Michelle Wahler Adams is an entrepreneur, business leader and mother. In 2005, she co-founded the active lifestyle company Beyond Yoga, where as CEO, she built the product and brand from the ground up. 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 over the course of nearly 20 years. Michelle built a female focused organization with an unwavering commitment to inclusivity, diversity and empowerment both among employees and customers. She skillfully navigated negotiations and led her team through the brand’s acquisition by Levi Strauss & Co. in 2021. Post acquisition, she continued her role as CEO of Beyond Yoga and joined the Executive Leadership Team of Levi Strauss.
This was an incredible experience. I learned so much coming from the start up and mid sized business world building a business that was roughly 70 people, generating almost $90M in revenue, then transitioning to joining the executive leadership team at Levi Straus and Co and getting our business in two years on its way to almost $120M. It was fascinating to see how a publicly traded organization runs, and the importance of reporting, forecasting and shareholder returns. Prior to the acquisition our reporting was only for internal use to monitor and run the business. We focused on longer term goals, with more flexibility to focus on product and customer needs. As a privately held company, we were not held to any external valuation or performance pressures, only self imposed goals and targets. We were also primarily a US based distribution network, which was in stark contrast to the global reach of LS & Co. Seeing how they handled the world crisis and lived their principles over profit mantra was very impressive and something I greatly respected.
There are a few keys to my longevity, passion, commitment to my team and my customers, and a great support system. I don’t know if you can keep at something for that long if you don’t genuinely love what you’re doing. I love creating products, I love leading talented teams and building a company for all our customers, team members, vendors and other stakeholders. That includes our beloved community. Being able to provide jobs for people in Los Angeles and help our wholesale partners create more revenue to help drive thousands of small businesses was amazing. Even now that I’ve stepped down, I’m still designing products in my head! And last but definitely not least, I’ve been so fortunate to have an amazing support group of family and friends that cheered me along when days were tough, celebrated the wins with me, and didn’t give me too much grief when I had to dispense for chunks of time because I was so immersed in the business. I also had the really extraordinary experience of hiring my husband and having him be my life and business partner which really allowed me to fully integrate every part of me to focus on my dream - building and leading Beyond Yoga.
Right now I’m celebrating the win. The last 18 years of building and leading Beyond Yoga have been amazing, but I also feel like I just sprinted a marathon. I believe it’s incredibly important to pause and reflect and celebrate the win before rushing into the next adventure. On the flip side I’m not one to sit still, so I've been enjoying spending time with my two young children and my amazing husband traveling and just enjoying quality time together. I am also leaning into the business and entrepreneur community and I’m offering my time and resources to this flourishing community.
I’m still practicing the art of saying no. It’s incredibly easy to be tempted to get involved in so many things, but being focused is critical (especially for an entrepreneur) Learning to pick and choose where your time is best spent and not spreading yourself too thin is a skill we can always keep practicing no matter what stage of our career we are in.
There is never just one thing, sounds cliche but attention to detail is critical. But not just on your product but your team, the process, your shipping, your accounting etc As best you can focus on the detail, do it once, do it right. Because I can promise you there are more problems and things you need to focus on around the corner and it’s pretty frustrating to go back because you missed something you shouldn't have. A very helpful tool for me has been Boomerang- it allows me to schedule emails to send at specific times, bring back emails that are not replied to, and schedule meetings in a convenient way that saves a lot of back and forth.
There are so many, especially in my life, that are just doing amazing things. I admire my kids' teachers and how they are getting our children prepared for the next stage of their lives! On a more macro level, Right now I’m very inspired by Sara Blakely. I'm impressed how she put herself out there in a major way with her new company launch - it’s edgy and certainly not safe.I’m also incredibly inspired by Melinda Gates. The resources and investment she is putting into the female rights fight is so inspiring.
My family. They are my motivation, my support and my happy place. That includes my two dogs!!!
Honestly I’m not about trends. I love comfortable, confidence building clothing. I love bold colors and I am excited about that trend this fall!
