( ENSPIRE She Did That ) Female Business Owner Follows Positivity-Centered Yoga Mission to Make More Welcoming through Stratosphere41
ENSPIRE Contributor: Charlotte Drummond
Lauran Grant is an entrepreneur who combined her love for yoga and the excitement you feel when you’re flying in the air to create her business, Stratosphere41, which sells a wide variety of positivity-centered yoga accessories. With a name referring to the layer of the sky where private jets fly at over 40,000 feet, Grant’s brand is all about being “authentic AF” and making sure you feel completely comfortable and confident when you’re using her products.
Grant’s love for the sky started when she worked for an international airline in Dubai, and the exhilarating feeling of flying pours into the positive relief you feel after you work out. Yoga is a form of exercise that anyone can get into, so Grant creating brightly colored positivity-centered yoga towels with motivating phrases like “Good Vibes Only” written on them is a great way to make customers feel great when they’re staying fit. Grant believes that yoga has helped improve her mood and made her feel like the best version of herself, so through Stratosphere41, she hopes she can spread this energy as far as she can.
ENSPIRE Magazine spoke with Lauran Grant about the career journey that led her to start her own business.
You started your career working for an elite Dubai airline for about four years. How do skills you’ve developed and enhanced from working in private aviation translate to your work as a yogi?
Working as a Flight Attendant taught me how to actively listen and effectively connect with different people and understand their pain points and motivations. It also gave me a lot of confidence as I was often thrown into the deep end! This is important as a yoga teacher because practitioners are entrusting their physical and mental safety with you and it is important to know to read the room while guiding others.
How did your interest in yoga begin? How did that initial yoga build up into the interest of starting your own brand?
I started yoga at 15 years old during the summer off from school when I was dealing with a lot of teenage angst. I stumbled upon the studio one day and asked my mom if she could sign me up the next morning! I actually completed my RYT 500 later with the very same teacher. I loved it from the first class because that was the first time I could work through my frustrations in a way that felt healthy for my body. I’ve been practicing ever since! Over time, I noticed a lot of yoga brands lacked inclusivity and also didn’t truly speak to my vibrant personality. Finally, in my friend’s 7 AM class, I looked around the room and noticed there were no fun and functional yoga towels so I decided to start in that niche with cool designs!
Stratosphere41 primarily focuses on selling yoga accessories that are easy to use and promote positive experiences for those who use them. What do you love about your products as a yogi yourself, and what about them do you wish you had when you were first starting out?
Not only are they beautiful, but they are high quality and durable and that’s something I am very proud of. A lot of my friends have tested them for me and so I’m able to gather feedback quickly. Our towels moving forward are also made in a slow fashion and woman-owned factory based in the US because responsibility is important, too! They are also long and cover the entire mat, which the guys at my home studio have been raving about. I wish I had products like mine that made me feel excited about my sweat sesh, yoga is supposed to be fun!
Yoga can be an intimidating form of exercise, especially for those who have just started. How does Stratosphere41 alleviate these fears, and why is positive reinforcement such an important part of yoga, especially for women?
I definitely understand that yoga can be intimidating. I often hear people say that they “can’t touch their toes so they shouldn’t come to class yet.” We proudly announce at Stratosphere41 that yoga is for truly everyone! Society has tried to make women feel small for a long time and I fell victim to that until I started to take my power back. I want to help others do the same! We are redefining what it means to live boldly, even if that means taking a rest in a child’s pose while everyone is flowing through Sun Bs and kicking up into handstands.
Through Statosphere41, Lauran Grant encourages everyone to embrace their freedom and take up all the space they need to reach the positivity they need in their lives. With a strong encouragement for feeling good over beating yourself up to meet fitness goals, Stratosphere41 is all about making and keeping working out fun, especially through positivity-centered yoga. You can learn more about Stratosphere41 through their official website here and keep up with their product launches on their Instagram here.
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