Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachael Kitchen. Them and their team share their story with us below:
GOGA was founded by Rachael Phillips and Trey Kitchen right after Hurricane Harvey landed in Texas. The new couple wanted to find a way to raise money for Harvey victims, and Rachael had been bugging Trey about Goat Yoga since meeting his mother, Roxie, and her goats a few weeks prior. Trey finally called his mom to pitch their crazy idea to her, and being the crazy goat lady that she is, she agreed to partner with them! The three of them immediately found that their strengths and weaknesses perfectly complemented each other, and they quickly realized that they were going to make a great team. After a few fundraising events, the three realized that GOGA was here to stay and they have been doing events twice a month ever since. In 2018, they opened a Yoga studio in the Hill Country Galleria shortly after their appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank. Today, they are offering Goat Yoga two Saturdays/month still, as well as private events (Birthday parties, Bachelorette parties, corporate events, weddings, etc.). GOGA has blessed them in many ways – allowing them to continuously give back to the community (100% of shirt sales profits donated to local charities), growing Roxie’s goats’ ranch (they are some spoiled goats!), and allowing Rachael to leave her corporate marketing job and go GOGA full time in February of 2018. Rachael and Trey have also since married and had their first baby boy!
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?
GOGA was started on the rooftop of a parking garage, so it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing since the beginning! The location was our biggest challenge because we needed somewhere goat-friendly (fenced in). While the parking garage rooftop was a great location to start, we quickly realized that we needed something indoors because Texas weather is so unpredictable and can be very extreme at times. As we started looking for a studio to lease, we realized that many commercial real estate management companies did not take us seriously or were not willing to allow us to bring the goats in. Luckily we found the perfect space at the Hill Country Galleria and the rest is history!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about GOGA – Goat Yoga Austin, LLC?
GOGA is like Yoga with a fun twist….baby goats! Our pet goats walk, hop, and cuddle their way around our Yoga classes. They love people and make Yoga more lighthearted and less intimidating to those new to the practice. GOGA is a small family run business and we love making our customers a little happier than when they walked through the door!
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was very independent and ambitious. I worked very hard at school and after school – as soon as I was old enough to get a job, I got two! I’ve always known that I wanted to own a business but had never found anything that I was passionate enough about to go through the challenges it takes to run a business…until GOGA!
Pricing:
- $30/person
Contact Info:
- Email: gogagoatyoga@gmail.com
- Website: www.goga.yoga
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogaandgoga/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GOGAGoatYoga
Image Credits:
Monica Danielle Photo
