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

Denise, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

When we first opened Soma Yoga Studio in December of 2019, it was right before the pandemic, and initially there were only 3 teachers and myself. The majority of the classes were taught by myself as we eased into this new start-up, getting our feet rooted, and our name out in the community. We were grateful for the teachers that joined our team immediately, putting their trust in us and our new brand.

Today, we have grown to 11 resident instructors and many guest teacher’s who grace us with their presence for workshops, events, and creative collaborations. We thrive in the magic that is created when the right teachers come into our space and guide participants into a realm of healing, magic, and emotion.

As the owner, I personally select all teachers in consideration to facilitate classes or events and, although there is an interview and audition process, it is so much more than that as I rely on the vibe and energy I feel from the person I meet and ensure they fit into our yoga family, the ambiance, and our brand.

I have learned to trust my instinct and the voice within me when seeking to hire new sOMa teachers, knowing that the first impression is the feeling and gauge that matters the most. I’ve learned to not talk myself into decisions that I knew from the start were not the right match and having to make difficult decisions when needed. Lastly, when I’m in the flow everything aligns; or otherwise said, my vibe attracts my tribe and I trust the right teachers, clients, and friends will be attracted to our vibration and it doesn’t need to be forced. Our studio holds energy (as all things do) and that tangible energy that one feels when entering our space is a collection of everyone’s beautiful hearts and high vibrations that enter and stay.
Come and stay a while, too.

Denise, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I discovered yoga over 13 years ago when I tried it for the first time in my apartment in Chicago practicing along with a Rodney Yee DVD that I played repeatedly every day. After playing that DVD over and over, I said to myself, ‘there has to be more to this’, and opened myself up to learning more about yoga. I began to frequent the local gym and attending yoga classes there, and my thirst to learn more instantly consumed me. I recall thinking “where was this my whole life?” as I consistently attended daily classes. At that moment in time, my personal and professional life was falling apart and with only a little money in my bank account and no employment, I decided to invest everything into a Yoga Teacher Training at Heaven Meets Earth in Evanston, IL. That YTT program was my salvation as I learned so much about myself, various lineages of yoga and meditation, obtained tools to create emotional balance, found a deeper purpose and connected to a community that is so meaningful. The yoga community is a joyful place of like-minded people who you can feel familiarity with, feel secure and safe, and allow yourself to open up to new parts of yourself and also open up to others around you. That pivotal moment changed my life and it was then, I knew, I would not live my life without yoga. Yoga would always have an integral part in my life and many years later, it still does.

My husband, Alain, and I created Soma Studio to celebrate our love for yoga but also to build our own community of friends and a safe place we could go to and feel like hOMe. We are proud to have built this little gem from the ground up and to continue to offer this to all who want to be a part of it; humans seeking healing, individuals seeking friendships, people connecting with themselves and others.

What is important to us is that we differentiate ourselves from the fitness and hot yoga studios, and instead focus on individuals who want to begin a yoga practice but don’t know where to start or are too intimidated to join other competitive, fitness-based establishments. We pride ourselves with offering classes that are accessible to beginners up to intermediate level with a strong sense of belonging and no pretense.

In addition to our regular weekly offerings, we offer a variety of workshops with emphasis on healing: sound therapy, guided meditations, women’s gatherings, reiki and energy healing, acupressure and acupuncture, Yoga Nidra and many restorative yoga offerings. It’s apparent that humanity, as a collective, is oppressed with stress, anxiety, mental health issues, all of which, manifests as physical ailments if not healed and balanced. With that in mind, we continue to offer all the healing modalities that we feel our community needs. Finally, we also offer fun events and workshops that play with Aerial yoga, plant medicine and social gatherings with fun and socializing as the focus.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

“The 4-hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss was a book I read 15 years ago that stuck with me and shaped how I think of work. Although I work much more than 4 hours, it helped me understand to work smarter not harder and to do what you do best and seek help on the rest. Make each minute impactful and productive and not doing ‘busy work’ just to fulfill society’s idea of what productive means. Also, knowing when and how to balance hard work with pleasure and rest.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

People want to feel connected to other people, especially in a business setting they want to speak to a human being and not an automated machine or a voice mail. Our culture at Soma Studio is to create an elevated experience for each person we interact with and that we are very client-based. Our focus is to create a pleasant and effortless experience, whether that’s on our site, via telephone, and when they enter our space. We keep in touch with clients and deliver pertinent and relevant information via weekly newsletters and social media. In addition, I personally answer all calls, texts, emails, DMs and ensure everyone’s questions are answered with care. Customer service is a main focus for us at Soma, because without our clients we could not live this dream.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.somastudiobatavia.com
• Instagram: somastudiobatavia
• Facebook: somastudiobatavia
• Other: 103 E. Wilson St. 2nd floor, Batavia, IL 60510 224-762-0279

Image Credits
Tarin Butterfield