WHAT WE DO

YAMA Talent is the world’s first management company, booking agency and consulting firm dedicated to nurturing the careers of yoga teachers.

We develop, secure and manage a variety of opportunities and relationships for our clients, including those in the traditional yoga space - conferences, festivals, master classes, workshops, lectures, immersions, intensives, teacher trainings and retreats, as well as opportunities and relationships in the rapidly diversifying yoga space - mass media (television/film/DVD & publishing/digital), product endorsements, and modeling.

We realized that the very same tools and market knowledge we use on behalf of individual yoga teachers are also viable and powerful for other verticals of the yoga industry. Our Consulting Department provides customized strategy for: individual teachers, yoga studios, and brands on an hourly packaged basis. We provide the business skills, savvy and infrastructure needed to support the yoga industry. If your business is yoga, YAMA Talent is for you.

MANAGEMENT

holistic career strategy
hefining goals: personal, creative, financial & execution
developing and building a profile: visual brand identity, online presence
developing and clarifying your curriculum
developing additional revenue streams: passive income
servicing principal media outlets, finding the right publicist, spearheading promotional activities
creative marketing plans to support touring and overall career strategy
working with legal council as necessary
financial Planning

BOOKING

developing tour concepts
coordinating tour schedule – including booking travel
cultivating teaching opportunities (traditional & diverse)
negotiating with industry representatives and venues
overseeing contracting, promotion (social media) & payments

PRODUCT

cultivating opportunities for merchandise, recordings, DVDs, and books
providing options for distribution on-line and through traditional retail
overseeing deals & contracting
affiliate partnerships

CONSULTING

holistic career consulting
marketing strategy: for teachers, yoga studios and brands
yoga studio ownership: strategy, marketing, operations, financials
brand enhancement: developing pr/marketing plan and presence

Our TeachersView All

Testimonials

YAMA Talent helped me fulfill my vision of making the Iowa City Yoga Festival a huge success in its very first year. YAMA knew exactly the presenters I needed to inspire and excite festival attendees, and they outperformed my highest expectations. I found that working with them was so much easier than coordinating with each presenter individually – YAMA did all the work! From arranging travel plans to consulting with me on press and marketing, YAMA was there. Thank you for your amazing skills and talented team – I can’t wait to do it again!

James Miller, Producer and Creator, Iowa City Yoga Festival

Ava gave Laughing Lotus her wings, and turned us from a caterpillar into a ButterFLY! She has the wisdom, keen eye, brilliant team, and follow through todeliver us where we are today.

Dana Trixie Flynn

When we got approval to throw Yoga at the Great Lawn, the World's Largest Yoga Class, we were just under 6 weeks away. We needed to get the word out to the yoga community - and fast! - so, we hired Ava & her team at YAMA Talent.

From conceptualizing and coordinating outreach, securing partnership, distributing marketing materials, hosting planning meetings, kick-off events, and being integral in day-of logistics, YAMA's manifesting vision and focus resulted in 75 partner studios, 125 assistants, 20 elite on stage teachers and nearly 10,000 students.

All this was done with strength, grace and professionalism. We certainly look forward to future collaborations with YAMA.

Sascha Lewis, Founder, Flavorpill

His [Raghunath's] yoga career is being helped by YAMA Talent (Yoga Artists Management Agency), which is like the Creative Artists Agency for yoga stars. The concept may be anathema to yoga-world purists, but on deck is an embryonic clothing line starting with T-shirts. Next year, there will be two pilgrimages to India, an upstate retreat and continued training of teachers.

Ava Taylor of the agency explained that it has software to keep track of Raghunath bookings and it has worked on a sorely needed update of his Web site, which made its debut in May. “I’m not the most organized person, so with YAMA it’s like having a personal assistant so I can teach,” Raghunath said.

About YAMA - The New York Times 2012

Yoga today is where the Food Network was 15 years ago, says Ava Taylor, whose Brooklyn-based YAMA Talent manages the careers of 41 ambitious yogis. Many of these teachers will cross over into the mass market.

About YAMA Talent - Bloomberg Business Week

"MAJOR-LEAGUE athletes have agents who negotiate multimillion-dollar contracts with provisions like private planes and Rolexes. Hollywood actors have agents who scout for their scripts. Now comes Ava Taylor, whom one blogger has called “the Ari Gold of yoga,” trying to make a business out of managing the careers of yogateachers. Yes, yoga teachers have careers."

About YAMA - The New York Times 2011

Everyone at YAMA is a longtime yogi, and we’ve all banded together to make choices for ourselves and our careers with the community, and integrity, firmly in mind.

About YAMA - Sadie Nardini in YogaDork

Working with YAMA is always a great experience! The YAMA team is incredibly organized and thoughtful throughout the planning process of all our events. The workshops we have worked on together have been a huge success, and the assistance they offer teachers makes the whole process smooth and efficient.

Lisa Greenblatt - YogaWorks, Director of Programming Management, Workshops & Retreats

Yoga teachers are this really beautiful blend of athletes and artists. But what it takes to make a great yoga teacher great is not business savvy, and there's no problem with that. In every other industry with athletes or artists, they have representation. Yoga teachers are this Last of the Mohicans group where no one is helping them with their careers.

Social Workout

Working with YAMA Talent has been a huge help for finding our adidas Global Yoga ambassador for 2011. Our brief was quite specific, but YAMA's large network allowed us to scout efficiently and quickly, and find exactly the right people. We are now very happy to have Ashleigh Altman represent adidas Yoga - and we continue to enjoy working with Ava and her team on a daily basis.

Niki Shilling - Global Marketing Manager adidas

Yama Talent

WHAT WE DO

Our TeachersView All

Testimonials