Patrice Graham
Photography: Jillian Clark
Location: THE STORE
Interview by:
Charman Driver
Patrice Graham | She/Her. Yoga Studio Owner. Rainbow-Maker. Human.
“You find your people when you are fully yourself.”
– Patrice Graham
CD: Colors of Yoga is the only Black-owned yoga studio in Raleigh. The majority of your instructors are African-American as well.
PG: Yes. Hopefully, I won’t always hold the title of the “only” Black-owned studio here. I was very deliberate about finding teachers of color and went through Yoga Alliance to discover talented instructors.
CD: When did you start your business?
PG: I started Colors of Yoga Raleigh in August of 2017.
CD: You’re two years in. How’s business?
PG: The studio is growing! It takes a lot of work to get the word out and get people in the doors, but this year is the best it’s been. Every month gets better.
CD: What do you see in the future for Colors of Yoga?
PG: I definitely want more studios. Colors of Yoga Raleigh is a small, intimate space. I want us to outgrow the space we’re in and also grow into other areas in Wake County. I grew up in this area, so this is home. I’d love to have a presence in Garner, Wendell, or Zebulon—areas where there aren’t many yoga studios.
I want people of color to know that they have a place for yoga too. Habitually, we see images of yogis that don’t look like us and often have different body types.
CD: Not only are you a young entrepreneur influencing change, but you also get to do what you love. What did you do before?
PG: I started out my career in management consulting and also worked for a healthcare company looking for Medicaid fraud. Data-driven stuff. Very different, right? But that’s what made me find yoga, my very stressful corporate job. I started going to yoga after work.
CD: The first time I experienced your yoga teaching in action, I was struck by your bubbly attitude. I love how you have fun with the practice and make it non-intimidating for people. It’s quite contagious! I’m sure to some degree it’s part of your personality, but how did you make this kind of approach to yoga your trademark?
PG: I definitely started out with yoga-teacher-voice, very soft and subtle. It just wasn’t me. Part of the yoga life is finding yourself—and finding your voice. Being authentic is important to me and I authentically have a big personality. It can be off-putting for some people, so I try to tone it down a bit. It is a business and I want to be professional, but you find your people when you are fully yourself.
CD: Who are your people?
PG: When I was designing the studio, I had myself in mind. I was my ideal client. On paper, we look as though we have it all together and have checked all the boxes but I was bad at relationships and great at putting other people before myself. Yoga helps us take some time for ourselves. In class, I find myself in people all the time and I understand why they come.
CD: Often, when I go to a yoga class in other studios, I’m the only person of color in it. If it’s a large class, there may be two or three of us. Is your studio only for people of color?
PG: Our target market is very specific, 25-45 year old Black women. That’s who we’re speaking to and those are the people who our message resonates with the most.
The question I ask myself weekly is, “If I’m trying to make it inclusive, who am I excluding?” My answer is that Colors of Yoga is for all the people who feel like they don’t fit in at other studios, for whatever reason. Whether its body type, gender-identity, religious beliefs, people of color, or ability level—we welcome all.
CD: How do you find your people?
PG: Mostly through social media and word of mouth. Our clients are our best marketing tools.
CD: What does nourishment mean to you?
PG: It’s the epitome of self-care. It’s filling yourself up and making sure that you are whole so that you can be your best self.
CD: How do you nourish yourself?
PG: Every day is different. Lately, it’s been through rest and meditation. I’m a very type-A and driven person, with lots of energy. I can go, go, go and then all of a sudden, I’m depleted. Yoga was my nourishment of choice but now it feels more like work. Any time I’m practicing, even outside of class, I’m thinking about it from a business mind-set.
How I nourish myself is ever-evolving. I eat horribly and my relationship with food is weird. When I’m stressed, I don’t eat. For me, just eating at all is nourishing. In the past few years, I’ve started thinking about food as fuel.
CD: Tell me more about that.
PG: I have a high metabolism so people look at me and think I work out all the time. I eat cheese fries, broccoli, and drink a beer every Wednesday – it’s part of my routine. I also grew up in the South and love Southern food. I’m a very simple country/city chick. I tried to go vegan, but was always hungry—and miserable. One day I may go back to veganism. For now, my life is full of change and food is the one thing I’m not ready to change. It might take me over the edge to do so!
CD: What is it to be empowered?
PG: It’s owning yourself—flaws and all. Showing up authentically and unapologetically yourself.
CD: How do you empower others?
PG: I call myself a yoga-hype woman, especially in class. We celebrate the little things like getting out of bed and showing up. The little things become big things. I empower people by being myself, which invites them to be themselves too.
CD: How do you shape your body (other than yoga)?
PG: I play tennis but yoga is the most consistent way for me to stay in shape because it’s not contingent on the weather. I do not like the cold at all. I used to run, but I wouldn’t run in the winter.
CD: I love the word shape because everyone’s body has a different shape and how one chooses to shape themselves can be wide-ranging. In my Pilates or booty camp classes I never want anyone to feel excluded because they think they have to look a certain way to be in shape or healthy.
At your studio, do people express their body insecurities to you?
PG: That’s a good question. This is something I’m learning about, especially because we are trying to show fuller-sized folks that yoga is a practice they can do. I’ve found that coming from me, a leaner person, it doesn’t always resonate. There are teachers in our studio who have different body shapes and that helps to take away some of that disconnect of “I can’t do this”. It’s encouraging to see someone that looks like yourself practicing or teaching yoga.
At Colors of Yoga, we make accommodations for wherever you are in your practice: no matter your body type, ability, or where you are on that particular day. We use props and other support throughout class.
When I first started teaching, I was really into alignment and making sure poses were done a very specific way. Everyone’s body is different and a pose may look completely different on you than it does on me. The question is “How do you feel.” I always bring it back to the present and awareness in the physical body. It also may be the only time that person is mentally being still and present during their day.
CD: What does transformation mean to you?
PG: Years ago, I would have told you that my heart naturally beats really fast or that I always hold my breath during scary movies—not making the connection to it being anxiety embodied. At first, I didn’t know why I felt better after yoga until I realized it was the only time I was actually breathing deeply. It transformed my awareness. That awareness gave me the ability to ask questions of myself like: “Do I want this?” or “Is this helpful to me?” or “Is there something I can do about this or that?”
CD: I noticed on your website that you identify pronouns when referring to your instructors. Why did you decide to pay attention to pronouns for yourself and others?
PG: Colors of Yoga is for people of color and colors are also in a rainbow. I wanted us to be inclusive to LGBTQIA+ folks. My sensitivity to pronouns came from a relationship that I built with a person who is trans. She uses they/she pronouns and I learned from her why it’s important. As a Black woman, I’m sensitive to discrimination and I don’t want to harm other people.
A simple thing like listing she/her makes you pay attention to pronouns and understand what you assume for other people may not be correct. It’s Colors of Yoga’s small act of saying, “I see you, you’re welcome here”.
CD: How do you give back to the community?
PG: I give more time than money because my money is tied up in the studio. First, I create boundaries to keep from giving too much of myself.
I volunteer at the Carying Place. The organization assists homeless, working families with children achieve independent living. I teach a group of kids and teens yoga and mindfulness classes while their parents receive financial counseling.
I wish I had started yoga as a kid. What if we, as a society, taught our kids to meditate like we teach them to brush their teeth? It’s just a thing you do. How different would life be?