Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Chestnut.
Victoria, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Let me start by saying I feel like a late bloomer in life. I’ve spent pretty much my entire life not knowing exactly what the heck I wanted to do, or where I wanted to end up. I followed the cookie-cutter guidelines of what people said would bring success. Went to school, made the grades, went to college, worked in corporate… the whole shebang; office cubicles, water cooler chatter and…a slow death of the soul. I left corporate to work for my uncle, who owns a website and graphics company based in Pearland and in Los Angeles. When that job ended four years later, I knew it was now or never, with regards to pursuing a dream I would be passionate about. My boyfriend (now fiance) pushed HARD for me to utilize my four months of time off to educate myself, which included my first 200-hour yoga teacher certification. On January 26, 2019, FlowEtry was born, and I’m beyond excited to see where this journey takes me. I work much harder now than I have in the past, but you know what? The days end differently when it’s working for yourself.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
A smooth road? HELL NAH. There have been obstacles aplenty!!! Peer pressure to figure things out. Anxiety to keep up with people my age who “seemed” to enter new chapters of life faster (getting married, buying homes, better vacations, better relationships, etc… but trust, I’ve learned not to pay attention to Instagram anymore, LOL). There’s been doubt from family. Being brought into family drama. Death. Manipulation. It’s been a roller coaster.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My “baby” is FlowEtry, a yoga and meditation company. I specialize in working with athletes but am branching out into prenatal, and those healing from surgeries. I am proud to be black-owned and female-owned. When I first created my Instagram account and started following other yogis, it was hard not to feel inadequate. Here were these gorgeous women, ridiculously flexible and they’ve been in the game for years! I thought, “How do I enter this world and make a name for myself when I don’t have half of their knowledge, client base, or skills?”. But then I reminded myself that my energy will attract the right clients and that I make yoga very digestible for beginners.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was super introverted. All the cool shit happened in my head. I wrote stories, hundreds of pages worth. I loved sketching too. I was into cars, motorcycles, airplanes, animals, and dancers. I was very drawn to people who expressed themselves artistically without words. It was hard making friends in my childhood, as my family relocated practically every year. By the time I entered (the 3rd) high school, I had become a master chameleon, picking up the personality of those around me to quickly blend in and make friends. Can’t say that it was necessarily a good thing, more so a social-survival mechanism. It took MANY years of self-discovery to realize I needed to blossom into my true self.
Contact Info:
- Email: vchestnut21@gmail.com
- Instagram: @_flowetry_
Image Credit:
Kane, iamKre8tiv
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