We were lucky to catch up with Ali, Atman, and Andres Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ali, Atman, and Andres, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
So this happened in our early stages of our organization and it was one of those moments where you know that what you are doing is working and that this is going to be something special. We started our organization because we wanted to help people help themselves via a variety of practices that we had been given by our teacher that had helped us out immensely. We had been conducting after-school programming for over 5 years when this situation occurred. The story is about a young lady named Janasia. Janasia grew up in the same projects as Freddie Gray, and she didn’t have all of the same material things that other kids had (i.e. cool clothes, shoes, backpack, etc…), so sometime kids would bully her. The thing is that her older brother knew how to box and showed her how to throw her hands so when she did get bullied she would fight the bully and usually win. You would think the kids would have learned their lesson but one day my business partners, the principal, and I turn a corner and their is Janasia gripping this other kid up by their shirt and has them slammed up against the lockers. She looks at us, looks at the kid, looks at us again, looks back at the kid and says, “You lucky I meditate”, and lets the kid go, sits down in a meditative postures, closers her eyes, and starts breathing. None of us could believe how profound of an impact these practices were having and knew that we had to keep up with our mission. We have been doing so for almost over 20years since. then!
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.
The Holistic Life Foundation (HLF) is a Baltimore-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to nurturing the wellness of children and adults in underserved communities. HLF is run by BiPOC and demonstrates a deep commitment to learning, community, and stewardship of the environment.
Established through social entrepreneurship in response to the need for mental health services in underserved communities in Baltimore, HLF currently works with 5,000+ Baltimore City Public School students on a weekly basis. The organization’s goal is to improve social, community, educational, and emotional outcomes in low-income, underserved communities by providing multi-faceted programming that empowers youth, families, and adults through yoga, mindfulness, and human and environmental health.
HLF’s socio-emotional behavioral curriculum encourages youth and young adults to develop their inner lives through yoga, mindfulness, conflict resolution, teamwork, restorative practices, self-care, and to appreciate the value of learning, community, and stewardship of the environment.
Founded in 2001 by brothers Ali Smith and Atman Smith and their good friend from college, Andres Gonzalez, HLF began teaching yoga and mindfulness practices to at-risk youth in their community. Since then, the organization has expanded to teaching private and group classes to students of all ages, demographics, and levels of experience. They have authored and piloted two curriculums, as well as many workshops and training sessions. HLF teaches their own unique blend of many styles of yoga, mindfulness, and other self-healing practices.
Since its inception, HLF has served more than 100,000+ youth and adults through yoga, mindfulness, and environmental-based programs and trauma-informed training. The organization is also committed to developing high-quality evidence-based programs and curriculum to improve community well-being. These programs have been facilitated in many different settings, including schools, detention centers, drug treatment centers, mental illness facilities, recreation centers, group homes, colleges, senior centers, and wellness centers across the nation.
HLF has been recognized locally, nationally, and internationally, and their innovative and effective work has been featured in multiple media outlets, including nationwide print, television, radio, and podcasts, including Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, PBS, Mindful Magazine, Yoga Journal, CNN, CBS, O the Oprah Magazine, and The Washington Post, to name a few.
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
We are a non-profit organization with three main funding streams: 1. Grants (local and federal)
2. Fee for service
3. Donations (Personal and Corporate Giving)
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
Via our social media platforms, newsletter, website, conferences, speaking engagements, and trainings.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://holisticlifefoundation.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holisticlifefoundation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HolisticLifeFoundation
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/3251797/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/hlfinc
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8lHi5zLLUV9xuTj0Xp33Q
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/holistic-life-foundation-baltimore
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hlfinc?lang=en