For an outstanding example of the value of transferrable skills, look no further than Martina Chavez-Young.
The founder/owner of Richmond’s Gaia Yoga, voted a 2025 “Readers’ Pick” for the best yoga studio in the entire East Bay region by East Bay Express readers, was an athlete in Seattle in her early years. She was an Olympic lifting coach, rowed and did CrossFit—and then discovered yoga “as a way to slow my body down,” she said in a phone interview.
At the same time, she was pursuing a career in tech, working for Avalara, a software company that develops cloud-based solutions for sales tax, VAT and excise tax automation. Her role included business development, building partnerships and handling some marketing.
All of these experiences became key when, after moving back to her native Bay Area in 2016, she became a certified yoga instructor at Mindful Life Yoga, where she also met her husband, Jason. She was still working full-time as an independent contractor for Avalara, as well as software company Rippling when, in 2018, she decided to buy Mindful Life from its parent nonprofit, the Richmond-based Mindful Life Project.
She quickly realized, however, that “there wasn’t a way to do both things well. And I knew where my heart was.” She took the leap, pared back her tech commitments, rebranded the studio as “Gaia Yoga” and moved it from Richmond’s Marina Bay location to a cozy storefront site in Point Richmond, creating a new website, offering a range of class packages and bringing with her many of the students who had become loyal patrons.
For two years, she continued to recruit teachers who shared her philosophy of a studio that welcomed students at all levels, offering gentle, restorative, yin, hatha, and pre- and post-natal classes alongside more challenging vinyasa. And then, on March 16, 2020, Gaia had to shut down in-person classes for what Chavez-Young, like everyone else at the time, thought would be a couple of weeks.
But, of course, it wasn’t. As that became apparent, she pivoted. Stable income from her at-home tech work enabled her to keep the location and pay her instructors, and her tech savvy enabled her to immediately take advantage of then-revolutionary Zoom to offer live online classes. “I was used to doing things quickly … the ‘fail first’ mentality,” she said. She discovered FitGrid, a program designed for gyms and studios, allowing multiple changes, such as instructor substitutions, to be executed very easily.
As many yoga studios floundered during those two years, and, in some cases, closed for good, Gaia’s students gladly embraced a way to not only continue their practice but interact with the outside world.
When the pandemic waned, Chevez-Young made another difficult decision. Gaia moved out of the Point Richmond location and back to Marina Bay, where she reconfigured a former conference room into a bigger, lighter studio. Once again, students flocked back, as she expanded class offerings and special events. She noted, “We get a lot of beginners and those who are aging into a gentler practice.”
Yet another life-changing period ensued during this time. Chavez-Young and husband Jason became parents, first of a daughter (now 4) and then a son (now 3). She’s the first to say that balancing all of this would not have been possible without the support of two nearby pairs of grandparents and her husband’s work-at-home employment.
Asked if the kids are old enough to do yoga, she said both had just attended a couple of “kid yoga” sessions and that they “do yoga” with her when she is practicing at home. Of course, she chuckled, their versions of the poses are … their versions. “They see me as Mom, doing what I love to do,” she explained.
In yet another transition, Chavez-Young decided to move Gaia to a different site within the same Marina Bay complex building, this one with a storefront easily identifying the studio and private bathrooms. “It’s still a very convenient location for many of our members,” she said, referencing the fact that most, if not all, people choose a yoga studio close to their homes. Also, she stated, “Many people can walk to the studio.”
Gaia’s journey continues, as Chavez-Young is in the process of opening a second location, this one in Albany. Unlike neighboring cities Berkeley and El Cerrito, Albany does not have a yoga studio, and location, location, location, as she pointed out, remains a priority for potential members.
But perhaps what is even more important to her is retaining Gaia’s mission as a nonjudgmental space, where those trying Downward Dog or Child’s Pose for the first time feel welcomed and supported, and those with longstanding practices can also find classes that suit their needs. Chavez-Young will continue to access her multifaceted skill set to make sure they will.
Gaia Yoga, 855 Marina Bay Pkwy., Suite 28, Richmond, 510.255.0804; gaiayogastudio.com.
