Today we’d like to introduce you to Sherry Lankford.
Sherry, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am a former Interior Designer-turned Lawyer/Yoga Studio Owner/Operator. I began yoga teacher training out of design school and used it to supplement income in my early design career. I ended up landing my dream gig as the Store Visual Manager of Anthropologie. After a few years, I was ready for a change and itching to go back to school. I decided to go to law school, much to everyone’s surprise, as I was always quiet and understated. In law school, I overcame my fears of public speaking and became very excited about pursuing a career in criminal defense to help others facing tough life consequences.
After a few years of practicing criminal defense and family law as an Associate at a Lawrenceville law firm, my life partner, Tyler, (also a lawyer), and I started kicking around the idea of opening our own law firm. But owning a yoga studio had always been a dream of mine, so I wasn’t really wanting to give it up. The main reason I wanted to open a yoga studio was that having moved to Gwinnett County from Atlanta, one thing that was missing was power yoga. My style of yoga, heated power flow, was a rare find in all of Gwinnett County. The few studios in the area offered mostly beginner levels classes or gentle classes. I love a strong and sweaty practice! I figured there had to be other power yogis outside the perimeter that hated to have to drive 30 miles to a power yoga studio.
One day we had a crazy thought- what if we opened both a law firm and a yoga studio at the same time, and just see what happened? Tyler could run the firm, and I could run the studio, but we’d both be partners of each business. With my past experience managing a business plus my years of teaching yoga, I knew I could fill the void in the community and offer a place for strong yogis to find their practice and call their yoga home. It was a huge leap of faith with very bad odds, but we both love a challenge so we jumped in feet first. We opened Tyler Moore Law, LLC in July 2017, and less than a month later, we also opened Performance Power Yoga.
Our businesses are both in the Historic Lawrenceville Square. It’s been almost a year, and both businesses have grown more than we ever imagined!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We had no idea the amount of work it would take to open the law firm or the yoga studio. We did everything ourselves, and paid ourselves nothing! The first 6 months was very hard. We worked 18 hours days and would wake up in the middle of the night panicked remembering to do something we’d forgotten. I would go to the office or be in court all day and then teach classes every night. There were several months that self-care went out the window, especially our own diet and exercise (ironically, I never had time to take yoga).
Everything shifted in January 2018, and both businesses started flourishing. But then we had a new problem- we were outgrowing our setups! The law firm had to move to get more space for ourselves and our paralegal because the next step was to hire a full-time receptionist. The only staff I had at the studio was the teachers/independent contractors, so I was handling all the marketing, communications, cleaning, retail, customer relations, event planning, staffing, scheduling, programming. I was chasing my tail every day trying to juggle that with practicing law full time too. I finally realized it was time to hire help! I hired one assistant, then quickly realized I needed another.
Now I have 2 assistants and have staffed the studio so that there is always someone working at the front desk to help teachers with their classes. I have 6 teachers at the studio and am looking for more. The latest challenge is that our studio fills up, and students are now getting wait-listed for classes! But overall, this is a good problem to have.
Please tell us about Performance Power Yoga.
PPY is the only power yoga studio in Gwinnett County and one of few studios in the area that offers heated yoga. Prior to opening in August 2017, myself and many other OTP yogis had to drive into Atlanta to find power yoga or heated yoga classes. We are also different than most studios in the suburbs because the majority of our classes are all levels classes or intermediate, rather than focusing on beginner level classes.
We do offer some slower classes and an introduction to power yoga, but all are designed to either complement a power yoga practice or get you ready to grow your practice to a higher level. All of our instructors focus on safety, making yoga accessible to any body type, and encouraging self-love and non-judgment. We cultivate a strong community environment, and we love our PPY Tribe! Try the studio for 30 days for only $30!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
One of the biggest lessons I learned is to recognize when it’s time to get help! Delegation is key to running a successful business. Trust is also important and goes hand in hand with the delegation. So ultimately, I had to find the right people that I trusted, in order to pass off responsibilities that could relieve my everyday stress and free up my time to think bigger and grow the business. But, it takes money to make money!
I refused to pay people to do anything for me and tried to handle it all. But I learned really quickly that paying someone to clean the floors so I can spend my time making connections with clients is totally worth it! When I first opened the studio, I was super frugal with the company funds.
I furnished and decorated the studio with things from my house, bought 3 yoga blankets, 10 yoga blocks and 4 yoga mats. I really wasn’t sure anyone would come to class! When I finally bought 20 yoga blankets, 20 yogis started coming, and when I finally bought 30 yoga blocks, 30 yogis started coming. So, basically, I learned to manifest my dreams!
Pricing:
- New Clients Try 30 days for $30
Contact Info:
- Address: Lawrenceville Historic Square 150 Crogan Street
- Website: www.performancepoweryoga.com
- Phone: 678-861-4374
- Email: info@performancepoweryoga.com
- Instagram: @performancepoweryoga
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/performancepoweryoga/
- Other: www.tylermoorelaw.com
Image Credit:
Sass & Frass Photography
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