For those of you who don’t know the full story here’s the short version of YI’s birth, (and if you want the long version come ask Dana or I, it’s one of my favorite stories to tell).  

 

In August of 2009 I knew I was going to be moving from Denver, Colorado to Pittsburgh, PA the next year.  As a yoga teacher and a entrepreneur dreamer I searched the area for a place to call my yoga home.  Startled at my findings there were ZERO hot yoga studios south of the city.  

 

Great. I thought.  My passion is teaching and my speciality is Power Yoga in a heated room…. And this was not to be found within a half an hour drive of where I knew I was going to be residing.  Ya the city isn’t too far away.. Ya there were options there… but not the 3-5 mile radius one experiences like they do out west.  

 

I kept googling, and searching, and asking everyone I knew out here (Pittsburgh) to keep their ear to the ground.  

 

Then it happened! I saw the Coming Soon Sign for Yoga Innovations!!! They were opening March 1, of 2010.

 

YES!!!  It wasn’t too far away… and it had HEAT! Yes yes yes!  

 

I called, and Dana Barone (yes our Dana who is still teaching with us now) answered.  I knew in a heartbeat I liked the voice on the other end of the line.  Yes they were opening, yes they had room on their staff, BUT come take a class and we could talk from there.  

 

Perfect.

 

October of 2010, I officially move to town. Yoga Innovations was the first place I drove to on my own.  

 

This is where the story could get longer (I know I said this was the short version, I promise it really is) but I won’t.

 

Skip ahead and I start teaching for Dana.  I love the space, the people, the atmosphere, everything.  And of course bursting at the seams with ideas (business, marketing and advertising major in college, brand management career in Colorado, yoga teacher fresh out of another training…) you could imagine the many many thoughts I excitedly shared with her.  

 

I told her I wanted to own a yoga studio of my own one day.  

 

She asked me if I wanted to own Yoga Innovations.

 

It took almost a year, and I got pregnant with our first baby in the meantime (this is the short version remember) and on February 29 of 2012 I legally adopted Yoga Innovations.  

 

Ironic it fell on the same day of when Dana first opened the doors (being it was a leap year that year it would have been March 1 any other year).  

 

Our space has seen many different colors, literally and mentally.  The furniture has moved around, people have came and went but the heart of the place has stayed the same, and if anything has grown stronger, deeper and more beautiful in our years.

 

A HUGE thank you is in order to the people who have made all of this a reality. (Post 3)