2025 marks ten years since YouAligned (originally YogiApproved) first came to life – and honestly, it’s wild to look back and reflect on how it all began.
It started as a seed of an idea, dreamed up by me and my then-boyfriend (now husband!) Tyler in my little apartment. I was 26. We didn’t have a detailed plan or a polished business strategy. What we did have was a strong pull — a desire to build something that felt exciting, meaningful, and real. Something that gave us purpose and freedom, and also made a positive impact on people’s lives.
What started as a passion project has since grown into a full-time labor of love. And while we now reach a global community and offer a full-scale online class platform, I want to pull back the curtain and let you in on the real story.
Behind the scenes, we’re a tiny but mighty team. It’s me, Tyler, our customer support and assistant extraordinaire Deni, our brilliant web developer Rey – who lives in Manila with his family and two children – our amazing instructors who bring so much heart to our classes, and our contributors who share their knowledge in our articles. That’s it. No big corporate backing. No army of staff. Just a small team of people who care deeply and work hard every day to bring this platform to life.
Since launching YA Classes in 2017, our members have helped plant over 320,000 food-producing trees for farming communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. That impact – your impact – is one of the things I’m most proud of. You can learn more about that program with trees.org here.
And yet, like so many small businesses, we face uphill battles all the time. We aren’t often included in those “Best Online Platforms” roundups, despite offering exceptional teaching from truly gifted instructors and top-tier content. Growing our membership hasn’t been easy (and is still a major challenge!). We’ve gone many years without paying ourselves so we could afford to keep the company going and pay our instructors, our team, our contributors. We’ve continued planting trees even when we haven’t been profitable – because we’re committed to giving back, and because our purpose is bigger than our attachment to financial gain.
The truth is, we’re not getting rich off this work. But we are living heart-forward. And to me, that matters more than anything.
Over the years, I’ve come to define success not by numbers or accolades, but by impact. If even one person has been forever impacted by something we created, then it was all worth it. I believe in ripple effects – that the more lives we can touch on an individual level, the more powerful our collective impact becomes. And honestly, what greater purpose could there be?
So we want to say thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading our articles, practicing with our classes, opening these emails, and sharing this space with us.
If YouAligned has ever made a positive impact in your life, the greatest gift you can give us is to share it. Tell your friends, your family, your coworkers. Post about your favorite class. Leave a comment on a class you love (a new feature we recently launched). Forward this email. Word of mouth is how we grow, and your support means the world to us.
We are a grassroots small business. We believe deeply in what we do – because we believe in you: In your growth, in your well-being, in the collective power of mindful living and conscious community.
With so much love and gratitude,
Ashton August, Founder of YouAligned.com and YA Classes
