We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katelyn Grady a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Katelyn, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
The company is named after a poem in Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. In the poem, Whitman destroys the idea that any body can be more valuable than another, and heralds the body as soul-stuff. It’s a beautiful and inclusive poem about the unity of the body, mind and spirit.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve been into yoga since 1999. I studied the practice and philosophy in college including a 7 month stint in India, and then began teaching the practice in 2010. The Body Electric opened its doors in March of 2013 and we’ve been serving yoga at our north location since then. In 2019 we opened our gym, The Body Electric Athletic Company. At the gym we have strength, kettlebell, core and bodyweight workout classes. All of our offerings at the gym are infused with a yogic mindset which is to say we encourage observation without evaluation and an introspective and interoceptive way of moving. Our instructors are all really skilled and passionate. I’m really proud of the way we hold space for our clients to study themselves and hopefully learn to love and accept themselves more, all while getting stronger in body, mind and soul.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
When we were trying to get capital to open The BE we could not secure a loan. We ended up putting together a folder of collateral to give to friends, family and community members to solicit small personal loans. We opened The BE with many many micro loans, a very generous landlord who believed in us, and a ton of sweat equity.
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
COVID was definitely a close call moment for us. We were running out of money, our brick and mortar was unessential and closed, and the future uncertain. We nearly closed the gym, but in the end we hung in there and with the help of government loans like the PPP we were able to stay open and pay our employees. The gym was a very ambitious (and expensive) undertaking and we had *just* opened. It was stressful and scary but I’m really glad we hung in there.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thebodyelectricyoga.com
- Instagram: TheBEAthletic, TheBodyElectricYoga, _katelyn_grady
- Facebook: The Body Electric Yoga Company, The Body Electric Athletic Company
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBodyElectricYogaCompanyStPetersburg
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-body-electric-yoga-st-petersburg-2
Image Credits
Sandra Döhnert Bourne Andrejka Hirsch Greg Hodge