Frustrated with the excessive bright lighting and endless chanting that too often define New York yoga studios, Michigan native Sarah Larson Levey decided she would take things into her own hands for the right mind-restoring, calorie-burning experience. In the summer of 2013, she created a pop-up yoga studio in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood for herself and invited a few yogis to help offset the cost for the space and instructor. People started to take notice “asking how they could buy packages and where the permanent location was going to be,” she says. One of those first regulars just so happened to be Mary Biggins, cofounder of ClassPass (then Classtivity) who became Levey’s first partners. Y7 was born and has since developed into one of Williamsburg’s must-attend yoga studios.
Today Levey’s 12 studios can be found throughout Manhattan, including at Solace New York, as well as one in Los Angeles. “I wanted consistency for our clients, [for Y7] to be a place that they could count on to have an incredible experience no matter what location, time, or day of the week.” A monochrome palette of gray, black, and white with accents of greenery are a studio staple, lending itself to a clean and simple aesthetic so “there is room for each client to have space in their mind for the class,” she says.
With its own apparel line, more than 300 employees, and revenue reaching $5.6 million, expansion is top of mind with a Chicago location on the boards, as well as teacher training, retreats, and workshops. Levy welcomes “every type of body, every kind of person,” she says. “It’s an inclusive space where the darkness and candlelight allow you to feel like it’s just you on the mat.”
