What yoga gave her was more than she expected. As a lifelong recreational athlete — someone who still runs, bikes, hikes, climbs, and lifts — yoga became the practice that made everything else sustainable. During the years she was training for 5Ks and half marathons, it kept her injury-free and helped her push further than she thought possible. As a partner and mother, it made her more grounded, more patient, more present. During career transitions and periods of deep uncertainty, it was the one constant she could return to. Through stress, through anxiety, through the ordinary chaos of a full life — the mat was always there.

After years of teaching in studios, community centers, and corporate settings across the region, Jessie felt a pull toward something bigger. Not just teaching yoga — but building a space that held the full vision of what she believed yoga could be. A place rooted in education, not performance. A home for students at every level, and for teachers who wanted to grow alongside their students. A community that could weather the seasons of life together.

In 2019, she opened the doors to Shanti Yoga Center in St. Cloud. Six years later, the community it has become is the truest expression of everything she set out to create.