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Meet Trailblazer Melissa Faulkner

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Faulkner.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
New Year’s Eve, 2016 I was drinking alone at LynLake Brewery in Minneapolis, wondering why I was the only one of my friends that DIDN’T get engaged. I struck up a conversation with LynLake Brewery’s new marketing director. She knew I was a yoga instructor, and she wondered if I’d ever consider doing a pop up yoga event on my own. She wanted to call the event something cheeky like “Om Brewing” but I wanted to be the “Om Brewers”. They brew the beer, we brew the Om’s. And so Om Brewers was born. I sketched the logo on a napkin and built the website that night. I called all my friends after the ball dropped, screaming about how I started a company.

We sold out the first few classes. I thought if I can do this at LynLake, why can’t I do it other places? So friends started putting me in touch with other friends in the restaurant/brewery/bar/distillery industry, and I started hosting events all over the city. I’ve got a wicked travel bug – so suddenly I could write off travel if I just hosted an event and drank after. I started cold emailing any place with a cool-looking brand on Instagram, talking a big game about my “international tour.” (lolz). Soon I was hosting classes in Madison Wisconsin, Denver, LA, Bahamas, BVIs, Lisbon, Chicago – and anywhere else that would serve me and my crew of Thirsty Yogis alcohol.

I had a big break up with yoga in 2017. I hated what I was conditioned to believe yoga was “supposed” to be. As a teacher and as a student. I stopped practicing almost all together. Which was a weird place to be in while I had a side hustle teaching yoga & drinking events. Om Brewers was the metaphorical place that healed me. It gave me a safe space to be myself again – one that the westernized/corporatized yoga industry had really robbed me of.

Making a living off of $20 – $30 tickets without any paid marketing or outside funding hasn’t been easy or always fun. But I return to that mission time and time again. I just want to create safe spaces for people to belong and feel good enough. Celebrate their bodies. Celebrate any kind of movement. And yes, have a drink because you deserve it. Regardless of what you do or do not do on the mat. You come to an Om Brewers event worthy, and you will leave worthy. I am just holding space for you to be enough and have some fun. We aren’t there to find higher enlightenment and change your life. I’m there to celebrate you exactly as you are.

Has it been a smooth road?
Om Brewers is in its 4th year of business, and I still wake up daily in disbelief that this is my life. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I keep waiting for something bad to happen. I have a real problem with imposter syndrome, and it’s very common for me to contemplate chasing every dream to the fullest extent or shutting down Om Brewers entirely multiple times in a single day. The fear is real, and it honestly never leaves. Elizabeth Gilbert describes fear as a “passenger.” I love that sentiment. Fear can be present. It can hang out. It can give its advice on what road to take. But it doesn’t get to drive. Whenever I have low moments (15 times a day, still), I remind myself that I have choice. Love or fear. Am I letting fear drive? Or am I letting love drive? When I break it down like that, the answer about what to do next becomes pretty simple: keep going.

Being big and bold and bright and shiny doesn’t inhibit someone else’s ability to shine. It ENCOURAGES them to do the same. We all deserve that. To radiate. And the more I allow myself to dream, thrive, radiate – the more I can support others to do the same. Happiness isn’t some pie where we are all trying to get a piece. The pie grows when we allow it to grow. Collaboration over competition is the single most critical part of this business – and I’d encourage any women or aspiring business owners to contemplate how they can creatively use other humans so that we all can grow the pie, radiate more, and shine more.

We’d love to hear more about Om Brewers.
We teach unusually fun yoga in unexpected places. And reward you with a drink after.

We’ve hosted at breweries, bars, distilleries, parks, rooftops, beaches, courtyards. We’ve done classes with beer, Rosé, “Om Fashioneds”, cold brew coffee, bagels, donuts, photo booths, post-class massages. We’ve done acro yoga and yoga with puppies. We’ve done glow-in-the-dark yoga with a Drake Playlist at music venues. We’ve done slow classes with wine and cheese. We’ve done massive private events for corporate companies and small bridal parties in Airbnb living rooms.

We don’t take ourselves too seriously – but we take the business of creating safe spaces to move, breathe, and be enough very seriously. There are so many places/resources available at a fingertip to change your life. This isn’t one of them. I am not trying to change your life. I am here to tell you that you’re amazing just as you are right now, and that is worth celebrating. It’s okay to have fun. It’s okay to laugh and smile while you work out. It’s okay to enjoy movement and carve out time for play.

These aren’t just typical yoga classes. They are EVENTS. Experiences that you can’t get in a yoga studio. Because we want it to be special. And every little detail matters to make it special, which is why we collaborate with so many vendors, beyond just our physical venues. I just want to create spaces for people to be long – both physically and online – that remind them that healing doesn’t always have to be so gritty and painful. Sometimes we just need to play and feel accepted.

So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
It’s never been a better time to use vulnerability and emotion as a strength. Long gone are the days (at least for me) where “business” and “personal” have to be separate. We aren’t sectioned human beings. We are WHOLE beings, and I bring my WHOLE being to the table in everything that I do. I think women need to lean into all the things that make them such intuitive healers, communicators, care-takers, and empaths. Be vulnerable. Be emotional. Say how you are feeling when you are feeling it. Communicate your boundaries. Make it very clear what you will and will not stand for – because it is an opportunity to educate people about how to treat you. If you treat yourself that well, you are going to demand that same kind of treatment from others. Embrace the vulnerable soft real parts of you. All the parts of you.

Pricing:

  • Public events range from $20 – $35.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Jenna Dailey http://www.jennadailey.com/; Chris Taylor https://fifthlegendmedia.com/

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