COMMUNITY PROFILE

Lara Mae Divina Chollette

Transformational HR Leader / Culture Architect / Sports & Community Advocate / Sound Healer / Yoga Teacher / Leadership Coach 

LARA MAE DIVINA CHOLLETTE


Seattle University - Master of Business Administration, Leadership Executive

Louisiana State University BS, Business Administration - Marketing

Commissioner Seattle Center

Board Member - Rainier Valley Community Development Fund

she/her 

2018—super breakout in my career—I’d been doing the sports and entertainment thing; that’s what people kind of know me for, you know, being in the community a lot, just really going and going and going, trying to climb up that ladder, per se. And at some point you’re just like, what is this for? Yes, to feed the family. Yes, to do all these things. But what is it that I can do for me? As an athlete I was used to lifting, running, playing soccer—very hardcore activities. And I was like, gosh, I really need to take care of my body as we grow older. So I actually enrolled in a teacher training course to force myself to do yoga. It wasn’t like, “Oh, I want to be a yoga teacher.” That was not it. It was literally: how can I hold myself accountable? Oh, I’m going to pay for this—because it’s kind of a lot of money—and it’ll keep me going. It’s 300 hours, right? And I think through that journey—learning about your body, practicing weekly, having workshops once a month, full-on Friday/Saturday/Sunday—I fell in love with it. I fell in love with yoga itself, the practice of yoga, and with being okay being “selfish” with my time. Because you do so much for others—as a mom, as a career person, as a wife—you just do so much for everyone else. And being in the air as my day job, you take care of everyone. But when is it that I can take care of myself.

I fell in love with yoga: the mindfulness, being centered, focusing on that mind–body connection. Breathwork—completely fell in love with it. Teaching? Not so much at first. I was like, I don’t know. We did all the workshops, and I was just like, I don’t know—I stumble on the words; I’m not really sure if I’m doing it.