Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to MaryAnngeline Medenas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

MaryAnngeline, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

My brand name has evolved over the years and wowzers, the initial name and rebranding was so difficult to come up with as I am all about movement and not so much words. Words have never come very easily for me. I expressed myself better through movement. With the help of my family and a ton of paper and ink, I finally launched my business as Movement by MaryAnngeline.

Similar to my personality, I wanted my brand name to be straight forward. You can expect to learn movement by me, MaryAnngeline. The reason I chose movement and not yoga, is because my classes encompass all styles of movement that I have learned over the years, which highly inform my yoga teachings.

As I continued to grow, I knew eventually my brand would evolve. When that time came, it was very important for me to condense down to a single word and not my name. I eventually want to promote other teachers on my platform so I knew I needed to pivot. I also wanted to incorporate my Greek heritage which was a huge reason why I started moving in the first place. So, although it took me a bit of time to come to this conclusion I rebranded as KINEESI.

Kineesi is the Greek word for movement. It flows perfectly, simple, straight forward and intriguing.

I want to continue to build my Kineesi or Movement Community because Kineesi is Yoga, Kineesi is Dance, Kineesi is Martial Arts, and so on. Movement is everything and eventually I would like to have “everything” on the platform because daily movement is one of the most important aspects of health and longevity.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is MaryAnngeline and I am the Founder of KINEESI, a platform home to non-traditional creative yoga flow classes. I didn’t start here though. I started as a person who always knew that movement was the most important part of life in regards to happiness, longevity and well being.

I grew up as a dancer in the forms of Greek dance, modern, ballet, jazz, and acro. I dabbled a bit in hip hop, break dancing and gymnastics. I was drawn to movement in ways I didn’t fully understand until later in my life. These were more about the emotional benefits and it wasn’t until college that I found yoga, which doubled those benefits. I knew that it was the next step towards my life goal of helping others with their movement journeys.

I started teaching yoga and modern dance full time, as well as performed in a modern dance company, hosted yoga retreats and ran yoga teacher training programs. I’ve been able to travel the world teaching online and in person which invites in more potent movement content. All my teachings, a divorce and my desire to have my own business lead me to the creation of my online studio. It has evolved over the years many times, and I have had so many moments of quitting but there is an underlying whisper within me to continue. So. although I am not in the space yet that I believe is “success” I continue. I continue for that whisper. I continue for my members who have been with me since day 1. I continue for the flexibility of my schedule. I continue for the next student who wants help with their movement to evolve.

It may not be easy or fun at times but I stick with it and that is something I am super proud of in my journey. I will not give up, not yet, I will continue to evolve. So taking classes with me is all about evolving as a person on your movement journey. You can expect creative, fun, challenging and unique yoga classes. Classes that leave you feeling accomplished, intrigued and strong. These types of classes help melt away stuck energy, connect you to your inner awareness and help you become clearer on your path in life.

If you are yearning for versatility of movement and sequencing, and not afraid of making your own modifications and adjustments as needed, then I am delighted to help you feel more lubricated in your joints, content in your mental wellbeing, and manifest your intentions by staying committed to your daily practice on your mat.

See you on your mat soon! Until next time!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is so tricky, and not only because it’s always changing but because each platform is very different. I have tried most of them but I have landed on YouTube and Instagram. I started with YouTube because it made sense for my yoga content which are long form videos, I then moved to Instagram for my short + trend content. I did this before YouTube launched Shorts. YouTube grew much quicker for me than Instagram, so I focus more on YT.

At this point in my journey I am deciding if I should continue posting to both and it goes back to how I built my audience from the get go which is the advice I would give someone if they were just starting.

1. Pick a platform that can showcase your content the best depending on the style and lengths of your videos.

2. Don’t spread yourself thin. Once you pick a platform, stick with it. Give yourself a timeline like 6-12 months to really give it a chance to nurture growth.

3. Be consistent and not just for a few days at a time and then let weeks pass but get on some sort of schedule, especially with organic content. It’s free so use it to the max.

4. Stay engaged. Respond to every comment, message, email, or whatever it is in as timely of a manner as you can.

5. Promote yourself through paid ads. Pick one thing to promote continuously to get some traction and keep it within a comfortable budget.

6. All content leads somewhere. Be sure that everything you post leads the viewer to something next, it’s a good way for them to get to know you without you having to be salesy.

I feel when I stick with these six pointers, I always see more growth. The most important thing is finding your flow with it!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Divorce, the death of a relationship but the potential rebirth of YOU, if you allow it to be. About 5 years into my yoga and dance teaching profession, I was asked for a divorce.

At that time I was teaching about 10-15 classes a week, which is typical for a full time teacher in those fields. I was under my ex-husbands insurance, I did not have retirement or savings fund and I was making the amount of money that made me feel comfortable.

Well divorce kicks you out from “what’s comfortable” very quickly and I am super grateful it did. As my divorce was finalized and I was the sole provider for myself, I knew I had to pivot very quickly. Rather than sulking and feeling sorry for my self, I went into complete research and training mode. I was able to do this because I didn’t push my emotions down, I felt them as then came up and processed them. I feel doing this catapulted my healing which was able to help me make the best choices for my future.

I chose to learn about investments in the stock market, retirement accounts for people who were self employed and I took 3 different movement trainings. My new found knowledge and outlook on life transitioned me into opening three different businesses. One of which is my online movement platform, Kineesi.

I have learned that no matter if in a relationship or not, it is important for me to be in full ownership of my life so if any struggles come my way, I know that I absolutely can handle it. Divorce sucks but being stuck without knowing it is even worse. I am proud of my transition into where I am at today.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kineesi.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kineesi.movement/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kineesi.movement
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KineesibyMaryAnngeline
• Other: Email: info@kineesi.com

Image Credits
Anthoula Medenas