We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katelyn Donohue. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katelyn below.
Katelyn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Becoming a Yoga Teacher: From Idea to Execution
Honestly, it all started during COVID, but looking back, the seeds were planted way before that. I went to college for psychology and minored in dance, and had been dancing since I was 4 years old—movement was my life. I knew I always wanted my career to combine movement with psychology because I am fascinated by the brain and body connection. I just didn’t know what or how. I had also been working with children on the autism spectrum since I was a teenager; working every summer at camp, babysitting, and eventually working full-time in school, clinic, and home settings.
After I graduated college, I was working as a behavioral therapist while simultaneously pursuing a dance career. I ended up landing my first professional gig as a guest artist with a dance company in Denver, which was a huge deal for me. I remember the performance went beautifully, and my then-boyfriend, who is now my husband, came to support me—it was just magical, and I was so excited for my potential future in professional dance.
But life threw its first major redirection right after that high point. Everything flipped upside down when I got severely injured during a dance lesson following that performance. I literally couldn’t properly walk for months. It completely broke my heart and forced me to pivot away from a performance career. It was during and right after recovering from that injury that I went back to get my Master’s in Applied Behavioral Analysis, continuing my passion for working with kids on the autism spectrum.
But when COVID hit soon after, the job changed overnight. I went from going into people’s homes to doing everything online, and I hit a massive wall of anxiety and burnout just from the pure craziness of it all. Right in the thick of that stress, I decided to walk away from my Master’s program. I just knew deep down I needed a clean break. Making a career switch was terrifying because I had my whole life completely mapped out, but I had this deep, undeniable push to just do something different.
In the middle of all that chaos, this idea kept popping into my head: I want to be a yoga teacher. Because of my dance background, movement had always been my home, and I’d already been practicing yoga for years. But I just pushed the idea down and kept moving. I took a job as a social services director in a nursing home right after lockdown—learned so much about life—and even taught meditation classes to the seniors. Later on, I worked for a medical startup. I loved the connection in those roles, but that little voice in my head just kept getting louder:
I want to be a yoga teacher.
Then, one ordinary day, I walked into a new yoga studio and they happened to be talking about teacher training. That voice became so incredibly loud that I finally just listened to it. I took the plunge and signed up, honestly having no clue that the trajectory of my life was about to completely change.
Going from the idea of wanting to teach yoga to actually executing it wasn’t an overnight success; it took years of showing up and building, and the truth is, I absolutely could not have done any of this on my own.
Once I finished my 200-hour yoga teacher training, I started teaching “Yoga in the Park” with close friends, teaching at places here and there, auditioning at studios, landing some teaching jobs but getting rejected by a lot of places. However, I did meet the most incredible people who put me in touch with the right spaces, believed in me, and took chances on me when I was still figuring it all out.
There was a season where I was working full-time and teaching at four to five different places just to build up contacts and find my communities. It was a wild, fun blur and, looking back, I honestly don’t know how I did it. I just knew and trusted that I needed to show up—for others and for myself. Some classes landed beautifully, others totally flopped, but something kept pushing me every single time I wanted to give up.
And the execution wasn’t just about showing up to teach; it was about doing the heavy, messy internal work, too.
Early on, I was so paralyzed by nervousness. I didn’t think people would care or even listen to what I had to say. But the more I practiced and taught, the more I realized people were listening. They would remember exact things I said in class and bring them up weeks later, which completely shook me. I really started finding my voice when I built a wellness program from scratch at a local non-profit, and later when I started teaching at Rooted Heart Yoga and Wellness.
In the middle of all this building, life kept moving—I got married, bought a house with my husband, and we moved to another town, which opened up my next chapter. I started teaching at Gray Yoga right in my town, and my voice grew even louder.
But there was still a massive bridge I had to cross to get to where I am today. The exact day I finally made the terrifying decision to transition out of my secure, full-time wellness coordinator role to pursue teaching full-time, I got in touch with someone who ran a wellness company that brings yoga to seniors. It felt like instant alignment. That job incorporated absolutely every single skill I had ever learned in my past.
Taking that leap of faith opened the floodgates and allowed me to finally build my own business, Spirit of Yoga, LLC. Now, I actually teach yoga full-time. I teach studio classes at Gray Yoga, I teach at local food spots and community centers, I teach to seniors, I do special event classes, and through my business, I’m actively coordinating wellness events and yoga classes with local businesses and brands. I never, ever thought I’d get here.
Today, I look at where I am and realize there isn’t a final “arrival” date. It’s just a constant process of unlearning, learning, shedding, and growing. When I manage spaces, run my business, and build partnerships, I’m weaving together my bachelor’s in psychology, my dance minor, and my behavioral therapy background. When I teach yoga to older adults, I am pulling directly from my time in the nursing home.
But getting here wasn’t easy at all. There were so many setbacks, so much anxiety, and times I’d call my husband crying from the car after a botched class, wanting to quit and give up. I had people in my corner who refused to let me quit, and what kept me rooted was having spaces to fall—whether that was my husband holding space for my tears, my therapist helping me to understand my ADHD, look at my shadows and heal my traumas, or my spiritual teachers helping me learn to trust myself on a deeper level as a psychic medium. Validating every single layer of who I am required that support system.
Every job, every setback, and every single person who came into my life—whether they were in my corner lifting me up or there to teach me a hard lesson was necessary. I am just so incredibly grateful for the path, and the people, that brought me here.
When I think about the journey of building my own yoga business from idea to execution, I realize it was never about following a perfect, linear business plan. It was about remaining deeply rooted in the practice of yoga, having the courage to listen to that inner voice when it got loud, showing up for myself and others through the messy middle, and ultimately trusting the process. That trust is what allowed me to bridge the gap between a distant dream and the full-time reality I’m living today.
Katelyn, 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?
For readers who are meeting me for the first time, the best way to understand my work is to look at the messy, beautiful path that brought me here. Today, I am proud to teach yoga full-time through my business, Spirit of Yoga, LLC. But getting to this point was never about following a perfect, linear plan. It was about learning to trust the process through a lot of setbacks and a deep redirection from my previous careers in dance, behavioral therapy, and public service jobs.
Healing my own trauma, managing ADHD, and learning to trust myself as a psychic medium took a lot of vulnerability and a solid support system from others. Every hard lesson was necessary to bridge the gap between a dream and the reality I’m living today.
I don’t look at yoga as a workout, and I don’t care about ‘perfect’ poses. To me, it is fundamentally a spiritual practice and a gateway to calm the mind. Through Spirit of Yoga, LLC, I offer public studio classes at Gray Yoga and other studios, specialized classes for seniors, and the coordination of wellness events and partnerships with local businesses and brands.
Whether I am teaching in a studio or guiding students through the subtle and energetic bodies, my goal is to break down the intimidation and rigidity of modern fitness and wellness spaces. What sets my work apart is that we strip away the ‘shoulds’ and honor your unique anatomy, focusing entirely on the physical and energetic layers that help you connect with your inner self.
I truly believe that your individual experience is the absolute heart of this practice. I am just deeply honored to meet you exactly as you are and hold space for your growth and self-discovery.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a very young child, and for a long time, my entire life felt centered around that diagnosis. While it was a blessing to receive accommodations and help when I needed it, it was also incredibly stigmatizing. It made me feel like an outsider for most of my life. As a kid, I was constantly in therapy and being seen by doctors all the time. I was always being taken out of class, put into special programs, and overscheduled with extracurriculars to help my focus and regulate my body. I was given tests to measure my cognition and learning style, yet at the same time, I was told I was ‘too intelligent’ to fit the ADHD mold or need accommodations. It was deeply isolating, especially because I never wanted to use it as a crutch.
As I got older and went to college, I experienced the types of ADHD symptoms that make it incredibly hard to ‘adult’ the way society expects you to. I wanted to move my body, I wanted to be creative, and I wanted to be successful, but I had no clue how to get there. It took many years and many pivots to get to where I am today.
My resilience came from never giving up—even when I desperately wanted to. Even when people looked at my struggles and said, ‘Oh well, you have ADHD.’ Through crippling anxiety, depression, making mistakes, and the constant redirection of my life path, I just kept at it.
The turning point was realizing that my neurodivergence isn’t a flaw to fix; it is actually my superpower. I had to throw out the standard rulebook and learn to trust my own timing, leaning hard on my support system to help. Every single setback taught me how to trust my own path. Staying true to myself and just keeping at it through all of it is how I’m able to hold space for my students today.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I think my reputation grew from a few simple things: authenticity, kindness, and a willingness to meet people exactly where they are. I’ve always tried to be a good listener and to build my practice on a deep respect for the true roots of yoga. I am, and always will be, a student first.
For me, it’s about taking the practice off the mat—trying to walk the talk, using yoga as a guide, and being willing to be vulnerable. I’ve learned that I don’t have to be perfect or know everything all at once; everything reveals itself in due time. Being able to share that exact grace and understanding with others is what truly connects us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://spirityogallc.com
- Instagram: donohuekatelyn
- Facebook: Katelyn Donohue
Image Credits
Ali Al-Omar