Our Story

Our Products

Our apparel and yoga gear are created from the very foundation of our brand-for family! We aim to provide safe, efficient, fun, and inclusive products for all ages. Almost all of our products are locally sourced from our home, right here in New York City! Our vision is to provide families with a brand that connects them straight to their practice and lifestyle. Our collections feature designs and gear for ages 2 - 100! Yoga is for everyone and Llamaste is here to make your practice as accessible and fun as possible!

Our Team

Bill Ades, CEO, Teacher (RYT® 500)

Bill Ades, the founder of Llamaste, is a 500 Hour RYT, having received his teacher’s certification through The Kaivalya Yoga Method Teachers Training Program and the American Yoga Academy. In addition to that, he is an accomplished artist who has exhibited his work throughout New York City with a degree from New York University as well as a health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where he uses his innovative skills and creative approach to help people through all walks of life discover their callings and realize their goals.

As a dedicated entrepreneur, he realized there was a need for other yoga teachers and enthusiasts to be able to transport their mats and other gear with comfort and so, he created a product line designed for specifically for that purpose along with the mission to donate portion of his company's proceeds to charities that benefit children and their well-being.

He currently lives in Brooklyn and offers yoga sessions out of Llamaste Family Yoga Center, in which he gears his focus toward families and children alike! 

"Bill helped me overcome smoking and live a happier lifestyle, showing me that the key was inside me all along." 

-Thumbtack, Jack M. of Brooklyn

Topaz Aleah Davis, Creative Director (E-RYT® 200, YACEP®, 28hr Children's & Family Yoga, 25hr SUP Yoga, Reiki Master)

Topaz is a longtime Llamaste team member, having various titles throughout her time with the company including a teacher for the studio, an assistant to Bill, a co-management leader, and as of late-the Creative Director for product development and branding. With a background in a wide variety of industries including relative practices such as professional dance, yoga teaching, and energy work, she aims to creatively guide Llamaste to be the best it can be alongside Bill. Currently, she resides on O'ahu in Hawaii where she runs her own 'floating yoga studio' offering SUP Yoga classes for both kids and adults. Her role here at Llamaste may be from afar, but not without heart. Her goal is to see the brand flourish in all aspects from studio to apparel! 

Anna Lee, Studio Director, Teacher (E-RYT® 200, RPYT®, YACEP®)

Anna’s classes offer creative and comfortable movements, a way to embrace yourself and facilitate learning the unity of mind and body. Her approaches enable to live peaceful and balanced lives. 

Anna's yoga practice focuses on women’s health and brain longevity.  She received her certification from Yogi Hari’s Ashram-Sampoorna Yoga in Florida, Prenatal Yoga certification at Arhanta Yoga Ashrams, and studied Brain Longevity at Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation (ARPF). 

Prior to becoming a yoga teacher, she worked in marketing and public relations with multinational companies throughout Asia, America and Europe. She has also worked at tech startup companies in Silicon Valley.Outside of the studio, she works as a professional interpreter (Korean/English) in healthcare, education and advertising.

Illiana Dominguez, Teacher (RYT® 500, Reiki Healer (level 2), Children's and Family Yoga)

Illiana is a yoga teacher who has been on this spiritual path for over 10 years. She started her practice after studying many other sports such as swimming and gymnastics since she was little.

Along with her career in Real Estate she had the need to release the stress she was having in the physical and mental strain of her profession. She felt such a sign of pain on an emotional and physical level, that she knew it was time to do something for her mental and physical health, to regain some of that flexibility acquired in her childhood years.

Then she started practicing yoga in the community where she had once seen her mother practice "crazy" things like strange postures, fasting, meditations and dressing in white.

Later she learned that the practice of yoga went beyond that, to discover the importance of the connection that exists between body, mind and spirit.

She took her first Yoga Alliance teacher training in 2011 in Mexico City with teacher Sheri Cherokee focused on Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga and Tantra Yoga. A year later, she joined the training of O2 Yoga teachers with Stephany Weingers, where she was able to improve her teachings with a dynamic style based on the Ashtanga alignment technique, power yoga and restorative yoga. In 2012, she had the opportunity to go to India for a yoga retreat in Rishikesh, which gave her a new, broader perspective on the actual practice of yoga and energy healing. This inspired her learnings about Reiki when he returned home. She graduated from level 2 of Reiki Usui and is also Deeksha Giver. She also has a Yoga Nutritionist and Wellness Coach certification from the School of Plant-Based Nutrition with teacher Fred Bush in Miami.

During this years, she has taught in several studios and gyms in Mexico City, Puebla, Cancun, Miami, NY as well as private classes. This gives her the opportunity to apply her energy & knowledge to customize the sessions so her students can easily connect with their inner wisdom and apply yoga both on the mat and in their daily lives.She seeks to raise the consciousness of people through the practice of yoga, awareness and mindfulness. She seeks that people can achieve better quality of life, health and enlightenment so they can experience life with more enjoyment and fulfillment.

Chessa Bianconi, Teacher (RYT® 200, Children's and Family Yoga)

From a young age, Chessa has danced and loved all things movement. In college, struggling with mental health and seeking centering, she found yoga to be a missing piece in her movement practice.

Yoga fosters a deep layer of internal awareness that keeps Chessa showing up to the mat. She trained as a practitioner in Vinyasa-style yoga in Pittsburgh in 2017. She's completed continuing education with Core Power yoga, Buteyko breathwork training, and personally practices mindfulness and Somatic Experiencing. 

Chessa loves guiding folks of all ages and backgrounds in yoga. In kid's classes, she makes yoga fun and collaborative, filling class with with song and play. Kids and tweens leave excited to learn more, equipped with tools like breathing to carry off the mat. For adults, her flows promise a perfect mix of yin and yang, flow and rest. Students will move stagnant energy and loosen the grip of the mind, connecting to both inner strength and serenity.

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Caroline McCann, Teacher (RYT® 500),

Yoga initially came to Caroline McCann in 2008 as a complement to her other workouts. Establishing a consistent yoga practice eventually helped her to recover from the extended period of stress she experienced while working in a corporate sales role at Google NYC. Yoga and meditation taught McCann to observe her thoughts and actions mindfully which has helped her identify and change harmful habits. A year later McCann started to share her practice with others and over the years she incorporated many different movement modalities including strength training (yoga with weights and resistance bands), Functional Range Conditioning (FRC), and freeform Dance. Caroline's group classes include Yoga Sculpt which tones and strengthens the body, burns calories and builds strength (a great solution for pain). On the other end of the spectrum is Restorative Yoga where she instructs her students to use props and supportive surfaces, allowing the body to find quality rest in a stretch and engage the Rest and Digest nervous system response (parasympathetic). Somewhere in between those two is Power Yoga (Vinyasa Flow) which is a dancy, feel-good flow…moving with the breath. All of her classes are accompanied by a curated, uplifting soundtrack.

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Nicole Truzzi, Teacher (RYT® 200),

In 2018 Nicole earned her 200 hour Yoga Alliance certification, and proceeded to teach at Yoga to the People, Gibney, and at ISH Yoga in East Harlem, which was unfortunately forced to close due to covid. Though the pandemic had interrupted Truzzi's yoga instruction, she continued to remain active as a dance instructor, continuously harnessing her sensibilities as a mindful leader. Nicole's goal is to facilitate a healing energy each time she leads the yoga practice. Her classes gently hold space for the students, enabling them to feel free and accessible to any sequence. Nicole often leads vinyasa flows of various levels, while her greatest passion is guiding a restorative yoga class. Truzzi strongly believes that mobility and flexibility are attainable by means of soft approach; an allowance of being in its simplest form, above pressure and ego.

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Gabriela Guevara, Teacher (RYT® 200),

Gabriela Guevara found her passion for Yoga seven years ago while attending an intensive dance training program at Broadway Dance Center. Her intentions were to work on her flexibility and relaxing her muscles from hours of strenuous practices, but what she gained was so much more. Yoga had become a catalyst for expanding her spiritual practice, an outlet to release any emotional tensions or stresses of daily life. As her practice in Yoga deepened so did her spiritual journey in life. It helped to give her a deeper understanding of who she is and which path was meant for her in this lifetime. As a teacher, Gabriela hopes to continue to deepen her practice by leading others in theirs, not only by connecting the mind to the body but by connecting the body to the soul. 

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Halley Gerstel, Teacher (RYT® 200, Children's and Family Yoga)

Halley Gerstel was born and raised in Brooklyn. She began her yoga journey in 2001 immediately after the attacks at the World Trade Center. Dealing with her own depression, fear and anxiety during this time, she dove head-first into working and practicing at the Park Slope Yoga Center. She fell in love with both the amazing teachers she had and the bright yoga light that began to shine in her life. Her passion as both a teacher and student is to help others discover and see the light that shines in all of us. 

Halley (also known as Halogyn in the NYC dance scene, a name given to her by the graffiti artist Meres One) received her 200 hour yoga teacher training as a scholarship student at Yoga Works NYC and her 30 hour children’s yoga training from Karma Kids Yoga. She is also a certified Simonson Technique Dance Teacher. Currently Halley teaches movement and dance to students in a NYC DOE Pre-K for All program. She is grateful to have been an Arnhold Scholar receiving her Masters in Dance Education from Hunter College and a BFA in Dance and Education from Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus. Halley has formally performed and danced for Larry Keigwin Co., Doug Elkins and Dancers, Jody Sperling Time Lapse as well as with her mentor and teacher b-girl Rokafella and the Full Circle Crew. Halley is very excited to work with the youth and families at the Llamaste community!

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Opal Rose, Teacher (RYT® 200, Children's and Family Yoga)

Opal Rose is a NYC based yoga instructor and music performance artist with over 7 years of teaching experience.  

She believes in the connection between the flow of music and yoga movement, which heavily influences her personal and teaching practice.  She can’t wait to explore yoga movement with Llamaste yogis!

Her intention is to you guide you by honoring your body's boundaries, navigating your emotions through deep breathing, & showing up as the best version of yourself no matter what level practitioner you are.

Opal received her second 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Certification by YogaWorks in June 2019.  Her teaching is also influenced by a 200 Hour Hatha Yoga Teacher Training by Aura Wellness Center and a 20 Hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Training by Yokid Organization.   

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Agnes Obratanska, Teacher (RYT® 200)

I teach and practice Vinyasa Flow style/Katonah yoga. I have an artistic background that influences my classes, they are creative, fun and challenging. I try to treat all students as unique in order to meet their individual needs, and to help them find their own purpose, transform the body, mind and lifestyle in active, mindful movement.

I received a 200-hour certification through Three Sisters Yoga and did a 300-hour teacher training through YogaMaya Studio. In addition to my Vinyasa training, I completed Prenatal Yoga training at Om Yoga Center in New York with Rebecca Lynn Conant, Intensive Teacher Training with Maty Ezraty in Berlin, and Restorative Yoga at YogaMaya in New York.

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Alexis Rowan, Teacher (RYT® 500, Reiki Healer, Children's and Family Yoga)

Alexis is a certified Hatha and Vinyasa Flow Yoga instructor, Personal Trainer, Reiki Healer and Counselor, whose methodology for fitness includes a combination of therapy, HIIT, yoga, and mindful movement. She believes that the path to a healthy body emerges through proper self care and love, which happens by first recognizing the link between the brain and the body, as it is crucial to treat both with the utmost care and love. Rowan pairs all of workouts and practices with therapeutic mindful-ness techniques in which she demonstrates the dynamic qualities of how the brain works, especially when paired with physical activity. Rowan's intuitive techniques target the mind’s ability to change neurological pathways (neuroplasticity), essentially rewiring your mindset into a healthier way of living.

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Jenna Roth, Teacher (RYT® 200)

Jenna is a 200 Hour RYT. She recently spent two months in Bali to advance her yoga practice and teaching method, diving deep within in order to provide the best for her students. Jenna's mission as a teacher is to serve as a guide, inspiration, and resource. She motivate students to discover their full potentials by encouraging exploration of their personal journeys throughout communal or individual practice. She aims to create a safe environment which fosters students to find freedom, opportunity, choice, connection, and balance in each suggested movement. Jenna is dedicated to delivering well-planned, creative, and challenging, yet nurturing, sequences. She lives and teaches yoga as a life path and holistic journey; one which guides students to live a peaceful, happy, and fulfilled life. Jenna aspires to help her students evolve and grow on and off the mat by providing meditation for the mind, movement for the body, and love for the heart.

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Grayson Mills, Teacher (RYT® 200)

I moved to New York to pursue a career in Musical Theater, and that is still a huge part of me. But for my first few years, I got very caught up in the hustle and bustle of New York itself and the auditioning life. I spent a lot of my time worrying about making rent and what I looked like, what people thought of me, getting a gig etc. Last year, my partner of 4 years was diagnosed with cancer and everything changed. I became so aware of how unhappy I was day to day and how life is too short to be living that way. I thought about what I really loved in my life and one of the biggest things in my mind was my regular yoga practice. While he was going through the treatments, I would go to yoga every morning before accompanying him, and I realized that how grateful I was for my practice and how I wanted to help other people on their yoga journey.

I went to Bali for an intensive completion of my 200 hr certification and returned to CT for his recovery and was able to begin teaching in the very place that inspired me to teach. Once my partner was better we returned to NYC where I got a job at Tangerine Yoga and received my children’s certification at Kidding Around Yoga. I teach an Ashtanga based Vinyasa flow focused on using each and every breath to deepen into the alignment of the pose. I have an interest in creative sequencing while still maintaining a steady and accessible flow with enough challenges to keep any level of personal practice engaged and focused.

For Children’s Yoga Classes I use a series of tools like songs, games, and partner activities that incorporate yoga poses and yoga philosophy while having a lot of FUN. Every class also has 5 minutes of meditation and a lesson on why and how we meditate, and 5 minutes of deep relaxation or savasana at the end of class. My goal is that they have a positive experience with yoga and eventually learn how to calm their minds and bodies on their own with the skills they develop in the classroom.