We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christine Veit. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christine below.

Christine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

I always felt completely supported by my parents, almost too much. I remember dreading going to gymnastics class, and instead of forcing me to comply, they let me quit. Later on, when I didn’t like the way I felt in dance class, I no longer had to go. After receiving my black belt in tae kwon do, my parents congratulated me and again — let me quit.

This full force allowing of me to do exactly what I want and to support me no matter what I get into or out of, has helped shape me as a business owner. I know with truth that I don’t always have to stick with what isn’t working, and that I can evolve and grow. I also understand that just because the status quo is a certain way, doesn’t mean I have to follow.

Being able to leave the things that no longer served me has guided me to where I am now — opening my own yoga studio.

Christine, 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?

One year, when I had quit really everything that I had tried, from tae kwon do to gymnastics, dance to soccer, I hit a rough patch in my teenagehood. I felt depression and anxiety for the first time, and my parents could tell. After being so supportive of letting me be free spirited, my father finally said, “You need to do something.”

I knew of yoga and signed up for my first class. I immediately knew I wanted to teach yoga and that my path had led me there. Now, over 10 years later, I teach yoga, play healing crystal bowls, read tarot cards and provide Reiki sessions.

At Earth Yoga, there will be public yoga classes, meditation, sound healing, tarot card readings, reiki sessions, community events and more. Earth Yoga is a place of accessibility for those who aren’t commonly included in the yoga industry, such as those with various body types, ethnic minority groups and those who are below the poverty line. My goal is to make everyone feel comfortable in their body and leave feeling brighter and better than when they walked in.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

In my sophomore year of college, I knew that learning Psychology and Spanish was not going to be enough. I decided that because I was far ahead on my credits, and could still graduate on time, that I would pursue getting my yoga teacher training certificate. I took off a semester and while my peers were drinking at 8 AM on St. Patty’s Day, I was teaching an 11 AM class and going to babysit after. Since that moment on, I had always been part of a balancing act. Fueling myself with part-time work so I could have time and financial freedom to teach classes. Teaching yoga always felt like my number 1, and although I’ve even worked full time at other positions and had yoga as my “side hustle,” it never felt that way. Everything else always felt like it was in the way of pursuing my dream.

As I became better at teaching, I started to run more events in public and host individual sessions with clients at studios or in their homes. Some of these events became really popular…so I took the plunge. I quit everything that wasn’t yoga related and tried to be a full time yoga instructor. I don’t really think that this is financially feasible in reality, but with my business mindset I was able to secure a place to put all of these events and classes, and there was born Earth Yoga.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I am typically a very friendly and open person and can have a conversation with anyone. At first, when I started attending events, I thought of them as how I could make money. This would leave me with counting pennies at the end of the event and unclear on how I simply broke even. What made the shift was when I started looking at events as networking opportunities with both clients and other business owners. As I genuinely made relationships with others, without any thought of them returning, I was able to develop long lasting relationships, which in turn, bettered my clientele.

Contact Info:

• Website: earthyogastudio.com
• Instagram: earth.yoga.studio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthyogastudionc/
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Miguel Chalmers