Delaware native Sara Goodrich moved to Lewiston with her husband in 2011 and didn’t waste any time.

She opened a massage and yoga studio that fall on Main Street. A few months later, the couple helped found Grow L+A.

“Especially if you’re new to a community, or if you’re not as connected as you want to be in a community, working together for a common goal is a great thing to do,” said Goodrich, 35. “The bubbling laboratory of the future is what downtown Lewiston-Auburn is; to be really involved with that is really exciting.”

Her husband’s family had moved to Auburn when he was in high school. The couple were drawn back here by a new job for him at Thos. Moser furniture. He’s since started his own woodworking company, making it two entrepreneurs in the family.

“I’ll say this about being self-employed in general: You will never be bored,” said Goodrich, who teaches all the classes and gives all the massages herself at Renew You! Massage & Yoga. “Self-employment pushes you up against everything you’re uncomfortable doing really fast. When it finally starts to work, I mean, it’s wonderful.

“It’s an incredible way to have a relationship with the economy that’s very intimate, ‘I’m doing something that people value, people will pay for,'” she said. “It’s just a really cool place to be in.”

Goodrich is still a volunteer with Grow L+A and through it the Build Maine Conference and its Build-A-Better Block event, transforming a piece of downtown for one day in June.

“I want the world to be a better place, but there’s like a limit to what I can do,” Goodrich said. “I’m hoping that through massage and yoga, I can give people the tools that they need so they can do the work that’s very important and passionate to them. Being able to take care of your body is just key to being able to do the work you know you’re meant to do.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com

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