We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nazanin Sayar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nazanin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

What a great question! I have experienced both!

For 15 years after graduating Dental Hygiene school, I worked for an upscale dental practice in Northern California. It was a private dental practice run by a very talented female dentist. Dentistry was her passion and her calling and for over a decade I helped her build a legacy and become a million dollar practice. As a team, we helped her manifest HER dreams. It is heartwarming to know that I contributed to her success. When I left her practice to be a full-time stay-at-home mom, I knew that next time around I wanted to manifest my own dreams.

In 2020, I decided to pursue my own passion and KARDIOJAM became my vessel. I compare my two experiences to driving a car on a paved road versus a dirt road. Working at the dental office was a smooth ride. It was a safe road that had predictable results and a detailed road map. In contrast, my current road has felt a lot like driving on a dirt road, without a road map. My KARDIOJAM journey has been everything but smooth! It has been bumpy with a mixture of rejections, blood, sweat, tears, injuries, mental exhaustion, physical and financial strains! Doors have been closed, people who I thought were friends left my side, and I have felt lonely and taken advantage of. However, this dirt road reminds me time after time that my passion and purpose go way beyond my challenges! I continuously remind myself that I intentionally picked a dirt road! I picked this road so I could pave it with people in my tribe. Looking back, I have no regrets and if I were to go back in time, I would do it all over again! KARDIOJAM and I are truly ONE! We grow together and my KARDIOJAM journey has taught me so many important life lessons. I am forever grateful for all the opportunities and challenges it has brought to my life. Today, I stand so strong, with a vision so clear and most importantly surrounded by the right people all thanks to the dirt road I picked back in 2020!

As a business owner, I believe that your passion must be so big to outweigh the failures and challenges. You have to believe in your dream with every single cell in your body because there will be times when you have only yourself to lean on. Your dreams will challenge you and pressure you! But I believe the pressure is pure privilege. It is a privilege to know that you have worked hard enough to put yourself in that situation. Successful people get hit over and over and over again! They keep moving forward until they win and I try to always remember that during moments of self-doubt.

So to answer your question, I believe that it is a privilege to live out your dreams. Am I always happy as a business owner? The answer is NO! The road is not for the faint of hearts. You have to be ok with financial strains and people not believing in you. You want to count on family and friends but sadly you will realize that many of them are not going to support you! Being an employee is a much easier road. It is a safe road and often we have to choose a safe road to provide for ourselves and our family. So it is an absolute privilege to be able to choose your own road to pave. It is by far a much more challenging road. There are a lot of setbacks and failures but I still believe that the end result will be worth every single fall and rejection. I have been so blessed to meet amazing people along the way and they have supported me through thick and thin. I have a family outside of my family and I could not imagine life without them. We all believe that “Our Vibe Attracts Our Tribe”! We are a community of loving, nonjudgmental, kind, welcoming, diverse and driven souls and we always welcome like minded people to join our community. We don’t chase; We attract and that is the strength of KARDIOJAM. I am so grateful and blessed to for all the beautiful souls that have crossed my path through KARDIOJAM and I cannot wait to see where else this path will take us.

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.

My name is Nazanin (Nazy) and I’m the creator of KARDIOJAM™️! I am also a mom to two (most of the time) awesome kids and married to a cool guy! I am a HUGE foodie, cannot live without my steamy hot cup of coffee in the mornings. I love to travel and see new places, learn about new cultures and I live for delicious sweets! Nothing is more important to me than my family and I will forever and ever treasure true and loyal friendships! After family and friends, dance is the oxygen to my lungs and I live and breathe dance with passion and KARDIOJAM™️ is truly a reflection of my passion!

Dance and fitness have always been part of my life from a very young age! Growing up in Sweden, I took years of Latin Dance and eventually taught it for several years before moving to the United States. Dance has always had a special place in my heart. It has always helped me connect with people and has always been my safe space for self-expression. I took a long break from dance and chose to devote my time to raising my children as a full-time mom. In 2018, I joined our neighborhood athletic club and dance slowly made its way back into my life again.

In 2019, I received my Group Fitness and Zumba certification to start teaching classes at the gym. The Zumba certification was a great steppingstone but it also made me realize that I wanted something more, something to call mine, a vision made up of my passions and imaginations, something more current and relevant. So in 2020, KARDIOJAM was born. The timing of KARDIOJAM could not have been better! We were in the midst of a global shut down, gyms were closed, schools were shut down, and we were all quarantining at home, homeschooling our children while watching heartbreaking news worldwide.

About two weeks after the global shutdown, I casually told a good friend that I should start offering dance fitness classes in my driveway, and immediately he said, “You absolutely should!” This will forever be a pivotal point and a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life! So, on April 29th, 2020, three family members joined me on my patio. I conducted my very first socially distanced dance class in 100 degrees of North Carolina heat and humidity, with no shade! It was hot and a mess, but we danced for 60 minutes! It was one of the most uplifting and liberating moments I had felt in a long time! I knew right away in my heart that this was my calling! Right then, I knew I was placed on this earth, destined to spread joy and happiness through dance and movement! What started with three people on my patio grew to 10 people in my driveway, which evolved to 15 people in different local parks and abandoned basketball courts. We just kept growing. Some people joined the fun, some watched from the sidewalk, and others tried to shut us down. Nevertheless, we persevered and survived the 2020 summer with multiple weekly dance sessions, in the heat, in the shade and rain showers, combined with sweat, smiles and too many mosquito bites! It will be a summer I’ll remember for the rest of my life!
I was so happy to provide people with a fun and healthy outlet during a very stressful time. Watching their smiles lifted my soul and I knew I could turn into something long-lasting and special.

What sets KARDIOJAM apart from similar exercise formats, is that it is a participant centered class. Our playlist is a blend of request form every participant. This is how we create community, belonging and diversity. I choreograph all of the songs and I take all song requests. If the song speaks to me ad fits the KARDIOJAM format, I will choreograph it.

Another important difference is that KARDIOJAM is a beautiful blend of dance and fitness. It merges my years in dance and my own personal fitness journey with the needs of my community, It is the perfect blend of dance and full body exercise. We call it exercise in disguise. Every song I create will have a simple dance routine in addition to a toning and strengthening component.

We are also a boutique style business. Our classes are smaller size in order to provide a space where everyone feels valued and acknowledged in all the right ways. We place quality over quantity and we take pride in doing that. I used to teach at a gym and one thing I did not appreciate was that I could not connect with every person due to the high number of participants. So when I created KARDIOJAM I knew I wanted to keep my classes smaller, on a personal level.

Our community encourages and embraces individuality and diversity! We are all from different walks of life but during our time together, we become ONE and as ONE, we create magic and celebrate life together. Im my classes, we celebrate you and the dancer in you! We use very simple choreography to set everyone up for success which means that you certainly do not need a dance background to enjoy my class! We are truly for EVERY BODY! Our community is made of dancers, ex-dancers, non-dancers, athletes, seasoned dancers, young dancers, seniors and everyone who cares for good music, movement and health. This diversity helps us gain confidence and break away from negative self-belief. We SEE each other, we RESPECT each other, we LEARN from each other and we GROW with each other. So much of my class is about breaking barriers, dishonest beliefs and negative self image, Here we make you to fall in love with your body all over again and celebrate your powerhouse! I will make you feel sexy, capable, free and beautiful because you are worthy of it!

I am so proud of what we have created as a community!!! KARDIOJAM has hosted countless of fun and exciting events! We have hosted driveway parties, birthday parties, tennis/dance parties, summer camp dance parties for over 50 kids, dance parties with over 40 hockey players, hosted fun poolside and parking lot parties at my local country club, partnered up with local businesses and other fitness formats and offered unique dance fitness pop-up classes for their members!

KARDIOJAM is still evolving and has a long journey to reach its fullest potential. I have a big vision in mind. I truly embrace the journey and the joy it brings our dance family! I always say that my participants give me so much more than I will ever give them in return. They bring energy, smiles, passion, and joy to every class. We are a welcoming tribe with an amazing vibe, and I could not ask for anything better! We are currently offering morning classes and pop-up evening classes in North Raleigh. KARDIOJAM is growing, and we are now training and adding instructors, and we are excited to grow our platform way beyond Raleigh and North Carolina! We are ready to welcome you with open arms. Come and try a class for free and experience our amazing community for yourself.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I am a very sensitive person by nature and it serves me well most of the time. However I had to quickly learn to dial it back and learn to not take things personal. Rejections can feel heavy, realizing that some people in your corner are not your actual friends can be painful, lack of support from friends and family can feel hurtful and questioning your path can be scary. Over time I have learned to not take things personal and not to focus on what I wish I could change and instead focus on all the things that ARE going right. I have learned to direct my energy towards things that matter and pour my emotions into my choreography and my community! I have learned to stop chasing and instead lean into attracting. I have learned to make decisions from a place of abundance and trust the process. I had to quickly understand that I am not for everyone and that everyone is not for me. All of these lessons have brought me closer to my vision and welded me into a stronger person. Today, I am surrounded by genuine people who show up for themselves AND for each other. We have a common goal and I know very well that I am nothing without them. I am what I am because of who we are and I remind myself oh this every single day. These lessons are part of growth and I am grateful for all of them and sometimes these lessons are learned the hard way and that is ok.

When it comes to the execution of my classes, I have had to unlearn many things along the way such as having unrealistic exceptions of myself as an instructor and expecting my teaching to be flawless. Leaving room for spontaneity and creativity is fundamental in a dance fitness class. It will encourage our participants to let loose and connect with us at deeper level. I have had to unlearn to put so much emphasis on cardio. I have learned to recognize the importance of strength training and flexibility within my dance routines. I have had to evolve and realize that my class is so much more than a fitness class. I have learned to put equal emphasis on my participants’ mental health, learned to foster a sense of community and understand that positive reinforcement is vital for confidence building and motivation. In order to foster diversity, I have had to adapt my choreography to accommodate various fitness levels, dance abilities and fitness journeys. I have had to recognize the importance of modifications to accommodate individuals with varying physical abilities. These are just a few examples of things I have had to learn/unlearn along the way. I have certainly not mastered teaching and learning does not stop here. I am continuously evolving and learning. I truly embrace feedback and constructive criticism so that I can improve my classes and create a more inclusive environment. I am always open to continuous learning, feedback and I am always eager to collaborate with likeminded artists to become a more talented and well rounded instructor for my community.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience is the name of the game. It is the true backbone of every business. In my line of work, both mental and physical resilience is required for success.

About a year ago, I badly injured my right knee and my doctor advised me to stop teaching in order to properly heal. That was obviously not going to be an option so instead I decided to scale back and rely heavily on verbal and nonverbal cues and instructions. My participants also agreed to lead most of the class. It was such a heartwarming experience! For a few weeks, I took a step back and watched my participants take lead and carry out the class. It was such a proud moment! They helped me heal and made sure we didn’t skip a beat during my recovery. This is only one example of how tight our community is and how willing we all are to support each other in midst of any and all challenges.

Mental resilience is equally important. You need to be able adapt to different class sizes, keep your spirit high when faced with low class attendance, maintain enthusiasm through personal challenges, balance multiple responsibilities, overcome creative blocks, manage burnout and deal with various participant dynamics. It is so important to learn to pivot and adapt to all of it and remain strong and not loose focus.

I also think Covid truly challenged us and made us even more resilient. The fitness industry got hit hard and had to pivot and adapt to very unique situations. While the gyms were closed, we were hungry for a new outlet so we had to think outside the box. That is when outdoor socially distanced group fitness classes were created. After several months, gyms brought back indoor group fitness classes but masks were mandatory and that was the biggest struggle. We could barely breathe behind the mask and more importantly it was hard to stay engaged with participants since we could not see their facial expressions. Nevertheless, we persevered and survived all of it. Today we stand stronger with an unmatched appreciation for all the things we took for granted before the pandemic. It made us so much more resilient and at the same time humble and grateful.

Contact Info:

• Website: kardiojam.com
• Instagram: kardiojam
• Facebook: kardiojam

Image Credits
Mary-kate photography