Blossoming Business: Lotus House of Yoga is a Vision Realized over 15 years

Mary Clare Sweet’s mother, Anne, introduced her to yoga in childhood so by the time she started Lotus House of Yoga in 2010, she had already practiced yoga for years.  

“There were a few yoga studios here already but I knew that I wanted to bring something that felt very fresh and modern and a synthesis of all of the yoga that I’d experienced,” Sweet said. “I had done quite a bit of travel and I wanted to just create something that was of my own vision.” 

That vision has expanded over 15 years to include Pilates, sculpt, cycle and meditation classes at studios in Omaha, Lincoln and Mexico City, but yoga remains the soul of the business. 

“I love yoga just as much to this day,” she said. “It is the philosophy of yoga that extends far beyond any sort of physical movement; it’s a lifestyle, it’s a lens with which to see the world. It’s a framework with which to live your life and guide your steps.” 

Sweet said she has purposefully maintained the business name as Lotus House of Yoga rather than something more expansive such as Lotus Holistic Center or Lotus House of Wellness. 

“It’s so important that ‘yoga’ is included front and center, because all of our teachers — no matter what modality of movement they teach — are trained in the yoga philosophy,” she said. “They’re trained in understanding intersectionality and accessibility and our core tenants of inclusion and community-centered everything. 

“Yoga is who we are. It is what we do. It’s how we live our life, and it’s just expressed through a lot of different styles of movement.”

Power within ourselves

Sweet was only in her mid-20s when she began her business. From a position of lived experience and accumulated wisdom, she said she’d advise her younger self to approach a few things differently. 

“She needs to know that she needs to go bigger. I look back and I wish I would have taken more risks or trusted in myself and not held back because of how it had been done before, or what I thought was the limit for being an entrepreneur or being a business owner,” Sweet said. “I’m 41 now, and I have a 17-year-old and a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old, and one of the benefits is I believe so much in the human spirit. I believe so much in our radical ability to accept exactly who we are, and exactly where we are, and know that we need nothing else, except for the gift, the compassion, the magic, the power that we have within ourselves at this very moment.” 

The COVID-19 pandemic was the biggest challenge to her business to date, Sweet said, but it also had a silver lining. 

“Going through the pandemic as a fitness business was so tough because we had different standards and suggestions on a national level versus what was being pushed at a state level, versus how we wanted to care for our community,” she said, “but also recognizing that yoga and mindfulness techniques were needed more than ever with the amount of isolation that was happening in our country.” 

By 2020, the studio had already introduced online yoga on a small scale. Today clients can take classes in person or live online as well as access a web library of past classes. 

“During the first phase of the pandemic, I would just go to the studio and film by myself all day long, and that really set us up for success when people started using virtual platforms for their fitness and mindfulness,” she said. “I would say that was unexpected; it was difficult and yet it really helped to propel our business into something incredible.” 

Beyond the studio

Sweet has made numerous community connections through the studio over 15 years, from hosting free outdoor classes to school outreach to providing yoga scholarships for underrepresented populations. 

“Our accessibility goes so far beyond just what we do in the studio, and we really aim to make an impact across the Omaha metro and Lincoln,” she said. 

Looking back, she said she’s proud of simply making it to the 15-year mark. 

“After 15 years, I know that this is working and it’s a benefit to the community,” she said. “So, the next 15 years, I want to open more studios, have more online training, train more teachers, and just expand the Lotus name even bigger.

“To be a woman-run, family-run business opened in a recession, we got through the pandemic — I think the legacy of 15 years is incredible. I always feel like I’m just getting started.”