Get Om Point with Vanya & Shavonna

March 25, 2013

The HOT-lanta fitness scene just got a little healthier with two yoga instructors Vanya Francis and Shavonna Sumlin of OM POINT YOGA.

Vanya Francis is a local DC girl rising up from Sidwell Friends, then off to Spelman College and finishing with a graduate degree at University Southern California.

She finally planted her roots in southwest Atlanta after leaving a high-powered marketing and communications career to spend more time with her family and launch a yoga studio and wellness business.

While in Atlanta, Vanya ran into a fellow USC grad student, Shavonna Sumlin, and they started throwing around holistic health ideas.

They decided to put their heads together to create a yoga community for black women and patients in cancer therapy.

The Om Point Yoga ladies operate their “yoga boutique” out of the famous Boxcar Grocer in Castleberry Hill also located in southwest Atlanta. The collaborative partnership is a win-win for everyone.

But Vanya Francis offers some key tips for a successful business partnership, “Shavonna and I both have a temperament where we are respectful of each others concerns. Yet we are not afraid to speak our minds. It is like entering a marriage because we are in a legally bound relationship.”

They plan to expand to include an “artisan juice bar” for people who want guidance and support with fasting and providing yoga therapy to cancer patients. Vanya and Shavonna want to make yoga be accessible to everyone. Their mission is to get black communities to redefine the term, “OM POINT.”