I doubted yoga – until it cured my pain and inspired my $6b business

When a sporting injury left Joe Kudla in agony, he discovered a fitness phenomenon that became the seed of his staggeringly successful active brand.

“Yoga streamlined my physique, but more crucially, it changed my psyche in a way I’d never imagined,” says Vuori chief executive Joe Kudla.

Jess Salter and Susanna Galton

Nov 6, 2024 – 9.00am

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If anyone 20 years ago had described to Joe Kudla how his life would look now, he would have laughed in their face. The 46-year-old rises at 5.30am for breath work, meditation and yoga – before jumping into an ice bath. Then the former “total coffee addict” will sip matcha, and is now more likely to be found detoxing his liver with needles than swilling beer.

“I was the classic sports-mad jock who probably drank and partied too much,” says the chief executive of clothing brand Vuori. “I’d come out of a toxic relationship, I was frequently in pain and generally not feeling great about myself.”

The Telegraph London