We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Willow Kalatchi. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Willow below.
Willow, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
At The MINDRY, we distinguish ourselves in numerous ways from the conventional norms of other Yoga and Meditation studios. We really aim to foster a sense of community, and have created a warm sanctuary that welcomes individuals of all levels of practice. This is unlike many chain Yoga studios that prioritize leveling up and physical form, whereas we prioritize the profound connection between the mind and body. Meditation “studios” in themselves are not as common place as we hope to eventually make them, and that is why we offer our drop in guided meditation sessions 3 times a day. In today’s fast-paced world we are inundated with a constant barrage of information and having a dedicated space to disconnect from the noise and reflect on personal priorities is so important. Historically, this need was met by religious institutions or local watering holes, which are now less commonplace for various reasons. In response, we aim to fill this void and serve as a safe haven for our community here in Malibu, with aspirations to extend our impact to more areas.
Our clientele reaffirm this purpose daily by sharing their reasons for seeking refuge within our studio. Some are navigating major life transitions such as divorce, career changes, or loss, while others are newcomers to the idea of Meditation, Mindfulness, and Yoga, and find our studio to be an accessible entry point into this transformative world.
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.
At its core the Mindry is a Meditation, Yoga and wellness studio. We have a small retail store that has a curated selection of wellness products that we really feel help support creating your at home sanctuary and self care regime . We offer guided Meditation classes, Yoga classes, Sound baths , breathwork and more. We have a private “Ascension Room” where we do reiki healings, custom, deep tissue, and lypmphatic massages. We honor the more mystical intuitive arts with crystal, tarot and oracle readings. We also have an App featuring some of our regular meditation and yoga teachers so that our clients can practice with us “ anywhere” Before Opening The MINDRY with Jen. I was a luxury travel advisor specializing in bucket list type destinations which was a lot of fun and spoke to my sense of adventure and sharing how life changing travel can be, however this is not a think most people can afford on a regular basis. With the creation of The MINDRY I love the idea of being part of a universal shift in consciousness. To have created a business that is truly putting good positive energy into this world and is something that most of my community can partake in order to thrive and manifest their own unique journeys is such a gift.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
We opened a brick and Mortar in person community studio in Fall of 2019. We had less than 6 full months under our belt and were far from profitable when Covid hit. If we had know how long the lock downs and in person restrictions were going to last I am not sure we would have continued. However, I am so grateful that we did – 2020- 2022 were nothing short of a struggle we were not eligible for most of the federal relief as we did not have a full year of financials under our belt . We found ways to comply with restrictions while keeping our doors open and our local clientele constantly thanked us for it – For much of 2020 we were one of the only places people could get out of their homes and come and sit in community even if it was 7 feet apart. In 2021 after personally floating our business ( and rent) for two years our landlord told us that they needed our space for a big corporate entity. We lucked out however as another big corporate entity had packed up and left in the middle of Covid and through sheer will and determination we negotiated a move to that space which ended up being bigger and better and enabled us to start our yoga classes and open our ascension room. Our landlord at that time ( ownership has since changed) didn’t believe in our vision and we really felt like we were swimming against the current. If we hadn’t been so passionate about the vision and the feeling that we were doing something really amazing and important I don’t think we would be where we are now and I am grateful daily that we stuck it out.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Jen and I have been friends since middle school. We were born and raised by the beach and exploring the hills of Malibu. We both came from alternative parents, 60’s children and meditation and exploring alternative healing forms were commonplace at home . After high school and college and separately exploring various life paths we settled back in Malibu. We have been in each others lives and shared many many an adventure over the past years and The MINDRY was a result of conversations we had on one of those adventures.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://themindry.com
- Instagram: @themindry
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themindry
- Other: https://themindry.vhx.tv