Hot Yoga Pioneer and Former Senior White House Official Launches SweatNGlow in Washington, DC
First Digital Platform for Hot Yoga Enthusiasts Fills Void to Ensure Global Best Practices for Independent Studio
SweatNGlow, founded by Petra Starke, former CEO and President of Bikram Yoga and General Counsel to the Council of Economic Advisors in the White House, is launching a new hot yoga digital platform at an event at the Yoga Factory at the Wharf in Washington, DC on October 29th from 6-9pm.
The event, which is in partnership with the Retired NFL Players Congress, will host former Washington Redskins players Rick “Doc” Walker and Ms. Starke’s husband, George Starke. NFL players have benefited from the superb physiological and psychological benefits of exercising in elevated temperatures.
SweatNGlow founder Ms. Starke played a pioneering role in the original hot yoga movement called Bikram Yoga and has unmatched relationships in a hot exercise community made up of more than 5,000 studios and more than 10 million enthusiasts. The company is filling a void left in the community due to the well-documented personal failures of its namesake founder, Bikram Choudhury, which left many independent studios questioning their identity and enthusiasts uncertain about studio authenticity.
SweatNGlow, as hot yoga’s first global digital platform, serves as a trusted center of excellence for studios and enthusiasts and provides the technological tools to help them thrive.
“SweatNGlow, at its essence, provides increased profit potential to independent hot yoga studios all over the globe. It is a customer activation engine that extends the studio reach resulting in new customers, standardized studio operations, quality teacher training and, soon, digital streaming and e-commerce,” said Ms. Starke.
Yoga Factory owner Phil Vendemmia stated, “SweatNGlow fills a void that our community desperately needs. The platform enables a consistency of experience while protecting the integrity of individual studios and helping small businesses such as mine flourish. I am honored that we are able to support the launch of SweatNGlow and welcome Petra back to DC.”
Ms. Starke continued, “Washington, DC is a special place for me. I came here to practice law, had the opportunity to serve in the White House, and most importantly met my husband, George Starke, who played professional football for the Washington Redskins. Along the way, I became a hot yoga enthusiast, which led me to Bikram Yoga and now to SweatNGlow. I am thrilled to launch our global brand here with the friends and colleagues that I worked with in law and the White House and sweated with throughout the city.”
The event will feature the launch of the newly activated platform, hot yoga demonstrations and classes, a live DJ, founding members of the platform and the opportunity to connect with Ms. Starke. Other participating brands supporting the event are Manduka Yoga; Dr. Roebucks skincare; Gurunanda, essential oil brand; SweatNGlow skincare by Dr. Timothy Greco; airPHX, organic studio protection, One Love One Tribe, hot yoga apparel; Dr. Bonner, hemp based skincare; and Dr. Habib Sadeghi of Bee Hive of Healing with his newly released book, The Clarity Cleanse.
About SweatNGlow: SweatNGlow is a digital platform devoted to hot exercise enthusiasts, starting with hot yoga, and connecting its existing network of 5,000+ independent hot yoga studios in the U.S. directly to more than 10 million hot yoga enthusiasts and consumers. This platform provides backend services to studios including a customer activation engine, licensing, teacher training, and a certification and ambassador program. It also provides class booking capabilities and an e-commerce store.