Working women get all sorts of advice. Lean in, lean out, ask for a raise, but don’t ask in the wrong way, be aggressive, but not too aggressive. We’re also told to make sure not to forget about our personal lives, lest we end up forgoing families or love or travel or friendship in service of our careers. It’s confusing and maddening, and we’re all still struggling to figure it out.
“This Woman’s Work” is an ongoing series meant to highlight how women in different industries are living their lives. We hope to show that there’s no one “right” way to succeed. There are so many ways, and so many different experiences.
Today we’re chatting with Ruth Zukerman, co-founder and creative director of Flywheel Sports, an indoor cycling studio with more than 36 locations nationwide. Created in 2010, Flywheel features stadium-style seating and performance tracking technology that sets it apart from the spin class pack, creating a space for competitive personalities to thrive. We caught up with Zukerman to discuss how teaching dance aerobics led her to a creative director position at Flywheel and what it was like to break off from an already successful brand to start her own.
DESCRIBE YOUR CAREER PATH.
Well, I first started off as a dancer. That was my passion; I majored in dance in college and then I moved to New York City after I graduated. In the first year or two I went to many auditions and saw how difficult and challenging of a life it is. It literally got to the point where I had to make some kind of living—and it was a huge decision—but I ended up giving up on a dance career. I gave up a lifelong passion and I had various jobs where I was miserable.
After stopping dance, I had to figure out how I was going to exercise. I started taking an aerobics-style class on the Upper West Side in a small studio called Bjorkman and Martin and really enjoyed it. In six months the owner said, “You know I’ve noticed you and I really think you should teach for me.” So I said, “Okay, well that’s interesting,” and started teaching dance aerobics in the early ’80s. It was a little place, but we had everyone [at the studio] from Ben Stiller to Jennifer Grey, we had Kevin Bacon and Carly Simon.
Within this time period I got married, had kids, and I was a stay-at-home mom for a while. But then I got divorced when my kids were six, and I had to figure out what I was going to do. I started taking spin classes (this was in 1998) and I just fell in love with it from the moment that I did it. I was drawn to both the physical and mental aspect—the mental aspect especially. I found it very cathartic, especially during my divorce.
I had a favorite instructor, who was my guru, and eventually he told me he was moving to Florida. There were no other instructors there that I liked, so then I auditioned at Reebok gym and taught there for six years. Then I left to start SoulCycle. I was at SoulCycle until 2009, and then I left to be with my two co-founders of Flywheel, because we liked this idea of adding technology to the bike. We opened our doors in February 2010 and it’s been quite a ride.
WHAT WERE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT YOU FACED WHEN YOU FIRST OPENED?
The biggest challenge was that I had a great method and product at SoulCycle, and while I thought the idea of technology was amazing, at the same time I was nervous because I was so wedded to the way I’d been teaching, which was without numbers. Much of the way I taught was with a lot of emphasis on the mindfulness aspect of the ride—I was concerned it was going to take too much attention away from that. And with SoulCycle being so successful at that point: Will anyone even want to try something else? But once we got started and literally, physically got on the bike, slowly I realized that it was going to be a game changer. I can still include the mindful aspect of the ride but add the numbers to it so people are finally accountable.
WAS IT HARD TO GET PEOPLE TO COME ON BOARD?
At the end of the day, people were really excited, so we were very confident that we could draw on other talent because we were already quite reputable in the industry. Believe me, in the beginning we had a couple of instructors who didn’t work out and that always happens, but no, people were just so excited about the idea and about teaching here.
WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?
Typically I start my day teaching a class on the Upper West Side. Then I shower and then I come to the office and usually have lots of meetings—from the marketing, to the creative, to sitting down with the IT guys. As we’ve grown, I am now constantly adjusting to this much more corporate culture that just means a lot of meetings. A lot of my time is also spent on the road. When I am not teaching here, I am teaching classes in all of our studios across the country. It’s just a great way to kind of serve as a little, mini refresher course for all of the instructors in other regions.
BEING INVOLVED IN SO MANY ASPECTS OF THE BUSINESS, HOW DO YOU MAKE SURE YOU’RE NOT SPREAD TOO THIN?
When I notice that that is starting to happen, I will make it known and I will draw the line and reduce my schedule of meetings. When I see that it is getting too much, it affects my mood. When it pulls me too much away from creative, then I draw the line. I say, “I need to take a break here,” and put my energy towards something else. I think it is super important to recognize that you are being spread too thin, and you need to make a change. And that’s what you need to do.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SCARED TO SAY THAT, THOUGH. AND THEN YOU GET TO A POINT WHERE YOU’RE JUST WORN OUT.
Yes, you get worn out and then you also begin to hate what you do. This business, especially, requires passion, and we especially have to be aware of what our limits are.
HOW DO YOU RELAX?
Two years ago I bought a little house house on Sag Harbor. When I step foot into that house, my shoulders drop and I just go into instant relaxation mode.
HAS THERE EVER BEEN A TIME IN YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU HAVE JUST FLAT-OUT FAILED?
The first that came to mind in terms of a failure would probably be my divorce. It was a failure of a marriage. And while I never regretted the decision, it is still a failure of a marriage. But I learned so much about myself through that process and continued to learn about myself. I think it is a great example of how failure should not be avoided, or how it shouldn’t be looked upon pessimistically because it’s the challenges that make you successful in life.
