Business Q&A: Outlaw Yoga, Littleton
Q: How did you get involved in this business?
A: As a yoga teacher at various area studios throughout the Denver metro area and beyond, I saw that the practice needed a contemporary upgrade that would connect students in this culture here and now in an accessible way, irrespective of their socioeconomic, political, or religious backgrounds.
Q: What distinguishes you from other businesses in your category?
A: Outlaw Yoga is a physically challenging, but technically simple, form of the practice where community is the priority. Every class starts with time to connect to our fellow humans, and our studio has a huge couch instead of a front desk to facilitate this. We just figure that you’re going to sweat your butt off, and if the person next to you gets some on you, you’ll be far more likely to laugh it off if you know a little something about them. We also feature live music in many of our classes and have a heck of a lot of fun.
Q: What do you like best about your line of work?
A: The people and the practice. Offering this platform for growth and personal evolution provides us with ongoing opportunities for our own growth — every interaction is a chance to make a connection, every moment is a choice and every choice comes charged with the power of creation. To be able to stop daily and ask ourselves, “What are we busy creating?” is a truly exciting opportunity. To be able to put it into play immediately is the demonstration of discipline’s ability to turn possibility into probability.
Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?
A: At Outlaw Yoga, we like to say, “Integrity takes time.” I think one of the main challenges of the entire yoga industry is to keep pace with the desire of a growing student body while maintaining a commitment to integrity of the offering. Though we’ve been offered many opportunities for business growth, our biggest challenge has been saying “no” to those who don’t serve ourselves or our community with full integrity, and “yes” to those who do.
Q: Something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business:
A: We have lots of dudes at outlaw Yoga. While the industry is dominated by women (80 percent women versus 20 percent men) our classes, trainings, and teaching staff is closer to 50-50. We are also proud to be setting new industry standards in service. In this capacity, we wrote the Give Back Yoga Foundation into our operating agreement as gifted equity partners so that a portion of any dollar spent at our studio goes to offer the gift of yoga to those desperately in need, including veterans, first responders, prisoners, and people with eating disorders.
Profile
Business: Outlaw Yoga
Address: 2590 W. Main St., LIttleton
Hours: Hours vary; classes run 6 a.m.-830 p.m. weekdays, Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons and evenings
Founded: 2011
Contact: outlawyoga.com, @outlawyoga
Employees: 15