A new relaxation

The former Romance languages and literature major, who focused in Spanish and Italian, went on to Wall Street immediately after graduation and worked there for seven years.

“I never thought I’d ever quit to run a yoga company,” said Imparato, an avid runner in college. “It was a big decision, and the best decision of my life besides going to Princeton.”

Imparato said she decided to launch the company after noticing a void in yoga offerings in New York City. “Some people hated yoga and were scared of New York’s yoga scene,” she said. I.AM.YOU is a “lifestyle brand first and foremost, with three arms” that include yoga, music and a new nourishment initiative started in January that has been “growing exponentially each month,” she said.

The company was officially launched on May 1 last year, having been in the works for three months. Imparato originally intended to run the company as a side business — but after a while, “more and more people said, ‘You should do this full-time,’ ” she said.

Imparato explained that the company focuses on giving clients a “tailored, 360-degree experience, not just yoga,” noting that participants must RSVP for each session so that she can plan ahead. The placement of yoga mats and the music mix are tailored to each event and class, and the nourishment initiative includes guest chefs and restaurant visits.

The company originally “started out with a more Wall Street focus” after receiving press publicity from Bloomberg News, Imparato said, but the clients now come from more diverse backgrounds, with “an assortment of people from Wall Street, lawyers, doctors, media, artists and designers.” Imparato said she is especially proud of the brand’s attractiveness to students who are new to yoga.

On Sunday, Imparato returned to the University to lead an outdoor yoga event, I.AM.YOU/YOU.ARE.PRINCETON, which took place on the lawn in front of Dillon Gymnasium and featured live music. The event was sponsored by Lululemon Athletica’s Princeton branch.

Imparato has taught yoga all over the world, including sold-out events “with amazing reception” in Colombia, Mexico and the Hamptons, she said. She will also be teaching in Madrid, Shelter Island and California, and plans on reaching Asia by the end of this year.

In the future, Imparato said she hopes to expand the brand to the West Coast as well as internationally. But for now, she has yet to find collaborators who share her philosophy and brand vision. In the meantime, she said, her “goal is to maximize and solidify the New York community … [and] stick to the New York home, global-reach model.”

In addition to the challenges of being responsible for the entire company’s operations, “learning how to do business in a non-business-focused industry” has been a challenge, Imparato said. “The only thing I don’t do is the music.”

But Imparato noted the significant rewards of seeing the impact of her brand on students’ lives “in a very short amount of time.”

Imparato also holds a “fair amount of free events” and hopes to “do something for Princeton” by hosting two free outdoor yoga events a year on campus, “one in the fall and one in the spring around the time of theses” to help students de-stress.

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Sunday’s event at Princeton was well-attended by both students and community members, many of whom received an e-mail from Lululemon publicizing the event.

“It was great, and especially good that Lululemon is contributing to the Princeton community,” said Helen Tam, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania who works in the area and regularly does yoga.

Tabari Dossett GS, a Wilson School student and an avid yoga fan, said it was his first time doing yoga outdoors and also his first time doing yoga with “more upbeat music I recognize,” adding that “[Imparato] was amazing. I will go to her class in New York.”

“I liked the different music … It was more athletic and faster-paced,” Princeton resident Kristen Bussiere said.

Imparato noted that her past experiences have contributed to her company’s success, saying, “Everything I learned on Wall Street and at Princeton has been completely applicable to my daily life now.”