DeepSummary
In this episode of the Behind Her Empire podcast, host Yasmin Nori interviews Michelle Wahler, the co-founder and former CEO of the activewear brand Beyond Yoga. Michelle shares her journey of starting Beyond Yoga as a side hustle in 2005, and her mission to create a body-positive brand that caters to women of all shapes and sizes. She discusses the initial challenges and investments involved in getting the business off the ground, and the importance of staying profitable and reinvesting in the company for long-term success.
Michelle provides insights into the early strategies that contributed to Beyond Yoga's success, including the introduction of their popular space dye fabric and the lessons learned from partnerships they pursued. She also talks about navigating the business through the COVID-19 pandemic, where they lost over $6 million in revenue in one week, and how they pivoted to survive those challenging times.
Towards the end, Michelle offers valuable advice on avoiding burnout as an entrepreneur, and she shares the story of how Beyond Yoga ended up being acquired by Levi Strauss & Co in 2021 for a reported $400 million, despite her initial intention of never wanting to sell the business.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Patience and self-compassion are essential in the entrepreneurial journey, as success rarely happens overnight.
- Being prepared and having the right infrastructure in place is crucial before seeking significant exposure or growth for a business.
- Prioritizing and taking care of one's team is crucial, as a happy and well-treated team leads to better customer service and business success.
- Maintaining profitability and reinvesting in the company is important for long-term success.
- It's essential to have a strong vision and determination, and not let others' perceptions of your business as a 'hobby' discourage you.
- Navigating challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic requires adaptability, pivoting strategies, and maintaining principles.
- Avoiding burnout and being kind to oneself is important for entrepreneurs, who often face immense pressure and demanding workloads.
- Even if selling a business was not the initial plan, being open to the right partnership and opportunity can lead to a successful exit.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “You are so lucky that didn't happen. You weren't ready for it. You didn't have the website. You didn't have the customer service. Like, you didn't have the product to back it up. You didn't have enough inventory. That would have been like, a lot of exposure, but you would have disappointed more people than you made happy. And I always look back at that and I'm like, you're right. You have to build it before you bring all the people to it. You got to build it before they can come.“ by Michelle Wahler
- “My philosophy is that if you treat your team well and take really good care of them, they will take care of you and they will take care of your customers, and they will make your customers happy. And if your customers are happy, you will have great sales, and then your shareholders will be happy.“ by Michelle Wahler
- “People did think that, and it actually bugged me when they said it. So I was hell bent on making sure that we made it large enough that people did not think of it as a hobby.“ by Michelle Wahler
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Episode Information
Behind Her Empire
Yasmin Nouri
6/17/24
Michelle Wahler is the co-founder and former CEO of Beyond Yoga, a company that’s on a mission to give every body the luxury-level comfort they deserve from activewear.
Coming from the fashion world, Michelle realized the need for a body positive brand with pieces that flatter a wide range of women’s bodies. After creating her own line which started as a side hustle, she met and then partnered with Jodi to build Beyond Yoga in 2005. Michelle has built the product and brand from the ground up and served as its CEO for nearly 20 years. What started as a mere concept led to a global wholesale business, ecommerce site and opening of six retail stores, selling tens of millions of units around the world. She also led the negotiations and her team through the brand’s acquisition to Levi Strauss & Co in 2021 for a reported $400 million dollars.
In this week’s episode, we talk to Michelle about how the idea for Beyond Yoga started, the initial challenges and investments involved in getting it off the ground, and the importance of staying profitable and reinvesting in the company for long-term success. Michelle shares insights into the early strategies that led to incredible success, including the introduction of their popular space dye fabric, and the lessons learned from partnerships they pursued. She walks us through how Beyond Yoga lost over six million dollars in revenue in one week and how she navigated the business through such challenging times. Michelle also offers valuable advice on avoiding burnout, how they ended up selling to Levi’s despite never wanting to sell the business, and so much more.
In this episode, we’ll talk to Michelle about:
* The importance of giving yourself grace. [03:42]
* Sustainable and profitable growth of Beyond Yoga. [05:15]
* Michelle's upbringing and her relationship with her parents. [07:40]
* Initial work experiences and starting her first venture, Unsweetened. [09:50]
* Meeting her business partner, Jodi. [11:05]
* Biggest learnings from Unsweetened. [16:54]
* Funding the business and finding the right contractors locally. [20:14]
* A major inflection point: Introducing space dye fabric. [29:16]
* Hiring her husband as the COO/CFO. [31:31]
* Michelle’s learnings as a leader. [36:19]
* Michelle’s experience of motherhood. [39:15]
* Saving Beyond Yoga during COVID and millions in lost revenue.[46:03]
* Selling Beyond Yoga to Levi Strauss & Co for $400 million. [54:03]
* Re-investing and her first experience with investors. [59:39]
* Advice she would give her younger self. [01:02:26]
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Follow Yasmin:
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/
* Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/
Follow Michelle:
* Website: https://beyondyoga.com/
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondyoga/
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelle.wahler/
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