We were lucky to catch up with Samantha-Jane Gray recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Samantha-Jane thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Coming from a professional career as ballerina, movement is such a deep part of how I experience this life. What started out as a deep inquisition to refine my artistic tool, my body, turned into a much a deeper journey into self inquisition. Through all my somatic studies in ballet, contemporary, pilates, Feldenkrais, the Gyrotonic method®️, yoga and release work I have learnt that you cannot address the body, without addressing all the aspects that influence our health. Our emotional experiences, spiritual health, safety, relationships and environment all create an intriguing tapestry of how we feel from day to day.
My dance career evolved into working privately as a movement trainer where I feel so privileged to share the experience of a deep, connected movement practice with my clients. Movement offers us the foundation, where we can bring awareness to our bodies and be present in the moment. It is this simple act that holds the healing medicinal value.
In my 17 years of dancing and being a movement practitioner I can see the yearning in most to want to take good care of themselves, in terms of movement, meditation and stretching. Myself included, feel a sense of overwhelm at times, with all the things I “should ” be doing and “could” be doing and feeling that I don’t have the time to do it all.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
LENI™ was born from a need to create a simple, obtainable, natural self-care program. We have just set out on this journey to create beautiful products that inspire self-care at home and on the move. The mission is to develop practices that are simple, effective and easily integrated into daily life.
We have learnt so far, that it is challenging work to distill the quantities of wellness philosophy out there. Social Media and bloggers are incredible sources of ideas but often we find there is gap between the seeing and doing, which we all fall into. With each product “TOOL”, LENI will help you learn THE PRACTICES. Once you know all THE PRACTICES, you can choose your favorite practices to develop your PROGRAM. That is our commitment to you.
Our minimalist launch of our first product is from our Fascia Flow Collection.
We believe that simple dry-scrubbing and in-home cupping practices are excellent ways to take care of your skin, lymphatic drainage and fascia health. This ultimately improves your muscle function, your immunity and ability to rejuvenate damaged cells. We have started with 5 basic cupping practices and 1 scrubbing practice to learn. From there, you can decide which ones you want to do, however many times a week. The idea is for our goals to be obtainable.
Once this feels safely embedded in our TOOL BOX, we will add more exciting practices, more collections and more to our program. Our practices are classic and have stood the test of time and we can’t wait to grow our community !
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I stumbled across “Buy Back Your Time” by Dan Martell on audiobooks.
Growing up in South Africa, I was raised in a house-hold with 2 very capable, self-sufficient parents, who instilled a deep sense of confidence in me about successfully working for yourself. I personally enjoy figuring out all the new systems and processes and the satisfaction of getting things done. However, I am just one person.
Dan’s book helped me understand how to audit my time, prioritize where I am most effective in my business and call in support for the rest. It was clear that by not doing this, I would be holding the vision back and perhaps creating a disservice to the people I could be benefiting, and with whom I could be sharing my love of movement.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
In ballet, everything has to be 100% prepped and perfect before “THE SHOW”. In life and business , there is no “SHOW”. Ultimate perfectionism cannot exist in a continually morphing living landscape.
Products can be improved, websites can be edited, ideas can evolve, branding can be perfected, systems can be improved and we actually need criticism and feedback to help us grow in the right direction, to where the market needs us.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lenithestudio.com
- Instagram: @lenithestudio.com
Image Credits
by Kelly Bonsack