Lara of Cork Yogis ( 2 min Read)

Can you tell us a brief history of CorkYogis and how your own experiences led you to start the company?
CorkYogis was born from an idea I had after a trip to India a few years ago. Being a yoga lover for the last 6 years I was starting to get frustrated with the depth of my practice. I knew that there was a deeper level to yoga and the meaning behind yogic principles that I wasn’t experiencing in my yoga classes. I wanted to be connected to the ancient Indian knowledge through my yoga practice and I wanted to feel connected to something deeper and bigger than just the physical postures.

This frustration made me look at what yoga actually meant to me; which was a devotional practice. Both devotional towards my own self and to others. This is when I came up with the inspiration of somehow connecting the east and the west through yoga and creating a giving loop.
 
Can you tell us the most moving experience that you've had through Cork Yogis?
I went out to volunteer with one of the charities that we work with in March 2017 and that was a really great experience. I spent a couple of weeks there getting more involved with all the programs, getting to know the girls and getting to know their stories a little more.
 
Probably one of the most moving experiences was visiting one of the state orphanages in Kolkata. It was a really intense experience and I couldn’t imagine young girls having to live in such bad conditions after suffering the ordeal of being rescued from brothels or traffickers. It seemed like there was no escape for these girls. But Destiny is working hard to improve the facilities of some of these orphanages and big changes have been made already; like providing a yoga teacher to work with the girls!
 
What was the last thing you bought?
A plane ticket! I’m not really a materialistic person and find it really hard to go shopping for myself. I tend to spend all my money on experiences rather than things.
 
What is your favourite Cork Yogis product?
I think our classic cork yoga mat is my favourite product. The grip and texture is amazing and its light enough to carry around with you – I have taken my mat travelling the world with me! Its so versatile and I pretty much use it everywhere.
 
What do you think makes a good company?
I think a solid mission or purpose makes a good company. Its easy amongst all the day to day duties and the stresses to loose sight of why you started the company and what you hoped starting the company would achieve. So many things change when you launch a start-up and its important to adapt to new situations, but keeping a solid end goal in mind is important I think.
 
What's your favourite thing to do away from Cork Yogis?
My two real loves are travel and yoga! Me and my partner both had businesses that we can run online, so we are travelling for about a year and working at the same time. It’s important to experience other cultures and ways of living.
 
Where is your favourite place to visit?
I love India, I spent the whole of December in India. I know a lot of people, especially women, are quite intimidated to travel India but it’s one of my favourite places. The first few days is always a bit of a shock because of the noise, the smells, the hustle and bustle… it’s a bit of a shock to the senses. But once you embrace all of this, it becomes an amazing invigorating experience.
 
Can you describe your workplace?
At the moment, me and my partner are in Belize for a month, so we work beach side! 
 
What is your life motto?
At the start of 2017 I said to myself ‘I want to do more of what I want to do, and less of what I think I should do’. This was when I quit my day job to focus on CorkYogis, met my amazing partner and decided to travel.
 
What's next for Cork Yogis?
We had a lot of great exposure from the Dragons Den airing, so the plan is to continue to build on that exposure and expand in both retail and social impact.