Today marks 2 years since I opened my own business. Most people (in Slovenia) start slowly, making a transition from their regular jobs, saving some money etc. Not me 😃 I started with nothing. I’ve moved back to Slovenia after a while, and not so many people knew me, especially not for my yoga. I put all my savings into a deposit for a car, so I could drive to classes in Ljubljana. I wasn’t sure how I was going to earn enough to cover all my expenses. Most of my previous students stopped coming to my classes because my prices went up (before I was teaching for donations just to cover the rent for the space), so at the beginning some classes were pretty empty. I started building from scratch. But I put all my energy, time and devotion into it, and that’s why it grew so fast.
In these two years, I’ve met some amazing people, I’ve been rewarded with the best boss and coworkers ever (me, me and me lol), I learned so many new skills (accounting, marketing, graphical design, events planning etc.), I went through really hard times when I didn’t know how I was going to pay the bills, but also enjoyed many very happy moments. Even if I’m still not completely where I’m planning to be (well, this is relative), I must say I succeeded: I turned my passion into a job, I’m able do what I love and what fulfills me, and I’m earning enough money to make a decent living.
My beginnings with just a few students ☺️
A cosmologist once told me: you will not have children in this life, but your ideas are your children. Which is true. I have so many ideas and I invest all my time, money and energy into developing them, I watch them grow just as if they were my children, I’m proud of them, I’m protective and I put all my heart and soul into them. And I want to celebrate them!
We don’t celebrate ideas enough. If someone posts a picture of being pregnant or of a child, everyone congratulates them. But as Grace said in one episode of Will & Grace: “Any two drunk teenagers can conceive a baby, it took me years to build Grace Adler Interiors!” When two people make a baby that’s just the start, and anyone can do it really. We should be congratulating people when they raise their children right! When their children grow into healthy, mature, responsible, aware individuals. Then we can say congratulations, you’ve done a great job as a parent!
But what happens when we post about our businesses, being proud of how we grew, how successful we became, how much time, energy and effort we put into it? It is not being celebrated in this society. Because parenting is still valued much higher than doing what we truly love, following our hearts, fulfilling our dreams. Even now, after successfully running my own business for 2 years, some people don’t take what I do seriously, I only have a handful of friends who congratulate me for what I achieved, who support me, who understand me, who appreciate what I do, and know that for me this is worth so much more than any 9-5 job, any typical family life, or any form of »regular« life. They know this is my life, my passion, the utter fulfillment of my life purpose and myself. This is what makes me the happiest person I could ever be, and I want everyone to congratulate people like me! For being brave to be different from everyone else, for choosing what is right for us, not for others, for not blindly following what we were told from a young age, for daring to step out of the crowd (and our comfort zones!) and be ourselves, and for creating something amazing! I want people to acknowledge my children too, to see how well they have grown because of my dedication and care, to see I’m an amazing “mother” to the children I chose for myself! So next time you see me, don’t ask me: “Do you always want to work like that? What about stability, children a family?” Instead, you can notice how well I’m doing and congratulate me for that. I will start making birthday parties for my ideas too, so you can bring gifts! 😜😁🤣
More and more people come to my classes, I’ve organized countless workshops, gave many free classes, started karma yoga classes, I’m taking my first group of yogis to India this month, I’m opening my own tourist agency to organize even more yoga travels, I’ve had many successful yoga retreats in Slovenia, I’ve started a line of unique yoga T-shirts, a granola business together with my sister… and I still have so many more ideas!! To many more successful years ahead ☺️ Thank you everyone who is sharing this special ride with me❤️
Namaste,
Nush
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