Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carrie Maggard. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Carrie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I had owned a business with my husband for 17 years as interior painters. Our bodies had really taken a toll and at 38, my chiropractor (who I was seeing 3 times a week) told me my body was that of a 60 year old. This really hit me hard. He said I had to change something. My husband and I decided to try a 30 yoga challenge. After the first class, we knew this was going to change our lives. We successfully made it thorough the challenge and continued to do yoga almost every day. We were finding we would be in less pain after a session and woke up feeling better each morning. I took a leap and within a few months of starting yoga, I signed up for teacher training. I really wanted to learn more and how I could continue to help the many ailments I was suffering from. I never really intended on teaching, just learning. We are required to teach a class before getting our certification and I actually had 19 people show up. Once I got over being so overwhelmed, I taught the class and it was lifechanging. I realized that I could help others, the same way I was helped. Maybe even help more people my age who had never tried yoga and thought, “oh, that’s not for me, I hurt to bad, I am too big, I am not flexible enough,” show them they were wrong. Around the same time, my husband decided to go to Massage school. I wanted a bit more and decided to jump right into a deeper training learning Therapeutically oriented yoga to help others like me with back, neck, wrist, shoulder pain and much more. Once we both were certified, though the wonderful ways of the universe, we bought a beautiful place on 5 acres and opened our own studio. We definitely offer a different style of yoga than any studio we have ever attended. We work with all ages, sizes, races, and preferences and offer a place for anyone to feel welcome. Our tag line is, “We plant seeds of wellness, come grow with us.” This is what we try to show our clients and yogis. Anyone can do yoga if you are shown how to do your yoga. All of us need self care, we just need to schedule the time to do so. We have expanded our offering to also now include: Reiki, Thai Massage, Lypossage, Sound Healing and Sacred Ceremonies. This is all to help educate and share the amazing benefits of complementary medicine.

Carrie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Carrie Maggard. I am a small business owner and have owned my own businesses since 2001. After graduating college with a Management Degree, my husband and I were both laid off so we decided to start a handy man business, due to him already helping around the area. We found before too long we were very efficient and good at interior painting. We tried for many years to have employees, but we ended up keeping the business just us. We were very appreciated by our clients and stayed booked out several months. It did take a toll on us and after 17 years and finding yoga and massage, we opened the Yoga Farm in our hometown. This is a lower income and aging population so our services are well needed here. We offer yoga classes 6 days a week, a monthly free yoga class, monthly workshops, guest speakers, massage, Thai massage, Lypossage, private yoga sessions, sound healing, sacred ceremonies, meditation trail and general use of our 5 acre property that is now a Certified Wildlife Protection area. We offer very competitive prices due to the average income in the area. We are so proud to hear how we have offered our clients a better quality of life, less pain, and a general sense of greater wellbeing. We feel everyone needs and deserved self-care. We are patient and work with our clients to offer a safe and open environment for them to come learn and grow. We plant seeds with our clients, knowing some take more time than others to grow and we are patient and kind while they do. It is a beautiful thing to be a part of. We feel truly blessed that we get to over our services in this way.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When we decided to share our new found love of self-care, we thought we would be purchasing a large property to offer wellness retreats, etc. and would be downsizing our home. As we went through the process we found 2 different properties that we thought would be perfect. One, right after the other seemed to fall through and although we were a bit disappointed, we continued on. Then, close to where we used to live years ago we ran across this 5 acre property. I was less land than we wanted, but there was something about it. It also had a dome house which we found just beautiful. The house and the property needed much work and we wouldn’t be downsizing at all. Everything began to fall into place. We then realized that we were close enough to town that we could use a level of the house to offer a studio and therapy room and that was that. We purchased the property, spent 4 months renovating it and then opened out studio! We carved a walking trail along the back of the property through the woods and even had a local artist paint butterfly and fairy wings for our visitors to have their pictures made. Our property is becoming a place for community as well as our Wellness Center.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn is that I am in control. Every time I thought I could control a situation, the universe reminded me who really had control. I had to learn not to overthink and allow myself to slow down and look for signs. I think I keep re-learning this one too. I can be stubborn, but the universe is patient with me. So I feel along with that is I had to unlearn going a light speed. I am a get things done kind of person, so stopping and slowing down has been a huge help for me. Everything that needs to get done will. Trusting that taking my time can actually be more productive than trying to do 8 things at once.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yogafarmtn.com
• Instagram: @yogafarmtn
• Facebook: YogaFarmTN
• Linkedin: Carrie Maggard
• Youtube: Carrie Maggard