SHAKTIBARRE, the only yoga-barre studio and community space with an active social mission, seeks to expand with a new location in Harlem! 

Just 14 months ago we—educational psychologist Corinne Wainer and Ayurvedic expert Shauny Lamba—raised $22,659 on Indiegogo to open the first yoga-barre empowerment hub actively endeavoring to make wellness education more socioeconomically and culturally inclusive than the industry average (44% of yogis make over $75K annually and 77% of them are White).

Since launching our first location in August 2016, we have:

• Welcomed nearly 10,000 unique students, many of them part of our sliding-scale program.

• Dedicated 10% of net profits to our little sister non-profit, The Yoga and Mindful Literacy Initiative for Girls (YoGirls Program)... see some sweet pics below (:

• Hosted 116 cultural events ranging from Super Natural Wellness with HeyFranHey to Simchat Torah with Base BKLYN to Collective Sex's trans community panels.

• Achieved a 4.9/5-star class rating from 5,518 reviews across 4 major platforms

• Been locally and nationally awarded via Brooklyn Magazine's "The 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture," The SELF Healthy Living Awards for "9 Impressive Women in Fitness Making an Impact on the Industry," and named "NYC's most enlightened barre studio" according to VOGUE.

• Reached hundreds of thousands globally by way of free online fitness collaborations with POPSUGAR, Refinery29, Culture Trip and a candid, Katie Dalebout-hosted podcast!

If we raise $35,000, we'll be able to sign our lease in Harlem and qualify for another NYBDC Small Business Loan. At this time, we're choosing the fundraising route again to honor our mission and not become directed by investors seeking immediate gains over uplifting communities (which also guarantees we can continue offering sliding-scale prices, donating annually to YoGirls Program, and many other creative decisions that keep us accessible and sustainable).

With your generous donation, we'll extend our mission and proven impact to an exceptionally well-deserving neighborhood—diverse, soulful, and historical HARLEM!

We see the 82% female boutique fitness market as an opportunity to bring large numbers of women together in the name of closing gender gaps. In-class, we've created a branded sequence that focuses on empowering mind-body dialogue, and beyond class our events foster powerful conversations around life expectancy, academic achievement, financial opportunity, household equality, and societal voice.

Perhaps most importantly, we receive daily emails and in-person shares from women meeting their personal empowerment goals including special testimonials like these:

In all, we'll use the $35K to secure commercial real estate in Harlem at the higher Manhattan price AND obtain another NYBDC Small Business Loan. We are happy to report our unblemished rent and loan payments for the Brooklyn location support our excellent credit rating.

Last year, a group of 113 individuals came together to help us raise the $22,659 necessary to build SHAKTIBARRE in Brooklyn. As we're raising more this time, we ask you to help grow our Harlem fundraising efforts. We want to keep sending the message to other women and minority-owned businesses that their dreams are valid not just once, but many times over!

If we are not able to raise the full $35,000, we will use the funds as follows:

90% in an escrow account until we can self-fund the rest for SHAKTIBARRE HARLEM.

10% into making repairs and upgrades at SHAKTIBARRE BROOKLYN.

Our final thoughts, and of course some gifts for you!

(1) When deciding on how much to donate, we want you to feel well-informed, comfortable, and as generous as possible. Please feel free to reach out to us at empower@shaktibarre.com or (617) 930-0098 with any questions and insights you have! We can also put you in touch with referrals such as our students, local partners, landlord, and loan distributor. We support transparency and clear communication, always.

(2) Did you know your giving also supports our incredible teachers? In the past year we've hired and trained 31 independent contractors and 13 part-time employees. Your generous donation creates jobs for women!  

(3) In the spirit of generosity and inclusivity, we extend the following gifts to you in deep appreciation for any amount you're able to give:

Corinne, Shauny, Allie, Amy K., Amy J., Cailyn, Caitlyn, Liz, Emily, Haley, James, Jasmine, Laura, Lilia, Maraliz, Polina, Regina, Ali S., Sami, Alicia, Cecilie, Kate, Paige, Shannon, Zawadi, Nicole, Channing, and Elyssa.

This campaign was handmade with love by Corinne, co-edited by her mom Stephanie, and features in-kind footage by @myrtleandwilloughby, @diegobazn, @nycxclothes, + Ask IT Consulting. ♡