What I saw very early on was that there was this very strong mental component that kicked in during the 45 minutes in class. In her View From The Top conversation at Stanford GSB, Zukerman discussed all this and more with Michael Lewis, MBA 20. Interestingly, when I started Flywheel with two men, the dynamic was completely different. So at SoulCycle, literally everyone walked in, waited online and signed up on a list, a paper, a list. I very easily slipped into that role. Why were those the right times to start companies and were there any learnings from timing in your life? [Laughs] We were very big on empathy. I believe [unintelligible] as an instructor for Soul, which must have been weird. The Levain founders are prime examples of that. Zukerman: What I discovered through my own path is how important resilience is. Mike: To bring the conversation back full circle, one of the things we spoke right before coming on stage about was what lessons you would give yourself as a teenager thinking about the course of your life as an entrepreneur, the business takeaways. At 51, she co-founded a new business, the highly successful Flywheel, and built the life she'd always dreamed of. And every day I walked in to teach class, I would have to look at both of them. Is there something wrong with me? She looked at me and said, Why would you ever think there was something wrong with you? CONTACT; Menu; Now 60, the spin enthusiastic has a book and a lot of good advice. Ruth is the author of Riding High: How I Kissed SoulCycle Goodbye, Founded Flywheel, and Built the Life I Always Wanted. Spinning Together Passion, Purpose And Success: How Flywheel Cofounder Ruth Zukerman Found Her Path Rob Dube Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes She compiled the best ideas she had for growing SoulCycle and used them to instead build. In 2006, Ruth co-founded the first exclusive indoor cycling studio in New York City, and is widely credited as the driving force behind the surge in indoor cyclings popularity in New York and beyond. Mike: Would you prefer if this was an interview on bikes right now? Ruth Zukerman: Well, it had major repercussions for me because growing up with a mother like that, your self-esteem is not going to be very high. Ruth Zukerman is the original co-founder of SoulCycle and Flywheel, both wildly successful companies that innovated the studio cycling movement . At 51, she co-founded a new business, the highly successful Flywheel, and built the life she'd always dreamed of. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. We have no choice. At the end of the day, thats what we all want. Mike: But I took the liberty to make a version two of that game just because youre here, and I thought it might be fun. Were seeing whats happening with the industry. Im curious about other elements you wanted to bring into both of these brands as you were thinking about the concepts and how you brought them to life in the brands that you did create. Look, we certainly know in this day and age of living the most efficient life we can and technology and everything going digital, we need to connect more than ever. So that was really what I drew upon the most in terms of my leadership style. In addition to making more money each day, Ruth Zukerman is becoming more and more well-known by the day. Ruth Zukerman, Co-founder of indoor cycling businesses SoulCycle and Flywheel Sports and author of the book "Riding High: How I Kissed SoulCycle Goodbye, Co-Founded Flywheel, and Built the Life I Always Wanted", joins Socialfly Co-founder Courtney Spritzer in the MouthMedia Network studios for a conversation about building her company and . Nice. I think we have a few from the audience. But thats not the case either. The other very obvious one was have really good legal protection when you go into a partnership and a business, and I didnt. Mike: That type of learning I think in a school like the GSB where theres a very touchy-feely mentality to approaching business, that resonates, Im sure, with us in the audience. Ruth Zukerman used her heartache-at the death of her father, the end of her marriage, and the dissolution of her first business partnership with SoulCycle, as the inspiration to reinvent herself. Lets bring you back into your basement and take you away from the very thing that you describe people seeking, which is community. Is that here to stay? What are we going to do? Because we were in the back of a building. But again, it eventually became just what you said; people had to know about it to go there. I discovered at an early age that fitness and exercise is so key to keeping ourselves calm, controlling our moods, and allowing us to approach our stresses in a much healthier way. The bride's father is a founder and senior partner of the Manhattan law firm Zukerman Gore Brandeis & Crossman. And in terms of a learning lesson, that one, we had no idea. Everybody has problems and challenges in their life. This new venture, however, didnt come without its own uncertainties and challenges, which Zukerman overcame through persistence and a newfound sense of confidence. Ruth Zukerman: It played a huge role. The health, wellness and fitness guru from New York City, has been a leading fitness instructor on the East Coast for the past 30 years. And that really started my ball rolling in terms of not only leaving the marriage, but starting to really learn about who I am and who I was. Sometimes I think about the fact that my two cofounders of SoulCycle are two women who I didnt know for a long time. With the amount of choices out there which you just spoke about, its very different. Because I cant seem to get past this trauma. And then theyre going to Barrys twice a week. So she definitely appreciated it. I recently spoke with Zukerman about lessons shes learned personally and professionally about resilience and reinvention, her advice on co-founding relationships, and what shes up to now. But another phenomenon thats taken place is a lot of the kind of bigger businesses and corporations are now getting into this sector. Zukerman: So I got married, and started working in a small aerobics exercise studio on the Upper West Side. Meet Co-founder and Creative Director at Flywheel Sports, Ruth Zukerman. There was something about dancing that just made me feel great. It's a balance. They started in New York and theyre going exponentially. The instructor puts a lot into it, especially when youre going into a boutique experience. Again, just another moment of being able to put things in perspective and have self-empathy, you know? Mike: An interesting counterbalance to that is you describe that empathy should be in moderation when going forward in business, which also runs counter to a lot of the things we hear about, especially today. Mike: As the discussions got going, you write, and I quote, It had been a quarter century since I gave up on my dream to become a professional dancer This is on the brink of starting a brand at the time, a fledgling startup. Ruth Zukerman: I mean, it was part generational I would say for my mother. I remember that story I heard in Ruths narrative. Is there anything youd want to make sure you get out if theres one thing folks can take home? She lives in New York with her two daughters. If I looked at myself at 42, I never in a million years thought I would start my own business. Contents. Student Question: My name is Laura, also an MBA-1. A lot of times, death makes us think about our own mortality in certain ways. The health, wellness and fitness guru from New York City, has been a leading fitness instructor on the East Coast for the past 30 years. Zukerman: The most recent book that really inspired me was Tara Westovers Educated. According to her website, Ruth received her education at Mount Holyoke College and has taken extensive courses in anatomy and exercise physiology. Health and wellness is an 80 billion dollar industry. I really hadnt done that kind of exploration. flywheel ruth zukerman net worthmartin et julien bouchet biathlon. Im sure youve all read about it, and its part of the reason for their success. Ruth Zukerman: 26:29 Her experience was in selling real estate, so she had-Julie Roehm: 26:32 A little bit. You may opt-out by. Mike: So I want to take us back, all the way back. What were the learnings there from doing it yourself and not raising capital? Mike: Yeah. Ruth Zukerman: 26:33 . We need to think about and ask ourselves, What do we want to do? It was kind of a floor-to-ceiling glass room, dark, room was full, the sound of the wheels, club music blaring. Mike: As a quick time out to that, I love how in business school we do cases and courses and six-month learning programs to try to have a light bulb moment that you got getting on a bike one day. Question number one. And I just felt like this was taking it to the next level. And what I ended up doing is I ended up with two partners who were very much like my mother. Weve all had a lot of challenges growing up and in our adult life. And every winter was it, your mother would write a card saying, Heres to a better year next year?. I became addicted to it. Year: Net Worth: 2019: $16 Million : 2020: $16.5 Million: 2021: 17 Million: And we created a very different aura at Flywheel. That was the start of SoulCycle in 2006. "Ruth Zukerman is an inspiration. Leibson: Do you have any tips on navigating cofounder relationships? Customer service in general was huge and is huge in this field and in this industry. 1 Early life; 2 SoulCycle; 3 Flywheel Sports; 4 References; . Thats only when the reinvention can happen. Ruth Zukerman's new book is out now. And I find it interesting to myself that it took me a long time after divorce to really settle into a relationship with a man. Sometimes when you get too personal, the business part can be compromised, and you just get too much into the weeds. It worked. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Mike: I bet you Plato would have liked that though if that counts for something. It felt like an experience for me. Mike: Have you ever done a class for 600 people? Ruth Zukerman Net Worth What's Ruth Zukerman's mailing address? And so thats why I think this type of business is so important and here to stay. As a former dancer with a background in anatomy and physiology, Zukerman has long been. And so I looked at how I raised my children and what my style was in raising my children. [1] Being a dancer, I choreograph to music. Stanford GSBs View From The Top is the deans premier speaker series. She asked me, and in two minutes I said yes. So I know everyone is trying to think in that direction right now, and I think its so important. Mike: And you describe a scene where you were at his bedside, and he said to you that, and I quote, Im ready to go. I was never exposed to business. Ruth Zukerman: Sometimes it can get you into trouble. Required fields are marked *. Were seeing how it is going into the digital realm. I wouldnt recommend that. And its when two people are vulnerable that they connect. You talked about how important it was to help your clients feel noticed and important and like theyre a part of a community. I have to say one thing first. Little did I know that I was kind of earning my degree in this field. There werent the SoulCycles and other brands out there. Thats just a simple thing that I learned from dance class. Ruth Zukerman's love for Sag Harbor runs deep, and so do her roots in the community. Thats what keeps me going, certainly in terms of having a regime and not falling off of the wagon. She didnt know anything about teaching spin or what went into it. I actually just heard a story of two friends who started a business and knew each other for 25 years, and sure enough, they started the business, money gets involved, the relationship fell apart, and the business partnership dissolved. Look, in spinning, were seeing about the success of Peloton. And a big reason people come to programs like View from the Top is were about to go in a lot of different ways. At 51, she co-founded a new business, the highly successful Flywheel, and built the life she'd always dreamed of. Mike: I appreciate the vulnerability because thats not often a takeaway that people would want to share. That was also a set of circumstances. I found that despite what a difficult time that was for me, I would finish class and oddly feel empowered. We might not have the answers when were 37. And then Ill share who said it. Ruth Zukerman: This type of business is honestly so word-of-mouth. And I think that, again, as simplistic as it sounds, we do the best we can and thats it. And Elizabeth, one of my cofounders, came up with the idea of just putting this rickshaw outside, painting it yellow and putting the name of our business on it to attract attention. I think a lot of us, an ideal state would be to go to [Spain], [unintelligible] core power [berries] a few times a week, Peloton at home. Mike: That Peloton story just fascinates me. Everyone listen up here. For the entire time I was at SoulCycle and Flywheel, we never advertised once. So that kind of really spelled out my future. So I think there will be both. Yeah. And again, at that moment, I had no idea what a huge part my experience with dance would play in my future career. Jon Corzines son, Vivienne Westwood Husband Andreas Kronthaler, Francesca Hetfield Metallicas James Hetfields Wife. And again, completely unintentional, but it took on this kind of cool factor. She recently authored Riding High: How I Kissed SoulCycle Goodbye, Co-Founded Flywheel, and Built the Life I Always Wanteda refreshingly authentic and spectacular memoir about realizing your own potential and building a fulfilling life. I thought I was good. She said I was getting a belly. Mike: You described that your partners had a different approach. I will say a quote, and you will have the option of saying, Is it a quote said in a SoulCycle class or by Plato? And then if you want, we can then ask the audience, kind of like an ask-the-audience question.