Michelle Wahler: Co-Founder & Former CEO of Beyond Yoga

Episode 634

On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, I’m joined by Michelle Wahler, Co-Founder and former CEO of Beyond Yoga, an activewear brand that has become synonymous with inclusivity, comfort, and empowerment.
Michelle takes us through her inspiring journey, sharing how Beyond Yoga was built on the mission of celebrating women of all shapes and sizes. From sourcing high-quality fabrics to fostering a strong team culture, Michelle reveals the challenges and successes she encountered while scaling the brand. We also discuss her commitment to sustainability in manufacturing and the decision to sell Beyond Yoga to Levi’s—a move rooted in shared values and a focus on creating positive impact.
If you’re curious about entrepreneurship, brand building, or creating a mission-driven business, this is an episode you won’t want to miss. Tune in now on The Kara Goldin Show!

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Transcript

Kara Goldin 0:00
I am unwilling to give up that I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be. I want to be you. Just want to make sure you will get knocked down. But just make sure you don’t get knocked out, knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can control. Control. Hi everyone, and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world’s greatest leaders. We’ll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs and really, some of the most interesting people of our time. Can’t wait to get started. Let’s go. Let’s go. Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Kara Goldin show. I am so excited to sit down with this incredible, incredible guest, Michelle Wahler, who is the co founder and former CEO of an incredible brand that hopefully you’re familiar with. If you’re not familiar with it, you’re definitely gonna look online and check it out and see what she co founded and built. It’s called Beyond Yoga, and it’s a beloved activewear brand known for its focus on inclusivity, comfort and empowering women. And under Michelle’s leadership, Beyond Yoga grew from a small, little startup into a very highly successful business and a staple in the active wear industry, and her vision helped redefine how we think about fashion and function in the wellness space. And the company was actually sold just a couple of years ago. So Michelle is not involved in the company, but still a very big fan of the brand and so many lessons in building a brand and leadership and CO founding a company. I cannot even wait to chat with Michelle a little bit more about this. So welcome, Michelle, how are you?

Michelle Wahler 2:03
I’m good. Thank you so much for having me. This is so exciting to be here with you.

Kara Goldin 2:08
Absolutely So for someone who’s never heard of Beyond Yoga, can you give us the 32nd elevator pitch?

Michelle Wahler 2:17
Absolutely so Beyond Yoga is the clothing that makes you feel good the moment you put it on. So it’s active, inspired clothing that is super buttery soft. We make clothing for women of all shapes and sizes, and even in recent years, we’ve been expanded to men. But everything’s supposed to be easy care. Throw it in the wash. You know, washer, dryer, but when you put it on, it makes you feel good and you’re prepared to do whatever you want in your day.

Kara Goldin 2:50
I love it. So what sparked the idea to start Beyond Yoga was there a specific moment or experience that made you say, it’s time, we need to go do this.

Michelle Wahler 3:01
Backing up a little my childhood, I my father was an entrepreneur, so I grew up in this very entrepreneurial environment. He had started a chain of music stores, and I watched him grow that, and then I also saw him lose that. And so that really impacted me, as, you know, I saw the excitement of building a business, but I also knew the realities of what can happen. And then I spent, you know, obviously my dad was very busy running this business, but I spent a lot of time with my mom, who I adore, and she’s beautiful and smart and all of the things, but I watched her struggle with her self image and her self worth, and it always frustrated me that she didn’t see herself the way I saw her, and I feel like the way everyone else saw her, and she was always trying to fit into this one, you know, definition of beauty. And as I as I grew up, I saw so many other young women and women on my, you know, my whole career path, um, just trying to be something, because there was just like, I don’t know. They just didn’t see themselves the way I saw them. And so, fast forward, I moved, you know, went to college, went to New York, worked the People Magazine, worked at Harper’s Bazaar, saw all of the photo shopping and what was going into everything at the time, I started a very small entrepreneurial endeavor called unsweetened, which was drawings of women and created women’s clothing, and I brought that and moved to California, and that’s when I met my business partner, Jody, who had the idea for creating an active wear line for women of all shapes and sizes. And that idea really spoke to me, because I wanted to to do something to show the world that beauty exists. In all shapes, sizes, colors, like, let’s really embrace that. And so, you know, immediately I, once I met Jody, started working with her, I just fell in love with this idea, and I devoted the next 18 and a half years of my life to this concept. And you know, really, we, we, I’m so proud of how we articulated our our vision through our marketing and our imagery. And you know, we had a commitment that we would never Photoshop a woman’s body. And you know, I just think that the the message that we had really resonated with our customers, and I think that is why there is such a great cult like following around Beyond Yoga. But we also, you know, are very dedicated to what that product actually is and how it feels and how it fits. And, you know, sourcing fabrics is one of my favorite things and, yeah, so that’s kind of the what and the why and how. We got to create Beyond Yoga to make people feel great as they are.

Kara Goldin 6:12
I love it so early days you’re you’re co founding the company. What was the first, I guess, skew that that you developed, and how did you get it out there?

Michelle Wahler 6:26
I mean, the first one was SP, 1001, it was, it was a suplex bootleg pant. And it’s really funny, because obviously, there’s been, you know, that was back in 2005 and everyone was wearing these bootleg yoga pants. And where we were at the beginning of that. Then it became a huge craze. Then the pants almost went away completely. And everything was legging, legging leggings for the last 15 years, and now the pants are back. And so I remember so our fabric that I would say we’re the most famous for as our space die, it’s this really buttery, soft, great, like four way stretch, easy care some fabric, and we took the SP, 1001, and converted that into a high waisted out of space die. So it, I think that the style number is the SD, 1011, so anyway, we just, you know, kept going with that, but that’s like a really hot body for us right now. So it’s funny to watch how it’s all come full circle, but now we’ve got a high waisted version in the newer fabric.

Kara Goldin 7:45
And so where did you what was how did you get it out there? Did you go direct to consumer? Did you get it into yoga stores? Where did you first sell the product? So

Michelle Wahler 7:56
we started at wholesale, and one of our first accounts, unfortunately, I don’t think that they survived the pandemic, but it was a yoga studio called drishti up in Santa, Barbara. And then probably our second account was Yoga works, which was an amazing account to get into. And you know, they were our partner for many, many years. And you know, I think that we just built our business on the wholesale side of things, working with a lot of small studios and Mom and Pop boutiques and really building the authenticity of the brand. And we also just happen to get a lot of maybe because our company is built in Southern California, and, you know, different relationships, but we were able to get our clothing on a lot of celebrities. And I remember we sold our product. One of the early, one of the early accounts that carried us was an account called Jill Roberts, and it’s a really great high end boutique. It’s still around today. They’ve got a couple locations, and they carried Beyond Yoga. And I remember Reese Witherspoon came in and bought our pants there, and I think it was US Weekly, got a photo of her shopping at Jill Roberts, buying her Beyond Yoga. And so that was kind of like, you know, we didn’t have social media back then, but that was definitely a way that brands got recognized, and that was a little bit of a calling card to be able to go to some of the larger accounts, like the Nordstroms and Neiman Marcus and Sachs and be like, hey, look, you know, we have these celebrities, and then that made it easier for the buyers to take a risk on us, because they had some validation. And you know, that’s how, how we built the business in the beginning. I

Kara Goldin 9:51
love it. So Beyond Yoga is blend of style and function feels super effortless, but I know. So it wasn’t always the case. How did you nail the balance between I think there’s two things. There’s building the company, which seems effortless because you just seem like you’re so calm, but but also the actual style and function. I mean, it’s hard. I remember having one of another brand on that was doing sort of outdoor apparel, and she was talking about how, you know, in those early days, it was like trying to figure out what to buy, not to buy too much. All you know, how much did it matter that the quality, even if it was a little more expensive, you know? How much did they really need? I mean, all these decisions that go on behind the scenes that the consumers don’t necessarily see. But how, how did you nail that balance without compromising on either?

Michelle Wahler 11:05
Well, I think that well, big part of this is we were designing it for ourselves, and we really wanted to make something that we loved and we wanted to wear and that we were going to make for our friends and our family, and we weren’t going to spare any expense when it came to the product. And so I remember when I found our space dye fabric, which is, you know, has become, you know, a huge part of the business. But I remember going to the showroom and touching all the different fabrics, and I found it, and I came across it, and I was, Oh, my God, this is amazing. I need this. And I remember my sales rep, and she said to me, oh, you know what? That’s really expensive. And I was like, I don’t care. We need it. And I’m so glad that we took that risk. Because honestly, you know, now there’s so many other brands that have, you know, attempted to, you know, copy that fabric. And it’s, you know, very, very prevalent in the market space. But it really is, I think ours is the best. And I think everybody tells me, You know, when you put it on, you feel the difference, and it just, it’s a tactile reaction, but it makes you feel so good.

Kara Goldin 12:25
Yeah, no, definitely. I mean, Beyond Yoga, the feel of it and the fit are just, are so incredible. So, so scaling a business is no joke, and obviously you did that as you were sharing earlier on it, it’s, you know, not an it’s very unusual. It’s very unusual to hear that over next overnight success stories are really there. So I know how hard it was to grow this, but how what was kind of the hardest part about scaling a company and and scaling Beyond Yoga for you that maybe would be surprising to others. I

Michelle Wahler 13:07
don’t know if it would be surprising, but I will say this was the first time I had really scaled anything at the level that I was at. And every thing I did, I mean, I ran the company for 18 and a half years. So each milestone, each year, was a new challenge for me, because we were bigger. And I, you know, I remember the first year being like, oh my gosh, I can’t believe we got to a million dollars. Was the first time I’ve ever run a million dollar organization. And then the next year, we were 2 million. And, you know, it was the first time I was at a 2 million. And so, you know, by the time we got to 10, by the time we got to 20, by the time we got to 50, you know, there’s always, there’s different challenges that come at every single level. And it was my first on every single front. So, you know, that was definitely challenging. And the teams that you need around you at the different stages are very different as well. You know, in the beginning, we were all green, like I was working with people who knew as little heck as I did about the industry. And so we were all learning as we went, but we had a lot of excitement and ambition. As we progressed, I started hiring people who were experts that, you know, experts in a different field, and were able to, you know, just help all of the people who were already there learn. And so at Beyond Yoga, we had a very teaching environment where, you know, I always wanted to keep the people who were with us, and that had, you know, helped get us to where we were, but there were new people who we were always bringing in, and I wanted the new people to learn from the old people about the ways of Beyond Yoga and how we operated. But I also wanted, then, the, you know, the. The OG team to learn from these experts who are coming in and then try to come up with our new way forward. And I think a lot of people like I had, I hired people from, you know, Google and toms and Nike and, you know, all these amazing companies, and especially in the apparel industry, the people who I hired, they were like, Oh, well, you have to do it this way. And I was like, But why? And they’re like, well, that’s just the way it’s done. And I think the fact that I was a novice to this industry, I challenged everything, and so some things made a lot of sense. And I was like, Oh, why haven’t I been doing it like that? Thank you for showing us. And then I was like, other things. I was like, No, we’re not going to do it that way just because it’s been done that way. Let’s come up with a better way to do things and and I think that was a little bit of our superpower, is that we were doing things differently than everybody else, but we were so focused on making sure that the product was paramount and that our team was really supported. And I think those were the two things, like team and product, that made this magical recipe that was the success of Beyond Yoga,

Kara Goldin 16:14
it’s always hard, I think, because when you want to bring people in who are as as you said, you know, teachers, to some extent, managers that can show you how to do things, but I think also sometimes, you know, it’s hard to interview for those people. You know, hopefully, most of the time it works, but you have to be able to have somebody who really maintains the vibe, I guess, is the best way to look at it. When you think about that. I mean, what advice would you give to people as they’re building their team and trying to hire people? You know, how important, I guess, is culture and vibe and things like that. For for companies,

Michelle Wahler 17:03
culture and vibe is everything. I can’t put enough emphasis on it. We had a very strong policy of we don’t hire assholes. You spend so much time with the people you work with, and you really want a beat to be around people who share your values and are driven the same way you are and are excited about the same things. And so, you know, having people whose energy matches is really important. And I definitely made the mistake of, you know, hiring people who didn’t fit the vibe because I knew they were going to be, you know, a major a major asset. And I’ve lived to regret that. I feel badly for some of the decisions I made. I know that people felt a little tortured by some people who we hired. So my advice is always, hire slow and fire quickly when you realize that you have made a hiring mistake, and there’s no way not to. I mean, everybody makes tons of mistakes. It’s not about not making mistakes. It’s about not repeating the same mistakes, and how you recover from those mistakes. But let people go. One thing, when I talk to founders, I particularly female founders, I feel like there’s a lot of guilt around letting people go. And, you know, I think that I had an ex boyfriend who said something me once, when I was I was talking to him, and I was about to I was dating somebody, and I wasn’t gonna continue to date him. And he was like, You’re not that special. He’s gonna find someone else. If you break up with him, don’t worry about it. And I was like, oh, and he’s like, you’re actually being kind, because now he can go out and meet somebody else. So I always think of my friend Danny, who said that to me, the same with firing your business is not that special. You are not the only job in town, and if that person isn’t a fit on your team, that does not mean they won’t be successful somewhere else, but they’re never going to be successful in your business, so let them go. Let them thrive somewhere else. You are actually being kinder to let them go quicker?

Kara Goldin 19:24
Yeah, I couldn’t, I couldn’t agree more. So sustainability is such a hot topic in every industry, but in particular in apparel, with integrating ethical practices and think things that are not just trendy, but are, you know, critical in in a business’s, you know, really lifeline, I believe, in order to stay relevant, but you know, people want to know a lot more about, you know, how you’re manufacturing things, but also where you’re. Manufacturing things. So why was this so important to you, and what were some of the things when you were running the company that you were so proud to talk about? Yeah, I

Michelle Wahler 20:12
think it’s really important to have transparent manufacturing. And I think people now more than ever, want to know, you know, where their products are coming from, and who they’re supporting, and what they’re supporting. And you know, for for the 18 and a half years that I ran Beyond Yoga, we made almost everything in the United States, and it was a luxury to be able to do that, because I could just go over to our manufacturing partner. I could drive down if there was a manufacturing issue, I could just stop by and talk through a pattern issue or talk through a fabric, which was amazing, but it also was supporting my local community. And, you know, it just I knew what was going on, and that felt really good. And, you know, I think that’s really important. We also, you know, I worked with the same I worked with the same Mills for years, and the same partners like I, you know, we grew our businesses together. And as I got into accounts, and they said, oh, we need to make sure that you are, you know, hitting these compliance levels. My my partners were already there, and they were like, Oh, don’t worry, you’re already blue sign certified. We’re already doing all of these amazing things. So really, having strong partners, you know, some of them were already doing it. Some of them, we brought along with us, and we were able to say, Hey, if you want to scale with us, you’re going to need to add these levels of compliance into your organization. And because they did that, because we were pushing them to do that, they were able to take on not only us, but like other large organizations had these high standards, and it was a way for it really helped all of us grow so and be responsible. So I think it was really nice, nice thing, and I do very much appreciate the wholesale partners who had these high standards. Like I always think of REI as one of our best partners that always was leading the way on, you know, sustainable practices and challenging us to think of different ways to be more sustainable and and I appreciate that because, you know, the fashion industry can be, you know, not the most eco friendly, but we’re Trying. And one of the things that I love about Beyond Yoga is that the product will last the test of time. So you could buy a pair of leggings and they could last you a decade, like, yeah, doesn’t mean you’re not going to want more than one. It doesn’t mean you’re not going to want the new color and the latest design, but they’re not going to fall apart and you’re not going to need to replace them and fill the landfill?

Kara Goldin 23:02
Yeah, I still have some pairs there are probably not 18 years old, but I would say they’re probably 10 years old. Of of Beyond Yoga, so you’ve definitely, I think that’s worth it. You know, even I would say 10 years to be able to have clothing that is still super soft and still fits well. So that’s that’s definitely a testament for everything that you created and built. So selling Beyond Yoga had to be a huge decision. What drove that choice. And I guess so many people have have asked me this, do you do you use a banker? Did Did somebody just make that introduction? Did you cold call them? How did this all come about? It’s

Michelle Wahler 23:55
very funny. It actually was a cold call from them to us on LinkedIn. So at the time, it was the time they reached out. It was, you know, October of 2020, we were very deep in the holiday season of, you know, COVID. And it just, we were not thinking about selling. We were we were really focused on just, you know, surviving and, you know, trying. It was, it was a time every person from our company was working at home. I think we were doing sittings in my front yard. I was like, setting up tables and, you know, spacing them out six feet apart, so, so we could still look at how we were, you know, producing the clothing and seeing them on all of the different models, which is so important to us. But, yeah, it was a, it was a total surprise when they reached out. And honestly, many people had reached out and wanted to invest or wanted to buy us in, you know, in year. Past, but we didn’t really entertain those options ever. But when it was Levi’s, it was a dim, you know, I mean, I don’t know how you feel, but, like, I think of Levi’s as just like an icon, and totally I thought it was the most flattering thing that could ever happen that Levi’s would be interested in Beyond Yoga, but we weren’t working with the banker, and I actually made the decision. I didn’t really want to let my team into the into the fold, because I thought the odds of this actually happening were so slim, and I didn’t want to distract my team, and I didn’t want to get their hopes up. And ultimately, if you asked me what I thought was going to happen, I did not think it would actually happen. And so I wanted everybody to be completely focused on building Beyond Yoga. And then I’m very fortunate how many years? Probably, over 10 years ago, I hired my husband, Jesse, Jesse Adams to join me at Beyond Yoga and help me scale. And he ended up being my CFO and my COO and so, you know, we were the only two who from the business that were, you know, isolated in the same place during COVID. And, you know, we were the ones who negotiated this whole deal. And luckily, he has this great finance background, and we were able to do that just, you know, just us, and, you know, owners, you know, are my two partners. And then, yeah, so we, we did that, um, it was, it was pretty it was pretty crazy. It was, we ended up selling the company in September of 2021, which, you know, I think is extremely, was an extremely fortunate timing. I had no idea that that was going to be such an amazing time to sell. But realistically, we sold because it was the time that Levi’s reached out to us, and I really believed in, you know, who they are, and their brand and their brand building capabilities. And I thought, wow, you know, I know that we have the most amazing product and such a special team. And if more people knew about Beyond Yoga, that’s really the difference between us and, you know, becoming a Lululemon and, and I believe that Levi’s was the type of organization that is really driven by principles over profits. And would respect the integrity that we have about, you know, the size inclusivity and the diversity, and you know what our brand really stands for, because they’re so, you know, they want everybody to be an individual that, you know, that’s their brand identity. So it seems very aligned. And, you know, my the CEO of Levi’s at the time of the acquisition chip was extremely supportive of me and my team, and really wanted to make sure that we kept doing all of, you know, all the things that made Beyond Yoga amazing. So I brought my entire team over with me. I had 100% of my team convert over to being a part of Levi’s, and I thought that was such an amazing thing for them, too, because here they were. They joined this, you know, even though we were 16 years in at that time, I still considered us a scrappy startup. And they had come and joined us, and I was able to bring them into this amazing organization that was going to give them even better benefits than what I could and massive career opportunities. And it was just it was very exciting and very happy that that all happened.

Kara Goldin 28:59
Well, you have built an incredible brand. And Beyond Yoga is, I think, is, is here to stay, for sure, such the quality is amazing. It’s your journey is truly inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us and sharing a lot more of the background. And and thanks everyone for listening as well. Make sure to follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn and on social. Overall, I’ll have all the info in the show notes for all of Michelle as different handles as well. So but thank you so much for joining and until next time, thanks.

Michelle Wahler 29:43
Thank you so much for having me. This was so fun. Thanks again

Kara Goldin 29:47
for listening to the Kara Goldin show. If you would please give us a review and feel free to share this podcast with others who would benefit. And of course, feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode. Of our podcast, just a reminder that I can be found on all platforms. At Kara Goldin, I would love to hear from you too. So feel free to DM me, and if you want to hear more about my journey, I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my Wall Street Journal, best selling book, undaunted, where I share more about my journey, including founding and building. Hint we are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thanks for listening, and goodbye for now. Bye.

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