Member Profile: Jenny Martin + a Playlist
Words by: Maggie Laubscher | Music by: Abby Yemm
At The Nelle, we believe in the power of women. We also believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. So in honor of October’s National Women's Small Business Month, we want to lift up another female-owned business: Yoga Brain and its queen of an owner, Jenny Martin.
As a female-owned small business ourselves, The Nelle is proud to stand in the same company as Jenny and Yoga Brain. An author, speaker, Nellie, and dedicated yoga practitioner, Jenny Martin is driven by her heart and desire to help others. This year, she started Yoga Brain, a nonprofit collective of yogis with donation-based classes and affordable events. Yoga Brain aims to diversify its audience by welcoming students of all races, ages, and physical abilities.
Jenny took the time to chat with us about her background and goals. We are proud to have her as a member of The Nelle! Get to know her below...
How did you start Yoga Brain?
Yoga Brain was a group idea that came while I was celebrating a birthday party. It was a joint party of yogis and yoga teachers and deejays and people who put the party together. It was about yoga but also a celebration of being outside and really doing something. We looked around and started to wonder, ‘What if we did this on a grander scale?’
After that party, I started planning. And then I thought, ‘What’s going to bring more purpose than just getting people together and having fun?’ That’s when the idea of turning it into a nonprofit arose. We ultimately filed as a 501(c) so we could raise money for teacher training scholarships. It’s me along with Grace Cantril, creative director, and Lauren Maze, director of culture.
What are some of your goals for Yoga Brain?
First up is our retreat on November 5! And then we’re doing donation classes every Tuesday in December to raise funds for our first yoga teaching scholarship. We’d like to see a major spring retreat and another fall festival next year, hopefully getting to 1,000 people in 2021 -- if that is doable with the current circumstances of the world. We also have a Patreon subscription where members can subscribe to receive content from us.
What I want to do with Yoga Brain is make yoga not only accessible and affordable, but also cool. I want people to become more aware of their bodies and stop body shaming.
Let’s talk retreat. It’s an evening event at the new boutique hotel No Vacancy, with dinner, meditation, movement, heat, and conscious conversation, correct? Tell me more about it.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Yes! It’s an immersive retreat themed around the elements. We will kick it off with a deejay event in the courtyard of No Vacancy. I’m stoked.
No Vacancy is an eight-room boutique hotel in Kansas City. We will be renting out the entire hotel on November 5-6. When Spencer Sight, the owner, showed me the space, I was like, ‘Oh my word, I’ve been dreaming of this space.’
We have an earth element in our plant-based dinner. We have a water element with cocktails and emotional conversation cards. We have a fire element - which I don’t want to give too much away about. And then we have an air element that’s a themed room with balloons, bubbles, wine, and deejays. And then our meditations are going to be grounding.
How have you developed your career path?
I went to Xavier University in Cincinnati for undergrad. I swam there as a Division 1 athlete -- while restricting myself as an anorexic. So by my senior year, I was so burnt out. That’s when I studied abroad in Italy. After Italy, I lived on cruise ships, and then I lived in Korea.
Through the years, yoga has been my largest healing modality for my eating disorder. I realized that what I want to do -- helping people with their own body image -- I can achieve through teaching yoga and creating yoga events.
I’m also an author and speaker. I published Emotionally Bankrupt, a poetry book, in April 2019. I’m currently one edit away from publishing my memoir on traveling the world with an eating disorder, called Jenny Eats the World. I had this intuition that I would write a book, one that would somehow help me and help the world.
What drives you creatively?
My goal is to help one other person and hopefully that will have a ripple effect to millions. I have the mindset that when you put in the work, the work is going to come back. Even if you don’t make a penny out of it, that work needed to come out.
Why is Kansas City your home base?
I grew up in Overland Park. There’s this thing about Kansas City where I know I’ll always have a home base here. Kansas City needs community. We really need to keep some talent here. We can’t just keep sourcing it out to the coasts because Kansas City is so precious!
Why did you join The Nelle?
Part of it was to bring Yoga Brain events there. And also, I wanted to join The Nelle so I can diversify my fields of thinking. I want to meet other women who are driven to make this city a better place. To not only learn from them, but co-create together.
What is your greatest accomplishment so far?
Being able to tell myself and the world, ‘We’re throwing a festival’ and then watch it come into fruition. That alone is proof to me that when you set your mind to literally anything, you can accomplish it.
And finally, can you tell me about a woman who inspires me?
My mom. She’s a true character of what it means to work hard with grace. She is a full-time nurse. She’s also so creatively driven, always working on projects, whether that’s remodeling or quilting or painting. She volunteers a lot and has the best attitude.
The Retreat:
The E L E M N T L fall retreat by Yoga Brain is an evening honoring earth, water, fire and air - and all the ether in between. It includes meditation, movement, music, plant-based meals and snacks, sparkling, still, and sans-alcoholic beverages.
It takes place November 5 at 5 p.m. Tickets are available here.
There are two ticket options:
Dinner ticket, $67: includes admission 5 p.m. - midnight with dinner, one drink ticket and festivities
Overnight ticket, $200-$230: includes the above admission, plus an overnight hotel stay at No Vacancy, swag bag, breakfast, Vinyasa class, breath work meditation, cacao ceremony
Capacity is limited to provide room to socially distance, with masks worn indoors and an outdoor courtyard available as well. A survey will be sent the day before the event to check on everyone’s health.
