Meet Bri Newton of Happy Flow Yoga in Orange County, Fullerton and Placentia specifically

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bri Newton.

Bri, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was going through school and hit a glass ceiling in my sales job. It finally occurred to me that my ability didn’t matter when I was only 20 years old. I was the highest converting, making the highest $ sales in my company and being compensated the least because of my age. I found out that I was making so little compared to my office peers, confronted by boss, and was denied and it was confirmed that it was my age. I signed up for Yoga Teacher Training, and quit my job in the same day, and never have I looked back. I would never give up being able to help people the way I currently am able to, and inspire the masses that I am able to with my line of work now. I opened Happy Flow Yoga, in Placentia Ca in Nov 2017, and we had no idea the impact we were about to have on our community. Yoga peers of mine told me I was silly to open in such a “non-yoga” area. Our yoga students flocked to our studio. They were starving for yoga and needed us more than we knew. Our students are older, afraid of fancy yoga, and their doctors have been telling them to try “yoga” Instagram Yoga is ruining it for the people who actually could benefit from the low impact movements in yoga will create the mobility to improve someones life, as little as being able to now bend down and tie their shoes, or being able to bend down and get Tupperware from the bottom cabinet without having to get onto the actual floor. These are stories that I never thought I would hear. Yoga feels good in my body because it feels good to stretch, I had no idea that mobility impact we would have on our local community. We opened Happy Flow Yoga in Fullerton in March 2019 and we are flourishing in both studios today. Yoga is scary to the average person because “I’m not flexible enough for yoga”, happy flow yoga is changing the narrative Our space is large, open and with big windows and natural light so that the actual space does not seem intimidating. My goal as the teacher to get the people in the space that wouldn’t normally feel like they belong, because those are the ones that need the movement and mobility in their bodies the most, and they benefit from being led by teachers. Even though we are a beginner based yoga studio, we also have tough classes to improve students yoga practices and we run 200hr teacher trainings our of our studios. I truly believe that all areas would benefit from having a yoga studio like ours in their community, so my goal is to impact as many lives as possible and change the world to a happier place one class at a time!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been the smoothest road traveled. Just getting the space to open our first location was tougher than expected. Because I was young and did not know what I was doing I kept getting doors closed in my face. From January 2017-March 2017 I drove around and called landlords and brokers of potential spaces to open a yoga studio. “we don’t want fitness”, “you can’t afford this space”, “we don’t have what you’re looking for” “we don’t want yoga” – some would just hang up – I never got calls back when brokers or landlords wouldn’t answer. I couldn’t figure it out, I was doing something wrong, I was communicating obviously the wrong way. In consumer sales, you need to be bubbly. As a 21 year old business owner I could not be bubbly because it came off as young, immature, and not trusting to lease to. I finally, very upset at my losses so far called a broker, in a very grumpy voice I said, “this is what I’m looking for, do you have it or not?” Not the best way to sell someone on letting me lease from then! He said, Yoga? no, not that center, but go drive to this center and let me know what you think. Mike is now my go to guy when it comes to spaces that I might want to lease in the future! This space was PERFECT – Placentia location. one problem, we signed the lease in June, and I went to the city to take my archetect plans to – and we didn’t have a CUP – which means that we were not zoned to do any physical activity in the space. We had spent months going over leasing, I thought we were correctly zoned, but we learned an expensive ($4,000!) lesson. I had to wait for all city departments to sign off YES, like fire, parking, police, etc. And then I had to go to a city meeting and present why we should be allowed to open a yoga studio in Placentia and bring yoga to the community. I tried to dress as conservative as possible My biggest struggle as a young woman in business is not being taken seriously. It is frustrating because I am damn good at what I do. So I dress older, and conservative to try to look older. Anyways, I was so nervous to stand up and present that I could help but think, will they notice my heart beating so hard because my fancy necklace won’t stop bouncing on my chest. I sat down after presenting and my now husband held my hand and whispered “I could see you’re necklace moving up and down from your heart – are you better now?” UGH, everyone knew, they surely will not take me serious now, and I needed a uninaoumous vote yes! we received all 11 yeses and my heart almost burst!

Another tough ride, and fun story to tell is how we hired our first front desk girl and studio manager. I was teaching 30 out of the 45 classes a week, and front desking the rest of the shifts. Literally working at the studio from 5:30am-11pm 6 days a week. and my students were fusing about me being closed on Sundays, ha! I had a head cold from overwork and lack of sleep and just all around not taking care of myself. I was filling up everyones cup around me and neglecting my personal cup. The way my cup is fulfilled is by helping others and making sure that they are full. but every little bit that I was getting from helping people I was giving back out. a student came in, and then left. and then she walked in the next day and said “do you need help?” and I said OMG, yes can you start Wednesday. Turns out I just got lucky with her, but we can’t hire like that anymore. Kaylea is my right hand man, understands out business and works as hard if not harder for Happy Flow Yoga than I do. I am eternally grateful and thankful that she walked back in to just offer to help me, and us.

We have had other challenges along the way, and the way I see it is if we stoped having challenges then we stopped growing. If we stop growing that means we have become stagnant in helping people, and changing lives. we have not choice but to encounter more challenges, and larger more complicated obstacles because we have a duty to impact the most people that we can with our style of yoga, which is positivity based over all else.

Happy Flow Yoga – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Happy Flow Yoga is a beginner based yoga studio. We specialize in positivity, and we truly culitvate a happy community in our space. It is safe for all to come and practice yoga. I also have a mentality that we can train anyone how to be a great yoga teacher but you cannot train someone to be a great person, or a genuinely happy person. So when we look for teachers or front desk team members, we look for personality over all else. Students come to our yoga studio because we have a reputation that we are a good space for all levels, all bodies, and all people, but they stay because of the way that they feel when leaving our space. When I say our space, it not me and my husbands space, its not even our space in regards to the 30 team members that we currently have on staff. Its ours as in the thousands of beautiful souls that walk through our front doors, and make us smile. The Happy Flow Yoga logo is an exploding heart. The story behind the logo is that my heart is good full when I see people happy and full that my own heart cannot take in anymore and might explode. I want to fill the hearts of all I encounter and fill their hearts through yoga, happiness, and community to that point that it can no longer take anymore and might possibly explode. I am most proud when I walk into the studio, not scheduled to teach or front desk, and the students are taking to each other, the teacher is having to quiet everyone to get class started on time because of the conversation between all of the students, and then glancing outside to see the previous class chatting to each other, not wanting to leave. This was described to me as watching my business thrive as an outsider, but to me it means so much more. I am able to watch community at its purest form blossom. Real life long friendships being formed, lives are being changed and bodies are being transformed because I decided I was tired of compensated poorly at my desk job. Because I was grumpy to my broker on the phone, I was able to find this first space Because I listened to my gut and opened in a “yoga dead” area we are able to impact lives that truly needed it! Thats what I am most proud about.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I personally define success based on freedom. I am currently 25 years old, and I want to create a family one day with my husband. We need the freedom to raise children and see them grow up. I want to have the freedom to pick up my kids from school. Owning a successful, and healthy business give me the freedom to do something like that.

On a business stand point, I don’t know the actual stat but something like 33% of Americans say that they are happy. The article I read said that this was great news. I will not be satisfied or feel like I have succeeded until that number is at least 80% happiness. I want to impact every community in some way, shape or form through yoga and especially happiness. I have this deep feeling that I was put on this earth to inspire people, and I will not stop until I am able to impact on a large scale. I cannot stop, helping people on a larger scale inspires me to push forward.

Pricing:

• $21 for 21 Days of Yoga

Contact Info:

• Address: 1290 North Kraemer Blvd, Unit B
  Placentia, Ca. 92870229 East Commonwealth Ave, Unit C
  Fullerton, Ca. 92832
• Website: happyflowyogastudio.com
• Phone: 7144143591
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @happyflowyoga
• Facebook: facebook.com/happyflowyoga
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/happy-flow-yoga-placentia-2

Image Credit:
Emily Hill, Shannon Hacker