Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and fitness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Masuda Mohamadi, Owner of Radiance Yoga, located in Alexandria, VA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Radiance Yoga, located in the heart of Old Town Alexandria, is an inviting and peaceful place to explore and discover the many benefits of yoga. We offer over fifty classes each week in a wide variety of styles to help students build strength and flexibility, experience relaxation, and feel healthy and vibrant. We also offer workshops, teacher training programs, and international yoga retreats, which provide opportunities for students to deepen their practice and create positive change and transformation in their lives.

Our students are a community of yoga practitioners of all levels who are seeking to feel healthier, happier, and more balanced in all aspects of their lives.

Tell us about yourself

I am a business owner, yoga and meditation teacher, and author. I opened Radiance Yoga in 2008 because I wanted to share my love of yoga with others and to create a welcoming and nurturing space for people to feel safe and supported as they discover the benefits of yoga and meditation. When I was a little girl, my family and I had to flee Afghanistan after the Soviets invaded. We lived as refugees in Pakistan for six months before immigrating to the United States to start our new life here. It was not easy, and I felt like an outcast in this country for a long time while longing for a sense of belonging somewhere. Those experiences inspired me to create a safe space for myself and others to feel welcomed and accepted.

Radiance Yoga has become a safe and sacred place for many people over the last fourteen years. We have co-created a beautiful community of people who come together to learn, grow, and support each other. At the center of our yoga space sits a wooden round table where we provide tea and cookies. Magic happens at this table as people meet, connect, and create life-long friendships.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Surviving COVID closures, teaching livestream yoga classes, building an online yoga library, and re-opening our doors has been huge accomplishment. This was possible because of the dedication of our teachers and students, who were committed to our survival. I'm so proud of our community and how we worked together to adapt, survive, and begin to thrive once again.

I'm also proud of publishing my first book, Unlock the Power of Your Chakras, which is full of interactive exercises, traditional wisdom, modern psychology, and lessons I have learned from more than 20 years of teaching yoga and meditation and nearly 50 years of navigating my own life's ups and downs — from surviving loss and grief to reclaiming my health and happiness. The book intends to help students connect with their strengths and create a supportive and meaningful relationship with their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of themselves.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Managing change and uncertainty is one of the hardest things about being a business owner. I've learned to ride the waves of success and failure and trust that I can handle whatever comes my way.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Know your strengths and challenges. Be humble enough to know that you can't be great at everything. Utilize your strengths and bring in other people skilled in the difficult areas for you.
  2. Remember why you started your business. What were the underlying motivation, passions, and desires? Staying connected to your underlying dreams/beliefs/values will sustain you through the tougher times. Be sure to celebrate your successes when you manifest your dream and vision!
  3. Create a support system outside work to manage emotions and triggers, as starting and running a business will bring out many of your insecurities and unresolved issues. Enlist the help of a friend, hire a therapist or life coach, and/or start a meditation practice. You will need a tool kit to manage the uncertainty and stress of a leadership role. Others are counting on you to keep it together, and lead them, so make sure you have the resources to support you.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://radiance-yoga.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/masuda.mohamadi/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/masudayoga/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/masuda-mohamadi-677535233/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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