Built by Me, because I needed it most.

Why I created FEELIN’ and Bond. · Riv Janecek 

THE ORIGIN

Throughout my life, there were spaces the past versions of me really needed but didn’t have. That is: spaces for the in-tune woman who does a lot, knows how it feels to carry a lot, and the whole while feeling it all. 

I have navigated the layers of my own identity, mental health, and my sense of belonging in complex ways. I know what trying to hold space for all these feelings on my own time, and by myself is like. Through my in-person, online, and creative services, I now focus on creating such environments, experiences, and permissions where people are safe to feel and acknowledge their emotions in a community with acceptance and grace. 

All these things are true: I’m a mother, I’m an adoptee, I’m a wife, I’m a creator, I’m a business owner, and I’m a loyal friend. I believe in nervous system literacy and I’m a Libra who lives in a balance for my highest wellbeing. I go to therapy and I go out with my friends for margaritas and shake some ass. I’m teaching a yoga class and I’m running to the dispensary after so I can enjoy a Friday evening on my balcony with my man. “Wellness” has started to look one way and one dimensional, and there seems to be space for only one type of feeling. That’s not what I create, and that’s not the path I believe makes for living your best, most-expressed life. 

True wellness over here is participatory and embodied aka truly felt and not performative. My life experiences thus far have given me the tools, capacity, and empathy to create space for my people, my friends, my followers and what they’re feelin’, whether that’s on the mat, on air, or online. Come relax, create, and connect as we show up no matter what FEELIN’ is passing through. 

Throughout my life, there were spaces the past versions of me really needed but didn’t have. That is: spaces for the in-tune woman who does a lot, knows how it feels to carry a lot, and the whole while feeling it all. 

I have navigated the layers of my own identity, mental health, and my sense of belonging in complex ways. I know what trying to hold space for all these feelings on my own time, and by myself is like. Through my in-person, online, and creative services, I now focus on creating such environments, experiences, and permissions where people are safe to feel and acknowledge their emotions in a community with acceptance and grace. 

All these things are true: I’m a mother, I’m an adoptee, I’m a wife, I’m a creator, I’m a business owner, and I’m a loyal friend. I believe in nervous system literacy

and I’m a Libra who lives in a balance for my highest wellbeing. I go to therapy and I go out with my friends for margaritas and shake some ass. I’m teaching a yoga class and I’m running to the dispensary after so I can enjoy a Friday evening on my balcony with my man. “Wellness” has started to look one way and one dimensional, and there seems to be space for only one type of feeling. That’s not what I create, and that’s not the path I believe makes for living your best, most-expressed life. 

True wellness over here is participatory and embodied aka truly felt and not performative. My life experiences thus far have given me the tools, capacity, and empathy to create space for my people, my friends, my followers and what they’re feelin’, whether that’s on the mat, on air, or online. Come relax, create, and connect as we show up no matter what FEELIN’ is passing through. 

Why this also became a creative studio.

THE work

As I moved into adulthood — navigating corporate leadership in media agencies, motherhood, and my identity as a Black woman raised in a transracial family — I began to see how rare emotionally steady spaces truly are. Corporations and brands prioritize output over embodiment and often design without minding the emotional atmosphere. Wellness spaces now prize aesthetics over nuance. Mental health conversations have become clinical, performative word salad.

Very few places are designed so that emotional intelligence, awareness, and professional acumen co-exist. 

So I created from within that gap I was standing in. That’s FEELIN', where the practice is public and I do it for me and others: and Bond, where the philosophy is within the work and does it for brands. Both are run by the same woman with the same impetus: how do I design this for the people who need it most?

Selected Press

  • Refinery 21

    6 Instructor-Approved Yoga Blocks (& Tips For Using Them)

  • Life in Alignment with Leta Stevens (Podcast)

    Source Your Truth - with Riv McCollum. In this episode, Leta and Riv dive into yoga, wellness, self-expression, and share their thoughts on toxic spirituality, authenticity, and living your truth.

Training and Credentials

Bachelor of Science in Advertising | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | May 2016


Media Sales Certification | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | May 2016


Public Relations Certification | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | May 2016


Color Theory | (ACE) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago | April 2024


Motion Creative Strategy Bootcamp | Motion (Creative Analytics) | June 2026 


CorePower Yoga Trainings

  • 200 Hour Power Yoga Certification | February 2018 – April 2018

  • 50 Hour Intensive Travel Extensions Program | May 2018

  • C2 Intensive Training | October 2018

  • 2019 Advanced Yoga Workshop | April 2019

  • Yoga Sculpt Teacher Training | March 2019 - April 2019


Trauma-Informed Training (Move Therapy & Wellness) | October 2022


Y7 Tribe Training | Chicago, River North | February 2020


Riv photos-8.jpg

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