Shifting to Digital Downward Dog

As April winds down, it marks about 6 weeks of post-shutdown here in southeastern Connecticut. While the company I work for, The Kula Project, acted quickly and responsibly, it was still so foreign to what our next steps were. We knew we wanted to continue to engage with our community (fun fact: Kula means community in Sanskrit, and informs much of our decisions) but also knew that a lot of folks were in a different financial situation than they may have been just a few days before. Read on for some of the things we did that we considered successful as this new normal evolved.

Right away, we knew we came up with a digital campaign to keep our yogis engaged and involved with us: #KulaAtHome. We started with Instagram Live classes and encouraged people to post on social using our hashtag and sporting their gear. We also used #KulaFlattensTheCurve, to help explain our decision to close before the official mandate. We noticed a lot of folks coming in from out of state the last weekend before the shutdown and felt a bit nervous for some of our local members. Our overall strategy was a huge success from the start, as people really connected with our philosophy and wanted to follow along with our online classes. We actually ended up increasing our follower count on Instagram by about 10% in the first 10 days or so.

After a couple of weeks of free classes through Instagram Live, we transitioned to live classes through Zoom. We decided to charge $5 per class in the hopes of giving something back to our incredible teachers. Luckily, this move was well received by our students, and we have been able to connect with people in a new way. We are still in uncharted territory, and as Connecticut looks to “reopen” in the coming weeks, we still have to decide what that looks like for us. Personally, I think virtual classes are here to stay, especially the ability to connect with a brand/studio you love from afar.

Sleepy Little Town

I was encouraged by a friend (shoutout LDub) to make sure I keep up with posting here. Much like every other major city in America, my small Connecticut coastal town was shut down because of the Coronavirus. Normally March is a slow month for us anyway, with the majority of tourists and summer families coming in, well, the summer. Because of our proximity to New York and Boston (both within a two-hour train ride), our governor luckily made the quick decision to close our state down to eliminate the spread of the virus. The small business I work with here, The Kula Project, made the decision to close our doors a day or so before the official mandate came in on Monday, March 16.

On an overcast day last week (Thursday, March 19), I went into town to grab some takeout from one of my favorite local spots who converted their store into a mini farmers market/grocery store (Grass & Bone). I brought my camera to document some of the things I saw walking around. An already eerie feeling to the day, the emptiness of the streets and shops only added to it. A contrast I especially remarked upon was that while my favorite ice cream shop was now dark and closed up, the package store across the street remained open and inviting. I’m looking forward to visiting all my favorite places again soon.

Mystic Wellness Weekend

A resolution of mine for 2020 was to keep consistent with this here blog. I couldn’t think of a better way to kick it off than recapping one of my first major marketing events in conjunction with The Kula Project. Our first Wellness Day, under the umbrella of a new venture, Mystic Wellness Weekend, was a huge success. Beyond being a great day filled with delicious food, relaxing yoga, and great company, it was also a success from a marketing standpoint.

We weren’t sure how well this event would be received in our small town, as it was a relatively foreign concept to some folks, and had a somewhat high price point. We did our best to use our social channels as a tool to educate and inform our die-hard fans, and also did a lot of on the ground face-to-face (hand-to-hand in the traditional sales sense) marketing. Our paid social posts were targeted to women in the area, not wanting to spread our reach too far. We began promoting right before the holidays, and with a week to go to the event we had sold out!

It was a true team effort, from the support of our vendors and teachers that participated in the event, to our community members who helped spread the word, even if they couldn’t attend. Can’t wait for the next one!

Walk Offs

One of the most exciting things in baseball is a walk off win. The team is fired up, the fans are fired up, and you can capture some incredible moments.

My favorite part of walk offs though, is the quiet moments before, when everyone is patiently hoping for the exciting result. I also love the post-celebration walk off the field. One of my favorite photos I’ve ever captured is one of Marcus Semien after his Opening Day 2018 walk off, striding off the field with a determined look. It would go on to define the A’s in 2018, happy with their immediate successes, but never finished and focused on the task ahead.

Of course, the celebration photos are great too.

Sean Manaea's No Hitter

One of the best things I’ve been fortunate enough to both witness and capture was Sean Manaea’s No Hitter on April 21. He mowed down the Boston Red Sox for nine incredible innings. He had the full support of the Oakland crowd, as well as his teammates.

It was amazing to watch how genuinely happy Sean’s teammates were for him. An incredible human, Sean didn’t even fully comprehend how big this was. We kept prefacing everything we told him for weeks after with “now that you’re famous,”. I loved capturing the emotion from Sean and the rest of the guys in the immediate aftermath, and I hope he knows how great it was for everyone else that was lucky enough to be there.