We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ingrid Saddler-Walker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ingrid, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission was to teach yoga to adults and children. I attended my first yoga class at the local gym in 2009. During my first yoga class, my higher power gave me the idea of obtaining my yoga teacher training certification. I wanted to teach yoga to the students at the elementary school where I am a Professional School Counselor. Some of these students had been diagnosed with mental health diagnosis. I wanted to teach them the benefits of yoga and how it helps with self-regulation and social and emotional learning.

My plan was to start my own business and open a yoga studio where I could provide a place where I could teach yoga classes to adults and childen. These adults and childen would attend yoga classes and learn how to calm down, relax and find stillness within themselves. In 2009 I founded Wytha Balance Yoga – Counseling LLC. Wytha Balance Yoga means balancing the mind, body and spirit. I began to offer a yoga summer camp for children from the ages of 7 years to 12 years old. In 2014 I opened the only black yoga studio in Durham, North Carolina.

Ingrid, 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?

After doing so much research, I found and enrolled in the Radiant Child Family Yoga teacher training program in 2009. Over the next two years, I traveled once a month to Herndon, Virginia to participate in a Kundalini yoga teacher training. In 2009 I started my business Wytha Balance Yoga – Counseling LLC and, in 2011, I received my 200 hour and my 95-hour yoga teacher training with a certification in adults and kids yoga. In 2014, I opened the only black yoga studio in Durham, NC. My training continued after I opened my studio and I have received my 500-hour advanced yoga teacher training in Yoga for Mental Health with Mind Body Centering in Durham, NC. I also received a 200-hour yoga teacher training certification from the Lifeologie International School for Psychotherapeutic Yoga. I have also received training in Kemetic Yoga from the Yogaskills School of Kemetic Yoga in 2020.

The services that I offer are Gentle Yoga, Yin Yoga, Yoga that Connects the Mind, Body and Breath, Restorative Yoga, Kemetic Yoga, Chair Yoga and Yoga and Mindfulness for Kids and Teens. I have taught yoga at the afterschool program within my school system, the local parks and recreational centers and also at a mental health day treatment afterschool program. I am a Master level Reiki Practitioner.

Eager to bring this knowledge to a wider community, I founded the Annual Bull City Yoga Festival in 2018. The yoga festival is now in April of every year and information about it can be found on our website, social media platform Facebook and Instagram. As I continue to grow my mission continues to expand into more opportunities. The Bull City Yoga Festival is an annual yoga festival in Durham, NC. Our mission is to ignite profound community connections and facilitate engaging experiences through vibrant festivals and inclusive gatherings. I am also the founder of the Bull City Yoga Festival Teacher Collective whose mission is to celebrate and encourage wellness practitioners through a sustainable support system that fosters mentorship and provides guidance in a vibrant community of connectedness and togetherness.

I am proud of being a Women of Color and being the founder of the Annual Bull City Yoga Festival in Durham, North Carolina, a great yoga festival that is now in year seven. This makes me feel proud of who I am and what I have accomplished for my city and the surrounding area. My yoga festival is unique because of the diversity of yoga teachers that teach at our festival. Also the diversity of the different ages and the variety of yoga classes that we offer such as yoga for seniors, dance yoga, kundalini yoga, vinyasa flow, yoga for embodiment and yoga for reproductive health etc.

We also had featured yoga teachers that are nationally and internationally known such as Dianne Bondy, Yirser Ra Hotep, Michelle Johnson and Faith Hunter. What inspired me to create the Bull City Yoga Festival was that I wanted to create a yoga festival of BIPOC Yoga Teachers in Durham and the surrounding area for a day of community, to empower others for self-care, health and wellness.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele was to market my yoga class offerings on social media platforms of Facebook and Instagram. I also offered discount classes on Groupon in order to gain an audience that was interested in taking a beginners yoga class. Using the social media platform gave me an opportunity to advertise to a wide range of people in my community and beyond. Word of mouth was another means of growing my clientele. Posting flyers at the local stores and libraries were also effective. Having conversations with people about yoga and getting them to try it was also a way to get people into the studio. When I offered my yoga summer camps I would go into the schools and share the information with the teachers and the afterschool programs.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

The way that I keep in touch with my clients and foster brand loyalty is a once a month newsletter that provides them with information about yoga, the benefits, and mindfulness meditations. I also include information in the newsletter of upcoming yoga classes that are being offered. Information about the yoga festival is also included as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: bullcityyogafestival.com
• Instagram: bullcityyogafestival
• Facebook: bullcityyogafestival
• Youtube: bullcityyogafestival
• Other: www.linktr.ee/bullcityyogafestival www.linktr.ee/wythabalance Youtube: wythabalanceyoga Instagram: @wythabalanceyoga Facebook: @wythabalanceyoga