Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie LeCapitaine.
Katie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, the only child of a preschool teacher and a professor. Yoga found me when I was 17, and it was my first real connection to my body. The closest yoga studio, CorePower Yoga in St. Paul, MN, was about 40 miles from my home and I started going to class every morning before high school. At the time, I didn’t know much about yoga except that it made me feel good in a way I never had before.
I graduated high school at the top of my class and deferred going to college when I got a staff position on the Obama campaign. It was my first real experience as a leader. I got the opportunity to travel and organize volunteer teams and events, and, more importantly, to really connect with all kinds of people and listen to their stories. I developed a simple desire to be helpful – to make life better for other people in whatever way I could. I decided I wanted to work in public policy, so I pursued a BA in Political Science and a BSB in Marketing.
My campaign experience opened the door to some of the coolest experiences of my life: I got to spend a summer in DC interning for the Secretary of Education; I got to intern for the US Senate; I picked up a freelance political consulting gig helping organizations build grassroots. I kept up my yoga practice wherever I could during this time, and in the midst of this, I decided to take a yoga teacher training through CorePower. I enjoyed Teacher Training as a way to learn more about yoga, but I never thought of it as a career. I taught a few classes a week and I enjoyed them, but teaching was not my calling. I sought a way to have more of an impact.
Then, I found out about the opportunity that would change my life – CorePower Yoga had two studios in Los Angeles and they were opening three new ones. They needed people who loved both yoga and leadership to join the operations team, so I immediately raised my hand. A few months later, I picked up my cat and moved to LA to work full-time for CorePower Yoga.
Since joining the team, I have had the opportunity to stretch my mind, body, and skills in ways that I never would have pictured. The early days were so special – there wasn’t a lot of corporate structure in place just yet, and a huge opportunity to create something new. From training, hiring, and mentoring instructors and managers, to sales and marketing strategy, customer experience, and navigating it all in the context of building a large-scale yoga business – there was so much to do and I had so much fun growing all parts of my brain.
My role has changed significantly in the six years since I moved here, and so has CorePower Yoga. We grew from 2 to 13 yoga studios in LA. Most recently, in June 2019 I had the opportunity to open a new studio in Marina del Rey. Opening our studio was a team effort that resulted in over 600 members on opening day, and the studio has turned into something more special than I’d ever imagined. Leading this studio has become one of the great joys of my life.
Today, I consider myself a facilitator of the yoga experience, meaning that at its most basic level my job and my passion are literally to facilitate, or “to make easy.” My intention is not to be the best yoga teacher or the best leader, but to help everyone around me grow above and beyond me. I see myself as the leader that creates the space so that teachers can show up and shine, as the leader that gives managers tools so that they can be their most impactful, and as the teacher that creates an environment where students can unlock and refine a sense of agency in their lives.
I ask myself each day, “how can I be helpful?” How can I give more tools to more people, and what are the best tools I can give? Every day I ask myself this. Every day the answer is different. Last year at our annual summit, I won the best award I could imagine I could ever imagine winning – “Leadership Multiplier,” meaning that I lead in a way that my impact extends beyond myself. I am so happy and grateful for this. That’s what I’m here to do and what I’m most proud of. I take great pride in, and I find great joy in this work.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In this area of my life, my path has been relatively smooth. My biggest struggle is feeling like I am not good enough. I’ve had times of intense loneliness. I wonder if I am doing enough. I have trouble focusing on one task at a time when my mind moves faster than my body. Yoga helps, but the people I work with have helped even more. I’ve been incredibly lucky to work alongside and be supported by the most kind and generous people I’ve ever met.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the CorePower Yoga story. Tell us more about your work.
At CorePower Yoga, our mission is to show the world the incredible, life-changing things that happen when you root an intensely physical workout in the mindfulness of yoga. We offer three main styles of yoga – CorePower Yoga, a Vinyasa class; Yoga Sculpt, yoga with weights; and Hot Power Fusion, which combines the more static postures from the Hot Yoga tradition with some Vinyasa worked in.
All of our classes are set to energizing music, are one hour long, and are all physically challenging yet accessible to all levels of the practice. At each studio, we offer 85+ classes a week – from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. – so you can easily fit your practice into daily life and create a habit that leads to real results. Results include a more physically fit body and a more mindful way of life.
I believe that the yoga mat is a training ground for life off the mat. The mat is a mirror for your patterns and habits – if you are eating well and hydrating and sleeping – you will see a difference in your practice. If your habits are less healthy, you will feel those too, as soon as you drop into your body on your mat. The more you face yourself, the more you will be inspired to treat yourself well. On the mat, you encounter challenges, and that creates new patterns as well. If you can train yourself to remain kind, courageous, focused, and calm on your mat, in the face of physical intensity, you will be more able to do this off your mat. This, to me, is the most important part of the practice. How do you use what you learn on your mat to take action off of your mat?
I am most proud of our studios being welcoming and radically kind spaces for transformation. I deeply care about the people that I work with and the students that come into our space, and so does our whole team. We care that people feel welcomed and included and loved. We really do make magic here and it is so fun and special. I hope you’ll come and see us!
If you had to start over, what would you have done differently?
I would have made more bold choices, and acted more courageous even when I didn’t feel like it. When you’re young and have nothing to lose, why the heck not?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.corepoweryoga.com/
Image Credit:
CorePower Yoga
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