Local Spotlight: Zooga Yoga – South Bay
This week, we are excited to spotlight this Yoga Studio for kids, Zooga Yoga! This weekend they are celebrating their 1 year anniversary of opening here in the South Bay! We chatted with Jennifer, owner of Zooga Yoga to learn more!
Tell us about your company?
Zooga Yoga is the first dedicated kid’s yoga studio in Los Angeles and South Bay is the second location of now three in Los Angeles. We offer classes for kids ages 6 weeks to 106! Zooga Yoga is a playful and unique approach to yoga. It is designed to foster confidence, creativity, and imagination through yoga poses and elements with fun themes that include animal poses, challenging and partner poses, games and props. Not only do we bring the YogaPlay ® fun to the studio we also have a school program and are in a few local schools.
What inspired you to launch this business?
My maternity leave was ending and I knew that I didn’t want to go back to the corporate world or endure the commute anymore. I wanted to be in and create an environment of love and equality and to do so I knew I needed to be the boss lady. My daughter and I had been clients at the original Zooga location and had become friends with the founder so naturally led into us becoming the first franchisee for the company. Yoga was such a big part of my fitness routine and I knew when I was pregnant that I would want my daughter to do yoga as soon as she was old enough too.
What is one of your proudest moments?
I have had many proud moments but my proudest was the day that one of our 4 year old clients came out of her shell after months of taking class. She started off as the little one in the corner just “watching” every class for a couple of months, then she gradually started to follow along and now she laughs and offers suggestions for poses and moves in class. It has been such a joy to watch her development in these classes.
Tell us a little about you:
Our little family of 3 moved to the South Bay a couple of years ago from Culver City. My husband and daughter are basically fish so being closer to the beach is great. My husband works in television and I come from an event planning background. But being a business owner has been a dream of mine since I was 15 years old. Most people don’t congratulate themselves or say they are proud but I am so very proud and grateful that my decades long dream has come true.
What do you enjoy doing in the South Bay when you are not working?
When I am not at the studio, which is rare, I love my Disneyland dates with our daughter. Lots of beach time and exploring new restaurants in the beach cities.
How do you give back to the community?
I feel it is so important to be a part of the community and help out. We donate to most school fundraisers and offer community classes at local libraries and farmers’ markets
Come out and celebrate their Anniversary, Saturday, January 20th! They will have free classes and lots of awesome giveaways! Details here
