Hey there collegiettes! Now that we are pretty much halfway through this Fall semester, it might be hard to balance our social life with our studies and for some of us it can take a toll on our health. Something’s got to give right? I’m sure going out with your girlfriends and having a much needed drink or two is a priority, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. But it’s important not to give up on taking care of yourself and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Despite my hectic schedule juggling class, work, and a social life, something that I always have to do is keep up with my fitness. Other than running and working out at the gym, a great stress reliever that I do is yoga! It’s a practice that is great for relaxation and getting in tune with your body. It focuses on meditation and breath control with simple to challenging poses that increase balance and good posture.
Thanks to the fabulous Hercampus Giveaways, I received a super cute yoga bag from Yogapeople that I’m completely obsessed with. I got the chance to talk with Nicole Zhang, founder of Yogapeople, about her story and inspiration for creating Yogapeople. Nicole attends the University of Notre Dame as a third year Entrepreneurship major who is a professional golfer in addition to being a student and running her Yogapeople business.
How did you first know you wanted to create your own business?
My dad is an entrepreneur and so I grew up in a household where it was encouraged to come up with business ideas and to test them. From the time I was maybe 10 years old, I realized that I was a solution finder. That is, everywhere I looked, I would notice the different problems and frustrations that people experienced and would try to come up with creative solutions for them. I have always known that I wanted to create my own business, but I always planned on doing so after I graduated from college.
How did you develop the concept of Yogapeople?
During my escapade of practicing yoga everyday this past summer, I traveled a lot between the studio and my house. Whenever I saw someone with a yoga mat bag, I wished I had one too. Yoga mat bags are perfect for carrying everything you need in one place. Carrying all of my small personal belongings and yoga mat in my arms was not hard, but I was always afraid of misplacing something. Serious about finding a yoga mat bag to purchase, I did my consumer research and realized that there are not a lot of options on the market. In particular, there was nothing on the market that matched what I was looking for in a bag: high quality, spacious, comfortable to carry, economical, and most importantly, pretty to the eye. At that moment, it hit me that this was my opportunity to begin my first entrepreneurial project. I had always planned of turning my idea into a reality and this was my time to do so.
How long has it been since Yogapeople first launched and what do you expect for its future?
I first launched Yogapeople bags in December of 2012, so we are almost at the one-year mark! The bags have been well-received by the yoga community, and so I am hoping to expand the products to more parts of America this year, especially in the yoga hot beds, like California. Also, I have been receiving a lot of insightful feedback from our customers and am making some additions to the original Yogapeople bag design. We are also planning on launching new colors of the Yogapeople bag within the next year!
If you were to give one piece of advice to upcoming entrepreneurship majors or anyone that is interested in starting their own business, what would it be?
My one word of advice to upcoming entrepreneurs is to be bold and just go out there and put your plan into action. I have met with a number of students who have amazing ideas for a product or service but are hesitant to start their own business because they are unsure if they have enough knowledge and skills to do so. However, I think that if you have a solid business plan and are passionate about your idea, then you should just pull the trigger and start working on making your idea a reality. Don’t think about how terrifying it is to run a company, just work on your project one step at a time, and focus on what you need to get done to get your product onto the market.
If you want to read Nicole Zhang’s full story and learn more information about Yogapeople, definitely stop by their website and like them on Facebook. I would absolutely recommend Yogapeople’s yoga bags because they are super cute and can fit not only your yoga mat, but also flip flops, towels, water bottles, keys, and other gym essentials.
If you’re looking for a great place to begin your yoga practice I would highly recommend CorePower Yoga. They are hands down the best place to do yoga in my opinion. They have a great variety of classes for all levels and even sculpt classes to get you nice and tone!
Besides your usual gym routine, if you want to try something new and appreciate a healthy sweat, I would definitely give yoga a try. Nicole Zhang and I obvisously fell in love with it! Yoga truly helps with stress and not only has physical benefits, but also involves a spiritual journey that every girl should embark on, especially for busy collegiettes like us!
Namaste (: