Today we’d like to introduce you to Jolin Conine.
Hi Jolin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I woke up one day after graduating from business school and started having constant neck and back pain. I never had a car accident or fall, it was like from one day to the next a switch turned on. After being transferred to Atlanta by my company, I suffered several years of constant neck and back pain that one day put me in the hospital. I tried everything I could to relieve the pain. The doctors recommended spinal surgery but couldn’t guarantee that it would relieve the pain.
After taking a medical leave from my company, as a last resort, someone recommended hot yoga to me. Hot yoga was a last resort after doctors, chiropractors, acupuncture and pain medications couldn’t help. After one hot yoga class, I was hooked. It was very challenging but I also knew it was going to help me. I was amazed by not just the relief the yoga provided for my chronic neck pain but also the many benefits this yoga has on your body, your mind, your entire life. This practice truly does make your life better on a daily basis. In 2008, I decided to go to yoga teacher training because I was passionate by how the practice had helped me that I wanted to share it with others. I didn’t have the money at the time to afford teacher training (because I had quit my job due to the neck and back pain) so I actually sold my car (an MGB roadster) to go to teacher training. In 2010 my husband got transferred to Jefferson with his company. There was no hot yoga in Athens and I knew I had to continue to teach and practice. I decided in 2011 to pursue my dream of opening a hot yoga studio in Athens to share the amazing benefits of the practice with the community. In 2011 we opened Fuel Hot Yoga!
After suffering years of chronic neck and back pain, I had no idea how good my body could feel or that I could be out of pain. I believe that yoga is one of the best forms of physical, mental and emotional therapy. We have had our studio for over 11 years now and countless times our yoga students have shared with me how this practice has changed and even saved their life. Anyone can do yoga and fuel their body and life through regular practice.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
One struggle has been having a business in a college town where it can be very seasonal. There are about 35-40,00 students and during the breaks, they all leave town to go home. Athens is very different in the summer and after Thanksgiving when the students leave and a lot of university staff is on break or traveling.
And like many businesses, the last few years have been very challenging for us. We had to go from being a brick and motor studio to completely online yoga classes (in 1 week) during the time we closed our studio. We had never done online classes before, so we had to learn what was the best technology (wireless mics, cameras, streaming platforms) to stream classes so our yoga community could stay connected and we could continue to offer yoga and meditation classes in a time where it was so needed for physical and mental health.
When we re-opened our studio we also had to face the challenge of how we could create a safe space with social distancing, no touch sinks/soap dispensers, etc., uv light air purifiers. We made a huge investment in our studio before reopening our studio to keep our students safe and practicing yoga.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Fuel Hot Yoga’s mission is to change lives and elevate our yoga community through powerful yoga classes and a commitment to service, love and inclusion. We offer hot yoga, pilates and meditation classes. We have an amazing team of yoga instructors that are very knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. We truly believe yoga is a life-changing practice. We offer an amazing space to practice yoga in and we pride ourselves in providing top-level customer service and an incredibly clean studio. From your first class, our instructors take their time to get to know you, know your name, know why you are coming in and provide you the best experience possible. We also have a specialized heating system for our hot yoga classes that brings fresh air into the yoga rooms while giving you an amazing sweat in every class. We offer in-studio and online classes. You can take our live-stream classes from anywhere in the world. We also have a virtual library with over 300 yoga classes we’ve created with our instructors so our yoga students can take class with us even on the days they can’t make it to the studio. We also bring in world-renowned yoga instructors several times a year to lead special yoga workshops. Community service is very important to us–bringing yoga into the community. One of our instructors started a non-profit called One Posture at a Time that brings yoga to those in recovery and those struggling with addiction. We teach yoga three times a week in a treatment center.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think being an entrepreneur is being a risk-taker. I took out a huge loan and borrowed money from my family when we moved to Athens to open Fuel. We were the only hot yoga studio in Athens when we opened so everyone that came in was completely new to what we offered – hot yoga. Because we have a special heating system and offer showers and changing rooms the build-out of our studio was very expensive. I wanted to create a space that was so beautiful to practice in and have amazing teachers that there would be no reason for someone not to come back. I knew it was a risk but I was so passionate about the practice and how we could help people that I was determined to make it a success.
I also think it was a risk to move completely online in March 2020 when we closed our studio. We had only ever offered in-person classes, and everyone was used to practicing in a heated yoga room. So, offering only online classes to people at home during the time we were closed to keep our community connected was a big risk. During the pandemic, we had to pivot constantly. Every hurdle is an opportunity to give up or see it as a challenge and find a new way of working through it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fuelhotyoga.com
- Instagram: @fuelhotyoga
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/fuelhotyoga
Image Credits
1st photo by Tabitha Brooke Photography 2nd Photo By Jason Thrasher & Thrasher Photo
