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Small Business Bestie
Entrepreneurship is hard, and sometimes we could use a friend to walk a mile in our shoes. Small Business Bestie is here to provide that friendship, support, and inspiration that small business owners need from time to time.
Small Business Bestie
56: Are You Controlling Your Breath, Or Is Your Breath Controlling You? Kelli Gabat's Story.
Kelli Gabat, owner of Wildfire Yoga, shares her eight-year journey from corporate worker struggling with anxiety to successful studio owner, teacher trainer, and wellness entrepreneur who recently expanded her business.
• Started yoga to help with anxiety and depression while working corporate jobs for over a decade
• Beginning with an 800 square foot subleased space before expanding multiple times
• Navigated COVID by immediately shifting to virtual without closing, while also processing personal grief
• Recently opened Wildfire Wellness with infrared saunas, cold plunges, and red light therapy
• Created a true community space where members feel comfortable making it their own
• Emphasizes starting small and being specific about what you offer rather than diversifying too quickly
• Believes in the power of mindfulness to create mental space for better business decisions
• Suggests beginning each day with gratitude as a "game changer" for overall mindset
• Recommends focusing on breath awareness when feeling stressed or overwhelmed
Visit Wildfire Yoga or Wildfire Wellness in Lexington's Warehouse Block. New students can try an intro offer of $59 for one month unlimited yoga. Book classes through MindBody under "classes" for yoga and "appointments" for wellness services.
Connect with Wildfire Yoga and Wildfire Wellness
Wildfire Yoga
Website: https://wildfireyogaky.com/
IG https://www.instagram.com/yogawildfire/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yogawildfire
Wildfire Wellness
Webssite: https://wildfirewellnesslex.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/wild_firewellness/
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This episode of Small Business Bestie is sponsored by Cultivate Accounting. We're all that and a bag of chips, and we've recently added Lexington's favorite tax pro, microzine, to our team, combined with the best small business bookkeeping pros. We're ready to help more besties than ever. We offer a free 30-minute review call each month to review your financials and answer your questions, because your numbers should empower you, not overwhelm you. Visit CultivateLexcom or find us on Facebook to learn more. Hey, besties, welcome back to another episode of Small Business Bestie. I'm your host, michelle Smock, and today, for the second time, I am recording with one of Lexington's favorite yoga teachers and yoga studio owners, kelly, tell us about you and what you do. I'm so excited to finally get to have this conversation.
Speaker 2:Yes, so, yes. So I own Wildfire Yoga. I've owned it for about eight years now going on eight years and I am an instructor. I am a teacher trainer, so we're a school, so I do teach teachers how to teach and have a great team behind me on that as well. I host international yoga retreats. I'm heading to Spain actually a month from today and that's wild to lead my fifth retreat, international retreat. So there's like 19 of us going.
Speaker 1:So much fun.
Speaker 2:Gosh, I know leading people across Spain, but it's my favorite way to travel, so that's just a fun part about me. But also I just opened Wildfire Wellness, which is the space right next to me. I took over the space right next to me and we have sauna and infrared and red light, and so we're easing into that big community space. So I've been a small business owner for eight years. I started out an 800 square foot subleasing for a year and a half and then moved to right down the street in Warehouse Block, so it's really growing National Avenue, and from there we expanded and then I've expanded again. So here we are. I'm a mindset coach as well. I feel that's super important, especially as a small business owner?
Speaker 1:Absolutely, yeah. Okay, there's so much that I want to get into, because you're just a wealth of knowledge and I know that there's so many small business owners who are either just getting started and thinking I don't know if this is the right move, or they've been in business and now they're having to think, is it time to expand, like, is this the right moment? And so I think having that insight from people who have walked through those stages is just so helpful. So I really want to get into, like your mindset, your decision making when it came time for those types of things. So tell us a little bit more. Before you opened Wildfire Yoga, what were you doing and what inspired Wildfire Yoga to become?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was corporate corporate America for 10 years 10 years and more after I graduated college, started running various businesses and I was like, how did I become a small business? But I was literally running a small business at 20. That's a whole other story. When I left Cincinnati, it was a martini club and so I was the general manager of that for seven years. It was wild, it is. And so I did that for seven years and then switched over to more corporate management for 10 more years and then about what? About eight to nine years and then started my business. I'm gonna age myself here at 37 with a child and family, uh-huh, and got into yoga. I'm dealing with, in my late 20s, anxiety and depression probably coming out of that nightclub.
Speaker 2:So early yeah, well, the owner didn't really. We were all navigating together. She never owned a small business as well, so to think about it is is wild.
Speaker 1:I did everything you know the inventory scheduling vans.
Speaker 2:I would meet with the city and we would go over events and how we could better Cincinnati. You know the city as I. And again, then, if I think about that as well, it didn't feel out of alignment. It was just something I did, and maybe that's what I was born to do is manage people, but also create things within spaces and it just seemed like a natural thing to do and she saw that in me and that's what I did. So I didn't really think anything more about it. But as I got older I was like I can't keep doing this, yeah, forever. I want, you know, I want to have a family later on.
Speaker 2:So I was like I have to shift gears and get more benefits and things like that. So I had to shift gears but still ended up in management, you know, and I feel like, but also struggling with anxiety and depression in my late 20s and seeked out yoga. So that's where the yoga came into place and I started doing that like four to five days a week after my job and then went and did yoga and it was that mom guilt too, because my daughter was like four and it was just. It made me a better mom, it made me a better person. And then I took my first 200 hours and decided that I was going to open my own studio. And everybody thought it was crazy. They're like no way, there's no way, why would you do that? And I didn't really. I thought it just was an alignment, it's a feeling that you get where. I don't know if everybody gets it, but I did. It was. It just made sense and I didn't think that I wasn't going to succeed Now it took me a year. It took me a year. I I was like I want to be done before my daughter starts kindergarten and I gave myself a year and I just made those steps. So I was like I took training. So I was like I took training. I taught four different places a week with my, with my job, and I mean I did what everybody does works at the Y and Transy and I worked all these different places but like five days a week I would. I would teach classes and then my corporate job full time and then be a mother. But I enjoy teaching so much job full time and then be a mother, but I enjoy teaching so much.
Speaker 2:And we just kind of stumbled across a couple of the girls in my teacher training that stumbled across this place that we started to sublease. We were going to go in it together and they decided not to do it. So I was like, well, I'll just start teaching privates out of here. And then the owner was like, hey, do you want to renovate this? And we did. And I was there for a year and a half 800 square foot. It was so narrow I had to put mirrors up and we went all the way back. I had to carpet. Even so, I didn't even have really a front desk, I had a corner desk and I would just turn around and check people in. It took me four months to hire an instructor because I couldn't afford it. So I taught all the classes and I just that was my job. I sat there until people showed up. So I got really good at privates, which I love to this day.
Speaker 2:So from there, we just outgrew the space and I still wanted to stay in the warehouse block. So I move. We moved down the street to two studios. We have two studios an infrared studio and a big industrial studio Basically doubled, tripled my space. And then 2019, covid hit in 2020 and we shifted gears to virtual like right away. The next day. Actually, we did not close down at all and I just moved on. Things were happening, but I acted like things weren't happening because if you react, other people react and so to save you know my business.
Speaker 2:I had to have that same mindset as well. Yeah, I had to really get past the clutter At that time. My dad passed a month later and so I had to navigate grief and my business as well. And then I started another 300-hour during COVID of a training and I think that really made a difference in my grieving process.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think one of the interesting things about yoga teacher training is that it's more about deepening your own practice. At least my tiny experience with it was more about deepening the practice that I already had and less about learning how to teach, because somehow as you deepen your own practice the teaching kind of comes yes. So that's beautiful that you had that opportunity to deepen your practice during a time of grief and all of the anxiety and stress that came along with COVID and being a small business owner that depended on in-person traditionally and you know having to navigate all of those changes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they don't teach you that in entrepreneur school.
Speaker 1:No, there is no school.
Speaker 2:No, they don't. There is no school for this. Yeah, I mean, I did have people, especially you know, that are still with me helping me navigate the virtual and had some help with that as well, and I had a great team. I mean we all shifted virtually and they helped and they were able to teach at home. The community, the members really supported me and didn't leave us and I'm just forever indebted to them like they're just the best community ever.
Speaker 2:But yes, uh, teacher training, I would say, is a look within. Always. I say the studio is about mental health. It's about the work and not the workout and that's, personally my values and my business model is that we, we do more. You know, we, we really mindfully move on our mat as mindfulness on and off the mat, but also the breath, and we really cue breath, a lot breath to movement. But that's why I got into it. It helped my mental health. So I wanted to create a space for others, a sacred space that they could explore naturally, and yoga is. It is a workout. It is hard I'm not saying it's not hard at all but my intention of opening this space was to allow it to help people, like it helped me on a more mental level.
Speaker 1:It's always surprising to me that oftentimes, when you feel that like true alignment, like your business venture even though it's not, it's never easy right, but your business venture is like it doesn't take as long to make decisions, it doesn't like feel as heavy to make decisions because you're just going with that like instinct or feeling that you get and you just know, like okay, this is the next right step instinct or feeling that you get and you just know, like, okay, this is the next right step, you know, and I, yeah, and I think mindset is key.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think it's key, it's a hundred percent key in making decisions, because if your mind is full, you can't make decisions, and so you have to. I compartmentalize things like now I'm the yoga instructor, now I'm the owner, now I work the desk, you know. Now I'm, you know, doing the manager, stuff. That may seem like a whole lot for people, you know, and but mindfulness, mindset, practicing meditation, really I mean it helped me to do what I'm doing now.
Speaker 2:There's no way I would be able to do that if I didn't create a mindset of like habits, like what do I need to do right now, you know, and what can I do later? And creating space in the mind is going to allow you to be more creative too. So that's what I'm so passionate about. Mindset coaching is because it's so important even in your daily lives, because we don't even know what we do in a day unless we write it down. And that's something that I tell people to do, like write down what you do in a day. It would be interesting to see, and they might be all task driven and there might be nothing in their self-care for you, and so we need to carve out some time in there, regardless of how busy our lives are. It's so important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I hear all of you amazing coaches telling us that constantly and I still I don't do it yet enough. I mean, I feel like maybe I do you. Just it's really hard, right? Number one, to even realize when you're doing self-care. I think so we have it in our minds like self-care is going to a yoga class or getting a massage, or you know, sitting in silence and on our mat, or you know on our cushion or whatever for a meditation practice. We forget that also, sometimes self-care can look like reading a book you enjoy, or cooking a meal that you've been excited to cook, or you know there are all of these other things that can be self-care a meal that you've been excited to cook, or you know there are all of these other things that can be self-care.
Speaker 1:But in our like busy driven society we just chalk that up to like another thing I was doing, you know. So even just the gratitude of you know that there are things in your day that you're choosing to do that are beneficial for you, but it kind of gets like lumped into oh, I did all the things in my day that I had to do.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it's like a checklist you know, and it's like got it done, got it done, got it done, you know. And checklists are good too. I mean, it gets stuff on paper, but I highly encourage that to get things out of your mind onto paper. But also meditation. You know, it doesn't have to look like anything. It could be literally, you could be doing the dishes and just focusing on that dish and nothing else. So it's like just focusing, bringing awareness to what you're doing at the time. It could be a small walk, it could be a walk without any digital, you know, listening to anything or carrying your phone, so it can be anything. You just you don't have to be in a yoga studio, you don't have to be seated, it's just focusing on, like, what you're doing at hand, and that can create space too.
Speaker 1:Do you offer meditation classes specifically, or do you just bring the mindfulness aspects into the yoga class itself? How does that work at the studio?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I would say in general, we all focus on breath a lot and breath is going to bring you into the present moment because you have to focus on your breath and that might look like counting. We might count with you for your breaths, we might, you know, a whole like body. You know, relax the jaw, things like that. So bring you into your body. So that's part. We don't have meditation classes per se, so we don't just offer like 15 minutes of meditation, but I feel like all of us bring in breath work a lot and we keep breath work a lot. So it brings you back into your body, into the present moment. So, but not in general, your body into the present moment.
Speaker 1:So, but not in general, just meditation classes, yeah, okay. So you you were corporate, you started a private or a personal yoga practice to help with your own mental health and dealing with everything that you were dealing with, and then felt the feeling of like, okay, opportunities are presenting themselves. I feel, in alignment with how the universe is presenting things, you opened the first studio and then you built a team yes, Okay, and then you moved into the new space. Was that something that you were actively looking for, a new space, or like it just kind of appeared and you were like, okay, I'm going to, you know, walk through the door. How did that happen?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say the first space was the universe, you know. It was like here's the space, take it or not? Yeah, like I said there was, there was a bunch of us going into that. The second space was like, yeah, I need more space. Like there's, we're 20 deep, 25 deep in classes and we're coming out the door. You know, I mean, we're literally coming out the door. We need more space. So, yes, I did. I did talk to the owners and like we need more space. I don't want to leave this area. So let's look at some space. It was Kentucky Mudworks at the time. They had that whole building, so it was the first one to go in there and pick my spot, basically. And now there's two other businesses in there as well with me. That's awesome. So that that was definitely like, yes, let's do this.
Speaker 2:The second now, this wildfire wellness space, um was a over a year and a half in the making. It had we've taken it different routes, like I was going to move in that space, move the whole space in that space. And I was like, no, that space, move the whole space in that space. And I was like, no, we're not doing that. And then, what about being more holistic and adding more things for the community, and so that's kind of how that developed, and so that's the route that we decided to go is to keep the current space we had and then expand into the space right next to us.
Speaker 2:I feel like we got really again. The universe got lucky that we didn't move and I wouldn't have moved, but that the people next to us decided to leave, and that was an opportunity for me to expand. Literally right next door there is a doorway that takes us from the yoga studio into the wellness studio, so they don't have to go far. So I think the hardest part is, like for the students just like, what door do we go in? You know like, can we add another door? So many doors, so many bathrooms. I think jokes about it all the time. There's just like so much of everything now, but it did feel alignment, like I. It is a big space, it is, and people like, wow, this is really big, but it does still feel very home, like it feels, feels good, like I think really, I would say to anybody like really feel into your intuition, like feel into your gut, like really feel into that.
Speaker 2:If things don't feel good, that they're probably not. You know, you might walk into a room of something and you might like the energy in here is not well, or oh, the energy is really good in here and so I'm gonna stay. And so it's kind of like that you know you really have to. And again, that's what my mindset too. It's like this is a lot. Yes, this is a lot. This feels right, this is going to be OK, yeah we're going to be OK.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think a lot of business owners we do a lot of things and we take risks. We really do, I feel like more than anybody like that. That would be a lot for people. But I think small business owners have a different mindset. We have a different way of looking at things.
Speaker 1:So do you have any advice or any like techniques or tips? Because one of the things that I have to try to caution, especially women that I'm consulting with who they have a great idea for a business. They're really passionate about it. A lot of times it's something that like either a service or a good that they have that you know has made a huge difference for them in their own personal lives and now they want to share it with the world and they're just on fire about this idea and wanting to like be a force of good. About this idea and wanting to like be a force of good and there's so much beauty and power in that desire and passion to be a good force in the universe.
Speaker 1:But as a small business owner, we also have to kind of balance that with and does it make sense Like will it work? Are you going to survive right as a business, because you can be all the good force you want to, but if your profit and loss is constantly in the loss phase and not in the profit, then it's not going to work, you know, long term. So do you have any tips or techniques or advice for people who are in that state of like feeling so optimistic and positive and hopeful and passionate, but also need to, you know, evaluate the business side, because I know, coming from corporate, you probably have a little of that mindset already ingrained in your way of thinking.
Speaker 2:Yes, I, yes. There's a lot to that right there and I would say, you know, I think it's different with brick and mortar and online businesses too. So, like that's a whole different shift for me, the mindset coaching was more online.
Speaker 2:My brick and mortar, you know, is my brick and mortar, and so that's a different kind of business, I think. So, with that being said, I would start small, like I would. If you're doing a brick and mortar sublease, like, don't go in and lease a big space, you know, and just set yourself up, obviously you need to look at your budgets and things like that and what you can spend out. But also, if you have to keep the job that you're doing now and then start teasing in what you really love, then you might need to keep that as well, you know, and balance that out and like, what does that look like? Things don't just happen overnight and so, even though you love this idea and, like this, you want to help other people. That is beautiful, it's and you should explore that, I think.
Speaker 2:But definitely start small and, um, I would say, do your homework to know, know your audience, know your brand, like who you are, be specific to what you do. There can be such a range of of things like what is mindset coaching? Like, what do you do on mindset coaching? Or you know, um, are you a business? You could be a business coach and a mindset coach. But what does that look like?
Speaker 2:You know so there's just so many different things. So, like, I think you can be all things, but I think the most important thing is what are you the most passionate about? Who are you the most passionate about to help? I think really honing on that like it's going to define you more. So that's something I would say that I noticed on online, but also as a brick and mortar as well. I wouldn't say not to do it. I mean, I think that if you have a passion, you should definitely explore it and and to some capacity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think everybody's lifestyle is different, and I always say this too. When I started the business, I just put my blinders on, like I could not look around me to see what everybody else was doing, like what they were pricing theirs, because they don't. No one's life style is the same, so you have to make what you have to make. You know, and that might be different than somebody else's, so that might, and your expenses are different, so your pricing is not going to probably be the same as the person that does the same thing as you too. So you have to look at so many different things of like how do you want to price things and how's that going to benefit you? How's that going to benefit your students as well? But I think just really like what do you need as you develop this new business?
Speaker 1:as well. I think what you said that felt the most pertinent to me was the part about starting small. It doesn't have to be the leap from here to Mars to take that first step, to know if you're on the right journey, and so maybe coming up with your most viable, smallest product or smallest offering and testing that out, testing those waters, to kind of see you know how am I being perceived Like? Is this something that people are open to? I think that's a really great piece of advice.
Speaker 2:I think it's easy too with social media, and everything is very loud.
Speaker 2:You have to hone in. You really do, because you'll see someone doing something that you're really passionate about doing. You're like, well, why can't I do that? Or you get that imposter syndrome where it's like causing you anxiety because you're like why I want to be there, I should be there. Or you aspire to be like them, right, but you don't realize how much work they probably have already done, how many years they've already put in. They probably have already done, how many years they've already put in. It's just, you know. I think it's easy to look at other people's lives and say, you know, this is what I want but is this what you want, or this?
Speaker 2:is. This is just what you see. It's just really important because it's you got to stay authentic to you and you start looking around. It's it's like we get caught up in like something that somebody else is doing and it's not really for us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think when we start doing that, it's so easy also to like, make this false assumption that if we're going to be able to stay competitive, we're going to have to do what you know. We have to be able to do what everybody else is doing. You know, maybe you have a bakery and you're like well, I'm really good at making muffins, I'm not so good at cupcakes, but other people do cupcakes. I should probably do cupcakes. Oh, well, I also need to do frosted sugar cookies, because those are really in on Instagram, you know, and you start adding all of these things that aren't your true, like passion or the thing that is just really sets you apart and makes you, you know, the best at what you can do, and then you water it down and lose momentum.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then you lose people too, because like, what are they really doing? You know, are they a cupcake place? So now are they a dessert place, you know, or what, like? What are they doing? It's like they made the best. Just make the best of what you make. Make the best cupcakes. You don't have to make just cupcakes, frosted cookies. You know we're just using that, but, like you know, now you're selling chips, it's like I mean, and now you're a deli?
Speaker 1:I don't know, now you're a deli.
Speaker 2:It's like this whole thing has shifted, because, I mean, literally, if you look around you and other people are doing things, you're like, oh well, I could do that too. You know, I'm going to do that because that's going to help me sell more. It's like, just I went to a conference and it was an empowering conference and it was about like, just do this.
Speaker 2:This person was highly successful in cupcakes. I mean, just loved making cupcakes at home and now that, like she's known like the best cupcakes and I've tried them, I'm like these are the best cupcakes I've ever had and it's like it's funny. It's not funny, but it's like, yeah, there's a cupcake business that is like making millions of dollars and because they've made the best cupcakes, they have honed in on their skill set and their skill and their passion. They make the best cupcakes. They don't have to make the other things. So I would say, if you're going to be going into small business or a product, just do the best at that product and be known for that product. You know, just because it is noisy out there, it's hard to be like what's going on? They're just throwing spaghetti at the walls. You know it's like is this going to work? Is this going to work? And?
Speaker 2:it just gets it, just it's. It's overwhelming as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah for sure. Sure, as the business owner and also as the consumer, it's just a lot, yeah, a lot going on. Okay, so you create the best holistic spaces, like that's. Your passion is to create a safe place for people at least, that's what I've gathered from you from talking. So I want to know more about the expansion into the wellness center and what you offer there and what people can expect and kind of how you're using that to impact the community.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, with the current space that I was having was plenty big. It just felt small to me after eight years not eight years there, but six years there and to others that probably seemed crazy, but it just felt small and the community space wasn't big enough. I wanted people would stay after class but it like would just, you know, there wasn't enough room in the lobby and so I noticed that too and it was like when I create this space, I'm going to have a huge community space and it is huge and that was so important to me because community is the most important thing. Like I have the best community and I think you know I just you just open the doors and you create the space and you just show up who you are and I and I think that's who you attract and that was the most important. And then the other is just like I didn't want all the things. You know I didn't. I was like infrared saunas are great Plunges have research behind them as well to be great for also inflammation, but also mental health and resetting the nervous system and things like that.
Speaker 2:Red light therapy is great for, again, inflammation. It's great for sleep. The PMF med is great for arthritis and inflammation, and so those things were really important to me specifically. And then a lot of people wanted massage as well. So we started incorporating massage as well. So I didn't want there's so many things you could put in that space. I just didn't want all the things. I just wanted those specific things and I thought that that would. It makes sense going in with yoga to that. Again, you know the mental aspect but also recovery, but also those things are just good for the body, mind and body connection. You have to breathe through the cold plunge. You have to breathe through it. You know your mind has to move through that too. That that coldness, and I know it's still cold, but we we started it at 55 and people were like that's cold still. A lot of our people have never done the cold plunge, so we didn't want to go too far below that People are loving it.
Speaker 2:So creating that space, yes, so I picked what I wanted to include. It was very intentional about that. I wanted, like a retail space where I could do consignment for other small businesses. So I brought in other small businesses vendors so they could put their stuff there as well for consignment, to fill up the space. That's exciting.
Speaker 1:So is it like a rotating cast of vendors that sell through your retail space?
Speaker 2:Well, it's getting there. Now we're going to have people that actually are going to, you know, provide stuff and leave their stuff there as well. So we will sell their stuff as well. So it gives them a place to put their things as well. So supporting small businesses. During that we're actually doing a swap shop. I said I could put I have a post-it for every thing that someone has said to me, like you should do this, you should do this and that's how.
Speaker 2:And so I go through my post-its and I'm like this is a good idea, this sounds good. I'm going to ask a couple more of my members about this, because everybody has ideas. When you create space, to like, oh, I can see this going here, I can see this, you know. And you come in one day and there's a plant here and there's a new chair here, or the chair is moved from here to here and you have flowers on your balcony now. So every day I walk in. Every day I walk in. I'm like there there's something new, and that happened with the other space.
Speaker 2:People started moving things that they felt like maybe we'll try it here, we'll try it here. So it's like very home, like like people feel that they can, they're fine doing that and they are like I love it that people put their own touches on the space. And it's like you know what that does look better there. I'm in it all the time. You don't see things when you're in it. All the time. When you walk in, you're like, oh, that fiddle tree is going to go right there and it's like, okay, put it there then. So I'm very open. I feel like very easy to be like yes, go ahead, make it what you want, we'll take a look at it and see how it goes.
Speaker 2:Goes, yeah, with the retail space. It's just, it's a very large space. People like you should do this, you should do this. So we're doing a swap shop, which is fun, on the 22nd of June at 1pm. So people bring in like their gently used clothes and you can swap those out for other clothes. So it's not something you have to go out and buy. So people that have like stuff that they don't want to, you know, put it to goodwill or something they're like. I've outgrown this, but it's really nice, I've only wore it once. They bring it in and then other people have the option to take it home and swapping, swapping out.
Speaker 1:I love that, is it just?
Speaker 2:clothes. I mean it sounds like clothes and accessories. Okay, yeah, that's mean it sounds like clothes and accessories.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, that's super fun. I'll definitely have to come check that out yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So there's plenty of space for that. So it's nice to have the space. I think I'd rather have more space than more limited space, because you can grow into it. So it's kind of how I look at the space as well, that's amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just's small business. Yeah, I know we recorded this episode several weeks ago, yes, and we had some technical difficulties and I know that when we talked the first time, you were telling me about the community space and just having a place for your members and your students to kind of be in community with one another, or even just a place to co-work. So is that still a part of the feel and the vibe that's going on now that you're like operational and running with it?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I do encourage people to virtually work there or stop in and work on the computer or after a treatment to sit and relax. So I think we're getting there. I think that we are starting to get more people that aren't members coming to the door that hear about us, so it's still pretty fresh. So to have people come like off the streets per se, like that never been in the studio, it is starting to happen, which is very exciting. To have people around Like I'm a big, of course, I just love community, so the more the merrier for me.
Speaker 2:But yes, it is open, it's again. There's plenty of space, furniture, it's a nice quiet space too, so it's it's inviting. And we also have like a little kind of back deck that I'm working on so we can open the doors and things like that back there. But everything's a work in progress, which is a lot for me, because I like things to happen very quickly and I've had to calm myself down a little bit to pull back, to like it's not going to be perfect, you know, right away. I have to grow into it, just like I did everything else. So that has been, that's been a little more challenging for me. I think that I, I want things to be like in place right away and it's just. It's taken time, but it's taken time for the right reason. People have come in for the right reason and making new connections like when it's right. So, whatever that means, it's just like you. You don't I just don't throw things in place just to put them there. I'm just like waiting to see how things evolve.
Speaker 1:Being open to the right alignment, right moment, trusting that things are happening the way they're supposed to. Yes, yes, trusting for sure.
Speaker 1:So on Wednesday, june 25th is our next Small Business Bestie Cocktail Hour and we're hosting at the Willow, which is right around the corner from you. So I'm not sure what your schedule looks like and if this is all like out the window, we can edit this part out. But it would be super fun if we could walk around the corner and, like everybody, see your space, see, like this new opportunity for you know working and working, working in, not out, and you know all of the wellness opportunities that are there. So for any of the besties that are coming to happy hour, we'll be right around the corner and I would love for us to be able to pop through and check everything out.
Speaker 2:So I love that, yes, and I'll. I need to mark my calendar on that so I can come over, or is it? Is it open for how is that Michelle?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so this is all new, the cocktail hours.
Speaker 1:We had our first one at J Renders a few weeks ago and the idea really is just a very casual, open networking for people in the small business bestie community.
Speaker 1:Last time we ended up having the most amazing conversations and one of our besties, pamela Honchel, we came up with this really cool idea, like all sitting around kind of round table style, just talking about like ways to promote her business, and we ended up coming up with these amazing ideas that she's really excited about and that's the whole whole idea behind the meetups is let's get together and help inspire one another and be able to have people to bounce ideas off of. You know, there's plenty of events out there where we hand each other our networking, you know our business card and we say, oh, nice to meet you and you know that's. But there are very few events out there where you're really getting into deep conversation with people that you feel like you can, you know trust and that you can say, hey, I'm having this problem in my business, you know, or sharing a vulnerability and allowing people to give you that critical input that as a small business owner sometimes we just don't get. So that's the whole principle of it.
Speaker 1:It's just connection.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I've seen that I might've seen that I was trying to make that last one. So yeah, I've seen that I might have seen that I was trying to make that last one.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I would love that I'm all about women, empowering women. You know, is it for women that Facebook group? Okay, but if you know, if there's just an ally out there who wants to help support women in business and they want to stop by, I'm not going to kick them out, but I think my branding definitely leans more towards the like feminine energy and all of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. There's definitely nothing wrong with that. Yeah, I'm all about women, empowering women and collaborating and it's just so good. Yeah, the Willow is beautiful. They're actually on the other side of our studio, so it's like we're all in the same building. Per se but we're all separate. So, yeah, it's been, it's, it's a. It's a beautiful place too. Um, it's very, it's very. Have you been there before?
Speaker 1:it's so pretty yeah, I've been in a couple of times and I tell you I love stopping by there, especially now that the weather's getting warmer and the doors are open. I just love it because it feels like I'm like on a tropical island, with all the plants that they have in there. It just feels so good.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, it's like a little Tulum kind of vibe.
Speaker 1:That is exactly what I was thinking. I was at a yoga retreat in Tulum and they had this beautiful like you know what do they call? Palapa, you know, with, like all the plants around, and I was sitting in there the first day that it was warm and I was sitting back in one of those chairs and I thought, if I closed my eyes and just like the feeling in here, I could have believed I was sitting right there in that palapa, just imagining an ocean breeze.
Speaker 2:Right, there you go, exactly Right in downtown. No, right in there.
Speaker 1:I love that you guys are all so close. That area is just incredible it is.
Speaker 2:I mean it is amazing, I mean we've got. I mean Wild Lab, if you haven't tried their bread and their salads, oh my God, I love it so good and just like Saab's, like there's just so many small business. I think there's like over 30. I mean, don't quote me on that.
Speaker 1:There's a lot.
Speaker 2:And yeah like 70% women owned as well.
Speaker 1:So a lot of women owned business I went to.
Speaker 2:Void.
Speaker 1:Sake, yes, yeah, savannah Harover, who has a networking group called Love Club had one of her meetups there a few weeks ago and it was amazing. It's so cool.
Speaker 2:Their cocktails are really good.
Speaker 1:The staff was so friendly. It was just a perfect environment to be able to gather with people and share space.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's so cool, it's so. It's just such a neat little.
Speaker 1:you can walk around there and just yeah, you could spend a whole weekend and probably not see everything and enjoy everything there is to do in that little like two block radius there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, there's just. We're all like, right there, it's amazing, it's good, it is good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, awesome, all right, well, is there anything else that you want people to know about you? Or the studio, or the wellness studio?
Speaker 2:I would just say that. Just come and check it out. Come, check it out, let us take you around, see what we've kind of built. And yoga If you haven't started yoga, there's always. There's never really a perfect time, it's just the time. That's when you're ready to, and we're definitely open for that. We do have an intro offer at $59 for one month, unlimited for new students, so you can come and try out all the classes in that month and just see what appeals to you and what works for you and your lifestyle. I think it's a good time to just see how many classes you can come to in that month and then, while you're there, just sit in our community space and we're adding things in like weekly. So who knows what it's going to look like next week? It's definitely come move a plant around if you like. Move the lamp towards you, it doesn't matter, we're still. It is so truly.
Speaker 2:I do love that, though. I love that I had a member just put up these, put these plants, these flowers on the railing the other day, and it's so cute. I'm just like that is so sweet. She like brought them yes, she brought them and hung them over the railings. So, and they're just so cute. I was like people just love, you know, love the community, but also are just so kind and want to see everything succeed and, you know, just want to. It's just so sweet, it really is. There's just no, there's no words. Yeah, super grateful. Yeah, I would just say to like, for me, starting the day in gratitude has has been a game changer my life, I think, and so I think that is something like if we could start the day in gratitude or something, and I think it just changes the whole day Really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're absolutely right, man. I just need you to call me every morning, kelly, and say let's have our gratitude practice, let's take a minute to breathe.
Speaker 2:I think you loved when I said and I remember this you said I'm going to write that down is that, um, are you controlling your breath or is your breath controlling you and I? That is something we talked about and I still think about. I think about that a lot when I'm can be stressed, or having you know again we're, I'm going to still stress and be like Kelly, you don't look like you're stressed, I'm like, no, I do, I do. I just I just tap back in, you know, and I think it's a good tool to just bring yourself back into your body.
Speaker 1:But I remember you loved that last time and I I did love that. I'm going to make that the title of the episode, so I don't forget it. Yes, this is a good one, Kelly. Thank you so much for your time today. I'll be sure to link your socials, your website, all of the things. Do you guys have online booking for the yoga classes or the wellness studio?
Speaker 2:Yes, so we are under. We go through mind body, but also we have a separate website for the wellness now too. But if you go on MindBody app, it's under classes is the yoga and appointments is the wellness?
Speaker 1:Yeah, perfect, yeah, either one. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, like I said, I'll put all of that in the show notes and in all of the comments on social. This has been so fun. Thank you for recording with me a second time.
Speaker 2:Yes, of course my pleasure. We'll have to see each other in person soon.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Well, if not before the 25th, I'll definitely see you then.
Speaker 2:Okay, for sure for sure.
Speaker 1:All right, thank you so much. We'll talk with you guys all later. Thanks, all right, besties. That does it for today. For today, if you're interested in becoming a part of the Small Business Bestie community, join us in the Facebook group or find out more information on the website at smallbusinessbestieorg. Please share the podcast with your friends, who could use a friend in business, and it would really mean so much to me. If you follow the show and take just a few seconds to rate or review, a five-star rating really helps the show become visible to other besties who may just need the support and friendship that we offer.