We recently connected with Erin Anderson and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Erin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?
This would probably go into the best boss that I have ever had category as well.
My former boss/employer/mentor Malia Lazu taught me “the power of managing up” and the importance of seeking clarity.
I think in most relationships, professional or personal, the most common place where we “fail” or drop the ball is communication. The phrase, “what I’m hearing you say is…” or to repeat back to the other person the list of: expectations, to dos, next steps, purpose of the project, etc.
Because of capitalistic structures and the power hierarchy that has been ingrained in us, I feel that we often get nervous about telling “our boss” what to do. What I have found with most executives and big picture people is that our mind lives in the future, we are often thinking about the full mural when you have to tackle most situations or tasks at hand in the parts that make up the larger picture. So it’s our job to bring the big picture thinkers back to the present – to kindly remind them of the present tasks at hand, to give them the details, and to call them back to their breath.
Not only is this in service to them and the cause that they are working to bring into fruition, but it helps us learn to tap into our throat chakra, to speak from a space of knowledge with confidence. It gives us the ability to also better understand how we organize both ourselves and programatically.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
I got into service work and events when I was young. I was always a church kid, so when it came to setting up for breakfasts and bazaars, the older women in the church schooled me. There was always a job to be done, whether it be coffee, setup, greeting people, etc. From youth into adulthood, I worked split between the restaurant industry (both front and back of the house) and in nonprofits developing and managing programs, and events.
I came into the practice of Yoga in 2001 in college as an initial supplement to my fitness routine. I had always been a runner and in the gym, consumed with body image. I joke, but in seriousness I was always running from my trauma and issues. I did find a moving meditative space with running, but I wasn’t giving myself the rest and recovery time that I needed so Yoga became the initial supplement, and then when the pain in my knees was too much to bear post run, I decided to transition to a sole yoga practice. Your body has a way of telling/making you sit down and deal with your sh!t.
While living in Boston, I was in the ideation phase of a cold pressed baby food company. I kept running into what I viewed at the time as huge prohibitive costs. I went to New York for a meet up with some of my friends from Montana in the summer of 2016. While there I met an investor who goes by the name of DAL. I was telling him about the business plan and he said, “you don’t sound excited about this at all.” And then he asked me, “If you could create anything, what would you create?” And I said, “a model for world peace.”
“When you figure that out, let me know,” he said.
So from there PEACE was born. It was always meant to be a program or decentralized structure that is not owned by anyone but adopted by all people and companies. So I was still in a space where I needed to create a company that could carry it into practice, and that is when EADEM ARBOR was created.
After a lot of casual hints of me needing to become a Yoga teacher from my mentor Malia (mentioned above), I became certified to teach Yoga the summer of 2017. Eadem Arbor began hosting and partnering on various PEACE driven events with BIPOC teachers and experts in Boston: Malia Lazu & the Lazu Group, Marlene Boyetter & Leela Wellness, Linda Wells known as Linda Wellness Warrior, Mike Massey & 33 Degree Yoga, Tiffany Mangum & TruPeace Yoga, Zeen Rachidi & Zeen Media, Jem Stephenson & Fabwright Origins, Justin Springer & Outside the Box Agency, Joelle Fontaine & Kréyol, Sydney Janey Design; and Cassandria Campbell & Jackson Renshaw of Fresh Food Generation. All of our collaborative events were/are rooted in wellness and art.
Since then, the pandemic obviously happened. I relocated back out to Montana and brought the concept of Eadem Arbor with me while maintaining my Boston relationships.
At the core, Eadem Arbor is a wellness company. We work in partnership with other wellness workers and artists to create opportunities for cities, companies and individuals to more deeply connect to themselves and one another.
We tailor packages that help expand your business’s concept of wellness and community impact.
Offerings in the one-on-one coaching sessions include:
1. Asana (the movement part of the Yoga practice)
2. Pranayama (breathing exercises)
3. Guided meditation
4. Weekly writing/reading assignments and reflection (both individually and in group)
5. Economically accessible community classes that are to be seen as a form of community building, wellness, and an economic investment for both individuals and businesses
6. Online subscription packages for both individuals and their employees.
7. Grassroot social media assessment and outreach
The goal is for community and business leaders is to be open to us guiding them in their initial pivot, and then as a company we facilitate the introduction to teams of experts to expand the companies health, wealth, awareness, and overall impact.
What we are finding post the pandemic is that folks have hit a plateau in their wellness. Previous routines and methodologies are not working like they used to – needs are not being met and hearts are not being fulfilled. People want to be more connected to their bodies, community, and their personal creativity. However, most are unsure or uneasy about where to begin or how to do outreach from an authentic place. We help our clients, reconnect to themselves and provide them with suggestions, avenues, and introductions for connection, and then we let their hearts and intutition lead them to where they feel is best. Lastly, we hold them accountable in the process.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start?
Let me first start by saying that we believe that “you are your greatest asset.” If we are not actively invested in the alignment of our emotional, physical, and mental health, the ability for us to be present is nonexistent. If we are not present, the quality of the work, and the relationships that we are building will suffer, which will only bring us more suffering. (We say ‘us and we ‘meaing the collective – us as a company, you, and all people dedicatated to creating change.)
That being said, the first piece of the your puzzle for change is you – you will always be your number one. We begin the work with changing ourselves.
2nd let’s talk about “capital” because I feel that we go directly to the conversation of money.
Do you know what needs to be built first?
Community.
We need to spend quality time being in places and spaces, with people to share both joy and sorrow. We don’t do it to build business, we do it to build relationships. We do it because we love people, and this earth. We do it because we care and believe in equality, equity, and that everyone deserves to thrive rather than just survive.
Important Lesson Learned: Do not create or give from a space of lack. In those moments, although it may seem like you are “giving,” that type of behavior is selfish. Why? Because rather than doing it for the benefit of the whole, you are doing something in order for you to feel better about yourself, or to get something in return. That is not how the nature of giving works. And it is not how we heal.
The story to put together the initial “capital” for the funding of Eadem Arbor comes from the commitment to building community. In my heart, Community is King. If you do not have people standing with you, dedicated to a common cause who know your heart and your soul, then your capital will only get you so far.
The funding to lay the foundation for Eadem Arbor has come from the work and time that we put in, working for nonprofit organizations, restaurants, and teaching yoga, and a few kind sponsors from some of our events. I say “we” because as I was pouring myself into the service of the work, my community was pouring into me with words of encouragement, food, places to live/stay, loans, advice, all of the things.
The love and guidance given to me by my mentors and community to sustain, build, and for me to to believe in myself is worth more than any amount of money. Without them, I would not be here.
If Community King, Love is Queen.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Eadem Arbor has done a lot of pivots. At the core there will always be Yoga and Wellness and the hope to connect wellness workers & expand the conversation about what wellness is, across the United States and globe.
Since the start of the pandemic, we have uprooted our location twice. The goal has always been for us to be an interstate and interconnected initiative; however, the cultivating of community while moving in the midst of a pandemic was a great learning experience, to say the least.
Moving from an urban setting in Boston (with our community being primarily BIPOC), to a more rural setting in Montana (our community being primarily White), and after the murder of George Floyd, there was a greater calling to speak more openly in our public classes in Montana to address the feelings that white bodied folks were struggling with: guilt, shame, rage, but that no white bodied Yoga teachers were addressing, and to create more welcoming & inclusive spaces for BIPOC Yogis.
Living in more conservative space, we have begun to mindfully plant the seed for discussion through a deep sharing of gratitude for indigenious people of the lands we are seated upon, and BIPOC People as the original creators of the practice. Our hope is that white owned studios, will partner and pay BIPOC Teachers within our network to dive deeper into these discussions.
Us “owning” a studio space has never necessarily been the goal. I am not saying that that won’t happen; because when it does, our intention will be to work with indigenous tribe in terms of giving back land.
Currently, our intention is to get more studios and service based industries collaborating to uplift the creative, wellness, and service based economies and to begin to have these deeper conversations about moving from what our mentor at the Lazu Group has coined as “intention to impact” and coming into right relationship with BIPOC people and the land. To be clear, we will not be leading these discussions, we will defer to BIPOC organizations within our network to lead the educating and negotiating in these matters.
Currently and in reflection of the pandemic, and because of conversations with family, friends and colleagues there is a certain need for a calling back to creation energy. This vision is slowly being revealed. Our one-on-one coaching programing will be the launchpad for the module. Please reach out to us for more information.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eademarbor.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eademarbor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EademArbor
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eadem-arbor/?viewAsMember=true
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/EademArbor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-bhUiNuyLQJeI_N_uKSG0g
Image Credits
Personal Photo: Photographer: Aleksandra Was per Sacred Ally Event Photos : Photographer : Zeen Rachidi & Zeen Media