Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Lee Geiger
Hi Kristin Lee, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Sure! I suppose my raison d’être has always been, “to make a positive impact.” I’ve thought that since before I ever had a learner’s permit (which is 14 when you grow up in Iowa)! While that sounds all good, great, and wonderful in theory, there’s A MILLION different ways to go about that in practice…something I’ve always found a little confusing, if I’m honest.
About the same time I was getting my learner’s permit, I was also making decisions about what I was going to study in college. I loved creative projects and making things from scratch, so fashion design was pretty top of mind. I figured I could “make a positive impact” by designing clothes that helped people feel more confident or maybe even change how the whole industry operated for the better. It all seemed reasonable enough! However, what I failed to consider back then was what kind of impact that life and career path would ultimately have on me. Your own health and sanity are two things that are easy to forget about but also kind of important! Once I was knee deep in it all, I realized I needed go about those guiding words very differently if I was going to both make a positive impact in the world AND on myself in the process. There had to be a better way. Enter: yoga!
At 14 – when I was making all of these life-altering decisions – yoga was never on my radar. It’s something I started doing for cross-training in college and fell more in love with during my time in New York. It was the most positive part of my day! The instructors were happy. The students were happy. Everyone left class in a good mood. The studio was full of compassion and kindness. If there was any negative impact associated with me attending class, I certainly couldn’t find it. So, when it came time to make an official career change, yoga felt like a really great place to start.
That was 10 years ago already! I’ve spent thousands of hours since then trying to make the most direct and positive impact I can every single day through teaching. While it’s been no less challenging at times than my previous career path, it’s been immensely more fulfilling. I get to watch people accomplish amazing things on their mats and smile on their way out of class all day long. I also get to feel much more positive about where my time goes as a professional. If you ask me, that’s a pretty good day at the office!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth….ha. I’m not sure I know the definition! There was nothing smooth about leaving my fast-paced job in New York so I could move to California and split my time between hanging out on the beach and teaching yoga. There was nothing smooth about growing my business, launching an online program, and then moving all of that to Minnesota. It’s been a challenge I’ve had to fumble through every step of the way, but at least it’s the kind of challenge that begins and ends with me. Before I made this shift in my life, my challenge as a professional only seemed to hinge on how much chaos I could handle at any given time or how many fires I could put out. That didn’t interest me a whole lot. At least now, it feels like the challenges that come my way are worth something more!
A friend of mine once likened starting your own business to the greatest self-development project you will ever take on. She couldn’t have been more right about that! Going it on your own will show you all of your best and worst characteristics. It’s a pretty humbling experience! It also makes you resilient. You develop skills you never knew you could have. You take risks you never in a million years would have taken before. The word “no” loses its edge. You learn to trust yourself a lot more because the only way your vision – whatever it is – will come to life, is if you listen to and act on what your gut is telling you. If you get it wrong, you learn to sweat the failures less and just keep going. “Smooth” is rarely part of the equation, but once things start to come together and you begin seeing those hints of progress and slivers of success, whatever growing pains you may have had to experience along the way are something you eventually become incredibly grateful for. Living through that struggle is what ultimately gives you the edge you need to get to wherever it is that you’re going! I like to think of it this way: if you’re headed down the slip-n-slide on a relaxing summer day, smooth is a good thing to aim for! BUT – if you’ve got a big goal you’re ready to reach for, you have to get out there, bump around in the weeds, and do a little off-roading!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Oh boy, lots of good questions! Over the years, I’ve probably taught yoga in just about every setting you can imagine. I’ve worked with so many different, wonderful people. I keep learning from every class and every client, so for me, teaching and what ultimately sets me apart is an ever-evolving process!
What interests me the most as a teacher right now I think is confidence in movement and integrating yoga with other mediums. I want the people I work with to enjoy a sense of feeling grounded in their own bodies, trusting of their feet, and capable of reaching for more. Those three things come together really nicely on the mat and even better off the mat! I always like to see what grows out of yoga for people, tree pose or otherwise, and how yoga can feed into bigger, broader goals they may be aiming for.
Now that I’m a little more settled in the Twin Cities area, I’m really excited about teaching in the workplace again and pushing my own envelope a bit by collaborating with athletes this fall. I’ve also discovered that I have a soft spot for working with individuals in recovery, so partnering with addiction treatment facilities has been a wonderful addition to my schedule and an incredible learning opportunity. Of course, I still see virtual clients and have an online program to run so it all keeps me decently busy!
How do you think about luck?
Ha, luck! What an interesting question. If you avoid a fender-bender by the skin of your teeth or win a raffle for a free trip to Cabo, I would imagine you’d feel quite lucky in that moment! Unfortunately, luck isn’t exactly a dependable algorithm for successfully building a business or bringing your dreams to fruition. That takes deliberate effort, which to me is more a function of action meeting opportunity. If there’s a good opportunity staring you in the face, you absolutely have to take advantage of it! It might catch you off guard. You might not feel ready. The timing may well be incredibly inconvenient. Doesn’t matter! ACTING on what’s in front of you before the winds change course is a step in the right direction. At the very least, you’ll learn something that informs your next step! On the flip side, if opportunity isn’t exactly knocking at your door, that usually means you have to go out and take some action to create it! We can’t all wait around for luck to put us in the right place at the right time. Sometimes we have to put ourselves there! Sure, when the stars finally align and we start seeing the fruits of our efforts, it might seem like luck. The larger truth of the matter, however, is that those “lucky” breaks are usually more the culmination of our own efforts. Kismet, idiopathic luck is nearly impossible to replicate. Your own hard work isn’t! That’s something you can usually repeat once you start to get a sense of what generates results. Like increases like, as they say! Or, in this case: the luckier you are of your own volition, the luckier you ultimately get. At least, I think that’s how it works!
So, to finally bring this full circle and actually answer your question…I’m not sure luck, good or bad, has had much to do with where I’m at today. For every lucky break I may have gotten, I probably broke a mirror or two as well! For me, it’s really come down to putting one foot in front of the other, staying the course, and either taking advantage of opportunity or doing my best to create it, no matter how impossible it may seem.
Pricing:
- It depends a bit on the client needs and scope of the work, so please get in touch if you’re interested so we can chat more about what you might have in mind!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kristinleegeiger.com
- Instagram: @kristinleegeiger
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/floficient
- Other: https://app.floficient.com
