The woman behind the business (Part 4)
Time flies when you're having fun... so much so that I can't tell you exactly how long I've been teaching! I think we're coming up for 14 years overall (my social media shows Yoga-related stuff dating back to 2014), but it's the last 2 years where I've moved from being a Teacher to a business owner. Obviously, before 2014, I was Personal Training and teaching fitness classes - my neighbours got a good old demonstration of my very first routines the other week - grapevine, box step and hamstring curls - proper retro!
I honestly feel like I've grown and developed in the last two years more than I have in the 12 years beforehand - it's been a little bit cray cray!
My Personal Training study provided all the anatomy and physiology education and because of this, I knew from day one, I didn't want to be a 'traditional' Yoga Teacher. From day dot, I was known as a Power Yoga Teacher - combining Yoga with strength training, working at a pace that got the heart-rate up, made you sweat, and afterwards, feeling like you'd had a good workout. If you wanted to lie down on a mat and snooze, you didn't come to my classes.
I'm obsessed with how the body is made, how it's powered and how it moves - it's truly fascinating. That's why, just over two years ago, thanks to Instagram, I found teachers and educators such as Brea Johnson, Dr Moses Bernard, Dr Andreo Spina, Jules Mitchell and Cecily Milne - also know as Yoga Detour. And this was where my passion really erupted.
I knew that when training originally as a Yoga Teacher, there were a lot of questions about what I was learning - comparing my new knowledge to the engrained stuff - and some things didn't feel quite right. Finding people who were answering my questions was a real eye-opener - and so refreshing! I could be the Yoga Teacher I wanted to be - focussing heavily on how the body works and moves, rather than just making shapes and 'stretching' out the muscles. And so my Yoga Detour journey commenced.
June 2019, I rocked up in Cork, Ireland - not only had I overcome my first, solo travel trip, I was about to kickstart one of the biggest learning experiences of my life so far. The end of 2019 and beginning of this year saw me gain both the Detour Method Online and Detour Method Synthesis qualifications, giving me the opportunity to look at my teaching through a clearer, wider lens, thinking critically, experimenting more freely and enabling me to dig deeper into the things that made me want to become a teacher in the first place.
A month after qualifying (and thanks to Lockdown), I'd set up my online studio, got over my fears of teaching virtually and was ready for the next step. I applied to become a Registered Yoga Detour Instructor. 2 weeks later, I was accepted. Holy sh*t, I was giddy.
The description on our RYDI training platform says it all - 'those who care more about education than they do about catering to the crowd. Those who are ready to get serious about what it means to teach from a place of Educational Empowerment, a chance to leap and land amongst a rare caliber of instructors in the yoga community who are ultimately invested in levelling up - not only their own teaching, but this industry as a whole.'
That's my ambition going forward. For me, I'm fulfilling a true, real dream, but for you, it's so much more. I'm no longer just 'guiding' you through movement and poses - I'm educating you in the hope that you'll learn about and understand your body, your current state of movement and how you can best move for the long term - injury free, whilst creating a resilience in your body to cope with the stresses and strains you will experience through life. I am one of two RYDI's in the UK - and there's only 12 worldwide. I keep pinching myself - things are getting serious.
As well as teaching Sass Classes virtually, I teach for the Detour Virtual Studio too, and moving forward, I'll definitely remain online to some extent. Face to face classes are going to return - I couldn't live without the physical connection completely or the coffee and brunches after a Saturday class. I'm also contemplating adding a couple of new things to the timetable and this is where your input is required - keep your eyes peeled for another email later this week - and please PLEASE respond! This week saw me step up into another new world - sharing business advice with other teachers in the industry.. it was surreal going live in a group with 12,000 members... some, whom are way more knowledgeable than me! But I faced yet another fear and now I'm already prepping for the next one...!
Let's not forget about Sass Retreats too! The Yoga+Spa ones are probably not going to take place this year but I'm hoping our weekend away will still happen in November. If not, I'm not going to stress - 2021 can be the year of getting away instead!
Sass Skincare + Beauty is growing and I'm looking at specific training related to that before the year is out, as well as inviting others to join my team. I'm about to embark on an advanced Anatomy and Physiology Course and fingers crossed, the Detour 5-day Immersion in Cork will be rescheduled - I was meant to be heading there in June! I will never stop learning and I will never stop educating. Can you tell I always have to be doing something?!?!
And finally, in the next few weeks I'll reveal another new venture - Haddican & Sass - 100% natural, vegan candles , hand poured in Delph! Thankfully for this, I'm not on my own - I have a business partner!! I'm not saying much more for now... but branding is nearly approved, testing is well underway and retail contracts are already in discussion... for now you can follow us on Instagram as the first posts will be going out soon!
2019 was a big year for Sass - for my learning, my mindset and my overall growth. 2020 was a year to settle in and consider what's next... instead, in the first 5 months, it's been bigger than I ever could have imagined. Lockdown Life has forced me to step up my game and move faster than I'd envisaged on my business plan. It's been difficult, overwhelming and mind-blowing, but also exciting, exhilarating and most importantly, encouraging. I am ready to continue at this pace and I want you along for the ride - will you join me?
Let's go do this - Team Sass!!! As they say... keep watching this space... things are just getting started.