February 6, 2017

Meet Gretchen Lightfoot of Goorus Yoga Studio in Pacific Palisades

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gretchen Lightfoot.

Gretchen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My husband, John Lightfoot , and I run Goorus, the only dedicated yoga studio in Pacific Palisades, CA, (pop. 20,000) which is sandwiched between Malibu and Santa Monica. We took over the space in June of 2015 after YogaWorks vacated the former Jiva Yoga.

Goorus Yoga Studio is a safe space in which to create firmness in the body and steadiness of the mind. Our Zen-like atmosphere is clean, spacious and beautiful. We offer complimentary water, free loaner mats, and complimentary parking behind the studio. Equipped with top-of-the-line Manduka props, this friendly neighborhood studio has an amazing group of teachers offering a broad range of classes for all levels.

Throughout his career, John has worked in technology (e.g., computers, VOIP, video communications), while I have worked primarily in fundraising and public relations. In 2014, I completely changed careers, training as a yoga instructor, providing private lessons, and working on the side as a grant writer and later in the Teacher Training/Workshop department for YogaWorks in Santa Monica.

John and I are both long-time yoga practitioners but, like most busy working parents, couldn’t always practice regularly. When he began working from home, John would take online yoga classes. He came to feel something was missing from a canned video and wanted to create a more personalized experience for the student/end-user. He began using Jitsi to create a Skype/Google Hangout format for an online, interactive yoga class—the next best thing to a live, real-time, in-person class.

When our hometown yoga studio became available, we felt running a studio would give us an opportunity to build a community-based yoga studio in the Palisades while raising the necessary revenue to launch the online service. We have successfully run a number of these classes for our existing clients when they are traveling for business or pleasure.

In response to one of our recent eNewsletters, one of our clients replied:
“Thank you, John and Gretchen, for providing such an excellent environment for my yoga practice. Goorus is warm and welcoming and intimate with high-quality instructors and well-coordinated classes. You have created a truly special place for all of us in the community where each of us feels cared for and looked after with very personal instruction. There is no other place that I know of that provides the quality and the environment that you do.

I deeply appreciate your caring and thoughtful classes and your welcoming environment. Thank you for enhancing our community and our yoga practice.”

Below are a few more testimonials which will illustrate how special Goorus is:
“It’s lovely to have two such kind and genuine people running our village yoga studio. I hope to support you and our amazing town for many, many more years to come.”

“Your studio is beautiful, clean, and comfortable. I like that I have plenty of room to put my shoes and coat. And, you both have a great vibe that’s welcoming to newcomers. Congrats!”

“I love your space so much! You clearly care about your customers and their needs and it shows in every element of your business. You have created a beautiful place to come and learn about ourselves. Thank you!”

Has it been a smooth road?
Running Goorus has definitely not been smooth or easy! The yoga business on the Westside is a crowded market, and local residents are not opposed to driving into Brentwood or Santa Monica. We have one part-time employee, who covers for us on Saturdays when we run workshops; while we enjoy the hands-on approach, we thought the business would take off sooner and that we wouldn’t need to be onsite daily. And, the day-to-day running of the business has impacted our ability to roll out the live, online interactive project as quickly as we had hoped.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Goorus Yoga Studio story. Tell us more about the business.
Earlier in this “interview,” I shared some customer feedback about what makes Goorus such a special yoga studio. It is a high-touch operation. We know nearly all of our students by name and greet them when they walk in the door. People deeply appreciate our strong focus on customer service. John and I practice with our teachers regularly, so we know who’s teaching style is a good fit for a prospective student. We offer interesting workshops featuring a variety of topics and highly-qualified instructors. Our client base appreciates that we keep the studio clean, beautiful, and in excellent working order.

My husband grew up in the Palisades (his parents live just up the street in his childhood home); our son is a sophomore at Palisades High School. We have deep roots in the community and have enjoyed getting to know Palisadians even better since opening Goorus in 2015. Over the summer, instructor Al Tavera taught weekly yoga classes to members of the Palisades High School Football team; they went on to have the most successful football season in Pali High’s history!

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Live, online, interactive yoga tied to a student’s home studio!

Many of us have tried the “canned” videos from sites such as Grokker or YogisAnonymous and, while these are great alternatives to group classes, the yoga instructor can’t see the student and, therefore, cannot give feedback.

With Goorus’ live, online interactive yoga classes, yogis can simply turn on their web cameras and connect to a live yoga instructor. Students follow the sequence and the teacher makes suggestions appropriate for the user’s practice. The student can see the teacher and the teacher can see the student, but no one else can see the remote student. It’s a bit like having a private yoga lesson—without the high cost!

Goorus’ two-way, real-time connection means that our instructor(s) can take individual users’ issues into account (e.g., tight shoulders or hamstrings, low back pain, etc.) while teaching a group yoga class. The remote user’s practice will be safer and much more effective. With this exciting service, yoga students can turn their living rooms—or hotel rooms—into their own private yoga studio.

Pricing:

Sign-up online & 1st class is free
2 weeks of unlimited yoga for $45
A drop in class is $25, but lower-priced packages are available (based on the frequency of your practice).
Ask about our special “out of town” rate for non-locals/visitors

Contact Info: