Yoga San Fernando Valley

Julie Buckner - Chief Executive Officer

Julie Buckner is owner and chief executive officer of InYoga Center, a yoga studio and boutique in LA's San Fernando Valley. Uniting and bringing into alignment her entrepreneurial endeavors, dedication to service and commitment to personal and spiritual growth, Julie opened InYoga in April 2010. The Center is the product of Julie's experience in two distinct and seemingly divergent disciplines - politics and yoga. With both businesses blossoming, Julie is cultivating a symbiotic relationship between communications consulting and yoga practice - strategic savvy and steady mind.

While running InYoga, Julie also continues to work in politics and public affairs. Julie has 20 years experience in business management, strategic planning, corporate communications and marketing; her expertise is in California politics and policy. Along with partner Celia Fischer, Julie founded Laurel Canyon Media Group in 2008; Julie is LCMG's president. Julie and Celia have worked on campaigns at the national, state and local levels on behalf of myriad candidates and clients, including President Bill Clinton, California Senator Barbara Boxer, LA City Controller Wendy Greuel and former LA Unified School Board Member Marlene Canter, among many others. Julie is recognized as an accomplished strategist and spokesperson for corporations and executives, political campaigns and candidates, and public officials at the national, state and local levels. She has appeared on national TV, including the Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and numerous local TV and radio news & public affairs programs. Over the years, Julie has been a go-to source for print and online media; she's been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, People, Newsweek, Time, Los Angeles Times, Calbuzz, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee and the San Jose Mercury News.

Julie began her yoga journey in 1989 while living in New York as a college student; over the years, she has studied Iyengar, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Anusara and other forms of yoga in Washington DC, the San Francisco Bay area and throughout LA. In addition to her daily yoga practice, Julie enjoys cooking, gardening, traveling, rock climbing, interior design, and fashion (shoes, especially). An LA-native and original Valley Girl, she is a cum laude graduate of UC Berkeley, and has two sons, Sawyer and Mays. Her home, children's school, yoga studio and consulting firm are all within walking distance. She received her 200-hour RYT certification at Exhale Center for Sacred Movement with master teacher Annie Carpenter in SmartFLOW Yoga.

Kelly Simonsen - Chief Operating Officer

Kelly Simonsen is InYoga Center's chief operating officer and a co-owner. Kelly oversees all day-to-day business, financial, human resource, design and marketing operations for InYoga. With a background in strategic communications and project management, Kelly is uniquely suited to run InYoga. She is multi-talented, multi-tasking and dedicated to InYoga's growth and success.

Prior to joining InYoga, Kelly was an executive with GolinHarris, a national public relations firm. At GolinHarris, Kelly's work focused on the areas of healthcare, environmental and energy issues. Kelly and Julie have a strong working relationship and deep friendship. In 2006, Kelly helped Julie start-up and launch another business, Collabor8: Julie Buckner & Associates, a communications and public affairs consulting firm.

Kelly Simonsen was introduced to yoga 11 years ago by Julie, taking classes at studios around Los Angeles, and privates in Julie's home. Always curious and careful, it was not until Kelly began studying the non-physical side of yoga that she became a full-on devotee and student. Kelly completed YogaWorks' 200-hour Teacher Training at Center for Yoga in November, 2012 with senior teacher's Jeanne Heileman and Thomas Taubman. A lover exploration and inquiry, Kelly's classes are grounding and thoughtful.