As Seen in VoyageHouston - "Meet Kelsey Konsen of Yoga Balance"
We were humbled and honored to be included in VoyageHouston's Inspiring Stories series. They wrote about our founder, Kelsey Konsen, and her journey to creating and developing Yoga Balance. Below is the published article.
Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Konsen.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kelsey. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
A little over a year ago, I said goodbye to my college teaching career and embarked on a new adventure – building my boutique, custom-tailored yoga company. I hung up my heels and green grading pen, exchanging them for yoga pants and books explaining Ayurveda. It was scary, exhilarating and felt like I had no idea what the hell I was doing. It also was the decision that led to the best year of my adult life. In 2011, I thought I had it figured out – I’d just finished my Masters in Theological Studies and had applied all over Houston looking for a college teaching position.
During my search, I volunteered to help a friend move from the east coast to Houston. At the time, that decision felt natural – I had time and she needed help. As it turns out, that trip turned my life upside down. During the move, I (along with a friend of said friend who was moving) was attacked. We were led to believe a stranger needed help with a flat tire and in the process of angling the lights of the enclosed ATV that we were in, men slid down the embankment and attacked the ATV with hammers and machetes. Miraculously, we were able to get away from the attack largely unscathed but with the knowledge that if the attackers had waited 15 seconds more, we would have been outside the vehicle and probably wouldn’t be here.
The hours and days after the attack crawled by and were filled with panic and anxiety. At one point the crippling fear started to prevent me from leaving the house. I knew I couldn’t continue to live like that and sought help from a counselor. During the process of healing, I was offered the opportunity to teach World Religions and Humanities at an area for-profit university. I almost turned the interview down – I was afraid of everything after what had happened and wasn’t sure I could continue to build the life and career I’d worked for.
As an aside – I am really lucky to be married to a man who is supportive, loving and above all a true teammate in life. With his help and encouragement, I went to the interview and ended up landing the teaching position. Finally, it felt like I was moving in the right direction – I was still doing the work to ease my anxiety and fear but I was also getting to do what I’d always wanted to do. I taught one class that first quarter and only had 5 students but I loved it. I continued to teach for the university but as time went on, the love affair cooled. While I was offered more and more classes and, in general, received great feedback about my class and my teaching style, any time a student disagreed with a grade or how I managed my classroom – they went to the dean to complain instead of coming to me. I was accused of being racist, grading unfairly and asked to compromise my integrity with regard to academic honesty.
Then the day came that a regional dean called my house and told me I was no longer in the top 20% of the instructors and therefore would receive a pay cut going forward. I was shocked. I wanted to know what metrics were used to make this decision and what I could do to get back on top. No one – not the regional dean who called, not the head of all instructors and not the regional provost – could explain what metrics were used in the decision or how I might improve my score. I was heartbroken – I’d put so much time, energy and myself into making this class the best it could be and not to mention, I had used my class as a way to force myself to live my life again. What I should have done was resigned. What I did was continue to try to teach them and improve their view of my class.
After the pay cut, I taught for them for 2 more quarters. At the beginning of the third quarter, I noticed that I hadn’t gotten any communication about my class. I had already revamped the class and added new research and articles but oddly, hadn’t seen an updated roster. I called the front desk to ask if something was wrong. The front desk told me that my class had been cancelled weeks prior. WEEKS PRIOR! No email, no phone call, nothing – I had no idea my class had been cancelled. The dumbest part – I let them do this to me twice.
Without the support or respect from the administration, I knew I couldn’t continue to work for them. Because of all the extraneous, bureaucratic non-sense going on, I’d also started to fall out of love with teaching. I knew I had to make a change but I was afraid of what that meant – who would I be if I wasn’t a college professor? I realized that during all of this, the time I spent in the studio, on my mat, was the time I looked forward to most of my week. I used my yoga classes to continue to heal and reduce stress. I found myself more clear-headed and patient after taking a class. During a casual conversation with my husband, he (in his ever supportive, ever loving way) commented to “just do it – just sign up for yoga teacher training”. He made it seem so simple – if you hate what you’re doing, do something else.
I went to the information open house and shocked the lead teachers when I introduced myself as “Kelsey – I want to be a yoga teacher.” I’d previously been involved in teaching other would-be yoga teachers yogic philosophy and I don’t think the leaders thought their suggestions of my joining the ranks of RYT certified teachers were actually heard. But there I was, putting it all out there – asking the universe if this is what I should do.
As the opening night of the program loomed, I started to panic – as I really going to put my passion out there for others to be critical of? Didn’t I already do that? What was I thinking!? I convinced myself to combat the puke-inducing fear, that maybe I could just learn things to deepen my own practice if I didn’t feel like I could share this joy-spring of my life with others. But that was never the case… the program filled me with a whole new level of appreciation of my own practice, a better understanding of myself as a person and a deep connection with some of the best women I’ve ever met.
It’s funny to look back now and see that it was just a year ago that I agonized over whether I was capable of sharing what has brought so much joy, peace, healing and strength to my life. One of the best pieces of advice the leaders of the program gave me was that I didn’t have to give away my own practice to help someone build theirs. It was more than a light bulb moment for me – it was more like a firework moment. So here I am – sharing my love of yoga and building community in a whole new way.
I listen to a lot of podcasts and recently I heard a great one where a woman said “this moment is your destiny. Every decision you’ve made has led you to this very moment – so why not enjoy it”. I’ve really taken this concept to heart and realized that I’m not here by accident – grad school, the attack, the teaching position and all the yoga – have brought me to this place where I get to offer custom-tailored yoga to people of all backgrounds and experiences.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road was definitely not smooth – it was twisty, rutted and went in unexpected directions. I thought teaching was what I wanted to do with my life. I saw that as my path and worked hard to land that job and, more honestly, that title. I was blindsided by how difficult and unsupported my endeavors as a professor were and was further blindsided when I realized that I need to do something else.
Signing up for Yoga Teacher Training was not something I ever saw myself doing and I certainly never saw myself owning my own yoga company. I joke with my friends that I wouldn’t be surprised if one day my phone rings and someone tells me “I don’t know how you’ve gotten away with doing this for so long – this isn’t a real job. Get back in your lane.” I feel truly lucky to spend each day doing something I love and spending time helping others to improve their view and experience of life.
Yoga Balance, Inc. – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Yoga Balance in a boutique yoga company that specializes in crafting custom-tailored yoga classes to be taught outside of a traditional studio setting. Our classes are approachable for all-levels, focus on stress-relief and are accessible for anyone. We teach private in-home, one on one classes focused on our client’s goals as well as group, corporate classes that are tailored specifically to how your business operates. We are proud of helping our clients achieve their yoga and stress-relief goals, allowing businesses to show their appreciation of their employees from a mindful, whole-person wellness approach and for giving back to our community by way of donation-based classes.
Yoga Balance is different from other yoga studios and companies in that we tailor every class specifically to the needs of our clients – there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The individual private classes are based on our getting to know our clients personally and building a program to suit and complement their lives. The corporate classes are anchored in ergonomics and take into account how employees (and business owners) spend their days – whether that is sitting, standing or constantly moving. These classes include poses and movements that take the stress out of repeated positions as well as reduce the stress in a busy office.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success in terms of helping others. I love getting feedback about how my class helped someone achieve more flexibility, helped them be clearheaded about a nagging problem or allowed them more space in their day. Seeing clients make small changes and eventually have them turn into habits gives me personal joy especially because this was how my yoga practice began. I see this as my true measure of success – allowing someone the space to discover something new about themselves and then see them use this new discovery to build something bigger.
A huge thank you to Rachel Tenenbaum for nominating us and Michelle Huertas of VoyageHouston for including Kelsey & Yoga Balance in your publication.