Interview with PLY Owner, Debbie Maier

We're celebrating Pure Light Yoga's tenth anniversary!decade is a long time!  Particularly when you factor in the past 18 months of the pandemic with a mandatory lockdown.  Particularly if you're a woman entrepreneur and mother of three with a blended family of eight.  Particularly if you hold firm on your values of veganism, eco-awareness, diversity, and the importance of fostering a local yoga community.  And smiling!  Debbie is known for her beautiful smile.

A former NCAA Division I athlete, Debbie has quietly but instrumentally contributed to the thriving yoga community in High Point.   She's provided a studio for the many students who've passed through the doors at Pure Light Yoga.

Some of those students have become PLY teachers, such as Wendy Robinson and Grace Edwards.  Others teach at other local studios and across the U.S.  Former PLY teachers teach locally and across the U.S.  Several former PLY teachers have opened their own studios.

Contribution-based PLY yoga classes have raised thousands of dollars for local and international charities, including yoga scholarships and for women in need.  Pure Light Yoga is the longest, continually open, independent and dedicated yoga studio in High Point.  PLY generally is rated among the best yoga studios in the NC Triad.  Still teaching several classes every week, Debbie continues to inspire and motivate PLY students.

Clearly Debbie is a busy lady!  She managed to find time to sit down and answer a few questions.  This is Part 1.

❤️ Hey, Debbie!  Let's get right into it.  Why did you open a yoga studio?

My girlfriends Katharine Hawks and Roz Tyburski originally wanted to open a studio well before PLY. One Sat morning, Katharine and I went to Roz’s class at a studio in Greensboro. During savasana, the idea to close my interior decorating business (then tucked inside DeBeen Espresso) and to open a yoga studio popped into my head.  We talked it through and acted on it!  Manifestation!

What does it mean to have owned the studio in High Point for ten years?

I am grateful to be able to give love, light, hope, and to help open the mental gateway that helps individuals in our community actively make better life decisions for themselves. I am so grateful to High Point for giving us so much continued support -- even through all of the rollercoaster rides! -- over the years. 

❤️ What is the relationship between your yoga studio and DeBeen?

DeBeen provides the space for Pure Light Yoga to host classes.  I'm the sole owner of both companies.  However, I surround myself with some of the most wonderful people and co-workers I kno