Learn best practices for starting and running a float center:
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Something in the world of floating have you stumped?

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Show Highlights

Graham has Juliet on the podcast today since Ashkahn is doing some post-Conference traveling.

The duo talks about times when floating just doesn’t feel like a good idea, which is something they have a bit of disagreement about. Juliet shares her experiences being cautious of her experiences in the tank and how she tends to have to be more mindful of when she floats.

Listen to Just the Audio

Transcription of this episode not currently available

Graham: All right, hello everybody.

Juliet: Wow.

Graham: My name is Graham.

Juliet: And my name is Juliet.

Graham: And Juliet is joining us in the studio today. We’re going to be doing another sans Ashkahn episode while he’s off frolicking around Europe post-conference. And Juliet is one our Float Tank Solutions team who’s been with us for a while now. She went on Float Tour, if you remember that. It took three months to visit a ton of float tank centers around North America. And she does a lot of the blogs and behind-the-scenes content work as well, including a lot of the free products there. About Float Tanks Guide and Tank Comparison Chart and just an increasing amount of responsibility here at Float Tank Solutions. So we actually wanted to take a little bit of time and answer some questions that weren’t quite so technical and may be relating more to the personal floating side of things. Which, in addition to being one of the crew, Juliet is obviously an avid floater as well. That’s it. So now you can say I finished my introduction.

Juliet: All of that is true. “I am absolutely indispensable.” I think is the big takeaway there.

Graham: “And I think I need a raise.” So today’s question is, “Are there times when you feel like you can’t float?”

Juliet: Yes. Next question.

Graham: Like if you have giant cuts all over or something like that. Like you were just in a car accident. You probably don’t want to immediately hop in a float tank.

Juliet: Right. Or after downing like three cups of coffee or …

Graham: I’ve had super-caffeinated floats that were not the worst thing in the world.

Juliet: I’ve had really bad super-caffeinated floats. So I think that that’s another thing is just being mindful of your own limitations. I think that there are definitely people who are very open and explorative when going in a float tank and there are other people who need to … I don’t know, tread water in a float tank.

Graham: Before you start adding adding caffeine?

Juliet: Yeah.

Graham: The hard stuff?

Juliet: Exactly. I honestly, I think having too much going on in your mind can sometimes really affect the float and not always in a productive way.

Graham: See, it’s interesting because, for me, I … if there’s not an actual physical reason to not go in a float tank, I often just get a lot out of the float tank. There’s … I can’t think of a time when I haven’t wanted to hop in because I have emotional stuff on my mind or I’m going through things. If anything, I personally have found the float tank to be just a really nice place to work through things. I mean, it’s not always the best floats and sometimes they’re hard. But it’s not … I guess it’s not a place that I shy away from.

Juliet: Right. And I think that that’s probably true for a lot of folks but I think that may be not true for everybody. So-

Graham: Something that I feel isn’t universal ? That doesn’t seem right.

Juliet: Surprising, I know. But, and this is actually something that I’ve heard a lot from other people in the float community where they feel like it’s not something that’s really recognized. It’s like … we should always be open to floating. And I think you should definitely try more often than not, but also recognizing when you know that there’s going to be times when it’s maybe not going to work out. Which has been really helpful for me is knowing that there are times where it’s not a good idea to float. I also don’t like to float … not just on caffeine, but on a whole lot of intoxicants or anything like that, like different things. If I’m a little drunk, I don’t want to get in a float tank. For example …

Graham: Alcohol is definitely not the thing to mesh too much with floats.

Juliet: Right.

Graham: And it seems so unappealing too. But, yeah, I’d definitely put that in the same category.

Juliet: I would too, for sure.

Graham: Ashkahn really does not want to go floating when it’s morning time because it’s really hard for him to wake up in the first place. So he’s like, “I just got out of bed. It took so much effort. I don’t want to go hop in a float tank, start resting again.” Other time, I guess if my tank is making a weird clicking noise, I just know that if I float, I’m going to think about fixing it and won’t be able to concentrate on it or anything like that. When a float tank is malfunctioning in some way, I find the floats especially difficult. So I guess I … those are times when I’ll shy away from particular tanks maybe.

Juliet: Right.

Graham: Or you go float at another float center, you know?

Juliet: Yeah. I mean, if that’s an option. There are centers out there where they’re the only place within a hundred miles.

Graham: What? My activities aren’t universal across all people in the float industry? So here’s a question for you. Do you know that you’re … how do I phrase this? Do you know that it’s going to be a bad float before you get in or do you just have times where you know that you shouldn’t float?

Juliet: Oh, yeah.

Graham: Or is it more like, you hopped in the tank, it’s not going well, and then you get out after like 15 minutes.

Juliet: I’ve experienced both of those, yes. And there are definitely times where I’ve known it’s going to be a bad float and it’s not necessarily contingent on my mood. Because I’ve been in bad, negative spaces and had really positive floats. So I’m not saying being in a negative mind space or being kind of down on yourself is necessarily a bad place to get into a float from. It’s more like recognizing where your thoughts and patterns are taking you in that moment and maybe recognizing when being completely isolated by yourself isn’t super helpful, right?

Graham: So kind of like, just trust yourself?

Juliet: Yeah.

Graham: And if you’re not having a good float then hop out?

Juliet: Yeah. I think that that’s a really important and valuable thing.

Graham: That’s something we tell our customers too. Especially ones who are worried about having a bad float or think that … sometimes people think we’re actually going to lock them in the tank which, obviously, is true only in the most extreme circumstances.

Juliet: When they really deserve it.

Graham: But no, I mean actually telling people. It’s like, “Hey, you don’t have to shut the tank.” And if you want to, if you get in the tank, you lay down, the door is open, the light is on and it’s not for you. You can just get out and we’ll refund you. If you get out after 15 minutes, don’t worry about it, you know?

Juliet: Yeah. A float mulligan.

Graham: Totally. Everybody gets one.

Juliet: Everybody gets one.

Graham: All right, anything else to say about times when you don’t feel like floating?

Juliet: No.

Graham: I guess, I mean, I really liked your kind of message, which is just giving permission people to feel that. I think especially as float tank owners, there is a lot of pressure to take advantage of hopping in the tank and almost feel like this should be something that you feel like doing all the time, so-

Juliet: And float center owners are typically, from what I’ve noticed, very enthusiastic about the practice. And there’s probably a little bit of a disconnect between that and their average customer and it’s important to recognize that, I think. And find that there are going to be different ways that people approach floating.

Graham: Cool. Well, I think that’s a great message for anyone and on that note, if you have any questions of your own, go on down to floattanksolutions.com/podcast and send it it.

Juliet: And see you next time.

Graham: Talk at you next time.

Juliet: Talk at you next time.

Recent Podcast Episodes

What’s a Reasonable Amount to Spend on Facebook Ads? – DSP 194

Welcome back to Social Media Week!

After talking so much about the fundamentals of social media and its impact on float center marketing, we’re finally able to answer some of the more complex questions that float centers ask. If you haven’t listened to the rest of the Social Media posts from this week, it is strongly recommended you check those out first.

In this episode, Derek provides practical advice for how much to spend on ads for your center, and while each location is going to be different, there are some tried and true tips to follow to help each center find their ideal advertising system.

Choosing Facebook Ad Options for Float Centers – DSP 193

Today on Social Media week, Derek educates Ashkahn and Graham on what exactly it’s like placing an ad on Facebook. 

Facebook, as well as other social media sites, provide a cornucopia of options for targeting your ad based on employment, interests, age range, and lots of others. For float centers, this can become fairly confusing, especially since floating doesn’t have demographics in the traditional sense.

Derek clears things up and explains to Graham, Ashkahn, and the rest of the float community, exactly why these options exist and what might work for a specific center.

What the Hell is Facebook Pixel? – DSP 192

Welcome back to Social Media Week!

A Pixel is a tool used when creating an ad account that allows you to create target audiences for your ads. How you use it and what to use it on are more complicated answers though.

Fortunately, Graham and Ashkahn have Derek to use as a resource and they have him break down how best to utilize target audiences and how to get the best bang for your buck.

Can you Cross Post to Different Social Media Platforms? – DSP 191

Today on Social Media Week, Ashkahn and Graham pick Derek’s brain about how to get content for several different social media platforms.

Derek shares his tips for how best to broaden your reach with your social media and not fatigue your audience with the same content on multiple platforms. He also shares what type of content works well on different platforms. 

How Often Should I Post on my Float Center’s Social Media? – DSP 190

On the second day of social media week, Ashkahn and Graham ask Derek how often float centers should post as well as what makes good content. 

Derek lays out practical tips for how to schedule your social media (DON’T AUTOMATE), as well as what makes a good post. Facebook has several algorithms to limit your reach depending on the post so it’s important to avoid certain keywords and post topics to reach the broadest audience without paying for it.

Latest Blog Posts

Finding Funding for Your Float Tank Center

Finding Funding for Your Float Tank Center

Starting a float center isn’t an inexpensive business opportunity. Depending on the type of float tanks you choose, size of your retail space among other factors, a center can cost between $65-100k per room to fully set up. While centers have started for less money up front, the cost of frequent repairs from salt damage and cutting corners during construction will cost more money in the long run.

Water Hardness in a Float Tank

Water Hardness in a Float Tank

What is water hardness?  Water hardness is, at its most basic, the presence of certain minerals in water. Historically, water hardness was a measure of water’s ability to form lather during laundering. Harder water, due to it’s high calcium/magnesium content, would...

A Blogging Experiment Brought to You By…

A Blogging Experiment Brought to You By…

At Float Tank Solutions, we're always playing around with different ways to provide benefits to everyone. We've gone a long time actively turning down sponsorship money, to ensure that we stay a source of (as much as is humanly possible) impartial information for...

How To Keep Empty Tanks Warm

How To Keep Empty Tanks Warm

The goal of any float center is to never have an empty tank. However, reality says that there will be slow times of the year, last minute cancelations, and unexplained openings in the schedule that will require you to maintain the temperature of an empty tank until...