WEBVTT - Robin Arzón: Resilience Through Running 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:02.400 I want to tell you about a meal delivery service 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:07.880 I'm loving right now. It's called Chef spelled sh ef, 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:11.760 and it connects talented local chefs with consumers in their neighborhoods. 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.120 Chefs prepare wholesome, delicious meals with. 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:17.200 The same love and care they put into their cooking 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:20.640 for their own families. Many recipes have been passed down 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:25.280 through generations. Their unique, authentic dishes you can't find anywhere else, 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:29.080 delivered to your door. I recently hosted a dinner that 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:33.440 featured two incredible cooks on the platform, Chef Skora, who 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:37.280 makes amazing Algerian food, and Chef Mary, who specializes in 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:41.560 Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. We enjoyed an entire, fresh, healthy 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:43.800 meal and I didn't even have to pull out a pan, 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:46.880 which is better for my guests. I almost can't believe 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:50.159 I can order it to my door anytime I want so. 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:54.760 Go to chef that's shef dot com or download the 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:57.560 chef app and use the code cheap pivots to order 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:01.160 your first meal. I want to let you know that 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:04.679 this episode contains references to violence, gun violence, and a 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.920 hostage situation that may be triggering for some It only 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:10.039 lasts a few minutes, so please feel free to fast 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:10.880 forward if needed. 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:12.919 I will always pivot. 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:14.880 I mean, it's such a beautiful I'm so glad that 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:19.520 this is the pod because we have such a capacity 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:22.319 to iterate, and I think that that's so freeing. 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:36.360 Welcome to She Pivots, the podcast where we talk with 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:39.679 women who dared to pivot out of one career and 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:44.120 into something new and explore how their personal lives impacted 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:51.720 these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. You might 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:55.600 remember when we hosted a live podcast recording with Pelotons 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.160 Robin Arzon as a Chelsea factory here in New York 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.880 this past winter. Well, I'm so excited to finally share 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:07.559 that conversation with you. Robin's been a long time dream guest. 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:09.919 In fact, we asked her to be on season one, 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:12.560 but the time it just didn't work out. Most of 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.640 you probably know her from her kick ass workouts for Peloton, 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.120 but her story goes so much deeper, from surviving an 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:24.840 incredibly traumatic experience in her twenties, to leaving her law career, 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.519 to joining Peloton and eventually becoming the vice president of 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:33.240 fitness Programming, to writing multiple books, to starting her company's 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:37.240 Swagger Society, and of course to becoming a mom and 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:41.480 soon mom of two. Her Pivots don't seem to stop. 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:45.919 Our conversation truly covers it all. Thank you so much 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.639 to Chelsea Factory for hosting this conversation and to Robin 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:52.679 for such an inspiring and vulnerable conversation in front of 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:53.519 a live audience. 0:02:54.240 --> 0:03:03.000 Enjoy. Thank you so much everyone for being here. 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:05.040 For those who have my friends for a long time, 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:06.440 great to see you all. 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.400 For those who may be new to me, to she Pivots, we. 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:13.800 Are a show that was born out of the idea 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:17.320 that I needed to redefine success for myself. I spent 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:20.840 over a decade in Washington as a political strategist. Had 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.600 felt like I had professionally hit the height, like had 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:26.800 a pretty great career. Then I had three kids in 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.280 three and a half years, and my entire career was 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:31.560 pulled out from under me. I had to listen to 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:33.920 a lot of Robin bike rides. So if you'll say, 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:36.360 I okay about myself, and then I needed to open 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:39.520 up the conversation like I needed to redefine success for myself, 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:41.440 and I didn't know how to do it, but I 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:43.680 needed to hear from women who had done it before. 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.680 So I thought, how do I get every woman that 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:49.320 I idolized to answer every question that I've ever had? 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:53.000 Well, I start a podcast, of course. So we've had 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:54.640 to date some incredible interviews. 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.240 We were launching our new season next week with vice 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:02.480 president Kamala Harris, but tonight we have a very exclusive, 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:09.080 very important, very exciting conversation with not just I think 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:13.240 we can all agree, the breakout star instructor of Peloton 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.800 of home fitness in general, but also has a job 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:20.960 within the organization as the vice president of fitness Programming. 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:25.880 Also two time New York Times bestselling author, now with 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:29.839 the third book out today, Strong Baby, Robin Arson. 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:35.080 Robin, come out and join me. This is so fun. 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:38.119 Robin, thank you so much for launching the physical book 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:40.760 tour here with us, with this room, with all of 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:41.160 your fans. 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:42.760 Can you guys here for Robin Yay. 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:43.919 I'm so misful. 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:48.039 I'm grateful that we can gather in community. And my 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:52.080 last event here was a few years ago. Peloton had 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:55.440 homecoming events here, so I have really great memories in 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:56.840 this space and I'm happy to be back. 0:04:57.200 --> 0:04:59.160 I love it so much, Robin, I have to tell 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:02.320 you to I feel like my crown's on a little 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.680 straight to be able to be here in this space 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:07.880 with you. So I want to talk about your book here, 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:11.800 why we're coming here today starting with this book. Look, 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:13.400 I have to ask, I love seeing you here in 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:14.960 front of it. What were you gonna say? 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:17.000 Yeah, I was just gonna say talking to the microL. 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:21.760 We got lighting, We have microphones. 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.080 We gotta use it all, honeyw we might as well 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:26.400 we might as well get some audio forget this as 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.520 not like cable news where they just like stick a 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:30.640 little lab right next to me and my audio goes 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:32.880 with me. Thank you, Robin for helping me in all 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:38.480 parts of my life, including this interview. Okay, so, Robin, 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:42.320 I love this picture so much. Is this you and 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:44.680 your daughter? And what does this book mean to you? 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:48.360 Yeah, this is a depiction of Athena and myself and 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:53.560 so Addireta Sonda illustrated strong Mama, and we asked her 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:56.400 back for a strong baby. I was really proud to 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:59.560 partner with her. She's a fellow Latina, she's a young artist, 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.279 and I just she happened to be plant based like 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:04.720 we have a lot of values in common, and so 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:09.560 she did a great job really channeling real pictures. Like 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.640 the imagery in this book. It's a really Athena's bedroom. 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.480 Like that's really besides the pets, because we don't have 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:17.400 any pets, and we won't have any pets, so Athena's 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:19.480 just gonna have an imaginary cats and dogs. You gonna 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:21.200 point to this book and be like, but where's my 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:22.000 real dog? 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:23.359 That day has coming? 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:26.360 Besides that? Yeah, it really depicts our life. 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:29.120 So I love your progression here in your books, Like 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:32.400 I really feel like it really does follow not just 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:34.880 your trajectory over the last couple of years, but so 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:37.320 many of your writers. You know that you started with 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:41.839 a fitness program, a fitness journey, very biographical, then went 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.599 to Strong Mama and now Strong Baby. 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.000 So what has that progression felt like for you? 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:49.840 I mean, it feels like lineage. 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:53.039 It feels like storytelling in its most honest form, where 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.000 you're kind of passing the microphone a little bit for me, 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:59.600 centering the caregiver. One of the very few children's books 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:02.400 that feature a pregnant person, certainly on the cover, certainly 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:05.080 a pregnant active person and. 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:05.880 For a strong baby. 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:08.400 I wanted to make clear that, you know, even the 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:13.160 youngest among us, our athletes are strong, have the capacity 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:18.920 for resiliency and language around that. Right, So the mantras 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:20.960 and things that I infused in this book. 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:22.440 I didn't babeify it, right. 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:25.720 I wanted to use the real language that I speak 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.360 to and around my daughter, and you know, and hopefully 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:29.240 she absorbs it. 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:34.520 But I love that having a strong pregnant woman, a 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:38.320 strong active pregnant woman in its children's book, I think 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:41.040 is so important not just for the children to see, 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:43.440 but for the parents to see. You know, we chatted 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:46.640 about this a little bit backstage, but with my pregnancies, 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.600 I had been very active beforehand. With my pregnancies, I 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:52.760 gained about one hundred pounds. I was very out of 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:57.000 shape because that wasn't a piece. The fitness and the 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.400 diet wasn't a piece that I could keep in managing 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.840 all other pieces around it. And it was peloton that 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.360 helped me get back into shape and helped me get 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:08.200 back healthy and strong again. And I think part of 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:11.320 the reason that I kept the weight on through all 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:16.440 of my pregnancies was because I was embarrassed to prioritize 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:19.360 all that time and energy for myself. I thought that 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:21.680 if I started to look different, then people would look 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:24.280 at me and say, well, she doesn't prioritize her kids, 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.720 she doesn't prioritize her career, she must be prioritizing herself. 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.520 And that was a hard piece for me to accept 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:34.000 for many years. And it wasn't until I was I 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.680 thought to say, you know, I want my kids to 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:39.360 actually see me prioritize my health and I want them 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:43.040 to see me be stronger. Only at that point could 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:45.160 I really get back into the routine. 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:46.400 So I love that you've. 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:50.800 Created not just the prenatal but the post natal programs. 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:53.800 Was that personal for you to create them, or that 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:55.280 had been something that you've been thinking. 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:56.840 About for a while. Both. 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.080 I mean, it was what I was actually going through 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:02.560 at the time, obviously postpartum, and there's. 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:03.400 A real need for it. 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:05.520 And even I mean, what we've put out is just 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:07.600 to drop in the bucket of what I hope one 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:11.360 day becomes, you know, an even more robust library, because 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:14.720 it's really needed. I mean, the medical care community in 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:18.319 the US, the standard medical care postpartum is not six weeks. 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:22.079 That is nonsense. Postpartum is forever. Postpartum is years. Postpartum 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.760 is how long you say in building your body to 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:29.400 a place of strength and capability. And you're the one 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:33.200 who decides when that journey. If that journey is ever over, 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:34.600 my journey will never be over. 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:39.079 There's no bounce back. There's pushing forward and raising the bar. 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:43.160 For myself because that's my self defined finish line. And 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.320 I think we need not only literacy and language around 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:50.640 those concepts, but we need support in the meta message 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.680 that self care isn't selfish, but also in the practicalities 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:55.920 of like, how the heck do I what is a 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:56.640 pelvic floor? 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:57.199 You know what I mean? 0:09:57.200 --> 0:09:59.160 Like, there is the basic things that aren't necessarily part 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:03.160 of everyday conversation, but for pregnant females it's very important. 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.960 So I want to back up to little Robin, a 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:10.920 little baby Robin where we started here. You will talk 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:14.520 a lot about your mother and your parents and the journey, 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:16.840 your professional journey that we will get through all of that. 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:19.280 But I want to back up to little Robin. What 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:20.160 was little Robin? 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:24.520 Like the straight a student, surprisingly very shy, Oh, it 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.400 is surprise shy as a kid arts and craft's kid, 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:32.560 very bookish, So part of that is still very much 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:35.160 who I am. I love I mean, I'm a voracious reader, 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:39.120 but clearly a very public person. So I would say, 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:42.440 you know, I was very introverted as a kid, and 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:46.360 now I consider myself like an extroverted introvert, like I 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.040 regained my energy through solitude. 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.679 But when do you think that extrovert turned on for you? 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:57.440 I joined the debate team in junior high school and 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:01.200 I was like, they passed me one my microphone, and 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:06.559 I said, I'm never letting this microphone go. But that 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:08.480 was also when I started toying with the idea of 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.240 going to law school and really getting enchanted with like 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:15.040 social science and politics, and so it's probably something related 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:15.280 to that. 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:16.840 But as soon as they handed it to you, you 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:20.319 were like, I'll take the floor exactly exactly. 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:23.640 Yeah, it bolstered something in me for sure. 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:26.120 Was that the beginning of thinking about going to law 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:27.240 school and becoming a lawyer. 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.640 Well, my father is an attorney, so I saw him, 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.520 you know, throughout his career, but that it was I 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:35.120 think it was really in junior high when I started 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:38.560 thinking about it seriously, and I just made the choice 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:42.280 early on, even before applying, you know, to schools to 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:44.520 undergrad that law school was in the cards. 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.640 Did you think it was because you wanted to emulate 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:50.120 your father or was there a particular aspect of law 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:51.160 that was drawing you in. 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:54.000 For me, it was the oral advocacy piece. It was 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.360 the idea or the advocacy piece in general. 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:58.959 It was the idea of being able to take something 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:01.880 in a book and then tell a story around that, 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:08.199 and so storytelling. Interestingly, storytelling has always been really central 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:11.360 to my life, and that was actually the most appealing 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:11.960 part of law. 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:13.120 So I ended up becoming a. 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:16.800 Corporate litigator, and I love the ability to wordsmith something, 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:19.440 the ability to meet with a client and say, like, 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:22.680 what are your facts and what's the finish line, and 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:24.560 then just figure out a way to do it. 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:25.280 It's so funny. 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:27.760 I didn't decide that I wanted to go to law 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:29.920 school until right before I went, Like, I. 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:31.760 Did not know that I was working up towards it. 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:34.520 But it was also the advocacy that drew me to it. 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:38.040 It was that I didn't know how I wanted to 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:41.280 make an impact in the world, and law felt like 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:44.560 the way to be so broad with it, Like that 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:48.400 I could impact so many people's lives, but I didn't 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:50.640 think about the storytelling aspect of it. I think that 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:52.720 intimidated me actually, Like I think the thing that drew 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:54.880 me to law was that it felt black and white, 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:56.920 Like it felt straight and clear. But you all saw 0:12:56.920 --> 0:12:59.040 the nuance very early, so. 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:01.880 Interestingly for such a linear pursuit as law usually is 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:07.560 perceived to be. I look at it as painting, like 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:11.480 I can see read a legal brief and read like 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.920 the dreadful you know, tomes that we had in law school. 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.600 And for me, I'm like picking up colors and pieces 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:19.880 and painting a picture. Like for me, it's a very 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:21.439 visual experience. 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:24.200 Actually, So you were in law, I mean you didn't 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.680 just go into law, like you went into the most 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:29.480 grueling part of law, like corporate litigation. 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:32.120 Like I remember when I actually was sworn into the bar, 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:33.719 the girls. 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.679 Behind me were talking about how they were in They 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:37.840 were in corporate litigation jobs and they're like, oh, yeah, 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:38.880 I seep at the office all the time. 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:39.839 And I was like, I don't think I can be 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:40.320 a lawyer. 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.679 Yeah, the hustle is real, but it was also I 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.000 don't know, I was kind of like it was enchanting. 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:49.079 For a while, I was in the corporate litigation department 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:50.920 of Paul Hastings in New York City. That's where I 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.000 did my summer associate year, and then I joined them 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:54.200 after graduation. 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:59.000 And it taught me how to be a business. 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.280 Like I have a lot of tentacles to my LLC 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:07.320 and my entrepreneurship, and that is directly related to my 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:11.640 ability to think like a lawyer. So they really had 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:16.560 to happen sequentially for me to be who I am today. 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:18.680 The hustle is real for Robin. 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:22.240 She's a two times New York Times bestselling author, and 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.400 in twenty twenty she was named one of the most 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.560 influential people on Fortune magazines forty under forty list than 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.760 In twenty twenty one, she became the first ever recipient 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:36.400 of Glamour Magazines Daring to Disrupt award, and through it all, 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:42.080 she still somehow runs ultra marathons. So you talk a 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:45.200 lot in your classes about you will use the word pivot, 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:47.560 like you're pivot out of law and into fitness. I 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.920 actually feel like the amount of shares I get from 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.040 friends of like Robin said, pivot. 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:55.600 Today, like she pivot it out of law. You're gonna 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:56.360 love this class. 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:58.080 I was like, guys, I would be exhausted if I 0:14:58.120 --> 0:14:59.560 listen to everyone of Robin's classes. 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:01.400 We talked about ehivting out. 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:04.120 Of law, but it was actually quite It was one 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:08.280 event that began the pivot out of law for you, 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.440 something that you allude to often but don't talk about 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:13.080 in detail often. 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:15.200 Would you mind sharing that with us? 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:15.920 Yeah. 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:19.200 So when I was entering my final year at NYU, 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:21.960 I was down in the East Village with girlfriends. I 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:24.760 was apparently at a law firm at the time, and 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:28.200 I went to a wine bar with my girlfriends and 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:30.000 it ended up getting held at gunpoint. 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:31.760 Like a man walked in with a gun. 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:35.040 He had one hundred rounds of artillery, like he had 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:38.360 kerosene samurai swords. I mean, it was truly like a 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:43.000 horror film. And I ended up becoming the negotiator. It's 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:46.960 essentially a pseudo negotiator at twenty years old with NYPD 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:49.000 who ended up being called and coming outside. 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:50.440 A number of people were shot. 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:54.160 Our top story this morning, the NYPD is investigating a 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.760 late night shooting in the East Village. Well coming up, 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:02.960 how surviving and on a imaginable and horrifying crime help 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:03.920 Robin gain. 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:05.040 Focus and a new purpose. 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:06.800 This is a part of her life that I did 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.760 not know, and when I read the story, I knew. 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:11.240 I wanted to ask her about it, her. 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:16.360 Inspiring journey and resilient after it was truly like it was, 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:18.560 I don't know, it's weird. I've been processing it for 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:20.960 a really long time and I'm very comfortable talking about it. 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:22.200 I've written about it publicly. 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:26.240 I processed it through lots of thousands of thousands of 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:31.280 miles of running and that I had a choice every 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.920 day thereafter, right, Like it's really interesting. I think trauma 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:37.640 survivors will understand this. Any type of trauma that you 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:41.360 kind of have, it kind of sits with you, like 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:42.160 it's always like this. 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:43.440 Little bit of a companion. 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:48.760 And instead of trying to get away from that, I 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:54.280 just decided to like absorb it enough to then rise 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:57.040 above it, Like I don't know. 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.440 The catalyst for me was so borytelling. 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.480 Actually it was when I became really acutely aware of narrative, 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:06.040 my inner monologue and the story that I was telling 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.720 myself about myself. And I learned later that this is 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:12.399 a therapy technique like a talk therapy technique. But I 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.159 started writing about myself and the third person, and I 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.239 would literally to get over the fear, because I had 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:17.600 fear of. 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:19.719 Even just leaving my apartment and getting on the subway. 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:23.680 So I would write in my journal like Robin gets 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:26.200 on the A train at west Ford Street, she goes 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:29.120 to school, she comes back, She's safe. Like I had 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:31.120 to write about myself and the third person to start 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:32.640 to really see myself. 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:34.479 Like living out of this. And then I was like, well, 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:35.520 how far can I take this? 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.080 So that became like a lot of how I teach 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:41.800 and how I express myself. Some might perceive that as 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:45.240 like hyperbolic, but like, I truly do believe I'm the biggest, 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:47.520 most amazing badass on the planet, and I want everyone 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:49.359 else to feel that way about themselves too. 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:50.000 Like why not. 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:52.800 It can be so much more for. 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:56.200 The world when you're filled with that energy, especially when 0:17:56.240 --> 0:17:57.919 you're doing it from a place of like anchored in 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:00.440 community and giving, which. 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:02.960 I hope I am most of the time. And yeah, 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:04.240 so that's how that whole thing. 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:07.320 It was a catalyst, and it was a huge inflection point, 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.160 and it continues to be an inflection point and rising 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:14.000 above trauma, I think does. 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:14.760 Become a choice. 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:18.600 It becomes like thousands of subsequent inflection points and choices. 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:22.320 And I don't want to drink self pity as poison. 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.800 I just don't How did the running start to come 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:28.840 into play then? Because you hadn't really been an athlete 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:29.520 growing up. 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:30.359 No, not at all. 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:33.280 I started running in law school and I don't know why. 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:36.840 I had, like dusty not even running shoes in my closet, 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:39.800 and I just decided to like walk jog to campus 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:41.879 one day in the suburbs of Philadelphia, went to Villanova 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:44.400 Law School, and that's. 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:45.120 Where it started. 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:48.480 It was just like a curiosity that turned into a 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:52.040 hate relationship. To be honest, I was like, I hate this, 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:52.920 But how could I be. 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:53.919 So bad at something? 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:54.280 Like? 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.280 You know, I was like, I was so horrible at this. 0:18:57.359 --> 0:18:59.920 How could that be? I'm in law school, I'm kicking butt. 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:02.800 But then, you know, we always it's good. 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.440 It's good to have that beginner's mindset, and I certainly 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.600 was a beginner, and that's how it started. It was 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:11.040 very humble, humble beginnings. I mean, it was truly a 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:11.920 few blocks at a time. 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:13.320 Do you think. 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:15.520 That that it was such a physical challenge for you 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:17.800 and so different when you were in a setting that 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:20.800 you were doing so well. Was that part of the appeal, 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:24.440 like to run towards something that that was so different 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:25.680 and that scared you a little bit? 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:26.200 Absolutely? 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:29.720 I mean that's when I started to develop in parallel tracks, right, 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:33.239