Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Within Range Coaching podcast.
I'm Ranger, certified holistic success coach.
And in this podcast, I'm breaking down the journey that entrepreneurs face
as they start their organizations, find solutions to the roadwalks in their way
and create an impact that lasts.
So if you're an entrepreneur, nonprofit leader or purpose driven community
member that wants to learn how to grow your impact and develop yourself
as the person behind the mission, then this podcast is perfect for you.
I know you're just as eager to get started as I am.
So let's jump right in.
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, everyone.
And welcome to today's episode.
I hope everyone's having a great day.
You're working towards your goals and making an impact in any way you can.
Because today we have a very, very special episode.
This is part of our Walk Across America series, where I'm kind of working
with people, interviewing them, learning from them, all the people that have
either contributed to the walk as a sponsor that I am walking to raise money for,
or just people that have helped me kind of along my way.
And today we're joined by my personal yoga instructor for the track.
Today I am joined by my good friend, fellow coach, colleague, so many other things.
But today I am joined by Miss Steph Alston.
Steph, how are you doing today?
Woo, so excited to be here and talk with you about your Walk Across America.
Yeah, of course.
No, I'm excited to have you here.
I know that all of our conversations are really great.
And even just chatting a little bit before the episode on our
our own little calls here and there.
I mean, I have like, what, four or five ideas written down for
co-star episodes that we have.
And I think at one point it might even be kind of the Stephen
Ranger show or it's there's so many things that we can talk about.
But I'm glad today that we can kind of focus up on one thing
and really highlight you as the yoga person.
Thank you. That is my main title.
Some people know me as Yogi Steph, so I own it.
Perfect. Well, then let's just kind of jump straight into that.
Do you want to go ahead and give us a quick description?
Like, who are you? Why are you here?
What is of the many hats you wear?
Why yoga or yogi?
Yeah, I'll give you a quick description.
Wow. All the big questions.
So I'm Stephanie Alston.
I am a yoga teacher and a studio owner.
I'm a certified professional coach and coach mainly to leaders
and wellness professionals or entrepreneurs.
My big goal with both being a yoga teacher and then in the
profession of coaching is to help other people that really connects
back with their divine source of inspiration, of wisdom,
help give people back to themselves, really.
So ever since I started the yoga journey, that's
that's really what it was about.
Gotcha. And can you kind of go a little more deep?
What do you mean by your divine self?
What is that? What does that mean exactly?
So I do believe that every person has a soul, a spirit,
however you want to define it, that this time on Earth
is our physical experience.
But there's something bigger at play for each of us.
And whether we believe in a life before or after this one or not,
I think that everybody has something to learn
while here on this human journey and something to give.
And so the main thing for me in being a yoga teacher
and wanting to connect other people with that practice was,
how do I help other people feel so well in their bodies
that they can live their best life?
I actually came to yoga because I wanted to be able to keep up with my kids.
I wanted to feel physically well.
Running wasn't doing it for me. It just killed my knees.
And so, like many people, I came to yoga for the physical benefits.
It felt like movement with purpose.
I also dabbled in nutrition coaching for a bit.
So we can talk about all of that.
But holistically, I started to find a passion for helping people
and individuals to meet their goals.
It's like, if you want to be able to be a marathon runner,
let's figure out how to get you there.
If you want to walk across America, let's figure out how to get you there.
And if you want to age well so that you can keep up with your grandkids
and get down on the floor, let's get you there.
So that was really kind of the genesis of all of it for me.
Yeah. And what I really like about what you're saying there
is it's very much a parallel between what you're saying
and what I've heard from other people that have been on the show.
Just yesterday, I mean, whenever these air, I don't really know.
But yesterday I had the lady that's helping with my nutrition coaching,
Mardi Sol.
And her big thing was also that holistic approach to wellness.
And it's really interesting that it sounds like you both are very aligned
on that holistic approach.
But for her, she focused a lot more on the nutrition side.
It sounds like you're focusing a lot more on the yoga, the movement,
the body side.
So what drew you specifically to...
So it sounds like that personal experience did.
But what's kept you there?
Well, yoga is a mind-body practice.
So I think you touched on that really well,
where some people may focus specifically on the science of nutrition.
And that absolutely is such a huge part of our well-being as humans.
But we're so much more than one thing.
And so in that holistic way, even yourself being a holistic success coach,
you're going to look at the ecology of change for people,
like all of their different facets of being.
And what really kept me in yoga specifically, diving down this rabbit hole,
is that I found that movement and maybe even exercise
is not just something you do for the sake of it.
It is movement for life.
And when we continue to move our bodies and find ways to feel well,
within our bodies, then we're not ruled by our body.
It's sort of like a mind over matter type of thing.
But when you can find peace of mind and peace within yourself,
connecting back to that really divine being that's in there,
then you start to see, I'm not my physical body.
I'm not my thoughts.
Like these things happen to me,
and I may experience chronic pain or illness or disease,
but I can have embodied experience of peace and contentment,
even while all of these other things are swirling around me.
So that's what yoga really became for me.
And this gift, I see it for other people,
is it's that peace that we feel within when we're living in alignment,
even though we don't have control over so many other factors
of things happening outside of us.
Yeah. And Steph, it sounds like you're sharing a lot of really great tidbits.
I think what you're saying there is there's a lot more to us
than just the physical aspects.
We are not our clothes. We are not our thoughts.
We are not this human, I guess, accumulation of all these things.
There's something greater, something higher than that in each of us.
And yeah, and I grew up very spiritual, very religious, actually.
So I grew up in a very conservative Christian home.
And those teachings did really connect with me when I was growing up.
I know not everybody has great relationships with their religion of origin
or their family of origin.
But for me, when I found yoga, it just made sense.
A lot of the aspects of mindfulness,
and it comes from a lot of different traditions.
Buddhism, Taoism definitely influences this tradition, Hinduism.
But I found that the practice itself, the application of yoga and movement
and the way that it scientifically worked with people, body, mind and spirit,
just drew me in. I felt like, oh, this is it.
This is the thing that really combines all of the things that I love
and I think is a good access point for other people to find some benefit,
whether they come for stretching,
whether they come because they're athletic, but they need support
so that they can keep doing the things that they're really passionate about.
Like yoga is for everyone.
And I truly believe that, like it's meant to be for human beings.
And I get to talk about it all day.
There's so many things we can go down, but to center us, to kind of figure out
which which are these rabbit holes I want to go down with you for today's episode.
What would you say is really your intention for being here?
My intention for being here, other than supporting you on your walk
across America, is really to share just a little bit more of of yoga with the world
for people who maybe haven't heard of it yet or kind of feel like,
ah, it's not for me. I hear that a lot.
People think they have to be something before they can do yoga.
There's a definitely a stigma around it.
Like it's a contortionist thing.
It's like for circus performers, you need to be an acrobat
to do a freestanding handstand in the middle of the room.
And I would love for people to see its benefits
for every stage of life, for every activity level.
And like in the way that you asked me to do this stretch plan for you,
like, absolutely, that's what it's meant for.
It's it's for everyone.
So if there are people out there thinking like, oh, yoga,
I tried it when I did P90X once and I hated it or like yoga is not really for me.
My aim and what we do through my studio is we're for the people who think
they can't do yoga or that there's not a place for them and help them see
that it actually is for you.
And here's the way that you can get the benefits.
Kind of just lifting the veil of these beliefs and stories
and things that people are telling themselves about yoga,
that they need to be something before they can get started.
Simply just being means that you can do yoga. Absolutely.
Yes, I love the way you put that, because it makes me think of the Wizard of Oz,
like lifting the curtain.
And they think there's some kind of like magical thing happening back there
that we keep it sort of like a mystery.
And so I would love to demystify it for people and have people be able to see
that it absolutely is accessible.
And one of my favorite quotes is where there is breath and mind,
there can be yoga. That's all you need.
Interesting. So if you were to kind of
have that conversation with someone that has those beliefs, like, how would you?
I guess at its core, like barebone, like what is yoga?
What is it? It's so easy to define and also so difficult.
I really like Bonnie Weeks's definition, which is that yoga is the practice
of paying attention.
So whether that's paying attention to what's happening physically
when you're doing asana, the actual postures on the mat,
or you're paying attention in any of the other limbs of yoga,
which are really like your meditation, the way that you show up in life.
Yoga is a varied practice.
So there's lots of different limbs or routes that you can go in and yoga.
I would say that at its core, yoga is mindful movement.
So whether that involves watching your breath in the way that it moves
or watching your thoughts in the way that they move or walking meditation,
noticing your physical body as you're in different postures
and the way that energy is moved.
That's really what we're doing, shifting energy so that we can live optimally
and reduce suffering in the body and the mind.
So it's much more than just
sit standing or contorting yourself in weird positions to get a good stretch.
It's doing those stretches and doing those movements and postures,
but focusing on what's happening in those different body parts.
Yeah, yoga is really a practice of internal healing.
And so at its core, it's about a remembering of who we are.
So the body, like whether it's muscle memory or like memory of previous functionality,
the whole goal of yoga postures is to help the body connect to its natural repair response.
And so much in the same way that you'll find in the walk plan that I made for you,
there's a restorative element to every evening,
reconnecting back so that you can get optimal rest,
because that's where so much of the healing work in our body occurs from.
And there's many traditions of yoga that will teach,
like be in these postures so that your body can repair itself,
even from some major injury, major illnesses.
So at its core, yoga is really intended to be a healing practice from the inside out.
And when you say a healing process, what is that healing exactly?
What does that mean?
Well, on the very literal sense, the physical aspect of healing,
like whether it's the connective tissues and muscles in your body,
whether it is providing healing in a sense of relief or healing in reversing effects of
maladies of the mind, anxiety, depression, addiction, grief,
all of these things that we suffer from because it is a normal human experience.
Like anyone going through life is going to come across any number of these kinds of experiences.
And so yoga teaches us that they're not something to be resistant to.
But rather to face and embrace, like we hear a lot, I think, in everyday culture about shadow work.
Yoga is really huge about looking at yourself and really seeing all of those,
like the dark parts that we want to hide, the parts that we want to avoid or pretend are just like undesirable.
And instead, honoring both of those experiences as part of the of the human experience and how we live.
And so healing could be I literally go to the mat every day and practice these movements
so that my muscles and my joints work well.
But it could also be I go to the mat every day and because of that, I am free from addictive habits.
Or I go to the mat every day and because of that, I'm able to witness my grief and allow it to move through me so that it doesn't control me.
You know, there's that quote like what we resist persists.
And I find that so true in in many modalities of science, healing, self-help.
You know, you hear it all around.
But yoga is a very tangible way that gives you practices that actually promote that in the body and the mind.
Yeah. And I think what's so important there is just the intentionality of what you're doing,
like giving yourself that space to connect with your body, to really feel what's going on.
Because there's not much you you don't really have the energy when practicing yoga to resist.
That's that's what I have found, at least that it's it's a very humbling experience,
especially from the sports that I did were not graceful.
So the first time I stepped in a studio and the first time I did a few, it's intense, just the physical, the mental, the whole thing.
So it absolutely is humbling.
And I appreciate that you mentioned that, Ranger, because I will have a lot of people say like, oh, yoga, like it's so fluffy.
I think it kind of gets a rap, too, for being like a practice for women,
because it is, especially in the West, very dominated by women in our industry and seen as like being a graceful thing,
as you mentioned, especially vinyasa styles of yoga, which are the flow based classes.
You're connecting breath with movement.
It can feel very dance like and very athletic, but it is a discipline and it is intended to be challenging.
And so when you come into a yoga practice and you're not used to moving your body in that way to balance
or your proprioception is challenged, so your sense of your surroundings, like you're connecting breath.
You're doing all these things like it is a full body, mind, immersive exercise.
And I'm not even saying exercise as in just fitness exercise, like a workout.
My daughter recently got interested in Sudoku and I was telling her how like, yeah, it's a mind puzzle.
So it's a brain game and you're intending to challenge your mind to look at things differently and to really think.
And yoga definitely does that body and mind and everything all encompassing.
Like you're going to be challenged when you get on the mat.
Challenged in so many different ways.
I also don't think it helps.
The first time that I stepped in the yoga studio was to do hot yoga.
That was yeah, I was not hydrated enough to survive that entire 45 minutes.
But oh, my gosh.
And I don't know if you have ever read that post where it's like the Craigslist yoga mat for sale.
No, I know I haven't. What is that?
OK, I will send it to you.
It's been around the Internet a few times, but it's quite funny.
It's like someone who went to their first yoga class and it was a hot yoga session.
And so they go minute by minute about what this yoga mat was used for and how how their experience was and why they're now selling their yoga mat.
But I think you highlight something really wonderful there, Ranger, because I have worked in hot studios.
I've practiced in hot studios and still do sometimes the studio I'm at currently and the one that I own is not a hot yoga mat.
Not a hot studio.
And one of the big things that was important to me in sharing yoga was to help people see that it doesn't always have to be hot yoga.
And I think, too, to understand that there might be a different modality of yoga that's actually the one for you, for your body, for your dosha.
You know, we could go down the Ayurveda route and talk about the life wisdom science of yoga,
but different practices are going to suit different bodies and also at different stages of life.
And that's one thing I really wanted to highlight at our studio and through the work that I do and that I teach is I have people come in
and their goals are to do arm balances and be really strong and go upside down and they want to be challenged and sweaty.
And I also have people that come in and they're like, I just had a hip replaced.
I'm 90 years old and I have nerve damage in my feet.
Like, these are the kind of people that we have come to our studio and it's where's the yoga for them.
They're not going to go to a hot yoga studio and, you know, do that style of yoga that's extremely intense on the body.
But there can still be so much benefit in the practice.
So I tell people when they've had maybe a bad first experience with yoga, I'm like, try it again.
Like, keep going, find the studio that's right for you, because I promise there is a place for you in yoga.
And and you may just not have discovered what it is yet.
There's something there I also want to highlight.
There's so many stories that we tell ourselves about different aspects of life.
Like yoga is yoga is for girls. It's for it's graceful.
It's this it's that. But those are just probably what's highlighted in media or what a friend has told us or a family member or just,
I don't know, and something that we came up with that we're using to define what something is.
And what I'm hearing from you almost is be open to learning more about it,
because there might be something there that you just might actually need.
And it might be a good segue for that, but it sounds like if you're curious about whether or not yoga could be useful for you,
stepping foot in a studio is really the best first step to figure it out.
Talk to a representative, talk to someone that works there, talk to a yogi, see what you're saying earlier.
What are your goals? And be open to the possibility of some.
I can't pronounce half the words that you've been saying, but see if one of those types of modalities of yoga would work for you.
Absolutely. And I talk to people very often as you brought this up a few minutes ago.
What would I even say to someone who was walking in day one on a weekly basis?
I talk to people who are total beginners, like first time ever stepping foot in a studio.
And the first thing I want to say is that's like really brave to put yourself in a beginner position, to try something new.
I mean, you're doing this walk across America. You've never walked across America before.
Like you are totally putting yourself in this brave space of standing out front and saying, I'm going to learn this as I go.
And when people walk in and tell me, like, I'm not flexible, I can't touch my toes, can I do this class?
I say, when you want to learn how to paint and if you're not an artist, you go take an art class.
And if you want to learn how to be flexible and feel well in your body, you come to a yoga class.
You don't have to already be that. And we don't test you at the door to see if you can touch your toes and stand on one leg.
We're going to walk you through the process of wherever you're starting at and meet you there and then pace with you as you build into what you want to achieve in your body and your mind.
And I've seen some amazing transformations on the mat and with people at our studio and also outside of it.
So absolutely, I would recommend anyone go talk to someone who does this practice and be curious and find out what could be in there for you.
You can't take a picture of what's happening inside someone's mind.
And I think that's why media, it becomes such a like what you take a picture of is the shapes.
You take a picture of the Austin apart, the part that looks so so fun and cool, like, oh, my gosh, they can stand on their hands like that's exciting.
But then it is also limiting because you have those people who say, oh, I can never do that.
My body's never going to do that. And so they immediately write it off as that's not for me.
Yeah, it's interesting what people will allow themselves to be bad at and be open to being a student for.
Like, it's very pick and choosy is what I've kind of seen throughout, you know, people I've worked with or, I don't know, just just people I've run into that being a student is something that is such a.
I guess, challenge for some people.
Yeah, you have to be willing to be bad at it.
You know, I think you nailed it right there.
And just like when we were learning coaching and going through training together, like you have to be willing to be in that growth mindset.
And that's why yoga is called a practice and the practitioners are students.
You learn from a teacher, they guide you through the steps to do it and to empower you to do it on your own.
You know, traditionally, yoga was an oral tradition that was passed down from teacher to student.
And it was intended to be a life practice.
Like, this is what you do for your life, for your well-being all around.
And I think when we don't connect it that way, especially in modern society, and we say, well, yoga is something I do.
Yoga is something I go to on the weekends.
Yoga is something I dabble in for fun.
It really shifts when you start to see it as, oh, I need this.
Like, I remember when it shifted for me of I can't go without it.
I need this in my day to day life.
And I noticed the differences when I'm not on the map for a while.
If I haven't been in my practice, like my emotions are erratic.
Like everything shifts.
And so when we see it as a lifelong practice, that can really change a lot of things for people.
Yeah.
Lifestyle sustainability is something that's come up a lot in the episodes that I've had so far.
With Spencer a few weeks ago for the Look Like an Athlete coaching, with Mari for her nutrition.
It's not just you don't just show up to the studio once and you're set forever.
It's a continued practice, just like everything else when it comes to wellness and that approach to it.
Yes. And I would think too, with your walk across America, like you're trying to build a model
that is sustainable so that you can do this for months.
And so you're not going all out day one and two.
In fact, the journey is going to look pretty short, I would imagine, no matter how many miles you walk per day.
At first, it's going to be like, well, I made it from this little town on the map to this little town on the map.
I could have gotten here in a car in like half an hour, but I walked all day.
But over time, you do this for five, six months.
Incredible. Like the distances you can cover and the progress and then people are going to say, oh, I could never do that.
And I think even like you had mentioned that first thinking of this walk, right?
You looked at other people who had accomplished the same thing and said, oh, I can never do that.
They must have something I don't.
There's some magic recipe that I don't know of that has gotten them to this point when really it's intention and practice.
Intention, practice, community, so, so many things.
And it's just really looking for what is it you're committed to.
Great. How do we get there?
And speaking of commitment, you've mentioned it a little bit briefly, but you also do own your own yoga studio.
What has that commitment looked like for you?
What have you learned about yourself owning the studio?
Well, first you asked, what has that commitment looked like for me?
It's a huge shift from being a yoga teacher to being a yoga studio owner.
And without going into too much of the whole story about it, I will say that the commitment to show up as a studio owner means that
I need to be in the practice of a teacher in the willingness to be there more than just the wish of being a teacher.
And so what I mean by that is you might look at yoga teaching or any of these professions,
you know, even being like a nutrition coach and all of the different things and people you've talked to.
Like there's something that first comes up when you have the inkling of an idea and probably your walk across America was the same thing.
There's like maybe in the distance. I wish I could do that someday.
That looks really cool. I'd love to do that for people.
But when you are a studio owner, and I heard this a lot from the previous owner before me,
I bought the business from a studio owner who was there before me.
And she would say how, you know, showing up for your community in this way is so immersive,
like the friendships that you make, the long time relationships that you build with people,
the opportunities that you have to connect with people on a really deep life level.
But I recognize, like my commitment is keeping the studio open every day, to keeping the studio running,
to be a good steward, a wise steward of the money that's invested in our studio,
to provide the space and to make it quality for people.
So the same with my teachers that teach for me.
It's no longer just, hey, I'm going to show up. I'll teach a class and leave. See ya.
It's am I facilitating the best possible environment for my teachers to come and thrive and live out their purpose as yoga teachers through the studio?
Do the students feel held well in this space and are we cultivating a place of safety?
I'm also a trauma informed yoga teacher. That's one of my specialties.
And so I take the practice very seriously of holding space, of running this space.
So as a studio owner, like what am I facilitating and what responsibility do I have to the people who work for me
and the people that come practice here to create that space that really serves them and make it sustainable long term?
Like I want to keep showing up for it for a long, long time and have the studio last beyond me would absolutely be my dream.
So there's that piece of it.
Yeah. What I was trying to get out there, I think. Well, thank you for sharing all that.
It's we'll put a pin in that. Come back to that in a second.
It was really just like, what has that commitment taught you about yourself?
Oh, that's right. What did I learn?
So the second part of it, the what have I learned about myself is for one that I am my own biggest barrier.
And I think coaching has really highlighted that a lot for me, too.
We know as coaches that our job is to illuminate the mental map of someone else to help them see their own thoughts,
their own self-limiting beliefs and help them get to the places that they really want to be.
And what I've learned about myself is one, much more clearly on my own purpose and my own drive and motivation.
But two, to be able to see that the only thing holding me back from being really successful was the belief that I could be.
And also maybe a little fear of success. And that could be a topic for another time.
But I had a business coach at the beginning of taking over the studio when I bought it from the previous owner.
And there were a lot of things that we were revamping just in the setting it up for sustainability long term.
The studio had already been there 10 years, but my goal was expansion.
So from the beginning, I knew that I wanted to broaden our offerings and take over more of the building that we were renting, which we have now done.
But in order to set it up for that, I started like putting the pieces in place, kind of like you did preparing for your walk.
You bought the cart, you hired a nutritionist, you figured out how many miles do I have to walk every day and all that.
I started putting the pieces in place. And then when the magic started to happen and opportunities came that I didn't feel ready for yet,
I almost sabotaged it like many times and said, oh, OK, wait, I wasn't like really serious about this yet.
I was like, it was a cool idea. But now I like have to actually show up and do it.
And I don't know that I want to do this right now.
And I've noticed that pattern for myself over and over again. It's just like being on the map.
You get into these comfortable ways of being, these comfortable habits of movement.
And then when you're asked to do something different, when you're asked to drive home a different way from work,
when you're asked to detour humans, we go, what? This wasn't the plan.
This isn't the way I'm supposed to be going.
And so that has been something I really learned about myself is when those signals start to come up, I go, oh, I need my community.
I need my resources like you mentioned earlier. It is intention and practice, but it's also the people that you surround yourself with.
And the resources that you know you have to be able to say, OK, I need to run this by you.
You're really skilled at this. I see my job as being a coordinator, really starting to pull the strings of like, OK, you're talented over here.
I'm going to hire you to do this thing because it's not my strength. I see you over here.
You're passionate about this. I don't love the idea of planning retreats and being a retreat teacher, which many yoga teachers do.
But I have people that want to do that. And I say, absolutely, I will facilitate that for you.
You go forth, plan the whole thing. I give you my blessing. I will help put it on the website.
So when we each find our our specialties and leading from every seat, I love the way that like Brene Brown talks about it and dare to lead.
And it's like everyone is a leader and can be. And it's about like leading from the right seat.
And you find the thing that is the thing that lights you up. And I see that as my job. My learning has been I don't do it all.
I don't want to do it all. I can't do it all.
So getting really good people around me to support me in the journey and helping them to be the rock stars in what they provide.
It's just made the entire studio experience so much greater because I said from the beginning, I want to hire people that do it better than me.
And I have and I do. Yeah. And there's again, there's so many things I want to ask you and so many other tracks we can go down.
But just to kind of wrap up everything you've said so far, my main takeaways have been yoga is for everyone.
If you don't believe that, go into a studio and ask a few questions, limiting beliefs for yourself.
For me, that sounds like something that really got in your way at first.
But once you are working through those, have led you to be the leader in your business that you knew you could be from the beginning.
What else was there? It sounds like there's an aspect of everything is easy when it's on paper.
But once you're in it day to day to day, there's all these new challenges, things go wrong.
And it's really your job as a entrepreneur, leader, whatever, to be willing to roll with those punches and be open to the possibility of finding solutions.
Absolutely. I think you nailed it there where yoga and also the practice of business is experiential, not theoretical.
And I would maybe broaden that even to the experience of life.
Life is meant to be lived, not just thought about.
And I think we end up missing out on a lot of amazing life opportunities to live a life worth remembering when we're just staying in our head about it.
But when we jump in and we experience it and we try new things, those self-limiting beliefs are going to show up.
I'm sure for me they are going to show up again. In fact, I'm expecting them to.
I can't even imagine all of the ways that I have not yet met some of my self-limiting beliefs because I think with big goals also comes big barriers and big responsibilities.
And so absolutely being an entrepreneur means I'm going to solve this puzzle.
I know what I'm committed to. I see deeper purpose in here and I'm going to stick to that even when there's a detour.
Was a Sudoku puzzle of of life being an entrepreneur, constant mind games, constant problems and just really diving in headfirst every day.
Absolutely. I got to speak at Career Day for my kids school recently and I spoke about entrepreneurship specifically.
So I said entrepreneurial work may be the right fit for you if you see yourself as a creative and someone who is always willing to learn and never take a skill that you learn for granted,
whether you are working as a cashier at a grocery store or you're working in food service or you're working like as a photographer.
It doesn't matter what you do because all of these skills have contributed to the business I run now and where I'm at because I can pull from so many different past lives that I've lived to infuse into this purpose now.
So, yeah, entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, but it's also the most fun and most exciting because I get to choose my job every day.
Again, so many parallels come up between people that run nonprofits or own their own business.
But being open to using those hats that you've collected over the years and not getting rid of one or thinking one's not as useful just because it was like you were saying, like a cashier or these like beginner level jobs, like there's still skills there.
There's opportunity, there's skills that will come into play at some points.
So don't be afraid to use them at some point. Yeah.
And I would not be where I am today without those all those other versions of me.
And I think similarly in any yoga practice, let's say that your goal is to someday do a handstand, free standing in the middle of the floor.
You would not be able to get there without all of the other practices that lead you to it.
So I think life is a practice.
And I also think it's a team sport. Shout out to one of my other favorite podcasts, the happiness playbook.
But it really is true when you look at all of the things that we learn and gain throughout life, like their skills everywhere.
And so you want to play the game of life well and you want to play the game of business well.
I think that secret sauce, that magic that people say, oh, they must have something I don't have tenacity, but also like the willingness to fail and say, I learned from that.
Now I'm going to go again and roll the dice again.
Throwing in the dice metaphor, huh?
There'll be an episode on that later. Tell you all that right now.
But to really just kind of like take what you said there, the magic, the learning.
If people want to continue learning from you and want to get a little bit more magic from Miss Steph, where can they find you online?
So I'm on Instagram at Steph teaches yoga and there's an underscore between each of those.
So Steph underscore teaches underscore yoga is my main yoga teaching page.
My studio is called Santoshia Yoga Lumis.
So we are in Lumis, California, and you can find us on that handle on Instagram, just straight Santoshia Yoga Lumis.
And I think you're going to put these things in the show notes, so that might make it a little easier for people to click on.
But yeah, our studio is based out of Sacramento.
So if you're in northern California or come up this way to travel, I'd love to see you in person at the studio.
But you can also check out our website and connect with us virtually in a number of ways.
I do coaching for anyone anywhere in the world.
So I've had clients in Texas and in Arizona and wherever you are, we can connect coaching wise, too.
So I do offer that and mentorship as well.
That's a great thing about technology nowadays.
No matter where you are, you can connect.
And yes, I will be putting everything in the show notes.
Go follow Steph, go hang out with her, see how she can help you and use that to, as she mentioned earlier, build a life worth remembering.
Miss Steph, thank you so much for hanging out with us for a little bit today.
I appreciate it.
And thank you for sharing your magic with our listeners.
Thank you so much, Ranger, for having me.
And I know that the Step in Ranger series is going to continue.
I'm very excited to talk with you more about all the other fun wish lists of topics that we've come up with.
Yeah, wish list item number one is now checked off.
Several more to go.
New things being added every single week.
So we'll have you back on at some point.
Thank you. Good luck with your walk.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Thank you for investing your time with us today to continue on your journey of building an impact driven life.
Go ahead and check the description and show notes for a few freebies from within range and all of the links that Steph mentioned during today's episode.
Be sure to like, subscribe and rate the podcast on whatever platform you're listening to.
This will help the podcast grow so that we can help more people help more people.
As always, have fun, stay safe and be yourself.
Bye.