Sometimes opportunities choose to arrive in the most abrupt ways. For Rhiannon Hainds, a senior majoring in biology from Sioux City, Iowa, a piece of Moroccan textile and a summer yoga festival spawned an idea that is now shaping into a successful first endeavor in the entrepreneurial community.
Although Hainds has little previous business experience, she is currently developing her own yoga accessories line, called Twelve Petals.

“The idea could not have been more unexpected. I study Biology and have always been determined to become an optometrist,” she said.

While shopping for yoga mat straps, Hainds, an avid yoga student, discovered that most of the store options were pretty dull. Instead of giving in and purchasing the lackluster straps, she decided to find a sewing machine; her favorite strips of textile picked up while abroad on Semester at Sea, and make her own yoga mat strap. The response she received towards it at Wanderlust Yoga Festival at Copper Mountain was astonishing.

“I wore it around at Wanderlust and received so many wholesale requests that I couldn’t ignore the opportunity,” Hainds said.

Now Twelve Petals is a budding new brand that currently only produces unique yoga mat straps. Rhiannon and three “sewing gurus” who assist her with the sewing process individually construct every strap. Twelve Petals also maintains social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr that offer wisdom for practicing a clean, blissful lifestyle.

“It’s about the collision of two worlds. Practice of the ancient meets fashion of the modern. It’s a way for the every day yogi to express himself or herself and inspire them to open their heart to the world,” Hainds said, explaining the core value of Twelve Petals.

The name Hainds gave to her company, Twelve Petals, is taken from the heart chakra, Anahata, represented by a twelve-petal lotus flower. Chakras are points in the human body that are sources of life force (prana) in Hindu metaphysical tradition and other belief systems.

“In some yoga practices I participate in, at some point, they have you place one or both hands on your heart chakra. It influences forgiveness, compassion and balance in life. Above all it is driven by love,” said Hainds.

Haind’s maternal family is from India, so her grandfather taught her about the chakra forces while very young.

Through her family’s beliefs and her own yoga study, Hainds has become connected to these ancient precepts. With Twelve Petals, she hopes to bring them into the day-to-day lives of modern, young yogis.
But for now, Hainds is trying to keep it simple. She takes her cruiser bike around to various local events to set up the ‘pop-up-shop’ and market Twelve Petals.

Her next adventure will be to travel to the Wanderlust Yoga Festival in Austin, Texas, and soon enough, Twelve Petals will make its way into local yoga studios and Denver area farmers markets.
In the long run, she hopes to expand the Twelve Petals line into jewelry, clothing and handbags.
Hainds acknowledged how undertaking a business while being an undergrad is not always easy.

“It takes a lot of dedication and persistence every day,” said Hainds. “There are times where I am overwhelmed and frustrated and lose motivation, but then someone or something will inspire me to push forward. I am constantly reminding myself to focus on the process and not the final outcome.”

Proof that, with a little discipline, it is never the wrong time to follow an opportunity.

Keep an eye on Twelve Petals when shopping for yoga accessories.
To follow their tumblr check out: twelvepetalslove.tumblr.com/