries, continent by continent, and gauging which ones are the most float centric vs. those that are the least (hint, it’s definitely Antarctica).
Replacing Filtration Parts for your Float Tank – DSP 289
When it comes to replacing a filtration system for a float tank, there’s sadly no easy answer. There isn’t a one-stop shop place to get replacement parts for float tanks (yet). Most systems are piecemealed together by manufacturers to work specifically for their systems.
In addition to all that, they also often use internal customized materials to accommodate the specific needs of float tank solution. So without some serious internal knowledge of how those systems work, it’s nearly impossible to safely and accurately just swap out one piece for another.
How to Handle Customers Wanking in Tanks? – DSP 288
Graham and Ashkahn tackle the uncomfortable issue of handling customers that may be using the float tank to do things in the tank wasn’t designed for.
They discuss the social aspects along with the sanitary aspects of dealing with ejaculate in the tanks.
Basics of Opening a Business – DSP 287
Graham and Ashkahn take creative license in this episode to talk about the basics of what everyone should know before starting a brick and mortar business.
They want to help others not make the same mistakes they did. This includes everything from getting a legal entity and hiring bookkeepers to making sure you have the correct labor law posters displayed and follow proper hiring practices.
Should People with Ear Tubes Float? – DSP 286
The format for this episode is a little different this time.
Graham and Ashkahn received an anecdote about someone who floated with ear tubes in. The float ends with extreme discomfort and pain when the floater gets epsom salt water in their ears.
The guys highlight this issue as a warning to the industry that this is something that can happen with floating.
Latest Blog Posts
Location Checklist – The Search for Your Float Center’s Home
In honor of our newly minted, fresh off the press, prize winning Construction Packet, we are releasing one of its more succinct components, the Location Checklist, as a free resource. Don’t let the fact that it’s only one page fool you – this set of questions breaks down the major site and location considerations for your center.
Financing Your Center With Bank Loans
If you are looking to open a center, at some point, you have to face the reality that you’re going to need to spend, and thus track down, a good chunk of money. There are many ways to fund a float center – personal capital, family and friends, sending travel funds to the exiled Liberian prince that you met on the internet and using the forthcoming reward money, etc. This post, however, will focus on financing using bank loans.
A Peek Into Our Construction Packet: Planning Your Space – Square Footage and Number of Float Rooms
For anyone opening a float center, one of the earliest questions they’ll have to tackle is, “How big should my space be?” This can be one of the most difficult queries to answer, because it hinges on many variables.
Will you be offering other services? What types of tanks are you getting? What other rooms will your space need? If you’re planning on installing a float tank water slide, that’ll take up extra space, too. I know it’s unreasonable, but Jake really wants someone to do it.
All of these questions aren’t even factoring in thinking about profit margins. It quickly becomes a daunting task that can feel overwhelming.
How to Launch a Successful Kickstarter Campaign
At Float Tank Solutions, our main goal is simple.
We want to provide access to floating for as many people as possible. That’s why, this week, we are opening up our blog to our friend, Shane Stott. Shane, an avid float ambassador, life coach, and founder of Zen Float Co., will walk us through the essentials of running a Kickstarter campaign, with a highlight on his current efforts to raise money through Kickstarter for a documentary on floating.
