| |
|
Submitted photo by Allen Brisson-Smith
Lisa Bloom with her yoga mat.
By Sarah McKenzie
// Lisa Bloom is one of the top leaders at the fast-growing CorePower Yoga //
You can’t help but feel relaxed after chatting with Lisa Bloom.
She exudes a sense of peacefulness and optimism that can be rare to find these days.
Bloom, a North Loop resident, is the Minnesota regional manager for CorePower Yoga — a fast-growing company that got its start in the Twin Cities with its Downtown studio on Washington.
Since opening the 7,500-square-foot, three-studio yoga facility in 2005, CorePower has opened several other locations, including studios in Uptown and Stadium Village near the University of Minnesota campus. There’s talk of opening another studio soon on the east side of the metro, too, Bloom said.
Nationwide, the Denver-based yoga company has 40 studios. Most recently, it’s been focusing on expanding into the Chicago area and adding more locations in Colorado and California.
While she might appear to be a laid-back yogi, Bloom, 34, has a lot on her plate. She’s in charge of business development, oversees CorePower’s seven locations, nine managers and the teacher training program in the Twin Cities. Besides those responsibilities, she also teaches four classes each week and manages to find time to practice four to six days a week, too.
All told, the company has about 170 teachers locally. People with wide-ranging backgrounds have gone through the training — college students, lawyers, doctors and stay-at-home moms and dads. People recently laid off from their jobs have also enrolled.
Bloom said she isn’t worried about saturating the market with yoga teachers — something people have asked her about.
A native of Colorado, Bloom started practicing yoga at the age of 19. She first tried classes at a studio in Fort Collins. Then after moving to Denver, she got into Iyengar Yoga, which emphasizes alignment, and eventually tried Bikram Yoga, a 90-minute practice done in a studio heated to 105 degrees — the style she got hooked on.
“I didn’t even have a yoga mat,” she said of her first time trying Bikram. “The class was insanely packed — probably 60 or 70 people in this little shoebox of a studio. … I fell in love with it.”
Bloom practiced consistently for a year and went through some major changes.
“I shed some layers and cleaned out what needed to be cleaned,” she said.
The impact of the yoga went beyond physical benefits, too.
“It started as a physical transformation,” she said. “I really didn’t even know it was going to give to me such emotional balance and clarity. The physical practice brought me there and it just came with so many other benefits. Now it’s just a way of life for me. To me, it’s all yoga.”
Bloom started practicing at CorePower Yoga when it opened near her home in Denver in 2002. She had an affinity for the power vinyasa practice because she grew up dancing. Soon, she decided to go through the teaching training program.
When CorePower expanded into Minneapolis in 2005, she was one of the teachers who came out from Colorado to help launch the Washington Avenue studio. Despite what she heard about the harsh winters, she developed an affinity for the city and ultimately decided to move to Minneapolis.
Francesca Mazzulla was one of the first students at CorePower’s Washington Avenue studio. Bloom has become a good friend.
“One of her greatest strengths is her personality,” Mazzulla said.
Bloom said she’s grateful to have a hand in creating a community at CorePower.
“During these economic hardships, people are coming to their yoga mats to find that security and consistency,” she said. “There is something very safe about just coming to your yoga mat, taking a class and not having your laptop or cell phone — or being worried about what’s going on in your bank account. It’s just one hour for you to restore.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Carmichael Lynch drops Harley account
UPDATED August 30, 2010, 2:29pm
By Gregory J. Scott
When it comes to selling muscle bikes, three decades is enough. Downtown advertising agency Carmichael Lynch announced August 23 that it was resigning from its Harley-Davidson account, ending a relationship of 31 years with the iconic motorcycle brand. In a prepared statement, Doug Spong, president of Carmichael Lynch, said, "Our agency leadership came to the consensus that we've taken the Harley-Davidson brand as far as we can. It's in our best interest to part ways." Mark-Hans Richer, Harley’s CMO, said, "Our strategies have been moving away from a singular consumer target and a one-size-fits-all agency solution. Rather than accept this new reality, Carmichael Lynch chose a different path and we respect that." The
Full Article
|
|
|
|
|
Community notebook :: Florence Court apartments
By Gregory J. Scott
1 Comment
At Florence Court, new apartments up, courtyard staysThe mid-August groundbreaking came and went quietly for the FloCo Fusion Apartments, a chic rebranding of a ramshackle cluster of student housing near the University of Minnesota’s East Bank campus. Despite years of resistance from current residents, the new building is officially going up, fanfare or no. Florence Court, as the community used to be called, is one of the oldest apartment buildings in the Midwest, dating back to 1886. The L-shaped structure sits at the intersection of 10th Avenue SE and University Avenue, but is tucked back from the street, hidden until recently behind a BP gas station. The 33-unit complex surrounds a leafy courtyard, which its residents — a colorful
Full Article
|
|
|
|
|
Watching out for the homeless
By Sarah McKenzie
// Volunteer outreach worker Jerry Fleischaker honored with prestigious McKnight award //After Jerry Fleischaker’s wife died of Alzheimer’s disease, he came across a newspaper article about St. Stephen’s Human Services’ work reaching out to homeless people with mental health issues. The story inspired him to start volunteering for St. Stephen’s. Now the 79-year-old retired pharmaceutical sales representative volunteers full time for the Downtown-based organization. “My wife died of Alzheimer’s in 2002. I saw the care she needed,” Fleischaker told Monica Nilsson, director of street outreach and community education for St. Stephen’s. “I was haunted by the thought that people might be
Full Article
|
|
|
|
|
Downtown visioning session looks to 2025
By jake weyer
// Whether to add a park north of Central Library will be part of the discussion, meant to produce a 15-year plan for Downtown //It’s been nearly 15 years since Downtown business leaders got together with city staff and elected officials to hash out a long-term plan for the area. Back in 1996, those stakeholders came up with Downtown 2010, a vision that included such grandiose plans as a new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins, a light rail line along Hiawatha Avenue, a new Central Library, completion of the Target Center and the development of the Downtown Improvement District — all realities today. “We’re standing now, planless,” said Sam Grabarski, president of the Downtown Council. “And a lot of good
Full Article
|
|
|
|
|
A mountain out of a bronze molehill?
By Gregory J. Scott
// The Sid Hartman statue stirs debate about public memorials Downtown //
OK, no one disputes that the guy deserves a statue. Sid Hartman, the nonagenarian sportswriter who has spent the last 65 years reporting for the Star Tribune and WCCO, is probably getting bronzed. The Department of Public Works is ironing out technical details for installing a metallic Sid replica, complete with TV reporter microphone and newspaper tucked under the arm, right outside of Target Center and a block from the Twins stadium, at the corner of 6th Street and 1st Avenue. The Public Works assessment is the final stage in a roughly six-week approval process to get the statue out into the public. No one’s upset about that. As Nick Legeros, the artist who designed
Full Article
|
|
|
|
|
Biz buzz :: Construction costing Elliot Park businesses
By Gregory J. Scott
1 Comment
For Elliot Park businesses, street improvements come with a price
True to its motto, Band Box Diner can turn “grease into a feast.” But the Elliot Park gem can’t make much out of the road construction that’s transformed its streetscape into a scarred industrial zone.
The throw-back diner is one of the businesses standing to benefit from a sweeping, 15-block reconstruction of Chicago Avenue South — if only it can survive through to the project’s completion.
“It’s kind of like, if you have a half hour for lunch, and then you get lost for 45 minutes, what are you gonna do?” says Brad Ptacek, who has operated the diner for the last 13 years.
Ptacek’s breakfast
Full Article
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
