Gone to the Dogs

The weeks before graduation may not be the most intuitive time to start a business. But that is precisely the position Ms Audrey Sin found herself in at the end of 2020: the finance major started her company, Puppy Yoga, only three months before she graduated from the University. 

And as she tells The AlumNUS, Puppy Yoga was literally a ‘dream venture’ as the idea for it sprang from a dream. “It was wacky. I was doing yoga in a room full of 30 or 40 dogs! When I woke up, I was so inspired that I immediately Googled it and found some studios that did it overseas, but none in Singapore.” Inspired by this, Ms Sin started Puppy Yoga, a yoga space where canines and humans can get into downward dog position together. Its daily classes at Boat Quay draw not just people with pets, but animal lovers in general. “For non-pet owners, there are very few opportunities to mingle with animals of any sort, and you often have to worry if the owners would be comfortable if you interact with their pets,” explains Ms Sin, who does not have a dog of her own. “Puppy Yoga affords them a safe space to do this. Pet owners can also use the space to help their pets socialise with one another.”

Besides the joy of interacting with animals, Ms Sin is also eager to spread the benefits of yoga to a wider audience. She has reaped these benefits since her university days, when she used yoga as a stressbuster during a challenging internship. “Yoga has helped me in so many ways that I cannot describe: changing my body, calming my mind, helping me learn more about life and acceptance!

Running a business at the tender age of 23 has also come with a slew of lessons. “I had a lot of self-doubt as I wondered if starting a business without much experience would be foolish,” she admits. “But the experience has taught me a lot, and I’ve definitely grown in confidence.” Not all these experiences were pleasant: she reveals that the pandemic has been tough on the fitness industry, as it has had to quickly adapt to changing safe management guidelines. But she overcame these struggles using the lessons of mindfulness and gratitude she gleaned from her years of yoga practice. In fact, she is so much more comfortable with entrepreneurship these days that she has expanded her presence into another yoga concept. The road doesn’t end there: Ms Sin shares that she will be unveiling yet another yoga concept sometime in 2022. “Why all these unique experiences?”, you may ask. It is her way of putting into practice the lessons she picked up during her time at NUS. “It’s important to have a unique selling point that sets us apart in the saturated fitness market in Singapore! I want to give my customers a fresh experience every time.”