by Yard Athletics – Sept 17th, 2019

Since the early days of Yard Athletics (who remembers the text message group??) there has always been a strong relationship between Ilan Cumberbirch and lululemon. What started as lululemon’s Robson employees coming to train at Yard, blossomed into an amazing ambassadorship program that has helped support local fitness talent to grow and prosper in the Vancouver community.

lululemon has also been a proud sponsor of our Yardwork events, the most recent of which was at Thunderbird Stadium this summer. Without them none of it would have been possible, so any chance we get to say thank you is one we take!

We wanted to learn a bit more about the lululemon brand, so we put together a few questions for Christina Adamson, Assistant Store Manager from the Robson flagship store in Vancouver. Take a read below!

For someone who doesn’t know, tell us a bit about the lululemon brand?

lululemon was founded in Vancouver in 1998 as a yoga inspired technical athletic company. From the start the goal has been to create more than just quality gear for your sweaty endeavors; it’s been about connection and community. It’s been about the people: the people who work here, the people who come here, the people in our communities.

How does lululemon’s ambassadorship program work?

One of the things that we love about our Ambassador Program is that each partnership evolves in its own unique way. We work with each ambassador to create and define what being an ambassador means to them. That’s because our ambassadors come from all walks of life. They’re runners, trainers, athletes, yogis, entrepreneurs, artists, and creatives who share our core values. Our ambassadors are not just in partnership with the lululemon brand, they are an extension of our brand. They represent lululemon in their community in a way that is authentic to them.

Ilan Cumberbirch and Yard Athletics have been lululemon ambassadors for several years; can you tell us more about how that relationship started?

I remember being brought to a basement gym on Granville Street a few years ago to checkout a workout with some big guy. The class was small, but Ilan’s energy was out of this world. Brand new to the type of workout we were about to go through I had no idea what to expect. I loved it and I kept going back and bringing more people. Soon a lot of the Robson team knew Ilan and were going to his gym regularly. We asked him to be our ambassador because we saw the community he was building and we wanted to be apart of it.

What does lululemon look for in a local ambassador? What are the responsibilities / goals / roles they play in the community?

Again, this looks different with each of our ambassadors. There’s no one specific type of person we’re looking for, there’s no checklist.

What’s new in the lululemon catalogue? Anything new and cool  in terms of clothing?

There’s always something new and cool, we get new product every week. We’re particularly excited about our outerwear right now. Come see us and we’ll make sure you get what you need.