Name of Owner: Kim Austin-Peterman and Lisa Meer-Lewis
Year you opened for business: 2007
How would you describe your business?
It is a wellness center, specializing in yoga, massage and Ayurveda with a strong therapeutic perspective.
Briefly describe your typical client/customer.
Students and clients male, female, infants and children. People of all shapes and sizes with one common interest in health and well-being.
What is one thing most people do not know about your business that would surprise him/her?
“If you can breathe, you can do yoga!” There is no need to have any experience with yoga, not need to already be flexible. Where anyone is in their body, they can work to stretch and strengthen from there. We are very capable and happy to meet people’s needs whatever they may be.
What do you enjoy most about doing business in your district/community?
Our small Ghent community is intimate enough to generate a strong word-of-mouth kind of support yet also service a certain level of cultural openness to things like alternative healing methods.
What do you enjoy most about doing business in Hampton Roads?
The diversity of the community is a great compliments to the diversity of our teaching and therapies.
What challenges do you face as a business owner?
Maintaining a consistent level of advertising is something we know to be important. Finding where is best for us to advertise has been a challenge over the years. However, we have learned a lot and have managed to use our creative sense (and local media opportunities!) to compensate for our limited budget.
What’s in store for your business in the future?
We hope to continue to keep doing what we are doing for years to come. We understand that listening and staying open to the changing nature of what is, is always the best way to keep our connection to the community and to how we can offer consistently to what our communities need.
What could local government do to help small business owners in your business district (besides lower taxes)?
We as yogis try to stay within an inner focus, being the change that we would like to se in our world. In other words: no comment on the outer forces that be!
