We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Yonatan Elkayam. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Yonatan below.

Alright, Yonatan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

When I first met my wife Jaime, I was a full time musician and actor. I loved the creative work and in particular performing, but was struggling to find balance in my life. Financially I was constantly living in times of feast or famine, which was a constant challenge for my nervous system. My health was relatively good, because I’ve always been aware of it’s importance, but I was living a life that wasn’t sustainable. I was going to sleep at 3 or 4 in the morning, losing most of day time hours to sleep, living like a vampire. My exercise routine was spotty at best, and I was drinking often on my gigs, a couple here and there, but almost daily. I could feel that burnout was coming and that a change was needed but I didn’t really know what. Jaime was a bright light in my life from our first date. She worked for Equinox and really enjoyed her work and her colleagues, and she was very focused on her health. It inspired me. I started looking at different ways I could make consistent money during the daytime hours, and wanted to find something that would inspire some lifestyle shifts. My aunt recommended studying to become a Pilates instructor through Equinox. It seemed kismet and I went for it. Pretty immediately I fell in love with Classical Pilates, it felt so good in my body, made me feel strong and also much more flexible and gave me a sense of calm and focus I had rarely felt from other practices. I also started to notice that my existing injuries started to heal and strengthen. I became so inspired by Joe Pilates, his history & philosophy, the movement practice, the equipment, and the benefits. I was the star student in my program; it came easy, I just poured myself into it. Then the pandemic happened, and everything came to a grinding halt. I couldn’t perform music anywhere, and couldn’t work as an actor. Luckily I was able to continue practicing Pilates and after a few months the program went online so we could finish our certification. In the meantime Jaime and I started to study energy work in particular Reiki. We studied with Julia Albain over zoom. I remember showing up to our first session with a lot of skepticism. She created an environment that was safe to feel however we wanted, and also quickly changed my skepticism into deep belief. The study of energy medicine was revolutionary for me. As an artist I have always had a connection to energy, but through my instrument, harmony, melody and rhythm. For the first time in my life I had a that connection without anything external. This education would prove to change our lives dramatically and continues to to the present time. We have learned many different energy healing techniques over the years, and Julia quickly became our mentor, and even married us in September of 2022. We started to see a common thread between movement and energy, and how our beings as a whole need to be balanced to live a healthy life. I also was able to bring in to this realm my extensive expertise as a musician, and delved into the world of sound healing, a modality that was natural and extremely powerful for me. It felt like things were brewing organically, but still needed a reason to all coalese. At this point we were asked by a couple in our community for coaching around their relationship, they were stuck and need a transformation in their lives. This gave us the opportunity to create our formula of transformational coaching that acknowledges and treats the entire being, not just one part. Traditional therapy or coaching usually addresses the mind, movement practices the body, and energy healing the spirit. However we bring it all together, our sessions begin with movement, specifically 20-30 minutes of Pilates, in which we strengthen and stretch all planes of the body, work the core and the alignment, and get the body feeling open and connected. We then sit down to do the traditional talk coaching, addressing the clients’ specific issues and goals. After physical movement people are much more open and vulnerable, allowing us to get to the root of things in a more efficient manner. Once the mind has been addressed with the talk coaching we then drop into energy medicine. This gets into the gaps where words can’t reach, and the mind doesn’t see. The client lays down in a comfortable and relaxed position and receives the energy healing, often supported by healing instruments. This formula has been remarkable for people, and for our first clients it was a marriage saver. Since then we have worked with countless people who are either on the brink of burn out or are moving through different types of transitions, change in relationships, searching for love, death, moving out of chronic pain, coming into deeper and more loving relationship with themselves; and each one of our clients has had tremendous results from our work. As an example some of our clients come to see us because of chronic pain. Working with the entire being we address their pain on a physical level, as well as an emotionally and spiritually, which has cured many of our clients of pain they have struggled with for many years. Often the things that ail us physically have emotional or energetic roots, which is why we can get body work or see a specialist and experience some relief for a short time, but that chronic ailment returns. Our method address the root of the pain, not just the symptoms. The pandemic brought me a few gifts, one was in slowing down and reevaluating my life’s purpose and direction. I’m still an artist and a creative person, but this business has given me a whole new meaning to life, in particular being in service of others. Also forcing us to find new ways to connect, we really learned how potent this work could be even over zoom. We’ve have gotten to work with many people on all sides of the globe, and when someone comes in skeptical about energy healing over zoom, I smile and remember my first lesson with Julia, and welcome any hesitancy with love and patience. I have a deep knowing that this work is just a powerful even when we are hundreds and even thousands of miles apart. In the last year Jaime and I have opened a brick and mortar location in West Hollywood. It’s a gorgeous space that feels like a sanctuary. It’s a place for people to feel safe to do their healing, and avoid burnout. We have a stunning private Pilates studio with top of the line Contrology equipment, a nice large space to do energy work and sound baths, and a comfortable area to sit down with our clients for coaching. Whether it’s in person or online, this work has transcended my expectations, and our client’s as well. I am honestly humbled by the impact we are having on our clients, our community and the world around us. Our goal has been to leave the world a better place than we found it. Seeing our clients fill their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual cups up, leaves me with a feeling that the world is benefitting from their new found wellness. Some of the ripple effects we will never see, but we know are making an impact in the world, and that means the most to us.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met Jaime online, and from our first date everything was different. We both showed up very whole, and not needing anything from the other person. We had extremely honest conversations about who we were and what we wanted, and that set a tone for the rest of our relationship. We were together for a year and a half before the pandemic hit, and when it did we began living together, and were able to hold one another through the ups and downs of the lockdowns. We had a tremendous amount of time to reevaluate our lives and our direction, and started to look at all of our different skills. The pandemic gave us time to focus on our health and our self care, and these practices started to unfold powerfully that we knew that there was something special in front of us. Continuing to further our education, with a desire to team up to help people gave us a common language and purpose. She is so brilliant in many aspects of our work, she inspires me and motivates me. Luckily I have totally different skills that create a well rounded business and continue to inspire and motivate her. Together we really are a power couple. Most people wouldn’t want to work with their significant other, but for us it’s a dream come true. We love working together, and for the betterment of others. We even see some clients together, they get us both as their coaches. The balance of masculine and feminine energy, the different perspectives on life, it all come together beautifully for us in this work. Our biggest challenge or opportunity for growth is in creating boundaries around when we are working and when we aren’t. If we weren’t conscious of it work would seep into everything, but we have created a life in which we bring mindfulness to our relationship, allowing work time to be work, and the rest of the time to set things down. It’s been a beautiful learning experience, and continues to fuel our relationship and love.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

We are called Word Of Mouth because we believe that the best things in life are found that way. We have gotten so many referrals from our clients, people in our community, and our families. That has been a real blessing. We have also begun to focus our marketing efforts online. Our IG @wordofmouth.love has been a source of inspiration and positive messaging for many people, we often hear how what we post really effects people in a positive way. Also we have learned a lot about SEO for our website and have seen some great results from it. Not the most exciting topic for me, but I am a big believer in it now, and see how many businesses would benefit from investing into it. Let people find you by aligning your message to the technology of the internet. It’s powerful when the right people can find you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wordofmouth.love
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouth.love
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wordofmouth.love
• Twitter: @WoM_love
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wordofmouth-love

Image Credits
Joshua Albanese Siouxzen Kang Marrisa Dela