Michelle Whaler, co-founder of Beyond Yoga, shares insights from her 10-year journey in building a women’s yoga apparel brand and its eventual sale to Levi’s. Returning to the show, she offers foundational advice to founders: focus on your core motivations, avoid chasing exits, and stay grounded by saying "no" to distractions. In a call-in segment, a founder of a self-care soap brand struggles with online visibility and conversion, prompting Michelle to emphasize storytelling, emotional connection, and clear product differentiation. She advises building trust through transparency, highlighting rituals, and simplifying the customer journey. Another caller, a small interior upholstery business, seeks to reconnect with former clients after early missteps, and Michelle recommends a patient, step-by-step approach—starting with smaller projects, improving systems, and delivering exceptional value. The episode underscores the importance of personal alignment in entrepreneurship and introduces tools like Framer, NetSuite Next, and Enjin as enablers of operational efficiency. Through real-world examples and founder-led advice, the show demonstrates how sustainable, values-driven businesses thrive by focusing on authentic experiences, strong customer relationships, and long-term resilience.
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Hello, and welcome to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Raz. This is the place
where we help try to solve your business challenges. Each week, I'm joined by a legendary
founder, a former guest on the show, who will help me try to help you. And if you're building
something and you need advice, give us a call and you just might be the next guest on the show.
Our number is 1-800-433-GAY.
1-800-433-1298. Leave us a one-minute message that tells us about your business and the issues or
questions that you'd like help with. All right, let's get to it. Joining me today is Michelle
Whaler. She's the co-founder and former CEO of Beyond Yoga. Michelle, welcome back to the show.
Hi, Guy. Thank you so much for having me back. I'm so excited to be here.
We're excited to have you back. You were, of course, first on the show back in 2025
when you told the story of Beyond Yoga. And it was you and your co-founder, Jodi Gruber-Brofsky,
created this line of yoga apparel for women. And for about 10 years, you grew it really
slowly, mainly through wholesalers, yoga studios, and then some department stores. But over time,
your brand really started to gain traction, especially because you were
one of the only big independent yoga brands. Fast forward 2021, Levi's bought the company for
about $400 million. And in 2024, you stepped away from Beyond Yoga. By the way, if you haven't heard
again, I know I always say it, but it is true. It's a fantastic story. And we will put a link to
it in the show notes. First of all, since you've last been on, any updates for us? What's been
going on in your life?
So much. I'm still in this mode of celebrating the win. I feel like the build of Beyond Yoga
took such a long time and so much out of me. But I'm still savoring this win. And I also am taking
an opportunity to spend time with my family and my husband in a different way. Jesse was my
business partner for the last 10 years at Beyond Yoga. So it's really nice to just get to spend
time and have fun. And now I feel very fortunate. I have this opportunity to explore what makes me
happy outside of Beyond Yoga. And I've been able to, you know, kind of choose my own busy.
And explore. I've been teaching a course on how to create culture at USC. I've created this platform
called Quince Hill. And I use that as an investment and a mentorship platform. And for the most part,
I spend my time talking to founders and giving advice. And that's been one of the things that
really fills my cup.
Yeah. You get a lot of people probably when you're investing in businesses that they're
looking at the 20 plus years that you did what you did. And trying to figure out how to, you know,
do a version of that.
Yes. And, you know, I'm trying to share whatever nuggets of wisdom I have, whether it's, you know,
the storytelling, whether it's, you know, sometimes people just want you to listen.
Sometimes people need advice. Sometimes people need a connection to somebody who can do,
you know, the web program.
Or the marketing or, you know, help them with inventory. And so that's the fun part. Like,
for me, I always kind of wanted to be a matchmaker. That was like my thing when I was in
high school and college. And now I feel like I get to be a matchmaker by helping people find
the right things they need for their business, but also helping entrepreneurs find the right
people that they need at the right time.
Hmm. I mean, now that you, again, you have some,
you know, some distance from it and you've looked back on it, we did on the show. What is a piece of
startup advice that many people get and maybe you got that you think is just a bunch of BS?
Oh, BS. I don't think you need to raise money. And I feel like everybody tells you that you have to.
I think you need to know what motivates you and what you want your business to be.
And no, you don't have to have it all figured out at the beginning. But I think,
a lot of people like come in it with an exit plan and you don't need to do that. You need to think
about what is motivating you? Why are you starting this? And really lean into that and build a
sustainable business and not focus on the exit. You know, once people start bringing on investors,
that becomes the focus and that changes the trajectory of your company.
So as long as you can do things on your terms, I say do.
You don't have to be the next anthropic and you probably won't be. But there's nothing wrong with
building a smaller, sustainable business that gives you the freedom to live your life and
support yourself. And you don't have to chase a mammoth exit.
Yeah, fair enough. Michelle, what do you say? Should we should we take our first call?
I love it. Let's do it.
All right, let's do it. Welcome to the advice line. You're on with Michelle Whaler,
co-founder of Beyond Yoga. Please tell us your advice.
your name, where you're calling from, and just one line.
please about your business. Hi, I'm Keri Angoff. I'm based in Paris, France, and I'm the founder
of Elective Study Abroad, which reimagines study abroad for adults. Okay. Welcome to the show,
Keri. So study abroad for adults. I love this. Is that basically what it is? Like adults can do a
study abroad program? Yeah. Right now we run week-long seminar style courses for adults of
any age. It's mostly, but not only retirees. Each course focuses on a topic that's brought to life
in a particular place. So think architecture and cuisine in Southern Spain or world religions in
Istanbul. And each elective is taught by a local instructor who is deeply connected to both the
topic and the destination. Wow. Okay. So Keri, when did you start this business? Just last year.
It's been about a year and a half. And how has it been going so far? I mean,
this sounds. It sounds amazing. I'm sure every time you describe it to people, they say, I want to go.
How's it been going so far? It's going well. By the end of this year, we will run five courses
with a total of 26 students, which sounds small, but that's the idea. It is a niche market and it
is meant to be boutique. The idea is that there's never more than 10 people in a group. And so
everyone, especially people who are retired and have different backgrounds and different careers,
kind of. It is meant to be boutique. And so everyone, especially people who are retired and have different
careers, kind of. And the discussions can be almost as rich as the seminars themselves.
Yeah, I bet. Okay. Before we dive in further, what is your question?
So people are really enthusiastic about elective. Everyone tells me how much they want to do it. I
have strong click-through rates, very specific email inquiries, and regular requests to book calls
to learn more about the program. But getting people to go from that excitement about the
prospect of doing an elective to actually doing an elective is really important. And I think that's
an elective to actually enrolling has been a challenge. So I've played around with things
like deadlines and discounts to get people to book, but neither one of them seems to have a
real effect. So I'm looking for advice on better ways to create a real sense of urgency to get
people to say, okay, now I want to do this.
Got it. Okay. Michelle Whaler, I want to bring you in here. You've got a little bit more time
on your hands. I mean, eight days studying, you know, art and culture and Montpellier or,
you know, the history of the city in Palermo. I mean, it sounds amazing.
Sounds incredible. I absolutely think this is a fantastic idea. And so nice to meet you and
congratulations on what you've built. So I just want to make sure I understand because I'm looking
at your website right now and I see, I think it's five different courses that are offered
multiple times throughout the year.
Yes. By the end of this year, we'll have run one of each of the five that you see. Yeah.
Okay. When I think about this,
I'm like, oh, this is, you are selling an experience. You're not selling the class,
you're selling an experience. And so when I look at the website, my first image that I'm seeing
right now is like a bunch of people standing, looking at a map. And then the second one is
a bunch of people in a classroom. And I feel like that could be almost anywhere. And I wonder if
there is a way in those first two images to hit people with,
like, you know, if it's in Paris, seeing the Eiffel Tower in the background or something that you
just can't get anywhere else in the world. And then my other thought is maybe you just need like
a better filtration system before they're getting to you. Like I see that it just says like book a
call, right? But maybe you need to have like a couple filtered questions before they get to that
call. Like, are you ready to go on a,
seven day immersive experience? Are you excited to spend, I would imagine this is expensive. How
much does a general course cost? Average right now is $6,200.
Great. So are you willing to invest $6,000 in a once in a lifetime opportunity for yourself?
You know, and then are you committed to being a lifetime learner? If you said yes,
enthusiastically to all of these,
let's talk. But like, maybe you can weed out some of those phone calls that aren't translating.
Yeah, that's interesting. I love that idea of kind of leading people down the path a little
further. That's not something that I really hadn't thought about at all. The other point that you
brought up is interesting because it's something I grapple with a lot. And it's precisely the reason
why the Eiffel Tower isn't on the website is there are a lot of travel opportunities out there. You
know, it's a tight market. And I'm really, really excited about that. And I'm really, really excited
trying to differentiate this as an educational experience, and that it's not about going to see
the sites. It's about going to build this kind of community of lifelong learners, as you said,
and have access to an expert and their connection to the city in a very different way. But I do
worry that maybe something's getting lost when someone is comparing it to other travel
opportunities.
Carrie, you know, I,
I,
I,
I would suspect, because you're talking to people, they're booking a call with you, and then they're
not following up. And I would suspect that there are a variety of reasons why. I mean, I think of
Backroads, for example, which we did on the show a few months ago. And Backroads is a huge travel
company. People go on it because they want to cycle. And it's, you know, you are alone on the
bicycle for much of the day, and then you're socializing with the group a little bit here and
there. But if you don't love the group, it's okay. In this case, you are going to be with a cohort
for eight days. It's going to be intensive. Now,
this is a self-selecting group. These are people who really want to immerse themselves in learning.
So there's a pretty good chance that if you are attracted to this, the people who go on it
are going to be people you're going to want to be around. But I still think that
what's stopping people from, like, really, like, hitting the go button is they're,
they're thinking, like, you know, I don't know. I won't know anybody. I'm nervous about it.
So a couple of things I think you should, you should think about. I think the first thing is
you should sell the cohort.
Yeah.
You know, you should say, hey, it's not just the course. It's like,
spend eight days with, you know, 10 other people who are just as curious
about Renaissance or whatever it is, like, just as passionate as you are.
I also think you want to get testimonials on the site. Like, maybe they're there. I didn't see them
from people like, I was nervous at first. I didn't know anybody. I almost didn't go. I can't believe I
even considered not going. It was life changing, whatever, whatever it is, because I didn't know
anybody. So I think you really want to lean on that. And then I also, I think you've got itineraries
on here, maybe. But if somebody does a call with you, you may want to send a follow-up email. It's
like, hey, just want to send you the reading list for this program. Just check this out.
Yeah, I've actually, I'm in the process of updating some of the webpages now and adding
in a button to click to request a sample syllabus. Because I think that's a great way to just
increase the communication with the people. And it's giving them something that is not necessarily
public, but I'm not going to just throw it out there for anyone. You have to tell me you want it.
That's my thinking anyway. That's great. And Guy, you just made me think of something. You know,
partnering with some like high-end bespoke travel agencies or, you know, some higher-end senior,
almost like independent living places would be a good way for you to get a group of people to go.
It's an independent community where she's 79 and there's all these people who she spends time with
and they are all retired and they're looking for opportunities to do exciting things. But I think
it is scary to go by yourself. So maybe if you partner with some of these different communities,
you could get four or five people to book at one time. And I think that could be a great
top of funnel for you. Yeah, that's a fantastic idea.
One last thought I had for you, Kerry. And this is a little counterintuitive because everyone's
talking about social media, social media, but I think you might want to experiment with maybe
even advertising in a print publication like the New York Review of Books or the, you know,
the London Review of Books where you have a certain type of person who's older, you know, over 50,
who is clearly intellectually curious. You might be able to, you know, with $1,000, that's not
consequential, but you could probably buy a small ad for $1,000 in one of those publications and you
might be surprised at how many people respond. Okay, great. Good, good thinking, Guy. Well,
I will consider that. It's hard to imagine an ad in a print publication working in this day and age,
but that would make me really happy. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Elective study abroad,
Kerry Angoff. Good luck. Thank you for calling in. Thank you both.
Thank you. Yeah, I'd love to do that trip. You know, we, so when we travel,
my wife, she, she spends a lot of time making like reading material for me and my kids when we go on
trips. I mean, I love that, like very extensive reports and like day-to-day itineraries. And then
she spends a lot of time looking for guides. And it's amazing. Like I've learned so much. So this
just looks really cool. Really cool. I would absolutely try this. And I think it, it seems
like a great way to get an experience in a short amount of time, but like become an expert on
something. I love it. Yeah.
We're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, another caller, another question, and another round of advice.
I'm Guy Raz, and we're answering your questions right here on The Advice Line on How I Built This Lab.
We get support from Enjin.
A lot of founders start with a product or an idea, but at some point, the business becomes something else.
Think about Brian Scudamore.
He started 1-800-GOT-JUNK with one truck and a vision to make junk removal a real brand.
That worked, and then it became hundreds of crews across multiple cities, trucks on the road every day,
routes changing by the hour, and a team that had to be in the right place before the customer even called.
Or Beryl Stafford, who started Bobo's by baking oat bars in her kitchen.
Next thing she knows, she's flying to retail meetings, demoing at trade shows,
managing her own business, and she's going to be a part of the business.
She's going to be a part of the business.
Okay, and give me a sense of how the business is doing.
I mean, it's just you, you know, that's the bottleneck, right?
So you can only do a few projects at a time.
How is your overall business?
I do it as a side hustle.
So I have a full-time job and a young family,
but I bring in about $50,000 a year.
Okay, before we dive in further,
what is your question for us?
So my question is, when I launched in 2021,
again, I was immediately overwhelmed with the demand
and I didn't handle it all so well.
I was just, I didn't really want to start a business.
I was just doing it as like a side hustle,
but there was so much demand.
And I think I let some people down,
didn't communicate great and wasn't a great launch.
But then in the last five years,
demand has consistently been there.
And now that I'm thinking about scaling,
I'm thinking back on some of those designers
and potential clients that I might have burned
in the beginning or let down or fumbled.
And I'm wondering,
if I can hire my staff and improve my systems
and really build the business,
is there an opportunity for me to go back
to those initial clients and will they work with me?
Wow, okay.
Michelle, I want to bring you in here, obviously,
because I think, I'm sure in the early days of Beyond Yoga,
you made tons of mistakes
and maybe even burned some relationships
that you had to, you know, repair, beg, plead,
give you another chance.
I don't know, maybe not.
Maybe you were perfect from the beginning.
Well, first of all,
hi, very nice to meet you.
I'm super into what you do
and I'm just looking at your website.
It looks like you make beautiful work.
So congratulations on what you're doing.
I absolutely think that you can rebuild those relationships.
People genuinely respond to people who are being authentic
as long as you own what happened before.
And I wouldn't spend too much time on it.
Just say, you know,
I'm really sorry that we got off on the wrong foot.
I wasn't completely ready, but now I am.
them why you're ready now and how you can do it. I think a very important motto is under promise
and over deliver. And that needs to be like written very large on a wall wherever you are.
You also need to have your processes in order because if you reach out and then don't deliver
a second time, then I think you're going to have a problem rebuilding those relationships. But I
think most people will be willing to give you a second chance. So I would get your operation
really streamlined before you start going back and trying to rebuild. And then I'd have a list
of who these people are. And I would just pick them off kind of one by one. But don't reach out
to the second one until you've won the first one back.
You know, you want to pick the smallest one first and try and learn because every time you're going
to learn a little more and then you don't want to like try and potentially mess up on the biggest
account. Right. You want to start with the small one, learn what worked, what didn't work and
gradually build from there. Yeah, I completely agree. I mean, I think that there's something
called the second first impression.
So which is what you're asking about. And I don't think it's a matter of like asking somebody to
trust you. It's like saying, hey, please trust me again. I think it's more about showing them
what you do. You can briefly own, you know, what happened. And but I keep it very brief. I mean,
I think it's more about, hey, you know, we haven't talked in a while. I'd love for you to see the
work I'm doing. And, you know, and maybe that would lead to you asking for an opportunity to
do a small thing.
project first for one of these designers. And I agree, completely agree with Michelle, which is
you want to over deliver, you want to over communicate, you want to photograph the work
you want to ask for, you know, and I'm sure you're already working with some designers that
that would be happy to provide testimonials on your behalf.
Yeah, this is super helpful. And I totally agree with what you're saying. I think it's,
it's like, I have the demand and I know I can hire, but it's should I reach out,
to these designers before I have the staff? Or should I get the staff on in place before I
reach back out? It's like a chicken and egg thing. But I totally agree, I need to,
you know, update my website to get a better estimate process going and working on my
communication. And I think you're right, getting all that in place will just lead to a better
experience. When I reach back out. Agreed.
And I think that there's also a lot of fun to be had with a surprise and delight.
You know, making when you're working with a designer, if you are a rock star, you make them
look like a rock star. But if you drop the ball, it makes them look equally bad, right? So anything
that you can do to make them seem like an added value to their clients is a win. So if you're
making a, you know, beautiful upholstered headboard, or a couch or a chair, if you have a little,
little bit of remnant fabric that you can turn into a cool throw pillow that you just give as a
little extra, that's something that's going to really ingratiate you with that designer. Either
they can give it to their client, and that's makes them look good. Or maybe they use it for
something else. And it just provides more value. Yeah, Grace, I'm curious, just briefly, I mean,
and this may be revisiting old wounds, I don't know. But is there something that happened
where you can tell us about how you feel like you let down a previous client?
I think I was really not great with my timelines. Again, I think I told people I could finish things
quicker than I actually could. And interior designers will communicate that timeline to
their clients. And then, like you were saying, Michelle, if I don't meet that timeline,
then they have to tell that to their client, and then they look bad. It was a lot about time
management and thinking I could do more than I actually could. And but has anything changed since
then? So
well, I'm taking less projects, I've realized my capacity. Again, my kids are a little older now.
So I'm, you know, my daughter's not a baby anymore that I'm having to run in and take care of.
So that just realization of my own capacity. And then once I can hire, that will give me more
capacity. I think so, too. I mean, the minute you know that you that you I mean, you'll know
when you can re approach them, but you can't take the risk of letting them down again.
Yeah, and interior designers bring me a ton of business. I mean, that's why I'm, I'm so eager to
win back the ones that I let down at the beginning. Yeah.
And when you're, you know, setting these timelines, you know, I would, first of all,
get real methodical about it, like time yourself and really, you know, treat yourself like an
assembly line almost. But when you're giving those projections to people, pat it, you know, and
had it by a good amount.
I mean, not too much to turn them off completely. But then that's another opportunity to surprise
and delight. You call the designer and you've hit that deadline two weeks early. You can say,
I just wanted to let you know, we finished your project early. I'm happy to hold it until you're
ready. But if you would like, we can get that delivered. Now, that's such a tremendous win.
And then if you haven't budgeted properly, and you do need a few extra days, you're working toward
that two weeks early deadline. So you've built in that buffer for yourself. So you're a winner
either way. Absolutely. People love getting things earlier than they expected.
Yes, they do. Yes, they do. Grace Ref, the company is called Grace and Upholstery in Nashville. Good
luck. Thanks for calling in. Thank you. Thank you both so much.
Thank you. Yeah, that is a cool business. I mean, it's a, it's a, it's something that you can't
hands have to do that work. I mean, it, and if you get enough work, it can be a really big business.
I mean, you can do very well. Reupholstering things can be very expensive.
Yeah. And I mean, it's so nice to have like a family heirloom or something like a really
meaningful item that you can bring back. Like my husband, his mom had this chair that was in their
house. And she said she fed him as a baby in this chair. And it was destroyed.
But we took it and we got it reupholstered. And it's in my son's bedroom now. And I have like
so much love for that piece of furniture. That is really cool.
Yeah. That is super cool. I love that.
All right. We're gonna take another quick break, but we'll be right back with one more caller.
Stay with us. I'm Guy Raz and you're listening to The Advice Line right here on How I Built This Lab.
Welcome back to The Advice Line on How I Built This Lab. I'm Guy Raz. And today I'm taking your
calls with Michelle Whaler. She's the co-founder of Beyond Yoga. And we are ready for our next
caller. Can't wait. Hi, Michelle. Hi, Guy. My name is Angel Raymer. I am from Bristol, Indiana.
And I am the founder of the Sacred Paws Subcompany, where I make self-care kits to help people
think about themselves and their health. And I'm also the founder of the Sacred Paws Subcompany,
instead of thinking about everybody else in the most practical way, which is in the shower.
OK. Welcome to the show, Angel. OK. So Sacred Paws soap, you said self-care kits. And what is
what makes the soap different or unique or? So in each kit, I have a soap and a tumbled
stone inside of the soap. And each stone is correlated to a type of feeling, a type of
emotion. So a rose quartz stone is for love. Amethyst is for calm. Green adventurine is for
luck. Things of that nature. And so a lot of these are actually based on certain timelines
of my life. So when I decided to do this business, I did a tiger's eye that gave me kind of the
courage. And each box comes with a different affirmation tied to the type of stone that
is inside of your soap. And so as you're washing, the soap will actually disintegrate and the
stone will fall into your exfoliating bag. And it's an experience that you get to have
for yourself in the shower. OK. Got it. OK. And how long has the business been going?
Since 2025 in December. And it's still early days. You know, we're still in 2026. But how
have you been doing so far? I'm doing OK. I go to vendor markets once a month and I have five kids
and then I work full time in a factory. So I'm doing the best that I can. I make the soap and
it takes six weeks to cure and get around. So I have to kind of time everything. The kind of when I go
to the markets, people love the idea. I can go to metaphysical shows. I can go to oddity
conventions. I'm going to go to a music festival, to a witch's ball. But that kind of leads into my
question. OK, please. So when I go to these markets, everybody loves the idea. Oh, that's so
cool. This is so neat. I've never seen anything like this before, which is great. But online, I'm
like, oh, I've never seen anything like this before. So I'm like, oh, that's so cool. This is so
any type of online sales or anything like that. So my question is, is how can I emotionally sell
something while I'm not there? To explain. Okay. Okay, great. Michelle, I want to bring you in
here. Thoughts, questions, ideas? So many thoughts, so many questions. Lovely to meet you.
Your products are beautiful. Thank you. Like this is like, I'm looking at your website right now
and this is gorgeous. And your price points are, you know, very achievable.
I'm seeing $35 to $38 for a kit, something like that. Yeah. So I could see this going so many
places. I feel like I could see this at Whole Foods and Erewhon and all of those things. But
it sounds like you have an extremely full plate with a family of five, a full-time job and
all of those things. So my
first thought for you is how can I help you make money while you are taking care of your family
and at your job? And that would be if your website was cranking. And I think your website
has a lot of potential. But I'm completely missing the story on the website. And even
I just tried to click on the about and it didn't even give me anything.
So I think that would be like the first thing I would absolutely focus on today.
Like get your story out there. And I think that this is not only a great moment to like buy
something for myself, but I'm looking at this as like such a fantastic gifting opportunity.
So, you know, right off the bat, I'm looking at this. It says, give yourself a moment. I'd be
curious to see if you used some language about, you know,
some way of gifting it. Give yourself a moment or give give this to someone who deserves an extra
moment. Sometimes we have a hard time taking care of ourselves, but an easier time taking
care of the ones we love. Right. Then I'm looking at this and everything says self-care kit, self-care
kit. I want it to say Rose Quartz or Tiger and, you know, and then maybe next to it, tell me that
this one is for, you know, love. I'm looking at this and everything says self-care kit, self-care kit.
Or energy or whatever the case may be. But like right now, the way it's structured is I'd have to
click in for each one of them. Yeah, it's really difficult because since I work full time, I have
to basically kind of save for the next big thing that I'm able to do. So that tells me that, OK,
so my website is something that I need to save to get a, you know, not necessarily professional,
but yeah, professional to kind of take care of. I'm not sure you have to spend a whole lot of
money, Angel. I agree with Michelle. I mean, I think it's about I think that what you want to
emphasize is the ritual that you're selling. Right. You're you remember I remember when I was a kid,
there's a commercial on TV like Calgon, take me away or something like that. Right. It was like
shampoo. And and it was a it was a woman in a bathtub shampooing her hair and then she'd be in
the Caribbean. You know, I love that.
That concept that that wherever you are for five minutes, this product can take you there. And I
would I would think about really leaning into that. It doesn't cost anything. It's just a matter of
changing how you how you put that on your site and how you use that to tell your story across
channels. OK, that's great. Thank you. Yeah. Any other thoughts, Michelle?
You know, I think that because this is a product that people are going to put on their skin,
having some information about the you know, whether it's natural ingredients or, you know,
you're trying to you're trying to tell a story on your website, you're trying to gain trust and
you're trying to showcase product. And when all three of those things are working, that's when
you convert a sale. So I want you to, you know, showcase what are some of those amazing pillars and
why should I why should I trust this product and put it on my skin? And if you can have some of that
visible right off the bat, I think that would be really helpful, too, in converting more sales.
A hundred percent. Yeah. Angel Raymer, Sacred Paws Soap, thank you for calling in. Good luck.
Thank you guys so much.
Thanks so much. Yeah. Michelle, before I let you go and the question I ask everybody who comes on
to join me, if you were to go back to to when you were starting out, you know, knowing what you know
about the business and how to run it and all the scars that came with running it for 20 plus years.
What what would have been helpful for you to know when you were starting out that you now know?
You know, one thing I think is really important is to remember why you started
and to stay focused on that. I think part of being an entrepreneur is always seeing the next
opportunity around every corner. And sometimes you can bounce from like one thing to the next to the
next. And for me, I was very fortunate. I had I had Jesse, my husband, and who ultimately was my
my partner in the end. He was always saying to me, you know, are you on every butt in every class you
go into? And if the answer is no, then please don't talk to me about swimwear. You know, you
need to be the best, the number one activewear legging for women of all shapes and sizes. And
until you have done that, you're not going to be the best. And so I think it's really important to
please do not move on to, you know, the next big idea. And I think that kept me very focused and
grounded. So I want to be that reminder for other people. You know, what you say no to is almost
more important than what you say yes to. So don't forget to say no.
I love that. This is Michelle Whaler. She's a co-founder and former CEO of Beyond Yoga. Michelle,
thank you so much for coming on the show.
Thank you so much for having me.
This was so much fun.
And by the way, if you haven't heard Michelle's original episode on how I built this of Beyond
Yoga, please go back and check it out. It's a great story. We'll put a link to it in the show
notes. And here's one of my favorite moments from that episode.
I went to visit one of our fabric vendors and we were just going through all these fabric samples.
And 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? It's fantastic. And it feels really good. 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. Hey, thanks so much for listening to the show this week. And by the way, please make sure
to check out my newsletter. You can sign up for it for free at gairaz.com or on Substack. And of
one minute message that tells us a little bit about your business and the questions or issues
you are currently facing, because we would love to try and help you solve them. You can send us a
voice memo at h i b t at id.wondery.com or call us at 1-800-433-1298. You can leave a message there
and make sure to tell us how to reach you. And by the way, we'll put all of this in the podcast
description as well. This episode was produced by Carla Estevez with editing by John Isabella.
Our engineer was Anli Huang. Our music was composed by Ramteen Arablui. Our production
team also includes Alex Chung, JC Howard, Casey Herman, Elaine Coates, Chris Messini,
Catherine Seifer, Carrie Thompson, Sam Paulson, and Neva Grant.
I'm Guy Raz, and you've been listening to How I Built This.
your team is traveling. Engine makes it simple and saves you money doing it.
33,000 businesses have joined. Now it's your turn. Engine.com slash XYZ.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Michelle Whaler, co-founder of Beyond Yoga, reflects on her journey, emphasizing the importance of staying focused on core motivations rather than chasing exits or external validation.
She advises founders to prioritize authenticity, transparency, and under-promising while over-delivering when rebuilding relationships with past clients.
Founders should simplify their customer experience by clearly communicating value, such as emotional benefits or unique rituals, especially in niche products like self-care kits.
Founders must invest in scalable systems—like streamlined operations and targeted customer onboarding—before attempting to re-engage former clients or scale operations.
The episode highlights how small, invisible improvements in product design or customer experience (like a stone in a soap) can create meaningful emotional connections.
Tools like Framer, NetSuite Next, and Enjin are introduced as solutions that help founders manage complexity, build sites faster, and operate more efficiently.
The Advice Line format provides real-time, practical guidance to entrepreneurs facing common challenges such as scaling, trust-building, and marketing.
Success is framed as a journey—financial, operational, and personal—where sustainability and alignment with one’s values matter more than rapid growth or external recognition.
Summary:
Michelle Whaler, co-founder of Beyond Yoga, shares insights from her 10-year journey in building a women’s yoga apparel brand and its eventual sale to Levi’s. Returning to the show, she offers foundational advice to founders: focus on your core motivations, avoid chasing exits, and stay grounded by saying "no" to distractions. In a call-in segment, a founder of a self-care soap brand struggles with online visibility and conversion, prompting Michelle to emphasize storytelling, emotional connection, and clear product differentiation.
She advises building trust through transparency, highlighting rituals, and simplifying the customer journey. Another caller, a small interior upholstery business, seeks to reconnect with former clients after early missteps, and Michelle recommends a patient, step-by-step approach—starting with smaller projects, improving systems, and delivering exceptional value. The episode underscores the importance of personal alignment in entrepreneurship and introduces tools like Framer, NetSuite Next, and Enjin as enablers of operational efficiency.
Through real-world examples and founder-led advice, the show demonstrates how sustainable, values-driven businesses thrive by focusing on authentic experiences, strong customer relationships, and long-term resilience.
FAQs
Enjin is a travel and spending platform designed for growing businesses. It helps users book faster, save more, and accumulate rewards, enabling smarter travel decisions and cost management.
Mobile Supreme Plus Premium Gas keeps engines three times cleaner than regular gas in port fuel-injected engines, which can lead to better performance and improved fuel efficiency.
Framer is a professional site builder that allows teams to collaborate in real time, iterate quickly, and publish instantly. It supports custom code, CMS content, and SEO optimization, and is used by leading brands.
NetSuite Next is an AI-powered business management suite that unifies financials, inventory, CRM, and HR into one system. It features AI agents that assist with routine tasks and problem-solving.
Focus on selling the experience and community by highlighting shared values, including testimonials from past participants. Offer a sample syllabus and emphasize the exclusivity and intimacy of the cohort experience.
Yes, with authenticity and a clear apology, you can rebuild trust. Start with smaller clients, over-deliver, and show consistent improvement in processes and communication to regain confidence.
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