Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacy Shepherd.
Stacy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I began yoga as a hobby and a practice in 1982, practicing on and off as I created and built my first business, got married, had children, sold my business and began developing businesses for others in the field of commercial landscape management. I took my first Teacher Training courses in 20o9, became certified to teach and a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher in 2010. Teaching classes on the side, before and after work, sometimes 12 classes a week at different studios and gyms in Uptown and Downtown Dallas.
I discovered Baptiste Power Yoga in 2011 and began the process to become a Baptiste Certified Instructor. Doing this, I dropped all of my teaching slots except those at the local Baptiste Affiliate Studio, all of my teaching time went there for the next year, until I began to see that I was spending my days at “work” waiting to go teach. Teaching yoga was so exciting, it was what I got up for every day, it was rewarding, seeing the energy and power it brought to people, seeing how “awake” attendees were when they left my classes! My following began to grow and I began to wonder how I could teach more. There was no way. No way I could increase my class load AND maintain the level of integrity I had with my full-time, corporate, well-paying, great benefits and perks job I had been developing for over 20 years!
It was not until I attended a local Batiste training, that as other studio owners began to hear my story, and my “lament” that there was just no good Baptiste community out here where I lived, in North Dallas, and no way I could earn a living just teaching yoga, that they encouraged me to open my own studio, I fought it, There was no way I wanted that level of responsibility, that sort of risk, I just wanted to teach for others, be a contractor, keep doing what I was doing…it was “safe”, after all, I had bills, kids…but by the end of that weekend, I was standing up to declare – I would open a Baptiste studio on North Dallas.
That was January 2013. As soon as I made that declaration, I was offered an amazing job opportunity, a regional sales management position with a national company. More money, more prestige, more responsibility…as I considered it, I realized if I took it, I would not only not open a yoga studio, I would not be able to practice or, worse, teach yoga near as often as I would like, it at all. So that was it, I went to my current employer and told them I had been made a great offer. They said they could not match it, I told them I knew, and that was ok, I was resigning, to open a studio, to teach yoga full time. They asked me to stay on as a consultant, and I was grateful to accept. I worked for them for the first two years I opened the studio, which made the transition so much easier and was something I would never have considered asking for.
At this point, February 2013, one month after my declaration, I had already signed a 5-year lease on my space. We began construction in March and we were open by May, Memorial Day weekend! I opened with 36 classes on the schedule and 10 teachers – friends from my experience teaching. From that day we opened, we have only continued to grow and add to our schedule, our workshops and trainings. We now run 2-200-hour Teacher Trainings per year. We are a Yoga Alliance Registered School, graduating approximately 30 new teachers a year. We are a Baptiste Affiliate Studio with nearly 40 employees and volunteers teaching, assisting and running our front desks. We have two locations, with one newly expanded for kids yoga, camps and workshops and we are looking at opening space number three in 2018.
Great, 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?
Honestly, ours has been a rather smooth road. Once I decided this was what I was doing, the world seemed to get out of the way and help make it happen.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Yoga Factory – what should we know?
We are a Baptiste Affiliate studio, Baptiste yoga exists to awaken and empower human beings to live life fully, in wholeness and in full potential as a moment to moment phenomena. As part of this practice we believe in the whole health of human beings.
Part of our business is Chiropractic. Partnered with Shepherd Chiropractic, we are able to offer holistic health and natural remedies, along with the physical practice of yoga, meditation and self-inquiry.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Because of who we are and what we are up to, we attract people who want to live life “awake”, whole and healthy. We attract a community of people who are energized, balanced, fun, happy, growing, challenging themselves to grow and go further, realizing their dreams and creating futures for themselves that would not have occurred had they not taken action to make that future a reality. Through our programs, classes and trainings, we empower people to live life to its fullest potential.
Pricing:
- Introductory offer for first timers is 30 days of unlimited yoga for $30.
- Kids classes for a $5 drop in or 10 for $45 are being taught simultaneous to the adult classes next door.
- Kids Camps run during Winter, Spring and Summer break for $140 per week or $35 to drop in.
Contact Info:
- Address: 19009 Preston Road, Suite 117, Dallas TX 75252
5800 Legacy Drive, Suite C12, Plano, TX 75024 - Website: www.theyogafactorytx.com
- Phone: 2145588064
- Email: hello@theyogafactorytx.com
- Instagram: yogafactorytx / theyogafactoryplano
- Facebook: @theyogafactoryplano / @theyogafactorydallas
- Twitter: @theyogafactorytx
- Yelp: theyogafactoryandwellness / theyogafactory
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
