Essence Magazine:
To hear a Peloton subscriber speak about their user experience, it’s like a child showing off their favorite toy. There’s a glint in their eye that wasn’t there before, or a slight inflection of excitement in their voice…joy. It goes beyond the spokes and gears of the stationary bicycle. It’s about the guides navigating the ride with them.
The billon-dollar fitness brand first took the world by storm began shipping bikes in 2014, with its former CEO John Foley doing pop-ups around the country to demonstrate the bike’s ingenuity. But really resonated with not only fitness enthusiasts, but those were also just yearning to feel better about themselves, were the instructors.
Once personalities like Ally Love began to roll across the Peloton bike’s built-in screen or appear on a subscriber’s app, the cult following formed.
Love says she knows exactly why. “We’re real.”
Love joined the brand as a fitness instructor in 2016 and quickly became a favorite among the subscriber base not only because of her faith-infused work outs. Take her class close-out message for instance: “I leave you with this. May you always do everything with peace and do it with love, because I am Ally Love and you are love.”
Love’s faith runs deep, and with good reason. It saved her life.
“At the age of nine, I got hit by a car, broke my left femur and was told there was a possibility I wouldn’t walk again,” Love shared with ESSENCE. “As you can imagine I was devastated, but something just told me to ‘keep moving.’”
So she did.
After years of physical therapy, not only was she able to walk again, she began running and fell in love with fitness.
The Miami-native said she developed a deep connection with Afro-Latin dance, which eventually helped land her a job at Peloton. “When I moved to New York City in 2009, I became a full-time dancer, began working with the Brooklyn Nets as a TV host, modeled, and earned a bachelor’s in fine arts from Alvin Ailey at Fordham University,” she explained. “I was busy and happy but honestly, I was still searching for something. I felt like I need to figure out what I wanted to do next. And that’s when I was told that Peloton was looking for another instructor.” Ironically, Love said she was hesitant to pursue the opportunity.
“Originally I declined their offer to interview me for the job because I didn’t technically want to be a fitness instructor, nor did I think I have the capabilities to be a fitness instructor,” she admitted. Luckily, they didn’t take no for an answer and set the meeting anyway.
“I showed up and it was the best decision I’d ever made.”
12 years later she not only still with the brand, but helped build it into the transcendent fitness experience it is today.
“Before I accepted the job I told our former CEO that I wouldn’t be the only instructor that looked like me,” the proud Afro-Latina shared. “When I joined Peloton, I made it my mission to amplify inclusivity and intentionally infused my Blackness into every move I make.”
It’s unsurprising that her class-takers, affectionately referred to as the Love Squad, actively seek her fitness guidance beyond the mat and the bike. So she created a community to help support them.
In 2020, she launched her company Love Squad, which is dedicated to empowering people in their pursuit of natural wellness, emotionally, physically and mentally. She regularly hosts wellness workshops and provides holistic resources to those who sign up for membership.
“I’m a testament to what faith can do for you. Just keep moving and your life will thank you for it.”
The post Ally Love Shares How She Went From Being Nearly Paralyzed As A Child To Building A Fitness Brand With Peloton appeared first on Essence.
This post first appeared in Essence Magazine. Read the original article.
