Take a deep breath and accept the things you cannot change, advise Kat and Brooke Wyman.
“What is happening right now, don’t fight it. Don’t panic. Just accept it and pivot,” said Kat Wyman, who co-founded the yoga studio, Soulfire Collective, with her wife, Brooke. “Pivot and think on what we can do to make the best of this. Truthfully, I do think something beautiful can come from this. We are learning how to keep connected and be kind to each other.”
Soulfire Collective in Rehoboth Beach is coming up on its second year in business. On a mission to empower people through connections on and off the yoga mat, the Wymans and fellow instructors offer a series of yoga classes for all levels of experience.
Community is key to the experience, since students show up 15 minutes before class just to catch up with friends. That hasn’t changed since Soulfire Collective took their classes online.
“Of course it’s changed how we connect, but the connections are the same,” Brooke Wyman said. “We started doing Zoom classes last week, and we had 70 people on it. It’s just something about seeing people’s faces and everyone asking how you’re doing, and the smiles… it’s almost like we forgot we were using computers at all.”
These days, Soulfire Collective has closed its doors and offers classes online. It’s seeing a lot of success with a custom-built digital library of yoga classes. For a $20 one-time fee, yogis anywhere can enjoy videotaped classes whenever they want.
“We’ve been tracking the analytics on it, so we can see people across the country and people across the globe using that service,” Kat Wyman said. “We recorded 17 videos when we first started, so we probably will have to record a few more.”
The Wymans advise fellow business owners to take this time to regroup, refocus and explore.
“This is the time to create and take risks,” Brooke Wyman said. “If you try a platform and it doesn’t work, then all that does is open the door for another platform. Try ideas and see what works.”
“Don’t panic,” Kat Wyman added. “A lot of what we’re seeing is people shooting from the hip and making abrupt decisions out of panic. Take a deep breath, and then take action.”
–Katie Tabeling
