Awakening the Wellness Warrior: A Journey of Yoga, Motherhood, and Empowerment with Tommie Burch Ep. 165

Yoga isn't just about striking a pose; it's a gateway to rediscovering your inner strength and beauty. That's exactly what Tommie a yoga guru and mompreneur, learned on her journey from self-perception to self-empowerment.

But Tommie takes it to another level as a mompreneur, she is not only the owner of Balance by Tommie, she is also the co-founder of Capital Sweat Festival. The Capital Sweat Festival was the first of its kind in 2023 and now into it's second year, she is feverishly planning with her co-founder Danny Pigliavento.

Don't miss this fun epsiode with Tommie discussing her yoga journey, how she is balancing motherhood, and the amazing events she has planned for the capital region!

Tommie is a RYT-200, 8hold a 5 Hr Prenatal Certification, an ASFA barre instructor, a classically and comprehensively trained Pilates instructor, co-founder of Capital Sweat Fest, and mompreneuer. At balance by Tommie is dedicated to helping women create empowering thoughts and cultivate a positive lifestyle through the transformative practices of yoga, movement, and breathwork.  At Balance by Tommie, the mission is to encourage and empower women to invest in themselves and prioritize their well-being. I believe that every woman deserves the opportunity to embark on a journey of self-discovery, self-care, and self-love.

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Chapters

• 0:24 Empowering Moms Through Yoga & Wellness
• 8:59 Finding Balance in Motherhood and Business
• 14:06 Empowerment Through Pregnancy and Business
• 24:22 Building Community in Fitness and Wellness
• 30:24 Social Media and Website Promotion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

I'm excited to have you here. It took some time to get you here.

Speaker 2: 0:29

Busy mom schedule.

Speaker 1: 0:33

I know right. So, first of all, why don't you introduce yourself to the listeners? Where are you from and what do you do?

Speaker 2: 0:41

Sure. So, like Lisa said, my name is Tommy. I am a small business mompreneur. I am a yoga instructor, a Pilates instructor, a bar instructor. I also have, obviously, my own business. I do wellness retreats. I am the co-founder of Capital Sweatfest. So I was born and raised in upstate New York. I'm still here, little Sweat Fest. So I was born and raised in upstate New York. I'm still here. And I'm a mom of a little toddler girl. So that's one of my other proudest titles.

Speaker 1: 1:11

Okay. So, tommy, I know I was looking at well, I was looking at your website and looking more about you, know who you are and you know I see a lot of the yoga and the balance and all that. So how did you get into yoga? Because I know there's got to be a story.

Speaker 2: 1:29

Yes, and this is honestly one of my favorite stories to tell I had a kind of pivotal moment. So I was in college, I went to UAlbany around here, so I was taking a yoga class in the area. So since Dives in Plaza actually, and at that time in my life I was just not in a good place. I had a lot of self image issues, body image issues that really kind of escalated into a bunch of other problems. I just wasn't in a good place in my life.

Speaker 2: 1:59

I was very sad and I started to take these yoga classes and I had this moment one day when I was in the studio and I was doing a warrior too, which is like kind of a power pose, and I looked at myself in the mirror and for the first time in a really long time, I liked the way that I looked in the mirror and what was funny about the whole situation was that it wasn't that I liked the way my physical body looked.

Speaker 2: 2:31

It wasn't like, oh, I like the way my legs look here, my abs or my arms or whatever it was, but I liked that I looked strong, like I felt powerful in that pose and in that, in that moment, I felt powerful in that pose and in that, in that moment I felt strong and that's what I liked about myself. And that was the pivotal moment where I was like, okay, there is something so much deeper to a yoga practice than doing the physical postures or getting you know the physical part of yoga, and like that was the moment that I realized it was like kind of a spiritual and mental practice as well, because it was what I felt, that I liked, as opposed to what I was really looking at.

Speaker 1: 3:12

So when you were doing that, so you got into yoga and you're doing this and you know you went to what do you call it? Yoga school? I mean, is that what they call it?

Speaker 2: 3:25

Teacher training YTT that's what we call it.

Speaker 1: 3:27

So you go through that whole journey. Did you feel like you getting stronger? I mean, what? Just give us a sense of what that transition was?

Speaker 2: 3:37

So that I would say, like that was more of the point where yoga changed my life. I trained at Studio 4 under Michelle Pollard, so she owns Studio 4. She's amazing. She's an incredible teacher instructor. She still teaches here and that's where I teach a lot of my classes too, at her studio.

Speaker 2: 3:57

And I actually it was 2021 when I did my YTT, and I had just lost my job in 2020 because of COVID. I was an event planner, so that was obviously the first things to go. Parties were not a thing anymore, obviously, yeah. And so I waited for a year and it was just so questionable. We really didn't know when these things were going to like get back into play, and so I decided to take that time that I had when I was off and get my teacher certification. I'd already had a personal yoga practice for quite a while and I was like you know what, with this time, I'm never going to have this time again. Right, like that you're not. We weren't doing anything. There was no other responsibility. So I was like we weren't doing anything. There was no other responsibility. So I was like this is a great time to do this.

Speaker 2: 4:59

And so when I got into the YTT, that's when, like I dove in like to the mind, body, spirit connection, the spiritual aspect of yoga, like I feel like it's almost I've heard people say this before but when you do like YTT, it's like the gateway to, you know, like the gateway drug to spirituality and like understanding that kind of stuff, because you really all the things, you learn, the practices, like it's so much deeper than, again, the physical practice.

Speaker 2: 5:19

There's lifestyle, there's breath work, there's it's just a very spiritual practice and I got hooked on that and that's when it changed. That's when it started to change my life, because that's when I started getting into like personal development and just really exploring that mind, body, spirit connection which is what my whole brand is based around is finding health in all three of those ways, particularly as moms, as wives, as women, because I feel like a lot of that has gotten kind of pushed aside in society. You know there's such this hyper focus on body, but what about taking care of our mind and our spirit too, particularly, you know, in motherhood?

Speaker 1: 6:07

and yeah, it's just women so let me ask you this, um, because you talked a lot about that mind body connection and you, being a yoga instructor, you're going through that journey, so were you able to like do this whole meditation where there's silence and there's like no thoughts coming across your mind?

Speaker 2: 6:31

No, and honestly, that's like you know. It's actually so funny that you said that, because this morning I meditated for like the first time in so long and I actually did set a timer and I did sit in silence for seven minutes and it didn't feel that tough, but that's, that's three years after. You know, like the yoga teacher, it is such a hard practice to sit in meditation. But also meditation isn't? I think it's a common misconception that it's about like it's not to say nothing should come into your mind. It's that you have to be able to look at what does pop up and then let it go. Like you can notice them, you can notice the thoughts, but you can't then say, okay, that's making me think about this, and then that's making me think about that. You have to just be like the thought I see you, goodbye, the thought I see you, goodbye. And then, once you get into that flow, that's's when you can, that's when, like, your brain is going to start understanding like, okay, she's not gonna entertain these. So that's how you get into it.

Speaker 2: 7:35

And there's actually a meditation practice that I learned in ytt called netty. Netty, and what that kind of translates to is not here, not now, and sometimes if you're just starting meditation, it's really helpful to use that because then it gives you something to label the thought. So if something pops into your head, you just in your head you say neti, neti, neti, neti, and that means not here, not now, and that gives you that comfort of acknowledging it but then moving it along. God, I just learned something today. That's awesome. Yeah, that's one of my favorite ones for people who are just starting to meditate and shout out to uh, joni, she was another one of the teachers in YTT. She taught that and that one really did kind of shift the way I. It's just such a good opening practice for.

Speaker 1: 8:21

Yeah, so I, you know, I always hear when, um, you know, when I try to meditate, and they're like, oh, just push away the thought. I'm like, lady, I can't push away this damn thought, you know, just push it aside. That's not easy, you know.

Speaker 2: 8:37

No, it's not easy and it's a hard practice meditating. Definitely it really is.

Speaker 1: 8:43

Let's talk about your business. Like the name of your business, balance by Tommy. Talk more about that.

Speaker 2: 8:52

Okay. So I came up with the name and concept of this. I was rebranding and I was shifting. Before I was like very much focused on yoga and my other business was called Updog and there's a whole story with that, I won't get into it but I had a German shepherd and the idea was to do yoga and pet therapy together. That was the base of that business, and then I ended up losing him, like at a really young age. So it was just like devastating and so I needed to shift, I needed to rebrand and, um, I knew I wanted to get into more like retreats and I wanted to incorporate bar and Pilates and all these other different things that I could offer.

Speaker 2: 9:37

So I was trying to think of a word that, what, what applies to all of those things? Um, and balance was one thing that I thought of. So you have balanced yoga postures, but in bar you also have balance. It helps improve balance. Pilates is amazing for balance. And then comes in that um, really the emotional balance.

Speaker 2: 10:00

Um, a lot of people talk about, you know, work, life, balance, and that's not what I'm out to create or to help people create. That's not about what it is. It's the balance within that I want to create. So it's the balance in finding a place that we are like centered, and I actually had a coach who kind of taught me this.

Speaker 2: 10:24

She was, like imagine yourself in a canoe. You want to be going at a place where if something happens, whether it's good, then you can like just lean a little bit that way, lean into it, but if also something challenging or tough comes along, you can also just lean into it because you're already balanced, like that's your foundation and that's what I really wanted to create. It's learning to take care of yourself so that you can find that sense of balance, so you're not in this like high stress, fight or flight all the time. It's taking care of you, finding balance within you, finding balance in your breath, finding balance in your mind, finding balance in your spirit. And also my daughter's a Libra and that just like tied it all together, like it was just such a like a little nod to her Um cause, obviously the scales and balance. So I actually always have on like Libra earrings, because it's both my business baby and my actual baby are balanced babies.

Speaker 1: 11:29

I love that you know, and I love that you said that, because that makes a difference, because I know you know, when people are like balance, there's no such thing as balance, right. But you were right, you know, if we're talking about our internal, our emotions are, you know, we don't want to have our anxiety out of whack and all of that. I mean we need to have some sort of balance internal.

Speaker 2: 11:51

Um, and I love that.

Speaker 1: 11:52

Right, so it's not. It's not like balancing the balancing act of motherhood and being a you know a business owner and all that. It's the balance within right.

Speaker 2: 12:02

I like that. That makes a lot of sense. Exactly, yeah.

Speaker 1: 12:06

Okay, so let me ask you this Are you, do you have a location, or do you a pop up or what what's? I never know when are you?

Speaker 2: 12:15

I know. So studio four is like my home studio. That's what I call my home studio. So if you're looking for just like group fitness classes, that's where I teach, I teach. So I teach bar, I teach yoga, I teach Pilates, take one-on-one Pilates client, um, but I also teach offsite and I also teach. Uh, you know, I host retreats, so those are different locations and I do a lot of, um, actually kids yoga, um. So those are the kinds of things where, like, I will come to a school or I will travel to a business or I will travel to I've done like bachelorette parties where people have like a yoga morning.

Speaker 1: 12:54

Yeah. So let me ask you this Um, so you have, you know, you have the. You had the background story of are you getting into this industry and and finding this strength right, but then you become a mother. Can you tell us a little bit about how, how that was for you?

Speaker 2: 13:14

Yeah, so I, um, my pregnancy was not planned, so it was a surprise and this is something that, like, I feel like a lot of people don't talk about all the time. But I had an initial moment where, you know, I had finally felt like I was like in this good place with, like my body, with my mind, like I had done all this work, like it's a body image thing. I was like, okay, yeah, I'm like in such a good place right now. And then this life-changing surprise came and I'm so grateful for her and for the timing, because she becoming a mom shifts everything and it it changes everything in the in the best way or very challenging way.

Speaker 2: 14:06

But, um, you know, at first I was really scared and I I struggled at first, I would just, I didn't feel like I was ready, um, I wanted to have kids at some point, but I, I was just in that initial moment. I was really scared and it took me a little while to become acclimated and to the idea. You know, that's just such a such a huge thing and you know, like men get the nine months to to adjust, you know like they get that nine months to to acclimate, and for us it's like, boom, like, and then like your whole body is changing, your mind, your hormones, like, like it is such a shift and I was very overwhelmed by that. And I was very overwhelmed by that. But then I told myself. I decided I'm like, okay, this isn't like the end of a sentence, like this is, I can still be me, I can still teach, I can still do these things, I can walk, I can. You know what I mean? Like it's not. I was like it's. Just because you're pregnant doesn't mean you have to change everything about your life. And I'm really happy that I continue to do the things I love.

Speaker 2: 15:28

So, like, I continued to move my body, I continued to eat healthy and, honestly it's so funny I like I had never felt better being pregnant. I had a really great pregnancy so it was nice, like I was able to move. I taught all the way up until like 36 weeks or something. So I was still teaching and I found a lot of power in autonomy, in deciding what felt good for me and what didn't, and not necessarily listening to outside opinions on what people thought I should or shouldn't do. And I, yeah, I really had a great pregnancy and again felt really great and I, go figure, learn to love like I loved the belly. I absolutely I loved it and I was so nervous about my body changing and I learned to. Just I loved that belly. I loved that pumpkin belly, it was so fun. I love dabbing. I miss it sometimes.

Speaker 1: 16:23

I love dabbing her there. That's great that you said that. So two things yeah, I had an amazing pregnancy. I slept a lot and I ate like a happy baby. I loved it and everyone was so nice to me.

Speaker 2: 16:37

People are so nice.

Speaker 1: 16:39

They're so nice. Opening the door, I'm like I like this, and then I get to park in the front of the store.

Speaker 2: 16:44

I took all the help people wanted to offer. I was like yeah, please.

Speaker 1: 16:49

Yeah, Open the door for me, Um, but you know it's funny, you say this the part where you said cause, you said you were scared and you didn't say, okay, I'm scared of, but you then said I can still do the things I want to do.

Speaker 1: 17:08

So there's that, there's that fear of losing yourself because the thinking is I have a kid that my life is going to change it, oh, I can't do that, oh, and that I think that's like old thinking, right, and that's a big. That's how it used to be in 1955. That's not how it is nowadays, because women want to not only be a mother, but they also want to be a woman. Hello, yep, you know.

Speaker 1: 17:38

So the I would say this, not to say that. You know, obviously you said it was a surprise, but I would almost want to say that this was a blessing, because people plan the pregnancies, they play up I'm ready, I'm ready. And then they don't realize. What does that even mean? Right, like you didn't even have a chance to say I'm ready, you had to be ready. And then, yeah, like you didn't even have a chance to say I'm ready, you had to be ready.

Speaker 1: 18:02

And then, yeah, and you're going through all those emotions and then it's like and you made that commitment. You're like okay, I got to get this together because this is happening. What do I want to do? Right, that's probably a lot of strength that you gain from that, as opposed to not to say that the women who plan it, but as opposed to having these expectations of how I'm going to be as a mom and then it doesn't happen. Then it doesn't happen because now I'm prepared. But I want to say that the way you handled it, not only as a woman becoming a mother, but then you having your own insecurities with your body and just saying I love it.

Speaker 1: 18:49

You know, like that, that's beautiful Right and I think that was a blessing to be honest with you.

Speaker 2: 18:54

Oh my gosh, such a blessing. And honestly I look back at it and she changed my life so much because I would have never taken a jump on my business or a risk on my business by leaving my regular safe, full-time, nine to five job. I don't think I ever would have done it if I didn't have A her, because I'm telling her every single night I'm like are smart, you are kind, you are strong and you can do anything you want in this world. And I say that over and over to her. And then I'm like to myself. I'm like are you you're gonna tell her that and then you're not gonna believe that for you? Like you better walk the walk if you're gonna talk the, the talk sis. So like that in itself, I was like I have to prove to her that I believe in myself so she can believe in herself. And just like I wanted to be home with her. So what was I going to do? I wasn't in a place where I wanted to like pay for daycare or anything. I'm like I'm not going to pay for cause childcare is like crazy, you know.

Speaker 2: 20:05

So like I'm so blessed that my fiance um, you know he is, he has his own business and, um, I had the opportunity to take those few months and be like I'm going to try and get my business off the ground. Can we do this? And he was like, if you, he's like I support you, he's like let's do it. He's like there's no better time than now, like let's try and do it, let's see how it goes. And I'm so thankful I did because it it like now I have like I work full time for for myself, like I have a full time business that's my own and it's just so cool and I never would have done it without her she gave you.

Speaker 1: 20:46

I mean, there's a, there's a strength that comes with motherhood. You know there's this, because it's not just about you. Yes, you know you have to think about your child, and till the day you die.

Speaker 2: 21:03

Yeah, and like I, like I don't know if I would have ever gotten like over my own bullshit or like to the point that I want to do it for her, Like now it's I'm doing it for someone else, and like her wellbeing goes above anything.

Speaker 1: 21:21

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 21:23

It's just always more important. So you either find a way or you face whatever it is and you get it done Like cause it's for her.

Speaker 1: 21:30

Let's talk about what's on the horizon. I know you're wearing your shirt that says capital sweat. How the heck did that come about? I want to hear this story. But how the heck did that come about?

Speaker 2: 21:40

I want to hear this story. Yes, so Capital Sweat Festival myself and my business party partner party he is a party, though he's the life of the party. Danny is the party. Danny Pigliaveno we actually we met at Studio 4. He teaches at Studio 4 as well and he had moved up from the city and we just started becoming friends working together at Studio 4 as well, and he had moved up from the city and we just started becoming friends working together at Studio 4.

Speaker 2: 22:04

And we were at this like crossroads in our life where he was transitioning from a job and I was like at the end of maternity leave, deciding on whether I wanted to go back to work or not, and he had had this like idea about this fitness festival. He had gone to these fitness festivals in the city, so it was called like sweat fest in the city and like the Hamptons. And these are like bougie you know the bougie festivals where it's like celebrity trainers and like you're going to leave with an iPhone, basically at those things you know. So you know he was talking about. He's like, what about like a fitness festival up here? And we had talked about it. I'm like, yeah, I think that's a really cool idea. I think there's definitely a market for it, whatever. And during that time I was just like we started talking and I was like Danny, what about that fitness festival? Like let's do it, like we should do it, like let's do it Like we should do it.

Speaker 2: 23:06

And it was just divine timing that he and I both had the time and energy to work on this project and, um, basically pull it out of thin air. So I had, like Danny is like this amazing, like sales, um, forward facing. He's so good in talking to people and engaging people and getting people involved. And then I have this logistical skill from event planning and I love spreadsheets and the to-do, the analytics, the organizing part of it. And so together we made this dynamic duo of the organizing part of it. And so together we made this like dynamic duo of a little business.

Speaker 2: 23:50

And we asked we ended up hooking up with Eric Taylor from Best Fitness and he's our presenting sponsor. Best Fitness is our presenting sponsor and he has just kind of acted as like a mentor for us as we grow the festival, the business. He's been in the industry for quite a long time. So, as we grow the festival, the business, um, he's been in the industry for quite a long time. So, um, he's, he's like a big supporter of that and that's kind of where it all happened and, like we had this amazing successful event last year and we're doing it again this year, we're hoping to make it an annual event. We have all these little events sprinkled in to lead up to the big show in September that you're going to be at.

Speaker 1: 24:22

Yes, I am, I am. No, that's amazing, you know, and I got to say this. This is why. Okay, so full transparency here. You know, there's a thing about building community, right, and that was like your MO, like that was the first thing you said to me. You kept saying this is about building community, right, and that was like your MO, like that was the first thing you said to me. You kept saying this is about building community. This is about coming together, collaborating, celebrating because why not show the capital district, all the different people, all the different industries, all the different organizations, businesses, whatever that they can choose from, right? Like you're giving them that opportunity to do that and you are building community because you can collaborate with other people. So when you said that that was what got me, you said building community and that's yeah, you said that you were like that's the goal.

Speaker 1: 25:22

And I, as soon as you said that, I was like, okay, this is where I want to be. So I think what you're doing is amazing. I think I'm excited, um, I'm excited to be a part of it. And, um, I know that what you're doing is is just going to get bigger and bigger, so, and I can't wait is just going to get bigger and bigger, so, and I can't- wait, yeah it's.

Speaker 2: 25:46

You know it's so cool too about like the wellness industry and the fitness industry. So locally there's obviously a ton of different like studios, gyms, all these different things. But what's unique, in my opinion, about fitness and the wellness industry is that, just like there's such transitional phases in your life that sometimes you're in like a heavy lift phase and sometimes you're in an injury recovery phase and sometimes you're in a strengthening phase and sometimes you're in a new parent phase where you just need something easy, quick and like. So there's all these things that, like you can integrate for, to meet you where you are in this on that day, and the things that compliment one another. So like yoga for the heavy lifters or the crossfit fitters maybe you don't stretch or take it Like there's just so much that compliments one another and getting around like-minded people.

Speaker 2: 26:41

In itself, that's the other thing we really want to create like relationships and friendships with like minded people who care about their health, who care about their fitness, who care about this community and the development of this. And like teaching one another what we know and what has served us in creating our best lives and feeling our best. And, yeah, like finding those relationships, cause that's the other thing like Danny and I really pride ourselves on, like our friendship and that fitness brought us together and now we're like really good friends and it's just so special.

Speaker 1: 27:14

Yeah, no, that's, that's awesome. I love that whole and I never even thought of it that way. For you to say it that way, that there and that is so true, right, if you could think about, like, if I could think about where I started and then you know how it changes. Like I'm like I went to this one gym and then, as my body started changing, I started going to another gym or another wellness center. Yeah, so that that makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 2: 28:01

But again, just given the community, the opportunity to see what's available to them is. You're doing a really great service to everybody. I love that. But let me ask you what is in the horizon for you, for Balance by Tommy? I know you got something. You said there's that retreat, right? Yes, yes, yes, I released actually today. I'm going to do this is the first time I'm doing this.

Speaker 2: 28:06

I usually do a spring retreat at Wyndham Manor, so I usually do it once a year, um, but I had a lot of interest and I am going to put a mini retreat in the books and I released the dates today. So it's going to be in August. It's August 19th through 21st at Wyndham Manor in the Catskills. So instead of three nights, it's two nights. So it'll be like slightly condensed but it's at a more affordable price point because there's just a couple of things that, like, you can add on if you want, but this will be like the baseline still going to be yoga, pilates, barre every single day, still going to have some holistic workshops. I have essential oils, um, with my friend Sabrina. She is incredibly knowledgeable about essential oils. We're going to do like a build your own roller bar kind of thing.

Speaker 2: 28:54

And then, um, this woman, helene, is coming and doing somatic, a somatic practices workshop, which I'm so pumped about because I've never personally experienced that. So, um, I'm really excited about that. And then we're going to do a sound bath and then, like, there's 45 acres there. So I always schedule free time into my retreats. It's not like I I really try and find a balance, um of structured activity and free time, because I know a lot of women are in like this hustle culture of like go, go, go all the time. So it's really important to me to give people the time to just be and like go out in nature, like sit down and listen to the fountain on the pond or like just find some silence.

Speaker 2: 29:41

It's whatever people want to do at the retreats. I'm not like strict, like I'm not going to take attendance and be like if you don't show up for this class, then you have to leave. Like it's not like that at all. It's very chill, um, and we have amazing meals, um, prepared by upstate culinary. She's a private chef and I just love supporting her. She's a brand new business, women owned business, and she is incredible. She makes amazing food.

Speaker 1: 30:06

So that's awesome, that sounds amazing, so we'll put all the links of you know if you're interested in that. For those of you who are listening, you can know more about Tommy. And where can we find you actually? Where can we find you on social media?

Speaker 2: 30:24

Yes, so I'm on Instagram. It's balanced by Tommy. And where can we find you actually? Where can we find you on social media? Yes, so I'm on Instagram. It's balanced by Tommy, and my website is balanced by tommycom and my email is Tommy at balanced by tommycom.

Speaker 1: 30:46

That's simple, that's very easy to remember. You know, yeah, I like it. I like it. All right. So everyone Will will put all her links to her social media, her website and getting a hold of her for the retreat. Of course, any upcoming events we'll put on the notes for Capital Sweats.

Speaker 2: 30:58

Yeah, Capital Sweat Go. Follow them on Instagram too.

Speaker 1: 31:00

So, tommy, thank you so much for coming on the show. I really appreciate you being here. I had fun, but thank you so much, it's been a blast.

Speaker 2: 31:11

Thank you so much for having me. This was awesome and I am so looking forward to just everything we have coming up together. It's going to be awesome.

Speaker 1: 31:18

Okay, until next time, everyone Bye. Welcome to Ella Go. My name is Lisa. Join me on the journey in having real raw and uncomfortable discussions about fitness, health and everything in between, because, let's be honest, this journey would suck if we don't get our shit together.