We were lucky to catch up with Marina Mukandala recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Marina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
The biggest risk that I have taken in my life was opening up my yoga studio, in March of 2012. I had held myself back from doing so for many years, out of fear. What scared me the most was fear of failure. What if I open my doors and no one comes? What if I’m not as good as the competition in the area? What if don’t bring in enough business to cover my overhead expenses? These questions and many more plagued my thoughts.
Then something changed. I attended my very first workshop with Baron Baptiste (my yoga teacher), in Toronto, in 2011. I had just given birth to my firstborn a few months prior.
It was at that workshop that I had a strong nudge from God to open up my own studio. The strongest nudge I had ever felt.
After the workshop, I stood in a long line to meet Baron and I remember folks were having him sign their books, notebooks, etc. as well. I had nothing on me to have him sign, so I asked the person behind me if I could please have a sheet of paper from their notebook of which they kindly gave me. When I got up to Baron, he was so very kind. We shook hands and I don’t know what made me say this, but I said out loud to him, “I feel like I’m being called to open a studio.” To which he replied, “What are you waiting for?” He then signed my loose sheet of paper, looked up at me and said, “It’s going to be amazing. Go and do the work.” I looked down at what he wrote on my piece of paper and it read, “Keep expanding and sharing your brightness”
Isn’t that what we all were put on the earth to do? To expand and share our God-given light with the world? It was in that moment at this workshop in Toronto, that I knew without a doubt that I was being called to take a risk and do this work. And even if I “failed,” I will have looked back and known that I went for it and tried.
And with that, I went and did the work. I opened my studio in March of 2012, trained with Baron Baptiste (Level One Training) in August of 2012, trained with Baron Baptiste again in October of 2013 (Level Two Training) – and then went on to take a number of other programs in the Baptiste work (art of assisting, advanced art of assisting, etc.).
To this day, I am so grateful for having taken this risk. My yoga studio thrived and was successful for eight and a half years (from March 2012 – August 2020). Although it went out of business in the heart of the pandemic, in 2020, it remains one of the best chapters of my life. From taking a risk and moving forward in the face of fear, countless lives were touched and changed through my studio.
I still have the piece of paper that Baron wrote on all those years ago. I look back on it from time to time, to remind me of my “why.”
I continue to teach yoga to this day and am forever grateful for taking the risk I took of opening a studio. It has shaped me and molded me into the teacher I am today.
Marina, 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?
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
A time in which I had to pivot in my business was in March of 2020. I’ll never forget the day. It was March 16th, 2020. The Governor of New York State announced that day that all non-essential businesses had to close, due to the Corona Virus and the world being in the state of a global pandemic. This meant my yoga studio’s doors had to close indefinitely.
Many emotions took hold of me that day. It was an uncertain and scary time for us all. As a small business owner of a local studio, I knew I needed to pivot fast, not only for my business, but for my beloved clients.
I got a zoom account and quickly pivoted to online classes. Unfortunately the pandemic extended itself far longer than anticipated into the summer months. So, when the weather got warm, I offered outdoor yoga classes (in addition to virtual classes via zoom). This was a great way for clients to get out of their homes and have community around them.
It was a very challenging time, but pivoting quickly made a difference and allowed my yoga studio to thrive for as long as it could.
If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?
If I could go back, I absolutely would choose my same profession. Being a yoga teacher has not only been a blessing to my life, but it’s been a blessing to countless lives. It has given me the rare opportunity and gift in life of helping others transform their lives and of being able to bear witness to their growth and healing. It’s a blessing beyond measure.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lifewithmarina.com
- Instagram: @lifewithmarinayoga
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-mukandala/
Image Credits
Dancer’s Pose Image Credit: Emmett A Vinson Jr LxWVisuals