Susan Nichols has turned her practice into a profession.

It started innocently enough in New York. Once an avid Ashtanga practitioner, who relished the discipline of her daily 4 a.m. yoga practice, Nichols was frustrated when sweating turned her yoga mat into a hazard rather than a grounding tool. And when she tried using a Mysore yoga rug eventually, she said, "It smelled like a wet dog." Not pretty.

So when she moved to Los Angeles, she used her skills as a former art director at a toy company to invent a "yoga towel" that would absorb perspiration and stay put. Enter the "skidless"—a micro-fiber mat with silicone nubs that launched Nichols company Yogitoes.

Today Nichols walks to her Santa Monica office with her super cute pup Goa and creates accessories that combine the best of form and function. Her minimalist aesthetic is calming and her color palette inspires—orange is a big favorite.

She’s also joined forces with some her favorite teachers (Lisa Walford, Annie Carpenter and Chuck Miller) to create user guides for innovative props like the eco-dot, a round block made from recycled foam, a sleek meditation cushion called the M-seat, and the POE mat, named after it's main ingredient polyolefin elastomer, which is latex, adhesive and PVC free.

This week, she launched her first line of yoga clothing. My favorite: the “skirt-cho” made mostly of recycled cotton—it's a poncho, a skirt and a great accessory for any wardrobe proving that inspiration is the mother of invention.