We were lucky to catch up with Mary Beth Bender recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mary Beth thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

Growing up my parents had a strong value towards education and life enhancing experiences. I’m so blessed that they invested in my education and experiences because not only have they shaped me as a person, but I believe they have also lead me to want to help both educate and inspire others.
They did this through sending me to summer camp every summer where I was able to meet people from all over the globe and to be immersed in activities that were life enhancing. They also invested in sending me to a private college preparatory boarding school that offered me a wonderful education. I believe that these were the experiences that I was meant to have so that I could step into the role of an inspiring educator. I am thankful for all they provided me for and I have always remembered them saying “We are doing this because we love you and we know that this will be an experience you’ll always look back at and remember how good it was for you.”

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.

Growing up, I was a very sensitive child who enjoyed quiet moments of peace. I was also very adhd and struggled with school. I had a strong imagination and never felt like I fit into the traditional world of education.
When I was in college, my dad suddenly passed away from a heart attack while exercising at the YMCA. His death was very tragic to my family and as a sensitive person, I felt a strong need to find something to help me deal with the grief and pain.
It wasn’t long after his death that I found myself on a yoga mat (thanks to my mom).
Within just a few practices, I felt a sense of familiarity that I hadn’t felt since I was a child. I felt that I had returned to a quiet contemplative peace that I’d felt when I would seek solitude. It was a sense of feeling both connected to my soul and my creative childlike spirit.
I also began to immediately notice that my yoga practice was helping me with my adhd. My grades were improving and I was more focused & relaxed about school and the responsibilities that came with it.
While I was beginning the process of finishing my Bachelors Degree from The University of Arizona, I knew that I wanted to help inspire others in the same way yoga had helped me. I knew that I wanted to become a yoga educator. Years later I learned about how children were also practicing yoga and it was then that I found my niche. I began immersing myself in further training and learning new skills that would eventually lead me to birthing Twist Kids Yoga.I wanted to use all of my education and life’s experiences to help children live a mindful and healthy life. I felt a calling to help pioneer this work and to help bring positive change to future generations and education. I felt the call to become the teacher or adult that I needed as a child.
What started as a solo business of me driving from studio to studio teaching children yoga has now lead me to having a teacher training program where myself and my team teach adults how to bring yoga & mindfulness to kids.
This program also has lead to myself, plus another cofounder of the Twist Kids yoga program along with a team of others to launch a nonprofit organization. Twist Kids Foundation was launched in 2021. Our purpose is to bring mindful movement to children regardless of ethnicity, gender or economic status. We are excited to be working with schools and other organizations where we offer yoga & mindfulness classes afterschool. We hope to continue to expand and reach more educators who are looking for ways to incorporate yoga and mindfulness into their classroom. We feel strongly that these practices are essential for a child’s development and how they can improve learning.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

2020 was a pivotal moment for all of us alive today. The sudden shut down of the world had many of us scrambling to find ways to continue our businesses.
If it wasn’t for this pandemic I don’t know if the non profit organization would’ve been birthed. Or at least not at the time.

My business partner and I met at least once a week to discuss creative and innovative ways to improve and move forward. She had a vision to start the organization in the years before and I had also at one point wanted to create something to help bring more yoga and mindfulness into the schools.
It was during this time that we launched Twist Kids Foundation; the sister organization of Twist Kids Yoga. The timing as well as the support of a team of trained teachers helped us launch the program.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

This is a story that like fate.
Shona & I were both living here in Charlotte when we met, but it took us both being in rural New York State to meet!
In 2014, we were both enrolled in a kids yoga training at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY.
On the first evening of training I walked in early and as I was setting myself up, I overheard someone saying they live in Charlotte, NC. I immediately walked over and introduced myself. I ended up sitting next to Shona all weekend and making a connection with her.
We discovered we had a lot in common.
We were both teaching kids yoga in Charlotte. Her on the south side and me on the north side. We also discovered we had both attended a private college preparatory boarding school (different schools) and that we both wanted to offer the same thing in Charlotte.
We immediately connected and when we returned to North Carolina we stayed in touch. It just felt so fated!
In 2016 when I was ready to expand Twist Kids Yoga into a teacher training program, she was the first one I thought of to help me. She was onboard right away and without her we wouldn’t have birthed the nonprofit!
Everything aligned so beautifully!!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.twistkidsyoga.com
• Instagram: Twist Kids Yoga
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twistkidsyoga

Image Credits

All images photographed by
Angela Costa