Since founding Rina Yoga in 2005, Rina Jakubowicz has established a loyal community that always strives to provide the best quality classes in an atmosphere that supports warmth, compassion, and inspiration. At Rina Yoga, not only do students improve their health (improve muscle tone, burn fat, etc), but they also leave class happier than when they arrived!With two locations, Rina Yoga has a convenient schedule, featuring classes in the morning, during lunchtime, and several options in the evening, so students of all skill levels can carve out time to practice.
Additionally, Rina Yoga is expanding its offerings for corporations and small businesses through its Corporate Yoga Solutions program. Rina Yoga will tailor a plan consisting of onsite yoga, workshops & seminars specific to the needs of employees in order to help reduce stress, alleviate fatigue, and increase productivity of the workspace. For schools & non-profits, Rina has designed the program, Yoga Universe-ity, a lecture series where a variety of different topics are covered, including styles of yoga, proper posture, finding inner peace, basic yoga stretches to do at your desk, stress reduction, proper breathing, meditation and effective communication skills.
Q: Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
I graduated with highest honors and received my B.S. in Advertising from the University of Florida and I think it has been instrumental for my company’s success. I use what I’ve learned from marketing and advertising daily to promote my business and its brand.
With this basic foundation in marketing and advertising, once I did several teacher trainings and saw that many people in the yoga world don’t have a good grip on business, I realized that I had a niche that allowed me to help share yoga to the world in a more accessible and practical way. This ability is what has helped brand Rina Yoga as a popular and well-respected studio in the Miami community today.
Besides my formal university education, I have also graduated from many yoga trainings. After initially studying with Yogi Hari, a disciple of Swami Vishnu Devananda and Swami Sivananda, I became a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and then became an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT -500), which allows me to teach my own teacher trainings, workshops and seminars for South Florida’s up-and-coming instructors. Additionally, I have been certified to work with injuries by Dr. Sandy Doman, ensuring that my students have a safe space to grow their practice.
Q: What was the “big break” in your career?
Back in 2005, I told my mother that I wanted to open my own studio and her being the supportive mother that she is, she naturally went on a mad hunt to see how she could help me fulfill my dream. She knew that I wasn’t going to commit to an unrealistic investment and she found me the perfect location, which happens to be the present home of Rina Yoga today! If it wasn’t for that space, I may still be looking for a way to make this dream of owning my own studio come true…thank you, mom!
Continuing with the same theme, in November of 2010, the GM of the JW Marriott Marquis, who happens to be one of my clients, presented me with another wonderful opportunity. She asked me if I wanted Rina Yoga to have a second home, to which, of course, I answered “yes!” Having a partnership with a company like JW Marriott Marquis that is committed to excellence in everything it does, has elevated our branding and reliability in the eyes of the community. Since that launch, companies such as Colliers International, Exxon Mobile, Oxford Company and Greenberg Traurig have joined Rina Yoga’s Corporate Yoga Solutions program.
On a different note, I’m also a reoccurring guest on Univision’s Desayuno Alegre and I’m also featured on Discovery Latin America’s Discovery Mujer…both of these great outlets have given me an incredible amount of exposure in the Hispanic market.
Q: Who was the primary influence on your current success?
I would have to say that one person in particular has been the catalyst to my yoga career and my book, and that person is my ex-husband. He was the one who told me I should try yoga over 12 years ago now and he was right. In addition, after my divorce, I was inspired to write my book, Choose Peace, as a way of helping other people combat hard times such as mine. He is a beautiful human being and I know that if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I am grateful for having him in my life.
Q: What were some of the obstacles that you had to overcome to get to where you are now? How do you overcome failure?
Some obstacles I have faced have been a result of sharing space in our main location. I have repeatedly considered moving Rina Yoga to its own home where we are the sole tenants, but financially I had originally made a decision that would allow my company to continue growing without the huge overhead fixed costs. Although there have been many obstacles with this situation, the balance of having lower costs have weighed them out so that Rina Yoga can continue to live and help the constantly growing Miami yoga community.
Q: Can you tell us of an interesting story from your professional life?
Hmmm. An interesting and embarrassing story from my professional life… well, seeing that I am a yoga teacher, you can only imagine some of the clients that I get. I could write a book on all the funny and awkward scenarios that happen to me on a regular basis. But to share one, I’d have to share one that happened last week. I was teaching a corporate client where there were 11 men from Texas taking the class whom had never done yoga before. These men were mostly large, middle-aged men with some serious beer-bellies, so naturally the whole class was a joke for them. They were constantly making funny, sarcastic remarks and trying to look macho in front of each other. One man actually started humping the air while we were in the chair position. Of course, I laughed, so that they could see that yoga didn’t have to be serious and we could all just have fun. One man asked me if I had some beer he could drink, while another one asked me how much I weigh, and another man made some macho, sexual remark about a particular pose. Naturally, I countered all their mocking humor with a challenging body-shaking class where they had to respect yoga since they clearly were unable to do it. In the end, they loved it and signed up for another class in July when they return to Miami.
Q: As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
Mistakes I’ve made are plenty, but I prefer to call them lesson-learners. If they were mistakes then that would imply that they shouldn’t have happened, but they did need to happen in order for me to learn valuable lessons. One of my biggest lessons was dealing with greed. A year ago I was confronted with an “opportunity” to have over 5000 emails from a fellow yoga teacher’s database who was gifting them to me. Instead of pausing and saying to myself, “well, these technically aren’t mine. Maybe I should just say thank you but no thank you,” I decided to say “what’s the worse that can happen?” Boy did I find out!!!! I received threat emails and over 200 opt-outs which of course makes my business look badly. Therefore, I decided to correct the situation by deleting them all and letting my company grow in the pace it was growing naturally. My advice; don’t use other people’s emails! Keep your integrity clean!
Q: How do you measure success?
If I am finding lasting happiness and peace, and I am helping other people find lasting happiness and peace, then I am successful. Making money is only a side effect and added bonus, because let’s be honest, we have to pay the bills.
Q: What is one advice that you can offer to your readers?
Advice…. Since work has become a form a lifestyle and has taken over our lives, make sure that you are working in a business that helps you grow and continue to evolve as a person in many different ways, not just financially. I have found that answering the question, “what will maintain my peace?” will help you find out what is truly best for you on all levels.
Q: What do you do for fun?
I enjoy practicing yoga, of course, and dancing! I love spending time with friends and family. I tend to laugh a lot so I have fun doing anything and everything. As the famous quote states, “it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it,” so I try to do everything with a lot of joy and fun.
Q: What is your favorite 1) gadget(s), 2) software(s), 3) website(s) that make your life easier and more productive?
I love my Mac!!! I’m an apple fan for sure. I also have an iphone, which means I don’t have to be in front of my computer to respond to emails which is helpful, but can also run into your personal life. One thing I find valuable for a small business is being in control of your website. Since I use a WordPress theme for my websites, I can update my website whenever and wherever I want. I don’t have to go to my web technician to ask him to do it. He just trained me once and I have done it since. It’s easy and simple.
Q: Whom would you like to see featured here and why?
I think that Michael Valdes-Fauli from The Jeffrey Group would be great. He just won The Achiever for Miami Today and he is very innovative.
Q: Are there any other achievements in your life that you are incredibly proud of?The writing of my book, Choose Peace – A Practical Guide into Consciousness, has been a great achievement for me, both personally and professionally. The book came out of a very painful time in my life. However, these challenges have allowed me to grow and find ways to change the negative patterns I was creating in my life. This book is now a vehicle to help me inspire change in others to literally choose peace, and effectively deal with the problems life sometimes throws our way.
Q: What is the best way for our readers to connect with you?
Email: info@rinayoga.com
Phone: 305-856-YOGA (9642)
Website: www.rinayoga.com
www.rinajaku.com
www.choosepeace.me
Facebook: RinaYoga | RinaJakubowicz
Twitter: @RinaYoga
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