I’m really proud of everything that I have built over the past six years. It’s probably safe to say that the line between who I am at my core, who I am as a yoga teacher and who I am as a business owner is pretty blurred. I am my brand, my brand is me. I live and breathe my business (maybe a little bit too much sometimes). And it is through hard work, determination and passion for yoga that has gotten me to where I am today; all fuelled by my drive to be a good yoga teacher and a successful business owner.

It’s unusual for a yoga teacher to talk about building a brand, or being an entrepreneur – it doesn’t sit well in the yoga world. But I have entrepreneurial spirit running through my veins, thanks to my dad, and I don’t feel ashamed to say it. I don’t feel ashamed because it’s part of me. And I have worked pretty damn hard to get to where I am.

I know who I am at my core. I am all of the experiences that I’ve had up until now; a tapestry which weaves together to make me – my schooling, travelling the world many times, my adventures climbing mountains, running marathons and a crazy iroman, my 250 skydives, my corporate career, all the 1000+ hours of yoga teacher training in which I have invested my own money, and the uncountable hours that I have spent on my mat. I am my dad’s intelligence and his business brain, and my mum’s heart (though, she has set the bar pretty high). I am a proud mum to a Rhodesian Ridgeback and a proud soon-to-be stepmother to Seb. I am soon-to-be a wife to Andrew. I am privileged beyond words, and so incredibly grateful for that privilege.

When I first started my business it never occurred to me to ever copy someone else. I had my website designed specifically for me. I wrote my own website copy as the words flowed from my head, and the content has evolved as the business has evolved. I went out and found my own retreat venues; ones which had never been used as retreat venues before and met my high-quality standards. The ideas I have for workshops and courses are the ones that are thought up and discussed around the kitchen table whilst Andrew and I are having breakfast.

I have had amazing teachers who I continue to learn from and be inspired by and there is absolutely no doubt that they have influenced my teaching – like a melting pot, all their teachings come together uniquely to make me the teacher that I am. For this I am wholeheartedly grateful, and I too someday hope to inspire new teachers in the same way.

This all might sound very narcissistic, but the point I am getting to is, no one else can be you. People will follow you because of who you truly are; not because of who you are trying to be. Be yourself. Don’t try to imitate or copy others. Be happy in your own skin. And then you will thrive.