Today we’d like to introduce you to Gina Lastuvka.
Hi Gina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Gina. I have been doing yoga since college. I picked up a yoga class for PE credit and was hooked.
My husband and I have been traveling for his work every 1-2 years or so for the last 10 years. We have lived in NY, TN and now SC. I was an AEMT/phlebotomist for most of that time. During covid, I picked up pottery and stained glass and have an Etsy shop, Hippie Dippie Artworks. When I got pregnant with my son, I realized that EMS was going to be hard to continue. I had to cut down to per diem since childcare became ridiculously expensive. I couldn’t take the smell of pottery and the stained glass fumes were toxic for me to inhale. I needed something else to do. No one really talks about the transition from a full time worker to stay at home mom. It was the most mentally challenging thing I’ve ever gone through. I was able to partake in a 200hour yoga instructor course on the side and have slowly been teaching classes ever since.
When we moved to Moncks Corner, and since having my daughter, I’ve needed something to help with self care and coping through life’s trials and tribulations. Thus Tides Yoga was born. I am currently working on getting free classes up and running in our Charleston County Parks and selling pottery at the Central Creek Farmers Market
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t been easy but it also hasn’t been very hard. The hardest part is starting over every move. You build a reputation with your work speaking for itself. Having to rebuild that each time while moving is hard. I was also diagnosed with hyperemesis gavardium, extreme morning sickness which caused me to have really hard pregnancies mentally. But we still push on.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In all aspects I’m mom, first and foremost. And I looked for those types of Professionals who has made the transition. They were far and few in between, so my pottery and my yoga classes have that aspect. They show how I do this with my young children with me. I want to show people how to do things with kids in tow and that it is possible. The trials, the successes, all of it.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love the small town feel of Moncks Corner. The town is very transparent with the local government. I love that there are a lot of family oriented things to do and they’re building a large playground nearby.
There’s a level of arrogance in the cities for no reason which is precisely why we left New York and Nashville. I see it a lot closer to tourist destinations. I try to avoid that as much as possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/tides.yoga
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tides.yoga
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CakiReYCa/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@tidesyoga
- Other: https://hippiedippieartwork.etsy.com/
