Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Marcum.
Hi Andrea, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I discovered yoga over 25 years ago at my gym. I was pretty sure it wasn’t for me. I was a cardio girl with a mission, and the slow pace and stillness, not to mention the nausea I felt in downward dog, were a shock to my nothing-ever-enough system. But it caught my attention, and before I knew it, I was hooked. I took a teacher training, and since then, I’ve owned my own studio in LA, had a book published, led retreats and taught at festivals all over the globe, started my own platform at andreamarcum.com, and been humbled by the many ways yoga really does mean “union.”
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’m fortunate to have entered the ring when there weren’t as many yoga teachers as there are now. I’m not sure I would have had the opportunities I have had if I were starting now. The yoga world has changed a lot, and so have I, over these nearly 25 years I’ve been doing this. I’ve had fantastic experiences and tough times… had a book take 10 years to get published and went 30k in debt, closed my studio… and been able to see a lot of the world-leading retreats. It’s the incredible students I’ve been blessed with that keep me going. I look at my business as a collaboration- without them, I would just be practicing in my living room (which is great too, but maybe not a career 🙂
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve always lived a little bit outside the castle. Whereas my peers worked at famous yoga studios, I created my own little nest on the 5th floor of an Art Deco building in LA. I also leapt at every opportunity to travel, which wasn’t very good for my LA business, but gave me a more expansive idea of what I wanted my life to look like. To this day, leading retreats is my passion. I just love using our yoga mats as magic carpets to look into our lives and to see the world.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Consistency, honesty, extending an invitation to everyone to join the yoga party. My studio in LA was called U Studio for the Unity and community it fostered. My platform, andreamarcum.com, is U Studio without walls- ours is a global community, and it is the love of my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.andreamarcum.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreamarcum/
Image Credits
p.i.c. photography
