Summary
Welcome to another episode of the Startup Junkies podcast!
In this week’s episode, Jeff Amerine, Caleb Talley, and Morgan Scholz talk with Nicole Calhoun, Ph.D. ERYT, owner of ELXR Yoga Lounge. Nicole has her undergraduate degree in biology and her Ph.D. in molecular genetics, and she got her yoga teacher certification as a passion project. After teaching yoga part-time for a few years, she opened her studio in 2018, and she pivoted to yoga full-time after being laid off due to the pandemic in March 2020. She talks with the startup junkies about creating a unique yoga experience in NWA, how her scientific background influences her business decisions, and what is next for ELXR Yoga Lounge. You don’t want to miss this inspiring episode!
Shownotes
(1:15) Introducing Nicole Calhoun and ELXR Yoga Lounge
(7:08) Creating a unique yoga experience in NWA
(11:44) How Nicole’s scientific background influences her business
(17:44) What does the future look like for ELXR Yoga Lounge?
(23:57) Embracing social media
(33:20) Starting a business in NWA
(36:20) Nicole’s experience owning a yoga studio as a Black woman
(45:51) Advice for the younger self
(47:59) Wrap up
Links
Quotes
“I kind of felt like I had something to say within the world of yoga, and like, watching all the yoga teachers over the years and how influential they could be and how mindful that they were with the way that they live their lives, and their ability to really help people was super impressive to me. And so, I decided to go to yoga teacher training.” (2:34)
“I rented the space, came up with the brand, the marketing, the teachers, everything, the design of the studio, what we wanted to offer and how we wanted to offer it, and put it all together in about a month. And then we opened about 30 days after I signed the lease.” (6:04)
“I’m actually very thankful that I have a background in the sciences because science is very analytical and it’s very facts-based. So, you don’t really do science or run experiments or projects off emotion – it’s all based off facts. Like these are the facts, and I’m not going to try to massage the facts to fit my narrative. I’m going to find out the facts and then find out the narrative.” (14:50)
“You don’t have to fight over clients. You can create new clients and convert new clients from other forms of workout.” (43:16)
Creating a Unique Yoga Experience with Nicole Calhoun, Ph.D. ERYT
Here at Startup Junkie, we talk with several entrepreneurs and business owners with backgrounds that don’t necessarily fit their current projects. Still, it is rare to find someone like Nicole Calhoun. She has an undergraduate degree in biology and a Ph.D. in molecular genetics, and she is also the owner of ELXR Yoga Lounge in downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Before opening her yoga studio, Nicole began her career in biomedical research, where her research focused on developing different medicines and therapeutics. Later, she worked for the University of Arkansas as a molecular geneticist developing vaccines. When the pandemic arrived in March of 2020, Nicole’s parent company lost funding and began laying off workers across the country. Nicole lost her job, and it was the push she needed to jump headfirst into the yoga studio she had created.
Nicole began her yoga journey as a student. She attended classes for several years, and she grew to admire her instructor greatly. Her passion grew, and she started to believe she had something she could add to the yoga community.
“I kind of felt like I had something to say within the world of yoga, and like, watching all the yoga teachers over the years and how influential they could be and how mindful that they were with the way that they live their lives, and their ability to really help people was super impressive to me. And so, I decided to go to yoga teacher training.” (2:34)
She enrolled in yoga teacher training, which is a 200-hour certification course. For 14 weekends, she drove to Dallas to spend Saturday and Sunday training before going home Sunday evening to return to her full-time job on Monday morning.
Upon completing her training, Nicole taught yoga at a studio in Rogers for a few years. She honed her teaching skills, and she began to build a passionate following of students. They loved her classes because they were different from everything else in the area. Nicole’s classes were challenging and motivating. She was teaching her students to believe in themselves.
In 2018, the manager of Lululemon in downtown Fayetteville called Nicole to see if she would rent the space below the store and turn it into a yoga studio, but Nicole was hesitant. A different studio rented the space, but the lease fell through a few months later. Nicole took this rare second chance as a sign that she needed to take advantage of the opportunity.
A week later, Nicole was signing a lease and building a business from scratch with minimal notice.
“I rented the space, came up with the brand, the marketing, the teachers, everything, the design of the studio, what we wanted to offer and how we wanted to offer it, and put it all together in about a month. And then we opened about 30 days after I signed the lease.” (6:04)
Nicole felt that Northwest Arkansas’s yoga scene was severely lacking in two areas: power yoga and hot yoga. The power classes that the region offered were not fully committed to being power classes, and the hot yoga wasn’t quite hot yoga, so she decided she’d fix the problem. ELXR offers hot yoga classes that reach 100º and power yoga classes that kick your butt!
“You don’t have to fight over clients. You can create new clients and convert new clients from other forms of workout.” (43:16)
Nicole credits her success to several different factors, including her husband’s business experience, the local business community, and support from the Black community. She also considers her scientific background to have played a significant role in her decision-making.
“I’m actually very thankful that I have a background in the sciences because science is very analytical and it’s very facts-based. So, you don’t really do science or run experiments or projects off emotion – it’s all based off facts. Like these are the facts, and I’m not going to try to massage the facts to fit my narrative. I’m going to find out the facts and then find out the narrative.” (14:50)
For more information on ELXR Yoga Lounge, check out their website!
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