We were lucky to catch up with Chandra Fowler recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chandra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?
Sanskrit Moon Yoga Center was founded in November of 2019. We had one beautiful year to establish our community. Then Covid happened. In March of 2020 we closed the studio for what we naively hoped would be a short period. In two weeks we managed to get our virtual platform up and learned how to hold space through the power of the internet. We allowed people to come back into our studio during the summer, but quickly learned that there wasn’t enough space for our community. We decided to provide yoga for a local Cross-fit group in exchange for the use of their amazing space. I then met an incredible Pilates instructor, who had a similar story of healing through her modality and we decided she would use the Yoga studio space to establish her reformer classes. One year later, the space next to the studio opened up and we decided to co-promote and offer even more to our individual communities…the Southside Tribe was born!! I learned that the journey is not always seen in the beginning, but as we keep on our path beautiful connections can be made.
Chandra, 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?
My name is Chandra Fowler and my studio, Sanskrit Moon Yoga Center, was born out of the need for yoga in my own community. My journey started in 2006. When I started practicing I didn’t see many individuals who looked like me. I was on the search for my tribe and decided to create a space where any and everyone who needed a safe place to practice could feel at home. Our studio provides many different options to practice. Our belief is that if you can breathe, we can show you a practice to get you started on your own journey. Yoga for our community is a spiritual practice first, and being able to accept ourselves just as we are (on the mat) is the first gift we can give to ourselves.
This year we have expanded to heated classes with infrared panels. We are excited to bring this way of experiencing yoga to the southside. We love to partner with our community and currently are working with the Dharma Project as well as Cultured South for free classes every 2nd & 4th Sundays.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
We use Instagram, Facebook, and Mailchimp to reach our community. We feel like our Tribe is unique to us because it was created from our community. From the creation of our front desk, to our signage and gear, we have typically worked with small businesses with a passion for what they do. People are loyal when they realize this is their community!
We want to bring people together and have them feel as if they were a part of something bigger. A beautiful part of practicing yoga is the reminder that you can be connected to self, your community and the universe. We designed our Southside Yogi Hoodies and Tees as a way to connect our community as well as a way to market. Our tees and hoodies have been spotted all over the nation and sometimes in other countries. We want everyone to know that they are always welcome to sit with us!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Sanskrit Moon was founded in November of 2019. We had a wonderful 1st year and organically grew our business with community outreach. When COVID hit, it had a huge impact on the Yoga community. We tried hard to be creative to find ways to stay engaged with our community. I had a visceral reaction every time a yoga studio had to close its doors during that time. Yoga has really narrow margins. I started to observe that among many of my favorite studios that were able to make it, many had another source of income (cafe, store, retreats, teacher training, etc.). We created a corporate package along with starting to work on an online platform that would help companies with engagement. Our corporate clients helped to keep us afloat. We looked into creating a better experience for our online shop. Keeping ourselves open to possibilities has helped us get through this period of time. We worked hard to create online content, teach classes and find ways to build connections. We now have a great partnership with a Pilates studio, and we’re finding ways to grow together as we help other female businesses thrive.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sanskritmoon.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanskritmoonyoga/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sanskritmoon
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandra-fowler-929a2a15/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sanskrit-moon-yoga-hapeville
- Other: https://vimeo.com/sanskritmoon
Image Credits
photos: egbphotography olivialphotography rowanfowler