You are the power women behind Patrick Broome, with whom you run three yoga studios in Munich. How did you get to Patrick and what does a typical day look like for you today?
Our day starts early in the morning with Ashtanga Yoga. We both love starting the day early, when everything on the streets is still quiet. Then we do our practice for about 1.5-2 hours. Afterwards we look forward to our first coffee together, where we can discuss our day. It's usually a mixed bag: including a lot of organizational work, a lot of hands-on work and helping out. We always try to be very close to our team and our teachers, so there are regular team meetings and platforms for exchange. But there is also a lot of office work that takes place in any normal company: from human resources to accounting, everything is there. Our job is very varied and multifaceted, which is something we enjoy.
Alex, you have quite an atypical CV. Starting out as a lawyer, you now run three yoga studios and also give yoga classes. How did you come to this? You are also a mother of two children :). How do you reconcile all of this?
My secret recipe is that I always find joy in the things I do. Ultimately, everything is a question of organization, but the ability to organize is one of our absolute strengths as women. As a woman today, you can live many different sides and combine them well: being a mother, being female, still being able to stand up for things at work and also finding joy in life with all its beautiful sides. I often read about breaks in CVs. I see that quite differently. When different sides come together - what you have learned and personal skills - and this combined with passion, it is like a mosaic in which the parts fit together. Today I can combine things that I enjoy: yoga with what I have learned.
Christine, how is it with you? Has yoga been with you throughout your entire life or have you only combined passion and work since you started working at Patrick Broome?
My path is no longer entirely atypical these days. I'm actually a banker and have managed large sums of private investment assets for many years. At the time I lived in Frankfurt and Zurich. At some point a friend dragged me along to a yoga class - I had a rather “aunty” image of yoga, but then I was very surprised that something really great was happening on the mat. A short time later I was in New York and excited about the yoga scene. I've stuck with it ever since. That was 10 years ago now and it changed my entire life.
What is special about Patrick Broome Studios?
Our studios offer YOGA FOR EVERYONE. Everyone can feel comfortable with us and find the right offer for themselves. From beginners to advanced teachers, we have wonderful options. There are courses for absolute beginners, topic-specific workshops for training and further education, and yoga teacher training with various focuses. The whole thing can also be seen as a modular principle. Quality always comes first. We pay a lot of attention to this when selecting teachers and designing our offerings. Of course, the people who work for us are also special. We are a strong team and live our values, that is important to us.
Now we took advantage of the great summer and arranged to meet up for a shoot on the beautiful Isar in Munich. You are both wearing outfits from our upcoming F/W 17/18 collection. Alex, you were wearing our brand new marble pants made of recycled polyester and were even in the Isar with them. How do you like the material?
My great love is water and the marble pants were so comfortable, like a second skin, that I had to jump into the water with them when it was almost 30 degrees. The material is actually like a second skin and looks great too. On the way to my new favorite pants.. ☺.
And Christine, you were wearing our Keffiah leggings, which are now also available in organic cotton. You've been wearing OGNX for a long time, even in private, what do you like about the pants?
The fit is simply great. I actually walk around in my pants all day, but in the morning I wear them for Ashtanga with a little more functionality because I sweat a lot in my practice. During the day I like the cotton trousers, which are comfortable and also look great ☺
What connects you to ONGX?
ONGX is a great brand. The products are very functional. And we both practice a lot of yoga..;) But we also look great. It's not the boring sports brand, we also like that it contains a lot of street wear elements. What really excites us both is the great team behind it. Just girl power with a lot of fun. This all fits in perfectly with our Patrick Broome Studios.
You can find more information about Patrick Broome Studios here:
Homepage: http://www.patrickbroome.de