Meet Shakira Scott of Your Local Yoga Dealer in Orange County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shakira Scott.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
After graduating from FIDM in downtown LA, I worked in the fashion and visual artistry industries for about ten years. I never really worked out, I didn’t belong to a gym, I didn’t even go to the gym that was inside my apartment complex, but I started attending a yoga class at my church in Culver City. Agape International Spiritual Center, had a yoga class before their Wednesday evening service.

After the first class, I knew I was hooked. I loved the way my body felt after a class. The movements were slow, meditative, and linked to our breath. I could probably count on two hands how many poses we actually did, but because we held them for so long, things started to heat up! My day job was so stressful and required a lot of physical labor; some mornings I had to roll out of bed because my body was so stiff. I would roll out of the bed straight onto the floor and start stretching.

That yoga class at church literally saved my life. Saved my body. Not only did it provide a relief from the stiffness inside my body but it allowed me to calm down emotionally when I felt overwhelmed, which was a lot the time. I started doing more research on yoga and realized all the health benefits, the self-care that we humans can heal from, specifically people of color. Also in my research, I realize that Brown men were the creators of yoga, unlike the many versions of yogis portrayed in the media.

If you Google the word ‘yoga instructor,’ or even the word ‘yoga,’ someone who looks like me does not come up. A petite Black woman, muscular toned, former ballerina with a body full of tattoos and a short pixie haircut, but most importantly you have to scroll to see a brown person under the Google search of ‘yoga.’ I find that very disheartening, but I turned that into motivation. I took it as a personal call of duty to teach as many people as I could about the benefits of yoga.

Not limited to just the physical asanas (poses), but the diet and meditation are just as important. Americans spend millions of dollars on back surgeries; a good majority could do yoga every day and save a lot of money. With a consistent yoga practice, people have been found to cure themselves of chronic muscle pain, arthritis, anxiety disorders, some people are able to maintain a healthy weight because of the physical movements and meditation.

Some cases of diabetes have been reversed high blood pressure has been lowered, and the gray matter of peoples brain has been documented to actually grow because of a consistent yoga and meditation practice. One night I had a dream, and in the dream, someone asked me if I was a yoga instructor and I gave them a sarcastic no. A few months later, in real life, the instructor of the class I took at church didn’t show and for some reason the class elected me to teach.

Not knowing what I was doing I struggled and laughed through the whole thing, but afterwards, I reflected on the dream, called my mom and started to do research on yoga training programs. I found one in Berkeley, I looked at one in Oakland and SF, for some reason no yoga training program in Los Angeles felt right. I chose the one in Berkeley. I started two months after I move back home and never looked back. Since then, I’ve been able to train professional athletes, I work with children, corporate offices, cannabis retreats, I’ve even convinced bar and shop owners to open their door doors early to allow me to clear out the space for a donation based yoga class.

I have late night gym classes, and I also work one-on-one with everyday people who want to expand their yoga practice. I founded a collective called Black to Yoga. Once a month in Oakland we created the space that allowed every race, every age, every sexual orientation to come and take yoga classes taught specifically by Black people. It was great. Consecutive yoga classes, raffles, local vendors, even massage therapists were in the building! I have future plans of bringing something like this to the LA area very soon.

Over the past year, I have been given the opportunity to teach corporate yoga classes in orange county for Victoria’s Secret brand. I’ve teamed up with fitness organizations such as Lifestyle Athletics to provide free high-intensity fitness classes and cool down with a little bit of yoga, all while being on top of a helicopter pad in an LA city! My newest venture of classes have been at Kinectic Studio LA, a Black female owned gym on W. 54th St. In just three years, I’ve been blessed with amazing relationships with people from my many yoga classes.

Blessed with sponsorships and being able to generate money for other yoga instructors and people in my community. I have no plans to stop dealing yoga anytime soon. I love it, and I hope to see you on a mat soon!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Hell yeah, I’ve struggled! Still am lol but hopefully not for long! Entrepreneurship has been the most uncomfortable experience in my life, and for three years. This is the longest I’ve ever stayed at one job, and right now it’s the one job that’s mattered the most. I am currently generating less income annually than I ever have, but I make close to what psychologist make hourly (eat class is usually an hour).

I allow myself a more humbled lifestyle because I know that if I don’t show up for class someone’s whole week can be thrown off. Yoga is therapeutic and whether I like it or not sometimes I become an impromptu therapist. My car broke down about a year ago, so now I’m traveling cities toting yoga mats and tools via public transportation and Uber.

When teaching in LA, I’m usually couch surfing; I’m looking forward to the day when I get an apartment in LA to make the travel more comfortable. I practice keeping a positive outlook on life. Knowing that struggles don’t last forever; everything that I’ve been through has made new challenges less difficult. Blessings are coming!

Your Local Yoga Dealer – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Your Local Yoga Dealer is me, but it could be anyone. Any yoga instructor anywhere is local to someone. What sets me apart from other yoga instructors I believe is my personality. I’m straightforward, no chaser, while still having and showing empathy.

My parents were artists and a part of the revolution era. So, it’s nonsense, but I’m coming from a place of love and respect. I’m also a part-time comedian (not really) and I take my class playlists seriously (you can follow on Apple Music). I’m also a bartender. Contradicting, but of course! Do some research on Lord Shiva; we have some similarities… a lot of my bar life has intertwined with my yoga life, and that makes me very happy.

As mentioned, my appearance is different from most yoga instructors. On a good day, I’m 5’5 with tattoos that cover most of the left side of my body, when I first started I had my septum pierced. For some reason people like my voice. I have a deep raspy voice (all day), and I used to get teased for it, they called me Barry White… now people say I have a “voice for yoga” and it helps them feel relaxed, go figure.

As a company, but most importantly a teacher, I’m most proud of my students when they have the ‘aha moment’ When they discover that their bodies can move and support themselves in ways they would never have imagined.

Who else deserves credit – have you had mentors, supporters, cheerleaders, advocates, clients or teammates that have played a big role in your success or the success of the business? If so – who are they and what role did they plan / how did they help.
I have to give credit to the yoga teacher at Agape International Spiritual Center, Etan Boritzer. The instructor that opened my eyes to the possibility that I could heal and tone my body, turn down the noise in my head through meditation and that I could turn around and share these gifts with others.

Have to give a huge thank you and most of the credit to all the yogis in my life: the ones that I’ve learned from, the ones that I’ve taught, the ones that I work with. Every single person has taught me something different about the practice, myself and the world that we are in; there are so really wonderful people on this planet.

I’m forever grateful that people want to move and heal themselves and that they trust me to help them get there.

Pricing:

• Private 1-on-1: $40-75 p/hr
• Small Private group (up to 5): starting at $50 p/hr
• Event Class: starting at $100 p/hr
• Non-Profit Class: $85 p/hr

Contact Info:

• Address: 484 Lake Park Ave Oakland, Ca 94610
• Email: contact@yourlocalyogadealer.com

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.