We recently had the chance to connect with Larry Santiago and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Larry, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Each day begins the same: with coffee! My wife, Amy and I get up usually between 6am and 630am. We have this lovely picture window in her house, so we sit on the couch, drink our coffee while we look outside and let the cobwebs clear. From there, we chat about what lies ahead in our respective day, as we both have work responsibilities apart from running the yoga studios. From there, it’s diving into emails and catching up on anything that needs immediate attention.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
You bet. I’m Larry Santiago and I co-own two Los Angeles yoga studios with my wife, Amy: Yoga Vibe in the Los Feliz neighborhood on LA’s eastside and Black Dog Yoga in Studio City in the Valley.
Yoga Vibe resides in a funky craftsman house in the heart of Los Feliz. The space actually housed two previous yoga studios under different owners. Amy and I actually taught there under the second owner and were offered an opportunity to purchase it. Our version was born on January 1st, 2012.
We also have Black Dog Yoga, which has a rich 23-year legacy has a yoga studio. We were lucky enough to acquire it from previous owner, Peter Barnett in 2015, when it was located in Sherman Oaks. Following our move to online only during the pandemic, we reopened in Studio City (near Tujunga Village) in July 2021.
Our brand? Just really good yoga paired with a ton of community. We think it’s really important to emphasis the idea of “teaching” when hiring yoga teachers; people who can tell you the “why” and the “how” of the practice, versus just calling out poses. We love hearing when a student tell us they how they learned something new in a class.
As far as community goes, nothing makes us happier than seeing a new student walking down the street a few weeks later to grab coffee with another student. It happens all the time.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
Without question, my mom. I was raised by her as a single mom, along with my two live-in grandparents. That small hair salon she owned in my hometown of Visalia, California put me through college and taught me the value of working hard not only for the betterment of your own self, but the value of sacrifice in taking care of others.
She also taught me commitment and accountability; that if you say you’re going to do something, you do it. That’s easy if it’s something you want to do. The times when you don’t feel like it are what build character. That’s become invaluable when owning a small business, let alone two.
Some people would be surprised to know (and other wouldn’t) is that I still have a full time gig in the music industry.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Giving up really isn’t in my DNA. And the same for Amy. It’s why during the dark times of the pandemic, while we were dealing with all the uncertainties of what’s next (who didn’t, right?), we always felt like we’d reopen the studios in some way.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
No doubt, they’d miss the community. Some people who come to the studios for the first time are often surprised how noisy the room can get, especially on weekend mornings. You’ll see students are sitting on each other’s mats, chatting, catching up on life, laughing at jokes. We’re all SO busy in our lives now with our own families, work and our own close circles, that yoga class is the only time they have to catch up with their “yoga friends.” Sometimes it takes a minute or two to get everyone to quiet down. And we wouldn’t change it for the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yogavibeLA.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/yogavibeLA
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YogaVibeLA/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/yoga-vibe-los-angeles
Image Credits
Megan Meza: 1, 7, 8, 9
Helen Hagerty: 2
Sam Curry: 4
Lauren Crew: 6
