Poutama is proud to support Māori owned and operated O-Studio.
O-Studio is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest modern Wellness Space, founded by Tim Bateman, Jess Smith & Sam Thomas to provide their community with tools & practices to support mental and physical health & well-being. Based in Central Christchurch, the space opened in November 2019.
Tim Bateman’s name might be familiar to some of our readers. Prior to launching O-Studio, he was a professional rugby player with a 17-year career playing with the Crusaders & as captain of the Māori All Blacks. Through his rugby career & his wife’s battle with Multiple Sclerosis, Tim realised just how important it is, for his performance on the field and in life, to focus on his mental well-being. That’s why he developed Cloud 9 Float Club in 2016 and evolved that offering to include multiple well-being practices at O-Studio.
Tim, Jess and Sam are on a mission to make mental well-being as well understood & practiced as physical fitness is currently. They strongly believe every New Zealander should have access to well-being practices. With that in mind, they’re planning to expand across Aotearoa by offering the opportunity for people to set up their own O-Studio Franchise in their communities.
Poutama met-up with the founders to check-in on progress with Poutama’s investment in the business and ask a couple of questions.
Poutama: Has your location contributed to the success of your business?
Jess: Given all that our community has been through, we’ve seen overwhelming support from the people of Ōtautahi to get behind our project. Being located in the central city, we’re accessible to a lot of people & we’re part of a larger community of like-minded businesses at The Welder on Welles Street.
Poutama: What did the funding you received from Poutama go towards and how has this funding enhanced your business?
Sam: The funding allowed us to invest in the development of critical infrastructure for the growth of our expansion throughout New Zealand. Both in allowing us to develop software that is more fit for our purposes & the ability to manufacture key equipment here in New Zealand.
Poutama: What aspects of the business give you a point of difference in the sector and your community?
Tim: we always tell the story that 50 years ago, tools & practices to improve physical fitness were largely inaccessible – and with the growth of the fitness industry, now everyone is able to find a world-class gym, that has everything they need to improve their physical fitness. But where can you go to improve your mental & physical health & well-being? O-Studio was built out of that fundamental question. We’ve looked far and wide for the most effective well-being tools that support positive mental health for a wide-range of needs, in a holistic way.
O-Studio offer an array of wellbeing services from yoga, pilates and meditation classes and retreats to individual flotation therapy, cold-immersion and infrared sauna treatments to one-on-one mental health coaching.
To learn more about O-Studio, their kaupapa and amazing services you can check out O-Studio at their website, Facebook and Instagram.
