Meet Tiffany

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tiffany. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Tiffany, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

In Yoga spaces, I am almost always the most overweight person in the room. Often the stiffest/least range of motion and poorest balance. And possessed of plenty of fear. For most of my life, I struggled with self esteem issues related to being overweight, nonathletic, clumsy. I was bullied in elementary and middle school for it, and this grew into never feeling adequate even in my adulthood with a successful career.

It’s a good thing that I’m drawn onto my mat like a moth to a flame. My love of Yoga burns with the light of many suns. I’m grateful to now have 3 decades of practice under my belt. With experience, I’ve been able to make up for some of what I lacked in innate talent.

To my tremendous good fortune, I haven’t experienced Yoga spaces or teachers that promoted body shame. Heaven knows that I’ve carried more than enough of my own. Losing weight and gaining it back again, with endless cycles of hopelessness and self loathing attached. Spending years in a harmful relationship with someone who capitalized on my low self esteem to soothe his own. Therapy helped me understand myself but didn’t build my sense of self worth or prevent my endless spiraling.

What aids my success more than anything is foundationing my life on the practices of self compassion, spiritual surrender, and gratitude. Daily self compassion practice spread over many years has done the most to help me build my self esteem. It has required deep work in the tiniest moments, turning the mind stuff from harsh judgement to kind curiosity. Holding myself with benevolence has healed many of my wounds and, unexpectedly, gained my studio a reputation for being a safe space for all to practice.

Spiritual surrender was another concept that I appreciated on paper but had to learn to do. This looks like recognizing where I’m pushing too hard instead of reading the signs and following the path that’s naturally unfolding before me without trying to guide it. When I can relax more and drive less, I’m a better studio owner, teacher, and person. I release a ton of stress when I walk through life receptively, learning to trust as things are instead of wasting my energy on what they aren’t.

And gratitude. One of my longtime teachers used to call gratitude practice the way to abundance. That by training the mind toward thankfulness for the littlest things, we would attract even more. For me, it is a way of keeping my mind magnetized to the positive. Not to avoid the negative–we need space for our whole lives, good and bad–but to keep my compass pointed where I choose and away from the shame spirals that have plagued so much of my life.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I founded Evolition as a healing arts practice in 2017, around the idea that, by learning to move the body well, we can heal both the body and the mind–and that this work ought be available to all kinds of bodies, not just the young, fit ones you so often see in studio spaces. I find that these principals apply to both alignment-based yoga and functional fitness. I still offer classes in both of these modalities, just as I did back then.

Fast forward to 2025, and Evolition is now both a healing arts practice and a thriving studio space. We are home to 7 teachers of multiple modalities, still operating on the same concept: healthy movement makes for a healthier overall life. We serve students with a wide variety of body types, ages, and health conditions with our physical-, emotional-, and energetic health offerings.

What excites me the most about this work is the way it gathers community around it. When I survey our students, what we hear the most is how safe they feel in our classes. That they experience a deep sense of belonging while we’re doing the work that we’re gathered to do. Being able to meet people where they’re at–and having the education and experience to serve a wide variety of physical and emotional health needs–helps our students feel valued and successful with their health goals.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I believe that each Teacher has their own “special sauce” that makes their offerings irreplaceable: the right mix of skill, experience, and personality that only you can have. Which is great, because everyone’s road up the mountain is different, and we each find our own right mix of help to get us there. I often mentor other healing arts professionals as they develop their businesses/offerings, and believe that knowing your special sauce is a key to being successful in this field.

Once that happens, owning it enough that you can confidently practice empathy with those seeking your services is crucial. When you’re confident and grounded in your gifts, it becomes easier to see your potential client’s needs clearly–and to know if you’re the right fit for them. Sometimes, the best thing we can do for someone is suggest a different practitioner if we’re not a good fit.

For my own journey, I’ve already pointed to the importance of self compassion, spiritual surrender, and gratitude in my life. On this foundation, I would say that my knowledge of human movement, rooted in functional anatomy, has been very important. Every person who performs a pose or does an exercise should do so slightly (and sometimes radically) differently depending on their body’s needs. There is no one universal form to which we are aspiring–it’s our individual form that should guide.

I’m grateful to have had so much training and experience in human movement systems because it helps me see when something isn’t working for someone. Setting a tone of open and reciprocal communication is important too. I’m not the expert in the room, just the guide. Only you can be the expert in your own body.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

I’ve been around and around this question with various business coaches and thought partners over the past few years and this one quality stands out: commitment. I like to work with people who are committed to themselves, their health, their path.

I am moved by many examples of commitment in my students. I teach a weekly Hatha Yoga class for a state agency, and those folks are super busy. It’s not unusual for me to miss certain students for months at a time as they get deep into projects and grant requirements. Or to have people come to class late or leave early to accommodate other meetings. But they always come back. For years, these students have returned and returned to class, no matter how long they’ve been gone.

I also have two different groups of seniors, each of which I’ve taught for more than a decade. Same thing, just different details. Major illness, injury, or surgery; death of a spouse; downsizing from a family home to a retirement one; long periods of travel–these are the reasons folks miss class. And, same as the group above, it doesn’t matter how long they’ve been gone, they always come back. And with great attitudes, too. They can’t do everything that I ask, but they always try.

I respect this kind of dedication more than I can put into words. I show up for it all day long.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.myevolition.com
• Instagram: @myevolition
• Facebook: @myevolition

Image Credits

The headshot is by Elimar Trujillo Photography.

Of the 8 pictures, the first 3 (where I’m in a sleevless cream colored shirt and purple tights, sitting on the floor with clients) and the last one–green tee shirt– are by Kristina Neb.

The other 4 (me adjusting students in 3 poses and the one of us on the floor doing tree pose) are by Bailee Strang Photography.