Meet Stacy Joslin | Owner, Sunny Street Yoga

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

Hi Stacy, can you share the most important lesson you’ve learned over the course of your career?
People first. It’s that simple.

I’ve spent over 20 years in corporate America, and in the nonprofit sector before that, with multiple companies of varying sizes across a wide net of industries. One common truth across all of these settings is that the organizations that value people as the top priority ultimately benefit from that mindset, and the ones that don’t, don’t. I’m fortunate to have many friendships still in place today that I made years and years ago through work. Ask me what I did project-wise during that time, and I likely won’t be able to tell you, but conversations over a morning coffee, business trips and team dinners will stay with me. Having seen around me and felt within me what it’s like to be valued versus not valued, it’s crystal clear that only one road makes any sense if you’re to do good work and thrive as a business in the long-term.

This insight was my foundation when I decided to open Sunny Street Yoga; it gave me a very clear line of sight to our top priority. Our people–both our fantastic faculty and our wonderful client family–are the single biggest focal points underpinning this business. It’s this foundation that makes everything else possible, the fulcrum around which the entire enterprise spins. And just as a yogi will adjust a posture to best serve them, if we as leaders and business owners need to adjust some element of our business to help reinforce a people-centric focus, so be it. The value will clearly win out in the end.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Sunny Street Yoga is a community studio offering all-levels live and livestream yoga as well as a robust set of workshops and events. Our motto is “Fusing Flow and Wellness,” and we work hard to maintain that focus, from the integration of breath to movement to the interconnectedness of mind, body and spirit within each yogi’s experience on the mat. We routinely offer events ranging from sound healing to acupuncture and yoga nidra, and are now beginning to dive more into the wellness side of the business, with specialized content and collaborations with organizations like Elite Personalized Medicine and Catalyst Physical Therapy. I’m a health coach in functional medicine as well as a yoga teacher; I’m very passionate about the concept that we are a symphony of systems and layers, all playing together to create and maintain wellness, and I do believe that something we do to benefit ourselves in one area can and will have positive ripple events in others. This is the concept around which I’ve built Sunny Street.

I’m most proud of the community that we’re building here. We call our clients our “family” for a reason–as a small studio, we can get to know each person who practices with us. Because of our size and footprint, not only are we are able to approach each of our students as unique individuals, and support them across several lanes of their overall wellness, but we’ve seen this fabulous cultural phenomenon start to develop organically across our clientele. They’re coming together as a unified community. There’s often even a little social hour that happens before classes start–students asking about each others’ lives as they settle in on their mats. It’s beautiful.

The business came together as if it was always meant to be; that said, no new business is easy. We opened Sunny Street Yoga at the end of 2020, clearly a challenging time for any business, with a very small operation and client roster. We’ve grown steadily month over month as people learn about us and/or begin to re-engage in their practice. We expect that metered, steady growth to continue, and as an owner, that’s all I could ever ask for, and I’m happy as can be. One of my gurus is Fred Rogers (a hero in my hometown of Pittsburgh), and I like to be guided by this quote of his: “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Today I think more than ever, yoga can help. It can truly help. And I’m happy we can be a part of that support system.

What I’d most like to share with people about Sunny Street is its authenticity. When you walk into the studio, you’ll notice that quality immediately. It’s one room. No separate waiting area, no boutique, and no gilding of the lily. Just a simple, warm, and open space for practice and exploration. And since we do all of our booking and transactions virtually, clients just walk in, hang up their coats, and find their places on the mat. The way we teach as a faculty reflects that same ethos. We’re informal, we laugh, and we guide our client family as they nurture their own unique practice in the space we’ve been fortunate enough to provide. That’s it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh gosh…I’ve only lived in Atlanta for a little over three years, so I’m not at all well-versed on the best local haunts. My family and I love the mountains, and the overall landscape of this wonderful city in a forest. We sometimes hang out at the Botanical Garden or walk our Beagle through the state and local parks. Amicalola Falls is a favorite too. I’m also a shameless foodie, so I’m really enjoying getting to know Atlanta from that perspective. And if we’re entertaining folks from out of town, the aquarium has to be in this list, right? I think it’s a requirement!

I like to support spots local to me, and there are a few we visit quite often. My family and I are big fans of the fabulous beer and food trucks at Anderby Brewing–we like to just sit along the wall of their big patio on a weekend day and enjoy. The owners are wonderful folks. Another regular and yummy haunt is Loving Hut in Peachtree Corners, which is literally around the corner from the studio. Finally, speaking of neighbors and family, Peachy Corners Cafe has been just that. From business meetings to social hours to just a really good cafe drink, it’s definitely one of my favorite places in town.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I owe where I am to everyone who contributed to my journey in any way. My family taught me about hard work and independence (and for sure, humor) as I was growing up. Life taught me early on not to pay too much attention to the larger world’s opinions, and to take my own road, which was enormously important to me, and has helped me to navigate my personal path. Everyone who’s cared for me and fed my development in any loving way–managers, professors, friends, family–have been paramount in my story.

In particular, though, I owe a ton to the wonderful people living in my house. My husband, Stewart, has been unflappably supportive every time I’ve wanted to change jobs, dive into a new kind of education, or…oh, I don’t know…open a yoga studio during a pandemic. He believes in me unfailingly, and that’s given me the airpower to do the things I’ve done. The other half of my inspirational whole is my son, Daniel. Every day, in every way, I am newly blown away by his joy, open-arms approach to the world and the people in it, and his strength. His humor too…he’s a very funny dude.

Website: https://sunnystreetyoga.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunnystreetyoga/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sunny-street-yoga/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunnystreetyoga