Today we’d like to introduce you to Rosalinda Chacon.
Hi Rosalinda, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a kid who grew up in Lennox. Like many of us growing up in the 80’s and early 90’s, I had no concept of what yoga was nor did I even know it existed. In the early 2000’s I was on a work assignment in the Southwest, living in Albuquerque, NM. It was here that I walked into my first yoga class. I didn’t understand lineages, I only knew that I was taking an Anusara class with Erin. (I still remember my teacher’s name!) And then I kept coming back! Around this time (the year was 2003) somewhere in Tucson, AZ, a friend suggested we take a Bikram yoga class and I knew this class included heat and I distinctly remember being so opposed to the idea! So needless to say, no class happened at that time. Fast forward to 2007… I was back living in So Cal, heavy into my corporate career (I was in year 7), working 14-hour days, etc. It was the first time I had encountered a passive-aggressive boss at work and my head was spinning with what I now know was all of the emotional abuse I had to deal with. Couple this with the fact that my marriage was falling apart and with that my good friend was like, “you need to come with me to class.” One more fact about me… In my family, there was no such thing as seeking therapy. You just dealt with things. Life was hard and there was no getting around that. True, but my life at this time was epically falling apart. My first Bikram yoga class was at the old Manhattan Beach studio with my dear friend and instructor, Nicolle Lincir Bekers. I ran out of class with 20 minutes to go. It was so incredibly tough, the teacher was so incredibly supportive… I was pretty sure I hated the class. And yet I returned the next day. Through the deep physical, emotional, and mental work of my practice, I became open to seeking professional therapeutic help in all areas of my personal, work, and relationships.
This is huge because again I was from a family that didn’t do this. I remember thinking I would take me going over a cliff before I did therapy. My hot yoga practice was the common denominator then in my wellness and it still is today. In the practice, the lights are on so you can’t hide, you have no choice but to see yourself in the mirror. The heat is only an ingredient to the practice to create the conditions of discomfort. The work you do in class is as much intense as it is therapeutic. In our practice, we cultivate faith, patience, concentration, determination, and self-control. Anyone can start where they are and practice according to their best of their ability. There are no prerequisites! And you do not have to show up to yoga looking like you’ve been doing yoga! It sounds very eat pray love and very uncharacteristic of me at the time but around 2010 I knew enough to know that the work path I was on was not fulfilling and although I didn’t know where the story would go, I knew it was not my story so I quit and immersed myself in 9 weeks of yoga teacher training. I began teaching and I loved it! Although I clearly took a risk in quitting my job…I still had work to do around growing up poor and the trauma that brings. I needed the safety of a weekly paycheck so I went back to corporate work and continued to teach yoga on weekends and evenings.
By 2015, I had been teaching for several years at my home studio in Long Beach, CA. The studio was founded in 2002 by an incredible instructor named Rosario Wenner and she was ready to step into a new direction but wanted to find a buyer who would take the studio and continue to move forward. (When she opened the studio in 2002 there was no such thing as boutique fitness, studio websites, or even social media. You opened a yoga studio and based on the law of attraction people would find you. In 2015 the arena had already drastically changed and it now took more work to build a wellness business that lasts. I knew that it was going to take work and I also knew that our space was magical. So many people’s lives had been improved here that we needed to make sure this space still existed to help more people. My husband and I looked at each other and made the decision to sell our house and we bought the studio!
That first month we didn’t even make enough revenue to pay rent. Fear was on high alert, questioning my life’s choices, but I knew somehow there had to be a way to grow! I had to confront my own limiting beliefs about myself having enough “yoga knowledge” to lead a studio. I learned through lots of hard work that that kind of egoic thinking was always going to allow my ego to be the leader…and I knew from my not so favorable corporate work experiences that leading with the ego was not an effective way to go. So, I had to tune into what we wanted to create in the studio and in our community and let this be the pathway forward. We knew our purpose was to be compassionate yogis who help people heal and grow. Our belief is that anyone can start where they are and become their best self through the powerful teachings of original hot yoga and more. We knew our work and the studio space needed to be devoted to uniting and healing people through sweating, breathing, and being still together. In working towards this, we were building and creating a sacred place where our students love and respect themselves and others.
Along the way, I began working with a yoga business coach which honestly was so helpful and needed to build a wellness business that lasts. It helped us weather the pandemic where we worked to keep teachers on staff and pay our rent. We re-branded to West Coast Sweat which felt more in line with our mission and values.
Along the way, I was also able to start paying myself and we were able to give an employee an equitable stake in the business. (Yeah!) For four years I worked a full-time job and ran the studio. In late 2018 I had the courage to close the door on that path in my life and open the door wholeheartedly to growing the studio. Which is important and feels good because the reality is it is important to create an environment where your students thrive because then your community thrives including your staff! (It is so important to that owners and staff be able to earn equitable pay)
Being from the South Bay, I had a dream of opening up a location there and bringing our magic to the area. By early 2022 we had located a spot which felt perfect and easy to access from a number of South Bay cities. (Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Lawndale, Hawthorne, El Segundo, Inglewood, and my hometown of Lennox:) It was scary and exhilarating to confront new challenges of obtaining funding, working with an architect and city planning, buying materials and building out a whole new space. West Coast Sweat Hermosa Beach opened our doors in October of 2022!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. I mentioned in my last comments some of the struggles we’ve had. Early on we had huge financial struggles. It was three years before I could start to pay myself. In the yoga industry, it was also a challenge because you cultivate and environment where teachers come to teach. This is great and the teaching is valued. We learned early on that this approach made us feel fragmented as a teaching staff. So we had to figure out a way to feel like more of a teaching family and take a vested interest in seeing our students thrive.
As you know, we’re big fans of West Coast Sweat. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At West Coast Sweat, we’re all about teaching our students how to focus, concentrate, and meditate on what you want to create in your body and in your health. You have the power to tune in and visualize the possibility of what can be; inspiring yourself to work hard and keep showing up on your mat. We believe anyone can start where they are and become their most powerful self through the teachings of Original Hot Yoga and more. In addition to Pure OG Hot Yoga classes, we also offer an equally powerful and popular class called Inferno Hot Pilates.
Inferno Hot Pilates (also known as IHP) is a low-impact, high-intensity, interval-training class based on Pilates principles. IHP is kind on the joints, and every exercise we do includes the core, so there will be some serious stomach muscle, glute, and pelvic floor activation for sure!
The first half of the class is known as the floor series, where we do bridges, abdominal, side, and prone work. The second half of class is known as the standing series and is the high-intensity and deep juice in the class. In the standing series, you, the student, are working towards complete muscle failure!
The West Coast Sweat philosophy is simple. Miracles do happen. Redemption is something available to everyone. Life is about focusing on where you’re going, not where you started.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
It has worked well for me to have a business coach and also cultivate peers in my industry. My peers and I reach out and connect at least once a month if not more.
Pricing:
- $35 Week unlimited class (including virtual)
- $35 Single Class Drop-in
- $119 Monthly Unlimited
- $90 5 Class Membership (It’s shareable!_)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.westcoastsweat.com
- Instagram: @west.coast.sweat and @wcshermosabeach
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WestCoastSweat/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@westcoastsweat
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/west-coast-sweat-long-beach?osq=west+coast+sweat
