YouSaid · the spoken record

Michelle Wahler

lines on the record: 66
first: 2025-02-10
most recent: 2025-02-10
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“That's a great question. Know one of the things that I promised myself was that the first year I wouldn't start another company and I wouldn't join any boards. I would just slow down and really enjoy, you know, this time in my life. And that's what I'm doing. But I would be lying if I didn't tell you that every single day I think about starting another company.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Know it's definitely a mixture, but I do think that luck favors the prepared mind, right? And I think we put a lot of really hard work into this business and set ourselves up to be lucky. But there's definitely an element of luckier.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And my team and my immediate friend group. And so I personally just really want to be that person for other people right now because I feel very fortunate for how this all ended.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Thing that was the hardest about this whole time, though, are this whole step down was just not being able to talk to the team. And it wasn't that I couldn't, but I think I had this crazy idea that like I was still going to be coming to the office and like bringing people coffee and going out to lunch with everyone. And I realized that I just needed to give everybody a little distance in the beginning. And I needed to give myself that distance too. You know, I have two small children that I want to be able to volunteer in their classroom. But I've also gotten this incredible opportunity to just meet so many female founders and get involved in the, you know, the female foundering community in LA. And when I was running Beyond Yoga, I was so heads down and so focused on running the business. I barely ever talked to people outside of, you know, my family.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It was really hard. Somebody gave me some really good advice. They said, you know, your first day that you're not going into the job, wake up on vacation. And so Jesse and I, we decided we were going to go to Mexico, which is Cabo, which is like our favorite spot. And it was weird that first day, though, like I wanted, you know, I'm so used to being in constant communication with my team. Her no emails coming in. And I actually spent that entire day just laying at the beach listening to episodes of how I built this.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Was and that was so cathartic to me. I'm really glad I kind of feel like this acquisition was kind of like he got the exit that he always wanted to. I know he always wanted to provide for our family and take care of my mom. And I know that when he passed, he knew he felt good knowing that my mom would always be taken care of.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“One of the things that Levi's was really excited about when they acquired us was the fact that we had never opened brick and mortar stores. And so that was probably one of the most exciting parts of the acquisition. And yeah, so while I was with them for the last two and a half years, I was able to open six stores.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We had always, I always felt like people were really taking a chance on us. And I thought that this would be a really great way to make sure everybody was taken care of into the future.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Many people do it and not realize how difficult and nuanced it is and fail. You know, I wasn't really trying to pitch him on me. I was just giving advice. And ultimately, you know, that conversation went well and we had multiple others. And when they said that they were interested in acquiring us, I was extremely flattered. You know, we absolutely were not looking to sell the business at that point. But it was Levi's. And the fact that they've been around for 170 years, I also was thinking about my team and what it would mean for all of us. I feel like everybody who worked for me was kind of in this like scrappy startup mode, even though we were at 16 years in at that point.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, so I got this message and it was from a woman named Lauren and she said we feel like there's a lot of brand synergies between Levi's and Beyond Yoga and we'd love to talk about ways of working together in a possible collaboration. And I thought we were going to do a collaboration and then she was like, great, next steps I'd love for you to talk to our CFO. You know, he said to me, I'm, you know, we're interested in diversifying what we're doing at Levi's. You know, our demographic lens, excuse more towards men. And I like the fact that beyond yoga is primarily female. And we may want to acquire a company or we may want to build activewear on our own. And I said, in my opinion, I think you should acquire somebody because everybody thinks that they can build an activeware brand. And I've seen so”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Classes, like we cannot do this, but it ended up kind of being a blessing because, A, I feel good about the way we handled things. And we weren't cramming product down people's throats that didn't need it. And also at that point, everybody is at home and people were working out from home. People were wearing beyond yoga around the clock. And our website was in high demand. And then also a lot of industries, as you know, were pulling back on their advertising because there was no reason to advertise. So our customer acquisition fees went rock bottom and we were able to acquire a lot of new customers. And because we hadn't shipped all of that inventory to sit idly in a store that wasn't going to be open, we had it on our website. We were able to start selling that and turning that back into cash. And so that was wildly helpful.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, over six million dollars of cancellations in one week. A lot of our money tied up in raw materials. And I had big orders placed with our fabric suppliers. We had to come up with a new game plan. And so I talked to my sales team and I said, we should assume every order is canceled unless you get written consent that they want the order. And everyone was like, are you kidding? Just go ahead and ship the orders. And I was like, we are not going to ship. Because can you imagine being that studio in Boston and you can't open your doors and all of a sudden you've got beyond yoga product landing on your doorstep and you might not be able to even bring it in, let alone sell it to anybody. And then there's going to be a bill coming and you don't have revenue coming in from your studio.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I think it was a little frustrating. I remember at the time talking to Jody and she was asking me what I wanted to do. And she was like, I'll defer to you. And I was like, I want to take it, I just want to stop. I want to take us off the market. I want to focus on running the business. And I just really don't want to play this fundraising game. And she was like, okay, let's go.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And probably a lot of the things that I really valued would go away, like the ability to manufacture locally and making sure that we were size inclusive and, you know, I wanted to be able to run a business the way we wanted.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And people really just wanted to see the prophet. And as a day-to-day operator, like when Jesse and I went around doing this, the two of us were the main day-to-day operators of the business. It was extremely distracting. And I know that it becomes a cycle where it's like, okay, you raise money and then you have to deploy it and then you have to raise more money. I wanted to be back in the office with my team. I wanted to be at the photo shoots. I wanted to be making the part of the business happen that I loved. And when we spoke to people, they, you know, we were just too small at that point. People wanted to have majority ownership. And that meant that we would give up control.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, and we were like, maybe we should be growing a little faster than we are. We did see everybody else moving at what seemed like a much quicker clip than we were. And so we went out, we hired a banker, and we did. We did the whole dog and pony show. And I think even though ultimately we decided that we didn't want to bring on an investor, I think it was a really invaluable lesson. And so the things I learned, number one, was people were looking at the business very differently than I was, you know, at the time everybody was focused on D2C only and people are like, what are you doing with all this wholesale? Like you don't have control over that. So they thought that that was crazy. But then also we were running the business to break even and people were like, where's your profit? And we're like, well, obviously, if we did this, this and this, there would be profit. But we are continuing to grow.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Build your business. We built our business side by side with so many of these partners and that woman who was our sample house, she ultimately now has three different manufacturing factories in downtown LA. Her daughter runs one of them. You know, it's very rewarding to get to work with people and see those types of impacts on their lives.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I very much enjoy making product in LA. I like the idea that I know the people that I can go down and pop in and see what's happening at any moment. And if you, you know, all of a sudden realize that something's selling really fast, you can ramp it up. And if you on the flip side realize that you're heavily investing in something and it's a mistake, a lot of times you can just pull it from the line. But it's also extremely rewarding to get to know the people and feel like you're supporting your community. One of our contractors, she started off as a sample house and she wanted to do more production for us. And she did phenomenal samples. And we said as soon as you get your manufacturing license, we will start you with some small quantities and let's help you.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Exactly. I always looked at our wholesale strategy as our marketing strategy. And we were very particular about where we would sell. And my team used to get frustrated with me because I would actually turn them down for a lot of opportunities. And they were like, but we could get a million dollars if we would just sell QVC or if we could do colles. And I said, no, I don't think that's what's right for the brand. I mean, we could have been larger, faster for sure, but I think it's very easy to go quickly downstream. And it's much harder to continue to build a really clean, high-end profitable business.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“As e commerce started to grow, we absolutely leaned into it, but as much as e comm would grow, wholesale was just growing quicker. I forget the exact years and where things were, but I would say it was probably around like 25% of our sales. You know, then I think it wasn't until COVID that it really shifted and became the lion's share of what we were doing.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“People resources once they come on board. And people also loved the fact that we were primarily all female. It was funny. Know Jesse was pretty much the only white male in our company for the majority of the time that we were in existence.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, first of all, I wasn't the person who was paying the highest salaries. I definitely know that people took a little bit of a pay cut to come and work with us. But I think that people really believed in what we were doing. And once, you know, one or two people come on board that are really passionate about it, that are great. I really believe that A players want to work with A players. And so your team becomes your recruiting tool. And when this amazing marketer came over to our team, I didn't just hire her and say, I'm going to give you the biggest salary that I have. I said, look, I can afford to pay you this, but I also know you're going to need some people around you. And we invested in building a team around her. And, you know, the same is true for what we did with the woman from Under Armor, because you have to give.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“My years are all jumbled in terms of. Where we were. I know that We had double digit growth pretty much from that point on. And so we never had, I think we ever had a down year from that point on.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You know, initially, when I first found it, I thought that it was just going to be a seasonal fabric, that we were going to use once and then we'd move on. And as soon as my team felt it, and as soon as the sales reps got it out and our customers were touching it, they were like, you're going to have this forever, right?”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I don't think other people were using it because it was so expensive. And I wanted to make something that was going to feel amazing for people. And I don't think people at the time were willing to spend that type of money to get fabrics made. And it was two different yarns and it was weaved together in a certain way. And it had a brushed hand. There's just something about the way that those two fabrics came together. And then ultimately, you know, I worked with the mill to really work on how to get it as soft as possible. And there's some trade secrets there, but it's fantastic and it feels really good. It has four ways.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That fabric is called space dye. And I was downtown at the LA Mart. I went to visit one of our fabric vendors. They had a showroom there. And we were just going through all these fabric samples. And I just went through, you know, just touched, walked around the room, touching everything. And I remember when I found Space Diet, I was like, what is this? And I remember my sales rep. She was like, oh, Michelle, you don't want that. That's way too expensive. And I was like, no, I need this. What is this? And I was like, I don't care how expensive it is. This is what everybody is going to want to put on their body. And I'm really happy that we decided to go with that fabric. I wear that fabric every single day of my life and I absolutely... Adore it and it was worth it.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And the minute Lulu had to pull their product, my buyer from Equinox called and said, hey, we've got a situation. What do you have in black leggings? And I was like, we got you. And I shipped everything we had. And we sold through what we had. And so that was a moment for us to step up. Our product got a little bit more floor space and we sold through when we performed. And so that, you know, in turn gave us more floor space in the future.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I wasn't thinking we were always going to be small, but I wasn't overly focused on them either. I always looked at Lululemon as an inspiration and as the, you know, the company that made it okay for women to buy a hundred dollar pair of leggings. I felt like they paved the way. And I'm grateful to them for that. And there were times when Lulu faltered and they were times where beyond grew. I remember when they had the whole, you know, sheer pant debacle. I don't know if you remember that, but. That was a moment because at the time, I think we were the number two brand carried an equinox. But Lulu was the lion's share of the space. We were a very distant number two.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We were just reinvesting every dollar back into the business. We never took on any additional outside investment. We had a lot of people offer to invest and a lot of people offered to buy us at different points. And we just turned everybody down. And we worked with some great banking partners. The people at Wells Fargo were really helpful. The team at CIT helped us get a line of credit to factor all of our accounts, our wholesale accounts. So that gave us the ability to be able to finance our inventory. And that was tremendously helpful.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Want to share with you about how Jesse impacted the business, but one thing that was really helpful was when he joined me and he was really looking at our finances. He's like, you're actually not spending enough. You're not investing enough in your team and in marketing. And I was so nervous. And I think because of, you know, what happened to my dad and seeing him lose his business, I was always very nervous to get out ahead of our skis. And so when Jesse came on board and he's somebody who I trust implicitly and he said you really need to lean in and bring on some great talent, that's when I started spending more on the people who are on our team. And I think that was a huge turning point.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Know, in the beginning, I did as much as I could. I was originally sketching everything in the collection. Eventually, we brought on designers who did that. But I will say, I think one of the most important hires I made was when I ended up hiring my COO, CFO, who happens to be my husband Jesse. He started, we started dating in 2009 and he was in and around the business for many years before we actually got married in, I think it was like 2014. And one of the things that, I mean, there's so many things that I”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“At that time, we were actually outsourcing all of the financial to a third party. And I started realizing that things weren't coded properly. You know, there were items that shouldn't have been in cost of goods sold that were put in. And so I just realized that there was a lot that was a little messy and unorganized. And we needed to fix that. And this was too important of a To outsource, and so I brought that in house. I hired an accountant. And that's when I kind of realized, you know, you have to lean into all areas of the business. The finance side of things did not come naturally to me. I definitely needed guidance and to teach myself, but I also, you know, you can't just do the parts that are fun. You have to lean into the ability to just ask a lot of questions and be comfortable not being the smartest person in the room.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I took accounting classes. I really wanted to understand what was going on with our finances because in the early days, I was so focused on sales and product design and marketing. And in the beginning, we were doing so well. I think when you're doing well, some of the important things might get glossed over on the financial side of things. In 2006, I was the first year we were shipping. We did 1.1 million. Then the next year we did around 2.2. Then the next year we did, I think we were around 4.5. Then the global financial crisis happened and everything kind of bottomed out. At that point, we were primarily wholesale. And we dropped in 2009 by almost a million dollars, which was a large percent to go backwards. And, you know. That was a big setback.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Some of it came easy, some of it was just a complete learning. So, you know, I remember one day I was alone in the office and all of a sudden we got back our first set of samples on this pima cotton and what should have looked like a shirt ended up looking more like a tunic. And I was trying to get to the bottom of why this happened. And the shrinkage on the fabric hadn't been incorporated the right way. And so I was on the phone with the mill in North Carolina trying to understand what was happening to the fabric as it was going through the garment dye process. And luckily, you know, this gentleman was very helpful. And he was like, listen, each role, you have to take it and make a square that's like 20 inches by 20 inches. And you put that with a Sharpie. And then you put it through the process. And you have to see how much it shrinks. And then you have to apply that to.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Tell me a little bit about just learning about how to run a business. I mean, I read that for you it was really hard just trying to figure out what to do and how to manage inventory and the books and sale doing sales calls. Those things didn't come easily to you.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“At some point you're hoping to slide into a class or be able to sneak off and go for a run or whatever the case may be. So we try to create these layering pieces that made the outfits look pulled together. And then you could just pull off this top and voila, you were ready to go to the gym.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Our pitch was that we are the softest, most inclusive, active wear line. I'm obsessed with fabrics and I love the touch and feel. And I spend hours, you know, just going through showrooms and feeling every fabric. And that was really important. So, you know, we were made in the USA. Everything was machine wash and dry. We tried to make it as easy care as possible. And then It was also this concept of it's for your everyday life. It is for your active lifestyle. So we were among the first to do this active layering and transition clothing. So you could get up in the morning and get dressed and maybe you weren't necessarily going to the gym, but you had all these things that you were going to do and you needed to look chic and put together. And then”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, I'm a huge fan of wholesale. And I've always looked at this as a way of reinforcing your brand. I think of wholesale as marketing that you get paid for. So anytime somebody goes into a yoga studio and sees your product, they're discovering you. We had a really diverse distribution network too, which I think was one of the things that we did really well. So we sold to, you know, the mom and pop yoga studios and the boutique fitness places. We sold to regular boutiques that weren't fitness-based. We were on the cool websites like Revolve and ShopBop. And when people would see our products at all of these different places, it was brand validation and reinforcement.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No, it was just me and Jody in the beginning for probably the first two years. But we worked with Know third parties. So, you know, at the factory in LA, they had pattern makers and, you know, we would go and we would have our fittings there and we would try clothing on our fit model who was a bartender at James Beach.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Exactly. And at the time, you know, that was like the place to go. But we started selling to a lot of, you know, small mom and pop studios. And the big goal was to get the orders and then for them to sell through and for them to buy again. And that started happening a lot quicker than we thought it was, but it was great. And we did over a million dollars in our first year of shipping.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Stores and boutiques. And so our first store was a studio up in Santa Barbara called Drishti Yoga. And then we got into yoga works, which was huge.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We started working with a local factory in LA. You know, they helped us source the fabric, they helped us with the patterns. I would create the sketches for what we wanted. So right from the beginning, I started focusing on the design, the sketching, creating the line sheets. I hired the sales team.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“In the beginning, I don't even remember exactly how we talked about it. She had gotten initial funding from her father and eventually as we continued to work together as we got closer, as she saw that I was just taking on more and more and more and more, then we got into more of the equity conversations. Really solidified that piece of it.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It was like I want to do this because I really loved the mission of Beyond Yoga and the idea of creating clothing for women of all shapes and sizes. And I continued with Unsweetened a little bit on the side, but for the most part I was beyond yoga or bust.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I turned to her and I said, you know, I know how to do this. I was like, do you want me to fix those sketches for you? I know exactly what you're talking about. And she was like, yeah, I do. And so I said, oh, just forward me the files. I'll work on it, you know, over the weekend. And then that night, I fixed the sketches that she had. And then I had some other ideas for things that would be great for Beyond Yoga. And I sent it back to her. And then the next morning, she called me and she was like, Our relationship is about to change. And pretty much from that point on, I spent the next 18 years building, growing, and leading beyond yoga.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“She was just getting started with this. She had been in the apparel industry a little bit before, but this was, she was doing this on her own. And she needed some help. And she said, like, I'd love if you could help me. I didn't have any money. So I was looking for sidewalk. So I was happy to help her. And then very quickly, I fell in love with the idea of beyond yoga. And beyond yoga is the whole reason beyond yoga exists. It's created to make clothing that for women of all shapes and sizes and to make show people that everybody is beautiful and all bodies are good bodies. And I remember hearing Jody on the phone with this designer that she was working with in the very early days. And she was getting frustrated because the designer wasn't capturing her intent.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“He was another vendor. He had his own product he was selling. His name was Brad, and he came over and he was just very friendly and he was like, I'm really impressed with this business you're building. And so I stayed in touch with Brad and I was like, hey, do you know anybody who, you know, needs a designer? And he said, actually, I just met this incredible woman and she has this idea for an activewear company, but she's just getting started with some of her like trademark. And that information, how did you do all of that? And I was like, oh, I just, you know, went online and did it. He's like, would you be willing to help her? And I was like, of course. So then I went over to Jody's house or her apartment.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes. So essentially I'm in San Diego. I'm not really loving it. I am very homesick for New York and I'm thinking I probably should go back. But my heart is like I put so much effort into getting out to California. I'm already here. I can't just give up. But then I, while I was still in San Diego, I signed up for a trade show in LA. It was called the LA Gift Show. And when I went up to that gift show, I ended up meeting a gentleman who ended up introducing me to Jody, who became my business partner.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“All right, so meanwhile, you had a pretty good day job in graphic design, but I guess you eventually decide to quit and then move from New York to California for a change of pace. And I think this is around 2005. And you still have the t-shirt business going, right? When you first settle in California, I think in San Diego, right?”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“What are these cool illustrations? And then I tell them and then people would be like, oh, well, your friend Rachel looks like my friend Rita or, you know, could you do one of me? And so I started selling people my t-shirts while I was working at people. And then I started going to holiday bazaars and I would walk up and down the streets in New York and I'd go into different boutiques and I would sell them my t-shirts and I remember one of my favorite ones that I got into was this store. I don't even know if it still exists, but I loved it. It was called Pookie and Sebastian. And when I got in there, I felt like, oh my goodness, I really made it. And it was very exciting.”
2025-02-10 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Beyond Yoga: Michelle Wahler · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT