Rolf Gates is the exemplar Yogapreneur. In addition to owning what was named one of Travel and Leisure’s top yoga studios in the world, Gates conducts teacher trainings all over the world, penned a popular book, Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections of the Path of Yoga, offers DVDs and has added life coaching to his wellness stable.
With a past in social work and a legacy that includes six generations of ministry, being of service to his community seems to be his destiny. After battling an alcohol addiction, Gates credits his meditation and yoga practice in helping him feel more at peace and centered than ever before.
Gates has devoted his life to helping others see as he states, “time on the mat and on the meditation cushion offers someone the chance to live from the inside out.†His wellness endeavors continue to inspire others to face life’s challenges and we honor his dedication with a spot in this year’s Yogapreneur series.
What was the impetus behind venturing into the health and fitness industry as an entrepreneur?
I had been working in the social work field and although I was very passionate about it the state and federal funding process felt chaotic and undermining to me. I saw entrepreneurship within the yoga space as a way to perform a potentially greater service to my community far more effectively and sustainably.
How has business been going for you? Tell us about some projects you are currently working on.
Business has been steady. More and more businesses enter the space but the space just keeps getting bigger.
What resources did you use to start and grow your business?
One of the things I love about working for yourself is that your business reflects your vision and that as your vision changes your business changes. Currently we are in a flection point. The current design of my business began in 2007 and has matured with regular teacher trainings throughout the U.S. online teacher trainings, weekend workshops, week long retreats, and personal coaching. As we move forward I am going to devote a couple of years to writing projects whose time has come and to the online trainings which are growing steadily it will mean more time at home while my children are still young and the opportunity to write again which I have been missing.
Your brand incorporates quite a few endeavors. Do you feel it’s necessary to diversify yourself to be a successful Yogapreneur?
The diversity of my company reflects my diverse interests more than a particular need for my business. That having been said, the various aspects of my business have always worked synergistically.
What are some of the challenges you face being an African-America man in the Yoga space, if any?
Although the Yoga world has been largely white up to now I have not felt that my race has been a factor one way or the other in terms of my experience as a professional.
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- Rolf Gates teaching in one of his popular classes
How has yoga changed your life?
Yoga has been a means for me to address a lifetime of trauma and addiction as it has manifested both in my body and in my relationship to my body. At 28 my blood pressure was 140/90 and at 48 my blood pressure was 116/70. This represents a dramatic shift in terms of my longevity and quality of life at a physical level and it and offers a quantitative look into how I feel on a daily basis.
At 28 with no responsibilities whatsoever I was extremely stressed out; at 48 with a wife, children, a mortgage, and a business, I am pretty much at peace. This is what yoga on the mat, on the meditation cushion and in your daily affairs can do for you. This all began with getting sober twenty-three years ago with twelve step programs. Between living sober and practicing yoga, I get a little happier each year.
Being that you are one of the few black entrepreneurs in the yoga industry, do you feel that you have inspired other people of color to practice Yoga?
I have no idea. Most of my focus has been to get better at a job which is extremely demanding. My growth curve so far has been over sixteen years long and I feel as though I have a long way to go before I can say that I have lived into my potential as a teacher. In the last few years I have seen a concerted effort at the grassroots level and at the leadership level to bring yoga into schools, prisons, the military, and into addictions treatment.
What are some ways you would suggest to get more people of color involved in yoga?
Choosing to practice yoga is a personal decision like choosing to start a vegetable garden, or learn another language. A person has to feel as though they have the time and effort to be able to do so. The reality is that Yoga is extremely accessible now online with free or nearly free classes being offered on multiple sites. This means that someone could begin a meaningful practice if they were willing to devote a half hour to it three or four days a week. Time and cost are becoming moot as barriers to entry.
My hope is that Yoga will be seen not as an alien religious practice but as a means for personal empowerment. A little
yoga done regularly makes one largely independent from the ups and downs of their circumstances. My two brown children have spent their whole life with and mother and a father who are tapped into their own inner resources and into the guidance and support of their higher power. My children are growing into a world they do not feel they have to fear because their parents don’t. What better case can be made for yoga?What are your plans for the future?
My aspiration is to grow in my capacity to love well. It is my experience that loving well is happiness. Whether I am loving my garden, my children, my wife, my dog, my students, my neighbor, my friends, my cab driver the experience of being kind, being compassionate, sharing a laugh, sharing a sadness, loving well in any capacity is a moment of happiness. Yoga on my mat and on my cushion nets out to more happiness.