‘All our dreams can come true, if we have the
courage to pursue them’ – Walt Disney
Louise Fitzsimmons dream of opening her own Yoga Studio and
Kitchen came about in 2013 when she was studying
to be a Yoga Teacher in Rishikesh, India. But at that point, that’s all it was.
A dream. Now 3 years on, Louise is the proud owner of White Wolf Yoga &
Kitchen on Cook Street in Liverpool City Centre.
‘I live in Crosby and
down on the beach there is a little Coast Guard’s building. When it shut down,
I started thinking that if I won the lottery I would turn it into a Yoga Studio
and Vegetarian and Vegan Kitchen. It was only me talking to myself in my head, but
from there I started to think more and more about it…’
Prior to opening White Wolf, Louise admits that she had done
a bit of everything! ‘I’d been an Air
Hostess, English Tutor, Production Development Manager for a local Film Company
and a Production Assistant for a national Events Company!’ but had always
pursued Yoga as a hobby and that turned into a passion, and Louise found that
the more that she practised, the more she wanted to share this passion with as
many people as she could.
After completing 200 hours of Yoga Teacher Training over a year
and a half in Liverpool, Louise still knew that she wanted to deepen her
knowledge of Yoga and further her qualification. This mission took her to
Rishikesh in India where she completed another 300 hours of training; ‘India was absolutely life changing, and I
think it set me up and gave me the confidence and clarity to know that Yoga was
what I wanted to do.’
‘I’ve always found
that through doing lots of other jobs in the past that I need to be doing
something that I’m really passionate about and because I have done lots of
other different things when I took the Teacher Training courses, everyone would
say ‘Oh Louise is doing this course to add to long list of everything else that
she’s done’ and I was a bit like that to myself, but when I went to India, I
knew right then, that was it.’
After returning from India, things stepped up to the next
level, Louise had already been running a small class in the old Mello Mello on
Slater Street, but from here expanded and began teaching in Camp and Furnace and
later Frederik’s on Hope Street. It was during this time that White Wolf Yoga
was born. ‘When I started working in Camp
and Furnace, I got in touch with The Women’s Organisation to get some support
and advice around the business side of things.’
‘The idea of starting
a business was completely new to me and the prospect was quite daunting to
begin with. I could visualise what I wanted to create but the practicalities of
actually doing it were a bit scary!’
Louise worked with our Business Adviser Francine to put
together a business plan for White Wolf Yoga, attend our training and workshops
and also think about what Louise might want for the future of White Wolf. ‘The Women’s Organisation has been
brilliant. Right from day one, I was given great advice and support with
understanding the basics of business. Since then we have kept in touch as I
have grown the business with their continued support.’
After teaching for a while, Louise began to think about
creating a space that specialised in Yoga and Healthy Eating; ‘My aim was to create a peaceful sanctuary
within the city centre – and that was the idea for White Wolf Yoga and
Kitchen.’
Once she decided to chase the dream of opening this peaceful
sanctuary, the first step was finding the right location. It took almost a year
of searching but Louse finally found the perfect place – an old ballroom in the
Victorian Property Exchange on Cook Street. ‘I
got a feeling as soon as I walked through the doors that this was the one! We
have renovated the space with love and care and I feel honoured to have White
Wolf’s home in such a beautiful, historic building.’
White Wolf Yoga & Kitchen is indeed an incredible space,
taking influence from Scandinavian design with clean lines, grey and blue
colours and lots of natural light streaming through the large windows. Along
with her best friend Becky, who manages the Kitchen side of the business, White
Wolf opened back in April 2016.
The Studio now boasts a full programme of yoga, meditation
and relaxation classes which are open to men and women of all levels, ages and
abilities, and the Kitchen serves high-quality, nutrition-rich plant based food
and drink.
Louise told us; ‘I
love the variety of every day – from teaching different yoga and meditation
classes to researching and creating new recipes for White Wolf Kitchen. Working
with Beccy is brilliant; we have such a laugh and keep each other smiling.
Opening the Studio and the Kitchen really is a dream come true for me in every
way.’
So, as Walt Disney said; ‘All
our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them,’ and we
know that is exactly what Louise has done and will continue to do! And some
advice that she has for anyone in a similar position and wanting to start their
own business; ‘Listen to your heart and
not the niggling doubter whispering in your head, you’ll need 100% commitment
and faith in whatever you are doing and be able to keep positive and trust that
things will work out.’
If you would like to find out more about White Wolf Yoga and
Kitchen, you can do by following the links below! And if you’ve been inspired
by Louise’s story of pursuing her dream and would like some support and advice
on starting yo
0151 345 6023
which must be paid each month without fail. In the first few months of starting your business you may have little or no income coming in, so keeping business costs down is essential. Busines
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