Yogi Peace Club X Salty Aura: Behind The Collaboration

We are so excited to share our latest collaboration with boho throw rug brand, Salty Aura.!!! Team YPC have been fans of Salty Aura and their gorgeous prints for a long time now. We collaborated with Salty Aura on an Instagram giveaway in early 2020 & have been wanting to work together ever since as we have very similar brand ethics and foundations with a focus on sustainability, creating quality products & giving back to the community. Salty Aura are known for their gorgeous prints on their throw rugs so we thought it was the perfect fit to collaborate!

Earlier this year we reached out to Jade with the idea to create a collaboration featuring a Yogi Peace Club print across one of our eco yoga mats, eco yoga strap & a Salty Aura rug. Jade loved the idea just as much as us & so this collaboration was born!

Together we have created a printed trio featuring a Salty Aura 100% recycled cotton throw rug, Yogi Peace Club eco printed yoga mat & Yogi Peace Club recycled printed yoga strap.

The Collaboration was shot on location on the Fleurieu Peninsula is near Adelaide, in South Australia. The area is known for its wine regions, notably McLaren Vale. The beautiful Beaches along the rugged coastline include Port Willunga were the perfect placed to photograph the yoga mat and boho rug.

To celebrate the launch of this collaboration we wanted to share a bit more behind the reason both of our brands decided to collaborate & what inspires us to create sustainable products.

Jade, Co-founder Salty Aura:

1. What are your favourite things about Yogi Peace Club.

We love how Yogi Peace Club have the same values as us. Both brands are very aligned when it comes to our style, eco friendly products, giving back to the planet, and the whole vibe of our brands. The brand is also run by such amazing genuine people, and we love working with like minded people. Their products are so amazing, and you know that you are supporting an incredible business when you shop with them.

2. Why did you choose to work with Yogi Peace Club?

We have loved Yogi Peace Club for years, especially their stunning yoga mats. I have had one for a while now, and I get so excited to do yoga/mat workouts just because of my mat. The artwork on the mats have a very similar vibe to our rug artwork, so we knew our businesses would work well together. I also knew our customers would love Yogi Peace Club because of this, and because of our similar values.

3. What do you love most about running your own business?

I love how creative it is, and there is always something fun to be doing or learning. It also allows us to collaborate and connect with amazing people and businesses, that we wouldn’t have been able to without Salty Aura. Being a small business also allows us to have a lot of freedom to do what we love, especially when it comes to travel and photography. We love sharing our travels with our audience, and inspiring them to get out and explore/road trip with their rugs. We are really creative so love designing new rugs, planning photo shoots, and curating videos and blog posts. The best thing though, is seeing people use their rugs all over Australia and overseas. We have seen a lot of people get married and engaged on our rugs which is so special!

4. What are the challenges you have faced running your own business?

We love working on the business so most of the time it doesn’t feel like work, because we enjoy it so much. This makes switching off and not overworking ourselves a big challenge. This goes in hand with knowing what areas we need to outsource and get more help with. This was a big factor this year, after seeing a lot of brands popping up that were very similar to ours, putting a big mental load on us to create new designs. There are also the challenges of keeping up with our ever changing technologies, marketing and social media platforms.

5. Why do you choose to focus on producing sustainable & recycled throw rugs?

Ever since we started Salty Aura, we knew we wanted to donate 10% of profits to charities that aligned with our personal beliefs. We have always had a huge love for the environment and oceans, so didn’t want to be creating a brand that would have a negative impact. We have donated to charities like Sea Shepherd, Take 3 for the sea, and now Opblue and Eden Projects. After learning about plastic pollution and materials, we couldn’t stand using polyester because its made up of plastic. We love using 100% recycled cotton, because we know that no new cotton is needed to be grown for our rugs, saving millions of litres of water and chemicals used in commercial cotton farms. We are also a 99% plastic free business, to reduce plastic pollution and ensuring no plastic bag ends up in the mouth of a sea creature.

Emma Barr, Founder Yogi Peace Club:

1. What are your favourite things about Salty Aura?

The Salty Aura brand is a beautiful aspirational brand that we have been following for years. We were so excited when we decided to collaborate with them. My favourite thing about brand is their rugs, that are not only are they beautiful but eco as well. Their rugs are made from recycled cotton. Jade the owner of salty aura is an inspiring business owner who is young and creative. We love following their Instagram and their adventures with their rugs. Also we love the fact that they plant 10 trees with every order and have a social awareness there donations to charities, which aligns with our values. We couldn’t think of a better partner to collaborate with.

2. Why did you choose to work with Salty Aura?

This is the first time we have worked together on a “product collaboration” with another like-minded Australian brand. We approached Salty Aura earlier this year as we had a vision to place our artwork on one of their rugs. We chose Salty Aura because their designs are bohemian and similar to the Yogi peace club aesthetics, and their sustainable ethics in running their operations. Salty Aura rugs are so stunning and look beautiful next to our yoga mats. They are the perfect piece to compliment your home yoga space or wonderful to addition to a van if you are travelling.

3. What do you love most about running your own business?

I love the flexibility of running my own company, but more so and I love working with an all female team. It is so inspiring and empowering working with women.

Our company culture at Yogi Peace club is based on the pillars of being a yogi at heart. We do everything with customer empathy and a focus on sustainability and quality products. As the founder it’s not what I think about the brand, it’s what the customers think. I want my customers to feel they are part of the Yogi Peace Club. That they are buying something that is made with love and passion. I love that I can play a part in a customer’s yoga journey on their mat by providing products they love using. I want YPC customers feel youthful, fun, fit and playful, when they purchase our products and if we can achieve that, I would have to say that’s what I love most about running my own business.

4. What are the challenges you have faced running your own business?

The biggest challenge for me is time. It’s a constant juggle, I am so lucky as my family is very supportive of me. I don’t stop until bedtime! Sometimes I feel frustrated as there are so many things we want to achieve as a brand but we simply don’t have the staff resources to get everything done. We hope to improve this as the business grows and we have more staff to ensure we are sharing more information to our customers.

There are days where it can feel overwhelming and scary however I will never give up. Its damn hard work and it never stops but for me Yogi Peace Club is not a job, it’s a passion and I love it. If you have a passion or a dream, follow your heart and take the journey, no matter how difficult the path may be, and have some fun along the way!

5. Why do you choose to focus on producing sustainable yoga wear & accessories?

My intention has always been to create yoga products to inspire the inner yogi in all of us and make the products as sustainable as possible. Our designs are tested on yoga teachers. We use premium and long lasting fabrications and materials and we do the best we can as socially conscious brand. However there is always room to do better and we will continue to strive forward in terms of sustainability and and ethical supply chain. We wouldn’t have it any other way! We love the salty aura brand, as they to continue this sustainable path with their and the aspirational products they produce.