The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 613 - SoulCycle

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

Comedians Gareth Reynolds and Dave Anthony examine spin class groundbreaking company SoulCycle. No episode next week. Merry Christmas  Tour Dates Redbubble Merch Sources     Nutrafol - Code: Dollop Squarespace Hydrow - Code: Dollop Helix Sleep - Code: HELIXPARTNER20

You're listening to the dollop. This is an American history podcast each week. I, Dave Anthony, read a story from American history to life form. Gareth Reynolds, who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. Feels like a lot of liberties were taken there for- What do you mean? I just felt totally crazy. Why?

Just because you were saying a lot of crazy shit. I just, I simply read the intro. But a life form is just sort of so gentle. It's so general. No, but you know why it's weird. I don't know why it's weird. It's a descriptive term. No, it's weird because it's like I'm more than that. Did I call you an inanimate object? No. So I was truthful. There's a town in Australia and Jose is all over the town. What? Jose is all over that town. The police keep having to put on their sirens to chase him back into the water because he keeps...

So what is this, a walrus hanging out on streets? I saw him playing with a little plastic traffic divider. He's hanging out on people's porches. Soawalrus? Jose is a problem, and you need to bring him back from Australia. He's here. He's here right now. Sure he is.

He's in problems bed on his special pillow where he always is. We've all seen the video. None of us have. Dave, this is our Christmas episode. So if you can get a little more in the fucking holiday spirit, that would be cool. Okay, we're not doing an episode next week because holiday spirit. That's better. And called it quote is jam.

Pat. Jim. I'm the fucking hippo guy. Dave, okay. My name's Gary. Let it. It's better. And called it quote is jam-past. Jam-past? I'm the fucking hippo guy! Dave O'Kass. My name's Gary. My name's Gary. What? Is it far-fine?

And this is not going to come to Tiggly Quad Co. Okay. This is like an unapologized part of fishing. Come on, real quick. Now hit him with the puppy. You both present sick arguments. No, sleep down hippo. That's like an hippo.

Actually, part of it. I can't be. No. I see it's done, my friend. No. No, sleep down. Hit pop. That's like that hip hop. Actually, part. I can't be. No. I see it done, my friend. No. No, no, no.

No, no, no. It's not far. No. No. No. No. No. No.

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Girith were also brought to you in part by helix sleep. Dave right now in the home where I am Pam Reynolds is in a helix mattress watching fixer upper. Yes. So that's the best way to watch Fixer-upper on a helix sleep mattress. I watch all of my television on a helix sleep mattress I have them all over the house now. I don't just have one in the bedroom. No, it's become a major. I saw a bunch of them on your roof It was doctor ordered that I put them on the wall. So Does your pet like your helix mattress? Yes, my pet has my pet sleeps on a helix pillow every night like a yep all of our Dog sleep on helix mattresses. We have seven dogs. It's crazy. What's happening over there? Is anyone checking in on you guys? You go to The helix sleep website you take the quiz

It hooks you up with the correct mattress. I got the Dusk Lux, which is a luxe dusk kind of thing. That's real room. Do you have any idea what you're talking about? It says, it like picks out how you sleep, right? You sleep hot, you sleep cold, you sleep on your back, you sleep on your side, I sleep on my earlobes. So they have a very specific mattress for that,

that is Dusk Lux. And so we love it. We're big fans. It's the best mattress I've ever had honestly. Helix is offering 20% off all mattress orders and two free pillows for our listeners. Go to helix sleep.com slash dollop and use code helix partner 20. This is their best offer yet and it won't last long with helix. Better sleep starts now. Do you have anything you want to say to people? I just want to say that we here at the dollop, thank everybody for listening and for tuning in

and we realize that Christmas isn't the only holiday that's celebrated around this time of year. And we celebrate all the celebrations. We do not exclusively cater to our Christmas fans. We cater to all our fans for every holiday that they celebrate. We are what we call a big tent podcast. We do not discriminate against a holiday.

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I mean, it's just damaged goods. It's over, It's ending. But this time of year, you know, we can get together and, you know, throw some, throw some ham in a waffle and put some syrup on it and drink eggnog with some people you care about, even though maybe you're starting to think they're a little messed up, maybe more messed up than you figured, because you've been following on social media, but you had to mute them. But, but that's okay. Look, we don't have too many more of these left so enjoy it. And that's from us to you.

Gobble-gobble. March 27th, 1958, year of our Lord, J. Town. He has a new freeze-becoming out. Ruth and Katzka was born and grew up in Long Island, New York. Her dad was a doctor, her mom was a psychotherapist. And Ruth went to school, she made you to dance in college and then tried to live as a dancer after she gets out of college in in New York. She gave up that for two years. Just wasn't going to work. That's the 80s. She takes a jobries a lawyer, Jeffrey David Zuckerman in 1984. They have twin daughters in 1990.

But Ruth leaves the marriage in 1996. She's done. I like the way you're putting that. It's like instead of, she didn't leave him, she left the marriage. She was out. She liked him a lot, but the marriage was. Yeah, leave him she left the marriage. She was out. She'd like him a lot But the marriage. Yeah, but the marriage was the problem. Yeah, okay. I've never used that. I'm actually leaving the relationship Around this time she took her first spin class at the rock club. This is great. And she loves it.

Great. This is not spinning, then becomes a really big part of her life. Couple years into her new spin class life, something devastating happens. No more tires. Her guru spin instructor, quote, announced he was leaving town. He was moving to Florida. It was a, I'm embarrassed to say, a devastating moment for me. I literally thought my world fell apart. I had no idea how I was going to handle this. He's leaving

the studio, not her. That is a devastating thing though. That is devastating. We've all been left high and dry by a spin instructor. We have? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I've gone through a few. It's tough.

Is it? You know? Huh? Is it? I remember? Huh? Is it? I remember one time I, before I, I mean, you never, you know, it's almost pointless at this point to even try to source where your money's going because it's all kind of funneling upwards to six gigantic assholes. But when I used to go to SolSycle because eventually I stopped because of whatever's

name is, is real prick. But I was at a spin class once there and I was closing my eyes because it was really hard and the teacher had her hands on the handlebars and she screamed in my face so loud that I was like, stop. And she was like, yeah, no, it's like, I'm good. I don't need this part of it.

I'm not like, I'm not doing this part of it. Like, I'm not drinking the blood. So, Ruth didn't like any other instructors, and she decided to start teaching herself. Okay. So she made a playlist, and she got an audition. So, and quote, they how will I do it? Okay. Okay, so she made a playlist and she got my dishes and Quote they how will I do it? Okay, I mean three minutes and

Then she starts taking off as a spin instructor people like her that's part you cannot do that You got to stay in studio that bike needs to be screwed down Well, it's not how it works here. Oh She started doing classes in the Hamptons where the fancy people are. Oh, boy. And in 2005, she meets a really rich realtor, Elizabeth Cutler, who was taking Ruth's classes. And then after the summer in the Hamptons, Elizabeth keeps going to her classes in Manhattan. And then she goes to Ruth and she says, she wants to open a spin studio and she wants Ruth to be the face of it.

And Ruth is like, yes, absolutely. And then Ruth brings in a friend of hers to be a partner Hollywood agent Julie Rice. And they find this little space on a 70 second street on the upper west side. I can fit 32 bikes in it. So pretty small. You can't see it from the street.

Like it's totally hidden and they can't put a sign outside because the building's a landmark. That's good. I don't know much, but I know not being able to see it and having no signage is good. Well, you're forgetting about rich people. So they bought a rich shop. It's expensive. They put a sandwich board on the rich shop front, they were getting fined all the time. But it made it a secret.

So it spreads by word of mouth and all the rich, trendy New York click people, love it. So word spreads really fast and the studio's taken off. It starts doing really well. Okay. They like to say it was, quote, loved into existence. And they nicknamed it utopia.

Jesus Christ. The actual name was Soul Cycle. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Do you want me to go back and delete some stuff? No, why? You'll see. The studio was small and candlelight.

Yeah, I don't know everything. I just, I don't know. I know like, oh my God, okay. Candlelit studio. Oh my God. It's crazy. So dangerous. Oh yeah, horrible fire hazard. Completely illegal, horrible fire hazard.

Completely illegal, I would imagine. Yes. So they have sexy instructors. There's packed classes. At least once a class everyone would swing their towels over their head in a super fun ritual. Just fun stuff. A 45 minute class is about 30 bucks. Movie starts start coming and it becomes a sensation. It's exclusive, it's trendy. They use the word cultish but in a positive way. It is cultish. No doubt. Ruth, quote, you had to kind of be in the know to know about it.

It's so, it is like Silicon Valley cycle. You had to kind of be in the know to know about it. It's so, it is like Silicon Valley cycle. They open a second studio in the summer of 2007 in the Hamptons. They open it in a barn. Ruth quote. Art. That farmer was like, so what are you going to, what are you going, what are you gonna end up using the space for? The hell? You're gonna grow, what kind of crops are you gonna grow here? You're gonna put the cows in there at night or? No, because this whole thing is just gonna be bikes wall to wall and cyclists. We're just gonna really, you should take a class, Earl.

You'd really like it. I gotta put the cows inside at night. No, well, we're buying the property. So maybe you don't understand what we're looking for. So you and your cows can go somewhere else. But then I think it would be great for you because you do have that little pot belly that you could start coming in here.

We could cut your overalls down into sort of short shorts and you could come in here and you could cycle with us. If you love it. If you ladies could in here and you could cycle with us. If you ladies, if you ladies could help with the milk in in the morning. Have you heard of DJ Shadow? He did an exclusive playlist for one of these classes. Don't have cold hands when you go in there. You gotta have warm hands.

You're really good. Oh, don't worry. Everything on us is gonna be warm. We're working up such a sweat and a lather. And then when we get really crazy about 30 minutes, we spend the towels around our head. Earl, you'll love it. It is crazy in here. Ruth, quote, by the end of that summer, the business exploded literally to the point

where we got back into the Upper West Side studio in the fall and could not fit everyone through our doors. Everyone found out about us. Black Cadillac escalated, showed up. It was a very heavy moment. We need to teach, we need to presidential address on the word literally. Just to, no, it's been changed in the dictionary. To what? Just to know it's been changed in the it's changed in the dictionary to what It's now it's now the it's now the literal definition and also the definition that has been used in slang because all language is fluid It does not so we had to adapt the word to the fact that nobody could a crap really process what people started using it differently

And then it and then it takes on a right no, but they started using it differently and then it and then it takes on a right. No, but they started using it. You had it. You had it. People go like, my head literally exploded. So then we have to take all the meaning out of literally. Well, literally is chain. There are now there's two.

Because people misused it. Because it was a waste. That's how language works. But that's like that's catering to the stupid part of language. But it's not. It's just a different way. Then could why come Benjamin Franklin still no president? Okay, they open a third studio on the upree side a Solc cycle writer quote I remember Charlotte Sarcosi telling me oh my god

There's this super hot lesbian teaching this amazing workout all the mothers are in love with her. Sarcosis is related to ex-French president Nicholas Sarcosi and the ex-wife of Mary Kate Olsen's ex-husband anyway celebrities are in the richer end the powerful in. So what year we're in now? We're 90, 2000, 2008, 2008, oh shit, we're in 2007, 2007. We're in 2007. Okay. So now you can go there and you can secure a set, you can secure a line, Kennedy, you can see Kelly, Ripa, Brook Shields, a kitty, Coric, they're all, they're all exercising. And that just more people want to go. So they keep expanding. And all

the stew is dark except for the candles and then there's mood lighting around the instructor. So that's really great. People are getting just total obsessions over the instructors. So the super hot lesbian is Stacey Griffith. And Katie Curric loves Stacey. The teachers were pushed as more important than the workout. So it's like they're trying to get us to... Dude, I took her class. I've taken this person's class.

I'm not kidding. Oh my god, he's serious. I swear to god in LA. No, in LA, she would like, she would show up and she would be like, I probably did about a year at it. And like I said, it was before, I was just like, oh, someone like took me to it. I was not like, oh yeah, but she was there,

and she was nuts, and everyone was nuts about her. I was not like, oh yeah, but she was there and she was nuts. And everyone was nuts about her. Yeah. Yeah, she's in this world. It was this cultish world where they were, I mean, you know, to be frank, it's a little like podcasting. You become very famous to a select group.

And then you leave so cycle and you're just in a mall. You know what I mean? Like I just like see her like parking next to me me like trying to get her ticket into the thing too I'd be like she ain't fucking Michelle Obama Michelle Obama would have got a soul cycle awesome absolutely So so the they're the thing it stays the grip of this is the top one. Stacy made a lot of money, minimum $800 a class,

but the bar not 75 bikes, and all the rich moms are into her, like we said, Stacy does 15 classes a week, so she's making over $500,000 a year. Nice. Instructors got sellout bonuses. She's making over $500,000 a year. Nice. Instructors got sellout bonuses. Riders gave them gifts on the side. Riders give them Christmas trips.

Tips, sorry. I had trips. Riders. You and a friend. Well, riders let them use their vacation houses. Oh my God. When the housing crisis hits in 2008, Soul Cycle is not affected because their clients are at that affluent. Right. Also, the rich start hiding their wealth a bit. They're not trying to show it off. It was

called stealth wealth at the time. So they're not flaunting their wealth. Less flashing brands. Exactly, because they, okay. Well, that led to them getting into health and wellness because it didn't seem as insensitive to the pores. I like to call it wealth and hellness. Well-fenleness. Because it seems like we no longer have this, the rich no longer have this desire

to demeer when it comes to, like it feels like it's now, like if you're super rich, you want to flon it more than it. That was right, that was when the housing crisis happened. So during the housing crisis, they were like, they might come for us. Right, they might come for us. Right, they might come for us. Yeah, yeah, they're absolutely.

Yeah, that's gone. So no one knows exactly why, but Ruth leaves SoulCycle in 2009 and starts a competing company called Flywheel. And she starts- That is a very strange development. Well, she starts with XNFL player, Tiki Barber.

Tiki and his wife were regular. He should have just gotten into haircuts. He should have just opened a haircut. 100%. Tiki Barbers. And you serve cocktails? I get it. Dave, this mind is being wasted on this.

I have no, it's, I think that you have had. It's ridiculous. I think you've had COVID and you have cognitive problems. If you got a drink, like a pineapple with an umbrella and a haircut, and it was licensed by Tiki Barber, I'm gonna need to take a lay down break. Can we take a fiber? So me lay down? Anyway, Tiki had a. I'm gonna need to take a lay down break. Can we take a fiber? So me lay down.

Anyway, Tiki had a step way from the business because he was publicly got cheating on his wife and then he lost his gig on TV and he had to step away from flywheel. Anyway, Dave, all he did was leave the relationship. And she had was wife. Some regulars go with Ruth. One on finding out Ruth was gone quote, I was really upset. You get emotionally addicted to Ruth's class. You have a release of energy and stress. Some people were going to

both studios, but this woman wouldn't, because quote, it would be wrong to go to both of them. The New York Times quoted a woman at a flywheel class saying people who wore soul cycle clothing to flywheel were rude. Yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, I don't like. It just shows you how Stupid everything is yes. Yes And also how we've really let how people look

Become far too Important I think this is maybe on how people look Well, it is but it's sort of sourced from that like Like, the root of that is that they wanna have a really, like, we're getting in shape together. It forms a cult in a weird way, but it is girthed out of the fact that it's like, images, everything, like that all, like when a robot started and all that stuff sort of

became the thing, it was like, it kind of just all be, it was like, we, at one point, we ran out of problems in the 80s as like a mass culture and then that became the issue and then the elites still hang onto that as like, what matters, but people still feel like that defines so much, how you look. Yes, Yeah. At the end of the day, we're all going to die in climate fires. Okay. What shall we? People felt like they had to tell instructors if they were going to both studios, like they had to confess. Hey, look, I gotta be honest. I, um, uh, oh, my God. This is so much harder than I thought it would be.

Um, no, I actually, well, I, I took, um, I rehearsed this in the car, but, um, I, uh, I have been taking some classes of Kylie's to fly what and I know I know who my pick up who my back up But I don't care about it. Stacy's Stacy's my hero and lever and then Kylie's all good She's just closer to where I work. My friend Shelley did it. She a bitch. I'll see you in a pool.

I killed her in a pool. Why? Because, yeah, she is dead because she's wanted to, she tried to, she tried to take me here. I killed her to pool. That's like I hit her with a shovel. And then I tried her to pool because Stacy hair with a shovel and then I tried her to pull Because Stacy's class Stacy. I love you and I love your class and Kyrie's class is good

But it's no Stacy so Shelley's dead Oh, I feel five pounds lighter and it's not from Kyrie's class Kyrie's class. It's not class is not because it's great, you've heard of Kyrie's. She actually does a lot of stuff out of the seat, which I like. A lot of hills. That's cool. A. Will, the blogger, wrote, quote, I think it speaks to what a great brand Soul Cycle has created that just like the restaurant of the moment, it feels like the place to be much more than Flywheel. Flywheel is creating experience that may be athletically superior,

but it doesn't have that same sceney feel. It's like it is, it's like foodie exercise. It's just like the same shit where it's like, bro, you just have run, you have no issues. Why would you ever want to combine a scene and exercise? I can't believe it. I just cannot imagine. I mean, if you've ever been to the gym

and someone tries to socialize with you, I'm like, I don't think I'll look your nine. No, people, I thought you'd go, do you want to go to the gym together and I'm like, absolutely not. Or even like strangers. Like strangers at the gym. I'm trying to talk's like you know, yeah No, that's why you got the the key to life at this point is always having air pods in even if you're not playing anything

What when I'm on my peloton and someone tries to high-five me. I'm like, what are you doing? Oh? It's the creepiest shit ever But how about this this is happening to me on the peloton you go go, all right, fine, high five. Fine, leave me alone. They go, they do another one right away. Of course I do. They just wanna like high five the whole time. Yeah. We're not weird bike guys.

So Ruth says that's the point of flywheel. Just come to flywheel and ride and feel better. She wanted an inclusive environment. So that's why she left Soul Cycle. Why? I just thought it would come in. She saw it becoming sceny and gross and weird and a click. And she just wanted to have a place

where people rode bikes and exercised. So she started flywheel. Are we, do we find this position admirable? Well, it's a lot better. Yeah, it's a million times better than... One writer who switched to flywheel said, quote, I felt like I was at an upper west side bar where all the girls were seeing whose diamond was the biggest. At the bar, a regular Chelsea Clinton held a fundraiser for Haiti,

hauling on $118,000. If anybody knows about this... I wonder how much Haiti saw of that. If anybody knows about the Clintons in Haiti, that would be the most ironic thing you've ever heard. A chef said, getting into a soul-cycle class was as hard as getting a reservation at a top New York restaurant. It was an exclusive club. To book a class for the week, you had to do it online at 12 PM on Monday,

exactly noon on Monday. So it's like concert tickets. The best instructors classes filled up in seconds. One regular who was a beauty publicist, I don't know what that means. Explained the nightmare, quote, if you weren't online at 1159, you might not get the seat or the class or the instructor you wanted. All right.

We laughed, but we laughed. No, that's right. You wanted to be in the front row where Kelly Repa and Jake Gillinhal were. People. Gillinhal, you disgusting sack of shit. Gillinhal. Is that what it is? Sorry, sorry, sorry.

People would email and call thinking the system was broken because they didn't get their slot or their bike place. In May 2011, Luxury Jim owner, Equinox Group, Equinox Group, Bot Soul Cycle. So Equinox is like super rich luxury Jim. So it's like a hundred and fucking twenty. Is that the one that is women only or no? No, no, it's not women only. But it's really crazy expensive and And it's like, it's just fancy. I'm thinking of laying right. Sorry.

So they buy Soul Cycle. OK. Harby Speevak ran Equinox, which was known for having a really horrific culture. Trainers said there was a hunger like games in Equinox, and they couldn't live on the pay Then it up suing for unpaid overtime So right after buying soul cycle speedback said God had spoken and the two companies were now one

That can't We really got to like We got to get a healthy understanding for what we want God to be This is what God is this is like one of the God's main things is like combining luxury gin and cycle That'll be great Harvey you will combine equinox and soul cycle Harvey Lord shall I pay my employees? No You keep all that money for yourself. Not to live on. No. So that that worried soul cycle exacts a bit. But the purchase was still looked at as like a good move for Soul Cycle. They opened more studios in wealthy locations like San Francisco

and Connecticut, and now clients included Beyonce and Oprah. They would add 24 studios in three years, and the company introduced Super Soul. Huh? Okay, sure. Gareth, Super Soul is when you pay $70 for a class and then you can sign up early and pick your bike. Oh, man, that is wild. The level of exclusivity is crazy.

They have completely literated. The word soul has now been, it's like the right wing who's woke. It is just now. You know what, it's like also, I always say every time I see Carvana commercials, it's like the right wing who's woke. It is just now. You know what it's like also, I always say, every time I see Carvana commercials, I'm like, so we've taken this perfect, like Buddhist state of, of, kind of blissful nothingness.

And now we're like, my car will get delivered. Oh. Carvana. So yeah, you can pay $70 and sign up early and pick your own bike. It's good. The Soul Cycle T-shirt, which had a skull and crossbones on it, was a status symbol. They made new non-marketing. We really, Dave, I'm not kidding. We really, it is so beyond time for us to be extinct.

We need to be extinguished. And I'm one of us. So I'm allowed to say this. We really need to just, it needs to end. And we keep like, we keep like showing that it needs to end. Oh, like it has to stop. This has to stop. This has to end.

They made it. They made it. They made it. No. it. They made it. No. On Monday tank tops. Oh my God. We just how is it not what is taking so long like take us please take us and this and this quickly.

It was all about it's all about the instructors in the atmosphere but mostly about the instructors. So now they start hiring younger instructors in 2011. Much harder. I'm a and I like the bike. Yeah. I don't know know I got a lot of sleep more I don't understand why this is the way it is, but okay, you can start the class What uh Okay, yeah, all right, so here we go One pedal two paddle three go go yeah go go yeah. So the instructors are now much hotter, some are part-time models. Now, Stacy Griffith demanded an office in the small east side. I cannot believe I've been in this. This is so weird. Oh wait until we get into this.

She demands an office in the small east side studio, and they give it to her even though they don't really have any place for storage. An exec, quote, she had a shoe collection in there. She would bring friends in there. I'm not really sure why she needed an office. Janet Fitzgerald was hired as the master instructor to train the new ones. Well, you know what type of songs to play,

how the beats per minute would affect mood, where to put the candles? Away from the people. Not near the end. And the inflammable items. The idea of like being like the beats, it's just like a job that it is so dumb. It is so dumb. How to uplift writers. How to yell stuff like we write as one and be obsessively grateful.

They were taught to memorize writers' faces and names. Oh, wow. And Janet showed them how to make themselves desirable. One instructor said, Janet's mantra was, quote, your writer should want to be you or fuck you This is as someone who's been in there. This is this is the vibe She has a whole speech about that and she would give it in front of a few trainees one of whom said quote It was so fucking awkward Janet told them sex cells and that women, traders should wear red lipstick. Wow. Training was 10 weeks, 20 hours a week for minimum wage. What the fuck? the hat to move and live in New York City. See it's like when you

insane, let's put a pin in that, it's when you when part of your business model is that you don't pay people shit. Yeah. Like that's that's an unfair metric for success. But it also not, not just not paying people shit, but at the same time, paying one instructor, $500,000 a year, and then the new ones like, right? Well, yeah, but that's kind of the model. It's like pyramid schemey, basically, you know? But then also, we like move to New York with no money.

No money. I mean, of all places. People get hired from all over the country, then they move there and then they'd have to live in New York. It wasn't a common-see trainees crying because the training was so brutal. They hired people for their personalities and then they tried to break them down to build them back up again. One was scolded for being curvy. Quote, you can't

teach in a sports bra, you need to wear a shirt over it. Jesus Christ. During training, Janet said, quote, do you want to get, Janet said, quote, do you want to get fucked? When the training looked confused, she said, you're never never gonna get fucked if you look like that Let your hair down put some licks lipstick on or something See this is this this is this is it's cult it's cult Cult your one things are good. Cult your floor. What's happening? I thought we were doing exercise. Yeah, I thought she was like, fuck you. You want to get fucked?

I'm sorry, I don't understand the context here question. Do you want someone to try to fuck you? I'm a little lost, I guess. If you're not trying to get fucked, you can't teach biking. Janet would ask trainees their sexual orientation. You gay or you straight? What do you buy? One person was having a hard time filling classes and Janet told them he needed to get laid.

When telling an instructor how to teach the class better, Janet asked the last time she got fucked by her husband. Janet put up a sticky in the studio office that read, asked the last time she got fucked by her husband. Janet put up a sticky in the studio office that read, quote, if someone asks you, if you are back on cocaine, or if you have an eating disorder, you know you've hit your goal weight. Wow, that is.

Derek, can I just say, put in the soul in soul cycle? You know what I mean? I just, man. I love when psychos get authoritative positions in dumb shit. It's awesome. It's crazy. It's awesome. Again, that's time your husband fucked you.

What? This is a fucking exercise place. Yes, this is too bike. Medi- Medi- Little thing with a bell. So a lot of the trainees are not complaining because they think it's gonna hurt.

It's gonna hurt their chance. It would. It would hurt their chance in the structure. If you, if there's a, yes, he can't. And- After they finish training, after they do the 10 weeks minimum wage, there's no guarantee, there's no guarantee they're going to get work.

Right. And. Well, yeah, because I mean, even if it's doing really well, it's like, I don't know how many people, how many people you could actually have doing that. Yeah. like, I don't know how many people, how many people you could actually have doing that. Yeah. Like, I don't know. Yeah. It's not hundreds.

No. Also, when you do get hired, they can then send you to any studio in the country. Oh my God, Dubuque, Iowa! Ah! What? No, no, no, I thought it was up on the website. No, you're going to Dubuque Iwa! Yeah! What? No, no, no. I thought it was up to Westside.

No, you're going to Dubuque Iwa. Remember, if they're not asking if you're on cocaine, you're not doing it right. The instructors who did get work were often overworked doing up to 18 classes a week. That's fucking crazy. That's crazy. That is fucking crazy, man. Quote, I had acne, boils on my face. I was losing a lot of weight. I wasn't

sleeping well. I was eating properly just because of the sheer volume of writing and physical activity. It was just insanity. Sorry, I wasn't eating properly. So that's like, when you said cold, I mean, this is... No wonder it's a skull and crossbone. Yeah, no, it is full. Well, it's also that if there's someone who's going to take your position, you know, and then again, this is a labor issue. Yeah. And when companies don't treat workers well, it's like one thing to be on a factory floor

and things aren't great. It's another thing when your job is to fucking exercise. Well, now it's literally destroying your fucking body. Like you're being like this woman. Well, I also like the idea that this whole thing, like your whole business model is predicated on being hot, but you're working people so hard they're getting boils. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha He classes a week for $50. For the original clients, expansion meant less time with their favorite instructors.

One quote, a lot of us felt that the magic and the power of being in that room was being diluted by expanding so quickly. But keep in mind, that person who said that is also an idiot. Yes. With 38 locations in 2015, Soulcycle announced it was going to go public. Aiming to raise a hundred million with an IPO,

they valued Soulcycle at 900 million. The company had gone for making 36 million in 2012 to 112 million in 2014. 2012 to 112 million in 2014. And in 2015, they hired Melanie Wheelan as CEO. That I mean, the last name, right? Just that's the number one reason they did it. I'm sure. Yeah. She'd been COO for three years of the company.

And a lot of employees thought she was not ready to take it on. She was just 38 years old. At a company event in front of 250 people, oh no, that's not right. Sorry, I cut that. Wheeling said that did this didn't happen in front of people. Wheeling said she did not believe in life work balance. And she expected the exact same from employees. See, to be considered a genius in these businesses, you're just asking everything from anybody.

No, you're making work or suffer. You are to be considered a great CEO. It's the same thing with every, like when people are like like boy Jeff pays us, you know, it's like Well his whole Hot hole is basically like let's get shit to everyone as fast as possible Yeah, and he does it on the back of labor Yeah, I mean it's not at some point we should do one about Amazon warehouses because it's it's barbaric praise barbaric. Yeah so So it was normal for employees to be Praise more bearer. Yeah. So

So it was normal for employees to be Available every hour of the day and on weekends For a bike or company Your it's bicycles mother fucker. It's indoor bicycles. Oh shit. I got to go. We need to teach a class on the west side Oh shit, I gotta go. We need to teach a class on the west side. Pfft. From the beginning of Soul Cycle, front desk workers were told to quote, find the yes.

Do... Pardon? Do what you could do to make it happen for the customer. Some would take socks off their feet to give to a writer who forgot theirs. That's just crazy. I quit. How the fuck do you forget socks?

I mean, you come and flip flops or... I mean, it's all dumb. High heel shoes. Give socks. Pumps. shoes, give socks, pumps. But this mentality then turned into abuse, as sole cycle became more popular, rich people had a harder time getting into classes. And that just made people want to be in the classes more, and huge weightless became the norm. Sometimes hundreds of people are on a wait list for a 32-person class.

So that's likewise with the instructors. I can't imagine being like, I'm going to hinge my day upon being able to go to this thing. Yeah. But this is people's lives. Like they're lives. Which is crazy. They're revolving around Soul Cycle. Yeah.

Ha, ha, ha. Instructors were the stars and they had a lot of control. Yeah. Some had their own wait lists to make sure their favorites got the right bikes in the class. Some had secret lists of who was the right quality to be in front. Senior Master Instructor Laura Cole was all about the list according to Vox. Cole only put the best and hottest in the front row. Quote, she would say, I don't like the way they ride. I don't like their attitude. I don't like the way they looked at me.

I don't like looking at them. If the staff put the wrong person in front, she'd scream at them. A present woman was put in the front row, so Cole took her to a back row corner and then replaced her with a very hot woman. Boy, it is crazy. Imagine getting the guy who invented the bicycle and showing him this. You like that? Gareth, we are brought to you in part by a neutrophil.

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Now, Gareth, when we left, we were talking about Laurie Cole. He liked to put the hottest people in the front row, move pregnant people to the back row, things like that. Cole also was known to fat shame writers over the mic during classes. What the fuck? Yeah. She chastised staff, she called them out for being overweight.

She demanded certain workers not work during her shifts because they weren't in shape. That is crazy. A manager quote, she has taken photos of staffers who were maybe curvy and said, this is not on brand for my check-in. I don't want this at the front desk during my classes. Oh man. If she didn't get what she wanted, she'd threaten to not teach the class. We need to find a way to trap people and just we don't need to, I'm not pitching execution, but just an island. An island where we put them where they can just go and really just have some

time to talk to each other like this and see how it goes when they need actual things. Cole heard the new manager at a new studio was gay and said, quote, well, they better on a higher bunch of twinks to work there. coal was one of Seoul's like most popular instructors. Now they were complaints about coal to HQ. HR would roll or about about coal. The staffers would complain about coal. HR would reprimand her, but then that would be it. Once she was temporarily suspended, but it didn't change her behavior, Cole just kept doing her thing. Oh, Cole, sorry. Is that Lori Cole?

You got a contract with her, right? Yeah, yeah. She wanted, when she was there, she wanted an all-berry fruit salad. And one day, she found a slice of kiwi at the bottom, so she threw the salad across the room and said, okay, go ahead. And said, you ever bought this needs to be fired? Okay, so here's the deal.

Here's the deal. I don't know how we gather them in by net or whatever, but anytime anyone throws food It's just it's over time to go Yeah, so that's it. It's like we need a new constitution We need a new constitution with some just updated stuff for who we are now. Because that's what we are now. So let's just come up with it. One instructor took a pick of a studio manager eating pizza and put it up on Instagram with the caption, don't do this.

This is not soul cycle. Oh man, it's crazy. Crazy. Connor Kelly was a star instructor. He had abs and tattoo sleeves. His followers were called the cons crew. Oh. It's so good.

Oh, imagine being a fucking... Imagine being part of it. A writer told Business Insider, quote, walking into Connor Kelly's class was like walking into a sex dungeon. Oh, my God. There was this way about him. He'd reach the whole studio.

It's overwhelming. A worker said he did weird sexual dance moves during classes. And Kelly often slapped employees' asses. It's just crazy. Quote. It's just crazy. He could not give a fuck at all. He would smack our asses and say, hey, sexy, come over here. And he did it in front of writers. Jackson he come over here and he did it in front of writers.

Front desk worker. This is like, is this like a cycle class in 1971? It's like a studio 54 had bikes. Instead of drugs, studio 54 had bikes. I remember the one time when he insisted that one of the writers suck his cock in front of the glass We all just sat there and get pedaling It's so crazy that this is happening in the fucking 2010s like it's like it's nuts. It's Like it's just never stops. Well, we're so like

It's just we're so like, it's just, we're so, it's just cults, but we think we're so much better than we are. Like we're still dog shit. We're just still total dog shit. Well, it's also like, because it's the it thing, people allow so much shit to be done that is so important. That's the cult part of it. The cult part of it is where you just go,

you go, well, I don't wanna be the one who calls out that that's wrong, because I wanna be a part of it. But when people do call it out, the top execs just go, nah, they're making money, they're fucking bringing it on the bill, right? And it always comes down to money for some reason.

Front desk workers asked for days off when Kelly was teaching. At the Palo Alto studio, he wore and not be good. He wore women's Nike neon pants and no underwear. A staffer quote. A staffer quote, when you sweat in neon Nike running pants, he knew what he was doing. You know what I mean? You could see the weiner and the, yeah, yeah, I get it.

I get it. Yes, yes, he was doing, he's just, you know, I mean, there are many cult leaders. That's kind of what I was saying at the beginning was like, I don't even, I remember the first couple of times I went there, I was like, okay, and then slowly you're like, oh, this is absolutely insane. Like, the way that, like, the way that, and I've always found it really fascinating, but it is, it was so heightened, it was like they were bubble famous.

And watching people who are not famous, act famous is almost the fetish to me. Like, it's just like, look at this person who's just like, yeah, what's up? Like, and some people like, oh my god, it's fucking Connor or whatever. Yeah. And then most people like people like me are just like, this guy seems like a shithead. Like most what's going on?

Like are the bikes? Most people don't know legitimate famous people. Like, like most people don't know, you know, you know, some famous people, but most famous people you don't know. But these are like level F. So this is, below. This is, I'm not even trying to like, because like obviously there are legitimate

exercise instructors who do, there is total value in that. I'm not like, we all know. Yes, like a typo. But this was, this is is like it's so weird because it's just like like I'm saying like I would be find that woman to be like Oh, or cars next to mine. Yeah, it's like you ain't fucking helicoptering it I always would say to him you ain't Kelsey grammar. That was my catchphrase. Yeah girl

Everybody knew Kelly was having sex with writers. He texted nudes to writers, which were then sent around in the community. Husbands started complaining, and there were fights amongst the writers over Kelly. Wow. But he made the company a lot of money money so nothing was done. And he's mainly working at Grennich at this point. He asked a 21-year-old to come to his parents' house

and Grennich, and after they had sex, he told her she was filthy and to take a shower, and then he refused to give her a ride to the train station so she had to walk alone at midnight. So the... If they're putting a soul in soul cycle. Soul cycle. The Greenwich studio didn't have a lock. You could have at least said ride home. Why not do that?

You should ride a bike home. Yeah, ride a bike home. The Greenwich studio does not have lockers. So women would put their handbags in the bathroom and they would line them up in the order that they would use the mirror after class to freshen up for Kelly to their makeup. Do their makeup after class? Right, okay. To look good for Kelly right okay Vox quote

Someone apparently thought Kelly was giving too much attention to one writer who he let ride on the podium with him Later the writer found a used tampon in her purse. Oh Shit Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh, he must have loved that. He was like, that's awesome. No, like what? That's awesome. Staking territory, yeah.

I'm really good at this. So they had to move Kelly out of Grannich and they moved him to New York City. So he gets a pretty big spree. Yeah, right. It's a pointless predatory area. Yeah. Instructor, Aiken, Atman's writer click became known as Aiken's army. He was very nice to staff, but his writers were absolute monsters. Quote, they would

bully people who booked front row bikes and would confront them in the studio physically. who booked front row bikes and would confront them in the studio physically. So I assume they're like pushing people against walls or like you booked the front row getting in their face. Like it's, I mean, this is, it nuts. No, the front row is like, I mean, if you're a regular person,

you have no interest in being in the spotlight of this. You are just like, as a good exercise, that's it. You have only good people in this story are the front desk workers. Yes, or the people who left sole cycle. Yeah, the people who were like, this is crazy. So after they bullied someone, they would send complaints to Soul Cycle,

saying that the writer had ruined their experience. Wow. A staffer, quote, I watched grown women cry. Many would hang out with writers outside the studio and people are fighting over the instructor's attention. Quote, some people would walk out in tears because Connor didn't go up to their bike. Oh my God.

Sir adults, these are adults. These are adults. It's a cult. It's a cult. You know what? We should just start cult bike. Pfft! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha I'm not, this is not how I'm not part of this. Right, but that's what they would love. The cult people would love that.

But they would be also the air, yes, the air they had about them was like, again, I mean, it was, it was like famous. It would just be like, you are on a bike. Yeah, you're good at bike. Not even, you're not even on a bike. You're on a nailed down one-wheeled item. This is a unicycle class.

So Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice, the remaining two founders, now do not like the direction of the company. It's too much, it's expanding too much and they're streamlining and it's just like lost the sole part of soul cycle. So they resign, use tampons are going to toss them bags. They resign or they're pushed out in 2016 and they each get $90 million.

Oh, the boroughs. And right around then, a new company arrived called Peloton. Yes. Live on demand workouts at home. Peloton. Yes. Live on-demand workouts at home. Peloton very quickly does well. The next year, Julie Rice joins we work as chief brand officer. This person is like, I just, I can't look the whole, the whole thing.

I mean, seriously, can you imagine, you like your resume, you're like, well, the big two, I can't use. So I see you worked your, we work, what'd you do before that? I was in Soul Cycle, you're unhirable. Garret, wait till you hear about three. And I am saving three for the end because your ass is gonna come out of your body and fall down. It is medically possible. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you.

I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you.

I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you.

I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for you. I'm gonna get a gift card for their birthday, but top instructors like Cole and Griffith would get thousands of dollars in gifts, expensive jewelry, leather bags, etc. Saul cycle rented a Mercedes for Cole and the Hamptons when she was there for a summer. Front desk staff had to buy Griffith groceries and get her dry cleaning, which was all put on the company card. Fuck.

You're a bike instructor. You are a biker. Ha ha ha. In 2018, Equinox launched their own talent management agency to represent the instructors. Incredible. I mean, we are at the black hole of existence. What did you think was,

did you think Stacey Griffith was gonna be in a movie? What is fucking happening? Wow. The Connor Kelly. Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee The Connor Kelly. Connor Kelly in snake pants. By then, Soul Cycle has 87 locations in 15 markets in the US and Canada. That year, Soul Cycle withdrew its IPO application citing market conditions. And then things changed.

The phones in the studios stopped ringing. No more Monday and noon rush. Riders didn't want to ride in empty rooms or with teachers they didn't know. The instructors were getting grumpy. The front's desk staff was certainly not giving out their socks anymore. The core writers were gone. They cut instructor pay and they raised class prices, which didn't sit well with the writers.

Equinox started pushing soul cycle to open up in bad spots like the win hotel in Vegas. Oh God. Soul Cycle. Who the fuck would go to Vegas and do a spin class? To fight, I don't fucking know. You had a Vegas to like abuse your body. Yeah, you want to destroy your body. Yeah. They wanted 10 or 15 new studios every year. And now studios are opening to absolutely no fanfare. Instructors couldn't fill the rooms. That's so great. So Soul Cycle started soul early.

Pay an extra $15 per class and book your bike Sunday at noon. Some people, Garrett, were not happy. Like Ben, the son of Richard Dreyfus. Ben Dreyfus quote, I think soul early is such bullshit. Already this week, a bunch of first row center seats were booked early in my classes. I just took a Karen class at Noho where I had to be front row left side. Front row left side. We got a link.

What am I in here? Man, I'm old. We have to find a way, it, listen, we are not going to make it as a species unless we find a way to stop this. We have to pull the handbreak of our existence, and again, it is not going to be a joy. It's not going to be a pleasure for him to sort of just take the cartridge out of the gaming system. Well, that's an old reference, but just did, but it's not

going to be, it was going to be hard. It's going to be hard for us to say but when we put Richard Dreyfus's son Ben under the microscope and we say this is allowed in our society it's just we have to we just have to blow it all up we have to end it has to all up. We have to and it has to we have to find a way to stop this. It's we are headed towards a brick wall in a train and we just we have to we have to and we're not going to. I'm gonna continue on with the story while you're doing your and all people thing. Studios opened in London where instructor Mantis Ziannis asked the front desk for info on writers so he could hit on them online. The studio manager told the desk workers that was fine. Quote, they knew that most writers who would come into Mantis's class were skinny white girls who wanted Mantis to sleep with them. Mike Press in New York was accused of crossing the line

with a student writer after he left the doctor with a bike. He pressured her into giving him a job, she was 20, he was 31. In the summer of 2019, Soulcycle announced an at-home bike to challenge the peloton, which was eating up business. It's the own, and I actually remember when they released this, this was the only bike that would sexually harass you while you. Okay. That was the difference. This bike will call you fat. This bike, this sometimes the instructors cockle teach the class. The bike seat is just a dick.

Yeah, like yeah. It just, it just starts groping under the seat. Christ. The bike just fingered me. The bike could be 2500, so way more expensive than the peloton. On the exact same day, the exact same day that they announced the bike, the founder and chairman of the company that owned Equinox, Stephen Ross, hosted a fundraiser for Donald Trump.

Celebrities like Chrissy, Tegan, and Billy Eichner called for boycotts, writers protested outside the studios and sign-ups declined 13% in a month. One month later, CEO Wheeling told a Saul cycle vice president who was planning to take paternity leave, quote, paternity leave is for Pussy. It's so good, dude. It is like if the 80s made a bike. I mean, this is like the crazy 80s Wall Street stories you heard about. It's just like if Dabney Coleman and 9-5 were a company. No, 9-5 was...

Yes. Dabney Coleman's company. Yes. For anyone who gets that reference, it's killing. Yes. That would be Coleman's Copa. For anyone who gets that reference is killing. You should watch anyone who doesn't. People should go back and watch it. That's a great movie.

Everyone at the corporate offices quickly knew about her paternity leave is for Pussy's comment. And then the vice president that she said it to did not use all the weeks he was entitled to. Wow. We then often told people she only took three weeks of leave when her daughter was born. What's the football? You're out of your mind. Yes. So you're a terrible person. So what are you? You're crazy? I didn't want to spend time with my baby. I wanted to work. Okay. I maybe got it. My baby. My baby is 18 weeks old and is teaching a class. Employees felt pressured to work nonstop.

And some said they were pressured to not take sick days when they were ill. Also, some employees had to stay late at night while Wheeling and other execs did tequila shots at the office. That's like when you work in a restaurant and like you're waiting to close up and you're like one of the last people there and you're just watching the last table at Dickhead's or Oblivious where you're like,

how many times are we gonna vacuum next to these people to send a message that you need to get around and get the fuck out? Yeah. In four years, Wheeling went through five assistants. That's not good. Business insider said several ex employees called her a bully.

She made her assistants stand up at their desks when she entered or left her office. Fucking this is just some. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Can you imagine getting to the point? Oh my god where you're doing that shit? You're a monster and fucking walking around in your own flesh. I mean and feeling like you're a person Like you're just a fucking monster. It's just crazy

Like even in our business, like I've seen some really weird shit. Yep. But not that. That is just, that is so crazy. Yeah. It is a hole that'll never be filled inside a human like that. Nope, never.

As CEO, she would call people stupid behind their backs. One said, quote, it was like mean girls, the chief people officer, which I know. Chief people officer. CPO chief people officer announced announced at a sole cycle conference that they were expanding the parental leave policy and that at the same time that an exec had finally gotten pregnant. The exec had not announced he was pregnant. That was private information. Wow. So the exact complaint. And then the CPO stopped talking to her. But he's the chief people officer. That's like your chief officer? The chief people officer is posting you.

I'm going to stop talking to you. I'm the chief ghost officer now. The chief people officer is ignoring you fully. What? That is insane for a chief people officer to be a thing and then for it to be ignoring people. You're gonna have to talk to the deputy people officer. Hello, I will be ghosting you shortly as well.

So 32 days after the exec had the baby, they fired her. Wow. She sued and you're not going to believe this, you want a settlement. Good. The shocking? Yeah. Yeah. Now, Wheeling was spending money on the company's dime.

Sometimes she would take a helicopter from her apartment in Treveca to the Hamptons. Her favorite execs had big expenses taken care of. And then she buys two Dior bags on the company card, which is $5,100. One bag was for one of her favorite execs who was in international markets, and she said it was a thank you for opening the London studios. But she apparently tried to pass off both bags as the gift when she had kept one. So she keeps being asked for receipts.

One exec said, quote, she lied about it. And then she repays the company like three months later. But the board at this point is like, what the fuck? And the chief people officer has been having secret meetings with other execs and the CFO Sunderredi brainstorming how to get rid of her. And it worked. The board's done and Wheelan's out. And then that guy Sunda Reddy replaces her and all the staffers called it a coup.

And then execs start quitting because no one likes working for Sunda Reddy. He's worked. How best Sunda Red Ready must be awful. Headhunters are now warning people not to work at Soul Cycle. Wow. And then there's more competition. Cheaper cycling franchises are opening.

There's independent places all over New York that have better atmospheres and then COVID hits. I'm surprised it's so late into the story that COVID hits. I felt like it was okay. So, Sunda Ready, the new CEO, worked from home on early March and told one employee, quote, I don't want to take transit. I don't want to risk it. And he asked employees to go into the office. Yep, there we go. He's a boss.

Fitness businesses are absolutely crushed by the pandemic, 15% of clubs permanently close. The home app that is supposed to be a sole cycle app that they're gonna make along with the bike is cannibalized by equinox. So now it's an equinox app and the app is extremely confusing.

So cycle starts opening outdoor locations but soon starts closing studios and firing employees. Outdoor locations is hilarious. Welcome to Soul Field. They were firing people on group calls. Yeah, I bet. Quote, they just got on a call and blindsided the staff. And then they finally released their home bike.

But Peloton is already this is once you're into the pandemic, Peloton is cooking like it's taking. Yeah, yep. And then all these stories of racism and fat chaining and abuse of behavior and inappropriate sexual stuff are published in Fox and business insider. So all the stuff I've talked about is from Fox and it business. They should have just called themselves Trump bike. They should have just leaned in. They really should. They should have just like everyone. It's just like he's just on the screen

like before every class. This is going to be an amazing class. Uh, some high profile instructors leave. CEO, Sunderredi is out and he's replaced by Evelyn Webster. In January 2021, Stacey Griffith gets vaccinated and posts about it on Instagram. Now, this is when only healthcare workers are supposed to get vaccinated. And she calls herself an educator taking care of her community. Oh my God. This is when the bubble, like you leak out of your bubble and people are like, no, you're in the real world now.

And 100% yeah, 100% everyone's like, who the fuck is this fucking bike lady? Like nobody knows who she is. It's super important. I'm a celebrity. Ha ha ha. So the internet goes fucking, bat shit crazy. And she is forced to apologize. She, I remember she had to squeeze the vaccination out of her arm

back into the syringe. You remember that? Yes. Griffith is also not good. She's known to throw mics at staff if the mic didn't work. If she didn't recognize a front row writer, she'd yell at the staff. Staff had to ride if her classes weren't full. Oh, that's the best.

I'd like the rest of the comedians to sit in the audience for my show. A manager was riding three times a day, mostly two-filled Griffiths classes. Oh, the manager's like, if there was an empty bike, Griffith would yell, quote, someone'd get the fuck on that bike, which is not part of the work description. And Griffith isn't just mistreating staffers. Once Griffith told the writer, quote, you're lucky, you're pregnant or else I'd really be on you. Wow. She was not pregnant. She culture is crazy. She was not pregnant.

Okay, dokey. I'll be right back. Wow. That person complained to headquarters, but nothing was done. Oh my God. One instructor yelled at a woman that she was mailing it in and asked why she even bothered coming. The woman had just had a double mastectomy. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Oh my God. Just look. All right, you want to be intense. Okay, be intense. Make it intense, make it hard, but shaming individuals is so carelessly dumb. It's fucking crazy. It's absolutely crazy.

It's also like, I mean, you know, it's ableism, it's all the shit, but it's like these people, that these workout people, like their view of the world is so fucked up. It's so fucked up. Yes. Like not everybody,

there's just people that are big. They can work out all the fucking time just people that are big. They can work out all the fucking time. And they're big. Exercise. Exercising is like, for your health, totally makes sense. But for the value to be put on the way you physically look on this level is insane.

Yeah. It's like if you're doing exercise, you should exercise for help. You should not exercise so that you can wear tight neon pants to class that show your cock. Well, I disagree with that. I do too. As a camera.

Sorry, what am I talking about? At staff meetings, Greffe and Tol would, and Cole would talk shit about specific writers who were there, like, their main people that loved them. And now on top of all this, the writers are not great. So there's a bike called the Boyfriend Bike, and it's right in front of the instructor's podium.

So they called the Boyfriend Bike. An instructor tells a staffer to not let a specific writer sit there. She didn't want to look at her. She didn't like the way she looked. But the woman manages to book it online, so the staffer immediately changes it. When someone changes your bike location, you get an immediate notification in your texts. Quote, she called literally 30 seconds of me doing that and began verbally assaulting me. She called me stupid, she called me the R word,

she belittled me based on the fact that I worked there. She threatened to come into the studio and fuck us up. Crazy. Just a bike. Yeah! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Being yelled at and cursed at by writers is normal. One worker complained and the company offered her a free t-shirt. We have a lot of these Monday at noon shirts sitting around. Oh, what a nice.

Staff were just supposed to take it. Like the company just thinks that's part of the job. You take the shit from the people. In February 2021, Sol cycle announced five black history month themed rides with accompanying tote bags and inspirational mantras from four instructors of color. Uh, okay. I have some sirens going off but i'll listen the instructors said they felt pressured to host the rights

now a few black instructors had quit saying that there was you know uh... it's not blatant racism but there's like a little systemic racism going on here they're not advancing they're not getting the good spots one of those are like when a capitalist, when capitalism is forcing people of color to feel exploitative, it's like, yeah, you really got the message of this one. You could have done it without the free tote bag. Sure, yeah. Your black history month tote bag from SoulS bag from soul site i just can't even

uh... that's the message it's just like we're beyond this a guy messages at this point nothing that rose apart like this soul cycle tote bag uh... so one uh... black uh... instructor this woman, her last name is Wilson, she's one of the faces of the at-home app, and she quits, quote,

I can no longer allow my image to be used by a company that performs its activism when it's convenient for their bottom line or their seasonal campaign. So that's a huge blow to lose her. Other instructors are being demoted during the pandemic, but Soulcycle asked them not to change their titles on social media because they don't want to find the app. To know that they're shit in the bed. Yeah. That they're being hassles to be all so funny I went on collar Connor Kelly's social media

And he's just like a regular guy now on social media busy Is he not social anymore? No, he's got like he's like a married with a kid and he's got like what? 15,000 followers, I think. Well, that was the funny thing is reading these stories is how few people actually followed them on social media. Again, in the class, you're huge. Yeah, but like it was like 12,000 people and you're like, that's, oh yeah, he is a dad.

Look at that. Him and his wife and kids. Wow. You're right. Wow. Well, he's a fucking creep. So. Yeah.

Hey, Dave, at least our business never has a creep. Just get married and have a kid to make a look like he's not a real ship. Yeah. So they're, they're demoted and not allowed to say it on social media. Some didn't even know if they still worked for SoulCycle after being furloughed. They just didn't talk to them. Some studios opened again after a little while. They added outdoor studios and instructors now had to haul the bikes out into parking lots. Awesome. SoulCycle, stop taking gift carts

and we're selling you studio bikes online. An insider quote, they need cash. Yeah, it's a fire sale. In July 2022, SoulCycle offered to swap peloton bikes for 47 studio classes, which is the exact same amount, $1,400. A month later, one month later, after that, both Soulcycle and Peloton announced lots of layoffs and closures on the same day. Peloton at Over Expanded, they lost their fucking mind.

Soulcycle was closing 20 of 82 studios. Top instructors had to take pay cuts. A source told page six quote, someone making $300 is now at a base of 100 plus writer. So they're doing it by writer head. You'll get paid by how many people you bring in. Wow. Others have had their classes cut from 12 to 3 a week. Well, glad you moved to New York. Janet Fitzgerald posted on Instagram that she was no longer the director of training and only had 3 classes a week. And her writers were shocked.

Quote, this is absolute madness. No, no, everything else was madness. Flywheel files for bankruptcy. So Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler couldn't just walk away with their millions, Gareth. They needed a new business. So this year, they opened peoplehood. They announced it in the spring of 2022. The press was confused by the announcement. Uh, count me among the press. The company. That's so funny. That's so ready. This is the dumbest thing I've ever... This is the dumbest thing I've ever read about any company ever.

It's the dumbest. If this is... I can't. Come on, give me a... The company Fistillif. Oh, hey, you're forgetting the... Company facilitates gather sessions. Oh.

60-minute group conversations where people can quote, speak freely and listen deeply. What the fuck? Wow, so we work without the building? It will teach people listening skills to improve relationships. Gareth, it's only $165 a month. Oh my God! So we're now teaching human courses.

It took, it took, it only in this world could people be like, we're going to sell a class on how to be a person. They also sell merch, lots of merch, shirts and hats and hoodies and water bottles. My person now. Writers said, Gita Singh curts in the cut. Quote, a dozen chairs are arranged in the circle. A somewhat start to play cold. Oh my fucking god. We have found the bottom of the trash. Wow. Oh my God. We are led through a window like I was in the mob

and the feds just raided the room. We're led through a bit of deep breathing and it begins. And then, and then, Gareth, a soul-cycle instructor leads them. Oh, so they're trying to repurpose, they're not trying to repurpose the bikes, they're repurposing the instructors. They're using soul-cycle language and they're encouraging people to share their problems. Guys, listen, you had some bikes, you had some mics, it had a good run, we're done with you. Move on. You are a husk. But there is no conversation allowed. Okay, that's an interesting twist. Quote.

You can only respond by snapping your fingers or patting your heart. This is on, this is like, this is is is this the dumbest thing that's ever happened on the show? This is the dumbest this is the dumbest thing that's happened in modern times on the show. This is so beyond this is the dumbest thing that's recently happened. Let's say that. This is spectacular. This is so stupid. This is as bad as capitalism gets. A membership to be a membership to be in a person club where soul cycle instructors you their coded language, songs bike and they don't you're not allowed to communicate unless you're hitting your chest or snapping. Uh, uh, uh, I mean, I'm not done. Oh, no.

If you think I was done with people and I want, I'm done. I want everyone, I want everyone to go to peoplehood.com. calm by the way you have to look at you have to look at it so So you only have 30 seconds to share And they sharing in just a snapping. Oh my god And then people snap and then people snap back. Dave, this website is incredible. Dave, this is, you know what it looks like? It looks like public domain images and ideas have a website. Yep, yep, it's just. Oh, man. I'm gonna send up for I'm gonna

gather 10 virtual credits. It's only 225 dollars. It expires. This is on as someone who went on the Soul Psycho website a number of times. It is the Soul Psycho website, but it's got quotes from the New York Times and the New York Times a new place where we gather as a community to listen, learn and connect. Oh, man. OK, so 30 seconds to share. And then, quote, most of what is said in this and subsequent sessions feel pretty vague,

like we're all just talking about vibes. So this writer, but you're not, you're not even talking. So this writer, Sincurts, tells her therapist about this and he said, quote, I'm leaving the business. So it's a situation where a group of people just go around and state an issue and don't get any feedback are nothing really happens in terms of interaction and it's

$165. Yep. It's not a therapy group but a practice of higher listening, Gareth, it's higher listening. That is what, that is the term they use, Gareth. Higher, Gareth, it's higher listening for $165 a month. That's higher prices. So we're going to have to keep an eye on peoplehood. Obviously, Soul Cycle is barely chugging along. It's just being split. It is so great.

It's so great. It's so great to like our story. But they like they went to like they could have just walked away with their 90 million each. No, but see this is the thing Dave, They think they think they're better than just bikes nailed to the ground. Heather, my wife, who is a therapist and has a PhD in psychology, when I told her this, she said, they've

created a safe space for narcissists. Yeah, OK. Good? Yes. Yes. Yes. Sources of New York Times. The Jewish journal.com,

CNN money, timeout magazinecom, seeing and money, Timeout Magazine, London, Town and Country Magazine, New York Magazine, this is, I don't know, Vanity Fair, Vox has a really good article, Flywheel, stuff, you can just type in Vox, and Soulcycle, and a ton of stuff comes up. Page6.com, Business Insider also did a ton of stuff on this.

They've done four or five articles that everyone should check out. The Cut, which is the thing on Peoplehood, BusinessOfBusiness.com and Yahoo Finance. So it's ended in a really weird place, and I don't know what to do about people.com, but right now I'm looking at the schedule. Peoplehood.com, you idiot, come on. I'm looking at the schedule, and on 5 p.m. Looks like today, Anthony is leading peoplehood.

The theme is family. During this peoplehood gather, we'll discuss things family. Each week in December, we'll come together and reflect on a different personal growth theme from the year gone by. Then we will identify goals and set intentions for that same theme for the year ahead. Join us for all four weeks. It is so crazy to think that you can transition from an exercise class to a self-help class. Because it's not even a self-help class because you don't respond.

Nobody responds. Yes, but to think that that is a natural attempt at a transition is unfuck and real. You share for 30 seconds. People snap their fingers. It is an hour long class. What in the fuck is happening? Well, I don't know.

Have you heard about the one on motherhood? It's on 109 West 17th Street. So I really need people to join. And if one opened in Los Angeles, I would absolutely go. I would absolutely go. Oh my God. The shop has a lot of really, really great merch.

No, the shop's amazing. But we really are just the dumbest. The fact that this is allowed is crazy. This is, it's so fucking crazy what's happening. Like this is just, they're trying to make money off of nothing. This is literally monetizing nothing. How it works. It's like, you know, when you go to like,

it's like Chipotle. They're just like, this is Chipotle for your soul, but they don't know what a soul is. Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha What? For what? Oh man. Oh, you can do, you can do virtual ones, just 25 bucks a pop. We should do one. We should do one. We should do one.

We should do one. We should do one for Patreon. We gotta do one. And we can, we can, we can film ourselves and probably just film the person. Like we just set up a phone. Yeah. And just film ourselves taking it.

Yeah. And literally we can just be like, we're a little confused about what this is to be honest with you. Yeah. All right, we'll do it. All right, there you go. All right, everybody, we are doomed. What in the fuck just happened?