We recently sat down with Justin Randolph, owner of Sol Seek Yoga, to speak to him about how his teacher training with Three Sisters created a strong foundation for his career. Read on to hear his thoughts on diversity in yoga spaces, his personal practice, and the business of yoga.
How has your personal yoga practice impacted your life?
Yoga quite literally saved my life. My practice has impacted me in so many ways. Every time I come to the mat, I view it as an incredible opportunity to gain insights and find my way back home to myself. It brings me back to who I am, why I teach, and allows me to reminisce on all the breakthroughs in my life that have come through yoga. I often reflect on my practice as an amalgamation of many different periods of my life and how yoga has been a constant through all of them.
How was your YTT experience at Three Sisters? What were the most valuable parts of the training and community for you?
My training at Three Sisters was pivotal in my success as a teacher. I felt called to become a yoga teacher and found the TSY community through a friend. I dove into an intensive 200-hour training and then began teaching before returning to TSY for my 300-hour training. Being a teacher and a student simultaneously was also a powerful experience.
The focus on yogic philosophy and accessibility for all people in TSY’s curriculum made their program especially valuable. Also, the variety of teachers for all the different training modules broadened my perspective and exposed me to a wider variety of topics and specialties, opening the door for even further learning.
Do you stay connected with Three Sisters?
I do. I taught teacher trainings regularly after my 300-hour training before I moved to LA in 2018. I still come back to NY occasionally and teach YTT on the weekends to stay connected to the community. Jen has remained a valuable mentor in my life and I still reach out to her with questions about yoga and business ownership. I’m so happy to see that the TSY community is still vibrant and thriving!
Please tell us about Sol Seek Yoga! We want to hear everything about the business.
I never had the intention of owning a yoga studio, but the year before the pandemic started, I ended up taking over a studio in Manhattan Beach that had been around for about fourteen years. I’d been following the former owner’s journey for a while because we were in the same coaching group. I knew we shared similar philosophies and that it would be a good fit. Eventually, we changed the name from Yoga Loft to Sol Seek, which we felt more clearly communicated our mission as a studio.
We went completely virtual and the community stayed strong throughout COVID, with students regularly attending our online classes. When we reopened in person, the community expanded even further, and we ended up taking over a second location, which was a hot studio. Last year, we opened a third location in Santa Barbara.
We run one 200-hour yoga teacher training at each location, as well as many continuing education opportunities for existing teachers. Some of the last few we hosted were yin, prenatal, restorative, and chair yoga. We also offer a 300-hour mentorship program, baking in more learning opportunities. We also host occasional retreats and have traveled together to Italy, Iceland, Hawaii, and a few US desert locations.
We’re all about community, and ours is very diverse. We’re committed to holding space for everyone and ensuring that the space never feels exclusionary or corporate. We know that for some people, their yoga studio can function almost like a house of worship. We want to ensure that we’re promoting yogic practices that can help people thrive in a very tumultuous world.
Diversity is an important part of Sol Seek’s culture, which is also one of our core values at Three Sisters. How do you put this value into practice?
I lived in NYC for 14 years and was shocked at the lack of diversity when I moved to LA. I feel a lot more segregation here than I ever did in New York. To help mitigate some of this in the studio, I’ve been expanding our marketing efforts into different neighborhoods to try to break down some of these barriers. This has helped us welcome more diverse students and build a community where people of all different ages, races, and body sizes feel comfortable practicing together. We also believe that diversity should come from the top, so we work to create a diverse teaching staff, helping our students see themselves represented in our teachers.
I also learned some techniques for fostering inclusivity from Jen. One is our accessible pricing model, which helps make training affordable for students outside of just the very affluent surrounding area. We don’t turn anyone away for lack of funds, and we also offer BIPOC scholarships to support our students and help them bring yoga into their neighborhoods. Our staff practices trauma-sensitive teaching techniques and is trained to welcome each student by name, helping foster a warm community where everyone feels that they belong.
Do you have any specific advice for yogis who want to become business owners?
I think the most important thing is to be prepared, emotionally and financially, for the time it will take to build and develop your business. I strongly recommend that owners have a reserve of cash and give things at least a year before they expect to turn a profit and grow their business. You should also be prepared to teach a lot of your own classes to cut down on costs as things are getting off the ground. Taking over an existing space that already has an established client base can also be a helpful strategy.
Business can be very cyclical, so it’s important to find your rhythm and discover what makes your offerings unique. You have to be extremely passionate about what you do and have a deep desire to continue working hard for that dream, day in and day out. You need to have a mission, a vision, and know who you want to attract into your space in order to really grow.
Do you have any additional advice for new yoga teachers?
My best advice for teachers is to never stop learning, even after they’ve finished their training. It’s important to keep a window of opportunity open for yourself. Teachers’ philosophies and messages can get stagnant when they don’t focus on continuing education to gain fresh insights.
After my initial 500 hours of training, I took additional trainings in Reiki, Traditional Chinese Medicine, yin, restorative, hands-on assists, ayurveda, trauma-informed yoga, and yoga for the spine. All of those experiences were invaluable in helping me deepen my knowledge, broaden my perspectives, and enable me to better serve more diverse students.
Another important thing to remember is not to stop practicing because you’re so busy with teaching! It’s extremely important not to lose your personal yoga practice as your career as a teacher continues to grow.
We hope you all get the chance to check out Sol Seek Yoga the next time you’re in California! Don’t forget to tell Justin we sent you!