Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Taylor Rometty . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Taylor thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Wow, where to begin when I think about my company mission. I started practicing yoga almost 10 years ago and through that journey it helped me heal through grief, anxiety, and deep depression. Every day I made it to my mat, I knew that whatever my next step in life as scary as things felt, I was going to be okay. I wanted that to be the space I made for people. I wanted to create a space where people could come to yoga with no experience and leave feeling better than when they walked in.
My mission at Homlistic Healing is to create an individual private yoga practice that meets every clients body, and that yoga is more than just the physical practice. My mission truly comes from my first experience in yoga. I came to a yoga class confused, in panic, and not knowing what to do with my body even though I had been an athlete for years. As I developed a practice over the years and became an instructor I soon learned that every student experienced either this type of experience or something remotely similar. As I connected with students who came to class for the first time, and ensured that their experience was special, it became so clear to me that foundational students is where my heart was rooted. I wanted to create a space where students could reach for props as tools, expand on the other 7 limbs of yoga that create a robust practice, and a space to ask questions through their practice and not wonder if they are doing something right or wrong. Homlistic Healing sprouted as a space between the yogi that wants to start their yoga practice but is too anxious to get into a studio space. I have been working with many clients over the last year that came to me to expand their flexibility for other areas of their life such as skateboarding or tricks to do on roller skates and their journey has changed as they continue to practice. They not only use yoga for their flexibility but a place for peace outside of their busy life. They show up to their mat knowing it is just what they need to help them reset their day/week. Some of my clients have found themselves taking classes in studio and harnessing a deep sense of confidence around the practice that once scared them. These are the moments that I live for as a yoga instructor and keep me extremely connected to my why.
Taylor , 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?
I am Taylor Rometty. A 200 HR Registered Yoga Instructor, a Certified Hypnotherapist, a wife to Tyler Rometty, a Mom to two puppies, an employee at YogaSix in Scottsdale, and a lover of running and lifting. I grew up doing gymnastics from the age of 5-18 and was always involved in sports. Prior to running my own business I was a retail manager in many retail stores in the malls around the valley and then in the mortgage industry as a senior loan processor. These jobs helped me lay the foundation to opening my own business.
In 2015 I dealt with a multitude of loss allowing grief to file in at one of the busiest moments in my life. I was managing at Lush Cosmetics getting ready to move and open my store at Fashion Square Mall. With a bigger store came so many more responsibilities and stress. About a year went by and the summer of 2016 I started to experience panic attacks, deep bouts of depression, and anxiety that I had never experienced before. I went to our family hypnotherapist and started to work on myself. After a few sessions my mom took me to my first yoga class as a recommendation from my therapist to hone in on a mindfulness activity that would help me find peace outside of just going to therapy. I had a panic attack my first class and resented my mom for taking me. I went home feeling broken that nothing was feeling like it was working. I went to bed that night, and slept for half the night (which was more than I had slept in months). I decided to go back on my own to another class with no expectations. The teacher kept cuing that it was always okay to rest and take care of yourself through class and when we hit the mat for savasana we rolled over to a red sunset that bled through the windows. My internal voice told me that everything was going to be okay if I just made this space for myself. So I did. Nearly every day I met myself on my mat unapologetically. Whether I was crying, smiling, had a great day, had a bad day, my mat was my safe space away from the stress and anxiety I was harnessing. Over the years with therapy and yoga, panic attacks subsided. I started to get back to what felt like “me.” In January of 2018 my yoga studio I went to every day offered their first yoga teacher training, and undoubtably I signed up. Originally I signed up to expand my practice and didn’t have any intention of teaching yoga because I hated public speaking.
After going through my training, I began to foster some type of confidence in myself I hadn’t ever felt I had. I was offered a teaching job at the studio before my training was over and couldn’t say no. I discovered that helping people had always been my calling, but I never knew where it would be until right then. In 2020 I discovered that I wanted to help people through the use of hypnotherapy to help people regain their life like I had. I went to school and graduated the following year with SWIHA.
In 2022 it was my year to completely put myself first to help people. I quit my mortgage job and opened my private yoga practice Homlistic Healing and got hired as a hypnotherapist at Illumilife in Scottsdale.
At Homlistic Healing I offer privates, group practice, and events. My sessions include customized playlists and classes to the students needs. I heavily focus on the use of props to helps students bodies safely into poses and to create space on expanding into other areas of their practice like the breath. I think my skills in hypnotherapy create a lot more imagery through the practice and more relaxation for clients. Any time a client practices with my one on one I remind them that we are also there to have fun and explore their practice on their terms.
My ideal potential client is any yogi that is interested in yoga but is too anxious to get into a studio. So many people take their friends to their first yoga class and they leave class feeling spooked or that they have to be a certain way to practice and they don’t return. I have always believed as an instructor it’s our responsibility to set that stage ahead of time, but sometimes students don’t feel comfortable enough to do those things in a room full of people. The thought of sitting down in the middle of everyone moving makes people’s ego go crazy. This is where I come in for new students. They get to practice with me for an hour and ask questions, laugh, cry, try, and not feel the pressure of a room full of people. I am there to create a foundation that helps them feel grounded enough to come to their mat any time they wish and take any type of modification confidently and honor what their body needs.
I really want people to know that I am here to help heal and create a safe space for people to become their own person through yoga. My job is to make people feel just a little bit better than when they walked in to practice on their mat.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson that I really had to unlearn through the process of becoming a business owner is my attachment to money. For years I held a very high position at all of my jobs keeping me financially stable and very comfortable. I always worked hard for everything that I had. I had saved enough money over the years to buy two of my own cars with my debt to my name. I very luckily could do things that I enjoyed whenever I wished because I knew how to budget, save, and take care of my well being.
When I quit my corporate job in the mortgage industry a year ago I had to face the reality that my views on money had to change. The first phase was just using some of the money I saved to enjoy my life and open my business budgeting for all of the important components. When those saving started to diminish I had to nail down the main priorities in my life that I needed to have and could not give up. I gave up going to music festivals and traveling once every few months. I let go of things I had been spending money on for fun in town and started doing pool parties, game nights, and fun gathering with my friends that didn’t require money. I had to get really good at saying no. Through this phase I had to also learn how to lean on someone financially for the very first time, my amazing husband. I had to let go of the idea that I needed to be this powerful self sufficient woman that I had been most of my life.
As I had slow business through the summer and had to ask my husband for help on bills through some months I cried, a lot. I started meditating, getting on my mat, and focusing on the small pieces of gratitude. Focusing on daily gratitude gave me the reflection that I had everything that I needed right in front of me, and we were not struggling as a family through this. I was just struggling with letting go of my old life and landing myself into a new space energetically. As I kept focusing on these things and putting myself out there finding new places to teach yoga, the money started to show up for me.
The more I stopped focusing so hard on where the money was coming from and focused in on the here and now and trusting that whatever step I took would create future abundance was enough. I have lived in that space since October of last year and it has changed me. I have been the healthiest I have ever been spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. I was somewhere new I had never expected to be and all of a sudden I have looked back and one year has gone by. My bills were paid, I had food to eat, an amazing support system, and that became enough for me.
As challenges continue to come and go I just remember through everything those things and they keep me grounded. When I get stuck I go outside with my dogs and go for a walk. When I am uninspired I get on my mat or hula hoop to inspire creativity. When I feel like I am in a perfectionist stage I paint to unfurl. My life is somewhere new and I am more open to those things than I have ever been. I have learned more than I ever expected taking this step with my life and I am so happy I did.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
There was honestly no initial way to fund my business. I had years of savings in the bank that helped me to start my business. My husband has helped to carry the bills for groceries and anything else we need which has just allowed me to make enough money to pay my bills. I just became more frugal with my life. I sold clothes, created events, did zoom sessions, and did whatever I could to make money to keep going. Essentially all I had to pay was rent at my studio space and it was doing just enough to do those things.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: homlistic.healing
Image Credits
Individual photo is Arin Garduno