and Lennon are to make new
accommodations for those that
rent. “We’re 24/7, too. We’ve had
tango at 1:00 a.m … You provide a
time, we provide access.”
As much as the studio is about
cultivating a good vibe for those
that stick around, there is an
element of business to it. The
studio adjacent to Openfloor,
Créateur Studio, provides some
guidance.
“The
Créateur
Studio
supports Openfloor’s marketing
and branding. We have these
two studios that work together
to empower people and their
passions,” Prendi said.
Créateur Studio’s approach to
marketing is manifold.
“We walk them through the
early steps as we’ve developed
this business and others, so we
can give that support as well,”
Lennon said. “We help them
with marketing and curating
their content for social media.
We
do
some
professional
photography as well. The whole
idea would be to support these
local startups and give them
whatever assistance they need.”
The
business
acumen
of
Créateur shines, then, in the way
that its tenants are allowed to
approach their students and the
topic of wellness.
The eagerness of Openfloor for
new business and opportunity is
related by Lennon and Prendi’s
entrepreneurial
approach.
Throughout our conversation,
Prendi underscored how those
who come to use the space are
teachers and entrepreneurs.
“(Openfloor)
is
actually
entrepreneurship,” Prendi said.
“More than yoga, it’s a space
(that) provides all the amenities.
Not everyone wants to become
an entrepreneur or start their
own business, but with us, they
can. Everyone that joins here
has the passion to practice their
art.”
While yoga classes do seem
like Openfloor’s most conscious
and deliberate projects, the
flexibility of the space keeps
everyone
around.
Siada
mentioned how the freedom of
the studio keeps things light and
fun.
“The kind of students that
come to Nak*d Yoga are people
from the community, students,
people who have practiced yoga
for ages that want to come to
a place and those don’t want
to feel like they have to join a
studio that promotes a cult.”
As
mentioned
previously,
Openfloor’s
concept
has
matured over a year and a half.
By and large, most of its business
comes from tenants that sign on
for an extended period of time,
but Lennon mentions a few one-
off events that were unique.
“There was a juggling class
over the summer that was
experimental … mixed with
various other exercises that were
off the cuff. (The hosts) brought
pool noodles in and jousted with
them,” Lennon said.
Throughout
this
process,
Lennon and Prendi agree that
journey has taught them to be
resilient.
“Once our instructors start
meeting
one
another,
it’s
stronger than doing it alone. In
an industry like yoga or dance,
it’s not always beautiful days,”
Prendi said. “We’re trying to
build that resiliency. Success
does not come in one day. It’s
about doing the right thing and
we’re here to help.”
Lennon
agreed.
“We’re
learning every day and trying to
progress.”
The best way to approach
personal health and wellness,
then, is to calculate the costs and
benefits of your current options,
and spot the opportunities to
innovate based on your own
personal needs. Part of the
brand of stylish wellness that
has developed over the past few
years is about conforming to a
certain standard (Paltrow would
gently call it “aspiring”), but it
doesn’t have to be like that.
Some instructors, like Porter
and Siada, agree the current
brand of wellness impedes the
vibe of a class and makes the
space self-conscious instead of
self-determined.
“The
collaborative
nature
of our group is the kind of
community is what we want
to build. We don’t want any
competition,” Siada said.
I stepped out onto State Street
feeling refreshed, invigorated
by the openness of the studio
and the attitudes of Prendi and
Lennon. A gym membership
suddenly felt a lot like a marriage
certificate — and why would
I commit to something while
I’m so young? Perhaps, like a
healthy attitude about love,
wellness should be thought of
as an ongoing experience, not an
objective.
“Everything
else,”
Siada
said, referring to Nak*d Yoga
as we were wrapping up over
the phone, “extra branding or
money, that’s all sometimes nice
but unnecessary and, a lot of
times — completely irrelevant.”
2B —Thursday, October 11, 2018
b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
A different approach to feel good at Openfloor
The
wellness
industry
is
booming. Brands like Gwyneth
Paltrow’s
Goop
and
Jessica
Alba’s Honest Company have
made the act of being healthy,
whatever that may mean to you,
into both an experience and an
aesthetic. An outfit consisting of
a sweatshirt and yoga pants can
be chic and stylish — it shows
you’re taking care of yourself
while also not taking yourself
too seriously. A bare-faced look
can work, too — show them how
you radiate that healthy glow.
The popularity of brands like
Lululemon and Glossier reflects
this trend toward the seemingly
natural and unselfconscious.
Because there is no “right”
way to be well, however, different
brands can impose a multitude of
standards on the public. Going
to the gym Monday through
Thursday in his old, white New
Balances might be enough for
your dad, but for a younger
demographic, the optics are a
little more important. Behind
a trip to the gym is a planned
outfit, followed by a smoothie,
taken from a recipe on a wellness
blog, and then maybe a shower
and a couple of steps in a skincare
routine.
For those who can afford it,
being healthy is as easy as building
that wardrobe or shopping for
the right ingredients. For those
who can’t, wellness is constantly
just out of reach, hidden behind a
high price tag or someone asking
you to buy a fitness plan. Paltrow
herself, in an interview with The
New York Times Magazine, has
said, “‘It’s crucial to me that we
remain aspirational. Our stuff is
beautiful. The ingredients are
beautiful. You can’t get that at a
lower price point. You can’t make
these things mass-market.’”
Openfloor Studio, located on
State Street, seeks to change
that
approach.
Upstairs,
between Totoro and The Getup
Vintage, the studio is a wide,
long, rectangular room with
white walls. There are three air
conditioners, three mirrors on
the wall opposite the door and
three window panes from which
sunlight from the street pours
in. It’s one of those perfectly
nondescript spaces that you
want to stand in: bright, open,
bigger than it seems. When I
arrive to talk with Zack Lennon
and Gjergji Prendi, two of the
founders of Openfloor, one of
their renters is meditating alone
with the blinds closed. I decide
not to disturb her.
My
initial
impression
of
Openfloor was that it was a yoga
studio only, but Lennon and
Prendi are quick to refine my
definition.
“The vision that we have
is to build this ever-changing
calendar of local events, local
instructors and to provide a
variety of classes in one space
that are affordable for students
and
instructors,”
Lennon
said. “To have a variety, we’re
pushing for this start-up idea
for instructors, so if there’s a
new student here that recently
got certified in yoga and wants
to start their own movement.
This gives them the opportunity
without signing a lease or signing
their life away.”
The space, however, did start
with a yoga emphasis.
“It was a blank slate,” Lennon
said. “We got the space before we
had the final business plan sorted.
We had a full yoga schedule and
that put the vision of Openfloor
in the wrong direction.”
Part of redirecting the vision
of Openfloor involved putting
an emphasis on classes outside
of yoga. Currently, its monthly
schedule
includes
Tango,
Bachata and Kizomba dance
classes, on top of a regular
schedule of yoga classes taught
by a group of instructors called
Nak*d Yoga.
Kara Porter, a member of
Nak*d Yoga, spoke about her
experience at Openfloor.
“It’s
a
very
mellow
atmosphere. You can just tell
the vibes are different,” she said.
“Other studios, you show up and
everyone has Lululemon and
crazy expensive stuff. There’s
a lot of pressure. There’s a
complete release of pressure (at
Openfloor). It’s really nice.”
Another member of Nak*d
Yoga, Ruby Siada, joined The
Daily in a phone interview to
speak about her time developing
the group within the community
of Openfloor. Siada emphasized
how Nak*d Yoga’s donation-
based approach to the art assists
the way that she teaches.
“You could have a class that’s
filled and only make it out with
$20, or have a class of two and
come out with $100,” Siada
said. “It’s very variable, but the
amazing thing is it allows you
to meet people where they’re at
instead of forcing people to come
to you. The opportunity to spend
$0 to have yoga be a part of their
life is huge.”
Nak*d Yoga’s approach to
wellness,
then,
is
markedly
different from most health and
wellness centers. Most gyms
or studios requires purchasing
a
package
or
membership,
which for some
impose
a
price
on
wellness
before they even
engage with it,
and thus builds a
barrier. With the
pursuit of profit
comes
branding
and
marketing
strategies, which
isn’t to say that
Nak*d
Yoga
isn’t building a
business. Rather,
it’s just that the
group’s business
doesn’t
come
before the space
and the practice.
The
walls
of
Openfloor studio
are a stark white,
and the only thing
that comes close to branded
merchandise is a small table that
is covered in class schedules and
business cards. Otherwise, the
space is begging for something to
take place.
“The entire point of Nak*d
Yoga is to strip yoga to its
roots, so we don’t realy have
merchandise,
membership
fees, walk-in fees, contracts or
continuously pushing ourselves
onto people,” Siada said. It
also
facilitates
collaboration
between teachers and tenants
instead of competition. “We
have some people working full-
time, others working in their
professions,
we
have
some
students. Our decisions are very
much influenced by different
perspectives. It’s pretty cool for
our studio. We’re all on the same
status level, though — we have no
lead teachers or anything.”
It’s that freedom of the studio
that Siada finds important to her
practice.
“You
can
take
the
space
and
use
it
to
create
whatever
atmosphere
you
want,
whatever
vibe you want,”
Siada
explained.
“It is one of those
things, you know,
if the studio is run
by the right people
then the practice
that comes out of
it is going to be
the practice you
want. There’s no
ego involved in
Openfloor.”
Prendi echoed
Siada’s feelings.
“Our
motto
is ‘The floor is
yours,’”
Prendi
said.
“Everyone
that has an idea can use our
space to come and start their
idea with as much support as
we can provide. As a concept,
we’re not trying to narrow it
down to one thing. We do know
that some people just want to do
yoga here, and Openfloor is just
a starting point. We try to build
a community vibe around here,
because usually (patrons) follow
the instructor, not the studio.”
The
community
vibe
is
essential at Openfloor. Lennon,
Prendi, Porter and Siada all
emphasized the escape from ego
that comes with the create-your-
own-pace attitude of Openfloor.
Prendi mentioned how eager he
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BSIDE LEAD
While yoga
classes do seem
like Openfloor’s
most conscious
and deliberate
projects, the
flexibility of
the space keeps
everyone around