Shades & Layers
Shades and Layers is a podcast focused on black women entrepreneurs from across the globe. It is a platform for exploring issues and challenges around business ownership, representation and holistic discussions about the meaning of sustainability in an increasingly complex global context. Conversations are wide- ranging and serve not only as a Masterclass in Entrepreneurship but also provide wisdom and tools for Successful Living. It is a space for meaningful conversation, a place for black and other women of color to be fully human and openly share their quirks and vulnerabilities.
Guests include prominent figurers in the beauty, fashion and wellness industries both in the Northern Hemisphere and the Global South.
Dr. Theo Mothoa-Frendo of USO Skincare discusses her journey from being product junkie to creating an African science-based skincare range. Taryn Gill of The Perfect Hair is a brand development whizz who discusses supply chain and distribution of her haircare brands. Katonya Breux discusses melanin and sunscreen and how she addresses the needs of a range of skin tones with her Unsun Cosmetics products.
We discuss inclusion in the wellness industry with Helen Rose Skincare and Yoga and Nectarines Founder , Day Bibb. Abiola Akani emphasizes non-performance in yoga with her IYA Wellness brand and Anesu Mbizho shares her journey to yoga and the ecosystem she's created through her business The Nest Space.
Fashion is all about handmade, custom made and circular production with featured guests like fashion designer Maria McCloy of Maria McCloy Accessories; Founder and textile/homeware designer Nkuli Mlangeni Berg of The Ninevites as well as Candice Lawrence, founder of the lighting design company Modern Gesture. These are just a few the conversations on the podcast over the past three years.
Shades & Layers
IYA Well and Non-performative Yoga with Abiola Akani (S4, E3)
IYA - Non-performative Yoga
Hello and welcome to Shades and Layers. I’m Kutloano Skosana Ricci, your host, and this is episode 3 of Season 4.
Today my guest is Abiola Akanni, a yoga educator who has successfully cultivated inclusive wellness spaces that encourage other’ed communities to develop their personal yoga practice.
The Nigerian-American yoga instructor and entrepreneur
is the influencer behind Yoga by Biola and founder of IYA, the online yoga
platform committed to non-performative yoga. Akanni is committed to disrupting
competitive yoga standards found in western culture and cultivating practices
that nurture instead of criticize.
Her inclusive mission
promotes yoga as ritual while teaching individuals how to re-mother their
bodies for generational healing.
We recorded this conversation during the northern hemisphere summer of 2021 and she had just received her first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine. It was also just as she graduated the first cohort of her Yoga Teacher Training on Iya.
As you will discover, Abiola is a highly ambitious person and for her, pursuing an entrepreneurial path is much deeper than financial reward.
MENTIONS AND LINKS
Yoga By Biola - Abiola Akani's very own YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/YogabyBiola
Trap Vinyasa - https://www.trapvinyasa.com/
Yoga Behind Bars - https://yogabehindbars.org/
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