Combining my two passions for Marketing and Yoga into a career

It’s been a while since I’ve written a post but I assure you that it’s because I’ve been working hard on many positive, new changes in my business. One of the things I’ve been working on is my new seminar series, Digital Media Now for Yogis. I’ll be giving you guys all the details about it soon but I’d like to first spend some time sharing how yoga appeared in my life and how I’m incorporating it into my marketing business.

FIRST, A LITTLE BACKGROUND- All my life I have been attracted to doing things that inspire me. Things that inspire me also bring out my passion which creates my desire to really make a difference. Throughout my entire career I have always had a desire to help others become even more successful in their own career. When I was still attending college, I worked various promotional jobs where I helped brands gain more positive exposure and increase sales. When I graduated from college I worked in Marketing and Sales for a large media company where I had the opportunity to work with other business owners and national brands to create interactive marketing campaigns dedicated to growing their business. I transitioned into the Online Marketing world because I saw more opportunities to help businesses grow through digital technology and social media. After working for several Digital Agencies, I soon realized that to truly embrace my calling as Marketing professional, I would need to build my own marketing business that focused specifically on digital marketing and social media. Marketing Melodie, which began as a blog site in 2008 shifted into my business brand which is the company I’ve been running for almost 3 years.

AND THEN THERE WAS YOGA-  With my hectic life as a business professional, I really needed something that could ground me and bring me back down to earth when stresses of deadlines, business development and even personal challenges arises. I discovered yoga as a practice that not only helped me physically stay in shape but also allowed me to regroup and recenter myself a midst all the stresses of life. While yoga is an ancient practice that’s been around for longer than I can remember, it didn’t exist for me until mid 2007 (which I can’t believe is 5 years ago)! Yoga appeared in my life in several ways.  The company I was working at offered lunch time yoga classes and the complex I was living in offered free yoga classes to residents. I previously took one yoga class at a studio and strongly disliked it. It was a style of yoga I wasn’t fond of and I actually walked out on the class. I decided to give it another chance and after a few classes at my complex with an instructor who I still credit for inspiring me to grow my practice, I was hooked. Yoga has helped me so much through stressful times that I now want to share this amazing practice with others. After completing my 200 Hour Comprehensive Teacher Training in April 2011, I decided to start incorporating yoga into my marketing career.

INCORPORATING YOGA INTO MY CAREER- Since I declared the desire to incorporate yoga into my career, I’ve been attracting more opportunities to turn my desire into reality. Some of the first classes I taught were yoga workshops titled: Yoga for the Busy Body at Hera Hub. As a busy person I wanted to learn how to make time for yoga and since I’ve learned that it’s possible, my first instinct was to teach others how they can make it possible too. Yoga for the Busy Body classes are taught with an emphasis on poses that can easily be done in between work breaks and lunch hours. I also incorporate poses to work muscles that get tight from sitting in front of a computer all day . I began getting other requests to teach yoga classes. I taught my first outdoor class for Forward Motion and more recently I taught another outdoor class for Big Bay Boot Camp with an inspiring view of the San Diego Bay. Social Media gave me an opportunity to attend Tadasana Festival in April and I’ve been subbing at La Jolla Yoga Center several times a month teaching Hatha, Vinyasa and even High School Yoga. Teaching in general is great. I learn so much from teaching others whether it’s in an academic setting or a yoga studio, however I want to do more than just teach yoga and marketing individually.

INTRODUCING DIGITAL MEDIA NOW FOR YOGIS- This is why I am thrilled to announce my newest seminar series, Digital Media Now for Yogis! I’m combining my two passions for Marketing and Yoga to empower you with knowledge on how to live your passion as Yoga and Wellness Professional. I will use my expertise to teach you how to make money from your business through optimizing your brand and online presence while maintaining your true integrity as a Yogi. The first seminar will be held on Saturday July 28th 1-4pm at La Jolla Yoga Center. My goal is to grow this workshop so I can host it at other studios and ultimately have it be a part of Yoga Teacher Training curriculums since learning the business of yoga is imperative for being a successful professional in the industry. The seminar is customized for professionals in the Yoga and Wellness industries but open to everyone. Online registration is now open and you can register here.  I’ll be writing a more detailed blog post about the seminar very soon so please stay tuned!

And if you have read this entire post or even part of this post, I want to thank you and also encourage you to find your true passion, then figure out a way to incorporate it into your career! I am still in the process of doing this but can tell you that passion makes working much more exciting! 

~NAMASTE~

Social Media and Yoga Unite at @TadasanaFest Yoga & Music Festival #Tadasana

Most of you already know that while Marketing is my expertise, Yoga is my passion. Yoga has really touched me in all areas of my life and I definitely want to share and inspire others through yoga. I was grateful when I completed my Yoga Teacher’s Training at the beginning of 2011. Since then, yoga has become an even bigger part of my life. It’s such an honor to be able to integrate yoga into my career and I’ll continue to do so as I move forward. I’ve been able to teach yoga to busy professionals like myself by hosting yoga classes and workshops, Yoga for the Busy Body. I also have had the honor to teach classes through Forward Motion and at La Jolla Yoga Center.

 

This past weekend, through the power of Social Media, I was graced with the opportunity to attend the first annual Tadasana Yoga & Music Festival in Santa Monica. From VIP experiences at the @Padres games to satisfying the foodie in me at the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival, it never ceases to amaze me how I keep receiving opportunities through social media. My friend and fellow yogi @VeronicaRaye won a 3 day pass through Twitter. She then heard about a Facebook contest through Manifestation Yoga and encouraged me to enter. The requirements were to upload a photo of yourself on their Facebook page, and share what Tadasana means to you. The person with the most LIKES on their photo would win a 3 day pass ($295 value!). I typically don’t like to solicit people for LIKES to win something. I believe that posting good content is the best way to earn a “LIKE”. However I decided to enter the contest since it was a way for me to share my love of yoga with others.

What Tadasana means to me: “Tadasana to me means a strong foundation for the rest of my practice. It provides me with stability, strength and helps me become more centered”. Thanks to the support of my friends and community my photo received the most LIKES and I WON! Winning post below!

I always say there is an abundance of yoga available for anyone who wants to practice. This once again proved true because my friends over at YourBuddhi were also hosting a contest on their blog. I entered that contest as well and ended up winning 2 additional 1 day passes that I was able to pass along to friends who wanted to check out the festival.

I’ve planned many events myself and all I can say is planning an event, whether large or small is a lot of work! I have a high level of respect for Event Producers. Not only is there an immense amount of behind the scenes work that takes place, there’s also the pressure of marketing the event and getting people to attend. Social Media has created a whole new job for Event Producers and that’s to really create buzz and spread the word before the event even happens. I was really happy to see Tadasana Festival taking advantages of Twitter and Facebook before the event. #Tadasana was definitely a trending topic in Santa Monica that weekend! You can find more tips on integrating Social Media with your event planning here. And here are some of my favorite highlights and photos of the event. The rest of my photos from Tadasana Festival can be viewed here.

The festival happened a week ago but I’m still inspired! I listened to so may great musicians, learned new yoga techniques and challenged myself mentally by learning new things from the speakers. I also connected with so many amazing people from all walks of life who all share a common love for yoga. I have plans to integrate more elements of yoga into my career which will include creating marketing and social media opportunities for yoga related businesses, teaching more yoga classes and hosting more yoga workshops.

~NAMASTE!~