Yoga Talk: We Had to Do It Together | Emily, Jess & Steph

Emily Brown (00:00) I attended yoga teacher training in Boulder, Colorado, and then moved to Laramie, Wyoming, and really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life other than I love to create businesses and I love to follow whatever kind of brings me joy and what I'm passionate and excited about. And so that meant I was like, I'm going to open a yoga studio, which came with, you know, at the time, a small town, all of its own kind of like drama and, you know, big decisions and Gina Clingerman (00:27) I'm frozen. Emily Brown (00:27) fraught with like, you know, at that time, what was seemed like a scary first step for me. But so that that started and then not very long after I connected with I mean, I'd been friends with you Jess for so long and and taught yoga and all of that stuff. So you are always kind of a part of the picture in terms of friendship and in that realm. And then Steph kind of I brought Steph. You weren't living in town at the time. Steph was Steph was taking a yoga teacher training program. And here's the thing is that I've learned this about myself since, lots about myself since this, all of this happened. And since we've collaborated and built and grown together as friends and business partners. But I need collaboration and I need people to work in conjunction with. It's where I'm at my best and also just where it feels in the gaps of where I feel not as confident and, you know, kind of where I feel like some of my strengths and weaknesses lie. So Steph came in to the fold really quickly and then Jess moved back to town and that it just snowballed into what we, the three of us then created as you know blossom yoga and then became blossom yoga teacher training and then I think it became Dharma after that. that's kind of the the segue into kind of what we all built together. Brendon Orr (01:50) Mmm. Jess Steph, do you have additions? Jess Ryan (she/her) (01:54) Yeah, yeah, you know, like Em and I have known each other. We were teaching at a yoga studio when I was living here in Laramie in 2007. I had moved away and started my own yoga studio as well with a person. I, you know, coming back, I will say, and I think this will probably show up in a lot of the themes and a lot of the things that we talk about, but I really do believe there was some type of divine timing, divine force, Dharma that was running through us, because it felt like it, like... like we had to do it, like we had to do it and we had to do it together and we had to see each other and ourselves and the crew of people that went through this. I can't wait to talk about that a little bit more. But, you know, there was something bigger working through us because it wasn't always easy. It wasn't always easy. And at the same time, you know, like three people with big energies and personalities and at the same time, like three people who I think really love each other and like super, super respect each other. And I think that is a really unique combination that you don't always get to be in the presence of people who are genuinely like we were working through our shit. We were holding space. We it was a really formative time for me in a lot of different ways. ⁓ Yoga, Asana. Gina Clingerman (03:13) Bye! Jess Ryan (she/her) (03:27) big why yoga and I think just like personally personally and so that's where where I have to start now is that there was some force there was a force Steph Steph Hanson (03:40) lot of people talk about, know, not mixing the friendships and the business thing, but somehow it was the only way to do it. It was actually probably the only way we could be friends was through our business connection and, and not the, I mean, of course, but it all enforced everything, you know, it all was a virtuous feedback loop and yeah, we would have to work through our stuff together. Gina Clingerman (03:47) You Steph Hanson (04:09) and meanwhile support people through a process of their own growth. And that was kind of cool to be, to have all the parallel lives going on at once, all together. We do talk about it a lot as the kind of the good old days, sure.