We were lucky to catch up with Jess Beyer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jess, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

For about 18 months, I drove past an old vacant dance studio in my town and said over and over again, “Someone needs to make that a yoga studio! It’s the perfect location!”

The end of November 2019 found me standing in that building with my realtor, creating magic in my brain of all the possibilities that space could provide. I was always intrigued by the thought of owning a business, but never in a million years would have imagined I’d actually own one.

I marinated on the thought of owning a business through the new year. In February 2020, the universe started making things happen. The building was still vacant, the rental price had dropped significantly since I had last looked at it, I was able to secure funding and I had a 6 week waitlist of massage therapy clients. Owning a business was going to be a piece of cake. Ha!

March 1st, 2020, I signed the lease to the building with my business partner at the time. We gave ourselves a month and a half deadline to have the studio up and running, complete with a massage room, 2 yoga classes per day – every day and an apothecary of herbal teas and holistic medicines. We rallied up our friends to help with painting, cleaning, fixing and building and had a plan in place.

Until the world shut down.

This was NOT in our plan. I mean, it wasn’t in ANYONE’S plan. We hadn’t even opened and we were already shut down. How do we provide the services we offer without actual customers? How will people know we are here? How do we convince people that what we do provides them with countless benefits to fight the virus that has taken the lives of so many?

It seemed like an impossible task.

Our opening date came and went a month and a half later and we were still at square one. I began offering yoga classes online to friends in order to get the word out about the studio. Most days I offered free classes. Often times I didn’t have anyone in class. We didn’t have any income to pay rent – after just signing a one year lease. But something was telling me to keep moving forward. Something was telling me to just trust and follow the call deep within.

June 29th, 2020 (I’ll never forget that date), We were finally able to open the doors to massage therapy clients. Ironically, yoga classes were still not allowed, at least indoors, so we decided to focus on Massage instead.

It was a rough start; navigating mandatory requirements, client comfort levels, my own comfort level and a brand new business opening in the middle of a world-wide pandemic. Once we began indoor yoga classes, our class capacity was just 6 people (15 people is the standard amount now.) I definitely did not expect that we would make it a whole year. I was convinced my dream of owning a business was not in this lifetime. It couldn’t be. The world literally stopped the moment I THOUGHT I got clear on what I wanted to do when I grew up.

But then something unexpected happened. People started flocking to yoga classes, massage therapy appointments, seeking holistic remedies and alternate ways of living a healthy life. The Wellness industry began to boom.

We were able to pay off our back rent in just 7 months. We slowly were able to increase yoga class capacity to 15 people and have added 3 more massage therapists to our staff. We now have multiple yoga classes seven days a week. We offer workshops from some of the best practitioners in the area and offer unique energy healing services to fit everyone’s needs. In June 2022, just two years after finally being able to open the doors to our original location, we secured a second location to expand. This building offers another yoga studio and massage room, which allows us to offer additional workshops, couples massages, trainings, full day retreats and so much more.

What I thought was a big failure on my part happened to be the biggest wins of my life. I’ve learned to listen to the voice within and follow the call no matter what obstacles are thrown in my way. Opening a business during a pandemic is one of the biggest risks I ever took AND it was so worth it!

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

I participated in the very first yoga teacher training at my local studio in 2015. I often refer to my yoga teacher training as my rebirth. Becoming a yoga teacher ignited my authentic self and allowed me the courage to follow my true passions. In 2017, I became a Licensed Massage Therapist. Combining a love for serving others, Bodymind connection and healing touch, I continue to assist people in their journey of returning back to their true essence.

Massage has been a part of my life since I was a little girl I remember using my birthday money to buy massage therapy books as a kid and I would practice on my grandfather. In fact, I still have a sign today that hangs on the wall behind the desk at the studio that reads “Jessica’s Massage Center”. It lists all the services I “offered” and the prices. The prices are all listed under $1.00. I was eight years old when I made the sign and still carry the same passion today. I believe that wellness should be accessible and inclusive and that is why I offer a low cost massage membership at my studio.

As a Licensed Massage Therapist, I offer cupping, Chinese cranial sacral therapy, acupressure, manual lymph drainage, myofascial release, table thai, and reiki energy healing. I am passionate about holding space for my clients in whatever capacity that may be. Some clients come to me for pain relief, but the majority of clients come to me to restore their nervous system.

I also enjoy teaching yoga. I recently completed a 300hr advanced yoga teacher training, graduating from Canmore Counselling’s Trauma Informed Yoga Psychology School. It is here that I fell in love with yoga off the mat and infuse the practice of yoga into everything I do. I have attended many other yoga trainings such as prenatal yoga, yin yoga, creative sequencing, kids yoga and several other trauma-informed yoga trainings.

I am a Mama to 3 beautiful girls: Delilah, Tallulah and Fiona and married to the man of my dreams, Drew.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Creating connection in the community by showing up helped to build our reputation within our market. I source locally made holistic items for the shop part of the studio. The connections I have made have happened organically as I live in the same town as my business. My children go to the local school and we are always out and about participating in town activities. We take pride in our town and strive to uplift the community through fundraising and providing donations. We believe in collaboration over competition and hold that as one of our core values. We have great relationships with fellow business owners and are constantly innovating new collaborations.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Pivoting is a natural part of owning a business. If I don’t pivot, I stop and give up. But pivoting allows me to take what didn’t work, and learn (or unlearn) from the experience and do better. Sometimes I have to pivot several times for me to get to a point where I feel I am on the right path, but I never give up.

When my business partner left in April 2021, I had to pivot like my life depended on it. I didn’t come from a business background, am terrible at math and worked in the massage room seven days a week. I decided that if I was going to take this on myself, I had to get serious about running a business. I learned as I went, talking with other business owners, learning from books, podcasts and anything I could get my hands on. I’m still learning and am gentle with myself when I make a mistake. My hours in the massage room have changed dramatically. I only work 2 days a week in the room and the other days I work on admin work or growing the business. I run year round trainings and find joy in connecting with and teaching others how to get back to their true essence.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.zenlandingyoga.com
• Instagram: @zenlandingyoga
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/zenlandingyoga

Image Credits
Amanda Mick, Aliya Austin, Jess Beyer, Ken Rodulfo’s tattoos