People of Conshohocken – Maura Manzo

People of Conshohocken – Maura Manzo

4/27/2018

by Brian Coll

This is part of our People of Conshohocken series…
We have close to 10,000 people in our borough, add in the residents of West Conshohocken, Plymouth, Whitemarsh and Lafayette Hill and we have a large community. Some of the people that will be featured will be well known in the area, some will have just moved into the area, some will have been here their entire lives. Some of them may be business owners, or people who walk around the area, or maybe work in the area. Maybe you know them, maybe you don’t. Everyone has a story. While we are only going to take their picture and maybe ask a question or two, we want to share these stories with you.

******************************************************************************************************************************

We’ve been doing these People of Conshohocken pieces for a while now and we love it. Personally, it let’s me get to know some people better, in some cases I don’t know anything about a person and today it was kind of in between…. I chatted with Maura Manzo today, and if you are asking yourself why is that name familiar it is because she opened Yoga Home about 4 years ago with business partner Kerri Hamlon. If you are going, no that’s not how I know that name, it may be you have met her dad Joe Manzo over the years at this or that event. Joe had a business here in Conshohocken up until recently and has been involved in the community over the years. I have known Maura for a few years now, but it was mostly to say hi as we passed each other here or there.

So, while I have met Maura myself over the years it wasn’t until today when I asked her what made her choose to open Yoga Home here in Conshohocken it was because both her and her business partner Kerri live here and love it. They couldn’t have pictured going anywhere else to open the studio. They looked at a few other places before finding “HOME” at their location by Edward Freemans Candy factory and right across from the Conshohocken Community Garden. There was a yoga studio in the location before them, it had closed it’s doors about a year and a half prior to Yoga Home opening there. They took the space and really made it their own in addition to expanding the space.

When we got onto the subject of other things that they have done, she was really excited to talk about rooftop Yoga at Whole Foods (how cool is it to be able to say you partner with Whole Foods) Classes are $5 on the roof. They have held events at the Conshohocken Beer Garden, the local elementary schools and the Conshohocken Free Library. I asked her if anything new was being worked on, and she casually mentioned adoptive yoga, I had to ask a follow up to that question and I really thought it was cool when she said these classes are geared towards people with disabilities, and is very comforting in the environment for them.

We got off the subject of yoga and her business and we started talking about things she loves in and around Conshohocken…. of course the restaurants and the community feel. I think she coined a new term…. play together, work together. That sounds about right here in Conshohocken. There is enough to keep you busy in our community. One thing we didn’t talk about was the fact that when my sister and I started the Conshystuff Food Drive a few years ago, Yoga Home was one of the first places to say yes they would like to help out. They gave us gift certificates to classes, they are a collection point, and they have been a great asset to our community.

Thanks for chatting with me today Maura. I feel like I got to know you a little better.