Today we’d like to introduce you to Bonnie Palmer.
Hi Bonnie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am Bonnie Palmer, native of Austin, Texas. I have been practicing yoga for about 13 years but when I started I was in Atlanta going to big inner-city studios. When I moved back out to the hill country I couldn’t find a studio I liked in the area so I was driving to downtown Austin, 30-40 mins to find good group-classes that fulfilled and challenged me. But the drive itself became a challenge and I started to wonder why there weren’t more yoga or fitness studios in this area (Bee Cave, Hill Country) When I realized that what I wanted wasn’t here, I decided to build it. I researched the process of opening a yoga studio and became obsessed with creating a completely new type of studio in the hill country and things quickly snowballed. I rented a space, hired a builder, created my plan and also enrolled in an intensive yoga teacher training program to better connect to the practice and understand the business. Just 4 months after deciding to undertake this dream, we held a grand opening party and the very next week we opened for classes. It has always been in my character to bring people together and I certainly saw a need to bring more wellness to this area of town. So Bonfire Yoga Studio was born to do just that: bring people together in wellness.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As smooth as starting any business can be I suppose. Every step has presented new challenges. First, it was finding the right space. Building out a space was a ton of fun, I love the design aspect, but of course there were hiccups. Finding yoga teachers was very challenging because of our location. The struggles are there all day every day from scheduling to managing 20+ people, to time-management within my personal life, but they are all just opportunities to get creative and that’s what I do best.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am Bonnie, I am the owner of Bonfire Yoga Studio. While I am a certified yoga instructor and I do teach limited classes, my real focus in this business is bringing wellness to my community and creating this space for the community to come together.
I designed the studio to feel like you are visiting your best friend’s house. I chose deep, soothing colors and natural finishes, no chrome, no white plastic. It’s filled with natural light and living plants and infrared heat and there’s always a little palo santo burning and the hum of music in the background. I was very intentional with the design and wanted to be sure people felt at home and free to kick their shoes off and stay a while. We offer little luxuries any chance we get to make Bonfire feel like your third home. We get to know our clients by name and learn about them enough to have a genuine relationship, not transactional.
I have sought out the highest quality instructors to lead our classes in a way that is accessible to absolutely anyone but also challenging enough to get you out of the house. We strive to get you out of your comfort zone and have you leave feeling exhilarated after every class. It may be the deep strength of holding a pose for an extended time, or the extra 10 reps in a sculpt class that “yes you can” do! Or it could be the blissful get-out-of-your-head, candlight restoration of a yin class. Whatever class it is, we approach it with the motto: extraordinary is mandatory.
Bonfire is still a baby but I am VERY proud of all of it. I am proud of the teachers who have embraced working at a startup studio. I am proud of the design that came to life (I still have my vision board for the studio on my desk and it is uncanny how similar the vision is to the real thing.) And I am proud of my family for becoming yogis when they didn’t even know they wanted to! This community needed a space and I am proud to be the one who brought it here. Every time a person walks through our doors I feel pride in giving them a place to come practice.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Tenacity.
I do what I say I’m going to do. I show up when I say I will. And apparently when I have an idea, I run with it 🙂
Pricing:
- We offer a range of pricing. You can drop into a single class, buy a pack of 5, 10 or 20 or get a membership.
- Drip in $25
- 10 pack $190
- Annual Unlimited $1100
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.BonfireYogaStudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonfireyoga/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Bonfire-Yoga-Studio-61579032710547/
Image Credits
Kara Buse of Wyld Roots
