Westport Yoga Studio Grows by Leaning Into Community, Not Just Class Schedules

On a Tuesday evening in Kansas City's Westport neighborhood, the front room of Rooted Sun Yoga fills up nearly twenty minutes before class starts. Regulars greet each other by name, someone passes around a plate of orange slices left over from a weekend workshop, and a dog belonging to one of the instructors wanders between mats before curling up near the front desk.

It's not the atmosphere most people associate with a fast-growing fitness business, but Rooted Sun has expanded twice since opening in a converted storefront near Westport Road in 2022, most recently adding a second studio room last fall to accommodate demand for its restorative and prenatal classes.

Building a Studio Around Belonging

Founder Kendra Ashworth said the growth wasn't driven by an aggressive marketing push or a franchise model. It came from treating the studio as a community space that happened to offer yoga classes, rather than the other way around.

"I used to teach at studios that felt like gyms with mats," Ashworth said. "People would come in, do their practice, and leave without talking to anyone. I wanted Rooted Sun to feel like the kind of place where you'd want to stay for tea after class."

That philosophy shows up in small structural choices. Classes at Rooted Sun run five minutes longer than the regional average, leaving time for a brief closing circle where students can share how they're feeling, an practice borrowed from Ashworth's training with teachers in India and expanded during her years teaching in the Westport area.

Westport's Evolving Wellness Scene

Westport, long known in Kansas City for its nightlife and entertainment district, has increasingly become home to a cluster of wellness businesses catering to residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. Ashworth said the studio's location was intentional, aiming to draw both longtime Westport locals and newer transplants drawn to the area's walkability.

"There's an energy in this neighborhood that's a little irreverent, a little unpolished," Ashworth said. "I didn't want a studio that felt sterile or exclusive. I wanted it to feel like it belonged on this street."

The studio now offers roughly thirty classes a week, ranging from vigorous vinyasa flow to slower, prop-heavy yin sessions, and has added a monthly sound bath led by a local musician who uses crystal singing bowls, one of the studio's most consistently sold-out offerings.

Training the Next Generation of Teachers

Rooted Sun also runs a 200-hour teacher training program twice a year, which Ashworth said has become an unexpected source of both revenue and staffing. Roughly half of the studio's current instructors trained through the program before being hired on.

"It lets us shape teachers who already understand the culture we're trying to build," said studio manager Felix Marchetti, who completed the training himself before joining the staff. "They're not just teaching poses. They understand why we do the closing circle, why we keep the lighting low, why we play music that isn't just generic ambient noise."

What Comes Next

Ashworth said she's fielded offers to franchise the Rooted Sun concept in other Kansas City neighborhoods and even out of state, but has turned them down so far, wary of diluting the studio's identity.

"Maybe someday there's a second location, if it's in Kansas City and if I can be involved in shaping it directly," she said. "But this isn't a business I want to turn into something I don't recognize. The whole point was building something that felt like home."