A native of Austin, TX, Alia J. Khan is a recovering attorney-turned-entrepreneur. She began practicing yoga when she began practicing law, because she knew she needed a way to balance out the stress of her new career, and obtained her 200-hour teaching certification in 2012. After nearly 5 years of working as an associate at an AmLaw 500 firm in DC, Alia knew that the legal world was not the place for her. She embarked on a long and winding journey to find her dream career, making stops in the worlds of food writing and real estate along the way. Through her professional adventures, teaching yoga had always been a passion that fulfilled a very important part of her. But she knew that teaching yoga full-time would never fully satisfy all of her professional ambitions, so her search continued. Alia had always dreamed of owning her own business, though she used to think that she wanted to open a restaurant.

Two years of writing about the restaurant industry rid her of that notion completely, but her entrepreneurial spirit still burned strong. Her undergraduate degree was in business, and she longed to return to her business roots after her foray into the law. While using her real estate knowledge to help a client search for office space, she stumbled across a listing for a former dance studio just five blocks away from her home. The moment she set foot in the space, Alia knew that she had to open a yoga studio there. And so, two years after taking the leap and leaving the legal world, she opened her yoga studio: East Side Yoga. She has since collaborated with various members of her community to add a successful massage therapy practice to her studio, offer free Yoga + Running events to the neighborhood, host a number of popular community events including a Holiday Pop-Up Bazaar featuring 10 local women-owned businesses. She works regularly with a local homeless youth advocacy and shelter organization to teach both academics and yoga to kids in need. And most recently, she partnered with a local artisan to launch her own line of self-care products: Sanctuary. Learn more about Alia and the many ways you can connect with her here: www.AliaJKhan.com