Meet Dani & Kitesy, founders of Humble Warrior

At Kindleggings we love to put inspirationaal people and especially women under the spotlight! This month we would like to introduce you to Dani and Kitesy the founders of Humble Warrior, based in Paris. Read below the story about their brand and their entrepreneur journey.

What is Humble Warrior?

Humble Warrior is new approach to yoga that mixes vinyasa flow with hip-hop music. During the candlelit class, we link our breath with strong yoga sequences while moving to a curated playlist. 

Our classes are challenging and fun at the same time - we help build flexibility, concentration, and inner & other strength.

Where can we practice?    

We have weekly classes in the center of Paris:

At Le Labo (45 rue de la Chaussée d’Antan, 75009) on Mondays at 20: 15 and Wednesdays at 19:30 and at La Place, Centre Culturel de Hip-hop (10 Passage de la Canopée, 75001) on Tuesday at 19:30.

We also organize workshops and pop-up events in various locations throughout the city.

How did the calling to create HW come about?

DANI : I grew up in NY listening to hip-hop and that’s also where I first discovered hip-hop yoga years ago – which I immediately fell in love with. 

At the time, nothing like that existed in Paris and as a teacher, I wanted to bring that vibe here.

Kitesy and I had been friends for a while, and as she was also already a successful entrepreneur.

Both of us had the same opinion about yoga in Paris - that it was lacking – it also seemed a bit cliché et we never felt like we ‘belonged’ in that community. As we both work in fashion, aesthetics are really important to us.  We both wanted to twist yoga with a brand new image and make it accessible (and cool) for people to try.

We started working on HW together over a year ago and it’s just the beginning!

What is the idea behind the name Humble Warrior?  

Firstly, Humble Warrior is a yoga pose. It’s a grounding pose that requires strength and surrender at the same time.

Off the mat, it takes on a much larger meaning that applies to life. We really liked the juxtaposition and duality of these 2 words - they represent our values as a brand.

To us, a Humble Warrior is a person who shows modesty and respect while having the skills to fight the challenges of everyday life.  We realized that all around us within the hip-hop community there are these ‘humble warriors’, and with this project, we wanted to shed light on them.

How did you guys meet?

For years we’d go to the same yoga studio in the 18^th but never really talked.   One night a few years ago we ran into each other at a hip-hop party and that’s when we realized we had the same interests in common: fashion, hip-hop, and yoga.  We developed a bit of a routine - we’d go to our jobs in fashion, meet at yoga class, then get changed/dressed to go out to a hip hop or fashion week party.

We’ve been friends ever since .. and now business partners!

Can you tell us a fun fact about each one of you?

DANI: I read tarot cards and am developing my own set with a friend/artist.

KITESY: I am a fashion designer but what I really love is creating new projects. I am actually developing my own jewelry brand. And Dani didn’t say it, but she loves Mangos from Mark & Spencers and I love watching her choose her mango as it was a gold ring.

What was your key driving force to become entrepreneurs?

DANI : The desire to create by bringing an idea to life and see it grow.  Also, to be my own bo$$.

KITESY: To be my own boss and make each day different by doing lots of different tasks.

How do you build your community and what is it that you all share?

DANI: We wanted to build a sort of family of other “Humble Warriors” like ourselves, that share the same values.

We collaborated and associated with artists, athletes, creatives, from all different walks of life but they all embody the “Yogi spirit”.  We really believe that this is what brings us together as a community and want to expand on that further in everything we do.

KITESY: We communicate a lot with Instagram.  We like to use social media to get the word out and inspire… Also last year we also organized 1 event per month.  It was essential for us to share our « universe » beyond just the classes (hip-hop DJs, the clothes, the mats, the merchandise, the overall vib)

What has been your most rewarding moment so far?

DANI: As a yoga teacher, every time someone leaves the mat feeling a little bit better than they did before and seeing students progress is always super gratifying.

And also our very first event was probably the most memorable and rewarding because it was the culmination of months of ‘back-office’ work.  That night we finally saw the idea come to life with such an amazing response. It marked the beginning of the HW adventure, like, ok.. shit just got real!

KITESY: The first event, for our launch…There was such good energy, good people who are real yogis…It was the result of 6 months of hard work “in the shadows”.

Can you tell us more about your projects in the coming year?

We’re looking forward to new collabs, merch, working with our NGO partner Play International, more classes to meet our clients need/demand, and of course building our Humble warrior community and brand. We’re especially excited about the yoga outfit collab we did with Kindleggings. 

What is the kindest thing someone has ever done for each of you?

DANI :  When I about 8 years old I caught pneumonia and was really sick.  One day my best friend walked over to my house with a bowl of chicken soup and a Coolio cassette tape (it was the 90’s!). At that age, I thought it was the most thoughtful gesture. To this day she’s still my best friend in NY, and I still know all the lyrics to Gangsta’s Paradise. 

KITESY: 2 years ago, the 24th December, I was supposed to go to Canada for Christmas but I had a problem with my visa and 1hour before the take-off, I learned I couldn’t fly. I was so sad…All my family was in Canada, my boyfriend Enzo was with his family in Guadeloupe. I was alone in Paris for Christmas but the day after, I received a flower bouquet and a chocolate box from him with a card “Parce que des fleurs et du chocolat ça aide toujours à remonter (un peu) le moral. Je t’aime et pense fort à toi !”