1. "Made in LA"

Summary

Cult of Body & Soul: Episode 1 - "Made in LA"

Release Date: May 27, 2025

---

Introduction

In the inaugural episode of "Cult of Body & Soul," hosts Jess Rothschild and Broadway Podcast Network delve into the captivating rise of SoulCycle, tracing its origins from a niche fitness studio in Los Angeles to a cultural phenomenon that transcended the traditional boundaries of fitness. This episode, aptly titled "Made in LA," unpacks the intricate dynamics between founders, instructors, and the broader community that fueled SoulCycle's meteoric ascent.

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The Birth of SoulCycle in Los Angeles

Janet Fitzgerald, a pioneering fitness instructor, provides an insider’s perspective on the early days of SoulCycle. As the landscape of fitness was evolving in Los Angeles during the 1990s, Janet introduced a spiritual dimension to high-intensity spin classes, blending intention setting with rigorous workouts.

Ariana Grande reflects on the atmosphere:
"It was so incestuous and culty and wild and fabulous. It was every fucking color of the rainbow."
[00:40]

Janet, described as "playfully naughty" with commanding energy, revolutionized spin classes by incorporating meditation and reflection, setting the stage for what would become SoulCycle’s signature experience.

---

Cultivating a Unique Fitness Experience

The episode highlights the distinctive elements that set boutique spin studios apart from traditional gyms. Unlike generic gym environments where distractions like phones prevail, boutique studios like Todd Tramps enforced strict adherence to class protocols, fostering a sense of respect and community.

Ariana Grande shares her transformative experience:
"And at some point in the class, I cried. I cried because I felt the first little glimpse of empowerment and I was like, oh, I'm not dead. I'm in there. Okay, I think I can save myself. I can come back out. I can get hold of this thing."
[13:14]

Janet's dedication to creating an immersive experience extended to meticulous curation of music and motivational coaching, drawing parallels to dance classes and even religious services, as discussed by John Hill:

Jesse Rothschild compares SoulCycle to his religious upbringing:
"The structure, the ritual, the group, the community, and then the elation at the end, it was just very similar to being raised in a Christian environment."
[19:37]

This blend of fitness, spirituality, and community fostered a loyal following, positioning SoulCycle not just as a workout regime but as a lifestyle choice.

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Expansion and Branding Genius

As SoulCycle gained traction, the founders Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler leveraged their business acumen to expand the brand. Their move from a small Upper West Side studio to nationwide recognition was marked by strategic branding and media savvy.

Andrea Lewent, a fitness pioneer, recounts the initial glamour of West Hollywood’s boutique spin scene:

Andrea Lewent describes the early studios:
"The locker room bathroom was carpeted. The nastiest carpet you've ever seen in the world... smelling and nasty."
[21:08]

Despite initial infrastructural shortcomings, the allure of celebrity attendance and the unique class experience propelled studios to fame. Andrea notes the influx of high-profile clients and the transformation of spin classes into elite social events.

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Internal Dynamics and Power Struggles

A critical aspect explored in this episode is the internal power dynamics among the founders. The narrative unveils how Ruth Zuckerman, an original instructor instrumental in SoulCycle's inception, was systematically excluded from the company's trajectory.

Janet Fitzgerald exposes the behind-the-scenes tension:
"There's a third person that was integral to creating this thing who was literally iced out, who was pushed out through legal means..."
[05:06]

Despite Ruth's foundational role, legal maneuvering by Rice and Cutler marginalized her contributions, a move that has left lingering tensions within the community. Julie and Elizabeth's media training and business strategies allowed them to control the narrative, effectively erasing Ruth's legacy from official accounts.

Ruth Zuckerman maintains her position:
"They don't know anything about spin."
[40:44]

Janet underscores the importance of legal protections in business partnerships, highlighting Ruth's lack thereof as a pivotal factor in her exclusion.

---

Media Influence and Community Building

The episode delves into how media influence and community building were pivotal in scaling SoulCycle. Julie Rice's background as a talent agent equipped her with the skills to transform instructors into brand ambassadors, fostering an enviable community that thrived on exclusivity and shared identity.

Jesse Rothschild draws parallels to addiction recovery:
"The only gift we actually have in this world is the body we're given, and I have treated it like trash."
[23:58]

This comparison emphasizes the obsessive dedication of SoulCycle's community, likening it to a form of spiritual or physical rehabilitation that members underwent through their participation.

---

Challenges and Controversies

While celebrating its successes, "Made in LA" does not shy away from discussing the challenges and controversies that accompanied SoulCycle's rise. The episode touches upon the political scandal that eventually tarnished the brand's image, although detailed accounts are reserved for subsequent episodes.

Janet Fitzgerald provides a candid look into the operational struggles and the ethical dilemmas faced during expansion, hinting at underlying issues within the organizational structure that contributed to the eventual downfall.

---

Conclusion

"Made in LA" serves as a comprehensive introduction to the intricate web of relationships, business strategies, and cultural phenomena that propelled SoulCycle into the limelight. Through firsthand accounts and insider revelations, Jess Rothschild paints a vivid picture of a company that was as much about community and spirituality as it was about fitness. This episode sets the stage for deeper explorations into the power dynamics, scandals, and enduring legacy of SoulCycle in the episodes to follow.

---

Notable Quotes

• Ariana Grande:
  "It was so incestuous and culty and wild and fabulous. It was every fucking color of the rainbow."
  [00:40]

• Ariana Grande:
  "And at some point in the class, I cried. I cried because I felt the first little glimpse of empowerment and I was like, oh, I'm not dead. I'm in there. Okay, I think I can save myself. I can come back out. I can get hold of this thing."
  [13:14]

• Jesse Rothschild:
  "The structure, the ritual, the group, the community, and then the elation at the end, it was just very similar to being raised in a Christian environment."
  [19:37]

• Janet Fitzgerald:
  "There's a third person that was integral to creating this thing who was literally iced out, who was pushed out through legal means..."
  [05:06]

• Ruth Zuckerman:
  "They don't know anything about spin."
  [40:44]

---

Credits

• Created and Narrated by: Jess Rothschild
• Host/Author: Jess Rothschild & Broadway Podcast Network
• Sound Design: Caitlin White
• Theme Song and Original Music: Elizabeth Ziff (Naughty Nadia by Betty)

For more insights and behind-the-scenes content, follow Jess Rothschild on Instagram at @jessxnyc.

Transcript

[Ariana Grande]

Hi, I'm Ariana Grande. Hi, I'm Cynthia Erivo and you're listening to the Broadway Podcast Network.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Visit BPN FM to discover more.

[Ariana Grande]

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[Cynthia Erivo]

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[Ariana Grande]

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[Cynthia Erivo]

This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. From streaming to shopping, prime helps you get more out of your passions. So whether you're a fan of true crime or prefer a nail biting novel from time to time, with services like Prime Video, Amazon Music, and fast free delivery, prime makes it easy to get more out of whatever you're into or getting into. Visit Amazon.comprime to learn more.

[Ariana Grande]

It was so incestuous and culty and wild and fabulous. It was every fucking color of the rainbow.

[Cynthia Erivo]

From its incestuous SoulCycle was the hottest, fastest growing fitness studio in New York City, catering to the rich, obsessive, famous and fame adjacent.

[Ariana Grande]

A lot of the instructors partied hard. I mean partied hard. So the young ones would stay out all night doing God knows what, a lot of drugs and then coming in, popping an Adderall and then like getting on the bike, spinning a million miles an hour. We made it. This monster, this beautiful fucking monster of a whole bunch of bikes in a dark room. We were all hot and wild and some of us homewreckers, some of us on Page Six we'll explore how this.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Cultural phenomenon captured the Zeitgeist in a way nothing has before or since.

[Ariana Grande]

We're on a bike in the dark. You're going nowhere. But we went everywhere. We went everywhere. Oh well, I am so adored by this community I can say whatever the fuck I want. I can do whatever the fuck I want. What a rush. Noon on Monday, it was like bracing for war.

[Jesse Rothschild]

Noon on Monday is not a thing anywhere else.

[Cynthia Erivo]

It never was before and it never will be again.

[Ariana Grande]

Make no mistake, it was a magical time. But they're like anything. There's always when you peek behind that curtain.

[Cynthia Erivo]

This is the cult of body and soul.

[Ariana Grande]

At the risk of sounding dramatic, it's euphoric. It was club culture meets fitness meets guru meets self help. There was nothing like it never was, never will be.

[Cynthia Erivo]

My name is Jesse Rothschild. I'm a writer and producer Living In Manhattan in 2023, I created a docu series centered on the history, mystique and lore of Fire island, home of the oldest queer communities in the United States. Over the last 20 years, I have found connection and meaning in two places. On fire island and in the New York City fitness community, specifically at SoulCycle. And while I've spent much of my adult life dedicated to fitness, my time at SoulCycle transcended far beyond that of boxing, yoga, or boot camp. I've spent years obsessed with soul, analyzing every single aspect of the phenomenon with friends. My first class was in 2011, and I went about four times a week until 2019. People I met at SoulCycle spoke at my wedding. They were also there for me when that relationship suddenly ended. We took destination Spin rides in the Hamptons, Miami and la. Destination spin is basically an excuse to travel and then revolve your day around an instructor's schedule. I've had instructors to my home for thanksg and I was so intrigued by the secretive nature of the training program that I almost applied to be an instructor myself. Today, I find myself looking back, yearning for this time in my life. Like, what were the ingredients that made it so unique and special? Throughout this series, you'll hear from instructors, studio managers, and other riders like me. We'll even talk to folks who worked on the corporate level. While all instructors are named, other employees have chosen to remain anonymous.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

Well, you have to understand something. The the story of Soul Cycle is, you know, you get these two incredibly media trained, very like savvy business women who have come up with an idea of a story that they want to tell, but it's not the whole story. There's a third person that was integral to creating this thing who was literally iced out, who was pushed out through legal means that for whatever reason, they just figured out one day. She doesn't fit into this.

[Cynthia Erivo]

To fully understand the story of Soul Cycle, we need to go to Los angeles in the 90s.

[Ariana Grande]

Okay. I've been a dancer my whole life, and I had a very colorful upbringing. And by colorful, I mean disaster. I eventually was such a mess. I was at Coll Arts doing dance, majored in dance with a minor in drugs. Or maybe it was the other way around.

[Cynthia Erivo]

This is Janet Fitzgerald. Many fitness contemporaries cite Janet Fitzgerald as one of the original spiritual fitness instructors. Janet took the intention setting typically associated with yoga and applied it to high intensity spin classes. Through her voice and specific music curation, she is able to take riders to a place of reflection and meditation.

[Ariana Grande]

Eventually, it got so Messy that I ended up attempting suicide and then was released to my parents in Palm Springs. It was wild because they wanted me to go to rehab. And I mean, like, maybe I should have. I promise we're going to get from crack to the wheel in a second.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Janet is playfully naughty and has commanding energy. Think Madonna in Truth or Dare. She was the director of instructor training at Soul Cycle for a decade, producing over 200 instructors, and she still teaches at Soul six times a week. Soon after landing in Palm Springs, Janet began dating a drummer in a Christian rock band. She believed his straight edge lifestyle would wear off on her, and it worked for a while.

[Ariana Grande]

I was so in love with him that I got super sober, like, literally hauled up in church on Sundays praying to whoever will listen to, like, take the desire for wanting to do drugs out of my body.

[Cynthia Erivo]

The idea of a 12 step program didn't speak to Janet at this time, so she did it her own way.

[Ariana Grande]

So I was like, no, no, no. I'm just gonna pray and get this desire taken out of. And I did.

[Cynthia Erivo]

For Janet, overcoming the desire for drugs appeared to open up a whole new chapter of health and also a starter marriage.

[Ariana Grande]

I call it Christian rehab, really. But any, because that marriage only lasts a couple years.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Yearning to reconnect with her true calling for dance, Janet quickly got a job teaching aerobics. But while Janet was stuck in the Palm Springs desert, there was a mecca of studio fitness exploding just two hours west in Los Angeles.

[Ariana Grande]

I would go and take class, download all of the choreography, take it back to the desert, and teach it again. And I would make these trips often to become inspired, really, because Los Angeles was everything. They had all the cool music and all the cool mixes and the new choreography, and it was just like the best place in the whole world to go to. I mean, it was really like Studio 54 of Fitness.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Around this time, a new form of cardio was emerging using a stationary bike combining basic cycling, motivational coaching, and breath awareness. The result was a workout called spinning, originally developed by Johnny Goldberg, AKA Johnny G, a South African cyclist.

[Andrea Lewent]

So when spinning started, it was Johnny G. And there were 15 bikes, the first bikes that he made in his backyard.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Andrea Lewent is another fitness pioneer from Los Angeles. She was one of the first spin instructors to cultivate a hardcore following covered in tattoos. Andrea attracted lots of athletes and rock stars who would use the bike to rehabilitate their bodies after injuries.

[Andrea Lewent]

I fell in love with it, and no one would let me teach it. They were like, no. So Johnny G. Was doing his Thing.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Johnny G was a professional athlete and cyclist. Having completed the Race Across America, the longest, most grueling CYC race in the world. Johnny G Designed and built the very first spin bike by hand. He also trademarked the word spinning. Therefore, all Future Studios, including SoulCycle, could not use the word spinning to describe their services. They had to advertise it as, quote, indoor cycling. Indoor cycling, AKA spinning, is low impact, high intensity cardio. Using a stationary bike, up until the early 2000s, you would actually ride in your sneakers, just hoping your foot didn't slide out or lose any toenails. This evolved into the modern use of spin shoes specifically designed to clip into the bike. Instructors are the star of the show, but you control the resistance knob based on their cues. You can simulate a climb, run, jog, or sprint in and out of the saddle. As you pour on the resistance, think of running through piles of sand. Another compelling aspect is its correlation to a dance class. In any boutique spin class today, there's a level of respect paid to the instructor. You don't come late or leave early. You follow the routine and you applaud at the end of class, just as you would in a dance studio. The walls are mirrored with the instructor on top of a podium demonstrating each of the moves. You'll perform choreography on the handlebars, which is mostly useless theatrics, but it's fun, like learning a dance routine. When a class is riding together as a pack totally in the pocket of the music, it can feel absolutely euphoric. Janet was now officially in la. Through the urging of a friend, she found a spiritual counselor who would change her life forever.

[Ariana Grande]

She would say things like, well, I see you have a ring on your finger now. Are you in love with that man? And then I pause and she goes, it's okay. I already know the answer to that question. So let's go ahead and talk about a date that you're going to break up. That woman read me up and down and sideways. And it was the most transformative thing that I think has ever happened in my life. And it was also one of those things where she had said she goes, you know, by the way, I'm not sure if you have ever thought about dating women before, but you definitely have had a lot of both male and female lifetimes. And so if you were to have an attraction toward women, it wouldn't be a shocking thing. Like, What?

[Cynthia Erivo]

It's now 1995, and the spin craze is grabbing a hold on Los Angeles and a studio called Todd Tramps was the place to ride in West Hollywood. The headlining instructors at Todd Tramps were Andrea Lewent and the co owner, Debbie Rocker. But Janet was yet to be sold on spin.

[Ariana Grande]

Let's fast forward to now. I have a girlfriend and I'm living in Burbank. Okay? I am depressed, laying on the couch and my friends are like, listen, can you just please come to the spin class with us? And I'm like, no, I tried it one time and it's not for me.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Andrea Lewent first started teaching at Todd Trams and immediately brought her celebrity following.

[Andrea Lewent]

So some of the people in my class that just started showing up, Seal, Rod Stewart, God bless, Ashley Hamilton, I love him. I stood up in his wedding. A lot of supermodels, Angie Everhart, Scott Weiland, the guys from Bad Religion, Joey Castillo, who's an amazing drummer. He drummed with everybody. A lot of tattoos in that room.

[Ariana Grande]

And I went and I took the class and I dropped my head and I closed my eyes. And at some point in the class, I cried. I cried because I felt the first little glimpse of empowerment and I was like, oh, I'm not dead. I'm in there. Okay, I think I can save myself. I can come back out. I can get hold of this thing.

[Cynthia Erivo]

So what exactly was the difference between taking a spin class at a gym versus a dedicated Stream studio like Todd Tramps? Well, you go to a gym, what's happening? People are on their phones coming in and out. Plus the class is free, included in their gym membership. And let's face it, you get what you pay for.

[Ariana Grande]

There's no real respect for what's going on. It's just like, it's free. They're coming in and out. There's no real code. But Debbie laid down the law early and she did not let people fuck around in her class. There were no shenanigans whatsoever. There was no cross talk. There was no coming in late, leaving early. You did the routine and you respected the people that you were next to.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Janet had a vision and longed to create an experience beyond just a fitness class.

[Ariana Grande]

People were just like, oh, come in with like 20 cassette tapes and been like, oh, which one of these do I want to listen to today? And I started to go like, why would I want to repeat a ride? Well, everyone did. Even Debbie did, even Andrea did. And I was like, no, I'm not doing that. I'm going to make a fresh playlist every time I teach. And they're like, well, that's ridiculous. Like, how are you going to do that? And I said, I'm going to do it. Watch.

[Cynthia Erivo]

This was the end of the 90s. It would be another decade before Spotify and Apple made any music available at your fingertips. This meant physically going to a record store and buying it.

[Ariana Grande]

Every Friday night, I took $100 and I went to Virgin Mega Store on Sunset. And that hundred dollars from was from my waiting tables. And I didn't have a pot to piss in. And I would sit at hundreds of listening stations all along the wall, and I would listen to music all night long, and I would walk away with 10 CDs because they were 10 bucks a pop.

[Cynthia Erivo]

While all the gay boys teaching in West Hollywood were really playing club mixes of pop songs, Janet was finding ways to take the rider through a musical experience.

[Ariana Grande]

Everyone else was just, like, playing old, tired, sped up like Paula Abdul. Okay, that's what. That's what we're doing here. We could listen to real music on the bike. And all of the gay boys at the time, even on the bike, I'm like, why would you put a backbeat to Rocket Man? Let's just listen to Rocketman. So that was a whole nother culture of, like, the gay boys teaching in West Hollywood was just like that music. Like, 100% pots and pans. I'm gonna play some Counting crows and some U2 and some Mary J. Blige, and we'll just see how everyone feels about that. So it was no longer a fitness class. It was like, I'm gonna curate this experience for you. You're gonna have emotion. There's gonna be screaming, there's gonna be yelling. There's gonna be transformation. On a deeper level than just a.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Six pack, however, there were still a few missing elements that her mentors excelled at. Janet was clearly told by the owner, you're doing a good job, but you need to develop your conversation and your motivational skills on the bike. You can't just be hot energy and good music. You have to learn to speak to the people. And she did. She figured it out by closely observing her mentors, the other instructors at the studio, Andrea and Debbie Rocker. Suddenly, an opportunity. She was handed a highly coveted Sunday morning class, and she set out to strategize. Janet needed hype and a captive audience. In a stroke of marketing genius, Janet created a scarcity mindset, letting all of her writers know that this particular Sunday morning class was going to sell out. If they wanted a bike in class, they must sign up early.

[Ariana Grande]

I'm bringing a bunch of people. I don't want my regulars pushed out of this. I need you on a bike that morning. Do you understand me? Phones were flying off the hook. Everyone signed up. It sold out for the first time. Only Andrea and Debbie ever did it. I woke up that morning to teach and I'm going to make sure that I knocked this so far out of the park, there's no way that anyone will ever miss another Sunday. They showed up, we turned people away and I carefully curated the whole thing. We rattled the walls of that place and there was never a Sunday that didn't sell out like that again. Because I knew I had the goods, but nobody else. Do you know what I mean? I was like, I know I can deliver, but I gotta have the people there and I gotta have the hype.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Word of mouth started to spread and suddenly Janet, Andrea and Debbie Rocker were headlining back to back, sold out weekend classes at the studio.

[Ariana Grande]

Now there's press being written about me. Now there's people in the parking lot trying to pay people to give them their bike. There's people that are fighting for front row bikes. There's like articles about like class and like the guru this and the guru that. Like it just blows up. And then all of a sudden you couldn't get in Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Then you couldn't get in Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. All of a sudden you can't get in Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, you can't get in my class.

[Cynthia Erivo]

This, of course, was the seed that SoulCycle was able to iterate on brand and scale to perfection. The addictive feeling of riding to rhythm led by a motivational figurehead you could project anything onto.

[Jesse Rothschild]

Obsessive. I mean they were, they reminded me of my religious upbringing. Evangelical Christians.

[Cynthia Erivo]

John Hill is a reality TV producer and co hosts Andy Cohen's daily radio show on Sirius xm. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, John first moved to New York to star on Broadway in Hairspray and the Boy from Oz.

[Jesse Rothschild]

The structure, the ritual, the group, the community, and then the elation at the end, it was just very similar to being raised in a Christian environment.

[Cynthia Erivo]

John has experimented with nearly every former boutique fitness class because he travels between New York and LA for work.

[Jesse Rothschild]

Well, it just paralleled so much of it. The church for me growing up was not as much about having intellectual discussions. It was about community and going and showing up and having a schedule and then seeing the same people every day and joking with them and then you all collectively get together and like praise the Lord and that. That is exactly like Soul Cycle people were. We would get there at the same time. We would have the same, like, you would always go when your favorite preacher was preaching that whatever sermon or your favorite, like, lady from down the block was leading the worship service. Like, you'd go to the favorite ones and, like, then you'd all kind of get together and then by the end of the ride, you're all praising the Lord. It was. It was rapturous. Everyone gets caught up in the spirit, slain in the holy spirit.

[Cynthia Erivo]

While Todd Tramps became the hottest spin studio in West Hollywood, it was hardly glamorous.

[Ariana Grande]

The locker room bathroom was carpeted. The nastiest carpet you've ever seen in the world, with stains all over it that looked like perhaps the toilet had overrun several times. The studio itself was also carpeted at the time. And that was, as you can imagine, smelly and nasty. We had a mic stand and the sound system, I mean, sound system was like floor to ceiling. It was this giant thing with these crazy speakers. I mean, it was so loud, it's amazing any of us can hear at all. The bikes were pretty rickety, and the place was pretty nasty. I mean, it was a freestanding building with all of these celebrities. Every celebrity you can imagine in Los Angeles spun in that building. Nicole Kidman, Jodie Foster, Alanis Morissette. I mean, just the list could go on and on and on. Again, I just want to reiterate the nastiest, smelliest, broken down piece of shit building. It's very unattractive. They did continue adding more and more and more and more bikes because we were, like, bursting at the seams, you know, and all of us were living the high life thinking we were the hot shit. When I left, it was a big deal. It was a big, big deal.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Channeling addiction into a healing practice is perhaps the most common path to fitness instructor next to musical theater major. I'm lucky to have never dealt with drug or alcohol addiction personally, but I've often wondered why I'm always drawn to people in recovery. A therapist explained that I have the same compulsive addict energy, and I'm drawn to those similarly on a healing path. John Hill first arrived in class because his inpatient rehab center had a partnership with SoulCycle where patients could ride for free.

[Jesse Rothschild]

And we had unlimited. And so when you hear that something's unlimited, you're like, oh, well, I'm. Even if I don't want this, I'm going to take everything I can because I'm paying $100,000 to go to this fucking rehab. So I'm going to take this really expensive Thing and just run it into the ground. So you start sort of going as like a bidder or just kind of a stick it to the man thing. Oh, yeah, Like, I'll go. And I would go twice a day. And it was something to do. I would smoke cigarettes. I would be, you know, smoking the other guys in rehab, we would walk to the soul cycle in Brooklyn for something to do is either watch tv, eat pancakes, smoke cigarettes, nap, or do soul cycle. And so you could. We just did that because we started. We wanted to feel like we were doing something. And so you just walk in and be like, okay, here we go. And then. And then I got really into it. I became super obsessed.

[Cynthia Erivo]

John spoke about the obsessive compulsive nature of addicts and how it can be easily channeled into fitness while in recovery.

[Jesse Rothschild]

Even before I started getting super into fitness, the first year I got sober, I just. And a lot of people say this, I was walking from Williamsburg to watch what happens live. My job at the time, across the Williamsburg Bridge to and from work. I just couldn't stop walking. Listening to music, your mind is active. It's like you wake up from being asleep from a horrible nightmare. And so when I got sober for real, for real, it was like making an amends to your body, which you've trashed for years. That, for me, was the. That's how I can explain it the most. That was like the first little kernel of it was like, okay, I have polluted my body. I have treated it like shit. The only gift we actually have in this world is the body we're given, and I have treated it like trash. And so what can I do? You learn in sobriety and recovery. You learn to be gentle with yourself, to be kind to yourself, Something you're. You don't do as an addict. You're mean to yourself. You tell yourself you're a piece of shit, you're worthless, you're, you know, you're a failure. You say all those things. But when you get sober, you get a little recovery, you start feeling like, oh, maybe I'm good. Maybe they're good things about life so it's easier to treat your body better. And then because we're addicts and compulsive, we take it to the extreme.

[Ariana Grande]

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[Cynthia Erivo]

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[Ariana Grande]

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[Cynthia Erivo]

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[Ariana Grande]

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[Cynthia Erivo]

Janet and Andrea had become two of the most sought after fitness instructors in Los Angeles by the year 2000. They both left Todd tramps with investors throwing money at them to open and brand their own studios. Andrea's would become the rock and roll rough around the edges CBGB's vibe called maid in LA.

[Andrea Lewent]

And it's one of those fairytale weird ass Hollywood stories. I have no money and I'm walking down the street and this woman pulls over and she says to me, I want a platinum membership. And I'm like, we're not gonna be open for a minute. She's like, I don't care. Who'd I make the check to? It was New Year's Eve and I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard. I'm like, I've never written a check for $10,490. That was the rent at that time. And there you have it. She was all because she was a client of mine and she was gonna follow me wherever I went. So therefore she was like, I'm gonna write a check right now. And I just looked up and went, okay, guess we're gonna do this.

[Cynthia Erivo]

SoulCycle went on to recruit nearly every Los Angeles instructor with a following. But the one they could never convince was Andrea.

[Andrea Lewent]

It's a funny story because they offered me a job a couple times. It was like, hats off, props to these women because they loved what they did and they branded the hell out of it, which started to take down a lot of boutique fitness. It's funny, if you ask people, they'll say it's your class, they just talk like you talk. I'm like, I wouldn't go that far. But it is. It's the groundwork we laid for it not being about writing. But I didn't like SoulCycle for myself.

[Cynthia Erivo]

As SoulCycle was taking off, many of their top instructors had been Andrea's students for years.

[Andrea Lewent]

They flew me to New York, first of all, and threw out the red carpet driver. Like, I was like, I like this. I'll come back again. And I sat down, and they cut right to the chase. She didn't. Janet. Janet and I go way back. I mean, a lot of their lead teachers were my students for many years. And this may have been stupid, but I taught that class for 23 years of my life. People followed me everywhere. People supported me. They were my family. And when I just start crunching numbers and I became a good businesswoman, which is awesome. I said, when I'm done, I'm done. You know what I mean? Like, I'm gonna be done, and then I'll be done. And then I was done.

[Cynthia Erivo]

While Andrea was running Made in LA, Janet was approached by the CFO of Disney, who offered $1 million to go into business with him. Janet's studio would reflect the spiritual nature her classes embodied. This would become Body and Soul.

[Ariana Grande]

It was about soul searching. It was about spirituality. It was about going deeper. It was about the level. You have to understand what year it was, right? Because we opened in May of 99. So looking like a sushi restaurant was everything. Every hotel looked like a sushi restaurant. Every restaurant, even if they didn't serve sushi, looked like a sushi restaurant. So we kind of looked like a sushi restaurant. I'm not going to lie to you. We had, like, fountains in the hallway and bamboo on the ceiling and backlit mirrors in the spin room. Cucumber water in the training room. Because we had been in such like, a scum teaching for so long, I was like, I want this to be special, Okay? I had orchids at the front desk and candles. It was honestly stunning. No one had ever seen studio fitness like this. So it put us on the map in that way.

[Cynthia Erivo]

It's true. No one had seen studio fitness like this, including a devoted body and soul rider of Janet, a talent agent named Julie Rice.

[Ariana Grande]

Julie Rice, which at the time was named Julie Taylor, was taking my class. She always rode in about the third or fourth row by the windows. She probably rode with me for a long time without me even knowing her name. And she. We never really had too much of a conversation either. She was just kind of quiet and like did her ride and left and we didn't really have a relationship other than she loved my class and her life was changed and enhanced by it. And she would talk often about when she went to New York, about missing my voice, couldn't find my voice.

[Cynthia Erivo]

While working in Hollywood, Julie worked as a talent agent and manager for Benny Medina. Benny Medina was a record exec and known for turning celebrities into brands. Think Jennifer Lop, Tyra Banks, Mariah Carey, and yeah, even Sean P. Diddy Combs. It was this understanding of how to turn instructors into brand ambassadors that would become one of SoulCycle's secret weapons. 2006, New York City. Julie Rice and her husband had left Hollywood to be closer to family in New York because they now had a five month old baby. They were now living on the Upper west side and Julie was regularly taking classes at the most popular gym in the city, Reebok Sports Club. Julie became friends with her spin instructor at Reebok, a woman named Ruth Zuckerman. Ruth was a former dancer fresh from a divorce and a sister, single mom to teenage girls. Ruth had been cobbling together a teaching schedule between the luxury Reebok Sports Club and out in East Hampton. While Julie was the core of Ruth's following at Reebok, she found another dedicated rider out in East Hampton named Elizabeth Cutler. Just like Julie, Elizabeth also had relocated to Manhattan with a young baby. Separately, both Elizabeth and Julie confessed to Ruth that they had dreams of opening their own spin studio. While Julie did not have any money, Elizabeth did. With her own success in real estate and running her own healing practice, her family had money to invest in a startup. Naturally, Ruth set up a lunch to introduce Julie and Elizabeth. They would meet at the Soho house where Julie and Elizabeth bonded instantly. The recipe was simple. Elizabeth brought the capital, Julie brought the marketing and branding. Ruth brought her riders and would be the face of the business.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

The story of SoulCycle is, you know, you get Julie and Elizabeth were these two incredibly media trained, very like savvy business women who have come up with an idea of a story that they want to tell, but it's not the whole story. There's a third person that was integral to creating this thing who was literally iced out, who was pushed out through legal means that for whatever reason they just figured out one day she doesn't fit into this. Maybe it's that the rule of three thing, like maybe like one person doesn't fit in, I don't know. But the bottom line is that everybody knows that Ruth brought everybody over from Reebok. Everybody knows that there would be no Soul Cycle without her. But she got iced out.

[Cynthia Erivo]

SoulCycle opened its doors in April of 2006. Together, the three founders rented a space on the Upper west side that they found on Craigslist. Per their lease, they were not allowed to use any outside signage. So you really had to find the place. It was very diy. Julie and Elizabeth were designing the studio out of Ikea furniture. They folded their own towels, and they passed out flyers on the street. The founders kicked around a few names before landing on SoulCycle. But I wonder if Julie's experience at Body and Soul had any lasting imprint.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

You know, that's the reason why there's no clocks on the walls. Because Janet used to hate when people would stare at the clocks at Body and Soul and she would rip them off the wall and she would stick them on your handlebars.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Ruth was the one and only instructor, while Julian Elizabeth ran the business. They knew every single rider who came through their doors.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

At the time, I was 30 years old. It was a pretty big point in my life because I had just gotten this big job. I was a buyer at a department store.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Aaron is an original rider from the 72nd street era. He works in fashion and first discovered soul the way most savvy New Yorkers shared information in 2006 through blogs and email newsletters.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

And the reason why I bring that up is because I had, like, disposable income for the first time in my life.

[Ariana Grande]

I.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

Because normally, you know, you would have classes that would be included in your gym membership, and that's what everybody did. The idea of, like, going outside of your gym to pay more money, like, it just didn't make any sense. No one was doing that at the time.

[Cynthia Erivo]

In the early 2000s, subscribing to the Daily Candy email newsletter was your best bet for finding the best restaurants, clubs, and bars in Manhattan.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

It was before social media, but I was very online. I mean, like, everybody had a BlackBerry then, and I was. I was all about my BlackBerry. I had. I used to be able to text on BlackBerry without looking at it. I had the entire feel of the keyboard memorized that I could just. If I had to, I could type underneath my desk and not look at it. I knew exactly where all the keys were. I loved it. And I was getting these newsletters every single day, like, Daily Candy. One week, they reported about this boutique spin studio on 72nd Street. There wasn't a sign outside, and it was all of these women I mean, I was literally. I think I might have been the only man in the class for, like, at least the first, like, six classes that I went to. You had to be in the know to even know that this place existed.

[John Hill]

We were at the Columbus Avenue Street Fair, and there were these two girls underneath this yellow tent talking about their new brand, SoulCycle, and they were about to open the 72nd street studio up.

[Cynthia Erivo]

And I. I don't know if they.

[John Hill]

Had opened it maybe that week, but they handed my husband a. A schedule on a postcard that I actually still have.

[Cynthia Erivo]

Glennis is another original 72nd street rider. She was a young Upper West Sider and had actually taken Ruth's class back at Reebok.

[John Hill]

There were three classes, and maybe it wasn't even seven days a week yet. And my husband's like, look, you should really go. And I was like, wow, it's $28. $28 now it's 40. But it was 28 a class. And I think I was paying, like, 28amonth for gym memberships. And I think I was there either the first class or the first week.

[Cynthia Erivo]

The people who were taking spin classes at big box gyms did not use the rest of the gym, so they were paying a monthly membership for just this one class. Therefore, it made it easy for them to abandon their gym membership and pay for something that solely focused on the thing they cared about.

[John Hill]

And I remember we had a clip in. Like, we had to have shoes to clip. And I thought, wow, that's weird, because I was used to riding in. In. In my sneakers. So Ruth Zuckerman, who was one of the owners, she was teaching the class, and I had taken one of her classes at Reebok, and I thought to myself, wow, the music was, like, in a place I had never heard before, right? Like, I felt like I was back at Studio 54 in, like, 1982. Like, that's how it felt. Like, I heard the sound system was going through my body. And I always loved exercise. But this. That first day was different. There was no group yet. There was no community. It was just people exercising.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

Then when it started to get more popular, it was even. It was just strange, because then you started seeing all these new people coming in. There was this Democratic fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton was there that got national press coverage. And then you'd hear that. That Brooke Shields was in the class or Katie Couric or Kelly Ripa, Tiki Barber. It was much, much different after that. I think by two months after I started going There I came outside one day, and there was just this line of town cars picking up all these, like, rich ladies who lunch, you know, there was no Uber at the time, so they were literally like Escalade after Escalade. It was. It was incredible.

[Cynthia Erivo]

A New York times article from 2010 reads, the remaining founders, Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice, seem intent on expunging their former partner from their past. The company story on SoulCycle's website doesn't even mention. Mention her. In a joint interview with Julie and Elizabeth, they simply said, quote, ruth worked for us for a time. We decided to part ways. We wish her the best. Yet they seemed visibly uncomfortable, hands tucked between their thighs as if bracing for impact.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

Julie and Elizabeth are media trained. Within an inch of their life, they control the narrative, and they basically wrote her out of a story.

[Cynthia Erivo]

We'll never know exactly what the conversation was between the three women, but we can certainly piece the story together. While Julie and Elizabeth were experienced businesswomen, Ruth was naive and did not have any proper legal protection in place.

[Ariana Grande]

Sounds like that she did not have her contract written. That's very sad and also very shocking. Maybe she thought it was so small at the time that it wasn't necessary. I have no idea. I got hired into such a whirlwind. I mean, I had to create an army so fast, I didn't even have two seconds to think about what happened to Ruth or why it didn't work out. I mean, may this be a lesson for all of us, and I'm learning it too, is to get that shit in writing. And don't assume that other people are gonna do right by you.

[Cynthia Erivo]

In talking with Janet, I remembered how Ruth still maintains to this day that, quote, they don't know anything about spin.

[Ariana Grande]

They don't need to. They don't need to. That's why they've been successful. No one else is open. But here's the thing. We could say they don't know anything about spin. And that may be true, but they knew the heart of spin and the soul of spin, and that's why it was successful.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

Julie and Elizabeth are media trained. Within an inch of their life, they controlled the narrative, and they basically wrote her out of a story. Maybe at some point these two business women were like, wait a second. We don't need her. She's a fitness instructor. Ruth wasn't savvy enough to lawyer up the way these other two women were. So I think that she didn't have the legal protections or the contracts in place by the time that this Got very, very big and started making a lot of money. I think that Julia and Elizabeth were like, we don't need her. And Ruth didn't have the power to stay in. And all of a sudden she showed up and she realized she wasn't a part of it anymore.

[Cynthia Erivo]

And what about the writers? Did they have any idea what was going on behind the scenes?

[John Hill]

I could tell you what I heard, but I don't know if it's true. I mean, I heard that she just wasn't pulling her weight as she wanted to just teach and do what she does. And you know, they needed more help on the, the nitty gritty. I mean, that's what I had heard, that she just really didn't want to have anything to do with the financials. And you know, back then you're like, oh my God, she's not replaceable. But look what happened, right? You're like, oh God.

[Janet Fitzgerald]

So you know these people who work there, you talk to the people who are at the desk and you got a sense that it was something that was not talked about. They weren't going to talk about it with you. And from some of the instructors, like it was just, it was a non starter. You just didn't talk about it or she wasn't talked about. She was completely written out.

[Cynthia Erivo]

I'm sending you away where the bad girls go to eat your curds and whey. You shan't come back for quite some time. So kneel, repent and pray. Repent and pray. Repent and pray. Your rosy cheers help you nor will your sugar and spice. You've made us all feel foolish, now you must pay the price. Naughty, naughty, naughty. Makes promises she can't keep. She's out dancing with the boogeyman while you are fast asleep. Cult of Body and Soul is created, executive produced and narrated by Jess Rothschild, sound design by Caitlin White. Theme song and original music composed by Elizabeth Ziff Naughty Nadia by the band Betty. My dear, my dear. Bugger off. My dear. Your size and sobs won't save you. Nor will your sexy cries. Time for you to understand the consequence of lies. Naughty, naughty, naughty. Makes promises she can't keep. She's out dancing with the boogeyman while you are fast. For even more culty soul content, definitely follow me on Instagram at jessxnyc.

[Alan Seals]

Hey there, I'm Alan Seals, host of the Theater Podcast, a weekly podcast that takes you behind the scenes with intimate personal conversations that include the biggest stars on Broadway, TV and film. My podcast has over 350 episodes with guests including Stephanie J. Block, Kerry Butler, James Monroe Iglehart, Andrew Barth Feldman, Alex Brightman, Patti LuPone, Ramin Karimlou, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and even TV stars like Isaac Bizrahi, Ariana Maddox, Michael Urie, Eddie Izzard, and literally so, so many more. My guests have spilled secrets, told coming out stories, discussed their fears and successes, and even had huge epiphanies live in the episodes. So you're bound to hear some things from my guests that you've never heard anywhere else. I've also got many deep dive takeovers on the podcast, which are consecutive episodes dedicated to cast and creatives from a single show like the Outsiders, Back to the Future and Juliet wicked, Beetlejuice, Hadestown, Frozen 6. I could go on. Can you tell I like theater? I've definitely got something you're gonna enjoy, so go ahead, search for your favorite star and listen to their episode. You can find all the info about the podcast at BPN FMTP on the Broadway Podcast Network or anywhere podcasts are found. If you need that link again, it's BPN FM TTP.