The 20 Year Journey of Invoke Studio with Amy Peddycord

was Paul George this moment like to be a who your girl in Indiana was just amazing are you just going to see an offensive lineman for the Colts you can in a yoga class mostly eat Whole Foods move your body rest your mind did you ever have the itch to grow a huge yoga plates company from South bin to Evansville and everywhere in between this is get in the show focused on the hooer state and the incredible stories happening here today I'm Nate spangle founder of G Indiana and I will be your host for today's conversation basketball fans listen up March starts here in Indie we are hosting the 2025 barbasa Horizon league basketball championships mark your calendars for Monday March 10th and Tuesday the 11th when the top four teams in men's and women's basketball will square off at the corta Coliseum at the fairgrounds right now Cleveland State leads the men standings with Purdue Fort Wayne Right on their heels for the women's Purdue Fort Wayne is at the top just out in front of Green Bay and we're going to get six incredible basketball games over a 2-day span four semi-final games on Monday and both finals held on Tuesday action starts at noon both days and you can buy tickets on the horizon League website or on Ticket Master you also need to know about the allnew Horizon League individual membership fans can become Horizon League members and receive a unique Indie Centric shirt Horizon League glasswar Championship tickets and much more check out all the details at Horizon league.

org Indi remember March starts here in Indianapolis at corteva coliseum March 10th and 11th I will see yall out there today I'm joined by Amy Betty cord a proud Indiana native and owner and founder of invoke Studio One of indianapolis's most renowned yoga and pilat Studios growing up in the hoer state instilled a deep sense of community and passion for a holistic well-being over two decades of dedication to Fitness and Wellness has made her a trusted leader in indianapolis's urban Fitness scene today we're going to be talking about her Indiana roots and what brought her back to the hoer state the power of yoga and her entrepreneurial journey and future plans and Visions for what's going on here in uh in Central Indiana and some surrounding areas Amy welcome to get in thanks so much it's a pleasure to be here I am super pumped we were talking a little bit before we got rolling of uh kind of your journey to Growing this very very well-known yoga pilat studio two locations here in Indianapolis but plus some some cool Partnerships that offer some amazing things to uh to Central Indiana hooers so I'm excited to dive into that but let's take it back a little bit talk what what part of the state did you grow up in I grew up in um for the first 10 years in Northern Indiana so a tiny uh flashing stoplight called North Liberty Indiana no way yeah you're from North Liberty I am do you know yeah I went to Triton High School which would be bourbon so that would be North Liberty's John Glenn it is it is wow that's that's just is it Southwest of South Bend a little bit it is it is yeah wow that is a one that's a One-Stop light town for sure it is it is Potato Creek State Park though that's a Hidden Gem too like right I was the Boy Scouts and we always used to go over there and hike around pot my father helped with the legal aspects too found the park yeah and they have a that North Liberty that's close to they put in like a new athletic complex up in like maybe lapaz I don't know that okay go up there okay so so 10 years in North Liberty and then where then um I moved to zville my parents got divorced and I so I went to zville high school and then Indiana University undergrad what did you study there I did international relations and psychology okay what did you want to do with that I wasn't really sure so then right after school I I had an international Focus I I I love Bloomington I I loved going to Indiana University but I used it as an opportunity to study abroad so I studied abroad a couple of times and then right after college I moved to San Francisco and worked um at an International High School exchange organization and it was great but my nonprofit boss then kind of pulled me aside you know first year and and said have you ever considered for-profit because I just wanted things to move quickly and you know I I my heart is with nonprofit and I'm glad I've been able to be involved with different ones over the years but slowly moved into uh media relations PR in San Francisco and then I moved to New York for graduate school and was there for four or five years nice and you went to Columbia right I did I did okay and what was your graduate degree in in I got an MBA oh that's an NBA from Columbia like that's okay so the smartest person in the room is sitting on that side of the table I don't know I spent way too much money on it so I don't know how smart that is well I mean I'm sure then uh you graduate from Columbia with an MBA and you could have your pick of any job you wanted at anywhere on Wall Street right yeah well you'd think that um but it was right after September 11th um so it was really challenging to find a job because I wasn't in finance I was you know coming from more of a marketing background so I struggled finding a job which is when I got into yoga let's take it into that so you're in New York yes during you know September 11 2001 I was studying abroad that semester so I was in Barcelona Spain Columbia has an exchange with the ESS um a business school in Barcelona um so I was in Spain when it happened which was kind of crazy but moved back immediately after that to then finish my MBA so I was there December you know and I'm guessing from the time that you left to go study in Barcelona to then come back like has to be very different it was it was crazy but it was so Community focused and there was this sense of great Strife but where everybody was bonding and working together um but I was very stressed and I was you know I'm not from money so I had all this college or I had all this grad school debt and was trying to find a job so I ended up getting a a pretty good post MBA job but in the interim I was working at a clothing store I was working at Marc Jacobs I didn't even say I graduated IU I just said I attended IU they knew I'd be looking for something else you know but I oh they're like oh she's going to be here yeah she's going to leave but it was a great job and that's a whole other interesting story but I got into yoga and then I started what you into yoga there was one near my apartment in New York and initially I went and I liked the feel of it I liked what it did for my body and then it has a way of slowly getting to you from a mindfulness so I it and then over time I enjoyed how it was making me feel I went for the workout the workout feel yeah cuz the kind that I love is is a active inasa which is very athletic yeah so that's when when I when I got into yoga I was working on Madison Avenue as part of the wpp group um a media conglomerate doing in a for a public relations firm advertising firm rotating through Advertiser that's that would be a stressful life it w you know and I thought it was one of those and I think a lot of entrepreneurs have this where they're find thems in a spot I should be thrilled I should be so happy like this was my dream I'm working on Madison Avenue I'm in New York you know I had great friends and I was like I cannot do this for 40 years I just knew in my bones it wasn't for me but I wasn't certain how to articulate that so then my father who is fine he's living he's healthy still beats me at tennis but had a heart attack and so I was just not figuring out a way to make it work financially in New York and thought I need to move back to Indiana like I'm going to be there for my family my sister at that time has three kids now she has five so I thought it would be just I'm going to come back I'm going to open a yoga studio I'm going to be here 5 years you go from attending your first class and then how far down the journey I want to own a yoga studio so I did a yoga teacher training in New York looked at opening a studio there um I always knew that there are really hardcore yogis that think about yoga all day meditate for an hour read books on yoga and I knew I wasn't that person I knew then even if I wasn't able to articulate it which I say now is I'm I'm a business person person first and a yoga person second so I just once I decided that I was going to do it it happened I mean there was lot of work behind it but I couldn't figure out the numbers from a rent standpoint to stay in New York and then my you know family was pulling me back to Indiana so then I was able to work remotely and you know this was 20 plus years ago so it was it it was not as common then but I was able to work for the agency and open my studio downtown Indianapolis did they know you were opening a studio they didn't there it is there it is but they got there you know I wor worked around the clock and and it started out so small I think we had 18 classes a week and I taught you know 85% of them and now we have 250 classes a week so it started out really small um at the building we occupy now just a sliver of it in the middle well I think a lot of people think they have to quit their job raise all this money Go full on into this to make their entrepreneurship dream happened and how long did you have a full-time job for six six seven years so you're working remotely I did that for a year and a half my salary was earmarked from a wpp rotational program agencies liked it because I was already paid for it they had already earmarked my salary so they could still Bill me out at from an agency wage so they were happy but I ended the year and a half rotational commitment and then after that I did branding and advertising and media relations work for Indianapolis companies gotta and did they know you had a yoga studio they did yes yeah and you know I I I never I felt still high integrity with it because I worked all day on the agency and then would just work on the yoga stuff at night and in between so when you're willing to work after the hours that's how you know you're on the right track when you're willing it's 5:00 cool shut my laptop from marketing advertising branding all that stuff and work on the studio it's not for everybody but we always say like keep that day job right around when that movie Eat Pray Love came out with Julie Roberts we had this influx of people that were coming in I quit my job I'm going to become a yoga teacher I'm going to do this and and we were like okay first go get your job back then you know we'll slowly just see if you like it keep your day job and then slowly build yes what was the first big milestone you felt that you hit with invoke it was probably being able to quit that day job where um I was working in branding and advertising more for real estate companies like I helped 757 Massa which is a condo development in different condo developments downtown and then when the market crashed um the real estate market I continued to have a few other restaurant clients but just thought oh this is a milestone I think I can do it I think I can quit my other things and just focus on the studio how much of it was working on the business versus teaching yoga classes that's a great question and definitely started out with I taught 85% of the classes I haven't taught a class in three years now so do you miss that I have such great teachers and we have such a great team that I'd rather let them shine and and focus on the business as aspects so how long from launching till you hit the Milestone where you could do it full-time that was six years yeah let's just pause there six years yes like you did this on the side for six years well it was more it it it switched from where I still had little clients so it was a a pendulum that shifted it where initially it was mostly the day job and then then voke and then my clients became less and less and then that many years in I was like oh yeah I'm going to I'm going to drop it all together how many classes were you offering probably 75 maybe 50 and this is like late 2010s yes and then around then I I opened up a second location which also is a big milestone so you were around 2011 yoga is big but it's not what it is today I would assume it was it was pretty big but we didn't have the the franchise competition then but opening that second location definitely skyrocketed things where there was just a lot of growth and that location is at 86 and ditch and we both own our own businesses but I share space with Dr Marcus McCrae who's the Indianapolis Colts chiropractor so that has just worked out so well he's an amazing partner and has really high level clients and it's just a awesome awesome guy do they go from getting their back adjusted to popping over to yoga yeah sometimes I mean everybody talks about Synergy it's an overused but we definitely have it where we have clients that will shop retail go to a yoga class get adjusted we also have a great massage therapist at that location and aesthetician and so they can so if you go into the 86 in ditch location are you just going to see an offensive lineman for the Colts you can yeah like doing a yoga class well some we do have different athletes Miles Turner is a client downtown you know we have like just a general client like you could walk into a St to aun yes yeah and it does he have an extra large mat well there are really tall they're tall tall guy mats there's tall and long guy mats yeah but most of my clients most of our clients don't notice like they they just you know they or if they do I mean miles is 611 I think so you notice him but most people it's a really respectful environment we did have Caitlyn Clarken a few weeks ago downtown cuz we share space with Karen WI trout of Indie sports massage so she focuses on athletes so Caitlyn Clark came in and everybody went all fan girl I think we were able to rain them in a little bit and you know she still had a good experience number one tip when you see someone famous is be cool be cool they're normal people cool yes oh man you know downtown location we have we have a really amazing Physical Therapy company uh wild plow they they have their own Physical Therapy business within our location and then Karen has Indie Sports so these these little Partnerships where they're just renting space from us but we support each other as as small business owners well so 20 years I mean running a business for five years or 10 years like those are big Milestones but 20 holy smokes I know it's crazy it really doesn't it it's it's a long time and and with the rise of Fitness I feel I mean you're you probably know better than I do uh I feel like the last 10 seven years group fitness the orange theories the solid course those have really really exploded Boutique Fitness has has exploded there are the franchises which I initially when I when I first opened I I was quite competitive and got a little jealous when a new place open and I shifted that at some point to an attitude of abundance so I do think there's enough to go around and there's great yoga studio owners um hygien of the hot room you know there's City Yoga Yoga 6 is now in Indie Club Pilates which is a big competitor but they only really introduce people to Pilates and then I I find there's the attitude abundance has served me where there's enough to go around is there a national competitor for yoga studios there is I yoga six is one of them there's some others but that's probably the the one in Indie that is the largest I have to imagine a place I can voke when you get clientele in there they stay for a really long time they do we I'm really lucky so I have some teachers that have been with me for 17 18 years and our clients some we're having a big party on January 18th which is the actual day of our 20th anniversary so it's really fun to text some of these OG clients and be like please help us celebrate 20 years and Through the Years right I think the a key difference maybe that I see in what I what I think gives you guys a ton of success is that you say business person first yoga person second because you have to know how to keep a business alive a lot of people chase their passion and so many people are out there on Instagram or wher Tik Tok saying go is your passion but if you don't figure out how to make a business out of it you don't have to be a billionaire but like you have to have the financial wherewithal to keep your business alive so that people can enjoy the yoga and enjoy the passion yes and I I think our brand is is community so being able to keep that Community open through paying the bills we pay our teachers well and in order to do that I have to make enough money to make the numbers work so what's been the biggest lesson that you've learned over the past 20 years of running a b the pandemic that was it was brutal it was really so there are many lessons that I learned from that the word most used for businesses around the pandemic is Pivot which we did so we did on demand we did live stream and we were Scrappy but it was it was really tough my revenues went down 70% you know your fixed costs stay the same and because because teachers are contractors rather than employees we we got very little PPP money so it was just really brutal but personally got more into mindfulness and fitness during that time I was going to say the time when the world probably needed meditation mindfulness in community the most was the hardest time for you as business owner to give it to them it was so hard and I was at a point where I was maybe just going to walk away but I didn't because of my teachers some of whom you know rely on this for their you know it's their primary source of income and the clients this because the clients during that time period were so grateful and so committed cuz I thought I'm going to be able to get another job or I'll start another business but I'm I'm really happy that I didn't I'm happy that I I leaned in and we've paid off a lot of debt and we've refocused and and recommitted to the studio to keep it growing for for more years I I mean it's it's an incredible journey 20 years I mean that's wild I want to dive a little bit into the benefits of M like everyone I see tons of Clips you know everyone's in the ice bath or cold plunge the sauna the breath work the yoga and I know especially if you're a high stressed individual which lots of the world is today there's tons of benefits but I think prioritizing it and getting into it like showing up at a yoga studio I did to put it out there I went to yoga 101 basically you have a four class we have an intro to yoga yes intro to yoga I went to this and they do a great job I'd never done a real yoga class before I showed up don't don't have a it can be dating I'm a very extroverted person so showing up to a new thing to do something new it's like what I do every single week or whatever so for me it's like I was still a little bit anxious going in there I'm going to try this like what if I look like an idiot you know so I think that there's a lot of people that would want to do it but has that barrier when I when I first opened people didn't even know what it was so now at least people are curious about yoga Pilates is growing at a crazy clip I think 30% growth every year if I were to give advice it is to just start slowly and don't think oh I'm going to take seven classes I'm going to do seven classes in a row or four classes or five classes a week start with a time and a teacher that works for you even if it's just one class a week and then stick with that class and you'll see benefits just from one class a week so you can obviously do yoga on YouTube what's the big YouTube channel uh I think it's yoga with Adrien or yog by Adrian yeah but I I also celebrate that because she she gets people into it and there is and what I think makes our brand distinct is the vibe and it's the thing I I love is the interior design and the how can we create this calm cultivated space that makes people feel relaxed and put their world behind them when they walk in the million-dollar business idea I run in a track club on Tuesday or Thursday mornings I think I saw that so you ran this morning and it was 10 degrees or something yeah we did yeah well that's Wednesdays we I have another another crew but we have a bunch of guys my college buddies we all get together Thursday mornings and run okay and regardless of the weather regardless of the weather impressive yeah we just go for it and it's very much gritty you know we're like a bunch of us have done Ultra marathons or Iron Man or just different high impact cardio stuff and we all man we should get into yoga and so we started doing some YouTube stuff and and during the process after one it's just like a bunch of 20 low 30 something year old you know Jim Bros right there should be a broga studio so we have had broga classes in the past but all of you guys need to be doing heated Vinyasa you need to be doing the hot hard athletic Vasa that is my favorite okay and that is what I mean if you're young you're fit I don't I mean I'm glad you did the intro to yoga um it's a great way to start but if if somebody just wanted to take one class and they were like you an athlete I'd just throw them straight into the the heated Vasa cuz they know their body well enough to to not get injured and then you can see it is a workout more running isn't going to help you right you got to do the cross training you have to do the the strengthening and the elongating so it helps with injury prevention core strength you know is obviously needed for a lot of Athletics so we have people that do Pilates reformers who Rave about how it's helped their tennis game or their golf game H yeah wow okay in reformer that's the big machine yes it's the Pilates reformer so there's a number of different styles so we have more of a a traditional Pilates machine we just changed machines we a huge capital investment and replaced all of our machines to move to balance body and they were installed yesterday oh boy yeah that was 2024 was the year of uh Financial we really committed to spending and creating so 2025 brand new Pilates reformers that vote Yes yeah I went to a solid Court class that's reformer parties right it is well those are Mega reformers which for people that are really specific about reformers would say that one's not a former I think it is I mean I think it's Pilates still but yeah it's solidcore is Hardcore it's a great work you up holy yeah so ours would maybe be a little more mind I I I like solid core I go to solid core um I have a lot of respect for the owner the the founder of that who sold it for 60 million you know not too long ago but our our style 60 yeah 60 million I kind of thought it'd be more I know I did to yeah she made she made a lot of money from so I think she's okay um I've heard her speak before she's she's an inspiration but yeah our style there's a little more Hands-On assist so we'd watch your form a little bit more we're we're limited to six machines where I think they have 12 or 20 depending on the location did you ever have the itch to grow a huge yoga and plaes Company I have I have yeah but I am a bit of a free spirit I do not have kids and I'm not married so I'm able to work remotely so I worked remotely from Bali for a month I've just returned from New York where I worked you know for several weeks and and I work all the time I'm just you know doing it on my laptop I don't know if I'd be able to do that if I had PE people you know breathing down my neck and and we've just bootstrapped and National Bank of Indianapolis has been very kind to us and given us various SBA Loans over the years I don't have investors and I think that if I were to really grow like crazy I do need to do a caramel location I'm I'm positive of that so yes our friends at JC Hart have a new building going up oh they just oh man Midtown caramel it would be just south of where like Sun King and all that stuff is new building going in there and they're putting retail on the bottom oh I'll reach out to him oh I know Mark Mark's a listener he he'll hear uh that would be a sweet spot cuz you could be right I wonder if you could have garage doors open up right on the mon I would love that yes yeah if this comes to life we're going to go back and clip this years free m you'll have a free year membership for the referral come on um well CU I I do think though when you start to grow it becomes your life is managing the investors people management even if it's whether it's it's yoga or whether it's Media or whether it's anything it just becomes so it's hard to be a free spirit and work in B for a month yeah and we've we've kind of squeezed out right now I mean if I would like to do a caramel location but we have added corporate classes we have Partnerships with newfields and Holiday Park we have a retail program thanks to my great retail manager Hannah carlac what retail what do that retail so we have we sell yoga clothes and and branded merchandise so your C like in yes yes so we have great you know retail spaces we have great lobbies at both locations so I kind of count our third location is all these add-ons so we have teacher trainings we have international Retreats Avon is one of my yoga teachers they leaving her and Megan are leaving I think this weekend to go to Costa Rica for a week so we have two back toback Retreat so there's a way of growing our Revenue without tons of more brick and mortars so I'd like that balance of was that always a thing or did covid Spike that and we we meant to do so I need to give some credit to my co-owner Jillian McAfee so over the pandemic I gave her 10% ownership which I'm so glad I didn't she's she's an amazing partner so her and I and she does more of the she was the director of operations to start she started out small and then we've we've worked together for a decade now and she's she's a great she's a great business partner so her and I meant to do on demand and live stream way before and then the pandemic hit and we were like okay we we have to do this so we scrambled my sister who worked with me at the time Tina Isaacson also like we all worked around the clock around that deep pandemic time to get this up and running turn on the cameras let's go yeah so it was it we all really worked together and it's still going and we um we have invoked Studio on demand which we use through Vimeo which kind of the Cadillac of the ond demand you know space and we we really love it so you can cast your TV you can watch it on your phone and one of my teachers is dedicated to it Jill Godwin so she dedicates her time to in addition to doing many other things including being an awesome teacher but she records teachers and put us on the on on demand platform we have live stream which we do through Zoom which you know um on Monday when it was crazy snowing we cancel classes and people joined us on Zoom so it's still that is the nice part about yoga you could go to your spare bedroom roll out your mat Turn Down the Lights a little bit CLE create a VI and they love we're we're not going to compete with pelaton right like I can't I don't have those advertising dollars but our crowd that loves our online platform are really loyal to the amazing teachers that we work with so they will take their class and they're in you know we have we have clients that are in Florida for the winter who log on we have young mothers who may not always be able to make it into the studio so they love that we have that option who's the longest standing client at invoke Kathy Davis the former lieutenant governor was original client um she no longer I think she does online with us still so it's just amazing to have those really really um dedicated clients that we've watched you know I was 30 when I started and I just turned 50 this year so just to watch you know the growth of all of us changing and growing and you know that time is is a really amazing thing to watch we've just watch that Community flourish the community how do you cultivate Community within whether it's a gym or another company how do you cultivate that Community that's the most important thing so the staff we work hard Haley is another manager we have that is dedicated to our invoke Warriors so they're members so we might have member events studiowide we also do a lot of fundraising I've been committed to Coburn Place what's Coburn Place Coburn Place is a center for individuals that are victims of domestic violence in downtown Indianapolis so we've had fundraising and drives you know for them since we opened 20 years ago I'm also unapologetically liberal so we do Indiana youth group and plan Parenthood and you know I'm I'm really we're really committed to giving back to the community Jillian um my business partner is is really committed to Little Red Door a cancer you know if you worked with them um so they're a great organization we teach yoga classes at their organization to whomever wants to attend it's it's free and we have fundraising classes for them amazing I think that especially if the goal is well I mean it should be for anything but it you know we want to be a staple yoga Pilates in the Indianapolis Central Indiana community tying and working to actually be members of the community you know like going not just having some sort of Phil philanthropic thing obviously it's good just to have it like oh no we tie ourselves we have these specific agencies specific organizations yes that we care about that our members care about whether there's a reason like a direct tie I think that's amazing and it really helps you be part of the community it does and and it's it's authentic and I think our clients know it's authentic and we really want to give back so we we also have classes that we've had had since the beginning Community classes on Sundays that started out $5 now they're 15 but you know it's it's a way to have classes that you know people can afford well and you have some some interesting Partnerships and classes in outside of the studio we do one something that I just adore is we have a partnership with newfields where we teach yoga classes in the loom we have a couple coming up and then we teach yoga in the garden with them and then Holiday Park is is amazing we teach our outdoor yoga classes there right near the ruins right RS right uh Holiday Park and new Fields the whole thing those are those are two really cool spots that I wouldn't think about oh I'm going to go take a yoga class at that's crazy there's one thing because you know I'm I have a marketing I have a business I have a sales background but to be taking a class at Holiday Park and see a hawk come and land on a pole and just hear the fountain and the sounds of the birds I mean it is a really immersive beautiful experience that celebrates Indianapolis all right folks Mother's Day is around the corner and I'm going to help you get prepared ditch the Amazon or Target candle and get Mom something from Warm Glow Candle Company they're based out in Centerville Indiana and they make some of the best candles I have ever smelled they have made my house smell unreal they aren't your average candle that burns out in 5 minutes oh no your mom is going to get tons of use out of this and every time she liks it she's going to be thinking about how you are her favorite child I love the apple cinnamon and the creamy vanilla bean but my absolute favorite is the blueberry cbla it smells just like visiting my grandma's house after she spent all Saturday morning baking if you you ever driven East down 70 you have probably seen their massive candle where the shop is but you can also order online and they'll ship them right to your door I know you're going to get your mom a candle for Mother's Day now you can do that and support an awesome who your business in the process head to warm glow.

com to check out all their amazing scents now let's get back to the episode oh I mean super super cool if you had one glass that you could take on repeat for forever what would it be heated Vasa heated Vasa how hot does it get it's around 100 100 degrees but it's the humidity so our Studios our heated Studios have infrared panels as well as customized haax systems which tied into to added humidity so you you want the humidity super high you know there's many benefits there's different studies but you just feel great especially this time of year to take a a hot yoga class that allows you to you know lengthen and open up the muscles and you sweat a lot you just feel amazing after and a lot of our teachers have great playlists Megan Avon Andrea I mean they just have an awesome playlist so you're just in this warm sonaike atmosphere working your butt off and burning a lot of calories but also more importantly you end in chiasa it's mindful you're present you you leave your phone away you are in that room and a lot of people worry like oh I'm going to sweat a lot or I don't I'm not flexible like nobody cares your space is that matte and nobody's watching you nobody cares if you're sweating nobody cares if you're not great at yoga it's just that that that space where you're in a communal experience but that one that is individually challenging I I've told lots of times so I'm a wrestling coach atar know that okay and we get the room we need to have those guys in yeah yeah let's have it yeah we'll we'll check after be super fun they would love it they would love it we started doing F minute yoga kind of at the end once a week but it's it's not real it's just hot stretching is what we do but that would be really fun and they would they would really like that especially after I mean the room gets to 85 90° so but it's obviously High intense uh but there is something special when you walk from a really hot room and then after you kind of cool down and then go out into the cold you're just like wow I was so warm and you know it just there's something special about it there really is we'll talk about mindfulness it's very important but it's been rapidly increasing like the amount of times I hear the word mindfulness it has been and it can seem like a gimmick but it really works so meditation I've been meditating for 25 years I don't talk about it that much other than obviously we have meditation sessions but way before I opened the studio I was doing meditation weekends it is lifechanging and it can seem daunting but you if you just even want to think of five or 10 minutes a day if I feel like we have something in common we're always thinking and doing 100 things a minute it just to listen to your breath and sit for five or 10 minutes that's the hardest the hardest part if you have a mind that never stops sitting there and doing nothing we do offer a free um meditation session with Anna Hoke and she's a teacher that's and her husband has was with me 20 years ago he has taken he's retired but she we still work together she's lovely so she teaches a free meditation class half hour Downtown every Saturday or every Sunday if somebody wanted to try it people picture sitting cross-legged like sitting on a mountain for 4 hours it doesn't have to be like that it could be you know just a walking meditation where you leave your phone at your ask you walk around the block for 10 minutes notice the sounds of of the city around you look at the blade of grass like it can just be that attempt of being present in this world where we get dings we get notifications it doesn't need to be okay I'm going to block out four hours and I'm going to meditate and be really serious it just is this bringing attention back to your breath and even experienced experienced meditators still have thoughts that come into their head it's not that you just go into a blank void it's the focus on on training the mind to calm and when you say time away from your phone holy smoke I mean I'm an addict we all are it definitely it is so noticeable when you go and spend whether it's 10 minutes or you put it in the other room when you go to sleep or whatever it is cuz it's like the last thing you look at before you go to bed the first thing you look at when you go to you wake up in the morning you're like I try to use an old school um alarm so that I don't wake up with my phone but I'm not perfect with that sometimes if I can't fall asleep it's right there but in an Ideal World my phone is charging in a different room and I use my old school alarm clock but I'm not perfect I'm learning you know I'm still working on this so many of my teachers are so much better at the mindfulness piece than I am they really live it and breathe it do you have tips if people don't practice any mindfulness right now in the next year this is January of 2025 when we're recording this in the next calendar year how could we put more mindful practices into that's a great question I mean you can use your phone for it headspace and column are great apps if you wanted to be in a communal experience you could take anest class for free on Sundays you know you could join online YouTube has tons of free meditation for some people they're not interested in in sitting still so they may do a moving meditation which is Yoga so yoga is a moving meditation Vasa which this the primary style of yoga we teach we have other styles too means movement with breath so you with that if you're focus on an in focusing on X you're you are in in a state of moving meditation I like that I think the idea of five minutes a week or whatever it is is very approachable yes go find a YouTube video go to the class on I love headspace headspace is a great app and is that the Australian yeah I think is he British or yeah yeah he just has a great voice i' I've referred that to a lot of people who have really loved it but once you start meditating for a while like now I just put a timer in my phone I have it in a different room and I I know when the 15 or 20 minutes is up like without even but because I've been doing it for so long but it doesn't need to seem super daunting it's just like anything else you just need to start and it's more about I think more about consistency than it is the the time that you spend doing it in one shot I love that I think too many people whether it's working out or meditating or writing or reading or whatever it is New Year's comes everyone says I have to be a total new person next week and then they burn out on it Atomic habits have you and that's a great you know James CLE yeah so great so just start reading that book you don't need to change your whole world and like that but tiny incremental changes can have such a great impact December is the time you see all these videos it's like I'm G to run a marathon and I'm gonna be a powerlifter and I'm going to meditate and I'm going to write every day and I'm going to do 365 hard yes every single day and then by February 1 or January 15th they're they're done we're really packed this time of year I'm not going to lie so you not so bad no but some people some people leave some people stick with it so we we do love January every year all gyms I mean obviously it's lucrative but but I want to be able to reach people and and retain them yes yeah and that would be interesting to track how many people came in on a New Year's resolution and it actually changed their life I we we definitely have some of those clients that has has but may it doesn't have to happen on J January 1st right we have different people throughout the year that it's not too late yeah well they commit to something and you watch them change those are the stories that are the most meaningful and how we've been open for 20 years is the you help me through my divorce you know I lost a child I moved to this I moved to Indianapolis is where I met people I've had we've had several marriages we've you know that where they meet it's a place to hang out with cool people in a in a great space and get you know healthier and happier well it's been a heck of run so far 20 years down what do we have to look forward to for the next 20 years for you and for invoke yeah so we just did a big capital investment on the reformers and we did Lobby Renovations so 2025 will be the year of of growing and seeing the the benefits of those Capital Investments personally and it is linked to health and wellness my sister and I Tina Isaacson are building a cabin in Brown County um there going to be an Airbnb and a health and wellness so we're having a barrel sauna and a hot tub and a cold plunge and it's really it's a really beautiful when this going to open well hopefully hopefully this spring it's going to be really nice yeah all right sign me up and then I need to do a caramel location and I would love if anybody is listening wants to partner with me on a a SAA and cold plunge experience which I'd like to have in the basement of my downtown studio so that is this beautiful old 1850 expanded on 1870 building that I've heard from Indiana historians was part of the Underground Railroad so there's just so much history and soul and it has this great basement space that I would like to turn into a sauna like a communal sauna experience someone out there is going to hear this and say oh sauna cold plunge I I would love that but we need to do a carel location but my managers are like can you slow your roll a little bit so we'll do things mindfully like we always have and kind of slowly slowly grow I love that this has been a great conversation uh we do wrap up every episode with a little bit of a lightning round yeah so I have I have some fun yoga mindful Wellness specific questions uh that we're going to start with so if you could only pick one yoga or Pilates yoga but it has to be heated and hard all right Fair uh what's your favorite quote or your personal Mantra what as part of meditating you can add a word to an inhale and a word to an exhale so it's a great way to If instead of saying in as you inhale out as you exhale you can add word words to that so sometimes I do inhale calm exhale peace yeah so as you inhale you say calm exhale peace or inhale calm exhale grounded so I've been doing that on and off for years do you like walk outside barefoot I mean I love to but I don't specific it's one of those health and wellness things that I'm not I'm going to ground from you know 10:00 a.

m. to 10:30 but morning I walk outside barefoot in the winter and direct sunlight to the oddly Barefoot more than my friends you know just I think it's just I walked around barefoot in a studio on and off for 20 years so yes I love walking I love the beach I love walking in the grass I'm not scared of bugs but I'm not yeah I'm not carving out 10 minutes a day to it's like do you know hubman I yes I I'm I was sad about that Vanity Fair article oh was that him yeah he has like TW 20 girlfriends it really killed but but I I got to separate the art from the artist I suppose I know but it's like cuz he's my age and I'm like dude just don't have 20 girlfriends there don't be doing IVF with one woman and then have like four other girlfriends but his message is great and he is and he has um introduced a lot of you know health and wellness experts to a lot of people so I love it it's it's a great way but I think you have to pick and choose there are a lot of people that try to every like you would not have any time for anything else if you did everything you know I I believe in health and wellness I want also want to try to be healthy my body so the supplements I take you know I take colostrum I take this I take that I'm like I at some point I need to stop you know is I'm doing tck like at which point am is there too many yeah and it's it's super easy I feel like to look at what the most famous or wealthiest people I wake up every morning and from 5: to 9:00 a.

m. I'm doing all because they maybe don't have jobs you know so well as normal people have to go work the main thing is mostly eat Whole Foods move your body rest your mind it doesn't need to be that crazy move your body rest your mind that might be the Mantra yeah I like I like that better let's take out the other one yeah move your body rest your mind that's a good one eat healthy eat healthy yes yeah be challenging at times uh what's the craziest yoga pose that you've learned well I can do this pretty easily and it's sort of a um a party Pleasers so you do Crow to um headstand oh if I didn't have a skirt on I could do it right now I've done it so many times Crow Crow is where you balance on your hands like this yeah you could do that any you go up to headstand yeah so then you put your head down go up to headstand then you go back to Crow and then you can kick back to um a chataranga which is like a tricep push-up yeah okay I have the strength Stu down so this when people are like I cannot do yoga I'm not flexible I have owned a studio for 20 years I'm the least flexible Yogi that you'll know because I still do strength training I still do other things I'm not I play tennis I'm not naturally flexible so you do not have to be flexible to do yoga I'm not flexible and I own the studio and do yoga all the time what what's your most memorable moment from invoke Studio class well one was really funny so we have worked with the Pacers over the years and we taught a class to the team before preseason and Megan and Avon I think were leading the CH the class two amazing teachers and I was assisting meaning walking around and helping to put it was their players and their staff into different poses and I um adjusted pigeon pose is where you stretch the hip and so it's the with the whole P Pacers it's in their you know practice facility with their staff and I adjust who I don't you know I'm I'm not looking because everybody's head is down I can't see who everybody is but I I adjust a player in Pigeon pose and then I hear this you know and then they flow Vaso you flow through you do different poses and then you're back to the other hip you know you're back to the other knee and front back stretching the hip and I hear this hey shorty hey shorty hey hey invoke cuz I didn't invoke shirt on and I was like oh sorry you talking to me and he was like yeah yeah I need the other side meaning the other hip and he was right he did need the other side so it was Paul George so I I was like this moment like to be a who your girl in Indiana you know I went to you know just to like have this amazing experience be like be called I was like I've never been called shorty before and he's like did you like it and I was like yeah yeah I did you know so just have this interaction with Paul George in the Pacers facility was just amazing I while you were going through I was like did she did she adjust Larry Bird's hips while he I'm not that old well he was part of the St was part the St I don't think he was there I don't think that's really that's a memorable moment but Victor was though AO was yeah there's a hoer right yeah yes he's yeah he is that one of those moments where you just kind of pinch yourself it was it was so I felt you know I rarely it's that who's your humbleness I rarely stop and think about it but that was like this is cool like this is a really you know it's it's obviously not everybody's a professional athlete but you know to make a difference in people's lives and to you know was like this I need to remember this I need to take a moment yeah oh my gosh for sure cuz it was funny too it was like fun and light and joyful it was great th those are definitely the moment but you got to be cool oh yeah was pretty cool I mean I was like Hey I've never been called shorty before you know you got be chill what is your favorite self-care activity outside yoga a hot venas yoga okay well I do like Pilates reformers I think that's my favorite combo is is a is challenging Pilates reformer yoga class I'm inas so I I do I I belong to northbest Boulder they have a sauna there so I I do 30 minutes there I really try to do that that 30 minutes of a listen to either a podcast like yourself or um you know calming calming music yeah I would not say that my podcast is the calming no no no I you yeah but I m in the in the sauna last night so yeah go yes yeah that's a good I think time in the sauna and just being chill when walking we have such great like Eagle Creek is amazing you know Holiday Park is great the uh Brown County and walking around neighborhoods just being outside and and walking the benefits of that are documented but just to to get away from your screen and be outside amen that could be the whole title get away from your screen get away from your screen um okay I asked these same three questions to everyone who sits in that chair what's something the world needs to know about Indiana I think the strength of Entrepreneurship so I thought a lot about this and initially I had a lot of naysay when I first opened 20 years ago like what are you doing why are you opening in downtown nobody needs a yoga studio but and that might be the same in in every culture but I think Indiana may be a little more risk averse but once you start and if you feel like you're going to do it you can do it I love the support of the other entrepreneurs in the state and it is an easy place to open a business it's just you know the cost of living and the expenses and I really feel fortunate that a lot of us know one another especially the brick and mortars whether they're restaurants you know Mike Cunningham I had a great chat with once you know and and Martha Hoover who I just view as I keep trying to get her to be my mentor she's not interested was just a guest uh she came on maybe like three weeks ago I'll listen we're going to drop that episode be really drop I adore her I just think she's amazing she's she's a client um but she's she's great but she keeps she keep hey her you're in the middle of flow like hey will you be my ment yeah like Martha like hi know I'm just joking she doesn't have time but I want her to know how much she does for our community and I I just adore her but even you know the the justess Popp in girls around the corner and there's just so many amazing people doing really Ed Russel Neil Brown is a friend of mine you know we it's nice to talk to other entrepreneurs and and it's a great place to bring in things that you that you feel Soulful and connected to and people respond to it when you're doing it you know when you're out there doing it hoers are good at supporting there might be the the risk adverse naysayers like oh that's scary that's this that's that but like Martha I think it was 5 years ago opening a breakfast and lunch joint like she's a lawyer yeah they were like keep your keep your law job in my case but I knew I knew it in my bones so that if you can just hone in listen to yourself and then move forward then people were supportive but you know once you you build something to your vision keep your vision don't talk to too many people you don't want to dilute it keep your vision get outside help obviously but then people will love it and support it and it's just it's been a great place to have a business for 20 years I and I couldn't agree more what is a Hidden Gem in Indiana I don't know how hidden it is but Holiday Park as we've mentioned you know we have yoga classes there but they just have so much cool stuff going on and I just think it's such an elegant Park in the middle of the city my nephew took his girlfriend ice skinning the other day I think they have that going on for a couple more weeks so with rock the ruins and what a beautiful Park in the in the middle of the City Rock The Ruins concert series ice skating in the Wind I think they do a trail run 5k maybe some other their nature center they're just so committed friends of Holiday Park if anybody wants to make a donation to them they're the ones that that got us into teaching yoga there which we do all summer and it's just it's one of the favorite my most favorite things we do as our classes there final question who is a hooer that we need to keep on our radar someone who's doing big things so I love these guys so much so Tom and Ed Batista they are just such an amazing entrepreneur Father's son Tom actually showed me when I was still living in New York a commercial property that he owns he was um Jimmy Buffett's stage manager for 30 years and in the in the 80s yeah you need to have a on they they are fascinating so he told me he showed me at one of his commercial spaces that was available in massab it wasn't a great fit but we became friends during that but yeah when he wasn't on the road he had a family and kids and um he was like Amy everybody else was was you know spending women on drugs and women in the offseason and I'm married with kids so I just bought buildings so he bought all these buildings of M that for like $155,000 or $20,000 what's this guy's name Batista so he is behind um Blue Beard he's investor in milk tooth um Amelia's name uh Tom and Ed is his son Batista so he just had the idea like Amelia cuz he's an Italian Heritage there wasn't great bread so he started Amelia Which is my favorite coffee and pastry shop downtown they have you know they opened one up in the stuts building I recently spoke to him he said there they are expanding their facilities so that they can have more production he's behind can can he started you know he has various business partners I'm not certain how they're you know percentage wise but his idea or Vision was on the the plot of land right near the real right near the interstate like the name is escaping me but he just created this little park so that you could see the the the cars pass on the is that where the little Stadium seats are b square so that was his vision so I feel so fortunate that I met him just when I was visiting my parents and that he watching what he has created and what he has done he's such a Visionary and his son Ed you know opened up milk tooth and and I know they're involved and you know the various companies I look forward to seeing what you know he and his son and their various business partners are gonna do I love that is a that is an awesome hooer that we definitely need to get on the show yeah and he was he worked with P Funk David Bowie like he's a fascinating person I like the story is 30 years on the road with Jimmy Buffett he has some St you should have been here he's a character yeah I love it uh thank you so much for coming on being a guest this was amazing congrats on 20 years with invoke I can't wait to see all all of the events are at invoke studio aniversary if anybody wants to do some of the events where can people connect with invoke and with you on social so yeah mine is just Amy Petty cord a y p e d d y c o r d and then um invoke Studio Indie is our insta and invok studio.

com heck yeah thank you so much keep up the great work we'll have to check back in the next 20 years right such a pleasure yeah thanks so much thank you for listening to this episode of get in if you like what you heard make sure you leave us a review wherever you listen to podcast this show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the Next Level click the link in the description to see all of my gear recommendations at sweetwater. com if you want to behind the scenes look at everything we're doing across the state make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik Tac @nate spangle thank you so much for listening and being part of what makes the hooer state great we'll see you next time here on get in