Leadership and Love in Whitefish, Montana

This May marks seven years of owning and operating LOVE Yoga—and what a journey it’s been. I can say honestly that it’s been just as much about building studios and growing into leadership as it has been about learning to look at myself and ask the hard questions.

Recently, I took a step back to pause and get clear on what I truly want from this work. It’s theongoing responsibility of being a business owner and leader to ask: What are we doing here? Why does this space matter? What do we stand for? The answers don’t come in a single moment of inspiration. They come from years of hard lessons, messy growth, leadership challenges, and a willingness to keep showing up, even when it feels impossible.

Through it all, I’ve learned that joy isn’t something we earn, but something we uncover and choose. For most of us, joy gets buried under the complexities, confusion, and hardships of everyday life. It’s far too easy to get caught up in the negativities, the things we did wrong, the judgments, and the complaints. Through the practice of yoga, we begin to lift those veils and reconnect to a deeper sense of presence and joy.

I’ve also learned that no matter where we are in life, growth is always possible. As we deepen our awareness of ourselves and others, we realize that being awake isn’t always easy. Growth tasks us to be honest—to take responsibility, to apologize, to show up with discipline, and to recognize where we’re caught in our patterns and conditioning. And still, growth and change remain our only constants. When we lean into that truth, we begin to know ourselves and each other with far greater depth.

Another anchor of this studio—and my vision for it—is cultivating well-being, both personally and collectively, in body, mind, and spirit. Holistic well-being is a core value of mine. It matters to me to feel nourished and at home within myself, and I want that for others too—especially in a world that can often feel overwhelming or disconnected from what truly supports us.

And at the center of it all is connection and community. At the end of the day, this is what matters. It’s important to me that our shared studio spaces are places where people feel seen, supported, and welcomed as they are. We can do so much work on our own, but we can’t fully see ourselves without relationship. We need others to reflect back our goodness—and our potential.

Seven years has taught me so much—about leadership, yoga, myself, and life. But the biggest lesson? Life and leadership are both hard, and we have far less control over outcomes than we think. What we do have is the ability to care deeply for ourselves, and the choice to keep loving ourselves and others through it all.

~ Holly Purdy

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