Lauren Naomi shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Lauren, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
I recently celebrated the three year anniversary of my summer series. As I looked around the room at the space held and the impact GloFlow created in just three years I was in awe and so proud. It snuck up on me and all I could do was be so proud. A large sense of fullness came over me and as we spoke to begin the event I looked around and saw someone who’d come to one of the very first GloFlow events. Truly building a community that resonates with people in different seasons of their lives is something I am so proud of.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Lauren Naomi is the founder of GloFlow Wellness, a Los Angeles-based wellness collective founded to facilitate safe spaces to reconnect within and align with wellness resources. Lauren Naomi is a yoga instructor and personal trainer with over ten years of experience in community curation, wellness activations, and holistic lifestyle experiences. GloFlow operates as a full suite and mobile wellness collective, specializing in Vinyasa yoga, curated wellness events, HIIT, and wellness consulting, all designed to foster connection and empower balanced living.
My mission as the founder is to make wellness accessible and impactful while helping other navigate change and reconnect with themselves. I integrates mindfulness, movement, wellness technology and practical tools to guide individuals toward a healthier, more fulfilling lifestyle.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
A piece of me I am gladly releasing is my tendency to over function in terms of work. I for as long as I could remember have always had a very full plate. My mother would jokingly tell me, “if you don’t have at least 3 things going on at once you think you’re not doing much of anything at all”.
In building this community over the past four years I’ve gone from solo-producing events from end to end, where I have even been my own videographer while teaching a class to now slowly adding on facilitators to teach yoga, dance classes or offer a sound bath and it has allowed for my impact to expand. I feel joy in supporting other wellness entrepreneurs align in their purpose and a relief as I’ve had support with productions. Expanding my team has allowed further expansion with Gloflow Wellness and me the space to be even more present and create relationships in the community that I may have missed juggling so many hats. It’s also a visual example of the power of community which is just what GloFlow Wellness is to so many on different levels. This has also been reflected over in my own practice. I feel as though as a practitioner you can get stuck in the ‘heal yourself’ or ‘doing all of the doing’ phase so much so that you forget you actually are doing this to facilitate better for all, and you get to be apart of experiencing that better. The joy lives in true flow.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
This is definitely one of the most vulnerable interviews I’ve done. I definitely would say that it has was my fear of being seen. I think throughout my life I’ve come into myself and its consistently required me to step forward, use my voice and be okay with taking up space. Someone once told me ‘ the people you’re supposed to help can’t find you if you hide’. I reflected on the power of using my voice earlier in my career, whether that was in corporate, wellness or any other walk of life, it always brought me joy. From my earliest ages in public speaking and storytelling competitions, to moderating discussions or speaking on panels I found that there was impact in allowing myself to be seen –and practicing what I preach. While this unveiling began prior to GloFlow Wellness, I am still so grateful to be reflection of what it looks like to release the weight of judgement from the outside world and walk in your purpose outloud. Transparently, I still have moments where I want to go back to ‘hermit mode’, remove my name from things and operate in stealth. It’s comfortable for me to be there, but growth happens when you do the hard thing.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. How do you differentiate between fads and real foundational shifts?
I think right now in the wellness space the consumption of wellness modalities can be looked at as fads. However, I believe it’s bigger than that. I believe people are truly waking up to what feels good to their body and in that there is a process of elimination in finding the right service fit that speaks to their path. I believe the shift in wellness has facilitated a foundational shift in society and a radical fight to reclaim ourselves in the midst of over processing, overworking and feeling undervalued. The differentiation between fad and real foundational shift is in the ‘why’. The intention, what are you showing up for, and what are you doing it for? The why will always speak, and will be the driving force to call you to continuously get up and show up even when the trend is over.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
The amount of pivots I’ve made. I’ve gone to the very top of situations and realized it wasn’t speaking to my spirit so I added, adjusted or just simply restarted. I believe in staying true, and that the opportunity will evolve as long as you remain in that intention. I think as an entrepreneur, everyone has an opinion of how you should do what you do and what your purpose looks like or is in order to be more digestible to them. People often give advice based on what they’d do if they were you not what is best for you and that’s normal because no one has walked in your shoes. But that the beauty of your specific purpose, your legacy gets to be unique to you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gloflowyogi.com
- Instagram: gloflowyogi
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Itslaurennaomi
Image Credits
Elizabeth Ho Photography
Makala Lee Photography
