Stephanie Jones

Failure does not have to be negative. It’s important to fail fast, but never fail the same way twice.

 

Steph Jones is an ex-financial analyst turned yoga teacher, entrepreneur, and business owner.

While working as a financial analyst, Steph found her peace and most present self in yoga class. She spent three years working in the corporate world until she up and quit, moved across the country and started teaching yoga.

She is the founder of stephyoga.com, an online yoga membership website that helps women get in shape with light ankle weights and hand weights. She is also an advocate for people living a life that brings them to their highest potential.

She now focuses her time on building Steph Yoga and helping other yoga teachers learn and understand business, so they too can create an online income stream teaching yoga.

Where did the idea for Steph Yoga come from?

Before I even had the idea to create Steph Yoga I started looking at the world from the standpoint of, “What does the world need.” I continued to ask myself, “What problem can I solve?”

Shortly after I completed my yoga teacher training, I started teaching yoga at Buddhi Yoga in San Diego. The owners of the studio created a class known as, FlowLIFT, a type of workout yoga that combines the flow of yoga, ankle weights, and hand weights. It was a class and experience like no other. As a new teacher, I was intimidated to audition in front of the seasoned yoga studio owners, but I figured if I wanted to make it as a yoga teacher, here was my shot. Much to my surprise, they hired me to teach the new class. After months of teaching it, I started to see dramatic changes in my figure. My jeans were looser, I was toned, and my belly fat banished.

This class was the solution to wasting your time working out and not seeing results. I felt compelled to share it with the world. I started to ask my friends and family if they would be willing to try the class as an experiment for six weeks. I’d have them take a before picture and after picture and we’d evaluate if this even worked. Six weeks later, the results were jaw dropping. My test subject went from a size eight to a size four. I was convinced. I created www.stephyoga.com and launched my at home workout program.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I usually wake up around 6 AM and go for a run. I try my best to ignore messages or social media outside specific times and spend the first hour of the day after I run, meditating and reading.

I’ll head to wework by 9 AM. I spend the first part of the morning preparing social media, checking Email, and creating content.

The afternoons are typically spent filming new videos for www.stephyoga.com, planning new projects, or editing video in Final Cut Pro.

My evenings are reserved for teaching yoga, taking a yoga class, or seeing a sunset. Finding time to connect to nature and decompress is critical for my sanity. I could easily spend my entire night working on Steph Yoga, but I’ve noticed giving myself a finite finish hour allows me to sleep more sound and dream about the future.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I execute without ANY delay. I never second guess an idea or inspiration that strikes. I know when an idea comes to me, it’s for a reason. I used to sit on ideas and let them fester so long that I wouldn’t put them into action. I found that if I don’t even think twice I get a lot more accomplished.

What’s one trend that excites you?

This is a bit niche specific, but the idea that yoga teachers can repurpose their in-person classes and sell them on the internet. I have been documenting the path I’ve gone down to create my own successful online yoga website, and I am excited to share this experience and help other yoga teachers grow, learn, and evolve with the times.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Sunday night planning. Each Sunday night I write a list that says: “In one week from today, I would like to have…” I write the things I would like to accomplish in the areas of personal, business, and happiness during this week. The list includes everything from how many Instagram posts I am going to create to what night I am going to see a sunset.

What advice would you give your younger self?

It’s all going to work out in the end. There are going to be good days and there are going to be bad days, but in the scheme of things, those small in the moment catastrophes won’t matter. Perhaps, I’ll give that advice to myself right now.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Daily meditation changed my life. Clearing my mind for fifteen minutes in the morning and fifteen minutes in the evening gives me the opportunity to visualize my dreams coming into reality.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Meditate on your desires. When I started meditating on my desires, they happened with ease. Creativity flowed throughout my entire body. You can practically spend the entire day distracted from your own thoughts, but when you meditate you have to feel and think. I believe the Universe rewards you for giving this time to yourself.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.

Do this for you. My business has grown because I have grown. I continue to evolve as a yoga teacher because I love to learn about the subject. I don’t do it for any reason aside from it’s what I love. My strategy has always been, continue to improve by one percent every single day and the money will come. One percent improvements compounded overtime will yield success every single time.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I love failing. I love failing fast. Failures put me on the right path. I started my business as a food blogger. I saw other people making money online food blogging, and I thought it would be a fun idea to try. After spending months creating, photographing, and posting recipes on my website, So Delish, I found I wasn’t being authentic to who I am. This was ultimately taking me away from the path I was supposed to go down as a yoga teacher. Sometimes we have to discover what we don’t like, to find out what we do like.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

A personal blog. I know this isn’t exactly novel, but I believe that people are so intrigued by stories that anyone could write a personal blog about their life and with consistent posting create an income. There are infinite ways to make an income online being who you are. I think you just have to add your own pizazz to your blog and commit to improving and people will follow you.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

Business coaching session. When I was first starting out as an entrepreneur, I was hesitant to spend money on things that didn’t seem like a necessity. But what I’ve come to realize is that as a solo entrepreneur, having someone to bounce ideas off of and someone who understands what I’m doing makes life so much easier.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?

Toggle. It’s a time tracking tool. I use it to track how long I’m spending on tasks and projects. I evaluate at the end of the week and see where I can improve processes or delegate.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success by Deepak Chopra. The laws are powerful principles you can use to fulfill your deepest desires with effortless joy. If you put them into practice, you’ll realize that you can manifest whatever you’ve been dreaming about.

What is your favorite quote?

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you are correct.” – Napoleon Hill

Key learnings:

Keeping track of where you spend your time is key to improving and moving forward.
Failure does not have to be negative. It’s important to fail fast, but never fail the same way twice.
Meditate daily on your future desires. Clean up your vibration so you feel like you have your future desires. Place less focus on the here and now.

Connect:

Steph Yoga on Instagram:
Stephanie Jones on Facebook: