Community Highlights: Meet Carmen Navratil of YogaSix Clearwater

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carmen Navratil.

Hi Carmen, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
In 2017, I started thinking about what I wanted to do with my life, for myself, as a career. My kids were now older, both in Elementary school and I had been a stay at home mom for their primary years. But, I always knew that I wouldn’t be a stay at home mom for their entire childhood and frankly, I was beginning to need more adult interaction. After discussing things with my husband, who I have also helped with his family business of real estate property management, about what to do, he suggested buying a business. I knew that I could not go back to a corporate job, and I had already owned my own business in the past, with little success at making a profit. But, this time it was different. We were looking at buying an existing business or franchise rather than starting from scratch. Eventually, in my search for what to buy and what to get into, I stumbled upon a franchise broker who asked me a very significant question; “what are you passionate about?”. At the time, almost hitting 40, and I had finally begun to appreciate an active lifestyle and was I was feeling the physical and mental benefits of it. My answer to him was “fitness.” Mind you, at the time, I was practicing Jiu-Jitsu, belly dance, and yoga. So, he mentioned a brand, Xponential Fitness and how they had a Discovery Day in their corporate office. I could travel to California to learn more about opening a franchise with one of their brands. One particular brand stood out to me, YogaSix, and I instantly knew that I had to learn more.

Especially after having recently returned from a yoga retreat in Costa Rica, I felt better than I had been feeling in a long time! Truly an eye-opening and life-changing experience, after really delving into a daily yoga practice and having an opportunity to appreciate all it has to offer. After my Discovery Day, I learned that this company, the message they were trying to communicate to the masses, was that of inclusion of all levels, sizes, backgrounds, and experience. A place where someone who has never tried yoga or has had trepidation about it could feel comfortable coming into this space to practice and try it out, to see if this was true, something for them. I knew on that day that I wanted to be someone in my community to bring a safe space where anyone can come in and feel comfortable to practice, and when they are done with their practice, they can walk away feeling better, like they can go on and take on their day with more self-assurance. Fast forward to the present day and we have been open since May of this year! I have created a team of amazing people and together we have been able to bring YogaSix to Clearwater. We have had our ups and downs since we opened, but we continue to work hard every day to get that message out to our community.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The biggest challenge was having to open in the middle of a pandemic! We were actually scheduled to open at the end of March, right when lockdown happened. We had participated in a few grass roots events earlier in the year, and they had gone very well, and things were looking promising. This has been difficult for us, as it has taken us longer to reach our set goals, having us adjust our course of action to continue operating during the pandemic.

We’ve been impressed with YogaSix Clearwater, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our yoga studio is a beginner-friendly, modern take on yoga that aims to provide an experience where anyone from any level can come in and take any one of our six core classes. The instruction of the classes is done in a manner where the instructor will describe a pose from basic to complex, with language that allows the student to choose how much they want to challenge themselves that day. The instructor will say things like, if you want to challenge yourself, reach out in front of you, or if you prefer, stay right where you are. In addition, we don’t use Sanskrit and the names of poses are all in English, meant to take out some of the intimidation of the unfamiliar. We also use these amazing colorful lights that depending on the class and at what point in the class the students are, the teacher will set the room to purple, blue, green, yellow, or red. The colors are meant to add an extra dimension to the practice, adding to that internal sense or and the meditation of making each practice your own, getting into that flow of meditative movement that those who practice vinyasa yoga come to seek.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
There are three instrumental people that have helped and continue to be a big part of helping in the operation of the yoga studio. Firstly, my husband, John, has been very supportive and played a significant role in the beginning stages of building and development. His background in real estate and knowledge of property rental as well as dealing with contractors has helped take a lot of the guesswork out at the beginning of this process. He was able to facilitate negotiating a space for the lease and work with the contractor about the build-out and licensing. The second person I would like to give credit to is my General Manager, Meredith. I hired her at the beginning of March, a month prior to our projected opening date. With a strong background in sales and management, she continues to be a big driving force in the daily operating side of the business. And finally, our lead yoga instructor, Kris, who has also been by my side since the very beginning, together we have found yoga teachers that would be well suited for the studio, and she continues to be an important part of the mentoring and growth of our instructors.

Pricing:

• Warrior 1 Monthly Membership: $76/mo
• 10 Class Package: $195
• Drop in: $25

Contact Info:

• Email: clearwater@yogasix.com
• Website: yogasix.com/clearwater
• Instagram: yogasix_clearwater
• Facebook: YogasixClearwater
• Twitter: YogaSixClearwa1
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/yogasix-clearwater-clearwater