Welcome back to our “6 questions” series where we ask someone 6 career-centric questions about themselves.
This week, we’re chatting with Natasia Lutes, Director of Brand Experience at Alo Yoga.
What is your job title & what do you do day-to-day?
My title is Director of Brand. I oversee community, events/programming, and all brand partnerships. My day to day differs, but the one constant is a lot of external comms/meetings and R+D.
How did you get your current job?
VERY RANDOMLY! I was modeling in LA and doing my yoga teacher training and one day, someone came up to me at a local studio and said “What do you do? Every studio I see you at you always know everyone! We need you to do this for Alo!”. The brand was just starting at the time and I was first brought on as Community Manager to build out an event series.
What was the process of moving from Community Manager to Director of Brand Experience? Do you have any advice for someone wanting to be promoted in their current role?
The process is very simple – hard work and staying true to yourself. (& the brand you are working for!) Inspiration is great, but the way I moved up so quickly was through bringing super unique and cutting-edge ideas to the table.
Recent project that has been exciting to work on?
I am currently working on a massive new programming series which is going to launch us into a brand that is not so siloed on YOGA! We will be partnering with community members from around the world to host Alo sponsored events of all kinds. Think run clubs, beach clean ups, cooking get-togethers, etc. Alo really is for every activity and this series will be highlighting all of those that bring people together, create community, inspire wellness and conscious living.
What’s something someone might not know about working as a Director of Brand Experience at Alo Yoga?
It’s A lot. Of. Work. And you’ve got to be a people person! My role is a lot of brand management, talking, networking, researching.
If someone is interested in working at Alo Yoga or in Brand Marketing, what advice would you give them?
Just get your foot in the door! This brand is really great at highlighting and lifting up existing talent from within. I always tell people start in a store, start at an entry level position and just get to networking internally. We are growing and evolving so fast that it’s always a possibility to create a role for yourself that doesn’t even exist yet!
