Today we’d like to introduce you to Krista Shirley
Hi Krista, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started doing yoga in college. It was my Junior year and I’d just returned from a semester abroad. I was into fitness and health and stumbled upon a new yoga offering at my local gym, and decided to give it a try. It was unlike any other yoga class I’d ever experienced. I loved it! After that class I began taking regular Ashtanga Yoga classes with the local teacher and she eventually introduced me to Mysore Style Ashtanga Yoga at Winter Park Yoga. I immediately fell in love with the yoga method and the unique style of teaching/learning. Within a few months of daily practice at Winter Park yoga my yoga teacher moved away. I was left on my own to keep up with my practice, while I was in college and working part time. Once I graduated, I took my savings and purchased a one way ticket to India to study at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India.
I spent the next four years making yearly trips to study in India, to come home and teach at gyms, studios, country clubs all over town to save enough for the next year’s trip. In February 2009 I was awarded Level II authorization from the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute and my teachers told me to go home and open a yoga school focused on the Ashtanga Yoga Mysore Method. And by May of that year I opened my very first, tiny yoga space. My teacher, Pattabhi Jois, passed away just days before my grand opening. I was heartbroken over his passing, but even more inspired to carry on the traditional Ashtanga yoga teachings in his honor.
The tiny space grew quickly and I immediately found myself looking for a larger space for my yoga school. I found a beautiful location hidden away in Winter Park and signed the lease in September 2009. The very next day I found out I was pregnant. I spent the next month working with contractors on the buildout and in October 2009, we opened the new location. The 12 months that followed were a whirlwind as I was birthing and growing two babies at once. The studio really took off quickly and I welcomed my son into the world the following May.
We grew beautifully in our winter park location and thrived there through 2015. In January 2016 I moved our yoga school from Winter Park to college park as I had divorced and wanted a fresh start with the business closer to where I lived. Looking back, that is not a move I would have made. Even though it was 8 minutes drive from the Winter Park to College Park location, we lost many students and had to really reinvent the business. But I stayed fully committed to the business and my clients.
In 2019, I faced some serious medical battles that took me away from the shala. And then Covid 19 hit the world. The Yoga Shala SUFFERED greatly as a result. I believed in my heart when I was better, I could rebuild the business. But as 2019, 2020, 2021 came and went, my nerve damage had not improved. So in April 2021 I closed The Yoga Shala. It was heartbreaking for me, but I knew no other option at the time. I spent the next 12 months rehabilitating my body and trying to figure out my future, my career.
2022 arrived and I had made great strides in improving my function, and I started teaching a few classes per month. By July of that year I re-started my morning Mysore program. I’d rented space from a birthing center to house my program and it grew slowly and steadily. By the end of 2023 my program had truly outgrown the space we were renting so I began the search for a new home for The Yoga Shala.
I signed the lease to a lovely space in Maitland, just outside of Winter Park, and we began the buildout. We officially re-opened The Yoga Shala in our new location at 140 Circle Drive #4, Maitland Fl 32751 on May 4th 2024. It has been a whirlwind the last few months but also immensely rewarding and exciting! Our classes and programs and growing as our community continues to grow.
I would wish such medical battles upon no one, but I give thanks every single day that I have come out the other side, I’ve been able to start over, rebuild, and am once again doing what I love!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It certainly has not been a smooth road! But each challenge has been a great teacher to me.
From the business perspective, I learned the hard way that it would have been better to expand to a second location than to move an existing and successful business. I also learned the hard way not to ever make business decisions from an emotional perspective.
Making a successful business teaching yoga is hard for most people. But I always knew that if I followed my passion for teaching and helping people, there would always be enough. I’ve carried that with me for nearly two decades and it always keeps me grounded.
Some struggles that really challenged me through the years:
– Growing other teachers classes at the studio
– Marketing the business
– Staff management
– ‘The Small Business conundrum” – being too small to have enough staff to help carry the load for marketing, managing, teaching. I still struggle with having to do nearly everything solo on top of teaching most of the classes and managing the business.
For me, the yoga shala is a labor of love and my source of income. I do not think I would have ever considered starting over if I didn’t love what I do so much.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I own The Yoga Shala in Maitland, Florida. We are a body movement studio with a specialized approach, customizing each clients class experience, based on their goals and needs. We specialize in the Ashtanga Yoga mysore method, Mat Pilates and Body Mechanics classes. As the only level II authorized ashtanga yoga teacher in central florida, I take pride in my passion to help people through the vehicle of Ashtanga Yoga. Students travel far and wide to participate in my mysore classes and workshops. We are the only Mysore Program offered in central florida at this time and I am deeply proud of the program and community we have built.
And since we re-opened this May, I have rolled out a new class called Body Mechanics. It is a combination of rehabilitative movements, pilates, yoga and calisthenics exercises to help students gain greater balance in their actual structure, improve mobility, reduce pain and improve function. When my nerve damage escalated and treatment options were exhausted, the medical industry dismissed me from care and told me to get on disability and find an occupational therapist to help me learn how to live with my disability. I would not take that as my fate and I researched, read, learned, experimented on myself….Through that, I regained function of my left upper extremity. I reduced my pain, improved my mechanics and I knew that what I’d created would help heaps and heaps of other people like me! Be able to have a dedicated brick and mortar studio for this program was another motivating factor for me to lease a space again.
The Yoga Shala is such a different kind of studio than most yoga studios. We focus on small, intimate, group classes to be able to truly tailor each clients class experience based on what they need. We are 100% focused on quality of instruction over quantity of students. We pride ourselves in our hands on approach, on meeting people where they are and on giving them tools to help themselves feel and move better in their body!
Who else deserves credit in your story?
I have had some incredible teachers and mentors though the years with yoga, business coaching, rehabilitation from my nerve damage and the yoga shala community itself has been such a blessing and joy. My yoga asana teachers Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, R Sharath Jois and Saraswati Jois have been torchbearers for the Ashtanga Yoga lineage and I am so grateful for their teachings, their support and their sacrifices to carry on the lineage for generations to come. I’ve had several very close friends and business mentors who have helped steer me in the right direction over the years; from teaching me the nuts and bolts of business, to navigating staff issues, leases, build outs, payroll and everything in between. I’m deeply thankful to every mentor who has inspired, educated and motivated me through the years. But I would say that my yoga students and my son Kaiden have been the biggest supporters, cheerleaders and advocates for The Yoga Shala. We primarily grew, the first and second time, through word of mouth from existing clients who love being part of our community, love the instruction and offerings we provide. And more than that, many of the students in my community were here for me when I went through my terrible medical battle. That was more helpful to me than anything I’ve ever experienced, knowing so many students cared for me and wanted me to get better. And my son, Kaiden, he literally grew up at The Yoga Shala. I’d carry him from his bed to the car each morning at 4:30am, make a bed for him next to me while I did my yoga practice, and he’d wake up in the middle of class and joyously play at the shala until one of my staff would take him to work while I taught. The memories we’ve made through the years means the world to me and he has been and continues to be my biggest cheerleader for rebuilding the yoga shala.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theyogashala.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theyogashala_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theyogashala
- Twitter: https://www.x.com/kristayogini
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yogawithkrista
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-yoga-shala-maitland
