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Laree Schouweiler of Driftless Yoga Center

By Aryn Henning Nichols | Fall 2024 Inspire(d)

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Sum of Your Business: Inspiring Entrepreneurs in the Driftless

Laree Schouweiler is the kind of person who manages to turn strangers into friends within one conversation. But after she moved to Decorah from the Twin Cities in 2010 as a “trailing spouse” of a partner who accepted a job at Luther College, she was having trouble connecting in the community. She continued to travel north to see friends – and boost endorphins with a workout at her favorite yoga/cycling studio. She loved it so much, she decided to take the Sculpt Teacher Training program. Sculpt classes combine the physical principles of yoga, plus strength training and cardio, to provide a diverse and intense workout experience.

Laree Schouweiler / Photo courtesy DYC

“I had years of experience coaching youth and high school soccer, and I loved the well-rounded-ness of Sculpt classes,” she says. “Once certified, I brought the classes to the Driftless area. It wasn’t long that I was chasing down a yoga certification, this time a more in-depth 200-hour yoga training, layering that with cycling and several other adjacent certifications.”

Indeed, since there wasn’t a job suited to her specialties in Decorah, she decided to make one. She founded Reefuel, an indoor cycling and yoga studio, in 2013, Driftless Yoga Festival in 2019, and finally, in 2022, she founded her current business/calling: the Driftless Yoga Center.

Situated in a fun, urban-feeling studio on the third floor of the Impact Coffee building in downtown Decorah, Driftless Yoga Center (DYC) is an airy and welcoming space, emphasis on welcoming. DYC’s work follows three core principles, to be: equity driven, radically compassionate, and justice supporting in all they do.

The studio offers 12 yoga and strength classes per week, including sculpt, HIIT, vinyasa, and gentle yoga classes. They also host monthly special events like the DRI(ftless) TRI(athlon) – a 90-minute experience that begins with a guided run or walk around Decorah, meets back up for a HIIT segment, and ends with a yoga flow. 

DYC is a Yoga Alliance School & Continuing Education Provider as well. This upcoming fall, the Center is hosting its first Sculpt Teacher Training Program, a 50-hour certification geared towards providing participants a foundation of knowledge to lead a safe, constructive, and well-rounded 60-minute Sculpt class.

Photo courtesy DYC

Read on to learn how Laree turned her years honing in on what work fills her cup into a space and business dedicated to helping others fill their own. 

The Basics:
Name: Laree Schouweiler 
Age: 41 
Business: Driftless Yoga Center formerly, Reefuel
Year Business Established: 2022 (Reefuel: 2013)
Business address: 101 W Water Street
Website: www.driftlessyoga.org

Tell us about the “leap” moment. When/how did you decide to jump in and become your own boss?

In 2013, I opened Reefuel – an indoor cycling and yoga studio. Its entire premise was to build community through yoga and cycling, centering on a welcoming environment, skipping the diet culture, and making movement fun! For seven years, I think Reefuel did just that! The space went from 10 weekly classes to over two dozen. Four instructors to 15. But the best part of the place was the people! Walking into a fitness class can be so nerve-wracking, but the community of folks always uplifted each other. It was such a unique experience for a movement studio, I felt like. There was so much support for each other in and out of the studio. During that time, Driftless Yoga Festival was born. An annual festival that intersected beautiful Northeast Iowa and yoga!

Then in 2020, the pandemic hit. The tragedies of that year took the wind right out of my sails. Plus, I was pregnant with our third child. Leaning into the yoga philosophical practice of ahimsa – radical compassion – I made the difficult decision to close the studio. I leaned heavily back into my family, my studies, and how to really leverage these teachings to make shifts for the greater good. I studied with activist and yoga teachers Michelle C. Johnson (Skill in Action) and Susanna Barkataki (Embrace Yoga’s Roots) and each experience educated me on the connection of yoga’s teachings to bettering the world, not just a movement!  

A portion of proceeds from events and merchandise sales is redistributed back into organizations that help bring awareness to issues near and far. / Photo courtesy DYC

When Reefuel closed, I didn’t think I’d ever return to teaching publicly again, let alone open another studio. But if 2020 taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. I stepped back into organization with the Driftless Yoga Festival in 2021. It was an opportunity to bring forth a more radically compassionate event on the heels of completing a 300-hour yoga certification that was rooted in equity. Then, in the spring of 2022, I started to tip my toe into the teaching world again. There was a pull to get back out there. One May morning, I stepped into Impact Coffee and was approached by owner, Sean Brown, about seeing their recently vacant third floor. I didn’t think much of it in that minute – more of a, “Cool! I’ll check it out!” But when I walked in, I knew immediately this was next. The large north-facing windows beckoned me. It feels like you’re in an urban setting (which I still miss… occasionally). Knowing that cycling wasn’t going to be a part of this next step, Reefuel didn’t seem like an adequate name. So, I leaned into Driftless Yoga and Voila! The Driftless Yoga Center was born, with a vision of a more equitable movement space.

Can you tell us more about the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) work you do at the Driftless Yoga Center?

At DYC, there are three pillars:

• In an effort to be equity-driven and remove financial barriers to access movement, a suggested $12/class is requested, but none will be turned away for lack of funds. 

• DYC aims to be a radically compassionate space free of diet culture or gossip. Movement, yoga, and fitness belong to every BODY without judgment.

• Since 2022, DYC’s Karma Yoga Project has redistributed over $20,000+ back to organizations that uplift the underserved and under-resourced.

 Reefuel was quiet about the philosophical yoga practices out of fear of making people uncomfortable. I hope Driftless Yoga Center is living these practices out loud. Vibrantly. Everyday. With every practice. 

What do you mean when you say, “radically compassionate”? 

In yoga philosophy, there are several pillars of ‘right action’ or ethical practices and one of those practices is ‘Ahimsa,’ meaning non-violence. To practice non-violence is more than just not causing physical harm. It can look like being inclusive in everything from language to accessibility to practice. In a world that is filled with so much division, practicing ahimsa can feel radical! 

Driftless Yoga Center hosts monthly special events like the DRI(ftless) TRI(athlon) – a 90-minute experience that begins with a guided run or walk around Decorah, meets back up for a HIIT segment, and ends with a yoga flow. / Photo courtesy DYC

What’s the best thing about being your own boss?

 I get to choose each day how to move the business forward, simultaneously prioritizing business and family. Sparks of creativity and inspiration get to be put right into action. It’s empowering to be able to have a choice each day.

How about the worst? 

I have to live by those choices. Highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. Yoga helps me to balance the ride, but sometimes it gets hard not to get caught up in the rat race of capitalism! Also, I struggle with setting my own “work hours”. Days bleed into nights and I’m always thinking – what could I do better? What is next? Or should I throw it all away and start over? 

Any mentors/role models you look to/have looked to? 

My parents are entrepreneurs and they’ve always supported and inspired me. My mom’s taught me ‘The answer is always no if you don’t ask,’ so I operate from that optimistic lens. Oh, and ‘NO’ is just a starting point! 

Occasionally, Driftless Yoga Center will host special classes outside, like this one on Washington Street in Decorah (just outside of Impact Coffee). / Photo courtesy DYC

What’s the one thing you wish you had known before you started? 

Once you start your own business, you can’t go back, and the hyper fixation on the business is hard to separate. I love the studio, teaching, and building a compassionate community – so it is hard to turn off the ‘work brain’ even when I am “not working”!  

How do you manage your life/work balance? 

Ooooofffff, is there a work life balance? This one is so tricky for me because I LOVE WHAT I DO! With the Center, I have been trying to put in place stronger boundaries about when I am home with kiddos (no phones at meals and not working while home with them), but there always seem to be exceptions. 

What keeps you inspired? Any quotes that keep you going? 

“Nothing that celebrates humiliation or pain of another person builds connection.” 
– Dr. Brene Brown 

Driftless Yoga Center is welcoming for all. / Photo courtesy DYC

Justice work at DYC! 

Driftless Yoga Center donates portions of proceeds from events and merchandise sales to organizations that bring awareness to issues at large near and far. 

• Since July 2022, Driftless Yoga Center’s Karma Yoga Project has redistributed $20,000 back into local, regional, & global organizations that align with our core values: including SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) – Des Moines Chapter, Helping Services for Youth and Families, Moms Demand, Decorah Kids’ Lunch Club & Backpack Programs, Decorah High School Scholarship Fundraiser, Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund, Lahaina residents, Epilepsy Foundation of Iowa, MedGlobal’s efforts to support Palestinians in Gaza and more.

• DYC is also an annual and proud sponsor of Decorah Pride, celebrating the creativity and diversity that lives in the Driftless Region.