The People Behind the Practice

Our Leadership

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  • A native Nashvillian, Liz is passionate about both the local and global yoga communities.

    In 2013 she was moved by the idea that “yoga can happen anywhere” while in Kenya with the Africa Yoga Project. Upon her return she believed that the Nashville community deserved the same access to yoga and its benefits that she saw under the hot Kenyan sun.

    A do-er by nature, Liz founded Small World Yoga in 2014 with the vision to grow yoga in outreach locations across Middle Tennessee. A year later she co-founded Baptiste Power Yoga Nashville, which is now the official teacher training school of Small World Yoga, and has made a sustainable model of bringing yoga to the community by training more than 100 new teachers in the Nashville area and beyond. Two major events—Music City Yoga Festival and Nashville’s International Day of Yoga—bring together the local yoga community thanks to Liz’s leadership and organizational skills.

    Liz is a certified Baptiste Power Vinyasa yoga instructor (E-RYT 500). She has completed both her 200- and 500-hour trainings under Baron Baptiste and now travels to assist Baptiste trainings and programs around the world.

    She has also studied under Live Love Teach founders Philip Urso, Debbie Williamson and Stacy Dockins. She trains and certifies teachers in paddleboard yoga through her business, Nashville Paddle Co.

    Liz was a high school and college athlete and didn’t expect yoga was going to be the sport for her, but more than a decade later she still loves both the challenge of the physical practice and the deeper emotional benefits. In 2017, she returned in Kenya and is now a sponsor of Africa Yoga Project. She funds a new teachers’ career in Africa and she also helps host/sponsor teachers from Africa to come to America and teach.

    When not on the mat or in the SWY studio you can find Liz on a paddleboard, in the cookie kitchen with her husband, or looking for the best Mexican food in town.

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  • Born and raised in Nashville TN, Mikka has always had a heart for community and movement. With a love for dance, gymnastics, and many other sports. Mikka was naturally drawn to yoga. She began her yoga Journey in 2017 and took her first group yoga class with Small World Yoga in 2018 at an outreach class at Mill Ridge Park. She now teaches at this exact outreach location, which is quite the full circle story. Mikka continued to practice with SWY for years and went on to take her 200-hour teacher training through SWY and Baptiste Power Yoga Nashville in March 2020.

    Before yoga, Mikka worked in childcare and owned a daycare for two years. She went on to work in the insurance industry before finding a love for yoga. Now she teaches at SWY and other local studios as well as privately. Mikka began working as an Outreach Manager for SWY in October 2022. As an outreach Manager she is part of an amazing outreach team within the leadership group that manages all of our teachers and community partners. In this role she connects with our partners to bring yoga into the community and outside the studio. With a passion for non-profit work, Mikka held a board position with the Atlanta based non-profit Blossoming Brown Girls from 2017–2019. She also currently holds a board seat with the Edgehill Neighborhood Partnership. 

    When not serving the community or teaching and practicing yoga, you can find Mikka somewhere outside exploring with her three daughters.

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  • Ashley came to the physical practice of yoga through her meditation practice as a way to deepen connection with herself and her community. She completed her 200-hour YTT in 2022 at Fahrenheit Yoga in Nashville, TN. In 2023, she did a 100-hour internship at Flying Tree Yoga in Medellín, Colombia to strengthen her teaching practices and learn to teach yoga in Spanish. Her background in education and working with immigrants from around the world inspires her to continue investing in community. Working with Small World Yoga gives her a space to unite all of her passions in a meaningful and purposeful way.

    Outside of yoga, Ashley enjoys spending time with her friends, family and pups. She is passionate about creating a more equitable, accessible, and joyful world, while seeing as much of it as possible.

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  • Before becoming a yoga instructor, Meghan worked in retail for a while in high school and college and has spent most of her professional life teaching small children. She worked in a couple of preschools, spent two years teaching Kindergarten, and nannied for several families. Now her major responsibilities include scheduling continuing education workshops for instructors, offering monthly challenges to the studio team and outreach teachers, and providing regular support and feedback. Meghan also co-facilitates our 200-hour teacher training program and works closely with students throughout the application process. She started teaching in the Small World Community studio in the summer of 2018, facilitating programs in January of 2020, took on instructor development responsibilities in November of 2021.

    Like many of our instructors, Meghan finds yoga to be supportive, grounding, and ultimately transformative. She chose to work with Small World because she’s committed to sharing the practice with any and every body, especially in her hometown of Nashville. She started practicing consistently when her personal life felt too tumultuous to handle on her own. She found a lot of space in being able to feel uncomfortable sensations without judgment or attachment. Meghan teaches heated power flow and would describe her class as challenging with space to modify and create variations as it serves students. She tries to incorporate a bit of lightness and will always leave time at the end for rest.

    Meghan’s husband works as a chef, and they have a daughter and an extremely ornery cat. When they aren’t practicing yoga, they love to be outside—working or playing and enjoy traveling, eating, and being around friends and family.

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  • Originally from Virginia where she got her undergrad at James Madison University and her MBA at Virginia Commonwealth University, Traci made Nashville her home in 2019 with her husband Justin, their young daughter and senior Shitzu dog, Duke.  Before landing in Nashville, she spent time working in North Carolina, New York City, and Los Angeles and traveling across the globe.  She worked many years in the corporate world of Sales, helped launch several startup technology companies, and dedicated her spare time with several non-profit organizations in the areas of fundraising, consulting, and training young community volunteers.  In her youth, Traci was a dancer starting at the age of 3, a cheerleader in her High School years, a runner after college when she ran lots of half-marathons (before her grand finale of the New York marathon) and then a yogi just to balance it all out.  She has been practicing yoga for over 20 years and finally found the time between her crazy work schedule to get a Yoga Teacher Training in 2024 while she managed a yoga studio. 
    When Traci is not practicing yoga, you can find her volunteering at her child’s school, exploring the world of wine, or just trying to find ways to make this world a best place.

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  • Sarah began practicing yoga at the fitness center in college after a background of dance and cheerleading, thinking she would be “good” at it. She learned very quickly that there is no “good at yoga.” And that’s what made Sarah fall in love with the practice—she was no longer performing for others but instead focusing on her own wellbeing.

    Originally from North Carolina, Sarah moved to Nashville in 2017 and found her new home with the Small World Yoga community. She received her 200-hour teacher training certification through Baptiste Power Yoga Nashville in 2018. Over the years, Sarah has taught a wide variety of students, from kindergartners to 90-year-old seniors, and in a variety of styles, including power, gentle, chair, and kids’ yoga, supporting Small World’s mission that yoga is for every body. She received her 500-hour certification in 2020 with Baptiste Power Yoga Nashville.

    Outside of yoga, Sarah writes young adult novels and plays too many video games.

Our Board

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  • Cody is a middle TN native, having grown up in Fairview about thirty minutes outside of Nashville. He graduated with a degree in computer science from the University of Tennessee in 2016. He first found Small World Yoga in 2018 and was immediately hooked on the movement and mission. He became a practicing regular, then a teacher, and now he helps by training new yoga teachers with Small World. He works as a software developer at Optum Tech and loves music, the outdoors, and solving puzzles. He is excited to be a part of the board and to help further the mission of Small World to serve as many people as possible. 

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  • Tessa is the child of migrant farmworkers. She pursued law school with the mission to be an advocate for migrants, earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington Foster School of Business and a juris doctorate at the University of Washington School of Law. Tessa practiced law in Washington and subsequently held administrative roles at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, and the Tennessee Lawyers’ Association for Women.

    In 2020, Tessa was named executive director of Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors. Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors provides affordable, high-quality immigration legal services, educates the public about immigration-related issues, and advocates for immigrant rights. Since taking over, Tessa has moved the organization from being a tiny, financially unstable nonprofit to being the largest nonprofit immigration law office in Nashville. She grew staff, secured multi-year funding, and stabilized the organization’s financial reserves resulting in a healthy, thriving organization.

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  • Nashville native Anna Myint grew up in the city’s first Thai restaurant and Asian grocery, International Market, opened by her parents in 1975. After it closed in 2019 she reopened the local institution with her brother, where she oversees the front of house, finances, and communications for the business.

    She attended University School of Nashville (‘04), received her BA Communications from The University of Tennessee (‘08), Fashion Design Certificate from Parsons School of Design (‘11), before receiving her MBA from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management (‘20).

    In 2022, the Nashville Business Journal recognized Anna in their 40 Under 40 awards. In 2023, she was part of Nashville Emerging Leaders as well as Leadership Connect through the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and was recognized as a finalist for the Nashville Emerging Leaders Awards for hospitality. Anna plans to join the Small World Yoga board this winter and The University of Tennessee has recently announced Anna as a recipient of the 2024 Alumni Volunteer 40 Under 40 Award.

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  • Kristin grew up in Lake of the Ozarks, MO and is happiest when a boat and sunshine are involved!  She moved to Nashville in 2002 to pursue a music business degree at Belmont University.  After graduating, she discovered yoga and fell in love with its ability to transform the mind, body, and soul.

    She went on to become RYT 500, E-RYT 200, and has been a huge supporter of Small World Yoga’s mission since the beginning of her teaching career. In addition to teaching yoga, she also offers sound baths, reiki energy work, and international yoga retreats.  When not working she enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing music, and traveling.

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  • Steve Ryan is a native of Franklin, Tennessee and has worked for HCA in Capital Asset Management for over 27 years.  He discovered yoga around 10 years ago through classes offered at work and enjoys both its physical and mindfulness aspects.  Steve enjoys travel, working out, and building furniture in his shop when he can find the time.

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  • Maddy Kelly is a public health professional who enjoys connecting people, ideas, and resources to create positive community impact. She is especially interested in leadership development, facilitation, and building partnerships that support healthier, more resilient communities. She is also a 200-hour certified yoga teacher with a deep passion for mental health, trauma-informed systems, and empowering individuals with tools for self-regulation believing that healing-centered practices can truly change the world.