Meet Stephanie Germann | Yoga Studio Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephanie Germann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie, what do you attribute your success to?
As a new business owner (Nectar Yoga is only 7 months old!) I am curious to see how the answer to this question might evolve. We were fortunate to inherit an existing yoga community when we opened Nectar Yoga. Cece (my business partner) and I taught at the yoga studio that lived in this space before Nectar Yoga opened. While so much of what we encountered was brand new territory, our students came along with us for the ride.

A successful yoga studio, to me, looks like many things:

-a strong and supportive community
-a thriving team that is compensated well, appreciated, and nurtured
-consistency
-eagerness to continue growing, and the humility to know when it’s time to evolve

I think that an abundance mindset is behind all of this. Showing up everyday with gratitude and the belief that what you put out into the world will come back to you has been the foundation of our success.

What should our readers know about your business?
I think that any great yoga studio (and there are many here in Atlanta) is passionate about building a dedicated and passionate teaching team. And that requires a healthy and supportive work environment, if you want to reduce staff turnover. One of the things that I am most proud of is putting sustainable teacher wages over high profit. Our teachers are exceptional at what they do, and deeply committed to their students.

In my early teaching days I remember pouring my heart into planning a class, and then riding my bike across town to teach, often for as little as $10 a class. $30 on a really good day. As might be expected, teacher turnover was always highest at studios with low pay, and weak/absent leadership.
I know that studio finances can be tricky, and I am grateful that we have found a way to support thriving teachers.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We’d definitely spend some time in EAV. That’s where Nectar Yoga is located. We’d pop in for a yoga class and then walk over to “Plants & Coffee” for a latte.

There are so many great patios in Atlanta, and it’s my favorite warm weather activity to ride bikes (as in bicycle) to these. Inner Voice Brewing (Decatur) has a nice patio and a delicious Mango Lassi Sour Beer! I also love literally every single item on the Poor Hendrix menu (East Lake/Kirkwood).

I’m not much of a late night person these days, but I will always make an exception for a good concert at The Eastern or The Variety Playhouse. If you’re going to the former, hit up La Semilla for some delicious plant-based food, for for the latter, stop by The Porter and make sure to order the salt and vinegar popcorn.

I could go on, but those are definitely my favorites!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to give a shoutout to our yoga community! When Cece and I opened Nectar Yoga we had very little business background, almost no marketing experience, and a limited starting budget. We couldn’t afford to hire professionals to do things like build our website, or manage our social media accounts. Our community of students and teachers came though with suggestions, tips, tricks, and boatloads of encouragement. We are still implementing new, helpful ideas that were shared with us.

When we built our brand and began planning the launch of Nectar, I wasn’t sure if anyone would show up. It’s terrifying to put yourself out there and then wait to see if you’re received well. I had a lot of anxiety around the potential for failure.
I can tell you that the overwhelming support we received and the full house on our opening weekend and launch party was NOT due to our exceptional marketing skills, lol. It was all made possible because of our loyal and loving students who spread the word and showed up with enthusiasm. They are everything to us.

Website: https://www.nectaryogaatlanta.com

Instagram: nectaryogaatl