As I reflect on the last 3 years I remember back to how this journey began. In 2003, shortly after I completed my first yoga teacher training, I wrote a business plan and entered it in a competition for young wanna- be entrepreneurs called, the ”Shell LiveWIRE Young Business Start Up Awards” and was awarded 2nd Prize in NSW & the ACT.
However, I didn’t feel confident enough to open a studio just yet as I felt I needed to gain more teaching experience. By 2009 I was teaching up to 24 yoga classes a week in various studios and gyms all over Sydney (including Mosman, North Sydney, Sydney CBD, Bondi and Rose Bay) and I was tired of all the travel and wanted my own space so I could create my own vision.
So one morning I sprung out of bed (without a shower, breakfast or a plan) and drove to Lane Cove. I walked into the first Real Estate Agent and asked, “Do you have anything available that would be suitable for a yoga studio?” They went on to ask me a series of questions such as, “How many square meters do you need?” and “What is your budget?”. To which my answer to both of these was, “I don’t know!” It had been 6 years since I wrote my business plan and it was busy gathering dust on the shelf in my home office.
As a Bondi local, I didn’t know the Lower North Shore well but I did know that opening ANOTHER yoga studio in Bondi would be a death wish and it appeared to me that what was lacking in the North Shore, were Yoga Studios.
On my way back East, I decided to stop at “One Earth Cafe” on Willoughby Rd for lunch. As I walked past a building “For Lease” I suddenly became very excited. Although I couldn’t see the upstairs space, I knew I had to see it. I raced home and emailed the Agent and arranged with him to see the space the following day. When I entered Level 1, 551 Willoughby Rd, Willoughby, I knew that this was it! Once upon a time a friend of mine said to me (after meeting his Wife- To- Be), “You know when you know”. I always thought this was a Cliche but that day I knew exactly what he was talking about.
I went home and said to my Partner, “I found my yoga studio”. To which he looked quite baffled. As an ex- banker who is 100% risk averse (as opposed to me, 100% Risk Taker), he thought I was crazy. He tried to convince me that I should look around, open a studio closer to home, open an Ashtanga Yoga studio (after all, why do kids, babies and pregnant women need yoga?!?), save more money or have kids! This only made me more determined to do what I set out to do back in 2003.
I’ll be the first to admit that I am one of the most stubborn people on earth and nothing motivates me more than someone telling me I can’t or shouldn’t do something that I have my heart set on (my parents are still recovering from the stress I caused them as a 15 year old).
Upon reflection, him playing Devil’s Advocate was a gift rather than the curse that it felt like back then. Whilst I liked to focus on all the fun stuff like the colour scheme or designing the bolsters, he forced me to think about the not so fun stuff like, could I really afford to open a yoga studio!?! But I had a back up plan, if all else failed, I would live in the studio (along with my 2 cats!).
In the first week after teaching a bunch of classes with only 1 person (and sometimes none), I convinced myself that living in the studio wasn’t such a bad idea! But on January 2, when 12 pregnant women showed up to the Saturday morning class, I felt my luck had changed and I knew that everything was going to be ok!
I truly believe that when you put your heart and soul into something you believe in, the Universe gives you all the support and the resources you need to make it happen.
At this special time, I have so much gratitude for all my students. I want to thank you for making my dream a reality because without you, Yoganic is just big empty room. It is you that fills it with love and joy. So THANK YOU! 
Melissa Knapp 