Samantha is a yoga teacher and an entrepreneur who is passionate about helping people live healthier and happier life through the practice of yoga. She is spearheading two studio brands—One Yoga and Samantha Yoga—across four different locations in Hong Kong with over 1000 students. As a registered yoga school with the US Yoga Alliance, Samantha and her team have also trained over 300 yoga teachers through their yoga Teacher Training Programme which was started in 2018. But what made Samantha special as an entrepreneur is her genuine love for yoga and her dedication to help people improve their lives through the correct practice of yoga.
Samantha Sin, Founder, One YogaHer career in yoga resulted from a deliberate attempt to find the balance between what she loves to do and what she needs to do to make a decent living. For her, a career in yoga gives that right balance. But beyond that, it gives her a sense of meaning and fulfillment in life by spreading the benefits of yoga. Reflecting on the initial thought process of her business, she says, “I always ask myself, ‘what kind of person I would like to be and the kind of life I want to lead?’ This gives me a clear direction in life and the courage to do what I really want.” With a simple business approach of “focus solely on yoga and never trade long-term success for a quick profit,” One Yoga and Samantha Yoga is gaining momentum as a genuine and respected yoga training provider.
As an employee, Samantha dreaded the regular 9-5 office job. That also prompted her to start her own business where she has more control over her life. “Before yoga, I used to work as a nurse. I also worked in the Middle East for one year. But none of them were regular 9-5 office job because I always avoided them. Those experiences reinforced my belief that I should start something of my own,” shares Samantha.
Growing up with parents who are yoga practitioners, she started yoga informally at a very young age. In fact, her parents met through yoga during the 70s when yoga was not very popular. “I had my first informal yoga experience at home when I was about six or seven years old, but I never started learning it properly until many years later,” says Samantha.
In 2010, a friend suggested that she should start yoga regularly to cope with the high stress of working in a major hospital as a surgical nurse. “It was a high-stress environment and yoga helped me find peace after a long day of work,” she recalls. Then, in 2015, she enrolled herself in a formal yoga teacher training. “I decided to go into yoga education because I believe that good yoga can bring peace to people—both mental and physical,” she reveals. Shortly after the course, Samantha Yoga was born in 2016, and then a year after, One Yoga came into existence.
Today, she has a fully dedicated team focusing solely on delivering high-quality yoga training. “We always wanted to be a studio that focuses on yoga and yoga only. That is why we never offer any fitness, dance, or TRX options even though they are popular with our target audience,” explains Samantha. Her team consists of young and passionate yoga teachers and management that take care of the operation of the studios as well as the online programme.
Having started offering some of the training courses online, the team is working to fully move all the courses of Yoga Teacher Training to a seamless e-learning platform by 2021. In addition to the online courses and studio sessions, the team also holds regular training on other specialty yoga such as Aerial Yoga, Wheel Yoga, and Yoga Therapy.
Speaking of the online courses, Samantha says, “We believe that when the course materials are properly developed, online learning could actually be a much more effective way to learn yoga.” Although online education is not yet a very popular concept in Hong Kong, she is optimistic that it will take off in the near future as long as they provide quality courses through a seamless platform.
“Considering 70% of the course elements are theories, learning online can be much more effective than in-class learning,” she explains. Students have the advantage of self-paced learning and replay of the modularized training courses with bite-size videos. To make it more interesting and effective, each module or section of the course has a quiz that tests the knowledge and understanding of the students. The text content of the courses even has an audio version for those who prefer to listen than reading. By leveraging technologies, the team is creating a comprehensive online training designed in a way that makes learning fun, effective, and inclusive regardless of learning habits and locations.
While she may have a growth mindset for her business, she is resolute that providing quality yoga service will always be the top priority. “It is important to have a profit-seeking mindset, but it is even more important to remember why I decided to do this in the first place,” says Samantha. She further adds: “The industry is competitive and new studios are constantly coming up. But I always remind my team that we should never trade our long-term success for a quick profit. If we stick to this, I believe we will be successful for many years to come.”
Looking ahead, she is excited to leverage more innovative technologies in her business operations. “Even though we are in a traditional business, we are always excited by what the latest technologies can do for us,” she expresses her openness to new technologies. Drawing inspiration from the courage of tech moguls like Elon Musk and Ricky Wong, Samantha looks forward to further expanding her business and making a greater impact in the lives of others.