We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carolyn Ripp a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Carolyn, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My family comes from a long line of small business ownership. They encouraged me to be an independent thinker, have a strong work ethic, and be the best I can at what I love. When I decided to open my own fitness/yoga studio, my Mom shared all she could about book keeping and managing a small business. My Dad was encouraging and said, “you will never want to work for anyone else after you have your own business.”

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been working in the fitness industry as a ACE (American Council on Exercise ) Fitness Instructor since 1987, and a RN since 1984. Although I thoroughly enjoyed my nursing career, specializing as a CDE (Certified Diabetic Educator unitl 2002, my passion for motivating people to live a healthy lifestyle through movement and self study has always been my passion.
Teaching fitness over the years took many forms such as : Dance Aerobics, Step, Slide, Circuit, Kick boxing, Zumba, Spin, Pilates mat work, and Yoga.
My interest in learning about preventing illness and promoting wellness led me to a Masters in Health and Wellness from UMD, When I tripped on Yoga 15 years ago, I realized it addressed all the aspects of health, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Yoga impacted my life in so many positive ways, I felt compelled to open a studio The Nest Wellness Studiio LLC in Cloquet MN, 11 years ago and share it!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

As much as I loved the idea of owning my own business, I found it a bit terrifying. I live in a small town in Northern MN and was a transplant and this was the first Yoga Studio in town. There is a saying , “feel the fear and do it anyway” which describes my initiation into small business ownership.
Learning to be present, and fully available for my clients, while keeping the ego in check was my biggest unlearning ,not only for myself, but the community as well. My decision to do this work was never about me, and that was a strange concept for people to understand. When we lead from our heart space rather than our head, what’s left is genuine care and concern and a desire to do good work for all. Something I work hard at is being balanced and resilient. This allows me to provide a space for participants to grow deeper in understanding all aspects of themselves. My wish and my mission is to encourage people to challenge limiting thoughts and beliefs, and be more open minded. I remind myself daily, that my spirit and my creative gifts came from above, and are meant to be shared.

My best description of what I do is to be a conduit, to offer a space, where everyone is welcome. A space where I ask that people leave their agendas , and egos outside the door along with their shoes., and to sit with themselves. This includes sitting with the best parts of themselves, the parts that are under construction. and the parts where we learn from the mistakes and choose to release.
For the past 11 years of business , I tried to educate people that my mission is not about me, it’s about providing a space for us all to grow, to understand why we do what we do. We learn when we are operating from a place of jealousy, fear, sadness, worry, resentment, or anger. There is no ego involved, and therefore, no competition, just svadhyaya (self study) This was the greatest unlearning and relearning concept not only for me but for the community as a whole.

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

Covid was hard on us all. Owning a business during this time was also hard. I was able to move online and offer classes on zoom,
still pay rent and stay open without any assistance, with the full support of my clients.
I pray /meditate daily , and ask for guidance in providing a space where people can heal.
My desire is for my clients is to be the best version of themselves they can be.
We can learn so much about resilience from nature, and where I am reminded of many life lessons.
I’m all about changing it up, and keeping things moving, like a river, going with the flow of life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://TheNestWellnessStudio.com
• Instagram: thenestincloquet
• Facebook: The Nest Wellness Studio LLC