Jess Rothschild - SoulCycle and the Cult of Spinning

Summary

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Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

Episode: Jess Rothschild – SoulCycle and the Cult of Spinning
Date: January 7, 2026
Hosts: Lola Blanc & Meagan Elizabeth
Guest: Jess Rothschild, creator of the “Cult of Body and Soul” documentary podcast

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Overview

This episode digs into SoulCycle’s transformation from boutique fitness craze to a community with distinctly “cultish” dynamics. Hosts Lola and Meagan welcome Jess Rothschild, whose deep-dive documentary podcast “Cult of Body and Soul” uncovers the mystique, rituals, and power structures at play within SoulCycle’s cycling studios. They explore how a workout brand engineered euphoric group experiences, elevated instructors to near-guru status, and—through charisma, exclusivity, and mysticism—blurred the line between fitness class and spiritual devotion.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The SoulCycle Origin Story

[12:58 - 16:57, 28:35 - 34:39]

• Founding: SoulCycle was created by three women in 2006—a spin instructor (Ruth), a talent agent (from LA), and a real estate professional. The LA talent agent’s favorite West Hollywood studio and its star instructor, Janet Fitzgerald, provided the template and spiritual “soul” for SoulCycle.
• Growth: Ruth, the original instructor, brought dedicated clients but was pushed out within the first 18 months because she was outmaneuvered on contracts by the business-savvy co-founders.
• Early Struggles and Breakthrough: Classes started slowly but blew up following a summer outpost in the Hamptons, drawing New York’s elite and getting a massive boost when celebrities like Kelly Ripa promoted the company on national TV.

“To me, this is the most fascinating story ever told.” – Jess Rothschild [13:06]

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2. Ritual, Ambiance, and the Power of the Instructor

[19:16 - 24:14, 34:13 - 36:51, 35:29 - 36:51]

• Stagecraft: Unlike most fitness classes, SoulCycle instructors faced their audience from an elevated platform, and used music, lighting, and choreography to create an immersive, rave-like environment.
• Charisma as Core: Instructors were selected more for their charisma and storytelling than certifications. Many were former theater kids or people in recovery, skilled in holding a room and infusing spiritual/transformational language into class.
• Spirituality: The lyrical, sermon-esque delivery, often drawing from recovery and metaphysics, set certain instructors apart. The class became part therapy session, part church, part nightclub.

“You are projecting all of your focus onto the instructor.” – Jess Rothschild [19:16]
“The structure, the ritual, the group, the community and the elation at the end of the ride was very similar to being raised in a Christian environment. … It was rapturous.” – John Hill, interviewee (quoted by Megan Elizabeth) [35:42]

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3. Social Hierarchies and Community

[40:29 - 43:31, 49:30 - 54:15]

• Cliques & “Golden Riders”: Social status developed both inside and outside of class. Top riders became “favorites,” often rewarded with attention from instructors and staff, and could be invited to social events post-class.
• Merch & Exclusivity: SoulCycle built a sense of exclusivity and belonging with limited-edition merchandise and by training front-desk staff in hospitality—remembering names, stories, and offering perks to regulars.
• Addiction & Dependence: The experience often became addictive, with attendees scheduling their lives around favored instructors and even following them to multiple studios.

“I wanted to remain one of the special ones.” – Jess Rothschild [45:31]
“It was the singular focus of my life. Is that nuts?” – Jess Rothschild [16:43]

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4. Sex Appeal, Scandal, and Cult Dynamics

[38:29 - 41:55]

• Performance & Seduction: Instructors were trained to “ride from the vagina”—code for infusing classes with sensuality and rhythm. The combination of physical exertion, candlelight, and emotional intensity fostered intimate (and sometimes sexual) attachments.
• Scandals: Romantic/sexual relationships between instructors and clients were not uncommon and occasionally made headlines, contributing to the “guru” mystique around star teachers.

“They were taught to teach from their vagina.” – Jess Rothschild [38:40]
“They either wanna fuck you or be you—is kind of what the instructors were taught.” – Megan Elizabeth [39:47]

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5. Corporate Takeover and SoulCycle’s Evolution

[51:00 - 54:15, 56:46 - 62:55]

• Equinox Acquisition: The shift from a founder-led hospitality culture to corporate management under Equinox changed the company. Expansion meant diluted instructor quality, less personal attention for clients, and a more transactional atmosphere.
• Decline of “Magic”: As original star instructors left—and the brand multiplied studios—many found the experience lost its specialness. The pandemic, political fallout (including leadership’s Trump ties), and shifting cultural trends further diminished its “cult” energy, though some instructors, like Janet Fitzgerald, remain central fixtures.

“They no longer cared about the actual riders as people. You were just a metric to them.” – Jess Rothschild [52:45]
“Corporate America as corporate America does just kind of ruined it.” – Lola Blanc [63:33]

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6. Mysticism and Ritual: Crystals and Studio Blessings

[54:52 - 56:47]

• Studio Blessings: New SoulCycle studios featured rituals and even crystals placed behind the instructor bike, intended to absorb and “cleanse” the energy expended during rides.
• Spiritual Touches: These elements deepened the sense that SoulCycle was more than a workout—it was group therapy, spiritual ritual, and entertainment combined.

“There is a crystal behind every SoulCycle instructor bike that has been blessed before they open the studio for the very first ride.” – Jess Rothschild [55:00]

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7. Lasting Impact, Breaks, and Returns

[56:50 - 60:04]

• Jess left SoulCycle when her favorite instructors moved on, but working on her documentary drew her back, reconnecting her with the emotional highs and friendships the community once gave her.
• Many ex-devotees orbit in and out, lured by nostalgia for the ritual, community, and “preacher” figures they once idolized.

“I was there for the theater of it. I was there for the preaching, the spirituality.” – Jess Rothschild [57:42]
“It reconnected me with all these people … that’s been a beautiful byproduct that I never would have anticipated.” – Jess Rothschild [59:31]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [16:43] “Is it embarrassing to say it was the singular focus of my life? Is that nuts?” – Jess Rothschild
• [35:42] “The structure, the ritual, the group, the community and the elation at the end of the ride was very similar to being raised in a Christian environment. … It was rapturous.” – John Hill, quoted by Megan Elizabeth
• [38:40] “They were taught to teach from their vagina.” – Jess Rothschild
• [39:47] “They either wanna fuck you or be you—is kind of what the instructors were taught.” – Megan Elizabeth
• [45:31] “I wanted to remain one of the special ones.” – Jess Rothschild
• [52:45] “They no longer cared about the actual riders as people. You were just a metric to them.” – Jess Rothschild
• [55:00] “There is a crystal behind every SoulCycle instructor bike that has been blessed before they open the studio for the very first ride.” – Jess Rothschild
• [63:33] “It sounds like it had a cult following, more so than being an actual cult… and then corporate America as corporate America does just kind of ruined it.” – Lola Blanc
• [64:37] “What she basically says is … for her to say that, to put that energy out there, it takes energy away for her looking for her next big thing. Amen.” – Jess Rothschild on Stevie’s parting life advice

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Introduction to Jess Rothschild & Why SoulCycle? [12:20–14:47]
• SoulCycle’s Founders and Early History [16:18–19:16, 28:35–29:53]
• Cultural Elements: Ritual, Sermon, Spirituality [21:24–23:18, 34:13–36:51]
• Charisma, Hierarchy, and the Instructor Mystique [31:17–38:29]
• Sexuality, Scandal & Guru Complex [38:29–42:14]
• Cultish Social Hierarchies & Community [45:31–50:26]
• Corporate Shift and Brand Evolution [51:00–54:15]
• Mysticism & Studio Rituals (Crystals) [54:52–56:46]
• Breaks from SoulCycle and Returns [56:50–60:04]
• Corporate Fallout, Present State of SoulCycle [61:37–63:33]
• Summing Up & Reflections on Cultishness [63:54–65:08]

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Tone and Takeaways

This episode maintains a critical-yet-compassionate tone. The hosts and guest laugh about obsessions and “good cult” energy, but don’t shy away from calling out manipulative or exploitative aspects. They highlight the universal human yearning for belonging, ritual, and transcendence—all things SoulCycle engineered masterfully for a time.

Final Reflective Thought:
“Wanting to believe in something bigger than yourself is one of the most human instincts there is.” – Trust Me Podcast ethos

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Watch or Listen

• Jess Rothschild’s audio docuseries: “Cult of Body and Soul” (available on podcast platforms and YouTube, with documentary-style visuals)
• Jess’s Instagram: @JessXNYC

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This summary captures the heart of the conversation, including history, cultural critique, personal stories, and insight into the communal highs—and culty lows—of SoulCycle’s heyday.

Transcript

[Lola Blanc]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

Trust me, do you trust me?

[Jess Rothschild]

Would I ever lead you astray?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Trust me, this is the truth.

[Jess Rothschild]

The only truth.

[Lola Blanc]

If anybody ever tells you to just trust them, don't welcome to Trust Me Me, the podcast about cults, extreme belief and manipulation from two soulful cyclists who've actually experienced it. I am Lola Blanc.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And I'm Megan Elizabeth.

[Lola Blanc]

Today our guest is Jess Rothschild, creator of Cult of Body and Soul, a documentary podcast about spinning brand SoulCycle. She's going to tell us about the company's origins with a workout environment engineered to create an almost religious experience, and how instructors chosen for their cult followings and special charisma exploded the brand.

[Megan Elizabeth]

She'll talk about the social hierarchies that formed inside and outside of class, some of the flings that happened with instructors, the mysticism infused into the culture, and how the corporate takeover of the brand changed everything. And this is just a little bit more of a lighter episode. We know Socycle isn't like a cult, but there were some actually pretty surprising things we found out about it and some pretty culty aspects indeed.

[Lola Blanc]

Before we go cycling with Jess, Megan, what's your cultiest thing of the week?

[Megan Elizabeth]

All right, well, as always, we are, like, speaking about something that might be current this week, but when it airs, it might be a few weeks from now. So just know that this is current this week.

[Lola Blanc]

The we are not being dated in your references.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I'm not being dated. Okay, so 50 Cent and Netflix released the Sean Combs the Reckoning documentary, which I have.

[Lola Blanc]

You have not seen yet. Can't wait.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I've seen it 40 times, maybe. It's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Very sad, very informative, and just an incredible job done by 50 Cent. So who I was really drawn to and the doc that I would love to have on the podcast, actually, is his childhood friend and business partner. His name is Kirk Burrows. And he had a quote that they put kind of at the beginning. Kirk saw Shawn pushing around a woman, and he said this. I pushed that to the back of my mind. That was a really bad moment. But he was weak. Does that make me part of a Sean Combs cult? I may have been the first disciple believer and then overall protector against all odds.

[Lola Blanc]

Mm.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And what stood out to me is this man was a childhood friend of Sean who saw many difficult things in his life happen, and he was also seeing the good things that Sean was helping build within this culture of building up, you know, a community that had been so overlooked and whatever. So the cognitive dissonance this man must have been experiencing was just very surreal, I imagine. And then just for him to use that religious language, unprompted. And the identity fusion, also, like in the bite model, the information control was such a perfect storm because there's this culture of don't snitch, you know, which is very needed. And many times, because as we know, you know, if you get the cops involved or something, it can go badly. But it did just create this perfect storm of people not sharing information, people trying to protect, as we see so often in cults, the broader message and not take down somebody who might be a bad actor because they don't wanna take away the good happening. And it was really horrible and it was really eye opening. You know, these cult like groups can form anywhere yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Wow. I mean, I wanted to watch it already, but now I absolutely wanna watch it. Someone else had actually mentioned, I think, that same person to me and that it must have been the same quote because it seems to have stood out to a lot of people, the cognitive dissonance that that person was experiencing and that I think probably numerous people were experiencing.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Knowing that these two conflicting things were happening at the same time and. Oh my gosh, yeah. I feel so bad for those women and all, everyone involved with that, but I can't wait to watch.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, give it a watch. You can't press stop once you press play. You know what I mean?

[Lola Blanc]

I do know what you mean.

[Megan Elizabeth]

What about you? What's your cultiest thing of the week?

[Lola Blanc]

I am finally reading a book that has been recommended to me like 400 billion times. Not an exaggeration, it was literally 400 billion times, which is Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, who is this like pioneering black woman science fiction author before that was really a thing anywhere. And this book has been referenced so many times because it takes place in around this time, actually. I want to say it's like a couple years from now and the world has gone to shit and the inequality has been become so incredibly stark and water's become such a scarce resource. So it's already like a setup that I'm here for. I'm interested in it. But the main character is this, I think, teenage girl who has this superpower called hyper empathy and basically she creates a religion. Like the book is about her survival during this time period and how she's creating this religion for people to follow and building this community which is so desperately needed in these, you know, dystopian times. I'm sure there are a million books like this, but I had not read any novels that specifically captured the experience of the person forming the group. Which I haven't finished the book yet. So I don't know, you know, if it becomes like a cult or just a religion or what. But it's very, very culty and it reads like you are in the mind of somebody who is really trying to create a, you know, religious community. So it's super interesting.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I want to read it. I've been suggested it exactly one time and it was just now.

[Lola Blanc]

Well, I feel. I feel silly that it's taken me this long because honestly, a ton of people have recommended. It's supposed to be like one of the great speculative fiction. I don't know the difference between sci fi and speculative fiction, but let's say it's both. It's one of the great novels in that category, apparently. And, And I am really loving it. So anyway, that's my culty thing.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Cool. I mean, it sounds like you start to kind of side with the person starting the cult. Am I correct?

[Lola Blanc]

Well, as I'm going, I'm like, you know, with my cult podcast or Rain, I'm like, don't start the cult.

[Megan Elizabeth]

But, but, but I see why I need it. Yeah, I need it.

[Lola Blanc]

But in the world, like, everybody is, like, stealing from each other and killing each other. It's a very violent book. Like, there's some really gruesome imagery in there. And, you know, you're really rooting for this community to form because the people need each other so badly. And she does not. This character does not seem to have any malicious intentions. So I, you know, I'm like, oh, if this were the real world, would she get corrupted by the power of the people who begin to follow her? You know, like, I don't know. It's. It's fun.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Come back when you finish it.

[Lola Blanc]

I will.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Okay, perfect.

[Lola Blanc]

Okay, great.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Shall we talk to Jess?

[Lola Blanc]

Let's do it.

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[Lola Blanc]

Welcome Jess Rothschild to. Oh my God. To Trust me. I was gonna say to podcast.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Welcome to podcast.

[Lola Blanc]

Welcome to podcast. I mean that's also technically true. Welcome to this podcast. Trust me.

[Jess Rothschild]

Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here. I love you guys.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, excited to have you. You also have podcast. I do, which is why you're here. Called Cult of Body and Soul, which is about SoulCycle. And obviously you know, SoulCycle's not a literal cult, but we will be discussing some of the dynamics.

[Jess Rothschild]

There's cultish behavior Surrounds it. But no, it's not. It's not Nexium. We're not. Let's not be too hyperbolic about it.

[Megan Elizabeth]

But it was surprising to me how culty it got, so.

[Jess Rothschild]

Oh, I'd be interested to hear what elements you found to be the most cultish.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There were things where I was like, whoa. And we'll get into all that. We will.

[Jess Rothschild]

We will.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yes, we will.

[Lola Blanc]

Well, what drew you to start a podcast, docuseries about SoulCycle?

[Jess Rothschild]

So I have hosted my own show, a weekly pop culture show called Hot Takes and Deep dives since around 2018, 2019. On that show, I interview people, everyone from Rosie O' Donnell to Isaac Mizrahi, Sandra Bernhard. And separate from those pop culture interviews, it also serves as an incubator for things that I am just obsessed with in my daily life. And I did an episode of that show called the Cult of Soul Cycle about, like, two or three years, maybe three years ago at this point. And where in that episode, I had a fellow spin instructor friend. He did not teach at Soul Cycle, but he did teach at a Soul Cycle competitor. And we just basically talked about everything. Soul Cycle. And so this had been percolating in the back of my mind. I mean, well, before you even had a podcast, I was the friend at the brunch table screaming that I could not believe that no one had made a documentary about Soul Cycle. Yeah. To me, this is the most fascinating story ever told. So that's what drove me to do that episode, is that I just wanted to talk about it all day long. And eventually, once I got into making documentaries, documentary podcast series. This is my second. Of course, it was going to be on Soul Cycle because this was the thing I'm the most passionate about.

[Lola Blanc]

It's your special interest. Yeah, yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

The other being Fire island, which is also fascinating.

[Jess Rothschild]

So the history of Fire Island.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, yeah. I love that you love these topics.

[Lola Blanc]

What is Fire Island?

[Jess Rothschild]

What is Fire Island?

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

Oh, where are you guys located?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Los Angeles.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

Okay. So I'm a New Yorker, and so Fire island is off the coast of Long Island. It's about two hours from New York City, and you take a ferry to get there. And it's basically this gay fantasia.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Oh.

[Jess Rothschild]

These two communities that are. Right. That are a mile apart. One is very focused towards gay men. That's the Pines. You may have heard of the Fire Island Pines. And the one right next door is called Cherry Grove. And that one is very, like, bohemian trans people, lesbians, older gay guys.

[Lola Blanc]

Very interesting.

[Jess Rothschild]

Kitschy. Yeah. And, like, you know, everyone mixes and mingles between, and there's a lot of history.

[Megan Elizabeth]

We were going to ask you, like, what the kind of connection between the two are, but as you're speaking about it, I'm like, well, that was kind of, you know, a very integral part of the soul cycle community was that it was very diverse. Lgbtq, very gay.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Super gay.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah. As. As a gay person myself, a lot of the work I do is focused on gay pop culture and then also queer history, like, I just find so fascinating, like, who came before us.

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Megan Elizabeth]

There's no pop culture that's not gay pop culture.

[Lola Blanc]

I mean, honestly. So you were taking soul cycle classes yourself?

[Jess Rothschild]

Oh, I was a devotee, serious devotee from, like, 2010 to 2019. I stopped going at the end of 2019, but definitely for, like, six years in there. You know, I started off kind of light, and then I got really sucked in, and then toward the end, I was on my way out. But for, I would say, six years. I mean, is it embarrassing to say it was the singular focus of my life? Not at all. Is that nuts?

[Lola Blanc]

No, no. I mean, I think that's probably true for a lot of people. Yeah. But that makes you the perfect person to be making this podcast and talking to us about this. Yeah, we love when someone's actually experienced the thing that we're talking about.

[Jess Rothschild]

Oh, yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

So tell us how SoulCycle began.

[Jess Rothschild]

So SoulCycle was founded by three women in 2006. Three women who really didn't know each other. One was a spinning instructor, this one woman, and the other two. One came from la. She was a talent agent, and the other one had a background in real estate, but they all really didn't know each other very well. And the one who was the spin instructor, the two women were her clients. Like, they would take her class, and that's how it was founded. I mean, there's a longer story, but basically, these three women got together and thought, hey, let's create this thing. Like, the talent agent who lived out in la, there was a studio that she loved that really was the bone structure of what and the emotion. Not even the bone structure, I should say, rather the soul. The actual embodiment of what SoulCycle really managed to scale beyond anyone's dreams. There was this spin studio in West Hollywood that the talent manager loved, and she would then recruit the woman who owned and was the main spin instructor at that LA studio. Her name is Janet Fitzgerald. And Janet, if you've listened to Cult of Body and Soul, is the lead of Cult of Body and Soul. And they eventually were able to recruit her to SoulCycle. And she taught over 400 instructors that went through the training program. There would not be SoulCycle without this woman, Janet, whose roots were in LA, and they basically created a copycat version of what she brilliantly designed and embodied.

[Lola Blanc]

Did you ever take a class with Janet specifically?

[Jess Rothschild]

Oh, my God. I've been obsessed with this woman for over a decade. It's so funny. There are a few questions that I get over and over again, but especially as the series was airing. It first premiered in May of this year. And some people would say, like, where did you find this Janet? I'm like, hello, I've been following this.

[Lola Blanc]

Woman for a decade.

[Megan Elizabeth]

You're like, Janet Gerald. You mean Madonna?

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah, she's the Madonna of spin.

[Lola Blanc]

Wait, okay, okay. I've never taken a spin class, so for listeners who are like me and don't understand this culture, like, what makes an instructor like Janet so special?

[Jess Rothschild]

That's a really great question. So the difference between spinning and really any other group, suppose you're comparing it to, like, yoga or, like, Pilates or, like, a bootcamp, Like a Barry's Bootcamp type class. Spinning is different, and it's. This is not unique to SoulCycle. But in this instance, we'll. We'll focus on soul cycle. Spinning is different because the instructor is. Is on an elevated podium facing the class, and you are staring at the instructor. With yoga, Pilates, boot camp, the instructor is in the background. They are walking around. You can't even see the instructor. And soul cycle and spinning is the exact opposite. You are projecting all of your focus onto the instructor.

[Lola Blanc]

Interesting.

[Jess Rothschild]

And the instructor has curated this musical journey for you to go on, Whereas in those different modalities, the music is not the primary focus.

[Lola Blanc]

I've taken yoga classes where it is, but I didn't really like those yoga classes.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Well, I will tell you, Jess, I was a 2009 West Hollywood Crunch girly.

[Jess Rothschild]

Okay?

[Megan Elizabeth]

I was doing the spin upstairs, and I remember, like, Bob from Biggest Loser was always in it, which I thought was really cool.

[Jess Rothschild]

Wait, was he. Was he teaching?

[Megan Elizabeth]

No, he was just in the class.

[Jess Rothschild]

Cause, you know, he was an instructor. He was a very popular spin instructor in la.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Oh, interesting. Well, he would just. There was just this one particular class that he would be at, and it would just be like, the energy was so insane. You would, like, get on the bikes. Do you guys remember that song that was like, let me see your hips swing. We'll have to Take that off because.

[Lola Blanc]

I don't want to swing it out. Just keep it up, keep it in.

[Megan Elizabeth]

But like, you'd all just. I grew up like the cult that I grew up in, we weren't allowed to dance. So I have no idea how to dance. I have no idea. Idea. I've never, like, been into that world. So this was just my first chance of, like, dancing with a giant group of diverse, interesting people. And the endorphins were like, pumping, you're.

[Lola Blanc]

Saying for a cycling class.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, so you're dancing.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, it's like dancing.

[Jess Rothschild]

You're. You're really hitting on something with the dancing. Because spinning, I mean, spinning, you're on a stationary bike. You know, if we. We zoom out as to, you know, just like, what is spinning, you know, I think most people know what spinning is. You're on a stationary bike, but you are moving your body to the rhythm of the music, which mimics the tribal experience of dancing.

[Lola Blanc]

Right, right, right.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Because it's a pack that's all moving.

[Jess Rothschild]

Together, rhythmic, and you're riding to the rhythm. So it is like dancing on this bike.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yes, yes. And everybody, it would be like, you know, the beat would drop and you stand up all at the same time and then you, like, do your choreography. And I was just like, this is. I can't miss this class.

[Jess Rothschild]

There's a lot of choreography. Like, you're getting up, you're getting. You're not just like sitting on the bike, right? No, no, no, no. Like, you're getting up, you're sprinting, you're climbing hills. There are lots of different dance oriented, like, moves. You're moving your body back and forward on the bike. You're doing also, like push ups on the handlebars. Like, there are different bars. So your move. There's a lot of different choreography that can be incorporated. It's sort of like mental gymnastics.

[Megan Elizabeth]

It's just so fun.

[Lola Blanc]

Wow. Okay. I understand. Feel more like a shared a rave.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, it's like self help meets, rave meets, guru meets.

[Jess Rothschild]

And also, unlike Pilates or whatever, there's also a lot of stuff going on with the lights. Like, the lights are dark and they'll flick on the lights at certain. Like there's a lot of ambiance that's happening there. It's candle lit, so there's candles. Sometimes yoga can do that, but it's lit by candles. And then when all of a sudden if a beat drops, they'll like flip flick on the lights that connected to like a strobe, like a Disco ball. It's theater. It's an immersive theatrical experience.

[Lola Blanc]

Okay, that does sound fun. Actually, now I'm remembering. I went to one. I did go to one spinning class one time with my mom, and it was the hardest thing I've ever done, and I left halfway through. So my experience is, like, I'm bad at working out, but with the right music and the right lighting, you know, maybe I could make it.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I think so. So.

[Jess Rothschild]

And.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And just, like, going back to. To one of your points, you know, it was started by these three women, and then one of them gets kicked out, which was my first, like, culty. Ding, ding, ding. Is that there's this unspoken person trope where it's like, we don't say Ruth's name and even, like, kind of some slurry language about, like, Grandma Ruth and, you know, making her just this person non grata. That is. I'm like, that's culty.

[Jess Rothschild]

One person refers to her as the boogeyman in the corner. And I thought that quote was so good that I titled it the name of the episode.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yes. Yes. Explain to us who Ruth is.

[Jess Rothschild]

So Ruth is the spin instructor who introduced the other two women who created SoulCycle. She was the original spin instructor who introduced them. She was just a New York spin instructor, hustling, trying to make it. You know, she was a divorce. Say she was older. She was like, a good decade older than the other two women. And she was running around to a bunch of different studios, and these two women separately who didn't know each other, they were taking her class at different studios, and she had a dedicated following. And she introduced the two of them be like, you know, because they had each talked to her about, oh, it's my dream to open a spin studio. And she's like, oh, why don't we all, like, work together?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

So that's who Ruth was.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And it seems like Ruth maybe didn't have the same access to, like, a lawyer or a contract that the other two had.

[Jess Rothschild]

Ruth was. Ruth was very naive.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

Like, she was not a businesswoman. She was not a lawyer. She was not. You know, unlike the. The other women were like sharks in business. One was a talent agent in la, in Hollywood, and the other woman had a lot of business experience. She worked in real estate. She had worked on another startup before. And so Ruth. I mean, her whole career was in dance and then spin instruction. So she was def. At a disadvantage.

[Lola Blanc]

But that happens a bit later, right?

[Jess Rothschild]

No.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, no. She got kicked out immediately.

[Jess Rothschild]

That happened after the first, like year and a half.

[Lola Blanc]

Okay, yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

The first year and a half she was no longer an owner.

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[Lola Blanc]

Tell us about the first year.

[Jess Rothschild]

So the first year, Ruth was teaching the majority of the classes. The first year, it was like crickets. It wasn't like an overnight success, like, immediately. The first six months were difficult. The classes maybe had like six or seven people in them. And Ruth was teaching the majority of the classes. She brought over all her clients from those independent, you know, like, New York sports club type gyms, and they slowly were finding instructors to teach these classes.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And.

[Jess Rothschild]

And eventually they opened an outpost in the Hamptons, a summer outpost. And that's when it exploded. Because a lot of these Upper east side, Upper west side, meaning if you think of, like, the Real Housewives of New York City, and I always am.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I always am thinking that's what I.

[Jess Rothschild]

When I. That's the main. That was the main clientele of SoulCycle. And they all went out to the Hamptons, you know, just like Ramona and Luann. Just think of Visualize, Ramona, singer and Countess Luann as, like, the clientele for this.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Mm.

[Jess Rothschild]

As you know from Ramona and the Wind.

[Megan Elizabeth]

You are.

[Lola Blanc]

Megan knows.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Megan knows Ramona. Turtle time. The eyes on the Runway.

[Lola Blanc]

You're speaking another language. Sorry. Please continue.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah, so they opened this summer outpost in the Hamptons, and that's where it really exploded because that is where people like Kelly Ripa and Brooke Shields and Kyra Sedgwick, Katie Couric, a lot of, like, New York based celebrities started taking their first soul cycle classes out in the Hamptons because people are obsessed with working out out there because it's. It's part of the social fabric.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

It's a way to get invited to dinner parties. It's a social climbing type of thing. And cut to. It's after Labor Day, we're back to the city. All of a sudden, Kelly Ripa is on the TV talking about Soul Cycle, talking about her favorite instructor, and then it blows up in the fall. That was like 2007 after the first full year. Now they've got celebrities in classes. And once you have that social proof of a celebrity talking about the thing, everyone wants to check it out to say that they were there to get the photo, whatever it is. And that's how it exploded. I mean, I really credit Kelly ripa for putting SoulCycle on the cultural map. Wow.

[Lola Blanc]

So some of these star instructors, what was it about them that was so compelling versus a different run of the mill instructor?

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah, I would say the best soul cycle instructors were charismatic leaders. They knew how to speak to the class through the microphone and make you feel something. It was the words they were saying. It wasn't necessarily how they looked. It was what they were saying. It was like the best preacher. Or like, when you think of like Obama, he's a charismatic, powerful speaker. And that was what the best soul cycle instructors were able to do.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And I think somebody listening might be like, okay, you can't compare Obama to a soul cycle instructor, but I can. And Moshello, Obama loved SoulCycle. They people went to the White House to teach SoulCycle. It was like secret agents with like these people were, were speaking the language at that level. And that's when it kind of becomes more exciting and dangerous.

[Jess Rothschild]

You know something else? You know, I actually really haven't said this anywhere. I certainly don't say it in the series, but I talk a lot about addiction in the series. I say, you know, the most common path to fitness instructor and fitness enthusiast is musical theater major or addict in recovery.

[Lola Blanc]

Fascinating.

[Jess Rothschild]

Or addict, period. And therefore, a lot of instructors had this performance background. You know, you can file those people under the very charismatic leaders. They know how to like, hold the room. And. And then also when you combine that with people who have years of life experience or they're in recovery and they're able to talk about that experience, talk about that life experience, maybe they're not talking explicitly about recovery, but 12 step language totally is their way of life. It is a way of life. And I do, I am saying, I believe it would seep through the classes and seep through the walls. I do think it was this unspoken thing of why some of those very charismatic, the people who were really successful, a lot of those people, do you have long time recovery or have they been through a lot in their life and they have the tools to be able to talk to a group of people because they have experience doing that.

[Lola Blanc]

That's so interesting. So again, as a cycling noob, like, what are people saying? Because I've gone to workout classes and all they're saying in other types of classes usually is like, and lift your butt. You know, like there's, there's no. Yeah, yeah, focus on the glutes. I don't know, like, it's very like Practical.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. Like what's a kind of sermon?

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

I mean, that would be difficult for. Well, let me think. I mean, there's one very well known instructor, Angela Davis, who taught in West Holly. She taught in la. And there's a guy in one of the episodes who is talking about her class specifically. And like she was Beyonce and Jay Z's favorite instructor and he said there were some classes where there was no music. She just spoke.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh.

[Jess Rothschild]

So it really was like a sermon. That was not the norm. That was like unique to her. But I would say, okay, in my. We'll talk about, like my experience, I would say they would be specific about what they were going through in their life or they would tell stories from the. From their past and different frameworks for how to deal with challenges in your life that weren't just Mel Robbins. Let them.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Mm.

[Jess Rothschild]

Okay. This is like old school theory. A lot of metaphysical language. That's what Janet Fitzgerald, she would talk a lot about metaphysics, a lot about psychic behavior. You know, she's very connected to a lot of psychics. And so the class would be imbued with the spirituality. That's it. It's spirituality. If I haven't said that already.

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Jess Rothschild]

That's what spoke to me. Yeah. Because I wasn't getting that anywhere else in my life. So I would go there for that.

[Lola Blanc]

So it is like it's church like then.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yes.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. We have a quote here that says the structure, the ritual, the group, the community and the elation at the end of the ride was very similar to being raised in a Christian environment. This is by one of your interviewees named John Hill. It was rapturous. He said.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yes, yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Euphoria, peak experiences. And then you kind of become dependent on going back.

[Jess Rothschild]

Well, you get. It's that dopamine hit.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

You don't become a dependent, but like think of any drug you take.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Right.

[Jess Rothschild]

You get it. And then you spend the rest of your time kind of like chasing that feeling. And sometimes you do get that feeling and sometimes you don't. But you're always looking for that feeling. Yeah. Like, that's been my experience.

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Jess Rothschild]

With Soul Cycle in particular.

[Lola Blanc]

I mean, people get addicted to working out in general just because of the. What it does to your. The chemicals in your brain. But I can imagine that if there's also this like hypnotic, almost like dance element where there's a spirituality, spiritual talk happening at the same time. Honestly, I'm sold. I kind of want to go now. I'm sold.

[Megan Elizabeth]

No, I know it's It's. It's crazy.

[Jess Rothschild]

You know, for me, it was the spirituality. But then, honestly, you could talk to somebody else and be like, yeah, I didn't.

[Lola Blanc]

He.

[Jess Rothschild]

You know, I have a friend. He's like, I didn't care about the spirituality piece at all. For me, it was more for me. Meaning for my friend who's in the series, he talks about how he used to love going out to clubs. And, you know, people go to clubs for a reason. They love to dance. They love the tribalism. They love all of that. They love that party environment. And as you get older, you're not really going out to the club anymore. And maybe the only time you really get to dance is at a wedding.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Right.

[Jess Rothschild]

You know, the older you get and, like, you're working a job, you can't, like, be out late nights. And this gave you an opportunity to basically go to a rave at, like, whatever time you want, literally all day, every day.

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Jess Rothschild]

That's your schedule.

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Megan Elizabeth]

One of the things I found interesting about the instructors is that they weren't really required to get a degree.

[Jess Rothschild]

And I know. Yes, that's still insane to me to this day.

[Lola Blanc]

Actually.

[Megan Elizabeth]

It's more like, how charismatic are they? How much? And you did also say, like, it was like, how much space are they giving you to process and to project onto them instead of just screaming stuff at you? Like, there's this art to it. So, yes, we're attracting a lot of musical theater majors or just theater majors, and they become rock stars. You said people would, like, be trying to touch them and whatever. Wow. One of the things that stood out to me was they made it kind of sexy in a very formulaic way that I was like, oh, that's interesting. Can you speak a little bit about that? Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

It took me a while to figure out, so it's funny. A phrase that kept coming up. They were taught to teach from their vagina.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Okay.

[Jess Rothschild]

And it took me forever to. And I talked to Janet about this. Like, I'm like, what are they talking about? Like, what does this mean? Like, please break this down in plain English. And what I realize what it means is like, riding from your. Or emits a ride from your vagina. Rather, what it means is to ride in, like, a rhythmic. It's like, moving your hips in a certain way. I do think that's ultimately what that means. And like, having, like, a life source. And. Yeah, it's kind of like when you look at JLo, when you look at Ricky Martin, when you look at the way they Dance. It's the movement of the hips that does create a certain sexual seductive. There's something going on.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

Let's add candlelight.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I was gonna say there's candles looking.

[Jess Rothschild]

People in the eye.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Exactly. Like when they're really coming down from a fast ride. Make eye contact, like giving them a.

[Jess Rothschild]

Little touch on the hand.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Playing a few slow songs in the beginning. One of the quotes is like, they either wanna fuck you or be you.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yes.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Is kind of what the instructors were taught. Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah. Which brings me to my question of how were they selecting instructors? Like, what were the criteria for selecting instructors if not certification?

[Jess Rothschild]

You audition.

[Nyx Brand Representative]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

And then if you pass the audition, you're then enrolled in like an eight week training program.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, okay.

[Jess Rothschild]

And that's where all of that gets taught, which they basically teach them how to curate the playlist, how to ride from the vagina, how to, how to, how to do all these sort of like, little, like, theater tricks that. There's a bit of like snake charming to it. How to really like hook the riders into coming back to your class over and over. I mean, this is also how they get paid.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Right?

[Jess Rothschild]

You're not getting paid if you're not filling up your room. So how to, yeah, hook the rider. How to hook clients and, and also how to structure the class. There's, there's a formula to it, of course. You know, like taking somebody on a journey through music.

[Lola Blanc]

It makes sense to train your instructors to make it a welcoming environment. I mean, that's, that's easy.

[Nyx Brand Representative]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Some of them made it a little too welcoming. I was obsessed with Adkin.

[Jess Rothschild]

Oh, he's huge.

[Megan Elizabeth]

So hot.

[Jess Rothschild]

I encourage your, I encourage your listeners to look up Akin. If you just go on Instagram, type in Akin, he will pop right up. I mean, he now has his own very successful studio called Atkins army. And he has, he has had a cult, like following since day one. And he was the top instructor at Seoul for many years. He was making over a million dollars a year. He would teach like six or seven classes a day. He never needed a day off because he, he was brought up as a young tennis prodigy. Got you. He never needed a day off. He's built, you know, like AI to do this sort of jump up. And he is huge. And when he left SoulCycle to open his own studio, it was a big loss for the company.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

Wow.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And I'm not saying him in particular, but it does seem as though there was a culture of some of these male instructors or even a female instructor sleeping with the Students.

[Jess Rothschild]

Well, I think that happens in any job. That's not unique to Soul Cycle.

[Megan Elizabeth]

No, but that's also.

[Lola Blanc]

It's exercise class, so it's not like it's school.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Well, I mean, some of it was very scandalous. Like it was on Page Six. Married people sleeping with their instructors.

[Nyx Brand Representative]

Sure.

[Jess Rothschild]

It's not unique to SoulCycle, but, yeah, all of that stuff is certainly present here.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

I suppose when, you know, the instructors are, like, put on this sort of pedestal and developed this following and are literally hired than everybody else, like, certainly that's going to create more of a God complex.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. Sex complex. Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Also make them just more appealing to.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

You know, like, it definitely creates a little.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah, they're dripping. They're dripping in sweat. They look really good in skimpy clothing. Like the sweat, the glistening of. And also the other difference is, I guess most fitness studios, you're surrounded by mirrors, but there's something about the mirror layout that's interesting, is you're. You're so focused on the instructor, you're not really looking at yourself, whereas in a lot of other studios, you're just looking at yourself.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

You're not.

[Lola Blanc]

That's all I do.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Totally.

[Lola Blanc]

I'm like, why do I look so stupid doing this movement?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Why am I not pulling my butt up?

[Lola Blanc]

Why am I frog shaped?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. No, I mean, it is. It is a perfect storm. And again would get pulled right in. But it was, what, $40 a class? Is it. Is that what it is now?

[Jess Rothschild]

Today it's $40 a class. When I was going, it was $34 a class, and when it started, it was $27 a class.

[Lola Blanc]

Well, inflation.

[Jess Rothschild]

So that's just like inflation. Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. I mean, there was one. One interesting comment a woman made that was like, she started to kind of realize red flags about her Soul Cycle usage outside of the class. Like, not when she was in the class, but, like, she'd like, maybe see her bill at the end of the year and be like, I'm sorry, I just spent $9,000 at Soul Cycle. That's a, you know, the estimate.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

But, yeah. Were there any moments where stuff like that happened to you where you were like, oh, dang.

[Jess Rothschild]

Well, you know, I'll be honest. I mean, yes, I certainly was spending that kind of money on it a year. But I would say for me, and this didn't occur to me until later when I was, like, taking a step back, for me, there was an element of wanting to please certain instructors, meaning I would force myself to go even a class that I didn't. If I was exhausted after a day of work, like, it's five o', clock, I'm exhausted. I just wanna go home and collapse. I wouldn't cancel out of a class. I would still go to like a 6:30 class because I still wanted to be seen as like one of the Golden Riders, one of the favorites. There was one guru I had at Seoul who really was the woman who hooked me. And she's interviewed in the series. Her name is Stevie and she is a wizard, a witch. She is incredible. She's everything that you want the experience to be. And there were times I just wanted to go to bed and not force my body to go through this extreme physical experience. But I didn't want her to like, forget about me.

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Jess Rothschild]

It's this sick. I don't know what it is. I don't know what the word is. But there was this, for me, wanting to remain one of the special ones. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Were there people who were going just overboard that you talk to doing this podcast? Like, just going to too many classes a day, pushing themselves too hard?

[Jess Rothschild]

For sure. Oh, I would see people who would take like three in a row.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh my God. This is a high intensity workout.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I mean, if Adkin was teaching, what are you supposed to do?

[Lola Blanc]

Just not just keep going.

[Megan Elizabeth]

He's teaching six classes a day. I gotta take six.

[Jess Rothschild]

His riders, which was like basically 98% female. His riders would, if he was teaching like three classes in one location and then two classes in another location, they would literally follow him from studio to studio.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh my God, he's. He's John Lennon of cycling.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yes. Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

He caused what you called the Great Divide. What, what was that? Just when he left?

[Jess Rothschild]

Um, the Great Divide referred to the people who were part of the training team, people who were like, lead, basically. Like people who like, were SoulCycle branded and like, they were Soul Cycle, like working for the very like, company Forward. Akin was never like, branded in SoulCycle. Akin was branded as himself. He just, he worked for SoulCycle because that was his employer and that's where he could make the most amount of money doing this thing. But he was his own brand and his own name. And so that was the Great Divide in the sense that he didn't have to play by the rules.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I see. And Merch was like a huge part of this for everybody.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah. Yes.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Every month new Merch is dropping and he was just like, well, I'm not wearing a shirt at all.

[Jess Rothschild]

And that he would, he would never really wear Soul Cycle clothing or clothing. And then he started. And then he started selling his own merch.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, is that allowed?

[Jess Rothschild]

It was allowed in his case because again, they bent every rule for him because they wanted to hang on to him as soon as long as possible, at least back in the day. Today these rules are different. Today you're allowed to teach at multiple different studios. You can be a yoga instructor and teach at Soul Cycle and teach someplace else. Ten years ago, if you were a Soul Cycle instructor, you could only teach at SoulCycle, period. Akin, because he was this unicorn, different specimen, they didn't want to lose him, so he could do whatever he wanted. So in addition to teaching at SoulCycle, he also would teach his own boot camps at like a Lululemon or different studios that. But he could just go in there and teach his class, get the money and not have to necessarily split it with a huge corporation. And that's for sure. He can sell his merch at that outside thing or online.

[Lola Blanc]

So he's sort of an outlier in terms of the Soul Cycle culture. But Soul Cycle, because of the way that people have to audition to become instructors and are being selected specifically for, for their charisma, it like fosters this environment where little cult leader type instructors can arise.

[Jess Rothschild]

Let me put a little addendum on that. Or a little asterisk. So Akin, for example, was recruited. He didn't have to audition.

[Lola Blanc]

Got you.

[Jess Rothschild]

There were some people who were like superstars from like different areas of New York City. They kind of got to fast pass the whole process. They certainly didn't have to audition. Maybe they had to go through the training a bit. But a person like Akin, he wouldn't have to go through the whole training. Right. You wouldn't have the patience for that. Like, they. He would just like, put me on this. I'm not doing this.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. It seems like if somebody had a following, they were like, just come on, come join the team and like bring your following with you. And it's.

[Jess Rothschild]

It's very rare. But yes, like, that happened to Acknowledge and a few other people.

[Lola Blanc]

Okay, okay.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Was there like, how do I put this question? Like, you know, in cults, typically there's an in group and an out group. And like you, this is the only way to live your life. Like, how much of that was kind of going on in the community?

[Jess Rothschild]

Um, I'm not sure. That was so present.

[Lola Blanc]

Okay.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

Well, I'll say this. If you were in a clique of a particular instructor and then you as just a human being with like, free will decided that I no longer want to do this for whatever reason. Maybe you. You got turned on to a different workout or maybe you moved or like, what. Whatever it is. Yeah. You weren't in the clique anymore.

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Jess Rothschild]

Because the click was dependent upon being in that class and then going to dinner after the class or going to brunch after the class. The class was the nucleus for these clicks.

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Jess Rothschild]

It would start in the class and then the teacher would, like, tap you on the shoulder, like, oh, come to. We're going out after. Like, that's how it manifested.

[Lola Blanc]

Right, right. And I have to imagine there are enough people at least just on their own, making it their entire personality, which, like, of course, not necessarily coming from the top, but, like, I go there for my social life and my spiritual life and my workout life and my, you know.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yes.

[Lola Blanc]

So how did the company evolve over time? It kind of explodes. There's all these celebrities going, like, what's the journey?

[Jess Rothschild]

So at first, there were maybe like five or so locations, just New York City alone. That was when it was, like, very homegrown, like mom. It was still run just by the. Eventually it was the two. Those two women. And there was so much love and care. Like, every studio had its unique personality and it was just pure hospitality. Like, they always. The founders used to say, we're not in the fitness industry, we're in the hospitality and service industry. And you could really feel that how much care was put into. For example, if you somehow, the front desk knew you were having a bad day, they would give you a swag bag, like, full of clothes, just for whatever reason, or if you missed a class, they would drop some extra classes in your. I remember getting an email. Oh, five extra classes. Because I was like a frequent, you know, user of SoulCycle, frequent rider. And then they were acquired by Equinox, which is a behemoth. And that enabled the company to expand to California, to Chicago, to Miami, to Boston, to the major cities in the United States. You know, California, you know, Los Angeles and San Francisco, they were all over. And then Equinox really started, like, clamping down on, like, there has to be this many rioters. Like, it evolved out of being this, like, homespun company to being really money driven and, like, unit driven, like bodies in the room. They no longer cared about the actual riders as people. You were just like a metric to them. And because there were so many more studios, it became more lax with who they were passing through. They just needed people to teach these classes instead of There being like, let's. Let's say I'm giving just like a raw number. Like, instead of there being like five classes a day at a particular studio, now all of a sudden there's 10 classes a day. Well, who's going to teach those classes? It's not going to be the magical unicorn instructor. How many of these can you pump out?

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

And so the quality control for the instructors really started to go down. It just wasn't possible to maintain that level of quality that they had. And so in turn, it turned a lot of people off that are like, oh, it's not what it used to be. You know, all of a sudden the studios aren't as nice. The. The front desk people aren't able to maintain. They're not able to get to know the riders the way they used to because there's so many more people.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. It seems like the front desk people are like a very important component. It's like being a door person at an exclusive club.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah. You know, in the beginning, in the glory days, like, they were trained deeply in hospitality. How to remember every single person's face, their name, where they grew up, how, like, talk to them, remember when they. They tell you they went on vacation. Remember it?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

Like, remember to remember every single detail a person shares with you and then ask questions like, that is hospitality. And they would go through a rigorous hospitality training program.

[Lola Blanc]

Wow, what a skill. Good for actors.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I know that.

[Lola Blanc]

Memorizing, well, it's customer service.

[Jess Rothschild]

I mean, that was the secret sauce of Soul Cycle, was. Not only are you getting that cult like, ritual, dancey experience in the room, the spiritual, just all of that magic in the room, but the minute you walk in the door of the actual storefront, people are acting like they're your best friend. What can I do for you? Can I get you water?

[Lola Blanc]

You feel special.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Lola, you can't go back in time and join Soul Cycle. Why not?

[Jess Rothschild]

It still exists.

[Lola Blanc]

Don't worry. I'm too bad at working out. It's just never gonna happen. Can you me tell.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Tell us a little bit about what an opening ride at Soul Cycle entails, Like the new studio blessing and stuff like that.

[Jess Rothschild]

Oh, my God. Yes. So I interviewed. So there's a guy in the series, Miles, who His job. He worked for corporate and it was his job to lead the openings. How to build out the studios across the country and, like, oversee, you know, everything, like the soundproofing, everything to do with sound, the design of the studio. And there was. There is a crystal behind every Soul Cycle bike. I didn't know about this until I started working on the series. There's a crystal behind every Soul Cycle instructor bike that has been blessed before. They open the studio for the very first ride. They like it, like, cleanses all the energy in the room, and they do this whole ritual. And the purpose of the crystal is that whatever goes on in the room, like, during any class for, like, hereafter, a lot of energy gets expelled, gets dumped on the floor, is in the air, is in the atmosphere. And the crystal is meant to absorb the energy so that it's a clean environment for the next instructor coming into the room.

[Lola Blanc]

And who came up with the crystal?

[Jess Rothschild]

Who?

[Lola Blanc]

Where'd that come from?

[Jess Rothschild]

One of the founders.

[Lola Blanc]

Interesting.

[Jess Rothschild]

She was very. She's very into spirituality. She brought that to it.

[Lola Blanc]

Is that still true now that Equinox owns it?

[Jess Rothschild]

I have no idea.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Because I'm gonna take a guess.

[Lola Blanc]

I would say.

[Megan Elizabeth]

No, no.

[Jess Rothschild]

You know, I. Okay, okay. Here's my guess. And this is pure. My guess is that the crystals that were there to. First of all, they're not opening new studios. So we'll just say that. So there's no more, like, opening, like. Like, they're not building out any more new studios. Cause I've ridden a lot in the last year now. I notice the crystal behind the bike.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah. Oh.

[Jess Rothschild]

So, yeah, it's not like they took them out. They're just there.

[Lola Blanc]

Right, Right.

[Megan Elizabeth]

So, yeah. Like, what brought you? Cause you took a long break from soul cycling.

[Jess Rothschild]

Five years.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. It sounds like a lot of people maybe felt it might be toxic or like it might be not for them anymore. But then they always kind of come back. What's that? Journey.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Why did you stop?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Why'd you stop and why'd you come back?

[Lola Blanc]

Ye.

[Jess Rothschild]

I stopped because my favorite instructors left. I don't have a dramatic story, really, as to why I stopped, just because my favorite preachers weren't there. And I was there for the theater of it. I was there for the preaching, the spirituality. And quite frankly, I don't even love spinning. I don't even like being on a bike. I would prefer to run or box. Like, it's not my chosen form of cardio. And so, like, I was there for the theater of it.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Jess Rothschild]

Later I would say, like, I would literally work out at the gym and then go to SoulCycle. Cause that was my entertainment.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, my God.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Thank you.

[Lola Blanc]

That's so interesting.

[Jess Rothschild]

It was like going to the theater. It was like seeing a Broadway show.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Where getting your Heart rate really high up at the same time.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah. Yeah. So why I left was. Cause my favorite performing, for lack of a better word, started to leave. You know, I'm very into health and fitness, and so I just start to go other places. And I like different modalities. I love to box. I like a lot of different things, so. And then the pandemic hit, and so forget about it. That all these places were closed. So I didn't go for five years. And then I knew I wanted to tell this story because that. I mean, to me, this is so interesting. And I could. And I could always talk about Soul Cycle, even when I wasn't going to. Just the experience of it was still inside of me. And I love just commiserating and talking to people about it. So I knew I was gonna go on this journey of creating the series and, like, interviewing people. And Janet was the very first person who I reached out to. And I knew that I was gonna have to go back to, like, just for, like, journalistic purposes. Like, what's changed, what's stayed the same? And also a lot of the series is my experience, like, meeting my friends there, my experience with my guru, Soul Cycle instructor, my connection to different people there. And so I had to go back to legitimize the whole thing. So that's why I went back. But I will say I kept going back for the latter part of the year because I so deeply loved and was so deeply moved by Janet's class, even today in 2025.

[Lola Blanc]

Wow.

[Megan Elizabeth]

So Janet's still teaching there?

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah, she's still teaching there. I talk to her frequently. And doing this series reconnected me with all these people who, like, kind of left my life because they either left the company or they, you know, they were my Soul Cycle friends. Some of them became more close friends. But a lot of them, like, I just knew from riding there. And so it reconnected me with all these people. And that's been a beautiful byproduct that I never would have anticipated. Yeah, it made me fall a little bit back in love with it.

[Lola Blanc]

I mean, is this episode secretly just a sales pitch for Janet?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Because now I wanna. I know I was like, if I'm ever in the city, I will come to that with you.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. She's fascinating.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah, she is fascinating. Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

I. I have to know. So the. The third woman who kind of got edged out, like, you know, obviously the other two women sold this company and made a ton of fucking money. So what.

[Jess Rothschild]

Where did they sold it for a. They they each got 90 million.

[Lola Blanc]

90 million?

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

And what about the initial instructor?

[Jess Rothschild]

Well, because she was cut out after that first year, she went on to co found Flywheel, which was their main competitor, at least in New York. I mean, they. They were franchised all over the country, but she obviously didn't make any money.

[Megan Elizabeth]

She made zero million.

[Jess Rothschild]

How did they get her zero million?

[Lola Blanc]

How did they. How do you kick someone out who's like the. The reason you start the endeavor in the first place?

[Megan Elizabeth]

She didn't have any paperwork.

[Jess Rothschild]

She never had a contract signed. It appears. Allegedly. Allegedly. It appears they did it on good faith.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, no.

[Jess Rothschild]

She never signed anything.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, girl.

[Jess Rothschild]

I don't understand how this could happen. I don't understand.

[Lola Blanc]

She should sue them. The reason that fucking exists. She should get her 40 million or whatever.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, I don't. I'm not good. I'm sure she's. I'm sure she's thought it through, but. Yeah, it's. It's just. It's a sad part of the story, for sure.

[Jess Rothschild]

It's a sad part of the story.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So where is Soul Cycle now? Because a bunch of locations closed over pandemic. Like, how. Well, how are they doing?

[Jess Rothschild]

They're doing okay. I mean, listen, I. When I take Janet's class, it's full on a Sunday, 9:30am that class is full. I think, like, the star instructors still do pretty well in their classes, but they're not opening new. You know, it's. Listen, it's like any rise and fall, like any business, like, hits its peak and then it kind of like plateaus. Now you throw in a global pandemic. You throw in like the world has changed.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Right.

[Jess Rothschild]

You know, not only since the pandemic, but I think ever since the 2016 election, everything has been so politicized and really divided a lot of people apart. And so I think you see that play out in this company as well. And I trace that. How the presidential. The 2016 presidential election affected the company, affected morale.

[Lola Blanc]

There was a little scandal, a little pro Trump scandal from one of the main investors. Right.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah. So, yeah, if you listen to it, you'll. You get more into the nitty, the nuance of. You know, why? It was many different things that contributed to its quote, unquote downfall, although it's not a downfall, but many people are gainfully employed there.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah, many.

[Jess Rothschild]

And many writers still love it and still go three, four times a week. Like, I see them there. And so to me, that's. That's a great. I mean, this place has been in business for over 20 years. To me, what could you ask, you know? But yeah, in the court of public opinion, maybe that's changed a little bit. But it's just the whole thing is just fascinating.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Truly.

[Lola Blanc]

It sounds like it was this kind of. It had a cult following, shall we say, more so than being an actual cult for being this, like, really special place that gave you this high and this, like, special spiritual experience. And then corporate America as. As corporate America does just kind of ruined it.

[Megan Elizabeth]

That's you.

[Jess Rothschild]

Perfect. That is the perfect summation.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. Yes. I liked something that Stevie said.

[Jess Rothschild]

Your.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Your favorite instructor, where she was.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yes.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Just like people say, I want to go back to the good old days of it, and you need to just stop focusing on that and leave room for new things to come in the future. And I was like, oh, clock that.

[Lola Blanc]

I also was like, yes, correct. I do need to do that. Yes. Fuck, that's good life advice.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, listen, Stevie had an extremely devoted Holt, like, following. And yeah, when she left, a lot of her writers were heartbroken. I mean, that's the reason that I stopped going and was when she left the company for a variety of reasons, which she clearly spells out in the series. And yeah, what she basically says is, you know, she talks to people from some of the, like, iconic nights that we had there, and they're like, oh, don't you wish we could, like, just recreate that Monday night at 8:30. And her exact phrasing is for her to say that to put that energy out there. It takes energy away for her looking for her next big thing. Amen.

[Megan Elizabeth]

No, amen is not. That's religious. Yes, Yes.

[Jess Rothschild]

I was just gonna say, like, preach queen, but that's religious.

[Megan Elizabeth]

True. And I love that and that period. And I can see how somebody like, saying stuff like that to me while I'm on a bicycle. And a rave would really get me.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

So the rave part doesn't get me. It's just fascinating.

[Lola Blanc]

That part deters me.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And somebody did need to do this. This is. Yeah, it's a really cool story and deep dive.

[Jess Rothschild]

Oh, thank you. I want to say also, you can watch. So it was created as an audio documentary which, like, is every. On all podcast platforms, but I have a full visual documentary of it on YouTube where it uses all found footage and you can see photos and videos of all the instructors. So if you're like, oh, I'm not into podcast. If you want to watch it, you can watch it. It as a documentary. If you just type in Cult of Body and Soul videos anywhere in Google, like, you'll get looped into my YouTube channel and then you can watch it as like a seven part series.

[Megan Elizabeth]

That's how I listened. And it was very invigorating because you can see all the. You can see all the people and get kind of like, oh, I can see how Atkin would really get me. Or how Stevie would be like, so cool. And that's it. I don't know, it's just cool to.

[Jess Rothschild]

See all of them. Janet, it really puts you into the room.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Great podcast.

[Jess Rothschild]

Thank you.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Great stuff.

[Lola Blanc]

Remind us the name of the podcast.

[Jess Rothschild]

Yeah. So if you just search for Cult of Body and Soul, you'll find everything related to that. And my Instagram is JessXNYC. And then if you follow me on Instagram, like, you'll see all the interviews that I do and all sorts. You know, I do lots of different projects, but it's all sort of in this wheelhouse of like, gay witchy shit.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Hell yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

We love gay witchy shit. Totally amazing. Well, thank you so much for joining us.

[Jess Rothschild]

Thank you. This was wonderful.

[Lola Blanc]

All right. Okay. So, Megan, it's the part of the episode we've come to the time where I ask you if you would join SoulCycle.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Absolutely.

[Lola Blanc]

Of course you would.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Of course I would. Oh, my God. Number one, I love spinning. Even though the more I watched this doc, I was like, oh, it's incredibly hard on your joints and it's probably not that great for you to do very often. But anyway, I love it. If somebody were up there yelling like motivational soul stuff at me, I would be hooked. It just was out of my price point. Thank God, because we know how many different things I would join if I could afford it. So thank you once again, universe, for not giving me enough money to take SoulCycle.

[Lola Blanc]

I. I'm. I'm with you. I don't know if I'm with you. I really would have to go and see because like I said in this episode, the one spinning class I tried was horrible and I had to leave. So I am just that out of shape. But I don't know, maybe, you know.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I think you'd like it because it is dancing.

[Lola Blanc]

I guess it's probably music dependent. Like if the music were music I was really vibing with then, then maybe. But if it's like dance music, I'm out. I don't want it.

[Megan Elizabeth]

You'd find the right playlist, the right teacher, and you'd be hooked.

[Lola Blanc]

Okay.

[Megan Elizabeth]

If the teacher's flirting with you, too. Like, they're kind of trained to do.

[Lola Blanc]

Like I, I tried thinking of all the exercise programs, the one that seems the most, like, I could get obsessed with it is CrossFit because of the competitive nature and everybody shouting at each other that they can do it and the like. Like, I feel like I need that and I need to, like, feel like I'm winning something if, if I do a good job.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Oh, my God. Well, then it might not be for you.

[Lola Blanc]

Listen, I hate exercising. I really need to trick myself into doing it.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Well, join us here next week and as always, remember to follow your gut.

[Lola Blanc]

Watch out for red flags and never, ever trust me. Bye.

[Jess Rothschild]

Bye.

[Lola Blanc]

This has been an exactly right production.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Hosted by me, Lola Blanc, and me, Megan Elizabeth. Our senior producer is Jiha Lee.

[Lola Blanc]

This episode was mixed by John Bradley.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain, and our guest booker is Patrick Cotner.

[Lola Blanc]

Our theme song was composed by Holly Amber Church.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Trust Me is executive produced by Karen Kilgareth, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer.

[Lola Blanc]

You can find us on Instagram Rush Trust Me podcast or on TikTok at trustmecultpodcast.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Got your own story about cults, extreme belief or manipulation? Shoot us an email usmepodmail.com Listen to.

[Lola Blanc]

Trust Me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Live CBS Sunday. Hollywood's biggest party is now bigger than ever.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Perfect.

[Jess Rothschild]

No notes.

[Ryan Seacrest]

The Golden Globes. With more stars, more glamour, more chaos and more host Nikki Glaser, we're gonna.

[Cindy Crawford]

Laugh at the celebrities that can take.

[Lola Blanc]

It and completely ignore the ones who can't. I'm just kidding. They're not safe either.

[Ryan Seacrest]

The Golden Globes live CBS Sunday, 8 Eastern, 5 Pacific and streaming on Paramount. Plus, the new year brings new health goals and wealth goals. Protecting your identity is an important step. Your info is in endless places that could expose you to identity theft leading to lost funds. Lifelock monitors millions of data points per second. If your identity is stolen, Lifelock's restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Resolve to make identity, health and wealth part of your New Year's goals with Lifelock. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com iheart Terms apply.

[Janice Torres / Austin Hankwitz]

Janice Torres here and I'm Austin Hankwitz. We host the podcast Mind the Small.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Business Success Stories, produced by Ruby Studio.

[Janice Torres / Austin Hankwitz]

In partnership with Intuit QuickBooks.

[Megan Elizabeth]

We're back for season four to talk to some incredible small business owners.

[Jess Rothschild]

The big thing about working at tech is that it's ever evolving, ever changing. Everyone's a rookie.

[Janice Torres / Austin Hankwitz]

That's how fast the industry is changing.

[Jess Rothschild]

So what I'm really excited about is to be part of that change. So listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.