Our Staff
Southern Om is an oasis from the surrounding world dedicated to promoting total well-being and life balance.
We offer powerful yoga classes and community in a fun, friendly, clean and nurturing environment.
With over 80 classes at two Greenville studios, there is an opportunity
for you to be a part of our Oasis and start feeling better now.
What are you waiting for? Start living a happier and healthier life today.
Too many people are feeling stressed, anxious, or in pain. We teach a vigorous style of hot yoga and Inferno in a loving and supportive community so you can feel better and love your life more.
Our Staff
Pace Beattie - Head Towel Washer
Pace’s Story: My hectic and often intense career in the financial markets, combined with raising two boys as a single parent, was creating stress and left me feeling out of sync with the health principles I had been taught at a young age. I started out with non-heated yoga as an attempt to relieve stress and sleep better, but felt something was missing. Once I tried hot yoga, I found the combination of the mental and spiritual elements of meditation with the endurance of sustained physical exercise gave me the life balance that I had been looking for, and I was immediately hooked! My dream to open a hot yoga studio in my hometown of Greenville, South Carolina and share this discovery with others took root in 2007, and came to fruition in 2010 after taking a year to train under my yoga mentor Baron Baptiste and research the highest quality yoga studios in the country. Southern Om is the result of that journey of self-discovery and a community that exists to change lives.
My struggles are your struggles: sleep, stress and depression. Hot yoga changed my life and I am on a mission to help you change yours!
Sarah Swartz - Assistant to the Head Towel Washer
Sarah’s Story: A longtime fitness enthusiast, I had never tried hot yoga until 2011, after meeting Pace at a health fair. It didn’t take long for me to become addicted to the physical and mental benefits of the practice, and found that the heat greatly alleviated my symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. We also began a strong partnership that still exists today.
I work full-time in Hendersonville, NC as a Communication & Marketing Manager with the Blue Ridge Humane Society and enjoy helping Pace and the team with communication projects whenever I can. You also never know when I’m going to pop up on the class schedule or at the front desk!
I live with metastatic breast cancer and I am determined to live my best life now, and encourage my students to do the same - one deep breath at a time! My self-care strategies include snuggling up with my rescue cat Grace and a good book, hiking, waterfall bathing and soaking up time with friends in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Email Sarah
Melissa Howard - Marketing Coordinator
Melissa creates and shares powerful stories and photos on our social media channels to bring the Oasis to your feed and inspire you to come and practice and shop at Southern Om!
Yoga has helped her through depression and anxiety, as well as many of life's milestones. She completed her 200 hr RYT at Dharma Yoga Studios with the love and guidance of Chris Brown. She continued on her learning journey by completing her 300 hour RYT at Asheville Yoga Center with the help of Stephanie Keach, and has a certificate in Prenatal Yoga and Children's Yoga. Melissa loves teaching Flow as well as Yin/Restorative and continues to grow herself as a teacher to better benefit her students. In addition to her yoga certifications she is also certified in Mat 1 and Mat 2 Pilates. When Melissa is not on her mat, she's running, cycling or hanging out with her husband and 3 kids.
Email Melissa
Jen Reinhardt - Teacher Coordinator
Jen works closely with all of our amazing teachers and ensures our teaching schedule is up to date.
Jen began practicing yoga over 14 years ago and had the wonderful opportunity to grow from an individual practice, to a prenatal practice, mommy and me and then share it with her children as they grew up. Jen loved the practice so much, when the time and opportunity came, she decided to become a yoga teacher. Jen earned her RYT from Balance Hot Yoga in Cedar Falls IA and is working towards getting her RPYT as well!
When Jen is not practicing yoga she loves to spend time with her family, enjoying art, hiking, swimming, traveling, finding new places to eat and cooking food that her kids complain about but are good for them. Come have some fun and flow with Jennifer and Southern Om!
Email Jen
Katie Abshire - Studio Administrator
Katie is our multi-talented Studio Administrator and the one you will interact with when you email us at the info box. She’s also our West End Studio Coordinator and manages our Front Desk team. These roles allow Katie to interact with students and staff daily to ensure there is a smiling face behind the front desk and a pleasant studio experience for all.
She is a mom of 3 young kids and loves hanging out with her family more than anything. "Coming to Southern Om, whether it be for class or to work, is my sacred space of peace. I started working here as a way to better my mental health and to do something for myself for a change. This community, the classes, the people I’ve met here have truly changed my life for the better. I love this place with my whole heart and thank everyone who makes Southern Om the community that it is for so many."
Katie is always on the lookout for fantastic folks to join our team in front desk and cleaning roles.
Email Katie
Caroline Knight - Studio Coordinator, Woodruff Rd.
Caroline is our Woodruff Road Studio Coordinator and works closely with Pace to ensure the flagship studio is running efficiently and the student experience there is still amazing after nearly 14 years.
“My passion for overall health and wellness started 17 years ago when my journey as a personal trainer started after college. Since 2007, I have worked out of some bigger gyms and owned a few small studios in the Greenville area and I currently operate Fit Four Training in Taylors.
Along this journey, practicing Yoga became something new in my typical workout routine, and I quickly loved it! I found Southern Om and tried a class, and then tried another. The overall experience was great! The environment was inviting, and the benefits were endless. And now, years later, I am proud to be a part of this fantastic team.
I truly love seeing my own clients feel better, sleep better, get off their medications, and make their health a priority. And now, I get to experience this alongside the students at SO.”
Brett Flowers - Retention Coordinator