Classpass Founder: Quitting My 9-5 Led To A $1 Billion Business: Payal Kadakia | E141

could you do me a quick favor if you're. listening to this please hit the follow. or subscribe button it helps more than. you know and we invite subscribers in. every month to watch the show in person. i think society goes success is get this. job get married get a house what does. that do to you it just really makes your. life feel small the founder of kloss. boss monthly fitness program a billion. dollar founder wild scanacchio when i. would watch my parents not really fit in. it sort of made me realize maybe i don't. fit in and then be told i smelled or i.

didn't belong somewhere everyone wanted. to box me into something and i just. refused to be boxed we spent half a. million dollars building a product that. didn't work was i exhausted yes was i. lonely yeah i missed family things i. missed weddings i i was just not around. i have learned at this point like time. means more to me than money i want to. make sure my priorities are more. reflective of the human i want to be in. my life. if you go towards purpose i guarantee. your life will be more fulfilling do you. believe that everybody has a purpose.

beyond the nine to five i do how do you. find it so. first of all. so without further ado. i'm stephen bartlett and this is the. diary of a ceo usa edition i hope. nobody's listening but if you are. then please keep this to yourself. [Music]. when i read someone's story one of the. first questions i try and answer when. i'm reading through that especially the.

early years is i'm trying to identify. what it is that made them. either an anomaly or. hungry i have a kind of a thesis that. much of people's drive and their. ambition especially the people that i. sit here with comes from kind of some. kind of pain or trauma or early. experience that molded them so my. question to you. is what made you hungry. you know when i was younger i got to. taste something that was so magical. which was. dance and.

it was this place in my life that it. wasn't about the physicality of actually. dancing it was. the ability to make other people feel. through something that i did and to be. able to realize that as a human. being you can have. that type of influence power connection. to other people and to feel that. when you are. four or five years old. was just this magical experience for me. that honestly nothing else in my life.

could compare to it and once i uncovered. that i always wanted to feel that. in anything i did and i strived in all. the work i did and all. of you know the different careers i've. had in my life and the different you. know art i've done. i've strived always to go back to that. intention of how. do i give to others and make them feel. something in their life and that's. really been this anchor for me and its.

purpose at the end of the day. and that started at five years old yeah. when i was really young with a don't set. a wedding yeah it was just a random. dance performance that. for some reason i started dancing and. everyone started watching me and i it. wasn't anything that was a. structured performance by any means it. was very much just this organic thing. that came out of me. and. i really just loved it and i realized. actually in a deeper way that the other.

part of the hunger came from. when i danced and felt that feeling i. felt like the most authentic version of. me. and i realized that i was in so many. settings where i didn't always feel like. i could be me. whether that was you know being an. indian girl in the middle of a town. where no one looked like me or sometimes. being with my indian community but being. in a town that where i was a cheerleader. and i didn't fit in there i realized. that so many parts of me never felt.

whole and i was always showing up with. one little strand of me one little. strand of me there here. and i felt when i performed and danced. especially indian dance i felt like the. most. whole version of who i was. the resistance you felt and the struggle. you felt of bit trying to. i guess conform to two different. communities at the same time so tell me. about trying to be an. american in in a town where there's. you know 300 people at your school and.

you're the only. people of indian heritage how is that i. think one of the most interesting parts. of it is so much of this comes from the. parents not really from the kids. and when i would watch my parents not. really fit in it sort of made me realize. maybe i don't fit in it was sort of this. interesting way. to look at my parents and know that they. felt uncomfortable and then look at. myself and be in different settings and. realize wait i don't look like everyone. else and then be told i smelled or my.

food smelled or i didn't belong. somewhere because. my hair color was different. was just a very interesting. place to be kids said that she yeah i. remember like i mean i talk about it in. my book but there were some some really. harsh moments you know and when you're. young you're you're impressionable right. things can scar you for a very long time. and i think for me the the goodness was. that i did have this place of dance that. made me feel.

grounded and made me feel whole because. if i didn't have that i think the trauma. that i was probably going through by not. fitting in would have just burned a hole. so deep in me that i'm not sure how i. would have been able to recover but i. had this light right. and i think that's you know going back. to what you were asking. it was the light. that i saw that there is something. beautiful out there for me to go and do. for the world if i can just hang on to. it and fight for it and it was a fight. for me to even hang on to whatever my.

identity was right when we talk about. our identities and in all these labels. which i really don't love like whether. it's indian american ceo whatever all. these labels are it was really just i. think my whole journey in my life. was a fight to be myself in any setting. and not have people tell me what to do. right i think we all struggle with that. in our whole lives and probably why i. had to be a ceo because i don't like. anyone telling me what to do but it. really stemmed because i think. throughout my life everyone wanted to.

box me into something. and i just refused to be boxed did your. parents want to box you into something. of course i mean my parents you know. they sacrificed everything to come to. america they obviously wanted my sister. and i. to have successful careers which you. know amounted to a few different. industries like be a doctor a lawyer. engineer or you know and then the other. part of it was get married you know. obviously at like a normal age where you. could. cook for your family and be a good wife. right these were sort of the.

these were the expectations that were. set in my life and i think that's really. the hardest part is when you are. constantly. brought in your life in saying that you. need to. live by the expectations of others you. end up either rebelling or you conform. and. i always wanted to make my parents proud. so. i knew i did what i felt was at the core. part of the value so for example if it. was getting education i thought that was.

important too i wasn't going to sit. there and rebel from getting education. but there came a point in my career. trajectory where i had to say okay like. i have checked every box in this now i. have to do it my way with the way i. really want to feel and not conform and. rebel and i think that's really the. whole formula of people knowing when to. rebel and when to conform. you referenced that um you were looking. for a different feeling. after checking those boxes what was the. feeling you had when you were doing that. job.

i had trained myself my entire life to. do well when people told me to. hit this mark in my life right and. that's like in a way that's like how i. developed the skills in my life to to. always propel myself and execute and. make sure that um i was able to you know. be responsible and move forward in. everything i did. but. i felt no deep. fire or passion or love towards it right. i wasn't jumping out of my bed. to go to my office to go and work for my.

clients right i was doing what i had to. because you know i knew it was. once again expected of me when you you. must have friends that are living a life. that is. expected of them. and you can start to see as the the. years go on the consequence of living a. life that is expected of you. absolutely what would you say to those. people. and what lessons have you learned about. living a life expected of you i mean. that's not the way to have a fulfilled. life you can have a life and you can.

probably. check all the boxes and make your people. proud in your life but you're going to. be on the other side of it and feel. empty. and that feeling of emptiness is the. worst feeling anyone can ever have and i. think people come to it at different. points in their life they either come to. it when they're 20 or they come to it. when they're 50. and. that's because they haven't done the. work to actually ask themselves. what are the expectations you want for. your own life and that's the problem i. think we're never taught that right no. one's ever.

asked. us what we want for our own lives and i. think society goes and tells us okay. success is get this job successes get. married get a house have kids you know. and especially for women it's even i. think even a bit more of a closed road. and that what does that do to you it. just really. it makes your life feel small right. because it makes you feel like you can't. get past it to go and live for your. dreams and ultimately you know i've been. there in my life where i have felt like.

the road has closed in. and it's left me feeling hopeless. and that's the worst place in the world. to be is feeling hopeless the best thing. you could do is feel like you can go and. do anything change the world and i think. the more you taste it the more you want. more of it in your life. at that phase in your life were you. battling somewhat with your. north star that light you referenced. earlier which was dancing. but also you're i guess you're nine to. five yeah and what tell me about that.

battle in how. dance ultimately ended up winning i. remember always having this bounce in my. step like i would walk to work in the. middle of new york city choreographing. in my head listening to. the song i was performing like i in a. weird way was like embodying this life. that of what i wanted to be. and then i would get to the office and i. would do my work and you know once again. like i i love the steve martin quote be. so good they can't ignore you like. whatever work i do in my life i will do.

150 if i say yes but. i knew that something was wrong i never. i didn't want to live like that i didn't. want to feel like i was hiding so much. of who i was and as my 95 which by the. way in consulting isn't a nine to five. you work like 80 hours a week i mean. that was my life and i as i realized. that if i wanted to commit to that. career path that that 80 was probably. going to go to 90 it was going to go to. 100 was going to be traveling and i was. going to have to say.

no more and more to the thing i loved i. just realized i wasn't willing to make. that trade-off and i think that's. sometimes the hardest thing people have. to think about is what are you. sacrificing what's the trade-off in your. life that you're making. and i just wasn't willing to make it at. that point and i i had. done so much in my life at that point. where um i felt like i had achieved. according to everyone else enough to. start taking.

a little bit of a path to being. rebellious right and i think that's. really when. i started to do a lot of work to say. what can i do to bring all parts of me. to the table. when you make that decision to leave. bain and company yeah the managing. management consultant firm in new york. was there like a series of catalystic. sort of moments or pivotal moments near. the end of your time there that made you. think i [ __ ] this. you know like i i read about a meeting. you had yeah. yeah so it's literally the opening um of.

my book but. you know a few a few things happen i. would say so. first of all most people stay in. consulting like at this this job for. about three years then you go off to. business school it's sort of the usual. route people take so i was in my third. year there and a few people can kind of. stay on and just continue there i really. wasn't interested in going to business. school at the time. i wanted to live i wanted to like be in. new york city and feel the energy of it.

and so my third in my third year i had a. performance at um in the middle of times. square for the for this big uh. unveiling of ushuayarai's madame. tussauds statue which was an important. thing and australia rai is one of my. icons especially as a dancer she's a. huge bollywood actress. and the week before a client meeting. gets scheduled at the same time as my. performance. and i'm you know my clients are big. clients these aren't these are fortune. 500 companies these aren't small clients. by any means and and we're meeting like. the ceos you know.

cfos of the company and um i remember. talking to my boss saying hey you know. what i really want to go to the. performance i'm not like a big part of. this meeting is it okay if i miss it and. we talked about it really briefly it. wasn't a big deal i didn't feel bad. about it i went to the performance. it went well a few months later we're. sitting down talking about you know. review and she's like giving me feedback. and she says this thing to me which just. triggered me and it was. is this the job you really want like i. don't think that you want to be a.

consultant and i took that in my heart. as. oh my gosh she doesn't think i'm good. enough right and i just kind of went. through how throughout my life. i've been taught to be type a everyone. tell me i've done a good job. and so my initial reaction to her saying. that to me was i'm going to prove to you. how good i am right that's like the. natural type a reaction is to say no. what do you mean like i love this job i. really want to be here. and. the more i started thinking about that. the more i realized she was right i. didn't want to be there it was not the.

life i wanted it was not the career i. wanted and that's when i decided to. start looking at other jobs that. would give me a bit more of the. flexibility i wanted in my day to day. but still pay the bills and that's when. you move over to mtv i went to warner. music right now we warner right okay and. there's this really interesting balance. that i see in you like which clearly. shifts in your life where you you feel. like you're a um and correct me where. i'm wrong here but you're quite a good. like conformist in terms of expectation. and then slowly rebellion starts to.

creep in and it was just just had me. thinking about like the probably if. there is a right balance of conformity. and rebellion in our life because. conformity makes sense. you know. in some regards you can't just be a. total robot right we'd all be living out. in the desert or something right but. just the interesting balance i see in. people like you that i meet of. i mean a lot of them start as kind of. conformist or a little bit more. people-pleasing especially. first-generation immigrant families. right and then that fails them. yeah. in terms of fulfillment happiness mental.

health. and then that's where the rebellion. starts to. i think that's the key it's it's. rebelling for the right reason if that. makes sense i always believe. that i was rebelling for purpose. right right and if you're rebelling for. purpose. i think it's exactly yeah it's. justifiable right dance wasn't. something that was just okay pile go and. do this because it's a hobby like it it. was this place for me to bring together. so much of my trauma actually from when.

i was younger it was this place for me. and and you know my dance company was. this indian american dance experience. and. it was about me bringing together the. pile who got made fun of with the pile. who danced at her indian festivals and. bringing all of me together to say. when the world doesn't want to accept. the different parts of who i am i'm. going to show you what it can look like. right like that's really a big part of. what i've realized in my journey is when. people have told me parts don't fit. together i find a way to put them.

together and show you even a more. beautiful experience right and i i. believe even class pass was really the. epitome of that too in my life is. bringing parts of me together that. i would never have been able to bring. together in any other way. and you know i think so much of when. we're rebelling it's about fighting for. something i wasn't i wasn't trying to. rebel i was fighting. for my passion i was fighting for my. purpose and. i mean isn't that what life should be. about is fighting for something like.

that amen. when you leave bain and company though. is there a part of you because that. expectation is it's. never really yeah they really fully. shake it right is there a part of you. that whispers in your ear and goes you. failed. oh. i mean what was hard was all my. colleagues right that at that point who. had gone to harvard gone to stanford you. know. i was. comparing myself to them and i felt. like i was taking a step back compared. to what they were doing but one of the.

other important things i learned during. this time and i think this is an. important part and for all of us at any. phase especially when we're going. through these transitional times. is i also embraced a new community right. so i obviously didn't just define myself. by my bain and mit friends i had this. huge artistic dance community that was. sort of like growing this indian. american community that was sort of. coming around me. and that made me feel whole in a. different way so instead of constantly. being around people i felt.

less than i went and found a community i. belonged in even though it wasn't the. one that i would have you know naturally. feel felt inclined to go to and i think. that's another important thing. especially when we're exploring these. decisions and identities it's you know. back to the light thing it's sometimes. it's not the people we think are going. to give us the light who give us the. light so find that new community that. makes you shine it's such an appreciated. point of resistance for people that are. trying to make an adjustment in their. life i hear it so much people say i want.

to levex situation but i'm scared of. losing the community that comes with. that situation that could be a city it. could be a job it could be a partner. sometimes your lives become so. intertwined that you think well if i. lose this partner if i lose this job or. whatever then i'm going to lose all of. these people. and that really keeps people trapped i. agree with that that's right that's a. really good point yeah i mean. and you can find new communities you. know and i think you have to remember. that the people you surround yourself. with are your choice yeah right and i've.

had different communities show up for me. at different times in my life right for. me. it was the different communities that. made me the entrepreneur i was it was my. business community that helped me build. class bus but it was also this girl who. was going to ballet classes every single. day with my with my dancer friends who. also was thinking about. the classes that they people need to. take in their life and it was that. unique combination of my traits combined. with the different experiences i was. having that enabled me to build what i.

did ultimately you talk about so you. managed to get a now a job you consider. to be more of a nine to five where. you've got time in the evenings to dance. and you end up setting up your own sort. of dance company um how did you get to. from there. to that pivotal trip to san francisco. that introduced you to the world of tech. yeah so in those two years when i was at. warner music group. i started tasting leadership and. entrepreneurship right i started tasting. this idea. of what life could look like when i was. living to my own drumbeat right and we.

put on a few shows in new york city. during that time that honestly like just. were so well received from people the. the momentum of that the the feeling i. felt for of my community support it made. me just start feeling confidence and my. ability to go after my dreams right and. i think this is an important part of the. journey that we also forget is that. it's the confidence and the small stuff. that actually builds the confidence. towards the big stuff right because it's. not it wasn't okay pile just decided to.

go quit her job one day and start a. company it was this series of small. steps right it was putting on a show for. 150 people that went well then putting. on a show for a thousand people that. went well then saying oh wait let me. think about my life in a bigger way and. that's sort of where i was at that. moment so i wanted to explore new career. paths that i could take and that's why i. decided to go out to san francisco and. it changed my life. the point you made about. the way confidence is built i think is. so so important because i think a lot of.

people think they see people like you. now sat here um after all this all. you've achieved and they think how do i. get from where i am sat on the sofa in. this job that i'm in that i hate to. being. her it seems like such a huge canyon i. have to cross that it feels like you. must be from another planet so that when. people see you at the finish line it can. sometimes be quite demotivating. but what you've just said there is in. fact there's these small it's a. staircase small one tiny step at a time.

building like subjective evidence in. yourself that you you can do a little. bit more than you thought. and i'm curious as to what makes people. like you take. take that small step and it sounds like. it's you're just driven this purpose is. dragging purpose 100. if if i wasn't driven. to make an impact in the world i. wouldn't do it i mean you know you know. yes like i could go and get a good job. and do all of that and live like the. expected life and. be fine but that's not.

fire right that's not me. taking my hours of 5 to 10 pm after work. and. reserving studio space and getting girls. together or you know. working till two three in the morning to. make reservations for people to get to. class like that's a very different. why right and i think that's why i go. back always to. how do you find that why like what is. that light that your life is always. about and i think you know and i feel. very blessed that i found something that.

made me feel a sense of service so young. because nothing compares to it you know. no amount of money no amount of like you. know whatever press or you know any of. that is ever going to compare. to the feeling of touching somebody's. life. so many people might like again my dm's. are like how do i find my why yeah and. it feels. almost like a privilege doesn't it for. people that have. figured that out and there's people i. don't know that will be listening to. this in the morning washing the dishes. driving up and down the country in a.

delivery van whatever it is thinking. i know i'm capable and deserving of more. but i just don't know what it is do you. do you believe that everybody has a. oh. a purpose beyond the nine to five. i do yeah but how do we find it yeah i. think. at the end of the day. it's it's already inside you it's. usually ourselves that are. unwilling to listen to it right. to ask yourself what did you love when. you were younger right. what when did you.

light up what it who are your role. models and inspirations what's that. what's that thing you look at for a. second longer right who's that person. you want to talk to for a few minutes. more and why there is something pulling. you. there. and. you have to be willing. to go down the path of exploring it and. trying trying it right and i think. that's really the hardest thing is we. put so many blocks on ourselves right. and and i get it i mean our society. tells us this is the way to live that it.

does not tell you. to live purposefully and to go and chase. your dreams i mean that's not i mean yes. we do. in the instagram world of life and. quotes i get that. but the structure of our life is not. actually built that way right and and. like you just said i mean you compared. it to. the nine to five which is about making. money right and i think actually and i. have a whole chapter where i talk about. money because. money is the most trapping thing. that's the reason people are are aren't.

willing to do it. usually you know it i and i always ask. people this when they're like i don't. know if you had all the money in the. world how would you spend your day. tomorrow that's like a very good way to. start exploring what would i do without. one of the biggest constraints right. that is probably on my mind what would. truly. make you light you up right and it's not. about like buying stuff right at the end. of the day like i mean anyone who wins. the lottery like you know that they can. go buy stuff but that's not fulfillment. at the end of the day it's it's a sense. of purpose right and i think people have.

to just get themselves in a place where. they're trying new things and it does. honestly feel like a privilege and. that's part of also why i started class. pass was because i wanted people to. in a way live a life that i knew i was i. was sitting there when i was in my early. 20s and i would spend my you know weeks. performing for a show i'd perform on. saturday night invite people to come and. watch me dance. and i remember i felt like i had like i. said like this pep to my life and my. step and all of that. and i want everyone to have that and i.

remember thinking wait a second like you. used to be an athlete like you were. training for the olympics like you were. this amazing singer and would you now. just show up and go to work all day and. don't think about finding time to even. explore these things so my contribution. to that was honestly creating class that. was like part of my very big inspiration. for it was how can i. give some of that to other people to go. and try something and potentially have. that same enlightenment in their life so. you kind of get out of your.

path and your routine. and meet a teacher right that will. inspire the growth in you and that. reflection in you because most of the. times the hardest thing to do is to ask. yourself what you love in your own life. and how did you when was the moment. because i i read in i read in your book. you know there's certain pain points we. encounter where we realize okay i can. solve this problem and the sort of my. manifestation of the solution is. um this app or this website what was the. problem that you encountered and when.

that made you think class pass is the. solution yeah so i was once again. training in ballet at the time i you. know i had my nine to five but every day. after work i would go and train in. ballet and i'd have my ballet clothes. with me and i'd been going to the same. teacher for about six months at the time. and i wanted to try a new class it was. just like a very. simple. thing i wanted to do i get onto you know. my computer i start browsing for this. class. two hours go by it was just this. terrible experience from a information.

standpoint from you know not knowing. what class to take if it was if it's you. know close enough to me what time it. starts how do i register. and that's when i started looking at. other models that existed so there were. things you know in the us like opentable. seamless web that just made this type of. information so accessible and so easy. and convenient for a customer. that i started thinking what if i could. do this for classes and therefore get. people to get an hour out of their life. that was out of their routine to go and. do something fun and exciting so that.

was really where it started. even that you kind of glossed over that. but that's pretty extraordinary because. a lot of people encounter a problem the. issue you encounter trying to book that. class and they go [ __ ] the world is not. not good enough or they think they'll. just think uh this is broken and then. they'll carry on with it oh let me. caveat that so i had come back from san. francisco 36 hours before that and when. i was in san francisco i had met a bunch. of entrepreneurs and this was my first. time ever meeting entrepreneurs right so. going back to even the whole trying new. things conversation.

it was really important for me to take. that trip to sf i had been sort of stuck. in new york city i had been living this. the crazy dance life the crazy you know. nine-to-five life and i had no time for. anything else so i was not trying new. things and i needed an epiphany i needed. something to change because the two. roads i was on like they were going to. crash at some point and it wasn't going. to work. and i decided to go on this trip and. meet a bunch of entrepreneurs and i come. back thinking what if i could be an. entrepreneur let me give myself two. weeks to think of an idea that's.

literally the mindset i was in. when i encountered that so 36 hours. later. i happened to be searching for this. ballet class and that's it was just like. during this perfect period in my life. and honestly like this is when i. sometimes think like does the universe. make us do these things because what are. the chances of all that happening at the. same time but it did and. i really remember in that moment. thinking i know i'm the right person to. build this because of. this background i have the communities. i've been around the experiences i have.

there's probably no one else who cares. as much about dance who then also went. to mit and payne mit which is an amazing. college for those that don't know right. and it was sort of this perfect. combination of things that. made me say i got to do this and i went. for it but that is extraordinary because. a lot of people will encounter things. i'll encounter things today i might sit. on a chair and be like this chair could. be better but then i'll carry on with my. day you know what i mean and then i'll. open the fridge and go this fridge could. be yeah that's true i know that yeah. that's that feels like the pivotal.

moment which a lot of people listening. to this they'll all they'll notice. things maybe they don't even notice them. because there's something in when you. start looking you know in your case. you're actually kind of looking for a. problem to solve yeah yeah. but it takes a certain character makeup. to say i. can be the one to solve this. also a little bit of delusion if you. look at the stats it's fair that's a. very good point um i was definitely. delusional at the time in thinking that. but you know what it was it was more of. i want to try. to solve this problem regardless yeah.

because. it felt so tied to everything i had done. in my life i had literally fought to. dance up and ever for every year of my. life up until that point why not bring. the fight to everyone else right like. that's how i felt i was like i've. already been doing this. let's just go and you know make this. happen and and by the way like i'm also. used my you know my left brain which is. you know my analytical side to go and do. the market research and i was able to. raise money like i i definitely did this. in the practical way too and i was. making sure that it wasn't just some.

crazy dream i there was there was. substance to it for sure i mean i. wouldn't have been able to raise the. capital i did i got into an incubator it. was a good idea right in the way and it. was once again it stemmed from a really. deep why in me and that was the most. important thing i think that's you know. when you know we can talk a little bit. about. the failures and the points where the. product didn't work but. i was never obsessed with getting a. product to work i was obsessed with. solving a problem from day one it's how. do i get people to class and not make it.

so hard for people to get to class why. is it important for people to go to. class because then they can feel what i. have in dance in their life it was just. such a like an important. mission for me that i could just never. stop on it and every day it fueled me. because it was just so real for me to. say. i gave this to someone and even today. like you know and we've booked. like 100 million hours of workouts at. this point you know and when someone. comes to me and is and says to me like i. just went and worked out because of.

class past it brings me joy because. that's an hour of their life that. was like what dances to me right that i. gave them out of their. routine or expectations or the way. society wants them to live that they did. for themselves and that is such a gift. and i think in my life i knew. fighting for that. was always a win whether it worked or. not right but what if it didn't work. if it didn't work i had a back-up plan i. mean when i say i had a back-up plan i. mean i went through my finances and my. dad and i were very clear about.

how much money i had received at that. point to say i had three years to build. this i had three years before i ran out. of my own cash. and you've because you've been a saver. as it says in the business. and so that's the other thing is. you know because money can be the. biggest hurdle in going after our dreams. and if you know you're a dreamer and i. think i always knew i was a dreamer. whether i was going to spend my money to. build a company or built or put on a dan. show i knew i was always dreamer and so. i didn't care to spend money on the.

smaller things in my life right like i. just didn't i didn't like i said i. didn't travel i barely went shopping and. by the way these are decisions i made. right i think it's so important i'm not. saying that because i want other people. to do the same it's it's about you. knowing and thinking about it in a very. deliberate way of how you're spending. your money. right and i was building up a savings i. didn't know what i was going to spend it. on but then when this idea came and i. got to sit down i had three years to go. after. running towards something were you. scared.

um i was excited i i mean it was an. adrenaline rush you know i mean there. were times where it was terrible and. challenging and sucked and. um but i wasn't scared if i was scared i. wouldn't have done it you know i think. if my. fear trumped my. my. my confidence i wouldn't have i don't. think i would have been able to to uh. quit my job and go for it when you quit. your job and go for it at warner right. you have a meeting with the cham and the.

chairman you're 28 years old. he says something interesting to you. right and i think this is this is. actually a people said people will say. to your other luck but actually it's. very much the opposite because he said. that he would invest in yeah so i mean. this goes perfectly with what we were. talking about is it's really. the reason i didn't get scared is. because more and more opportunities and. doors just kept opening for me it was. almost like the universe just started. guiding me in the most beautiful way. towards towards the mission towards the. purpose towards the answer in a way that.

i felt before i was blocking it right so. the second i decided to go after. building this company one of the biggest. things i had to do was quit my job and. on the day i quit i decided to write an. email to people i had worked with my. company some executives and the vice. chairman of warner music group says hey. come to my office i'd love to hear what. you're building. go up to his office. probably the second or third time i've. ever met him in the two three years i. was there. tell him about my idea he says great i. want to invest literally writes me a. check for ten thousand dollars and gives.

me an introduction into a big incubator. that was in new york city and i just. remember thinking in my head. this is this was the scariest. door i'd ever closed my life quitting my. job. but i'm literally walking out out of. here with a ten thousand dollar check. towards my next thing why did why did he. give you that check in your opinion. a few things. one. so he was a former bani so once again. reputation does follow you right like. this goes back to like everything i was.

talking about in the sense of it's. always important to do good work because. if he had ever heard you know pyle is. not good i mean he knew that i was a. good worker no matter what i did even. though i didn't once again love my job i. always did good good work and i know. that i i that reputation followed me and. he knew that and we call that invisible. peel around here yeah there you go right. it's so important it shows up it shows. up yeah right exactly and i think that. was one of the big things and then i. mean two this was also like an ecosystem. where entrepreneurship was the thing but.

i mean at the end of the day he believed. in me right and it was also because. you know actually this is one of my. favorite things that happened on the day. i quit is i would go and tell people. right especially people i had worked. with who were much older than me that i. was quitting my job and here i was. 10 15 years younger than most of them. and i remember everyone looking at me. almost. thinking to themselves like i wish i had. the courage to do that so i think you. forget like me quitting that day was. such a sign of courage in my capability.

and i didn't even realize it at the. moment but being able to make such a. bold decision at that age 28 yeah it was. a huge thing for even my vice terminacy. to say wow like. this girl is gonna go for it right and i. mean that was probably one of the first. hard decisions i had to make in my life. i had to make so many more but to. sort of have that control over your life. your thoughts your dreams. is such an important way to live and. honestly at the end of the day to be a. good leader a good ceo like you need to.

be in control of your ship and in. control of your life i asked that. question about why he invested because. in my time in my company probably had. just over a thousand employees and there. was two occasions where someone said. they were quitting and they were leaving. to start a business and i went i'm gonna. invest in your business and it was. purely based on one thing which is. exactly what you've described which was. in their invisible pr they might not. even have known that i knew right but. they were great right they always did.

great work that's why you have to always. do good work and yeah like i mean it's. it's such a. i and i think in this day and age people. don't feel it as much yeah even though. it might be a job you don't love we all. have to kind of in a way like you have. to earn your. or your. what does it call like earn your marks. your own strengths. earn your stripes you know and i think i. remember earning my stripes to to take. the leap for my dreams whether that was. in money or skills or and i don't regret.

any of that you know and i think when. people ask me how did you do it i spent. i mean it goes back to the whole. conformity rebellious thing i was. earning my stripes so then when i felt. like i could leap i had built the. parachute in the plane you know like i i. wasn't taking a leap without anything. around me like i had built a great. structure. that was going to then let me take the. most rebellious of leaps. what that came towards the mission right. i didn't have to like rebuild all the. stuff that was about my life and like.

worrying about money and this is also an. important thing is like when you are. starting a company if i'm worrying about. paying my bills right and if i'm. worrying about like do i have the skills. then i'm not worried or i'm not worrying. about the most important thing which is. can i get someone to class right like. the number one thing for me to focus on. was my business not anything that was. going on outside of that and that's why. i think it's setting ourselves up to. succeed when we are leaders when we are. entrepreneurs to be in a place where. we're not worried about the peripheral. constraints in our life we're able to. focus on the most important thing at.

hand is so important for us to do it's. what's going to make us more impactful. in being able to actually solve the most. important thing i had a few words to say. about one of my sponsors on this podcast. we're now playing in a world where the. digital landscape is changing every. single day and to succeed as a small. business the most important thing you. can do is stay informed with the latest. trends and that's why i've partnered. with vodafone business they genuinely. want to help small businesses like you. navigate this fast moving space they've.

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get on so if you're a my energy customer. at the moment let me know your favorite. products down below in the comments. section and if you haven't checked them. out yet go to myenergy.com and find out. a lot more about who they are and what. they're doing if you're one of those. people that wants to make a sustainable. switch. my energy.com is the place for you. let's go to the start then of this the. class pass journey because i'm really. compelled by. you know much of the reason i started. this podcast was because. i wanted to. shine a light on the tough times in. business and i know when you're starting.

a business especially a business and. tech. it can be. really really difficult because you're. sort of jockeying and pivoting to find. product market fit and to figure out. like what your customers want. how to deliver it and i read that when i. was reading about your journey when you. started um you quit your job in 2011 and. then you go through a long phase of. trying to figure out how to get people. to use this thing how to market it and. all that. nightmare talk to me about that. nightmare. so. we. went.

into the market with a very clear. product idea and it was a replica of. what had worked in another industry so. opentable which allows you to book. restaurant reservations it seemed like. the right parallel to what we were doing. go on search for classes. but what i didn't realize was that there. was a very big missing part in it and i. mean i'll spare everyone like the little. details of it but everyone has to eat. everyone does not have to work out right. it was and working out usually is. something scary for people and it's more.

of an aspirational thing it's not. something that you have to do every. single day so they were sort of on. different planes of people's psychology. which really became the biggest. bottleneck to what ended up happening. because we spent a year we spent. half a million dollars. building a product that didn't work and. um even though i had all this momentum. like i was saying all these beautiful. doors were opening for me and they were. and i had a lot of great you know what i. now call false signals of success like.

followers press we ended up on the cover. of ink magazine without launching a. product. and all these things made me feel like i. was succeeding right because this is. what success looked like to everyone. else. and then i launched my product. and no one went to class it was like it. was and no one bought a class no one. was transacting it was crickets it was. just a really. it was this was the hardest probably a. few months of the entire trajectory. because. i i had never really faced.

failure in my life i mean going back to. everything i just told you i had i'd. sort of done things well and i. tried to make sure that this would go. well right by doing everything that i. knew how how to which was let's get the. press let's build a beautiful product. let's you know get as many email. addresses as possible those are like the. obvious things that seem you know you. would do when you're building a company. but i forgot to really. ask myself if i was solving the problem. i set out to and. i.

really think back to that moment and. even though it was. the hardest. that moment. is the reason. i became a real entrepreneur like i. don't think i was an entrepreneur before. that day i was. excited about solving something but the. day i failed was the day i became an. entrepreneur because that was the day i. really had to think. deeper about creating something in the. world that didn't exist. and i think it's so easy. to follow the blueprints of everyone. else and realize that entrepreneurship. is actually about having no plan and. having you know not following anyone.

else's. ideas of what success is it's about. figuring out what you know what is it to. solve your mission or your you know your. business model that you're going after. and that woke me up and it was a a month. or two period where we were. trying to be comfortable like it was. this comfortable place we were in. because we had raised money we had just. come out of techstars. but. i mean it was not going well and i knew. we were going to run out of cash if like. we didn't you know figure out something. in the next few months and.

um we just i remember like after a few. few weeks of it we sent this email. literally telling people to go to class. for free. thinking you know okay like this is. gonna work. we're literally paying for the classes. people have to go. and still no one went and that's when i. realized we had just gone the wrong. direction. and i needed to like circle back up i. needed to break what we had built. just think a whole new way. re-energize my team around going up. about solving this problem.

in a completely new way not worrying. about what we had done. but worrying about where we're going to. go and that flipped everything and i. have been there now so many times where. i've been okay with throwing away our. past i mean people don't know this um. but class pass has changed its name. three times. it wasn't called class pass i mean even. with this time i'm talking about it was. called something else and i've thrown. away names like i've thrown away product. ideas like we've thrown we've thrown. away a lot of stuff we've changed our. pricing our plans. and it's because it's not about that.

right it's about solving. the problem in the world and moving. towards that and your mission so many. entrepreneurs though and this is. probably the mistake i made when i was. 18 and started my first little tech. company was um they get romantic about. that initial hypothesis being correct. exactly so it's like you've got this. square shape thing and you're just. trying to force it into this triangle. because like your ego. and there's so much relying on it and. you know the runway you know you're. running out of cash and you just maybe i. just push harder.

and then all these vanity metrics can be. kind of confusing oh we've got some. false signals of success yes no one's. buying anything but we've got traffic. absolutely and as you just said like i'm. on a magazine. but then certain entrepreneurs i think. that have the humility to say in fact. it's not about being. me my hypothesis being right it's about. creating a product market fit yeah you. know and what was the moment when you. started to get closer to that product. market yeah and and to you know one of. the things i love saying about that is. to be uh mission obsessed not product.

obsessed and i learned that through that. journey but um you know we started then. putting this discovery pass out there so. what we did learn is that you know we. started finally actually going and. talking to a lot of the studio owners. and talking to customers i think one of. the things that happens in tech. sometimes is you sit behind the tech. that you. you don't like go and. talk to real people right and it was. funny because i was in a tech incubator. so we showed up we were working from. like 6 a.m to 10 p.m every night but. sitting in an office we weren't actually.

going to class and talking to studio. owners and all of that so once we. started flipping that we started. realizing that you know a lot of the. studio owners they were offering a free. class for people who were new they. wanted new people in the door and then. customers you know knew about all these. places but they had fears we were like. how do we break the fear and so we. started building this product our second. product which also doesn't exist anymore. it was called the passport and it was a. discovery pass where you could go and. try uh 10 different classes for 30 days. so you could go to like a spin class. monday pole dance class tuesday dance.

class wednesday you can kind of you know. it was like sort of this way for people. for 50 to go and explore this is sort of. when we started realizing the whole love. of variety that people had when it came. to working out in classes which was the. magic of what we actually discovered in. our second mistake of a product is that. people loved variety they wanted to. really go and try new things it's what. motivated them they didn't want to do. the same workout every single day how. did you learn that the variety point. well people started going and like they. started loving this past right they.

started loving the 30-day pass and then. they start they try to actually buy it. over and over again for the next month. and you weren't allowed to because it. was like a one-month product. and we had literally gotten these. classes for no money it was very much uh. do this for a month and then you're. gonna go find your favorite studio and. buy a pass there we thought it was. legion for the studio owners but it. ended up not being that at all people. literally were. obsessed with the variety wanted to do. it every single month and not stop and. that's when we started thinking about.

what if we become a subscription we. weren't a subscription at the time it. was just this one month product and we. then started. experimenting with this idea of a class. past it wasn't even class past at the. time it was a class pass and. we launched it to about 50 customers in. june of 2013. and um they loved it the next month it. just kind of kept doubling and then it. was exponential growth and it just i. mean the sales of that took over our. other products and we just knew that the. monthly subscription was the way to go.

and that that was the way that this. model was going to work and that's two. years in right three years three isn't. three years of stumbling around i mean i. went to san francisco in uh in july of. 2010 and this is june of 2013. so three. years. wow one of the quotes from your book is. that um about failure being a data point. not an endpoint and i really think that. is i wish someone said that to me when i. was 18 because. um i saw failure as a testament of my. inadequacy or something as opposed to.

something i should be listening to right. and that's a sort of testament to your. journey and then you know throughout. throughout that period though i think. we've. how was your as a founder something. again founders don't talk about like how. is your mental health. because i know there's sacrifice there. um let's see. a few things i would say um. i mean i sacrificed a lot especially in. those three years where we were trying. to get the product right and it wasn't. working. i mean i missed. i missed family things i missed weddings. i i was just not around right i mean i.

was. literally at work all day long and if. someone on my team needed me i i gave my. 150 percent to my company so. i felt fulfilled because i was doing. something i loved was i exhausted yes. was i. lonely yeah i mean i thankfully like. lived with a roommate who is one of my. like closest dearest friends till today. but. she was the only person i would see. outside of people at work you know it.

was i was living in this like closed. circuit world and i don't. i don't mind that like as somebody who. has been on a mission before like has. created dan shows where they're you know. you there's this like intensity that. happens for two weeks and. you go really really intense you know. the thing that with the dan show is. though it ends at some point like you. have the show. and it's over. the thing i didn't know didn't realize. about this one is you know it's it's a. marathon not a sprint like the dance. shows can be a sprint. and that definitely got to me and i you.

know one of the reasons i even developed. this entire goal setting method was. because three years in so right when i. was at this point where i realized class. was going to take off. i mean it felt like amazing right it. spent like three years i was so focused. i had literally like. probably not talked to anyone in my life. and i found myself alone for the. holidays my sister was away my parents. were in india and i was about to like. literally be by myself on christmas and. it was one of those moments for me i. always hated the holidays as an. entrepreneur because.

it was the one like it was the time in. my life where i couldn't work through my. like my loneliness or through work. through any of my issues it was like the. one time where everyone. would go and do things with other people. and i would be that person who would. finally have to realize that i was on. myself right because i wasn't. cultivating relationships at that point. in my life i didn't have time to. and so it was a wake-up call and kind of. going back to you know. my mom may have been pestering me about. it for the years before. at that point in my life i just started. realizing wait a second like.

i knew class was going to take off like. i just knew we i mean we only had we had. less than a thousand customers but. i had i had caught lightning in a bottle. like it was there it was so magical i. knew it was going to take over the world. like it was one of those moments as an. entrepreneur i could breathe but i. looked at everything else and i'm like. everything else is a mess my health was. a mess i could barely work out which was. crazy for me i wasn't dancing i was like. i was single i you know i had a few good. friends but i felt like i i like hadn't. been there for them and that's when i. started really doing the school setting. because i'm like i need to have.

a bit more i want to make sure my. priorities are more reflective of the. human i want to be in my life. and how in like a practical sense in. terms of a time allocation sense did you. get from that place to living more in. line with those values of connection. community love and health so i you know. i'll the details of like what i did on. that session the first time i did it are. in the book but i will say this so in. the next six months uh after i started. doing that i literally met my husband a. month later really yes i decided to do a.

huge dance show. at alvin ailey six months later and i. sold out a thousand uh a thousand seats. at that so i got to do a huge. performance you're gonna sell so many. books just by saying you found a husband. buy something it's really crazy but i. literally changed my. perspective around love and what i. wanted and i met my husband a month. later which was crazy and i also you. know i set goals around what i wanted to. do with class pass i set goals around my. health and how i wanted to.

live and work out on a daily basis. and i did all those things and i. remember this is always my favorite. moment six months later. i was flying home on a plane. and when i first did this goal setting. method i had written it on a post-it. note because i was on a plane and i was. i was on another. plane ride because i was always. traveling and i took it out and i looked. at it and i had done everything on my. dream list. you know and sometimes just writing down. those dreams is the most important thing.

but. it was just such an important moment. because i felt. more i don't i don't want to say the. word balance because that has so many. you know wrong intentions with it but i. felt that i was very clear about my. priorities and i went towards them and i. missed things too but i didn't feel. guilty about them and i just felt so. proud of myself for. saying here's what i want to do in my. life and i'm going to go and do it and. accomplishing it not just obviously. professionally but personally as well.

there's like an overarching theme here. in your in your journey where the minute. you become intentional about something. yeah the door's open. it's true do you believe in that. manifestation 100. and it goes back to the you saying you. know we were talking about having a why. i think when you don't have a why you go. aimlessly and you you know i think you. start living life thinking that you want. money thinking you want to be famous. thinking you want power.

and instead of thinking about like love. and passion and purpose and. whenever i have made decisions that are. about the former and not the latter i've. never been led in the right in the right. direction and you know if that's. something people can take away from this. like i think is one of it's one of the. most important points is. if you go towards purpose even if you. are rebelling right and even if you. might be pissing a few people off i. guarantee your life will be more. fulfilling. what were you like as an entrepreneur as. a leader and as a manager of people.

i would say i was very much. i had a lot of positive energy i'm i'm a. small human but i. i show up with all of me um. i. am i expect a lot of people i think. because people have always expected a. lot for me so i'm sort of uh when you. start working with me. i can very quickly tell if someone's. going to like sink or swim you know. because i don't tell you a lot but i. like let you go because i think to me. that's what i've had to do is just kind.

of i don't want to put a lot of boxes on. you i want you to just show me what you. can be at your highest potential and i. think like that sort of i liked giving. people that room to be free and then. allowing me to see what their capability. is versus me saying you need to be your. best in this box that i'm giving you and. i've i've found really great talent in. that way um. [Music]. i've had to learn how to like hire for. my strengths and weaknesses you know i. think um. that's probably the hardest the hardest.

parts when your company grows is you do. everything in the beginning and then you. have to learn to let go and um i've. definitely learned that building a tribe. around you of great people is the only. way to succeed you struggle to delegate. right in the early days um i've gotten. better at i've got i've i've realized. that there is no other way to success. and to build big things and great things. in the world without being able to. delegate so i've become much better at. it in my life and it's the only way i i.

can do what is my magical thing right. and i've i think i've put a lot of. thought into that is. what part of this company is is. something that only i know i can do. right everything else that i know. someone else can do i shouldn't be doing. is that why you delegated the role of. ceo yes absolutely at some point a ceo. title becomes a lot of you know managing. investors managing team. doing press and i was like this is not. what i want to be doing with my time i. want to be solving the problem i want to. be in with my customers working on like.

interesting concepts not spending my day. in a bunch of meetings that you know. didn't feel inspiring so i think like. you know and everyone's set up. differently you have to know how you. work that's another big thing is is. learning the insights of what motivates. you like it's it's the work you do and. why you do it that ends up really. mattering right in any job you're in and. i remember there was a point where i. remember being. so. just disheartened and not wanting to. show up to build my own company and i'm.

like what is going on it was because i. hated the work i was doing and i loved. obviously my company but i hated the. actual work that i had to do and so i. had to figure out a way to get past that. it was like 20 like 16 17. i mean we. were launching like around the world it. was so intense it was you know i mean it. was magical like i said it was. incredible to build that but i remember. like i said i was showing up every day. dealing with like hr issues legal issues. like needing to talk to my investors i. wasn't like around my customers and i.

wasn't going to class and around my. product you know and that's what really. fuels me as an entrepreneur and a. founder did you have email dread like i. used to at one point i remember when my. company was getting big because there. was lots of chaos in my company there's. all kinds of cash flow issues i used to. like dread opening my emails i was like. it's going to be some other [ __ ]. from like. an investor or something yeah i mean i. definitely i wanted to make sure that. i had more to look forward to and i. think there came a point where i was. looking forward to less and less right. and i think it goes back to what i was.

saying about. i didn't want my whole day to be like. ugh okay there's like another competitor. okay we need to worry about this now i. didn't want my days to be about worrying. i wanted my days to be about dreaming. right and by the way you have to. obviously as a leader of any of this it. comes with a responsibility right so. it's not that. it's not that i didn't have to worry. about those things there were certain. parts of it that i knew i had to worry. about i needed to be on my radar but i. knew there were certain things where i'm. like i could hire someone to really work. on this and fix this it doesn't need to. take up my time and energy and that's.

really where where the combination is or. where that decision lies. so all of that passion all of that love. driven by this really deep intrinsic why. why did you step away from class pass. you know i think at some point. and this happens i think for so many. founders i mean it had been a decade of. my life solving this problem which of. course i'm so. deeply passionate about and you know i. think the earliest days were when we did. the most leg work and actually like. figuring out the product you know.

the product nuances that were going to. actually like unleash the behavior i. think it just got bigger you know for me. i think there are other things i want to. do in the world and there's probably. other problems in the world i still need. to go and solve and it's on me to. unleash myself to be able to face them. so i can move forward towards them and. have them even come into my periphery i. think if you're kind of stuck in the. past you don't even welcome the doors. right that are that you need to go. through to reach your future and. i know for me my.

my future. is waiting for me you know and it's on. me to sit there and walk through the. door and go towards it and was there was. there a feeling of like a loss of. love. yeah i mean it's a bittersweet moment. you know it was um. it's super bittersweet right. i always say this like the the hardest. day was when. i stopped getting my my class pass email. i mean like it was insane i've had this. email for for years it was like my main. inbox and um. [Music].

you know it was it was definitely a. sense of loss i mean i think it's you. know. for it's like having a child and. watching your child get married right. but it's also being able to say like. they're okay i i did all i could. to get them to this point and being. proud of that and that's really where. i'm at i remember the. when i resigned from my company went. public and i said to the company i said. i'm going to resign but i have one. caveat they're like what is it i was. like i want to keep my email. oh you didn't use that. my email.

i still have my you know it's funny that. you say that i think i did it going back. to the whole. uh it was just been more noise right for. me. i just think it was it was a nice break. for me i actually remember creating a. new email address and it was like no. mail. what you know and it was it was. interesting because it started making me. realize like what do i want to fill that. part of my life up with what's the. answer what's the answer to that i'm.

sort of in the middle of it still but. you know obviously. lots of dance you know i think i. probably have a few more big problems in. the world to solve you know i'm i'm only. 39 you know it's interesting because. i'm young you know my mom and i always. talk about this too and she's like it's. interesting because. yeah like i could retire them no there's. no part of me that would ever think. about that you know but. it's an interesting it's a great place. to be the valuation of class pass at.

sale is probably confidential as it. tends to be but um i know that in 2020. in the series he rounded was valued at. over a billion. it's a lot of money. how does that change things for you. um. well you know we haven't exited so like. the company hasn't been been sold yet so. it's still private but um is your stake. acquired or your stake is still in the. company my stake is still in the company. yeah so it's not fully you know fully. there but you know i think these and. here's the thing the reason why that was. such an important moment was because of. what it really the message it sent for.

women especially and me being you know. an indian woman like that was actually. the most important part of it i don't. think as an entrepreneur you should run. towards numbers like that because what. you should run towards is making an. impact right the 100 million hours of. people's lives is actually much more. impactful to. my business and society than hitting. that billion dollar evaluation but in my. case i think it's different because i. know what that represents. to so many other.

girls out there who can look at. something and say wow if she can do it. maybe i can too. and that to me is a really important. part of it and that wave of press. whenever whenever someone becomes a. unicorn is tremendous right and that. will reach so so many young women all. over the world and entrepreneurs. your partner. your son completely other part of your. life nick zane yep nick and zayn how's. that been you know. you talk about the obsession you've had. building class pass. um entrepreneurs always struggle and. tend to struggle in managing their.

romantic relationships in the other part. of their life what advice have you got. for me on maintaining a good romantic. relationship and family whilst also. striving to build big dreams yeah and i. i'll be honest i think we're always. still learning in the process of it but. i think one of the biggest things i. learned is and this goes along with a. lot of the advice i have with my parents. is bringing them along the journey. nick was. with me through so much of it i mean. when we went to go launch london. um i always actually love this story is. me one of uh my co-founder and.

one of my uh sales sales girls cam came. with me and so did nick and we had to go. try out about 30 studios in in london in. about five days and nick just went and. did some of them too like it was amazing. we all just went and worked out and he. was sort of like checking out studios. because we before we put anything on the. platform we wanted to make sure they. were vetted studios and this was like i. said it was like six seven years ago so. it wasn't that much that many reviews on. studios. and um yeah like i mean he would come to.

australia with me come to london with me. and he was just a big part of the. process you know and i think that's so. awesome that we got to live like he got. to live the dream with me. and i think that was a really nice part. of it i think as we've had a kid we've. just had to become very clear on. priorities right and he is and he's a. partner at a law firm he's you know one. of the youngest partners at his law firm. it's insane. what he's been able to accomplish in his. career so we have to just always be very. very communicative on what we both want.

right in setting goals and hey like what. do we want to accomplish this year in. terms of our lives right the same way i. think about it personally we have to. think about it in terms of what our. family wants to do whether it's like. school whether it's traveling right what. do we want to make sure we both do. as a family unit combined with you know. our jobs and our ambition you know and i. think it's so important especially for. women. to surround themselves with partners and. people who will constantly help them.

stay ambitious in their life because. it's one of the hardest things what if. there's conflict between when you think. about what the family wants to do and. what pile wants to do. as in terms of your ambitions and then. his ambitions with his career do you. have to talk it out and come up with a. plan you know i to me a plan. is the most important thing and. sometimes there is conflict but you have. to try new things similar to pivoting. right and iterating like on a company. you sometimes both people have to be. flexible to be like okay well like if. this current situation isn't working. we're gonna try something new right okay.

like you want this i want this what if. we try a combination of this for six. months what if we you just have to be. flexible and adaptable i think the. biggest mistake. is not doing anything. and staying sort of stagnant in a place. where someone's uncomfortable or. someone's not happy. and. not helping the other person right at. the end of the day. nick being happy in his life is going to. make him the best husband to me and the. best dad and me being happy in my life. is going to make me the best mom and. best wife to him right and we both know.

that so it's about saying what does. happiness look like. to both to us individually but then us. together as a family your journey has. weaved and up down left right all of it. it's been a tremendous roller coaster. with so many highs and lows and. everything in between you spoke earlier. about the importance mentorship has. played in your life have you ever been. to therapy. have i ever been to therapy um i did a. little bit of therapy actually at the. beginning of last year um.

you know it was i had a baby by the way. six weeks before the pandemic. and then like my company came to a hall. it was just a really crazy time so i had. just. gone to therapy to just start talking to. somebody because i didn't even know how. to make sense of so much of where my. mental state was at that point i hadn't. seen people i'd literally been a mom for. a year living at home right it was just. my life was so different than what it. looked like pre-pandemic at that point.

and so i yeah i have and i i mean i. recommend it to anyone it's it's sort of. like a fitness instructor who works on. your body you need to work on your mind. sometimes and see you know what your. roadblocks are right we know them like. oh my god i feel i don't feel strong. with my left arm like how do you get. that stronger we sometimes have blocks. like that too. and it's sometimes. for me it's been like sometimes there'll. be a feeling which i can't but you just. know you're out of orientation or. something's not right i think the. pandemic did that to a lot of us which. was yeah destabilized our us in many. many ways um your journey is phenomenal.

it's really really phenomenal and you're. a really phenomenal person for so many. reasons one of the reasons why is just. you're just this from like the minute. you walked into this room you're just. this like ray of sunshine oh thank you. and that's why i think i asked the. question about like therapy and your. hard moments in particular because. you have you have just an unbelievable. smile and you have such an it you i'm. like is this person always this this. this. you know but it goes down to i always. believe there's the light right like i. think. it's the question you we started with it.

was. i just. believe there's like goodness to give. and service and and purpose and. when i'm. not aligned with my purpose i do feel. sad right those are my like hardest. moments where. you know if i didn't care about sharing. you know my insights and stuff like i. could be you know somebody who wasn't. happy but i i do things intentionally. and therefore how can you not be happy. doing the things that you love in your. life.

so beautiful we have a closing tradition. okay. the previous guest writes a question for. the next guest oh okay and they don't. know who they're writing it for. what is one thing. you would do. if you weren't. afraid. at all. you know it's interesting i'm i like. mentally. i. don't have many things that. i don't feel like i could solve so it's. like not mental i i probably have more.

physical things because i'm such a small. per like i'm 411 right it's like it's an. interesting thing because. i feel more physically fearful of things. than i do actually you know what i would. do i would do. i would run a marathon. interesting. i love running i just have never run. that you're afraid. i'm not probably not afraid but. potentially i'd have to work through. what's holding me back from it but maybe. there is some fear.

i'm gonna pay attention see if you end. up running a marathon thank you so much. for your time and your wisdom it's so. you're such a breath of fresh air for so. many reasons but you're a real source of. inspiration and what you've um what. you've accomplished with with class past. is just astounding it really is. astounding and yours like humility and. openness to share the truth about that. not just in the book but but here today. is i'm going to be liberating for a lot. of people and that the whole you know. one of the key lessons i come away with. even though i feel like i. i might have said this if you'd asked me.

it's just the unbelievable importance of. having and following that voice inside. of us which is there and all the reasons. we suppress it because of external. whatever whatever but you know um. as as you i was sitting there as you're. talking i was thinking you know what as. well the other thing is like even if you. you try and do something else whether. it's. management consulting whatever you're. never actually going to master it yeah. because it's always going to be a. tedious job when you ended up mastering. the thing that was in line with your. passion and i think that's a really. important lesson to everybody who feels.

like they're in a situation now that. might not be in line with that voice. inside right. thank you be the master of you a man. yeah you're brilliant thank you so much. for your thank you thanks for having me. stephen i had a few words to say about. one of my sponsors on this podcast as. the seasons have begun to change so. how's my diet and um. right now i'm going to be completely. honest with you i'm starting to think a. lot about. slimming down a little bit because over. the last couple of probably the last. four or five months my diet has been. pretty bad um and it started to show a. little bit really over the last two. months i go to the gym about 80 of the.

time so i track it with 10 of my friends. in a whatsapp group and this tracker. online that we all use together we call. it fitness blockchain and i'm currently. at 81 percent um so 81 of the days i've. done a workout in the last 150 days. right so i'm going to the gym about six. times a week. that's been a little bit impacted by the. derivative live tour but i'm trying to. stick to it. and so one of the things i'm doing now. to reduce my calorie intake and trying. to get back to being nutritionally. complete and all i eat is i'm having the.

heel protein shake thank you hill for. making a product that i actually like. the salted caramel is my favorite i've. got the banana one here which is the one. my girlfriend likes but for me salted. caramel is. the one. [Music]. foreign. [Music].

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