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Speaker 1: When you're feeling anxious, and of course you can do

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Speaker 1: meditations and focus on your breathing, but wherever you are,

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Speaker 1: in whatever space you are, you just rely on your

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Speaker 1: senses and you name a couple things that you can see,

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Speaker 1: a couple things that you can hear, a couple things

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Speaker 1: that you can smell, a couple things that you could

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Speaker 1: potentially taste, and by doing that, you rid yourself of

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Speaker 1: the anxieties and the depressions of the past and can

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Speaker 1: really focus on the present.

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Speaker 2: Hey, everyone, Emily Abadi here, Welcome to rewind on Hurdle

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Speaker 2: five days of episodes from the Hurdle Vault. I cannot

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Speaker 2: even tell you how often I get requests for interviews

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Speaker 2: with some of the amazing, amazing people that I have

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Speaker 2: already had the privilege of sitting down with, and sometimes

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Speaker 2: I'm able to do a round two around three. But

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Speaker 2: that is what this week is all about. It's me

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Speaker 2: bringing you some of my favorite conversations back to the

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Speaker 2: top of the feed from the last five years.

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Speaker 1: Now.

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Speaker 2: I'll be honest, it's easy for me to forget that

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Speaker 2: there are new people joining the hurdle community every single week,

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Speaker 2: which means that there is a lot of content to

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Speaker 2: catch up on, helping everyone on their journey to live happier, healthier,

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Speaker 2: more motivated lives. For today's episode, I am kicking things

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Speaker 2: off in the series with Peloton instructor favorite of many,

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Speaker 2: Jess Sims. This conversation originally aired in July of twenty twenty.

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Speaker 2: So much has happened for just since then, and I

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Speaker 2: am so happy to cheer her on in her journey.

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Speaker 2: Make sure you're following along with Hurdle over on social

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Speaker 2: It's at Hurdle Podcast. I am over at Emily a

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Speaker 2: body And with that, let's rewind. Let's get to hurdling today.

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Speaker 2: I am sitting down with Jess Sims. She's a Peloton instructor.

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Speaker 2: I feel like there are so many more awesome things

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Speaker 2: I can say about you.

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Speaker 1: You are so sweet, Hi, I am. It's so good

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Speaker 1: to catch up with you.

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Speaker 2: I know, I feel as though some background, Jess and

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Speaker 2: I are gal pals. Let's start off with how's it

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Speaker 2: going over there? It's like we're in two different places

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Speaker 2: but the same place. When you're in Manhattan, but like

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Speaker 2: forty five blocks from one another.

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Speaker 3: Yes, I mean that's kind of the question of the year,

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Speaker 3: is how are you, it's kind of, I mean, I'm

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Speaker 3: good one minute, I'm sad, the next, I'm hopeful, the

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Speaker 3: next I'm sweaty, the next it's it's, you know, every

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Speaker 3: kind of emotion you feel in one day, it's kind

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Speaker 3: of it's a special experience.

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Speaker 1: How are you?

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Speaker 2: You know what? I'm good? I think that lately for me,

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Speaker 2: and I won't make this about me, but I think

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Speaker 2: the thing that I've been dealing with lately is accepting

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Speaker 2: that certain days aren't going to be as productive as

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Speaker 2: maybe I once was, and understanding that that that doesn't

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Speaker 2: mean that I'm not a productive person anymore, that just

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Speaker 2: might be how like that certain particular day is, and

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Speaker 2: separating the distinction between I'm not productive and I'm not

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Speaker 2: feeling productive, if that makes sense.

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Speaker 1: That makes so much sense. And honestly, the first month

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Speaker 1: that we were in quarantine, once you know, the not

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Speaker 1: the I guess like the the novelty of it, once

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Speaker 1: that started to wear off, I had that exact same

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Speaker 1: feeling and thought process where I kept on saying to myself,

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Speaker 1: like Jess, you used to get up at six am

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Speaker 1: every day and you had to work out in and

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Speaker 1: finish your programming by noon. And now you're just kind

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Speaker 1: of walking your dog at ten or eleven o'clock in

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Speaker 1: the morning and haven't even eaten breakfast yet, and so

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Speaker 1: I feel like I've had to I think I've read

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Speaker 1: some I probably on Instagram or something where someone said

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Speaker 1: stop trying to be normal during abnormal times, and so

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Speaker 1: I think that is exactly what you're kind of talking

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Speaker 1: about right now, is allowing yourself to do things that

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Speaker 1: you never have done before because it's different times.

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Speaker 2: And it's interesting because you, like me, have been writing

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Speaker 2: this out solo, with the exception of Sienna your jog,

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Speaker 2: but you are so so engaged with the Peloton community

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Speaker 2: on the regular. So I mean, talk to me a

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Speaker 2: little bit about that. To kick us off, talk to

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Speaker 2: me about what it's been like. You know, you have

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Speaker 2: almost one hundred thousand people following you on social media,

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Speaker 2: but aside from that, I mean, you have the hundreds

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Speaker 2: of thousands and thousands of Peloton members that are looking

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Speaker 2: to you every single day. So how has that dichotomy

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Speaker 2: been being technically alone but showing up and being surrounded

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Speaker 2: by so many.

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Speaker 1: That's such a great question, and honestly, it's it's been.

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Speaker 1: I've always known that Peloton is amazing and we're doing

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Speaker 1: really groundbreaking, incredible things because just side note is we're global.

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Speaker 1: We're in Canada, we're in Germany, and we're in the UK,

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Speaker 1: and we have a global pandemic. And for the first

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Speaker 1: time ever, or at least for as long as I've

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Speaker 1: been alive, we can all say the world that we're

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Speaker 1: going through quote unquote the same thing. Obviously varying degrees

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Speaker 1: and experiences, but we're all experiencing this pandemic. And so

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Speaker 1: Peloton allows us to connect to our members. These are members.

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Speaker 1: They're not one time drop in folks you know that

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Speaker 1: come into classes. They're members. They've committed to this. They've

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Speaker 1: committed to us, and we as instructors have committed to them.

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Speaker 1: And so that's been really amazing and helping me not

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Speaker 1: feel like I'm alone because I'm literally not. And then

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Speaker 1: to add a whole other layer to it, once we

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Speaker 1: closed down Peloton Studios New York, we started teaching live

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Speaker 1: from home and that has been the coolest experience because

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Speaker 1: I'm always in people's homes. I'm always in their homes.

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Speaker 1: You know, folks have Pelton bikes and treads and everything,

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Speaker 1: and that's in their kitchens and their living rooms and

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Speaker 1: their bedrooms and their basements and their home gyms outside

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Speaker 1: when they go for you know, outdoor runs and walks

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Speaker 1: and things. But now I'm inviting the Pelton community into

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Speaker 1: my home. So there's been this level of intimacy that

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Speaker 1: I have personally never felt, and I know because our

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Speaker 1: members have been absolutely loving the classes live from home,

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Speaker 1: this level of intimacy that has never been felt before

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Speaker 1: and has been so special and so necessary for me,

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Speaker 1: as you mentioned, as someone living by myself.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's really interesting, especially because I've been

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Speaker 2: revisiting this idea lately of like transparency and vulnerability, and

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Speaker 2: it's like before you had the opportunity to be like

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Speaker 2: transparent with your audience, for sure, but you almost got

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Speaker 2: to decide when you wanted to get vulnerable. And now

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Speaker 2: that you're in your home and you're letting them into

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Speaker 2: your space and like you can't stop Sienna from running

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Speaker 2: into the frame, and they you're going to see like

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Speaker 2: how you deal from that and maybe like a little

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Speaker 2: bit more of who you really really are when you're like,

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Speaker 2: all right, well this is how it is now.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I mean that's exactly it. I mean, Sienna was

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Speaker 1: the star of the show. I just I just finished

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Speaker 1: my last live from home last week, and I can't

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Speaker 1: even begin to tell you the number of dms that

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Speaker 1: I have gotten because I brought her on the camera

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Speaker 1: the last class and you know, she did her whole

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Speaker 1: sign out and things like that. The number of people

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Speaker 1: that's one said, oh my gosh, I'm so sad, I'm devastated.

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Speaker 1: The word devastated was you several times that Sienna will

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Speaker 1: no longer be in classes. And then some things just

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Speaker 1: made me laugh hysterically, like someone said, oh my gosh,

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Speaker 1: Siena was my number one motivation. I'm going to miss

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Speaker 1: her so much, and I'm my girl, I'm the one

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Speaker 1: doing the burpies with you. Sienna's sleeping on the couch

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Speaker 1: next to the mat, Like, don't get it twisted. I'm

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Speaker 1: your motivator, not Sienna, but no, you're You're so right.

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Speaker 1: It's funny. When I first started, I was so nervous

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Speaker 1: because Sienna she's very vocal and so and it's unpredictable

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Speaker 1: when she's vocal, like she's like me as a sassy

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Speaker 1: thirteen year old, where one minute she's fine and the

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Speaker 1: other minute She's like, girl, give me attention. And so

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Speaker 1: I said to the team, I said, y'all, like she

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Speaker 1: might come in and they're like, well, it's why from home,

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Speaker 1: it's relatable, it's real. Lots of our members have dogs.

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Speaker 1: And so she comes on, she comes on and without

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Speaker 1: it was the most incredible she did. I think the

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Speaker 1: first two classes she only came on right on Q

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Speaker 1: as the stretch started.

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Speaker 4: What a nugget, right and like people were like, oh

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Speaker 4: my gosh, we thought that someone was in the apartment

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Speaker 4: with her and like, let her go on set, you

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Speaker 4: know when you were done, and I was like, no,

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Speaker 4: she knew her role.

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Speaker 1: It was her cue. Okay, down dog, boom, the dog

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Speaker 1: comes on set.

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Speaker 2: The dog is there. I love it. I love how

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Speaker 2: life is just like has this funny way of playing

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Speaker 2: out lately. And obviously, I mean, you didn't just start

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Speaker 2: teaching live Peloton from home overnight. So let's stile it back,

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Speaker 2: let's bring it back. I know that you grew up

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Speaker 2: right outside of Boston, north of Boston and Peabody, so

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Speaker 2: talk to me about what your upbringing was like.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so I am the middle child of three. I

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Speaker 1: have an older brother who's about twenty months older. And

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Speaker 1: then I have a younger sister who is about six

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Speaker 1: years younger. And I was a busy body, a shocker,

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Speaker 1: I say that, and people are like, yeah, and so

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Speaker 1: we could figure that out. I played every sport I played,

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Speaker 1: from I did figure skating to tennis to I did dance.

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Speaker 1: I did tap, jazz in ballet, I did softball, and

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Speaker 1: I got really serious about soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, which

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Speaker 1: is what I pursued in high school. And I definitely

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Speaker 1: got the athletic side from my father. My dad is

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Speaker 1: or was a college basketball player as well, and he

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Speaker 1: still holds records at the high school that I went to.

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Speaker 1: He was just incredible, just the work course of the team,

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Speaker 1: the leader of the team, and he's the youngest of

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Speaker 1: six and so yeah, I just I was constantly being

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Speaker 1: shuttled from one practice to the other games, the next

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Speaker 1: practice in the next game, and I was super involved.

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Speaker 1: I loved learning, which of course we'll get into my

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Speaker 1: first career, and so I was involved in student council

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Speaker 1: and mentorship programs and leadership programs and things like that.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, it was it was a very busy but

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Speaker 1: really fulfilling child.

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Speaker 2: I always think about that, like when you start off

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Speaker 2: busy and then you get to your adulthood and you

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Speaker 2: like keep that. Some people are like, oh man, I

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Speaker 2: was so used to being shuttled around to so many

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Speaker 2: different sports. And then they get older and they're like,

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Speaker 2: I am good. And then other people and I think

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Speaker 2: you and I are definitely part of this team, are like,

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Speaker 2: all right, how can I keep doing as many things

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Speaker 2: as possible and keep being busy and feel like there's

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Speaker 2: just no time for rest.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's so funny you say that, because when I

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Speaker 1: was it was when I was an operations director at

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Speaker 1: a school here in Harlem. The social worker at my

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Speaker 1: school is incredible. I absolutely love him and I will

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Speaker 1: never forget this very calm, the opposite of me, very

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Speaker 1: very centered. And he's had gotten to this conversation with

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Speaker 1: him and I said, I'm such a busybody, even in

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Speaker 1: my adult life. And he said, well, Jess, like you

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Speaker 1: have a really high threshold for a stimuli and that's

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Speaker 1: a beautiful thing. You do have to be careful. You

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Speaker 1: know that you don't run yourself to the ground, and

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Speaker 1: you need to take break and you need to reflect,

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Speaker 1: and you need to make sure that you're not trying

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Speaker 1: to escape everything in your life, and that you're taking

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Speaker 1: time to deal with things that need to be dealt with,

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Speaker 1: but accept the fact that you thrive under pressure and

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Speaker 1: under healthy stress. And when he said that to me,

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Speaker 1: I was like, Wow, that makes so much sense.

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Speaker 2: I'm sure you probably get this question a lot. What

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Speaker 2: do you think helps you stay productive when you do

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Speaker 2: start to feel overwhelmed?

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Speaker 1: Movement is medicine for me. And so right now, it's

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Speaker 1: beautiful because at Peloton, you know, I teach classes, but

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Speaker 1: then there's a lot of behind the scenes work that

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Speaker 1: a lot of people don't see. There's the programming of

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Speaker 1: the classes. There's the playlisting, there's the meetings to talk

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Speaker 1: about upcoming content, to review previous content. There's photo shoots,

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Speaker 1: there's so many different there's my own workouts, there's physical therapy.

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Speaker 1: There's so many elements to my role. And I do

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Speaker 1: realize though that when I'm feeling really anxious and if

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Speaker 1: I'm feeling you know, stressed, some sort of movement and

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Speaker 1: or meditation really helps me. I've gotten into meditation quite

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Speaker 1: a bit, honestly, probably since right after college, I would say,

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Speaker 1: and that's a saving grace for me for sure, because

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Speaker 1: it helps me As an anxious person. I worry a

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Speaker 1: lot about the future, and then I also dwell on

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Speaker 1: the past of some things, like it's hard for me

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Speaker 1: to let some things go because I am also such

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Speaker 1: a perfectionist, so, you know, just a concoction of all

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Speaker 1: the messy things in life. And so when I am

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Speaker 1: finding myself stuck on something in the past or worrying

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Speaker 1: about something in the future, I have to find my

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Speaker 1: ground and I forget where I learned this. But when

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Speaker 1: you're feeling anxious, and of course you can do meditations

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Speaker 1: and focus on your breathing, but wherever you are, in

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Speaker 1: whatever space you are, you just rely on your senses

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Speaker 1: and you name a couple things that you can see,

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Speaker 1: a couple things that you can hear, a couple things

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Speaker 1: that you can smell, a couple things that you could

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Speaker 1: potentially taste, and by doing that, you rid yourself of

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Speaker 1: the anxieties and the depressions of the past and can

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Speaker 1: really focus on the present.

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Speaker 2: Talk to me about what your meditation practice looks like

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Speaker 2: now and if it looks different now than it used

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Speaker 2: to look, because I think that's also something that a

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Speaker 2: lot of people struggle with It's like I can't find

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Speaker 2: one that feels right to me. I'm not sure how

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Speaker 2: to do this, it feels like I'm not doing it right,

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Speaker 2: et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

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Speaker 1: That's so it's really transformed quite a bit. When I

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Speaker 1: first got I was really stressed right when I so.

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Speaker 1: I graduated college in twenty ten, and two weeks after,

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Speaker 1: I moved down to Houston, Texas, not knowing a single

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Speaker 1: person down there. And it was a whirlwind and an experience,

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Speaker 1: one of the best experiences of my entire life. But nonetheless,

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Speaker 1: it was a whirlwind. And I went from playing college

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Speaker 1: basketball and doing two three days and you know, training

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Speaker 1: year round, to becoming a teacher. And I wanted to

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Speaker 1: be a really damn good teacher, so I put my

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Speaker 1: heart and soul on it, and you know, we pulled

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Speaker 1: all nighters. We you know, went to workshops, and we

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Speaker 1: taught kids summer school that first summer. And I will

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Speaker 1: never forget. I graduated in May, and I think from

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Speaker 1: May to Christmas, I think I worked out twice, maybe

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Speaker 1: three times, and I lost myself. I don't care about

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Speaker 1: weight gain, because that's never why I've ever worked out

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Speaker 1: or ever will work out. But I wasn't myself, and

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Speaker 1: I'll never forget When I called my mom one of

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Speaker 1: these days when I was teaching and I was super

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Speaker 1: stressed and I was beside myself, she said two things

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Speaker 1: to me. She said, one, read the book that Caroline,

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Speaker 1: my sister in law, my brother's wife, got you, which

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Speaker 1: is the meditation book Wherever you go, there you Are.

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Speaker 1: She bought me that book, I think for graduation actually,

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Speaker 1: so wherever you go, there you are, meditate, read a chapter.

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Speaker 1: And the beautiful thing about that book is like at

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Speaker 1: the end of the chapter it says like try it

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Speaker 1: out or something. So there's actual actionable items to do,

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Speaker 1: and some are meditation based and some are just like

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Speaker 1: thought based where you don't actually have to because I

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Speaker 1: think that the word meditation is scary to a lot

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Speaker 1: of people. And then the other thing that my mom

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Speaker 1: said was have you worked out? And usually the answer

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Speaker 1: was no, but it eventually became yes. So back then

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Speaker 1: it was reading a chapter in this book. I didn't

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Speaker 1: even fully really meditate back then, but it was this

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Speaker 1: book that kind of grounded me and had me focus

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Speaker 1: on one my breath and to the present and then

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Speaker 1: after that it kind of evolved. I downloaded a few

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Speaker 1: different apps, and I would meditate kind of as needed.

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Speaker 1: But now with the Pelton app, we have meditations. I

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Speaker 1: absolutely love our instructors, and I meditate every night for sure.

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Speaker 1: And then I'm still working on trying to figure out

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Speaker 1: another proactive meditation because I find that when I reactively meditate,

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Speaker 1: when I'm already like in a state of I'm anxious,

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Speaker 1: I'm nervous, I'm this, I'm that, I really struggle to meditate.

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Speaker 1: So the proactive meditation of you know this pause every

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Speaker 1: day at noon, every day at two, every day at six,

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Speaker 1: that is something that I feel like works for me.

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Speaker 2: I remember I went on a date with someone once

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Speaker 2: that told me that he set alarms every two hours

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Speaker 2: to do like a mental check in with himself. I

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Speaker 2: don't know if, I don't know if i'd be successful

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Speaker 2: with this.

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Speaker 1: So that's really interesting. I don't think that would work

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Speaker 1: for me either, just because similarly, I'm awful at drinking water,

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Speaker 1: and so I used to put alarms in my phone

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Speaker 1: every two or three hours that said like, have you

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Speaker 1: had any water yet today? And at first it worked

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Speaker 1: for me for like less than a week, and then

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Speaker 1: after that, I'm like, oh, just snooze that shit, Like,

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Speaker 1: come on, all right next now, Yeah, I'll do it.

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Speaker 1: I'll do it in ten minutes. So I don't think

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Speaker 1: that would actually work for me either. Honestly, you mentioned

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Speaker 1: moving down to Texas. Talk to me about what that

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Speaker 1: transition was like for you and what you were going

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Speaker 1: down there to do. I, as I mentioned, I played

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Speaker 1: college basketball, which is a winter sport, so you kind

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Speaker 1: of really don't have an off season. Your training in

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Speaker 1: the fall and then the spring is it kind of

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Speaker 1: goes into the spring and then it's off season again.

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Speaker 1: And so I did that, and I double majored in

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Speaker 1: psychology and Hispanic studies. And I'll never forget. I walk

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Speaker 1: into the gym one day, and you know how at

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Speaker 1: colleges they have those bulletin boards that just have a

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Speaker 1: bunch of flyers. This flyer said Teach for America, and

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Speaker 1: it had like a few statistics about the opportunity gap

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Speaker 1: of kids that grow up in low income areas compared

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Speaker 1: to kids that grow up in more affluent areas, and

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Speaker 1: I just really piqued my interest. I'm half black, half white.

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Speaker 1: My dad is black, and my mom is full Italian

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Speaker 1: and I was starting to come into my blackness around

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Speaker 1: that time as well, and I feel like there's no

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Speaker 1: sugarcoating it. I was raised color blind. That was as

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Speaker 1: an athlete, and by playing basketball competitively, I was finally

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Speaker 1: around people that looked like me and more diversity, more

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Speaker 1: people of color, and I loved that and I felt

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Speaker 1: at home with those people more so than I've ever

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Speaker 1: felt before in my life. And I could not, for

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Speaker 1: the life of me. If you asked me back then

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Speaker 1: why I wanted to teach for America, I really couldn't

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Speaker 1: have given you an actual answer because I didn't study education.

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Speaker 1: I had an idea that potentially I could teach, but

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Speaker 1: I never pursued in any way, shape or form. But

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Speaker 1: I saw that flyer. I did some research and I

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Speaker 1: was like, oh, I'm doing this. And so this was

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Speaker 1: back in twenty ten. Our two thousand and nine is

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Speaker 1: actually when I applied. I applied in one of the

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Speaker 1: first early deadlines, and I did a mock lesson. I

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Speaker 1: had a bunch of interviews. The whole interview process was

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Speaker 1: very rigorous, and I'll never forget I got an email

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Speaker 1: and then a call saying, oh my gosh, congratulations, you

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Speaker 1: got it. It's in Houston, Texas. And so I called

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Speaker 1: my mom and my mom was like, oh my gosh,

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Speaker 1: this is so great. Congrats, but you're not going to

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Speaker 1: go to Texas, right, Like that's yeah, you can't, Like

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Speaker 1: you don't know anyone down there. You wouldn't do that.

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Speaker 1: It's a bummer you didn't get one of your preferred locations.

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Speaker 1: And I was like, nope, I'm going and she was

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Speaker 1: like wait what And so yeah, I graduated and within

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Speaker 1: two weeks, I packed up my entire dorm room, moved

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Speaker 1: back to Peauty, packed up a bunch of bags, flew

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Speaker 1: my mom flew down with me to Houston, helped me

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Speaker 1: get settled. And I actually lived at Rice University because

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Speaker 1: with Teach for America, they put you through, for the

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Speaker 1: lack of a better term, like a teacher boot camp

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Speaker 1: where for a couple months you are all on one

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Speaker 1: campus and you're essentially kind of getting an undergraduate degree

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Speaker 1: in a few months. And so it's a lot of work,

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Speaker 1: and you're also doing summer school. So I taught a

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Speaker 1: remedial seventh grade summer school math and while also becoming

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Speaker 1: a teacher in learning behavior management, studying diversity because I

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Speaker 1: loved Teach for America for this, but there was a

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Speaker 1: huge emphasis on understanding diversity and doing a lot of

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Speaker 1: self exploration in order to be able to go into

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Speaker 1: these communities and serve in a way that was appropriate.

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Speaker 2: Honestly, did you feel a little bit overwhelmed at this point?

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Speaker 2: Because I feel like, to be a woman that is

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Speaker 2: half black and you're like coming into your own You're

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Speaker 2: like trying to figure out the right way to like

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Speaker 2: speak to young teens about their race and their diversity,

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Speaker 2: Like it just seems like it would be a lot

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Speaker 2: to take on.

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Speaker 1: Oh. Absolutely, And I was actually placed in elementary, so

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Speaker 1: at least I was with younger kids. But for that

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Speaker 1: summer school, I was with seventh graders, and some of

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Speaker 1: my peers that Teach for America were with high schoolers,

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Speaker 1: so twenty two twenty three, they were, you know, working

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Speaker 1: with kids that are eighteen, nineteen years old. So yes,

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Speaker 1: it was definitely, I don't know if overwhelming was the

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Speaker 1: right word. It was challenging, but it was so eye opening,

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Speaker 1: Like I will never forget that summer. I was sitting

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Speaker 1: down at a table with it was all boys, and

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Speaker 1: we were having these conversations, and there was there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of diversity at the table. And someone asked me,

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Speaker 1: They said, what are you? Because I get that question

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Speaker 1: all the time, and I explained it. I said, my

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Speaker 1: dad is black and he has he's a little Portuguese

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Speaker 1: as well, but he's black and my mom is full Italian.

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Speaker 1: And I will never forget this little boy just he

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Speaker 1: was in the middle of eating, he like put his

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Speaker 1: food down and he looked at me and he said,

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Speaker 1: but how did the black person meet the white person?

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Speaker 1: This is in twenty ten, And I was like, wow,

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Speaker 1: that was such a profound and life changing moment and

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Speaker 1: question for me. My response was at a bar, like

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Speaker 1: that's literally where they met. But I was like, wow,

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Speaker 1: there's still so much separation and so much lack of

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Speaker 1: diversity within communities that that's actually a really good question.

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Speaker 1: And if I had spent a whole life in Peaberty

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Speaker 1: and in Connecticut where I went to school, I might

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Speaker 1: never have known that that's other people's experiences.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, of course, so many of

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Speaker 2: us are like finding our own ways to do the

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Speaker 2: work right now. But some of the conversations that I've

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Speaker 2: been having with my friends. I mean, I grew up

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Speaker 2: in a town that's eighty percent white. I went to

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Speaker 2: the University of Connecticut sixty percent white. Like, I definitely

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Speaker 2: have been exposed to and interacted and have friends and

431
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,960
Speaker 2: all the things with with individuals of all races. But

432
00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:06,160
Speaker 2: I certainly come from a fair amount of privilege. And

433
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,880
Speaker 2: to like that young child's question, like, it's so interesting

434
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,000
Speaker 2: because some people that I grew up with, like the

435
00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:17,840
Speaker 2: conversations that I'm having lately are did we have any

436
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,200
Speaker 2: black teachers when we were growing up? And the answer

437
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,840
Speaker 2: to that is, actually no, I had not one single

438
00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,640
Speaker 2: black educator until I got to Yukon. I didn't have

439
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,639
Speaker 2: I had Hispanic teachers, but I had no black teachers

440
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,280
Speaker 2: at Trumble High School. None. None. And that's crazy because

441
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,040
Speaker 2: I never took a step back. I had black classmates,

442
00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:42,200
Speaker 2: like I had dated black men, Like it's been something

443
00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:44,439
Speaker 2: that like I have integrated into my life, but like,

444
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:48,080
Speaker 2: because of the system, I had very little interaction.

445
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:50,360
Speaker 1: Wow, that's incredible that you've been able to like sit

446
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,840
Speaker 1: back and reflect on that. And I mean, I grew

447
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:55,000
Speaker 1: up and I don't know the numbers of Peabody body

448
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:59,359
Speaker 1: was definitely predominantly white, and I had one black teacher

449
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,560
Speaker 1: and the sub teacher and he was the father of

450
00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,760
Speaker 1: the only black other black family in peoting m.

451
00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:08,680
Speaker 2: That's so interesting and it's so interesting also what you

452
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,639
Speaker 2: said before about like being raised not thinking about color.

453
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's I mean, especially right now, it's really

454
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,359
Speaker 1: great because I'm able to have these these difficult conversations

455
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:22,479
Speaker 1: with my family. And it's important for me to like

456
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,639
Speaker 1: state this is that when we have these conversations, we

457
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:27,840
Speaker 1: end up taking things a lot a lot of times

458
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 1: personally right, because it's this is hard stuff, this is life, identity,

459
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,600
Speaker 1: family stuff, and we have to question things that we

460
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,120
Speaker 1: have gone along with for so long. And so having

461
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,760
Speaker 1: these difficult conversations with my parents has been tough because

462
00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:43,760
Speaker 1: I'm like, y'all, I love you, and I had a

463
00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:46,399
Speaker 1: great childhood and I'm so grateful for so much. But

464
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:50,960
Speaker 1: I was raised colorblind and that's not okay because by

465
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:55,240
Speaker 1: not knowing who I am, fully, I have never really

466
00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,400
Speaker 1: felt like I fit in anywhere. I don't feel that's

467
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,159
Speaker 1: the thing about when you are by oftentimes is that

468
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,359
Speaker 1: you fit in everywhere. Like if a company was to

469
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,119
Speaker 1: do a campaign and they could only choose one person,

470
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:09,160
Speaker 1: they would likely choose someone that looks like me, because

471
00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:13,439
Speaker 1: I pass for anything really, But at the same time,

472
00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,040
Speaker 1: I fit in nowhere because I don't feel even I

473
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:19,840
Speaker 1: did something on Instagram not too long ago where I

474
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,840
Speaker 1: said exactly that. I said, I'm not completely white, so

475
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:29,639
Speaker 1: I'm drawn. I'm playing on both of these sides where

476
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 1: I'm mourning the losses of my brothers and sisters and

477
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,800
Speaker 1: feeling scared and worried for my own family. But at

478
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,120
Speaker 1: the same time, I have to check myself and understand

479
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,639
Speaker 1: I'm lighter skinned, I have light skin privilege, and that

480
00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:45,880
Speaker 1: affords a whole different experience for me. That's why it's

481
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,679
Speaker 1: so important to highlight the different black experiences because oftentimes,

482
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,520
Speaker 1: when especially white people talk about black people, it's like

483
00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,199
Speaker 1: the black experience, but it is so complex, it is

484
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,960
Speaker 1: so multifaceted, and there's really no two that are the same.

485
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,399
Speaker 2: When you were growing up the Boston area, can you

486
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,280
Speaker 2: remember any times where you were made to feel some

487
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:06,399
Speaker 2: kind of way because of the color of your skin.

488
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:11,280
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I was never so first. I had someone in

489
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 1: school when I was in and this is so wild

490
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,240
Speaker 1: to me that I remember this because I don't have

491
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:19,120
Speaker 1: a great memory. But I had someone say Jess's dad

492
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,639
Speaker 1: is black and beautiful, and when I was in first

493
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:26,360
Speaker 1: or second grade, and I was like okay, Like it

494
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:28,480
Speaker 1: was weird because I think one of my teachers was like, oh, no,

495
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:30,480
Speaker 1: it's a compliment, and I'm like okay, but like the

496
00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:34,920
Speaker 1: black part, I wasn't told about my blackness. I was like, oh, okay.

497
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 1: And then when I was playing softball, a little girl

498
00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 1: came up to me and she said, are you mulatto?

499
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,120
Speaker 1: And you're gonna laugh because this is like the best

500
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,800
Speaker 1: part of the story. I'm like a Milano cookie, like

501
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 1: I love Malana cookies, like I grew up getting. I

502
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,400
Speaker 1: was like yeah, And I went over to my mom

503
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,399
Speaker 1: and I asked, I said, Mom, am I a mulatto?

504
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:57,439
Speaker 1: And she my mom is barely five feet she is

505
00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,080
Speaker 1: the most non intimidating looking like woman and she so

506
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,080
Speaker 1: I was right over to this little girl's mom and

507
00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:02,919
Speaker 1: flipped out on her.

508
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:03,760
Speaker 2: Oh my god.

509
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, and right at the softball field. And I don't

510
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,520
Speaker 1: remember having a follow up conversation with my mom. I

511
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 1: don't remember hearing the word mulatto again until sixth grade,

512
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:15,920
Speaker 1: when I opened up a textbook and I saw European

513
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,239
Speaker 1: and African descent, so I was like, oh shit, I

514
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,719
Speaker 1: am why did my mom get so upset? Is this

515
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:24,920
Speaker 1: a negative term? Like? I was so confused. And then

516
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,199
Speaker 1: when a friend of mine got really upset with me

517
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:31,679
Speaker 1: in high school, she screamed at me saying how nappy

518
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,680
Speaker 1: my hair was, like out of nowhere. And then this

519
00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:39,119
Speaker 1: is what I'm saying about all these bizarre times that

520
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,720
Speaker 1: I just remember so vividly. I was on the phone

521
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 1: with a guy at my friend's house in high school,

522
00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:49,439
Speaker 1: probably ninth tenth grade, yeah, probably tenth grade, and I

523
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,040
Speaker 1: was distracted by my friend who I was at her house.

524
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,240
Speaker 1: I was talking to her and to get my attention

525
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,920
Speaker 1: on the phone, he was like, hey, African American, I'm

526
00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:01,919
Speaker 1: talking to you. What it was like, I just remember

527
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:03,760
Speaker 1: being stunned. I don't even I think I probably just

528
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,120
Speaker 1: hung up because I was so stunned that I guess

529
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 1: it stuns me because I'm like, I've never had a

530
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:13,879
Speaker 1: conversation about black people or my own blackness with any

531
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,679
Speaker 1: of these people that have said these things to me,

532
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:21,000
Speaker 1: So I just wonder what are they thinking about or

533
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:24,840
Speaker 1: what are they talking to others potentially about? That they've

534
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:27,679
Speaker 1: never said to me, but feel comfortable saying things like

535
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:28,119
Speaker 1: that to me.

536
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, as you said before, something that I think is

537
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:36,120
Speaker 2: really valuable is this idea that there is one black perspective.

538
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,800
Speaker 2: There's not one Black perspective, Like there's not one type

539
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,199
Speaker 2: of runner, there's not one type of woman, there's not

540
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,440
Speaker 2: one way to like be in love or god. I mean,

541
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,159
Speaker 2: this can go on for every single thing in the world,

542
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 2: but it's interesting to me, and this is why these

543
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,360
Speaker 2: conversations are so valuable. The idea that, like, we can

544
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:59,560
Speaker 2: have the same type of conversation with so many different

545
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,720
Speaker 2: people and every single time you will get something new

546
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:03,479
Speaker 2: out of it.

547
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:08,120
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, And I mean, especially with the black community,

548
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:12,639
Speaker 1: I feel like everyone's trying to pigeonhole us and say

549
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:17,600
Speaker 1: the black experience, well there's racism doesn't exist because you know,

550
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 1: there's a person at my job that just got promoted

551
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,440
Speaker 1: to CEO and he's black, or oh, there's not systemic

552
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,960
Speaker 1: racism and poverty and systems working against black people, because

553
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:31,439
Speaker 1: look at all the black celebrities and athletes that have

554
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,640
Speaker 1: so much money, they don't all have poverty, and it's

555
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,119
Speaker 1: like we cannot those are exceptions to the rule, and

556
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,640
Speaker 1: so we have to stop thinking that we understand a

557
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,520
Speaker 1: group of people based off of one or two or

558
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 1: three people that we know or don't even know that

559
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 1: we know of. And I think it's really important, like

560
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:52,040
Speaker 1: you said, just with everyone affording the same generosity of

561
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,920
Speaker 1: spirit and knowledge about black people is that you know

562
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,640
Speaker 1: everyone is different. I will never yes, I am black,

563
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,200
Speaker 1: but I will never know the unique experiences and challenges

564
00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 1: that dark skinned black women experience. And I talked about

565
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,760
Speaker 1: that with my teammate Tunda from Peloton when she she

566
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,480
Speaker 1: did a little Instagram live not too long ago, and

567
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:15,840
Speaker 1: she she literally asked me, and it stumped me in

568
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:17,920
Speaker 1: front of everyone. She was like, when you walk into

569
00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,720
Speaker 1: a room, how do you think people perceive you? And

570
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:22,840
Speaker 1: I literally I said, I don't know. She's like, well,

571
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:24,760
Speaker 1: what do you mean you don't know? And I said, well,

572
00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:26,840
Speaker 1: if I walk in with you, a dark skinned black

573
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,520
Speaker 1: woman and another black person, I'm black. But if I

574
00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,280
Speaker 1: walk in with a bunch of my white friends, I

575
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:37,400
Speaker 1: would I don't know, I would assume that people would

576
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,240
Speaker 1: think that I'm white or that I'm Hispanic Latino. And

577
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,280
Speaker 1: so she was she was like, she kept on prying well,

578
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:45,760
Speaker 1: how do you think that people? I was like, I don't.

579
00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:48,920
Speaker 1: That's the struggle about being Birachel is that you really

580
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,480
Speaker 1: don't know how people perceive you. They people perceive me

581
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:54,440
Speaker 1: the way that they want to perceive me, the way

582
00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:56,680
Speaker 1: that it and it sounds really negative and I don't

583
00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:58,480
Speaker 1: want it to be negative. But people perceive me the

584
00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,600
Speaker 1: way that they want to perceive me. That how what

585
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,080
Speaker 1: would fit in with what they want out of that

586
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:05,000
Speaker 1: situation in that home?

587
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think that can also go hand in

588
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,640
Speaker 2: hand with like the personality side of things, right. I've

589
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:16,200
Speaker 2: done exercises before where someone asks you like, how do

590
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:20,000
Speaker 2: you think that people would perceive you or label you

591
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,320
Speaker 2: if they only had one minute with you and they

592
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:25,760
Speaker 2: met you at a party, And then ask yourself, what

593
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 2: do you want people to perceive you or how do

594
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,720
Speaker 2: you want people to perceive you if they meet you

595
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,200
Speaker 2: for a minute at a party, And the answers to

596
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:42,520
Speaker 2: those questions can actually be very different, right, because that's

597
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,160
Speaker 2: when you take a step back and you ask yourself

598
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,960
Speaker 2: like are you being true to who you are? Are

599
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,920
Speaker 2: you holding back? Are you trying to make up for something?

600
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,560
Speaker 2: Are you presenting in a certain way? Because you want

601
00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:56,720
Speaker 2: to be liked, and it's like who is it that

602
00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,680
Speaker 2: you want to be? And are you being true to

603
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,880
Speaker 2: who it is that you are? And like living your

604
00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:07,920
Speaker 2: values to the outside world. Let's bring it back to Texas.

605
00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:10,360
Speaker 2: How does Texas go for you?

606
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,160
Speaker 1: Also, I'm a chameleon. I love wherever I am. I

607
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,400
Speaker 1: bloom where I'm planted. I loved growing up in Pebdy.

608
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:21,680
Speaker 1: I loved Hertford and West Hartford where Trinity was. I

609
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,320
Speaker 1: loved Houston, and I loved Houston. I thought it was

610
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,719
Speaker 1: very different than what I expected because, believe it or not,

611
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,120
Speaker 1: I had only been to New York City my entire

612
00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 1: life twice for basketball, so never for pleasure, never to

613
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,680
Speaker 1: you know, move around and do the touristy thing. Ever,

614
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:41,600
Speaker 1: and so when I was told that Houston is the

615
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:43,680
Speaker 1: I think it was. It's the fourth largest city in

616
00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,360
Speaker 1: the US. I was thinking something like New York City,

617
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,120
Speaker 1: but it's very different. It's an urban sprawl. It's very

618
00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:53,040
Speaker 1: spread out, and yes, everything is bigger in Texas. There's

619
00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:58,320
Speaker 1: like ten lane highways. The food is amazing, the happy

620
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,680
Speaker 1: hour scene is amazing. People were so kind, and I

621
00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 1: absolutely loved it down there.

622
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,720
Speaker 2: I love it Okay, so your teaching experience must be

623
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,960
Speaker 2: pretty great because you go on to continue on this path. Yeah.

624
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:13,760
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I was hired to teach fifth grade math,

625
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:15,400
Speaker 1: and so I did that the first year, and then

626
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: the second year, I did third grade and I taught everything,

627
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,600
Speaker 1: which was a really cool experience because I was hired

628
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,040
Speaker 1: to teach math and that was my least favorite subject,

629
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,480
Speaker 1: and the principal hired me specifically because I said math

630
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:28,800
Speaker 1: was my least favorite subject, because he told me that

631
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:30,960
Speaker 1: since I didn't like it, I would come up with

632
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:33,120
Speaker 1: fun and interesting ways to teach it to the kids

633
00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:35,400
Speaker 1: for other kids who don't like math. And I was like,

634
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:38,239
Speaker 1: oh wow, Tooche, all right, I get that. And so

635
00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:40,280
Speaker 1: then I taught reading and I got to do science

636
00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:43,760
Speaker 1: and social studies and all that other good stuff down

637
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,240
Speaker 1: there for my second year, and so I was one

638
00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,800
Speaker 1: hundred percent planning on staying for a third year. But

639
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,800
Speaker 1: then I was recruited to open up which I thought

640
00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,160
Speaker 1: was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I really

641
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,440
Speaker 1: believe it. It was to open up a brand new

642
00:32:57,440 --> 00:33:00,840
Speaker 1: elementary school in Harlem with just caten so there were

643
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:05,200
Speaker 1: only eighteen people on staff. There were five kindergarten classes,

644
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,120
Speaker 1: two fully certified teachers in every classroom, and then you know,

645
00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,800
Speaker 1: support staff. And so I moved up to New York

646
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,040
Speaker 1: to be closer, you know, toward to my family and friends,

647
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:19,440
Speaker 1: and I taught kindergarten and that was if you ever

648
00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:21,360
Speaker 1: want to test your patients, you should be in a

649
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,560
Speaker 1: room with twenty seven four and five year olds from

650
00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:27,240
Speaker 1: seven o'clock in the morning until five pm daily.

651
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:27,960
Speaker 2: Wow.

652
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,720
Speaker 1: Highly recommend And it's funny. This is this always cracks

653
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:34,560
Speaker 1: me up because my roommate in New York, who was

654
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,680
Speaker 1: also at the same school I taught fifth grade, third

655
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:41,160
Speaker 1: grade kinder she did the opposite. She did pre K three,

656
00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:44,120
Speaker 1: pre K four, and then kindergarten, which is five years old.

657
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:46,720
Speaker 1: So when we start after our first day, I'll never forget.

658
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,640
Speaker 1: I'm like, Jen, that was so hard. These kids are

659
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:51,560
Speaker 1: so not independent. And she was like, what do you

660
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,840
Speaker 1: mean these kids are so independent? This is so great,

661
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:56,880
Speaker 1: and it was It was just really funny to me

662
00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 1: because I'm like, girl, you say get in line to

663
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:01,760
Speaker 1: five year old and it's like herding cats. It's like

664
00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:03,800
Speaker 1: trying to get them, like come your kids, come here.

665
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:05,200
Speaker 1: This is what a line is? This is what I

666
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,640
Speaker 1: mean stand on this tape. So it was such a

667
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,840
Speaker 1: great experience and I ended up staying with the network

668
00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:15,920
Speaker 1: that I was at, and I taught or After kindergarten,

669
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,920
Speaker 1: I was an operations director at the middle school and

670
00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:21,319
Speaker 1: then I did that for two years and then I

671
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:23,800
Speaker 1: moved back. This was really special for me. I moved

672
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,480
Speaker 1: back to the Boston area and I went to the

673
00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,839
Speaker 1: city where my dad was raised, Lynn Mass and I

674
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,719
Speaker 1: opened up a KIP school, the same exact model as

675
00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:38,080
Speaker 1: I opened up in Harlem. As an assistant principal.

676
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,040
Speaker 2: Talk to me about what a KIP school is.

677
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,120
Speaker 1: So KIP so the school that I was at Harlem

678
00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:48,040
Speaker 1: and KIP, they're both charter schools, so they are public schools.

679
00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:50,560
Speaker 1: There's it's a lottery system to get in. You apply,

680
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:54,239
Speaker 1: but there's no like there's no things that you have

681
00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,040
Speaker 1: to meet, no tests or anything like that. We take anyone.

682
00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:58,920
Speaker 1: It's literally just a lottery system and it's publicly funded.

683
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:04,440
Speaker 1: The difference is that there are some private investors that

684
00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:08,800
Speaker 1: also give more money. And so the main difference between

685
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:11,120
Speaker 1: a charter school and a public school is we have

686
00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,920
Speaker 1: an extended school day. So the kids, I believe they

687
00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:15,800
Speaker 1: got in at seven and like I said, the school

688
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:18,080
Speaker 1: day was for five year olds till four thirty or

689
00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:21,200
Speaker 1: five pm plus after school if parents chose to keep

690
00:35:21,239 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 1: them there. Yeah. And the school that I was at

691
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:26,280
Speaker 1: in Harlem is just a charter school here in the city,

692
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,760
Speaker 1: but KIP is all over. It actually started in Houston,

693
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:32,759
Speaker 1: which was kind of cool. And it started by Teach

694
00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:33,800
Speaker 1: for America alone.

695
00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:38,800
Speaker 2: Okay, so you go back to Lynn and you're running

696
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:42,200
Speaker 2: the ship over there, and then how long does that last?

697
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:47,799
Speaker 1: For l ol? That lasted. So I moved back in

698
00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:52,000
Speaker 1: June end of June, I started July, and I quit

699
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:53,480
Speaker 1: in December of twenty fifteen.

700
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 2: Why'd you quit?

701
00:35:55,239 --> 00:35:59,440
Speaker 1: So? It was a dream job, Emily. It was the

702
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:05,720
Speaker 1: best run experience school that I've worked at. The principle

703
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,800
Speaker 1: was incredible, the teachers were incredible, the kids, the families.

704
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:12,200
Speaker 1: I felt so connected to all of them. And guess what,

705
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:17,560
Speaker 1: I was still unhappy, and so I started to really

706
00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:22,240
Speaker 1: do some reflection and I realized, Okay, Jess, in six years,

707
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,160
Speaker 1: you've held five different roles fifth third kinder ops director,

708
00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:31,480
Speaker 1: ops director, assistant principle. You worked for Teach for America

709
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:34,799
Speaker 1: every summer in between those years, so you had even

710
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,960
Speaker 1: more experience. You got your masters when you were down

711
00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:39,960
Speaker 1: in Houston. I went to the University of Saint Thomas

712
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:43,799
Speaker 1: and I got my master's in teacher leadership. And you're

713
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:47,879
Speaker 1: still not happy. And so I started to think. And

714
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:52,160
Speaker 1: I had this really groundbreaking conversation with my boyfriend at

715
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:56,839
Speaker 1: the time. He was in fitness and I saw how

716
00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,640
Speaker 1: fulfilled he was and how much he loved, you know,

717
00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:02,880
Speaker 1: teach these classes and connecting with people in his classes,

718
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:06,239
Speaker 1: and so I love that. And I mean, like I said,

719
00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:09,480
Speaker 1: my whole life was about movement, and I wasn't doing

720
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:12,360
Speaker 1: movement stuff, or at least not primarily. That wasn't my

721
00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:14,399
Speaker 1: primary role. I can tell you about all looking back,

722
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:15,920
Speaker 1: all the things that I did that I didn't even

723
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:21,400
Speaker 1: realize I was doing. But I was just like, I

724
00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:23,480
Speaker 1: can't quit teaching. Like I'm supposed to be a teacher.

725
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:25,799
Speaker 1: I'm a teacher. I'm a teacher. And he was like, yeah,

726
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 1: you're you're supposed to be a teacher, but you just

727
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:30,839
Speaker 1: might be in the wrong setting. And I had this

728
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:36,000
Speaker 1: like mind blown I was like, wait a minute, you're right.

729
00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:40,080
Speaker 1: So I ended up leaving that kid school in December

730
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:44,160
Speaker 1: of twenty fifteen, and you're gonna laugh. My old school

731
00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:50,160
Speaker 1: fired their principal in Harlem and begged me to come

732
00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,600
Speaker 1: back just until they found a new principal in the

733
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:55,840
Speaker 1: following school year. So when I moved back in December

734
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:59,160
Speaker 1: of twenty fifteen, in January twenty sixteen, I became the

735
00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:03,479
Speaker 1: principal of my old school in Harlem, cash Cat Yes.

736
00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,040
Speaker 1: And so I did that from January to June. And

737
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:07,759
Speaker 1: I and everyone knew as soon as I came back,

738
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:09,440
Speaker 1: because here's the thing. I love the kids in the

739
00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:11,640
Speaker 1: family so much that like I would never I could

740
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:14,120
Speaker 1: never abandon them. And I didn't have a job. I

741
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:16,319
Speaker 1: was coming back to New York City to literally do

742
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:19,200
Speaker 1: the fitness grind, and so I said, let's do this.

743
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,000
Speaker 1: And so during that six month period, during all my

744
00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:25,120
Speaker 1: free time, you can't see me, but I'm using air quotes.

745
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,880
Speaker 1: During my free time, I studied for my NASM personal

746
00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:32,239
Speaker 1: train assert. I started on Instagram because I didn't have one.

747
00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 1: I had a very you know, I never used my

748
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:38,200
Speaker 1: personal Instagram. I probably posted maybe ten times. I started

749
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:42,439
Speaker 1: a fitness Instagram. I got a photo shoot, I went

750
00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:44,640
Speaker 1: to a ton of different boutique studios, to kind of

751
00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,920
Speaker 1: get a feel for the studios, to see one what

752
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,520
Speaker 1: studios I loved and what, you know, discipline I wanted

753
00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:55,000
Speaker 1: to teach. And two what made a good instructor good great?

754
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,040
Speaker 1: Because there's there are at every studio, as you know,

755
00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:00,360
Speaker 1: there's always like the top instructors. So I was just

756
00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:02,799
Speaker 1: very curious about what made them great. And you know,

757
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:04,840
Speaker 1: so I started to really observe. I'm a sponge, so

758
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,680
Speaker 1: I was just learning and learning and networking, introducing myself

759
00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:12,440
Speaker 1: to instructors. And yeah, that summer, I started working at

760
00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:15,360
Speaker 1: a boxing studio, and then a few months later I

761
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:19,440
Speaker 1: started training at a high intensity interval training studio and

762
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:22,280
Speaker 1: I did that for two years, and I started also

763
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:25,080
Speaker 1: I did this pilot program for a company that was

764
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:28,640
Speaker 1: starting to do some online stuff, some camera stuff, and

765
00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:31,480
Speaker 1: so I did that and then peloton.

766
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:36,840
Speaker 2: So talk to me about what that transition was like

767
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:40,200
Speaker 2: for you, going from being a school principal to getting

768
00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:43,120
Speaker 2: into fitness and did you feel right from the get

769
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:44,719
Speaker 2: go that you were doing the right thing.

770
00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:47,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, So, I mean I knew I was doing the

771
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:50,640
Speaker 1: right thing because I was having so much fun, but

772
00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:54,000
Speaker 1: I was also so uncomfortable. I'm I'm I'm a leo.

773
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:55,879
Speaker 1: So people hear that and they're like, oh, you love

774
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,000
Speaker 1: being the center of attention. Actually, never, I actually don't

775
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,000
Speaker 1: love being the center of attention. I like to bring

776
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:05,040
Speaker 1: other people up and I love to put others in

777
00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:08,560
Speaker 1: positions to succeed. And I realized very early on when

778
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:12,719
Speaker 1: I started teaching boxing, like this is nerve wracking, but

779
00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:15,800
Speaker 1: people help, I'm starting to change people's lives. Like the

780
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:17,920
Speaker 1: messages I was getting on Instagram and then that in

781
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:22,640
Speaker 1: person chats were just really transformational, and I was like, Wow,

782
00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:26,200
Speaker 1: this is huge, just as incredible. And people ask me

783
00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:28,000
Speaker 1: all the time do you miss teaching? Do you miss teaching?

784
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:31,160
Speaker 1: And I say, y'all, no, because I'm still teaching. Do

785
00:40:31,239 --> 00:40:34,359
Speaker 1: I miss the kids and their families and the other teachers, Absolutely,

786
00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:38,440
Speaker 1: But I don't miss teaching because I am teaching. I'm

787
00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:40,400
Speaker 1: just teaching my preferred subjects now.

788
00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:44,320
Speaker 2: Right right, Okay, So you make the transition into fitness,

789
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:47,360
Speaker 2: and right off the bat, do you find that there's

790
00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:49,839
Speaker 2: like a pretty big learning curve. I mean, I think

791
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:52,479
Speaker 2: that that's one of the things that so many people

792
00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:55,520
Speaker 2: who message me are concerned about. It's like, Hey, I

793
00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:58,480
Speaker 2: so admire that you have the opportunity to like work

794
00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:00,600
Speaker 2: in an area that you're so passionate about that you

795
00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:03,400
Speaker 2: love what you do. I would love to make xyz

796
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:06,239
Speaker 2: career pivot, but I'm so scared to be a new

797
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:07,760
Speaker 2: fish in the pool, so to speak.

798
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:13,960
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I get that question quite often too, and I say,

799
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,160
Speaker 1: it's a grind. Like you, I would never take it back. Obviously.

800
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:20,080
Speaker 1: It's the best decision I've made in my life is

801
00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:23,680
Speaker 1: to make this career change. But do not get it twisted.

802
00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:27,120
Speaker 1: The happy, amazing photoshoots and the fun things that I

803
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:30,560
Speaker 1: put on Instagram, that is a very small percentage of

804
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:32,719
Speaker 1: actually the work that has gone into it. In the

805
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:35,080
Speaker 1: two years that I taught in those boutique studios, I

806
00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:38,720
Speaker 1: worked seven days a week. I worked every single morning

807
00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:40,839
Speaker 1: except for Friday mornings. That was my only morning off

808
00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:43,000
Speaker 1: out of seven days, and the only nights I didn't

809
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:46,239
Speaker 1: work for Saturday and Sunday nights. If I didn't work,

810
00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:48,759
Speaker 1: I didn't get paid. You get paid per class. It

811
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:51,600
Speaker 1: is a grind. So if you got sick, you know,

812
00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:53,600
Speaker 1: and had to take days off, that's lost money. If

813
00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:56,560
Speaker 1: you got forbid went on a vacation, that's doubly lost money.

814
00:41:56,560 --> 00:41:59,359
Speaker 1: Because you're spending money and you're not making any So

815
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:01,239
Speaker 1: I always felt like I was kind of it was

816
00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:03,400
Speaker 1: a rollercoaster. It was I was like, okay, cool, I

817
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:05,040
Speaker 1: feel like I'm making a good amount of money. I

818
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:08,400
Speaker 1: feel this is good, you know, really starting to feel

819
00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:10,440
Speaker 1: good about this, and then you know something would happen

820
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:14,000
Speaker 1: and it's a step back. So it's you got to

821
00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:17,279
Speaker 1: know it's going to be a lot of work, and

822
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:19,759
Speaker 1: so you have to love what you're going into and.

823
00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:23,960
Speaker 2: Be ready to work for sure. So you are ready

824
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:27,880
Speaker 2: to work. You're working a lot, and when does Peloton

825
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:28,680
Speaker 2: come into the picture?

826
00:42:29,239 --> 00:42:31,160
Speaker 1: So this is like my favorite. This is one of

827
00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:33,080
Speaker 1: those stories I think back to and I'm just like, oh,

828
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:36,000
Speaker 1: it's just it all happened for the right reasons. So

829
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:39,880
Speaker 1: a year into me being in fitness, so I was

830
00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:43,399
Speaker 1: just at at those two studios, still learning a ton,

831
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:46,719
Speaker 1: getting a ton of other certifications. Rebecca Kennedy, who's our

832
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:49,680
Speaker 1: master instructor at Peloton, she she would take my classes,

833
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,239
Speaker 1: my boxing classes really often, and so we would chit

834
00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:54,279
Speaker 1: chat here and there, and then she reached out to

835
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:56,600
Speaker 1: me and said, hey, I'd love to grab coffee and

836
00:42:56,680 --> 00:43:00,520
Speaker 1: chat with you. So we grabbed coffee, and she told

837
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:04,399
Speaker 1: me all about Peloton, and she all the perks, all

838
00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:06,759
Speaker 1: the amazing things about it. And I sat there just

839
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:08,319
Speaker 1: with the biggest smile on my face and I'm like,

840
00:43:08,640 --> 00:43:11,839
Speaker 1: this is incredible, and I'm not ready for it. I

841
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:14,440
Speaker 1: felt really deep in my heart of hearts that I

842
00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:18,040
Speaker 1: wasn't done learning from the places that I was currently at.

843
00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:22,040
Speaker 1: I also wasn't working out myself, because, as you know,

844
00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:25,760
Speaker 1: when you are training other people, you put them first,

845
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:28,600
Speaker 1: and I didn't have the energy or the discipline at

846
00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:32,600
Speaker 1: that point in just a year of prioritizing my own workouts.

847
00:43:32,719 --> 00:43:34,879
Speaker 1: So I didn't feel comfortable for those reasons. And then

848
00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:38,520
Speaker 1: also I wasn't running. The thought of running on a

849
00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:42,280
Speaker 1: treadmill on camera was like a nightmare to me, so

850
00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:48,839
Speaker 1: I politely declined whatever whatever. Fast forward a full year,

851
00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:52,880
Speaker 1: so it was July of twenty sixteen or twenty seventeen

852
00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:56,080
Speaker 1: where we chatted for the first time. July twenty eighteen,

853
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:00,160
Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, I've been at these places for

854
00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:02,120
Speaker 1: two years. And then, as I mentioned before, I had

855
00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:04,279
Speaker 1: that really great opportunity where once a week I was

856
00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:06,759
Speaker 1: on camera I was teaching thirty minute hit classes. And

857
00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:10,759
Speaker 1: I loved it, and I was like, okay, Wow, I

858
00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:13,280
Speaker 1: actually could see myself doing this camera thing full time.

859
00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:15,880
Speaker 1: And one thing that I really realized about myself in

860
00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:21,520
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen is that I am here to bring the

861
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:26,319
Speaker 1: greatest impact on this world, on this planet. And I

862
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:28,719
Speaker 1: started to feel that same sense of when I was

863
00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:31,440
Speaker 1: afraid of leaving the classroom to be an administrator. I

864
00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:34,480
Speaker 1: was like, this is so deficit. I can't leave twenty

865
00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:38,080
Speaker 1: five kids to go, you know, just only work with teachers.

866
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:40,680
Speaker 1: But then I changed my perspective and I said, Wow,

867
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:43,680
Speaker 1: instead of impacting twenty five kids on a daily basis,

868
00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:47,680
Speaker 1: I'm impacting twenty five teachers who each have twenty five kids.

869
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:50,759
Speaker 1: So by taking a step out, I am making a

870
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:53,799
Speaker 1: bigger impact. And so with Peloton, yes we have people

871
00:44:53,840 --> 00:44:58,160
Speaker 1: in the classroom for most classes, but the main audience

872
00:44:58,239 --> 00:45:00,160
Speaker 1: is at home. So the main audience I don't see

873
00:45:00,200 --> 00:45:02,200
Speaker 1: on a daily basis, and that scared me at first,

874
00:45:02,719 --> 00:45:05,120
Speaker 1: but then again that same parallel of taking that step

875
00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:08,080
Speaker 1: out of the classroom, it's the exact same thing with Halton.

876
00:45:08,239 --> 00:45:10,200
Speaker 1: So now my impact it's not just New York City,

877
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:13,760
Speaker 1: it's the rest of the US. It's the UK, it's Germany,

878
00:45:13,800 --> 00:45:16,680
Speaker 1: it's Canada, and it's growing. We're a global company, and

879
00:45:16,719 --> 00:45:20,000
Speaker 1: so thinking about the impact that my workouts, my words,

880
00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:24,280
Speaker 1: my programming has on people is like the ultimate blessing.

881
00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:27,160
Speaker 2: I remember when I sat down with Ali and she

882
00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:30,840
Speaker 2: had the same reaction when Robin talked to her about

883
00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:34,000
Speaker 2: coming to be an instructor. She said to her, girl like,

884
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:36,200
Speaker 2: I got other things to focus on. I'm all set,

885
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:40,160
Speaker 2: And Robin was like, no, you don't understand. Like this offer,

886
00:45:40,360 --> 00:45:43,319
Speaker 2: this idea, you coming to do this, This is going

887
00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:49,480
Speaker 2: to help you do everything that you want to do. Yes, okay,

888
00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:52,319
Speaker 2: so you you change your mind, You're like, hey, this

889
00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:54,359
Speaker 2: could be a cool thing. So is the offer still

890
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:55,640
Speaker 2: on the table. How does it work out?

891
00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:58,320
Speaker 1: Yeah? So thankfully I didn't go through with the audition

892
00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:00,520
Speaker 1: the first time, just because I was my heart wasn't

893
00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:02,239
Speaker 1: in it and this is not something that you can

894
00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:04,040
Speaker 1: go in with half your heart in it. And so

895
00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:06,040
Speaker 1: I reached back out to her, grabbed coffee, and the

896
00:46:06,040 --> 00:46:08,520
Speaker 1: first question she asked me was why now? And I

897
00:46:08,600 --> 00:46:10,799
Speaker 1: literally said those things exact same things that I said

898
00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:14,680
Speaker 1: to you. Is I felt, But I've outgrown the places

899
00:46:14,719 --> 00:46:17,080
Speaker 1: that I'm at I'm ready to move on. I feel

900
00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:19,000
Speaker 1: ready to be in front of a camera. And I've

901
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:22,439
Speaker 1: gotten into a nice routine of working out on my own.

902
00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:24,440
Speaker 1: So I felt good about myself and body and mind,

903
00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:27,239
Speaker 1: and so she said, okay, cool, So she brought me

904
00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:29,719
Speaker 1: in for an audition. I taught a twenty minute full

905
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:33,319
Speaker 1: body boot camp and that was it. And then that

906
00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:36,080
Speaker 1: wasn't it. I'm totally lying. There were millions of interviews

907
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:39,360
Speaker 1: falls advertisement. Yes, no, there were lots of interviews and

908
00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:41,880
Speaker 1: things after, but it was that one twenty minute boot

909
00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:44,160
Speaker 1: camp that I taught that was the audition.

910
00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:48,359
Speaker 2: Amazing, And so talk to me about where you were

911
00:46:48,400 --> 00:46:49,839
Speaker 2: when you found out that you got the job.

912
00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:55,080
Speaker 1: So it was, oh man, where did Okay? Well, I

913
00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:58,640
Speaker 1: got the actual, the official offer at the Peloton Cycling

914
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:05,160
Speaker 1: Studio by the CEO, and I felt good going into

915
00:47:05,200 --> 00:47:06,840
Speaker 1: it because this was like the final I had already

916
00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:08,480
Speaker 1: met with him one other time, and so the fact

917
00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:10,000
Speaker 1: that I was meeting with him again, I was like okay.

918
00:47:10,040 --> 00:47:12,120
Speaker 1: And I knew that he was handing out the contracts

919
00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:14,000
Speaker 1: and so I was like, okay, this is good, this

920
00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:16,279
Speaker 1: is good, this is good news, I think, And so

921
00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:19,600
Speaker 1: I got like a brand new lou Lemon outfit and

922
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:22,600
Speaker 1: went over there and I was like so excited and

923
00:47:22,680 --> 00:47:25,680
Speaker 1: I got down to the basement offices and yeah, they

924
00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:30,759
Speaker 1: offered me the job. And it was the most exhilarating thing.

925
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,280
Speaker 1: And I guess the other thing too, which is worthwhile

926
00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:37,239
Speaker 1: of noting. So I auditioned in July, end of July,

927
00:47:37,280 --> 00:47:40,960
Speaker 1: I want to say. And then I turned thirty August fifth,

928
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:44,680
Speaker 1: and so that weekend I went out to the Hampton's

929
00:47:44,719 --> 00:47:47,760
Speaker 1: and I just had I journaled, and I actually reread

930
00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:49,920
Speaker 1: the pages. I wrote like five or six pages on

931
00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:52,960
Speaker 1: my thirtieth birthday and I just wrote, and it was

932
00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:56,800
Speaker 1: really cool to see now two years later, how happy,

933
00:47:57,000 --> 00:48:00,400
Speaker 1: not even just happy, but how centered I At that

934
00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:02,839
Speaker 1: time in my life. I felt very confident in who

935
00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:05,520
Speaker 1: I was and what I wanted to offer and what

936
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:07,520
Speaker 1: my skill sets were and where I wanted to go.

937
00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:12,360
Speaker 1: And I really think it's because of that timing that

938
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:14,319
Speaker 1: I got the job. I really don't know if I

939
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:17,399
Speaker 1: auditioned the year before when I had the original meeting

940
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:19,960
Speaker 1: with Rebecca, I don't know if I would have gotten it.

941
00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:25,120
Speaker 1: So I think that that's like a really cool thing

942
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:27,640
Speaker 1: that looking back, I'm really proud of myself for being

943
00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:30,800
Speaker 1: self aware enough to know just this is not your time.

944
00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:32,800
Speaker 1: It's not to say that this will never be your time,

945
00:48:33,080 --> 00:48:35,120
Speaker 1: but it is not your time right now. Keep doing

946
00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:38,520
Speaker 1: what you're doing and then reassess.

947
00:48:39,239 --> 00:48:41,080
Speaker 2: And I think that can be hard for a lot

948
00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:45,480
Speaker 2: of individuals, just this idea that sometimes the timing might

949
00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:48,360
Speaker 2: not be right, but that doesn't mean that an opportunity

950
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:50,640
Speaker 2: can't come back around, or you could run at it

951
00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:55,120
Speaker 2: at another time. It's up to us to have that

952
00:48:55,200 --> 00:48:58,879
Speaker 2: persistence and to go back at things that maybe at

953
00:48:58,880 --> 00:49:01,279
Speaker 2: one point or another, just like this opportunity for you

954
00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:03,279
Speaker 2: wasn't the perfect fit.

955
00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:07,799
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, that's perfectly said.

956
00:49:08,480 --> 00:49:10,239
Speaker 2: And like you know it in your gut right like

957
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:13,279
Speaker 2: you knew it in your gut that you were ready then,

958
00:49:13,480 --> 00:49:16,480
Speaker 2: and you weren't ready before. So it's almost like you

959
00:49:16,480 --> 00:49:18,680
Speaker 2: would have been doing yourself a disservice even if they

960
00:49:18,800 --> 00:49:22,080
Speaker 2: offered you the opportunity beforehand, Like you would have been

961
00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:24,920
Speaker 2: doing yourself a disservice because you weren't, you weren't ready.

962
00:49:24,960 --> 00:49:27,440
Speaker 2: But I see, I hear myself saying that, and then

963
00:49:27,440 --> 00:49:29,719
Speaker 2: I'm like, but sometimes the best things happen when you're

964
00:49:29,760 --> 00:49:31,280
Speaker 2: not ready yet true.

965
00:49:31,440 --> 00:49:35,120
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. Even when I auditioned, I wasn't

966
00:49:35,120 --> 00:49:37,520
Speaker 1: really ready. I wasn't really running a ton still, so

967
00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:43,879
Speaker 1: I wasn't completely I wasn't completely ready. But I need

968
00:49:43,880 --> 00:49:48,359
Speaker 1: to think about this how because the meetings that I had,

969
00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:51,880
Speaker 1: because I believe exactly what you're saying, there's never a

970
00:49:51,920 --> 00:49:54,399
Speaker 1: good time like that you should just jump and dive in.

971
00:49:54,800 --> 00:49:56,759
Speaker 1: But I knew in my heart and soul in that

972
00:49:56,800 --> 00:50:00,600
Speaker 1: first conversation with Rebecco, I was like, this opportunity sounds amazing,

973
00:50:00,920 --> 00:50:03,240
Speaker 1: but it's not for me right now. This is so

974
00:50:03,239 --> 00:50:05,160
Speaker 1: so cool. Wow, oh my gosh, I do this, this,

975
00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:06,640
Speaker 1: this and this and this is your schedule and this

976
00:50:06,719 --> 00:50:08,879
Speaker 1: is your that this is not for me right now.

977
00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:12,239
Speaker 1: I just I just had that gut feeling. And it

978
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:18,400
Speaker 1: wasn't that it wasn't that I wasn't ready in the

979
00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:21,160
Speaker 1: sense where I couldn't do it, but it wasn't the

980
00:50:21,200 --> 00:50:22,000
Speaker 1: best time for me.

981
00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:25,000
Speaker 2: I hear you. I hear you totally. And this sounds

982
00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:27,439
Speaker 2: actually quite similar to a situation I dealt with last

983
00:50:27,440 --> 00:50:29,799
Speaker 2: week where I had the opportunity to move into a

984
00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:35,160
Speaker 2: dream duplex in Brooklyn with the backyard, and I knew

985
00:50:35,480 --> 00:50:39,120
Speaker 2: that I wasn't in the right place yet. I'm moving

986
00:50:39,160 --> 00:50:42,680
Speaker 2: into a two bedroom hopefully next year, because I want

987
00:50:42,719 --> 00:50:44,120
Speaker 2: to be able to use it for my business and

988
00:50:44,160 --> 00:50:46,839
Speaker 2: I want to have guests over, and I want to

989
00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:49,239
Speaker 2: make it my recording studio in my office in the

990
00:50:49,280 --> 00:50:52,640
Speaker 2: whole shebang. But right now, I don't need that. So

991
00:50:52,680 --> 00:50:57,560
Speaker 2: for me to go, despite how unbelievable the opportunity was,

992
00:50:57,600 --> 00:51:00,960
Speaker 2: and the fact that you could literally park five vehicles

993
00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:06,040
Speaker 2: in the backyard like sounded great, but it's just not

994
00:51:06,120 --> 00:51:07,840
Speaker 2: the time. It's just not the time.

995
00:51:08,040 --> 00:51:10,240
Speaker 1: It's just not the time, and you have to trust yourself.

996
00:51:10,280 --> 00:51:12,759
Speaker 1: Like I could have persuaded myself to go through with

997
00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:14,920
Speaker 1: the audition, but it just wasn't the time for me.

998
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:17,840
Speaker 1: And I think that that second year at those studios,

999
00:51:18,120 --> 00:51:20,879
Speaker 1: I was able to do so many things to set

1000
00:51:20,880 --> 00:51:23,240
Speaker 1: myself up for success at Pelton. I was able to

1001
00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:27,680
Speaker 1: really discover my teaching personality because you know, of course,

1002
00:51:27,719 --> 00:51:30,439
Speaker 1: like when you're on a microphone, your personality is the same,

1003
00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:33,320
Speaker 1: but it's amplified in some ways. I was really able

1004
00:51:33,320 --> 00:51:35,160
Speaker 1: to hone in on the queuing that I was giving.

1005
00:51:35,239 --> 00:51:38,200
Speaker 1: So now as a Peloton instructor, when I don't have

1006
00:51:38,239 --> 00:51:40,160
Speaker 1: any people in the classroom. It's so funny that some

1007
00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:42,040
Speaker 1: of the best feedback that I get from our members

1008
00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:45,640
Speaker 1: is when they say, how did you know that I

1009
00:51:45,760 --> 00:51:48,120
Speaker 1: wasn't hinging my hips pushing my hips back in my

1010
00:51:48,160 --> 00:51:50,520
Speaker 1: deadlift at that exact moment? And I'm like, well, one,

1011
00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:53,880
Speaker 1: because I taught boutique fitness and I saw that constantly.

1012
00:51:54,280 --> 00:51:57,359
Speaker 1: So there's that experience. And then also now a helped out.

1013
00:51:57,400 --> 00:51:59,160
Speaker 1: This is the blessing and the curse. I'm doing the

1014
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:01,440
Speaker 1: workout with you. So when I say these cues and

1015
00:52:01,480 --> 00:52:04,520
Speaker 1: these motivational things out loud, they're not written down, they're

1016
00:52:04,560 --> 00:52:06,920
Speaker 1: not rehearsed, they're not practiced. It's what I also need

1017
00:52:06,960 --> 00:52:07,520
Speaker 1: in that moment.

1018
00:52:07,800 --> 00:52:09,479
Speaker 2: So when did you officially start there?

1019
00:52:09,719 --> 00:52:12,440
Speaker 1: So I started write after Labor Day. I started a

1020
00:52:12,520 --> 00:52:15,600
Speaker 1: Pelton September tenth for training, and then I had my

1021
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:19,000
Speaker 1: first class right after the New York City Marathon, so

1022
00:52:19,040 --> 00:52:20,759
Speaker 1: like the first week of November.

1023
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:22,759
Speaker 2: So you're coming up on two years. Then, Yeah, a

1024
00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:24,560
Speaker 2: little celebration is in story.

1025
00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:28,120
Speaker 1: It's so cool because there's like double celebration. It's like

1026
00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:30,120
Speaker 1: celebrating when I got the job. I think it was

1027
00:52:30,160 --> 00:52:34,799
Speaker 1: September tenth, and then when I started teaching classes, So it's.

1028
00:52:34,719 --> 00:52:38,080
Speaker 2: Double amazing, amazing, Okay, So what would you say in

1029
00:52:38,120 --> 00:52:41,040
Speaker 2: that first two year period has been one of the

1030
00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:44,400
Speaker 2: biggest lessons that you've learned as an instructor.

1031
00:52:45,360 --> 00:52:49,480
Speaker 1: Be yourself. Be yourself, especially in fitness, but really in

1032
00:52:49,520 --> 00:52:52,360
Speaker 1: any industry, there's a lot of comparison, and there's a

1033
00:52:52,400 --> 00:52:55,040
Speaker 1: lot of Oh, what are the really successful people doing,

1034
00:52:55,080 --> 00:52:57,960
Speaker 1: and how do I be more like them? I'll never

1035
00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:00,680
Speaker 1: forget when I went in for the audition at Pelton,

1036
00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:03,920
Speaker 1: I ran into Dennis Morton, who teaches cycling and yoga

1037
00:53:03,960 --> 00:53:07,600
Speaker 1: at Pelton, and he said to me he has never

1038
00:53:07,719 --> 00:53:10,839
Speaker 1: worked at a place that has asked him to be

1039
00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:16,440
Speaker 1: more of himself, more Dennis Morton than ever before. And

1040
00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:17,719
Speaker 1: when he said it to me, I was like, Wow,

1041
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:22,239
Speaker 1: that sounds really cool. But then in the first year learning, yes,

1042
00:53:22,320 --> 00:53:24,560
Speaker 1: of course you need to brush up on your queuing

1043
00:53:24,600 --> 00:53:26,680
Speaker 1: and make sure that that's good and your timing and

1044
00:53:26,760 --> 00:53:29,200
Speaker 1: look at the cameras, this and that. But you have

1045
00:53:29,320 --> 00:53:33,120
Speaker 1: to stay true to yourself because that is what is

1046
00:53:33,440 --> 00:53:35,839
Speaker 1: that makes you most relatable, and that makes you the

1047
00:53:35,880 --> 00:53:41,040
Speaker 1: most welcoming to people. When you are yourself unapologetically. You

1048
00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:43,840
Speaker 1: are inviting other people to be unapologetically themselves. And I

1049
00:53:43,840 --> 00:53:46,400
Speaker 1: think that that's the ultimate lesson that I have learned

1050
00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:47,680
Speaker 1: so far at Pelton.

1051
00:53:47,719 --> 00:53:52,120
Speaker 2: For sure, when you look back on the interactions that

1052
00:53:52,200 --> 00:53:57,200
Speaker 2: you've had with your members, what would you say one

1053
00:53:57,200 --> 00:54:00,200
Speaker 2: of the greatest lessons has been from that over the

1054
00:54:00,239 --> 00:54:01,160
Speaker 2: past two years.

1055
00:54:01,320 --> 00:54:04,319
Speaker 1: I would say the biggest lesson is that sweating is

1056
00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:06,920
Speaker 1: so much more than a workout. What we do at

1057
00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:10,360
Speaker 1: Peloton is so much more than a workout. I will

1058
00:54:11,120 --> 00:54:14,480
Speaker 1: leave the quote unquote stage to go downstairs to the

1059
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:18,160
Speaker 1: locker room and be down on myself because you know,

1060
00:54:18,200 --> 00:54:20,200
Speaker 1: I messed up, I skipped something, or I did this,

1061
00:54:20,320 --> 00:54:22,560
Speaker 1: I did that, and I beat myself up and then

1062
00:54:22,560 --> 00:54:25,160
Speaker 1: I pick up my phone. Or if this is a

1063
00:54:25,160 --> 00:54:26,440
Speaker 1: class where there are a lot of people in there,

1064
00:54:26,480 --> 00:54:28,680
Speaker 1: I go and talk to them after. But then someone

1065
00:54:28,719 --> 00:54:32,200
Speaker 1: will say to me, Jess, that was the best class

1066
00:54:32,280 --> 00:54:37,960
Speaker 1: I've ever taken. I am recovering from, you know, so

1067
00:54:37,960 --> 00:54:42,040
Speaker 1: many rounds of chemo. My partner just lost his job,

1068
00:54:42,520 --> 00:54:46,440
Speaker 1: my child is experiencing bullying, I just had a baby,

1069
00:54:46,480 --> 00:54:49,160
Speaker 1: and I've really lost myself, and that workout helped me

1070
00:54:49,239 --> 00:54:55,000
Speaker 1: find myself and that Emily is like, that is why

1071
00:54:55,040 --> 00:54:58,000
Speaker 1: I do what I do because it is so much

1072
00:54:58,200 --> 00:55:00,160
Speaker 1: more than a workout. What we do on on the

1073
00:55:00,239 --> 00:55:07,200
Speaker 1: bike the tread, and that transcends fitness. It's mental practice

1074
00:55:07,200 --> 00:55:11,560
Speaker 1: for doing hard things. It's reminding yourself. I can't half

1075
00:55:11,560 --> 00:55:13,920
Speaker 1: asked this last push up because Jess says, how you

1076
00:55:13,960 --> 00:55:15,759
Speaker 1: do anything is how you do everything. So if I

1077
00:55:15,840 --> 00:55:18,000
Speaker 1: half asked this last push up, that means I'm going

1078
00:55:18,080 --> 00:55:20,480
Speaker 1: to half ask helping my kid with his homework tonight,

1079
00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:22,080
Speaker 1: and that's not the kind of parent that I want

1080
00:55:22,120 --> 00:55:27,919
Speaker 1: to show up to be. So just really, really understanding

1081
00:55:28,160 --> 00:55:30,520
Speaker 1: that what we do is so much more than fitness

1082
00:55:30,520 --> 00:55:32,040
Speaker 1: has been the ultimate.

1083
00:55:31,719 --> 00:55:37,200
Speaker 2: Lesson we mentioned being alone, traveling solo, spending time just

1084
00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:40,120
Speaker 2: with ourselves. I think that's something that a lot of

1085
00:55:40,200 --> 00:55:44,400
Speaker 2: us have been exposed to, more so during this pandemic,

1086
00:55:44,640 --> 00:55:48,880
Speaker 2: but something still that many struggle with. So for someone

1087
00:55:48,920 --> 00:55:50,879
Speaker 2: that comes to you, and I know that they do

1088
00:55:50,920 --> 00:55:53,279
Speaker 2: because they come to me too, someone that comes to

1089
00:55:53,320 --> 00:55:56,279
Speaker 2: you and they say, how are you so good at

1090
00:55:56,320 --> 00:55:58,560
Speaker 2: being by yourself? What is it that you tell them?

1091
00:55:58,560 --> 00:55:59,960
Speaker 2: And do you offer them any advice?

1092
00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:04,239
Speaker 1: Yeah? I think that Why am I so good because

1093
00:56:04,280 --> 00:56:07,680
Speaker 1: I practice. This is why I used to not like

1094
00:56:07,760 --> 00:56:10,600
Speaker 1: running is because I was like, that's so boring, just

1095
00:56:10,640 --> 00:56:13,319
Speaker 1: being alone with my own thoughts for thirty minutes. What like,

1096
00:56:13,360 --> 00:56:18,560
Speaker 1: no TV, no music, no distraction, no stopping, just running straight.

1097
00:56:18,600 --> 00:56:20,600
Speaker 1: That's too much time to be alone with my own thoughts.

1098
00:56:21,080 --> 00:56:23,080
Speaker 1: And then I also didn't like running because it was

1099
00:56:23,080 --> 00:56:25,400
Speaker 1: also more of a punishment as an athlete growing up.

1100
00:56:25,480 --> 00:56:27,560
Speaker 1: You know, you relate to practice, you lost, you ran,

1101
00:56:28,560 --> 00:56:31,040
Speaker 1: And so I've had to teach myself that, first of all,

1102
00:56:31,120 --> 00:56:34,799
Speaker 1: running is a beautiful time to be with yourself and

1103
00:56:35,160 --> 00:56:38,160
Speaker 1: really really important actually, And that has translated into other

1104
00:56:38,160 --> 00:56:40,560
Speaker 1: parts of my life. And I've realized that in order

1105
00:56:40,600 --> 00:56:42,640
Speaker 1: to be a better partner, in order to be a

1106
00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:45,279
Speaker 1: better friend, in order to be a better dog mom,

1107
00:56:45,480 --> 00:56:49,680
Speaker 1: I have to not escape my realities. I have to

1108
00:56:49,719 --> 00:56:54,400
Speaker 1: stop running from things that make me uncomfortable, or stop

1109
00:56:54,480 --> 00:56:59,520
Speaker 1: running from things that worry me. I need to create

1110
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:03,040
Speaker 1: some space to tackle those things, because if not, I'm

1111
00:57:03,040 --> 00:57:06,319
Speaker 1: just delaying the inevitable. And so I think with quarantine specifically,

1112
00:57:07,080 --> 00:57:09,560
Speaker 1: it's so funny that you bring this up when people

1113
00:57:09,640 --> 00:57:11,719
Speaker 1: ask me, like the first two months, even now, when

1114
00:57:11,719 --> 00:57:13,480
Speaker 1: people are like how are you doing with the quarantine.

1115
00:57:13,480 --> 00:57:15,960
Speaker 1: I know you live by yourself. I'm like, yo, this

1116
00:57:16,080 --> 00:57:19,600
Speaker 1: is my life. Is not much different than before. I

1117
00:57:20,160 --> 00:57:21,720
Speaker 1: spend a lot of a loan time, and I love

1118
00:57:21,760 --> 00:57:25,040
Speaker 1: my apartment and I love my dog, and so I

1119
00:57:25,080 --> 00:57:28,000
Speaker 1: think that what I would encourage people to do is

1120
00:57:28,840 --> 00:57:32,840
Speaker 1: stop looking for distractions and catch yourself when you're wanting

1121
00:57:32,920 --> 00:57:36,720
Speaker 1: a distraction. I've had some great conversations with some friends

1122
00:57:36,760 --> 00:57:39,560
Speaker 1: that love a good distraction, and they've distracted themselves with

1123
00:57:39,960 --> 00:57:42,000
Speaker 1: meeting friends to go shopping, or meeting friends to grab

1124
00:57:42,040 --> 00:57:46,000
Speaker 1: a drink, or doing something that completely disrupts what their

1125
00:57:46,040 --> 00:57:48,560
Speaker 1: mind is trying to have them do. And I just say, like,

1126
00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:51,919
Speaker 1: stop delaying the inevitable. Tackle it. Break it up into

1127
00:57:51,920 --> 00:57:54,280
Speaker 1: small chunks if you need to. If there's like a big,

1128
00:57:54,520 --> 00:57:57,000
Speaker 1: massive thing that's weighing on you, don't think you're all

1129
00:57:57,040 --> 00:57:58,720
Speaker 1: You're going to take it down and one day break

1130
00:57:58,760 --> 00:58:00,800
Speaker 1: it up into smaller chunks. See what you can do.

1131
00:58:01,200 --> 00:58:02,920
Speaker 1: But do it, even if it's for an hour a

1132
00:58:03,000 --> 00:58:04,720
Speaker 1: day where you sit down with that pen and paper

1133
00:58:04,760 --> 00:58:07,600
Speaker 1: and you start breaking it down. Do it because it's

1134
00:58:07,600 --> 00:58:09,520
Speaker 1: going to catch up to you. It's going to you

1135
00:58:09,600 --> 00:58:11,600
Speaker 1: might think that you've mastered it or gotten away from

1136
00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:13,080
Speaker 1: it in one area in your life, But guess what,

1137
00:58:13,080 --> 00:58:15,000
Speaker 1: it's going to sneak up and be like, guess what,

1138
00:58:15,320 --> 00:58:17,720
Speaker 1: I'm still here, so you got to tackle it.

1139
00:58:18,720 --> 00:58:20,760
Speaker 2: I was literally having a conversation with a friend of

1140
00:58:20,760 --> 00:58:23,000
Speaker 2: mine last night who was saying that he was also

1141
00:58:23,120 --> 00:58:27,480
Speaker 2: struggling with the whole productivity situation, and I said to

1142
00:58:27,520 --> 00:58:30,640
Speaker 2: him that often when I feel like I'm not being productive,

1143
00:58:30,720 --> 00:58:33,800
Speaker 2: it's because I'm not getting to a place where I'm

1144
00:58:33,840 --> 00:58:36,360
Speaker 2: allowing myself to deal with the other shit that's blocking

1145
00:58:36,400 --> 00:58:38,840
Speaker 2: me from getting to what I have to do. So

1146
00:58:38,920 --> 00:58:42,560
Speaker 2: if I'm like not processing a tough conversation that I

1147
00:58:42,640 --> 00:58:44,360
Speaker 2: had with my friend and I'm trying to do busy

1148
00:58:44,400 --> 00:58:46,720
Speaker 2: work like that, busy work isn't really going to do

1149
00:58:46,880 --> 00:58:48,640
Speaker 2: much for me, and I probably won't get all that

1150
00:58:48,760 --> 00:58:51,520
Speaker 2: much of it done because I'm still in the back

1151
00:58:51,560 --> 00:58:53,640
Speaker 2: of my heart, in the back of my head not

1152
00:58:54,040 --> 00:58:57,800
Speaker 2: tackling the really big elephant in the room to enable

1153
00:58:57,880 --> 00:58:59,560
Speaker 2: me to be productive.

1154
00:59:00,440 --> 00:59:04,800
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, that's exactly like what if that's exactly the

1155
00:59:04,840 --> 00:59:07,640
Speaker 1: beauty of this quarantine time? And then we cannot take

1156
00:59:07,680 --> 00:59:09,680
Speaker 1: this time for granted and wish it to be over

1157
00:59:10,160 --> 00:59:13,280
Speaker 1: because there's so much time to grow here. We are

1158
00:59:13,320 --> 00:59:16,920
Speaker 1: so conditioned to be so productive and do this, do that,

1159
00:59:17,000 --> 00:59:20,520
Speaker 1: and human beings. We're human beings, We're not human doings.

1160
00:59:21,000 --> 00:59:23,840
Speaker 1: And so we have to take a step back and

1161
00:59:24,720 --> 00:59:27,840
Speaker 1: question all those quote unquote normal things that we were doing.

1162
00:59:28,040 --> 00:59:31,800
Speaker 1: Of defining product being super productive every day as normal,

1163
00:59:31,840 --> 00:59:34,200
Speaker 1: maybe that's not normal. Maybe that was the normal that

1164
00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:36,280
Speaker 1: you had before, and that was running you into the

1165
00:59:36,280 --> 00:59:39,440
Speaker 1: ground and forcing you to run away from the things

1166
00:59:39,440 --> 00:59:42,240
Speaker 1: that you've needed to dive deeper into. Think about that.

1167
00:59:42,280 --> 00:59:44,640
Speaker 1: We are human. We are supposed to be. We are

1168
00:59:44,680 --> 00:59:47,560
Speaker 1: not supposed to be doing doing, doing doing. We need

1169
00:59:47,600 --> 00:59:52,320
Speaker 1: to be. Yeah, when you're just being, you're allowing yourself

1170
00:59:52,360 --> 00:59:55,040
Speaker 1: to work through things that will eventually allow you to

1171
00:59:55,200 --> 00:59:56,120
Speaker 1: do things better.

1172
00:59:56,880 --> 01:00:00,960
Speaker 2: Right now, when people go to your so social media page,

1173
01:00:01,120 --> 01:00:05,200
Speaker 2: they see a peloton tread instructor. They see a woman

1174
01:00:05,760 --> 01:00:09,440
Speaker 2: who they might ask themselves, what is her race? I

1175
01:00:09,440 --> 01:00:15,440
Speaker 2: wonder what she is? They might see your great dog. Yes,

1176
01:00:15,760 --> 01:00:19,680
Speaker 2: when you look in the mirror, what is it that

1177
01:00:19,760 --> 01:00:21,240
Speaker 2: you see looking back at you?

1178
01:00:21,880 --> 01:00:24,160
Speaker 1: Oh? Can I tell you I struggle looking in the mirror.

1179
01:00:25,160 --> 01:00:28,640
Speaker 1: I really do, I really struggle because I pick myself apart.

1180
01:00:28,840 --> 01:00:33,440
Speaker 1: I am learning to greet myself with the same compassion

1181
01:00:33,640 --> 01:00:36,120
Speaker 1: that I give to others, because that is one of

1182
01:00:36,120 --> 01:00:39,400
Speaker 1: my number one qualities is that I'm very compassionate. I

1183
01:00:39,440 --> 01:00:44,840
Speaker 1: really feel for people, and I understand that the stories.

1184
01:00:44,920 --> 01:00:49,800
Speaker 1: There's so much behind your story, and so I think

1185
01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:51,520
Speaker 1: that when I look in the mirror now, I see

1186
01:00:51,560 --> 01:00:59,320
Speaker 1: someone who is doing her best, someone who is still

1187
01:00:59,480 --> 01:01:02,240
Speaker 1: definitely a work in progress, but still someone who she

1188
01:01:02,320 --> 01:01:03,040
Speaker 1: loves very much.

1189
01:01:03,680 --> 01:01:06,600
Speaker 2: So so many people are looking to you constantly for guidance.

1190
01:01:06,680 --> 01:01:09,680
Speaker 2: You're this woman that's constantly working on herself. You think

1191
01:01:09,720 --> 01:01:12,880
Speaker 2: about right now, reflecting over this time where you're giving

1192
01:01:12,960 --> 01:01:15,320
Speaker 2: and giving and giving. But how is it that you

1193
01:01:15,360 --> 01:01:16,360
Speaker 2: give back to you.

1194
01:01:16,720 --> 01:01:20,800
Speaker 1: Oh that's something that's tough, but it's something that I

1195
01:01:21,000 --> 01:01:25,120
Speaker 1: do prioritize. I am very social and very outgoing, but

1196
01:01:25,520 --> 01:01:28,000
Speaker 1: I also know that my energy is finite. So I

1197
01:01:28,040 --> 01:01:31,600
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time alone, which sounds sad, but

1198
01:01:31,640 --> 01:01:34,400
Speaker 1: I actually really thrive off of it. I have a

1199
01:01:34,440 --> 01:01:37,160
Speaker 1: sassy dog that is my companion that makes me less alone.

1200
01:01:37,280 --> 01:01:42,600
Speaker 1: But I really allow myself to decompress and fill up

1201
01:01:42,600 --> 01:01:45,160
Speaker 1: my own cup so that I can continue pouring into

1202
01:01:45,200 --> 01:01:48,440
Speaker 1: others and so that might look that looks different, you know,

1203
01:01:48,560 --> 01:01:51,320
Speaker 1: that could be having a great conversation with a loved one,

1204
01:01:51,400 --> 01:01:55,240
Speaker 1: That could be I love food, So food is always

1205
01:01:55,240 --> 01:02:01,040
Speaker 1: something that I allow myself to indulge in, a home cooked,

1206
01:02:01,040 --> 01:02:03,760
Speaker 1: great meal, going out to dinner, different things that allow

1207
01:02:03,920 --> 01:02:07,400
Speaker 1: me to not have to put on a face and

1208
01:02:07,960 --> 01:02:12,120
Speaker 1: have real authentic conversation is something that is definitely really

1209
01:02:12,160 --> 01:02:16,240
Speaker 1: important to me to help me kind of feel reinvigorated,

1210
01:02:16,680 --> 01:02:19,919
Speaker 1: and time away helps me make more of the time

1211
01:02:19,920 --> 01:02:21,000
Speaker 1: that I have with.

1212
01:02:21,280 --> 01:02:24,000
Speaker 2: Something that I think is really valuable. From what you

1213
01:02:24,040 --> 01:02:26,400
Speaker 2: bring to the table is obviously so much motivation to

1214
01:02:26,920 --> 01:02:30,120
Speaker 2: not just the peloton community, but then of course the

1215
01:02:30,120 --> 01:02:34,280
Speaker 2: people that are running into you on the social media channels.

1216
01:02:34,400 --> 01:02:37,400
Speaker 2: Where are you finding your motivation from to show up

1217
01:02:37,480 --> 01:02:39,320
Speaker 2: day in day out?

1218
01:02:40,000 --> 01:02:44,680
Speaker 1: My motivation comes from our members, for sure. It's we

1219
01:02:44,800 --> 01:02:47,240
Speaker 1: are really big on milestones at Pelotons, so we celebrate

1220
01:02:47,280 --> 01:02:48,920
Speaker 1: you know, your fiftieth class, all the way up to

1221
01:02:49,080 --> 01:02:52,000
Speaker 1: however many classes you take. I think in my class

1222
01:02:52,040 --> 01:02:57,400
Speaker 1: this morning, someone celebrated their eleven hundredth strength and so yeah,

1223
01:02:57,440 --> 01:03:01,360
Speaker 1: so when like, no, lie, whenever I'm feeling like, oh,

1224
01:03:01,400 --> 01:03:03,680
Speaker 1: like I'm tired or this, and that. I pick up

1225
01:03:03,720 --> 01:03:06,280
Speaker 1: my phone, I look at my DMS and there's someone

1226
01:03:06,360 --> 01:03:09,800
Speaker 1: that is just so looking forward to this class. Because

1227
01:03:09,800 --> 01:03:13,480
Speaker 1: if you think about it, I have no idea what

1228
01:03:13,560 --> 01:03:15,440
Speaker 1: everyone else is going through. I think that's another huge

1229
01:03:15,440 --> 01:03:17,880
Speaker 1: thing that not Pelton has taught me because I knew

1230
01:03:17,880 --> 01:03:19,840
Speaker 1: this before, but it's definitely reinforced in a new and

1231
01:03:19,880 --> 01:03:22,479
Speaker 1: special way. You don't know what other people are going through.

1232
01:03:22,480 --> 01:03:25,280
Speaker 1: So the thirty minutes that they have chosen, that's the

1233
01:03:25,280 --> 01:03:27,000
Speaker 1: other thing too, it's a choice. They don't have to

1234
01:03:27,040 --> 01:03:29,479
Speaker 1: take my class, they want to. They get to those

1235
01:03:29,520 --> 01:03:33,439
Speaker 1: thirty minutes that they are taking for themselves. It needs

1236
01:03:33,440 --> 01:03:35,920
Speaker 1: to be a really great thirty minute class. It needs

1237
01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:37,840
Speaker 1: to be a really great forty five minute class. Whatever

1238
01:03:37,880 --> 01:03:40,320
Speaker 1: that class is, someone is showing up and that could

1239
01:03:40,320 --> 01:03:42,720
Speaker 1: be their only bright spot in their day or their week.

1240
01:03:43,640 --> 01:03:47,520
Speaker 1: And so I take that responsibility very seriously. And that's

1241
01:03:47,560 --> 01:03:49,280
Speaker 1: all the motivation I need. I could be having such

1242
01:03:49,280 --> 01:03:52,080
Speaker 1: a tough day myself, but I think about that and

1243
01:03:52,120 --> 01:03:54,360
Speaker 1: I think about how good I will feel, because working

1244
01:03:54,360 --> 01:03:56,960
Speaker 1: out again is something that helps me in every way

1245
01:03:56,960 --> 01:03:59,280
Speaker 1: of my life. Yeah, those two things are just members

1246
01:03:59,280 --> 01:04:01,120
Speaker 1: alone is what motivates me.

1247
01:04:01,640 --> 01:04:05,680
Speaker 2: You, my friend, have an opportunity right now to offer

1248
01:04:05,800 --> 01:04:08,840
Speaker 2: the Jess who is coming to terms with the fact

1249
01:04:08,880 --> 01:04:12,640
Speaker 2: that she's not exactly all that happy with her career

1250
01:04:12,680 --> 01:04:17,320
Speaker 2: path a piece of advice looking back on that hurdle moment. Now,

1251
01:04:17,680 --> 01:04:19,600
Speaker 2: what do you tell her?

1252
01:04:20,120 --> 01:04:26,520
Speaker 1: I tell her to really do some reflection, Grab a

1253
01:04:26,560 --> 01:04:30,560
Speaker 1: piece of paper, grab that notebook and pen, and write

1254
01:04:30,640 --> 01:04:33,320
Speaker 1: down what makes you tick, what makes you happy, what

1255
01:04:33,400 --> 01:04:36,960
Speaker 1: makes you What is something that you would do if

1256
01:04:37,040 --> 01:04:39,600
Speaker 1: money was not an issue, something that you would do

1257
01:04:40,880 --> 01:04:47,400
Speaker 1: for free that just invigorates you, and do that. It

1258
01:04:47,480 --> 01:04:51,440
Speaker 1: might not be exactly what you want and that moment

1259
01:04:51,520 --> 01:04:53,919
Speaker 1: are in ten years, but it's something that is going

1260
01:04:53,960 --> 01:04:56,800
Speaker 1: to put you onto a path towards what you want.

1261
01:04:56,840 --> 01:05:00,320
Speaker 1: So don't be afraid of that. Do the reflection, figure

1262
01:05:00,320 --> 01:05:02,560
Speaker 1: out your why, figure out what makes you tick, and

1263
01:05:02,600 --> 01:05:04,880
Speaker 1: then don't do what you should do, do what you

1264
01:05:05,000 --> 01:05:06,880
Speaker 1: must do. I think that was another thing that really

1265
01:05:06,920 --> 01:05:09,600
Speaker 1: helped me as I read that book. The crossroads between

1266
01:05:09,640 --> 01:05:12,960
Speaker 1: should and must, and our lives are full of shoulds.

1267
01:05:13,320 --> 01:05:14,920
Speaker 1: You should do this, you should look like that, you

1268
01:05:14,920 --> 01:05:17,840
Speaker 1: should try this, you should do that, and It's not

1269
01:05:17,960 --> 01:05:20,440
Speaker 1: about the shoulds, It's about what. What is your calling?

1270
01:05:20,520 --> 01:05:23,200
Speaker 1: What is it that you must do and do it?

1271
01:05:23,600 --> 01:05:25,680
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for being just so rad.

1272
01:05:26,160 --> 01:05:26,960
Speaker 1: Oh I love you.

1273
01:05:28,400 --> 01:05:30,120
Speaker 2: I wish everyone said that to me when we were

1274
01:05:30,160 --> 01:05:30,840
Speaker 2: done recording.

1275
01:05:31,120 --> 01:05:33,200
Speaker 1: Okay should honestly they really should.

1276
01:05:33,760 --> 01:05:36,480
Speaker 2: Please take a quick moment and leave a review by

1277
01:05:36,480 --> 01:05:38,920
Speaker 2: clicking the link with the description to this episode. We

1278
01:05:39,000 --> 01:05:41,280
Speaker 2: all face multiple hurdles in life. I want to hear

1279
01:05:41,320 --> 01:05:43,600
Speaker 2: about yours. Reach out to me at Emily at hurdle

1280
01:05:43,720 --> 01:05:46,640
Speaker 2: dot us. Connect with the podcast on Instagram and Twitter

1281
01:05:46,840 --> 01:05:49,240
Speaker 2: at Hurdle Podcast. Jess, how do they keep up with you?

1282
01:05:49,640 --> 01:05:53,640
Speaker 2: How do they stay in the loop? Give me the details?

1283
01:05:54,120 --> 01:05:57,760
Speaker 1: Well, please take my classes on Peloton. My name is Jessions,

1284
01:05:57,920 --> 01:06:01,560
Speaker 1: and then also follow me on Instagram at Jasim's Fit.

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Speaker 1: You can get workout stuff, you can laugh because I

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Speaker 1: post a lot of funny things, and then you get

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Speaker 1: to see the cuteness of my sassy dog daughter.

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Speaker 2: I am so grateful for you. Thank you, so so

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Speaker 2: so much.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Emily, I really appreciate you.

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Speaker 2: I am at Emily Abodi at Hurdle Podcast. Another hurdle conquered.

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Speaker 2: Catch you guys, next time,