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Spotlight New Jersey: Guided Collaboration Collective

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News 12 Staff

720spotlightnj2_2024-07-20-12-37-50

I am joined by a multi talented businesswoman today. Carrie Geske is the owner of local beach yoga twisted guru beach yoga mats and luxurious beach blankets. And I'm a local beach house cafe in Point Pleasant Beach. She also has a new book out called This is Me. I love looking at this book. Can't wait to read it to my glam Shall Carrie? I can't wait either. Let's talk about these beautiful yoga mats that you have here. So yes. Um I don't know, I mean, I don't know if I can say this for sure, but I'm pretty positive that I am the first person to ever designed it a beach yoga mat um while teaching beach yoga, I wanted to love it, but I hated being in the sand and I realized that people spent so much more time fixing their towels or bringing a sheet and having it blowing all over the beach than actually enjoying the practice. So I was trying to figure out a way how can we do this? And then one day I said to my husband, we need AAA blanket with pockets on the end of it. So that's exactly what we did, we took a blanket and we made pockets on it. Um And then we realized they worked fantastic. So we decided that there wasn't really anything to create a patent for maybe a design patent, but that would be way too much work. Um And if anyone changed the design, they could, you know, just change the patent and it would be over. So we decided to go instead, um, first to market in a, in a very high end way. So we went right to a supply house in India and we bought what was vintage fabric. This is called cant the quilting and it is all hand stitched. I don't know if you can, well, you can see on the, on the news, um you can see all these little stitches and it's, oh my God, this is all done by hand, all done by hand. They take, they take months years to make and it's put together by different pieces of fabric. So the patterns keep changing and the front is even different than the back, which has a whole different pattern on it. So beautiful. And our design is that we can uh flip the pocket so it's completely seamless. You get no sand on it. So you actually get two mats for one on this. And the, the reason we chose this fabric, not only because it's vintage, which we wanted to, you know, contribute to our part, you know, in saving the eco the world. Um But also it's believed that the women who sew these, they would um chant and sow wishes and dreams and blessings into the blankets. So we thought that would be perfect for beach yoga to have a very sacred space to, to practice on. And then these are, you know, these are a little bit pricey. They're all one of a kind. So then we went back in and we created a second type. This is a batik fabric, same thing. It has the pockets underneath, but this is all done. Uh This is all we woven. It's a woven cotton and it's made with botanical dyes. And again, they're done one at a time and these are usually done by the men, at least the men in our community that we do them with. These are done outside of Jaipur for us. They come in all different colors and all different designs and they're not only beautiful, but they really work and they help the women of the village. They do. So that's a, that's a really important point. Yes. The company that we work with um contracts with the women artisans directly. So every woman is paid per piece for each piece that we get. And um which is really nice because it doesn't always happen that way in India. So this company certifies their wages and that women get paid directly. And um yeah, so I feel really comfortable about working with them and they're beautiful. They're absolutely beautiful. They really are and they work, which is so nice and they come in a really cute backpack. So it makes it great. You just throw it in, shake out, empty out the sand, put it back in the backpack and off. You go because a lot of people come on their bikes to beach yoga. So it works great and they're easy for traveling as well.

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720spotlightnj3_2024-07-20-12-39-14

This book that you were looking at is called, this is Me Carrie Ges of Point Pleasant Beach is the author and she's here today to tell us all about it. I love the cover. It's gorgeous. It's kind of like spiritual. It is universe. It is. And um the book, this is Me. It w it's written as a children's book. However, it came um in an adult yoga class. I was doing a meditation for my adult students and all of a sudden I just started seeing images and the words started to flow. They started to rhyme. And when I came home, I wrote it all down and the book just kind of birthed itself. And it is a book about um a little soul, cosmic beginnings and coming down to earth. And it's about identity and transformation, our connection to nature and our place in the universe and the miracle of life and who we are, who is the cosmic soul. So the little boy um he's, he came in and if you read the story, it starts out that um I am the present a gift from the universe. Say that again. Oh, I am the present a gift from the universe. I love that I was wished upon a star and created in a dream. I traveled through the heavens in a cosmic moonbeam. So it's the idea of where we came from before. And um we don't remember when we get here. And so as the little spirit and little soul travels through, he goes through transformation, he lands in a little salty sea and he turns into himself and then he's birthed out into the world. And he recognizes his connection to um to the, to the stars. He recognizes connection to the sky and to the wind and to the sun and into the water and to the earth as being his family and his roots. And ultimately, he realizes that he is completely connected and a part of this world and that he is in fact a miracle and this life is a miracle. And so this book is for Children. However, what I'm finding is that adults as they're reading it to their Children, they're having um sort of a cathartic experience with it. Um having a reflection and a memory when they had that imagination and that wonder in life as well. It's easy for kids, kids somehow have that innate openness and empathy and they're still close to the universe, they're still close to the universe. And so little Children that pick it up, even babies, they're just looking at the pictures, the pictures are very vivid. I don't know if you have them on the screen but very vivid and, and full of imagination. I did all the illustrations as well. And that was easy because I saw this poem in my mind as I was telling the class. So the the words came because of the images and then the image which is were so fun to create. And so the the artwork really connects to even very small Children and the words are so simple. But it's, it's, it seems to have this ability to connect to a very profound understanding about universal connection and uniqueness and um evolving, you know, in, in this world and fitting in.

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721spotlightnj4_2024-07-21-09-24-13

This weekend, I'm talking with Carrie Geske of Point Pleasant Beach. This author has a new book out called. This is Me. She also has a few other books in the works and the book Speaking From Your Soul, from the Universe. You know, I was afraid, I think I told you earlier that I didn't want to send to Zen. Zen, you know who? Um but yes, yes, it's, it's, it's a belief in yoga. I've been a yoga teacher for almost 30 years and there's a concept in, in yoga philosophy that believes that our soul comes from uh a spiritual cosmic place and that we take on the job of coming into a physical human existence. And very often we forget what we really came from. Something that was very divine and very powerful. And it's just a nice memory. And for Children, like I said, they, they're much more connected to the universe. Your words. Yes, absolutely. They just feel it. Um They're proud of it and they, you know, they love it and parents and, and a lot of adults were not raised that way either. It's a little bit more now in the world. Especially with some schools that, you know, especially with emotional social, social, emotional development, all these concepts are coming in and they're a little bit more real for Children talked about in schools. So actually, with this book, I included a reader's guide in the back for parents or adult readers who maybe didn't grow up this way or have forgotten. And as they're reading with their Children, the response to my adult students has always been very emotional. Um I've been able to witness in a class where the whole dynamic changes and people are so quiet and they'll ask me, where did you get that from? And I was like, I wrote it and they were like, you need to write this into a book. And so I did, um it really seems to touch people and for people who it's new to the reader's guide in the back is helping them uh understand the vocabulary and uh there's activities in the back to do with your Children. There's journaling questions to help facilitate a greater understanding of how we can come back to this sense of worth and wonder and special, unique and recognize that we all have a place in this world and that this world is fluid. And if we can hold on to that and be a part of everything, we have a much better chance of living a really beautiful and brilliant light. And these aren't the and in our bright light in our bright light. That's beautiful. This is not the only book that you're working on. No, I have a number of other books. Um Actually many, many years ago I sent a book into Simon and Schuster and it was declined, but they gave me suggestions. So I started reworking that book. It's called The Grass Is Always Greener. Um which is just what it sounds. It's about a little girl who just can't get satisfied and she eventually realized it's not the color of the grass or which side of the fence, it's how you mow your lawn. That makes all the difference. Uh, my books have a tendency to rhyme. So that comes really natural for me. Um, another book that's almost completely done. I'm just working on the illustrations now. It's called The Present. And it's about a little boy who has the most fantastical job. He delivers gifts, um, dressed in a present. And it's kind of ironic because some people see the little boy in the present and they go, did you see the present? And everyone else turns around and he's gone, but where they stop is in the present moment and they get to see the ordinary moments of being present. Uh, they get to see the, you know, the elderly man who needs help with his groceries. They see that there's a cat who had kittens, you know, and it ensues, they travel through New York City and all the things that they see, even though they didn't see the present, they see the present. So that one's really fun. Um, and the other one is called the salty pretzel. And it's just about a hard salty pretzel who is very bitter that he's losing space in the supermarket to all the gourmet and organic fancy chips. And his friend Layla takes him to the snack factory for a makeover and it doesn't go very well, but eventually he has an organic change and um he is able to increase who he is and he feels really good about it at the end of the story. So yes, those will be coming out soon. I hope.

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721spotlightnjfinal_2024-07-21-13-14-23

You were looking at pictures from, I'm a local beach house cafe in Point Pleasant Beach. Carrie Gy is the owner and Carrie tell me about your family members. Uh So that's my daughter, Austin and my husband Michael. This is our little beach house cafe. It's on Broadway, 300 Broadway in Point Pleasant Beach. And the name is a a local, but this is the beach house cafe because we've had other aal locals. We've been in the restaurant business uh since 1990. Congratulations. Thank you. Uh So, well, my husband's family, uh they were caterers and they had a big deli in Bayonne. So my husband grew up in this business from the time he was a very, you know, young child. And um oh, thank you. We're breakfast only. Everything is cooked to order. And so, yeah, so my husband was in the business for years and my pa parents came down, my husband's parents came down at the time they wanted to work, they were retired. So he said, let's start a, let's start a deli. So we did uh we had that for a number of years and then we progressed into a the a, the local beach house. And um, no, the a, a local cabana club which was up on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach. It was an old fashioned bath house with um concession stand in the front that did lunch. It was so fun. All of our Children work there and they, their friends. So the a, a local is we hired all local kids from Point Pleasant Beach. So fun. And then eventually we thought, let's, uh, let's maybe grow up a little bit. Let's get a restaurant. So we took, we took on the restaurant and the intention was to be open year round. But Point Pleasant Beach in the winter is just really not enough business around. Um, especially because we only do breakfast only. So, um, it's breakfast only again, Memorial Day through Labor Day. My husband and my daughter, Austin, they're there most of the time. Uh Michael runs the back end operations. Austin is the chef. She, um, that's what she went to school for hospitality and cooking. Um, she also works in the city when she's not working there. So she's uh, runs a, a big restaurant down in Brooklyn. And, um, so she comes with us on weekends and she gets in the kitchen and it's a family business. We've been doing it for years and everybody pitches in and um, it's fun. It's indoor, outdoor dining. It's dog friendly. Like I mentioned everything is cooked to order. We do smoothies and healthier takes on food. And uh and speaking of healthier takes on food, you also get involved in a school lunch program. We do. So when the cafe is closed, uh we work at Point Pleasant Beach High School. We, we have a school food service management company. It's called School Cafeterias and we've been doing that for 35 years. Um Yes, we've been at Point Pleasant Beach for 35 years. I know it's crazy. 32 years, 32 years, 32 years, 35 years in that business. But 32 years at point Pleasant Beach, I love this community. Why? It's just the best. It really is. We've lived, I mean, I've lived here most of my adult life. Um, we live, we live on the water in point. We bought a big old house from a family that had 10 kids and we just moved in and just fell in love with Point Pleasant Beach and, and the community and our kids all went to school there. If you know anything about Point Pleasant Beach, it's like private education. So to have uh a local restaurant come in and do the food, it was really special because a lot of the kids were already our customers or their parents were our customers and the kids would come, they'd eat during the year and then they come work for us over in the summer time. So it's been very special and we're so you know, so grateful for that community. We've been there a long time and it's, um, it's family there for sure.

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Carrie Godesky joined News 12’s Della Crews to discuss her businesses and her new book “This is Me.” 

Spotlight New Jersey: Point Pleasant Beach yoga instructor and business owner releases new book

Carrie Godesky joined News 12’s Della Crews to discuss her businesses and her new book “This is Me.”

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