Today we’d like to introduce you to April Falcon.
Thanks for sharing your story with us April. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started as a dancer when I was 4 years old. I studied ballet, modern, jazz and hip-hop. I then continued dancing through college where I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Growing up, my father owned a boxing gym so I was always around the fitness life. In college I started training friends and colleagues just for fun who would see me working out and ask me for advice or training. It was also in college that I started practicing yoga regularly.
After graduating college in 2013, I moved back to Illinois in 2014 and continued working on my own fitness. I would teach group fitness classes every now and then at my brother’s gym and then I began teaching hot boxing weekly at my father’s gym. I also joined Elements Contemporary Ballet first as an apprentice and later got promoted to full company member. In 2016, I went to Fiji for one month to complete a 200hr. yoga teacher training through Yogaworks. A year after receiving my certification I started teaching at a group fitness studio in the north suburbs of Illinois, and more recently I started teaching group boxing classes at a gym in Logan Square and yoga at Equinox.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My biggest struggle with starting a yoga teacher career has simply just been fear and lack of confidence. I originally got into yoga because of how inspired I felt by my yoga teachers and I worry that I won’t be as inspiring to others as I want to be. Many people finish their yoga trainings and immediately start teaching, but it took me a year before I even did my first yoga teacher audition. My goal is to make a difference and help people better their lives, but I can be a perfectionist and I worry about not having enough knowledge to share to make an impact on people’s lives.
April Falcon – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I do not own my own business. (yet) I consider myself almost like a freelancer. I work for companies, but I am not limited to them. I can work as a yoga teacher, fitness instructor or dancer wherever people want to hire me. I have always trained my body in different ways (weight lifting, boxing, cardio, hiit, different styles of dance, yoga) and I take pride in being able to share those different methods with others. Even though I’ve never been an athlete outside of dance, I’ve always had a mentality of training like one and I feel I specialize in helping people cross train to help maximize their athletic abilities.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Of course success can be measured financially, but outside of that I think success is when you are living a life you feel proud of. A life that you enjoy. Yes, there will always be difficult, not so great days for everyone, but overall, success should feel like you are happy doing what you do. You are living your passion. I also personally think success is when you are doing something that ends up making the world slightly better. Even if it’s just helping one person at a time. It could range from being able to give your own children an opportunity filled life to helping thousands live a better life. In the end I think you are successful when you are living a life with passion and pride.
Contact Info:
- Email: falcon.april@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/april_falcon/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/aprilfalconyoga
Image Credit:
Nick Cosky, Joel Maisonet, Topher Alexander
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