From Corporate Leadership to the Yoga Mat: How Valerie Built Unalome Yoga

20 hours ago

Sometimes the businesses that mean the most to us don't begin with a business plan.

They begin with a problem we experience over and over again.

For Valerie Ammouri, Founder & CEO of Unalome Yoga, that problem showed up in one of the places she went to escape problems altogether: her yoga mat.

After more than 15 years of practicing yoga, particularly heated and sweat-heavy styles, yoga had become much more than movement. It was a place to return to her breath, reconnect with her body, quiet the noise of an always-on life, and become present again.

But there was one small thing that continually interrupted that experience.

Her yoga towel.

It would move. Bunch. Shift beneath her. Require adjustments mid-flow.

And eventually, Valerie started asking a simple question:

Why couldn't a hot yoga towel perform well enough that you could forget it was even there?

That question became Unalome Yoga.

Who Is Valerie Ammouri?

Valerie Ammouri is the Founder and CEO of Unalome Yoga, a Southern California wellness and yoga brand creating premium, performance-driven yoga towels for heated and sweaty practices.

But entrepreneurship is only one piece of her story.

Valerie built her career in sales leadership, business strategy, and commercial real estate technology while simultaneously developing a deep personal relationship with yoga.

For years, those worlds existed side by side.

One demanded performance, strategy, leadership, and constant decision-making.

The other offered something entirely different:

A chance to stop.

To breathe.

To return to herself.

Rather than seeing those two worlds as contradictions, Valerie eventually began to understand how much they informed one another. Yoga helped her develop patience, confidence, resilience, and presence — qualities that mattered just as much in the boardroom as they did on the mat.

And eventually, her experience as both a business leader and a longtime yogi gave her the confidence to build the product she couldn't find herself.

How Did Unalome Yoga Begin?

The idea behind Unalome began during Valerie's own hot yoga practice.

Like many yogis, she had accepted slipping towels and constant adjustments as simply part of taking a heated class.

Until she stopped accepting it.

She wanted a yoga towel that could handle significant sweat while staying securely connected to the mat underneath it. She wanted something soft and luxurious enough to elevate the experience of practice, but durable enough to actually perform.

And importantly, she wanted something beautiful.

Because functionality and intention shouldn't have to exist separately.

The idea became the foundation for Unalome Yoga: create a premium non-slip yoga towel engineered to support the practice without becoming a distraction from it.

Today, Unalome towels feature 44% more silicone grip coverage, premium absorbent microfiber and thoughtfully selected materials designed specifically for heated practices.

Explore Unalome's Non-Slip Hot Yoga Towels →

Why Is It Called Unalome Yoga?

The name goes much deeper than the product.

The unalome symbol represents the nonlinear journey through life — the loops, turns, confusion, growth and moments of clarity that eventually move us toward greater understanding.

For Valerie, that felt like an honest representation of both yoga and life.

Progress isn't linear.

Growth isn't linear.

Building a company certainly isn't linear.

Neither is becoming who you're meant to be.

The philosophy behind Unalome became a reminder to embrace where you are in the journey rather than constantly comparing yourself to where someone else appears to be.

And that perspective now shapes more than the branding.

It shapes the purpose of the company itself.

Building a Yoga Brand Around Presence

As Unalome has evolved, so has the way Valerie thinks about the product.

The goal isn't simply to create a "better towel."

The deeper question is:

What allows someone to remain fully immersed in their yoga practice?

Presence can be surprisingly fragile.

You can arrive at class distracted from work, family, responsibilities or the constant stimulation of everyday life. Then, slowly, your breath deepens. Your attention returns to your body. The outside world begins to get quieter.

And then your hand slips.

Your towel folds beneath your foot.

You stop moving and reposition everything.

It's small — but the moment is broken.

That's why Unalome's design philosophy has increasingly centered around one belief:

The objects surrounding your practice should support the ritual, never distract from it.

A great yoga towel shouldn't demand attention.

Ideally, you forget about it entirely.

Learn more about the Unalome Yoga story →

What Makes Unalome Yoga Towels Different?

For sweaty and heated yoga practices, grip isn't simply a product feature. It directly affects how confidently a yogi can move.

Unalome Yoga towels were intentionally engineered around that experience.

44% More Silicone Grip Coverage

The underside of every Unalome towel includes expanded silicone grip coverage designed to help the towel remain connected to the yoga mat beneath it.

That added stability means less bunching, shifting and repositioning during practice.

Premium Microfiber

The towel surface is made from soft, highly absorbent microfiber designed to manage sweat while maintaining a premium feel against the body.

Made for Heated Practice

From hot yoga and heated vinyasa to yoga sculpt and other sweat-heavy movement, the towels are designed specifically for environments where moisture and movement can quickly turn an ordinary towel into a distraction.

Eco-Conscious Details

Unalome uses AZO-certified dyes and thoughtfully selected materials while emphasizing quality and longevity over disposable product culture.

Design With Meaning

Each Unalome towel is also intentionally beautiful.

Color, symbolism and artwork become part of the ritual — not simply decoration.

Explore designs including the grounding Gaia Hot Yoga Towel, energetic Prana Hot Yoga Towel and balanced Harmony Hot Yoga Towel.

Building a Wellness Company While Building a Career

One of the less glamorous realities behind many emerging brands is that the founder doesn't simply wake up one morning and become a full-time entrepreneur.

Unalome was built alongside an already demanding career.

That meant early mornings, evenings, weekends and a constant shift between executive leadership and startup life.

Product development. Sales. Marketing. Wholesale outreach. Creative direction. Customer conversations. Website strategy. Content. Shipping. Operations.

And dozens of things founders don't realize they're going to become responsible for until they're responsible for them.

It's one of the reasons the unalome symbol feels particularly appropriate.

Entrepreneurship rarely follows a straight path.

There are breakthroughs and disappointments. Exciting partnerships and unanswered emails. Great ideas that work and equally great ideas that don't.

But there is also something deeply fulfilling about watching an idea move from your own experience into someone else's life.

A towel that began because one yogi was tired of adjusting her equipment can eventually become part of another person's ritual.

That's the part that keeps Valerie moving forward.

From Selling Yoga Towels to Building a Yoga Brand

Unalome began with yoga towels.

But the longer-term vision is bigger.

Valerie believes yoga offers something increasingly important in an overstimulated world: an opportunity to reconnect with ourselves.

Yoga asks us to notice.

Our breath.

Our thoughts.

Our bodies.

Our reactions.

The stories we're carrying.

And sometimes, simply where we are right now.

Unalome's role isn't to claim that a towel creates that transformation.

It doesn't.

Yoga does the work.

The teacher does the work.

The practitioner does the work.

But thoughtfully designed tools can remove unnecessary friction from that experience.

And that is where Unalome hopes to play a meaningful role.

Not simply as a company making beautiful yoga accessories, but as a brand encouraging people to return to the mat — and remain there long enough to experience what the practice can give them.

What Valerie's Founder Journey Has Taught Her

The entrepreneurial journey has reinforced something yoga taught Valerie long before Unalome existed:

You don't always need to know exactly how the path ends before you take the next step.

There will be detours.

There will be moments where the plan changes.

There will be things you can't control.

And there will be moments when slowing down gives you more clarity than pushing harder ever could.

The goal isn't perfection.

It's continuing to return.

To your intention.

To your intuition.

To your work.

To yourself.

That's the journey behind Unalome.

And, fittingly, it's still being written.

About Valerie and Unalome Yoga

Valerie is the Founder & CEO of Unalome Yoga, a Southern California yoga and wellness brand creating premium non-slip hot yoga towels designed for heated, sweaty and intentional movement.

After more than 15 years of yoga practice, Valerie founded Unalome to solve a problem she experienced personally: yoga towels that slipped, shifted and pulled attention away from practice.

Unalome Yoga towels feature premium microfiber and 44% more silicone grip coverage, with intentional designs created to support stability, confidence and presence on the mat.

The brand's name is inspired by the unalome symbol and its representation of life's nonlinear journey toward greater clarity and understanding.

Explore Unalome Yoga:
Shop Premium Non-Slip Hot Yoga Towels
Read the Unalome Story
Explore the Unalome Journal

This founder story was inspired by Valerie Ammouri's conversation with VoyageLA. Read the original VoyageLA interview.

Frequently Asked Questions About Unalome Yoga

Who founded Unalome Yoga?

Valerie Ammouri is the Founder and CEO of Unalome Yoga, a Southern California yoga brand focused on premium, high-performance yoga towels and intentional tools for practice.

What is Unalome Yoga?

Unalome Yoga is a yoga and wellness brand specializing in premium non-slip hot yoga towels designed for heated yoga, sweaty vinyasa, yoga sculpt and other high-sweat practices.

What makes Unalome Yoga towels different?

Unalome towels are designed with 44% more silicone grip coverage, premium absorbent microfiber, eco-conscious materials and intentional artwork. The goal is to reduce slipping, bunching and unnecessary adjustments during practice.

Are Unalome towels good for hot yoga?

Yes. Unalome towels are specifically designed for hot yoga and sweaty practices, where stability, absorbency and reliable grip become especially important.

Where is Unalome Yoga based?

Unalome Yoga is a Southern California-based yoga and wellness brand founded by longtime yoga practitioner Valerie Ammouri.

What does the name Unalome mean?

The unalome is a symbol representing life's nonlinear journey — including its twists, turns, challenges and moments of clarity. The idea reflects Unalome Yoga's belief that growth and practice are about progress, presence and returning to yourself rather than perfection.