Anne Mahlum Steps In to Pay Y7 Workers After Yoga Chain’s Collapse

The Solidcore founder has spent around $123,000 out of her own pocket to cover Y7 employees, who were left with weeks of unpaid wages after the yoga chain’s collapse

When Anne Mahlum says she wants fitness brands to give their employees a bigger financial seat at the table, she practices what she preaches. 

Mahlum, who sold Solidcore in 2023 for $98.4 million, paid out $5 million to her employees as part of that deal, citing their vital role in helping her build the company into one of the biggest names in boutique fitness.

Now, Mahlum is stepping up to help employees of a business she doesn’t even own.

Mahlum told Athletech News she’s covered wages for workers at now-defunct yoga chain Y7, after embattled owner Fitlab allegedly stopped paying.

The Solidcore founder said she advised Y7 employees — around 150 in total — to set up GoFundMe pages to claim wages they were owed. Over 90% of those workers have created a page, and Mahlum has paid each of them eight weeks’ worth of unpaid wages. 

Mahlum has spent around $123,000 out of her own pocket, she said.

Mahlum told ATN she did it not just because it’s the right thing to do — some Y7 employees claimed they fell behind on rent — but because she wants to inspire change in the way fitness brands treat their employees.

“This industry means a lot to me,” Mahlum said. “And I, more so than anybody else, know how the power of the (instructors and other workers) in the studios is what makes people come back.”

“I just get really sick and tired of people at the top looking out for themselves,” she added, expressing frustration with Fitlab’s handling of the situation.

Sarah Larson Levey, who co-founded Y7 but said she was stripped of operational control by Fitlab after the holding company acquired a majority stake in the yoga brand, shared that Mahlum reached out to her shortly after the studios closed to work out payment logistics.

“It is a kindness that goes above and beyond,” Larson Levey said of Mahlum’s gesture. 

Mahlum added that she believes the Y7 situation underscores a bigger issue in the fitness industry: that management teams don’t give their employees — specifically, instructors — adequate financial support. 

“This industry is built on these coaches and people in the studios working day and night,” Mahlum said, noting that many fitness instructors must work multiple jobs just to get by. 

Y7, which had 15 studios at its peak before the pandemic, officially closed down all of its studios last month. In a September Substack post, Larson Levey detailed her frustrations with Fitlab and operator VM Fitness, whom she alleged ran Y7 “into the ground” amid a string of poor management decisions.