Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Schiffgen.
Hi Katie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m Katie Schiffgen! I’m a full-time yoga instructor, Breathwork facilitator, and international retreat guide. I am the soul owner and operator of my very small local business — Katie Schiffgen Yoga LLC!
I’ve been teaching yoga for about 10 years now and it’s amazing to look back at how far I’ve come. Sometimes I don’t realize it amidst all the hustle of running a business, but I truly have come a long way! …and it’s because I’ve put in a lot of work! …and also because of the amazing people who keep showing up! It truly has become my own little yoga community and I couldn’t be more grateful.
I started teaching yoga in 2013 at senior centers, gyms, and studios all around the valley. I also taught volunteer classes at the Cancer Wellness House and the local fire stations around SLC for first responders. Yoga was more of a part time gig in the beginning but after a couple of years, I decided to take the leap and try to make it work as a full-time job. Ever since, I’ve been busting my ass teaching yoga all day, every day!!! Hahaha ok, not really. But I did start out busting my ass, driving from place to place, teaching all the classes I could get…. eventually burning myself out. It’s been a slow learning experience to figure out how to make it work in a sustainable way. Slowly but surely I have figured out how to work smarter, not harder; how to charge what I want to be valued at, and essentially how to make enough money to support myself AND still enjoy what I do. It’s been a journey! But today, I actually love where I am and I’m so grateful for the journey that got me here!
10 years later, I am running my own successful yoga business which has slowly evolved into a conglomerate of all the different things I have learned and continue to explore and share. What I do feels super authentic– and I am happy about that. It’s yoga, but if you really delve in, I offer so much more than just physical yoga! From daily ZOOM morning meditations, to monthly ex-Mormon community Breathwork sessions, to sailing retreats in Greece, to my hundreds of YouTube classes — there’s so much to explore!
Basically, I teach a handful of public by-donation classes each week with a group of instructors I respect and have been with since the beginning. We now call ourselves “Mosaic Yoga” and teach donation based classes out of “The Local Co-Op” in the heart of Sugarhouse. Many of these teachers have been teaching twice as long as me so it’s a group that also acts as mentors to me in many ways. Beyond that, I teach weekly “corporate” classes where I go into offices during their lunch break and help them rejuvenate with some yoga/meditation!
And last but not least, I facilitate international yoga retreats every few months. These are my favorites because they combine my two biggest passions — yoga & travel. I have grown so much from guiding groups of all ages and demographics on international adventures… I’ve had so many incredible experiences and connected with so many amazing humans around the world!
Aside from yoga, I now also facilitate Breathwork sessions in public large groups, small private groups, and one-on-ones in my private basement studio. I have been doing this work for about two years and it is one of my most favorite healing modalities to practice myself and to share with others! I just recently got officially certified as a Somatic Breathwork™ Facilitator which was a big accomplishment for me! I’m excited to continue to share this work and see how it evolves and grows! I think it’s quickly gaining momentum as people realize how beneficial it can be!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Yes and no.
I love what I do, so there’s that at least. I’ve always ENJOYED teaching yoga so I’m so grateful I get to do it as a job. But teaching yoga full-time and making enough money to support yourself is HARD! You have to hustle and you have to promote yourself like nobody’s business and sometimes that just plain sucks! Most studios pay their teachers very little, so figuring out a way to make the studio thing sustainable has been an ever-evolving journey. I’ve taught at several studios that have gone out of business because the typical yoga studio model just doesn’t work. That’s why I feel so passionate about teaching all my public classes by-donation. It is essentially a business model that can benefit not only the TEACHER and the STUDENT, but the business owner as well so they can keep their doors open and we have a place to teach and students have an affordable place to practice!
Aside from that, RETREATS have been a beast all their own. Retreats are my favorite thing but also my most stressful thing. There are SO many logistics that go into planning something like that and so much room for something to go awry! There are also interesting dynamics that can arise when spending multiple days traveling with a big group of people. There are especially unique challenges that arise when you are the one in charge! Learning how to manage all this without taking it all on myself and losing my mind has been a HUGE process for me!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Being a yoga instructor in some ways is like being an artist! Creating flows and guiding classes is like an art form! I think I have been successful largely because people like what they get from my classes and the community I’ve built. I stand out from other instructors because I teach completely authentically and have a really diverse following of people. I think people feel like I’m relatable. I take some of the mysticism out of yoga and breathwork; the weird woo-woo becomes more relatable when I share it in a way that is authentic and embodied rather than rehearsed or scripted. And most of my classes, although some are extremely challenging, can also be explored by a more beginning practitioner as well.
There are thousands of yoga teachers out there… and I am not for everyone. Some people prefer a class with no music. Some people like to do the same sequence every single practice. Some people are “restore only” yogis. TO EACH HIS OWN! But over the years I have created an amazing community of people from so many different backgrounds and ages and places… and I seriously love them all. I have my little “Katie Schiffgen Yoga” community. And everyone is welcome! The bigger the better! Come find something that works for you… I truly believe there is SOMETHING for everyone.
The thing that really sets me apart from others though is my DOG! RUBY! The Emotional Support Angel! She comes with me to most of my public yoga classes and everyone LOVES her. She will mostly just relax the entire class (demonstrating Savasana) but sometimes she picks a lucky winner who might need a little extra love that day and goes and visits them 🙂 She is the CHILLEST dog in the world… I think she might be a sage.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I’m just gonna go the route of yoga on this one cuz that is such a generalized question otherwise. Hahaha!
Salt Lake has an AMAZING yoga scene. There is SO much to choose from. If you don’t like something, try something else. There is so much good yoga in SLC! So many amazing instructors. Just gotta go find ’em!
I am a little bummed that yoga franchises are taking over the world, SLC included…. but at the same time I can’t hate too much cuz what those studios do, they do extremely well. And they also have some really excellent teachers! And there’s a reason local yoga studios have always gone out of business! Like I said before, the typical yoga studio business model, is just broken, sadly. That’s why I REALLY hope this donation-based thing works! It would be a huge SHIFT for local yoga.
Pricing:
- 1:1 Breathwork Session $150 (ZOOM option available)
- Private Small group Breathwork Session $200 (ZOOM option available)
- Public Classes all by-donation ($5-$25 suggested)
- Private or small group yoga session $150
- Corporate Yoga Session $150 (ZOOM option available)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.katieschiffgenyoga.com
- Instagram: @for_the_love_of_yoga
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kschiffgen
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/katieschiffgen
- Other: www.patreon.com/katieyoga/
Image Credits
Matt Ballard
Perry Layne
