October 7, 2022 • 50 mins
Jess shares how she’s pivoted from teacher and principal to fitness motivator and sports TV personality. She learned to not play it safe, meeting new opportunities with confidence and authenticity.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You are in a classroom, standing in front of twenty
seven kindergarteners and fresh out of college yourself. Then you're
add limbing into a camera while running on a treadmiller
lifting weights, motivating millions of Pelotson clients around the world.
And now every fall Saturday morning, you're broadcasting live while
surrounded by thousands of crazed football fans. As a brand
(00:33):
new member of the college game Day team, my guest
has met all these opportunities and challenges and many others
with enthusiasm, confidence and authenticity. Today I've got Jess Sims. So, Jess,
you're experiencing some of the most manic energy and television
(00:53):
as a new member of the college game Day cast.
The energy is pretty unique, and you're right out there
among the people, mostly students, many of them up all night.
Many of them are hyped to represent their school and
get on camera and see you up close. So how
has that been in year one for you? I mean,
you hit the nail on the head right there, that
manic but beautiful energy that you can really only get
(01:14):
at game day. Um, I'm thrown like it's funny. When
I was first told, oh yeah, you're gonna be in
the middle, in the octagon, and I'm like, the octagons,
I'm looking for something that has, you know, eight sides,
and actually the big circle that's in the middle, like
in the middle of the crowd, and I'm like, that's
that's not it. Oh my goodness, think goodness, it's not me.
There's no eight sides of the circle. And then Jimmy,
(01:34):
She's like, no, no, that's the octagon, and I'm like,
that's a circle and that is wild. Um. But some
of my favorite favorite memories have been in that octagon. Specifically,
just this past weekend in Tennessee, I got the holes
the puppy. Um, it might be a new mascot to
be on. His name was Topper, and it was like
the highlight of the whole show for me. So is
(01:55):
that the new little smoky blue tick your hand that
they have. That's that is a highlight. That's cool. You're
dog comes together. They're exactly all the world's colliding right
at the beginning. You know, I didn't I didn't know
it was called the octagon. It wasn't called that when
I hosted the show. But the octagon is sort of
synonymous with approving yourself and taking punishment, dishing out punishments.
(02:15):
I hope it hasn't been that literal. Well when you
put it that like, that's hilarious, but no, it's not amazing.
I have the crowds are I can't even put it
into words, honestly, Chris, it's just this energy that, honestly
I missed. I went to a small um college. It
was actually pretty much the same size with my high school,
and I always that was the one big regret, I
guess you could say, is not going to that huge school.
(02:36):
So I really think that this is my second chance
to be able to go to all of these huge schools.
That's what's neat. I mean, you bring an energy that
helps even people that are veterans at this see it
through your eyes, see it with a fresh eye, because
you hadn't been to Knoxville for a big game, to
Clemson for a big game, and and most of the
people watching haven't been there either in person. So I
(02:58):
think being able to convey that will also show what's unique,
because that's what that's what the fun part of the
job is. It's not just screaming kids in different color shirts.
There's something about each campus it's a it's a different energy,
and it's your job, and this shows you have to
bring that home. Yes, And oh my gosh, that's the
other part that I absolutely love about the job too.
As soon as we get the location, which is not
(03:20):
much earlier than when the whole world knows, or at
least for me, and so as soon as I get it,
I'm like, Okay, book the flights. And then I'm like,
all right, what is unique about this school? And I
google traditions that get all the mask off. The color
is what's new with the coaches, the quarterbacks, you know,
all that stuff, and it's it's just become this really
nice routine for me on Sundays and I really look
forward to it every week. And you're down there much
(03:42):
more with the people than the guys on the set.
People aren't familiar with the geography of college game day.
There's the set, and there's a net behind the set
because we've had to put a net up because some
people like to throw stuff and that's saved your lives
a few times. But you're out there with no net,
very very close. I'm asking through the crowd, um, and
that's that's an interesting experience because we'll get to your
(04:05):
Peloton background and used to being around energy, but it's
a little bit different when they're like arms reach and
you don't know what they're gonna do sometimes, right, Yeah,
I mean so far, knock on what. Everyone's been very
respectful and we have great security on the ground. But
it's been everyone, every kid and every adult because it's
not the majority like you said, are you know students
at the schools, but a lot of alumni come in
(04:27):
and so it's been really really nice. Uh. I get
signed myself, which still blows my mind because game day
is known for the signs and every wrather be careful
of the signs, like there are some like wild ones
and okay, let me see. And I get so much
support from the Peloton community. Um. One quote that I've
been saying since I started is you don't have to
you get to. So there's a crew of people that
(04:47):
have come together based off of that quote and by
taking my classes, and they've kind of organized wherever the
school is that we're going to each week, they organized
who and what they're going to bring to each of
the campuses and the signs that they bring, like jet
this is the only ten I see, you don't have
to be evolved, you get to be evolve. Um. It's
just really really amazing to see my world's collide in
(05:08):
a lot of ways. We'll get to the Peloton community.
What's cool about that? But I did notice in your
comments when you announced that you were gonna be going
on game Day, how many of the people that know
you as an instructor and field that connection with We
just went crazy with support and enthusiasm, and so of
your fellow Pelton instructors. I'm taking a mout Wilper's class
the other day and it was later in a Saturday
(05:28):
after he watched you on Game Day, and that's kind
of neat. Yeah, it's honestly, Chris, Like it takes my
breath away, Like I really have to stop and be
like wow, why me? Like why was I chosen for this?
Because the amount of support that I get from Peloton,
and it's it's a two way street. You know, so
many people say, just you motivate me. You're the reason
why I've lost this weight, why I you know, got
(05:50):
through my treatment for whatever illness I'm going through, or
you know, job loss, personal loss. Um. But it really
works those ways and I'm growing up in front of everyone.
Like I started four years ago. Literally UM I launched
in November of two thousand and eighteen, so it's been
four years just about UM, and I've grown tremendously as
(06:11):
a person. And so I think the thing that really
makes me so relatable to everyone is that I am
very vulnerable with what I'm working on, and I always
say like, I'm far from perfect. The reason why I
know what to say to you is because I know
I have to say it's myself too, and so it
kind of just creates a sense of camaraderie and community.
And it's not me standing on a soapbox and saying
(06:31):
you should do this. It's like, if you're going through this,
I'm also going through this. This is what I'm trying,
this is what I'm working on with my life coach,
this is what I'm practicing. Let's do these hard things together,
and it's been really empowering on both sides of the street.
Definitely get back to Peloton listen. There are so many
different non traditional ways to get into over the air television. UM.
(06:53):
Being a Peloton instructor is certainly one of them. How
did the opportunity come about to make that leap to
game day. Yeah, so I, um, let's see so yeah,
so yeah. I never thought like, Okay, I want to
be on college game day. It's just not something that
I've I've thought of or thought that it would even
be in my wheelhouse. But I am essentially a host.
While I'm running, walking, cycling, lifting, doing what's stretching, leading
(07:17):
a class, looking at ten different cameras, connecting with viewers
at home. And so through that, the viewers at home
are members. They are coaches of teams, their owners of
teams and leagues and conferences and things like that, and so, um,
the w n b A, specifically the New York Liberty
reached out to me and they asked me if I
was interested in doing in arena hosting, and they said,
you know, obviously it's it's the best of both worlds.
(07:38):
You're looking at a camera, but you're also getting everyone's
super super excited in the arena, and so we would
love for you to do that. So I've been doing
that now for two years. Uh. And then after one
year of doing that, the Big East Women's Basketball Tournament
reached out and I said, hey, we take your class,
as we love your classes, we love your energy. You
used to play college basketball, Um, would you come and
host at So I'm like yes, And so all these
(07:58):
opportunities that are just making sense, Chris, like, they're not
anything that feels forced. It's just like, wow, yeah, that
makes sense for me to do that because I'm so
passionate about women's sports specifically but about sports in general,
and I love getting people on our guys um and
feeling good. And so through those experiences, UM, I started
working with an agency. I'm signed with Excel Sports UM
(08:19):
and my agent said, you know, I want you to
meet with someone at ESPN just to kind of chat
with them and see if there's anything you know that
they're looking for maybe now in the future. So I
met with someone and had this conversation. It was just
the intro get to know you, and we shook hands
at the end and said all right, like we'll keep
in touch if there's anything that we see that could
be a good fit. And then like, not even two
(08:40):
weeks later, they reached out and asked me to come
to Bristol to meet with the whole team and it
was for college game Day. What was your reaction when
that that gig was presented to you. It feels very natural, fears,
very authentic, but it's still different. It's a little different.
It's a different way to express some of the same
things you're talking about. What was your reaction, I mean,
just dive right into these new challenges without any trepidation
(09:02):
And well, so it's interesting, I think that I've been
training for this, Chris, like, this is something that I've
been training my mind. And when you train your mind
and you change your lifestyle and your habits, it doesn't
really matter what your goal is. Your goal could be anything.
So goals are kind of sure, they're nice to provide clarity,
but it's kind of like a means to help you
figure out what habits and what you need to be
(09:24):
working on in the current. But Transfordable skills are really
what gets you from point A to point B, and
he allows you to enjoy it in between. And it
was perfect timing for me because specifically I had just
run the Boston Marathon, so this was back at the
end of April. So I met with um the guy
from ESPN, two days after I had run a marathon,
(09:46):
and the runners high is real and I just had
this but it was weird. It was this runners high,
but it wasn't this high enthusiastic energy. It was this
sense of calm because everything that happened to me on
the marathon day was supposed to happen to me. I
surrendered to everything. So every little inconvenience and every little advantage,
(10:08):
I was like, I'll take it, I'll take it. This
is happening. Surrender, Enjoy this moment is getting a little chilly.
Enjoy this moment because when you turn the corner of
the sun might be blaring and it might be really
hot again, you know. And so I just I've been
practicing surrender, um. And when you practice surrender with preparation, amazing,
amazing things happen, and you realize that the universe is
working for you, and the universe is happening for you,
(10:32):
not to you. So you kind of get rid of
this victim mentality and this oh my gosh, I don't
know if this is for me mentality, and you just
kind of accept. And so when I took that meeting,
had that great conversation, I didn't have any expectations. And
then when I was invited to Bristol, I was like, well,
I have been watching ESPN my whole life, So to
even just go to the campus is going to be
such a great experience. If nothing comes of this, I
(10:53):
will be able to say that I went to ESPNS
Bristol campus and so I just have this immense sense
of gratitude. Um. And so I just had the best
time with everyone. And after I met with the four
guys that I was I had to meet with, I
was walking around a campus. We were going to grab lunch,
and I ran into like three or four people that
take my peloton classes and they were like, Oh my gosh,
(11:14):
are you gonna work here. You'd be such a great
fit for this show or for this and so it
was just so affirming and so validating, and I was
just like, Wow, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.
And to your point, Chris, yes, it's different football. I
will never say it's basketball. I'll never say it's soccer,
all across the other two sports that I've played competitively.
But as Kobe Bryant said, it's the same mentality but
(11:35):
just a different arena. So you're able to apply it
when you do the work. Yeah, I mean we could
go on and on. We're so much in the same
frequency about things like gratitude and acceptance, to the point
where people listening to this would certainly roll their eyes.
But if you want to circle back to a little
bit later, that could maybe be our our mic drop.
But authenticity is what I always say when goople asking
(11:56):
what's the success of game day? How is it growing
in blossomed over over twenty five years? And you do
bring an authenticity, so you do fit in right away
with that. You are very much yourself. You're the same way,
it appears to me anyway as you are when you're
doing your various classes in the treadmill or with the weights.
And there's another place where authenticity is important, because lack
(12:17):
of it is instantly sniffed out and sensed and called.
And that would be in front of a classroom. And
you have experienced in front of seven kindergarteners, and even
at that age, if you're not yourself, if you're trying
to put one over on them, they sense it. So
what did it go from? You know, you're very young
at this point doing that, but learning to deal with
(12:41):
undisciplined but fun but chaotic atmosphere in the classroom. Well, yeah,
I mean so I graduated from Trinity College in Hartford
when I was twenty two, and I moved two weeks
after graduation to Houston, Texas, and I taught fifth grade
in third grade, and then to your point, I came
up to New York and I talked of art and yeah,
(13:02):
so and I taught summer. So you got baptized with
third graders from fifth graders. You didn't start off with kindergarten.
At least you had the the autonomy and the independence
of fifth and third graders tremendous. But the who are you?
How old are you? How long have you been doing this?
I had to have I'm sixty seven years old. I've
been teaching for twenty four years. I just moved here
(13:24):
from you know, I thank you. I was from Boston,
so I thought I moved from Boston. But you just
had to have It's interesting. I got advice, and a
lot of people struggle with this advice. They say like, oh,
I don't agree with it, but I personally agree with
it because I know it's worked for me. It's fake
it till you make it. I'm not saying be fake,
but you kind of have to be in the shoes
and step into your power, even if you don't fully
(13:46):
feel it yet yourself. So I knew that I was
a teacher leader. There's no way that I would have
been the captain on my basketball team for three years
UM in college in a three sport captain in high
school at a huge school. There's no way that would
have happened. There's no way that I would have gotten
teach for America with was very very hard to get into,
especially at that time. UM if people didn't think that
I possess leadership skills in qualities that can bring success
(14:09):
to children in an educational setting. So even on those
days where I felt insecure, I had to be like,
j I know you're feeling insecure right now, but believe
in yourself because these kids lives are depending on it.
So you need to be the leader. You need to
step into that power even if you don't feel it today.
So I kind of had that um practice of just like,
(14:29):
you've got to be confident, and when you're confident, the
kids sit back and relax. When you're not confident, you
can get eaten alive. Well, that's what I think is interesting.
Look all of us throughout every stage of life, at
one time another, have to declare our credentials, have to
reprove ourselves, no matter what it is. But it's funny
(14:50):
to hear you talk about how unfiltered kids are and
how they're going to stand in front of you and
like demand to know why they should listen to you,
Why are you here? What have you done? And so
to have to do that a really young age to
a tough crowd is interesting. Yeah. And it's a delicate
balance too, because one of my favorite quotes, Burnee Brown,
always talks about not hustling for your self worth. So
(15:12):
you're not like trying to show people like, hey, no
I belong to I belong here, like I'm I want
you to see that I'm worthy of this, But it's
almost like you're you're doing it for yourself because we're
the our biggest critics and we're our biggest doubters. Um.
I know that about myself a hundred percent. There's no
one that can say something harsher to me than I've
said to myself. And so the negative self talk is
(15:32):
where I need to fake it till I make it,
because deep down I know I'm qualified to be here,
So even if I don't feel it on that day,
I need to step into it. Did you have to
get through the phase of worrying about making a mistake?
Mistake avoidance is a mindset that no one would say
is where you want to be. That's not associated with
the ultimate performance level. You've got to get to the
(15:53):
point where you you filter out the fear of making
a mistake and just do your thing. Has that been
something that you've dealt with along the lines, whether it's
being in front of a classroom or being in front
of a pelotine class and then being on TV now,
I mean I still deal with it and mistakes and failure,
and if people can't see I'm doing, I'm using quotation marks.
(16:14):
So I don't really believe in failure. I think failure
is feedback, and I also think it's relative. I think
that's something that you consider a feedback from the present.
In five ten years, you can look back and say, wow,
I know why I didn't get that at that time,
because this would have changed my path and I wouldn't
be here. So there's that. But I'm embarrassed to say,
Chris that one of the toughest interview questions when I
(16:35):
was applying for roles that people would ask, is name
a time that you failed or name a time where
you made a mistake that you wish you could go
back and change. And I didn't have an answer, And
that is not a good thing. I'm not saying that's
to brag like, oh, I never failed at anything. As
a matter of fact, that I hope to have kids
one day and I want to encourage them to fail quickly,
to fail often, to fail fast, and because that's how
(16:56):
you learn. And also that's how you don't hold yourself back.
Because there are times where I've delayed going after something
for fail for fear of making a mistake. But I've
learned that making mistakes makes you human. And that's what
the world needs to see. We don't need to see
the curated perfect staying out there. We need to see
(17:19):
people making mistakes, learning from it and getting better, making
more mistakes, learning from it, going in a different direction.
I think that that's what the world needs to see.
They need to stop seeing perfect heroes. I think there's
actually was the comment. It was someone who said that.
I think it was common who said when he learned
that Martin Luther King had flaws, he loved him more.
(17:39):
And I think that that is so huge when you
find out who you're here, when you figure out my
hero is this person, find out what their flaws are,
find out what mistakes they've made, and realize how empowering
that can be for yourself. Why wasn't it easy for
you to think of a time when you had failed?
Did you reframe it after the fact? Did you just
block it out and move on? Because it's interesting. I
(18:00):
can certainly think of a few things that I would
have answered to that question, including on the job when
lack of humility was the failing that I had, and
that balance between approaching something new with humility but also
confidence because you have to project that as well. Sometimes
getting that balance out of whack and getting publicly scolded
(18:21):
in front of a newsroom when I was very new
to the job and I absolutely had it coming and
was absolutely one of the most important moments in my
TV career, not in front of a camera, but with
thirty people who are veterans in the newsroom looking on.
And here's this kid fresh out of college getting scolded
and he had it coming. No. I mean, I'm embarrassed
(18:41):
to say because this was probably this isn't my low
twenties is I didn't put myself in positions to fail.
I really didn't, UM, And so everything that I set
my heart out for I worked for and got, but
I played it safe. I played it small. And that's
one of the reasons why I considered my transition from
education into fitness as do or die like I really,
(19:05):
I really really felt that. And it wasn't me being
dramatic and you know, anything like that. It was really like,
all right, Jess, you can stay here. You've literally worked
your way up from teacher to principle in six years.
You got your masters and education. You're comfortable here, You're
you're more than comfortable here, you're thriving here, You're doing great.
But are you truly happy? Are you really having an
(19:26):
impact on this world that you know that you want
to have? Beat down? And the answer was no. And
it was the thing that was separating me from that
was myself, was me being afraid to fail, of making
a mistake in front of people. And so when I
started in fitness UM, I was on a microphone and
I was petrified of it. There were no cameras yet
at this point, I just talked two boutique studios here
(19:47):
in the city. But I was like, what if I
stumble over my words? What if my count is wrong?
What if I said I mess up the combination because
I was teaching boxing. Um, there were a lot of times,
but I ended up realizing that one of my superpower
ours is is humility is saying y'all, I just messed
that up. Like Wow, congratulations, jet I'm human. I just
joined a big club of people that just that also
(20:08):
struggle with you know, X y Z. So I think
that's how I kind of stepped into that bit of vulnerability. Yeah,
I do want to get into pivoting to reinvention, because
it seems like you've done that a few different times.
The moment you said when you realize you weren't happy
being an educator, And by the way, when you're a
principle at your age and you're also a leader of
(20:31):
teachers who have been at this for decades, I would
think you're putting yourself any position to potentially fail or
where confidence is required, and and that's that's quite a responsibility.
Your look too for a lot of things from a
lot of people, teachers, parents, and of course of course
the kids. Um, what was the principle experience, like and
(20:52):
why did that sort of become the ultimate step that
you took an education before starting you need to move
out of it. Yeah, what's interesting because in education, oftentimes
people think that there's a ladder to climb in order
to get to being a principle. Now, I definitely think
a percent that as a principle, it's ideal to have
teaching experience, so that you know what the teachers are
(21:13):
going through, you know what the kids are experiencing on
a daily basis, things like that. But I know some
teachers that I don't want to be principles and also
wouldn't be great principles because they're different skill set. It's
a very different skill set. UM. And so I watched
the show Abbot Elementary, so I'm familiar with. I don't
know if your school is anything like that. The personalities
(21:34):
in the politics, but usual principal teacher relationship is very
funny there. Yeah, no, and of course, of course, and
like there's also a public charter private. There's so many
nuances in all of the schools as well, UM and locations.
Because I taught in Texas, UM, New York and uh, Massachusetts,
So I also had like different experiences there as well.
(21:55):
But um, I just realized. So also in between s
fifth grade, third great kindergarten, I worked for Teacher for America.
In between UM and I got to work at summer
schools and be an assistant principle and be a principal
type that gave feedback and worked with families and things
like that. And I just love working with people. And
I am very very organized, uh, And I have this
(22:18):
ability that where I can take something that's very complex
and not dumb it down by any stretch, but make
it more accessible just to everyone and anyone. And so
I think that that's something that has brought me success
in both the classroom but also as an as an administrator.
And so I was an operation structor at a charter
(22:38):
school here in the city. UM, but because I had
teaching experience, they said, Wow, we would love to have
you help with kids and families. We would love to
help you. Have you help teachers and give them feedback
on their class plans and lesson plans and things like that.
And so it kind of morphed into this assistant principal
role and then UM, I got a once in a
lifetime opportunity to open up a charter school in the
(22:59):
Boston area where I grew up, specifically in the city
that I was born, in the city that my dad
was born and raised, and where I played basketball and
really started everything. And so I went back there and
was an assistant principle. And that's when I had this
AHA moment, Chris, because everything was working beautifully. I was
I was close to home, close to friends and family.
I was in the community that I wanted to get
(23:20):
back to in every way, the kids were amazing, the
families were amazing, the teachers were great, everything, but there
was still something missing. And I just think that at
that time I realized I am most passionate and happy
when I am helping people live happier, healthier lifestyles and
starting with mental health and then getting people moving and
(23:42):
eating well. And that's really where it all began. Well,
there's great power and value to what you continue to
do in your fitness career. I think I think for
me the TV side of it, sometimes all the wus
a job I want to do since some ten and
I'm passionate about it and i love it and I'm
grateful to have it on some levels, is pretty silly. Um.
And teaching is something that is viewed by many as
(24:04):
a calling because you're having such a great influence of
shaping young lives, and so this view is very important,
and it is important in our society. There aren't enough
teachers and not enough good ones, for sure. So when
you leave that where there are people who say, oh, fitness, really,
I mean, you're gonna go leave this, this this calling
of teaching and do something which is not quite viewed
(24:25):
the same way. Even though it has, as I said,
great value empower to people, there were there people who
question that decision or for sure. I mean even my
parents were like, it's funny. My mom always wanted to
be on TV. She's always you know, like probably just
like every parent wants their kids to be on TV.
But she was like, yeah, you should be on TV
and my home, that's the last thing I want to do.
But I was a psychology in his Stanic Studies major,
and I got my like I said, I got my
(24:46):
masters in education, and so I always felt like I
wasn't leaving it forever. Necessarily I could always go back
to it, But it was just this this urgency that
I was feeling, like Jeff, put yourself out there. There's
a chance for you to have a bigger and better impact,
Like sports have always played such a huge role for you.
When you were super stressed as a first year teacher
and you called your mom, the first thing my mom
would say, have you moved your body today? And I'm like,
(25:09):
oh my gosh, because I didn't even have to think
about that before because I played sports my whole life,
so of course I moved my body. But now as
an adult, you know, re reassessing my workout routine. I
never had to even think about that. UM. And then
my sister now sister in law, sent me a book
on meditation, and so I started reading that. It's a
book called Wherever You Go, There You Are. And that
(25:31):
was also my first year of teaching. So I just
realized how sacred mental and physical health is, Like you could,
it doesn't matter what you're doing. If you don't have
your mental and physical health, you don't have anything. And
so that was really really important for me to think about. UM.
And so, like I said, I always I told my parents, like,
you know, what do doesn't work out, I can always
go back into teaching, But right now I want to
(25:51):
um continue teaching, but just in a different setting. And
I think that when I drew that parallel, because, like
you said, teaching, I believe too is a calling. I
think to any a good teacher can teach anything, especially
if they're passionate about it. And so I said, I
am still long to use all of my experience of
teaching and just apply to a new setting. And so
when people ask me, just you miss teaching, you miss education?
(26:12):
My answer is always I miss the hell out of
the families and the kids. But no, I don't miss
teaching because I'm still teaching just the subjects that I'm
more passionate about. As a Pelton instructor, you have one
of those jobs. It connects with millions of people, but
it's also one that at least hundreds of thousands of
people watch. They go, I can do that. I I
like to be active. I can pet people up and
(26:35):
they have no idea really what goes into it or
the process of even getting selected by pellets On where
the casting is elaborate, intense, and it's about like trying
to get into Harvard. Yes, yes, right, but you know, Chris,
actually it's funny. I actually don't get a lot of
people that are like, oh, I can do that. I
get a lot of people that say, how do you
(26:56):
do that? I'm literally at home, that's more like it.
That's yeah, yeah, but I do. But I will say
it has inspired a lot of people. I've gotten a
lot of messages saying, you know, whether it's the exact
same path as me, I'm a teacher, but I love fitness.
I'm super passionate. How did you get into Peloton? How
did you get into fitness? Um, So there's definitely a
lot of that, but it's Yeah, to become a Peloton
(27:17):
instructor is definitely a rigorous experience. And like you said,
it's casting. Um, they want someone for everyone in the world,
so they're not going to hire two people that bring
the exact same thing, that have similar stories anything like that.
I think that's the coolest thing is when you really
do a deep dive into the instructors, everyone's story is
so different and so cool. Um. And so it's kind
of like having your trainer certification, being knowledgeable about everything.
(27:41):
That's kind of like the basic Like they don't even
really worry about that when you're hired, because like that's
the least of their worries. UM, they want to they
want to not even have to worry about that. You
need to be a great production partner. And you know,
we all have producers. We work with the marketing teams,
the social teams, UM, with the product innovation team, with research,
and there's so many teams that you work with and
(28:02):
you have to be great with email and calendar and organization.
And then there's photo shoots and there's press and so
it's it's it's a lot. And so whenever someone asked me, yes,
so wait, how many classes of the week do teach?
And I'm like, well, you know it's not necessarily how
many classes and how many days? And I teach five
days a week. And they're like, wait, that's amazing. So
you only go in so if you have to thirty
(28:23):
minute classes, you're done in an hour. And I'm like, y'all,
it is not that easy. No, No, Like the call
time is an hour before you got. So much goes
into it. We make all of our own playlists, our
own programs. UM. We have meetings with our producers weekly.
We have meetings, instructor team meetings, we have workshops, we have,
(28:44):
like I said, photo shoots, it's every week is so different,
and that's why I love the job so much as
I can have like a lower uh stress week, but
then other weeks I'm you know, slammed the whole day.
People are used to seeing their instructors individually, not not
you guys together. So it's interesting to hear you talk
about kind of the community of instructors. And the assumption
(29:04):
is that you know, whether it's it's Alex Tucson really
love that they must ride their bike their whole lives
every day and now they're just doing it in front
of a camera. But but the way you describe different
life experiences being brought into that that job and reflected
in how you guys instructed these interesting because it's not
(29:24):
like everyone who you see in Peloton did that their
whole lives and now they're just doing in front of
the camera. They did a whole lot of other things
and bring it to the job, correct. So everyone is
just so so different. So after Peloton, do you conserve
this a pivot into TV or is it just another
expression of the same personality. Do you see yourself continuing
(29:45):
as as in the fitness world for a long time
or will be a full time transition to TV. Yeah, no,
so I always say that I will retire from fitness
that peloton for sure. Like I just peloton is the
best and it's the best job, and I absolutely love it.
And like I said, to have the impact on the world,
specifically in two thousand twenty to two thousand twenty two
when we're all going through a global pandemic for the
(30:07):
first time, um has been an experience that I will
treasure forever and so I want to be here as
long as I can. Uh. And then of course at
the ESPN brand new I'm so super excited to see
where that goes. But yeah, I'm just surrendering to the
moment and seeing where everything takes me. You know, so
many people when they pivot aren't sure whom to listen to,
(30:29):
whether it's the voice inside, the gut, the heart, whatever
you want to call it, and the ways they try
to arrive at that moment of clarity and stillness to
make their own decisions versus the internal static, which is
certainly part of it. You touched on that sort of
the if there is a self doubt or a lack
of clarity about whether this is for you or certainly
(30:50):
the external staff, well meaning people who know you well
might even be wiser than you, more experiencing you in
some ways, but they all think they know what's best
for you. That's not the case. Have you had to
sort of find the stilliness to tune out the static,
whether it's from within or from outside. Yeah, that's a
(31:11):
good question. I feel like I keep my circle very small,
and I really have been very good about setting boundaries
even with family. UM specifically because because just because we
think family, oh, because someone's family, they should have, you know, access,
they whenever they call, you have to answer the phone.
(31:33):
And it's like, no, you actually don't have to do that.
You don't have to do that because you're an adult
and you have a busy life and things like that,
and you don't know how things are going to affect
your energy. And energy is very very important and it
can shift so quickly from a text, from an email,
from answer whatever it is. UM. So I would say
that I keep my circle small. I asked specifically for feedback. UM. Like,
(31:55):
sometimes I'll call a friend and I'll say I don't
need advice, I need to just listen. I need needs
the event, and it's like, okay, cool, got it, And
I try to do the same thing because it's important
because sometimes when someone calls you, if they just want
to vent you give advice, you're gonna shut your friend
down or your family member down. But if they're like
if they set the tone and say, hey, I just
need to get this off my chest, you just listen.
You said I got you. UM. So I think that
(32:18):
that's something that's very important. Number Two, I really try
to reach out to people that are in the arena
with me. Another Renee Brown um quote or Teddy Roosevelt quote,
but from Renie Brown who made it super popular, where
I don't. I try not to get bogged down by
people who are not doing the work with me, that
(32:38):
don't understand what I'm trying to build, that don't see
what I'm seeing. And so unless you're like minded in
that sense, I don't want your feedback. I don't want
your help. So I think that that's something that I've
been working quite a bit on with my life coach.
Do you have a life coach who's a regular every
(32:59):
week and wisdom? Yep, every Monday. I talked to her
and she's she's incredible. I had a therapist for years
and I just I transition to a life coach, which
I was skeptical about it first. I was like, m
what's the what's the life coach? And just like anything,
you know, so anyone can say that their life coach,
but it depends on you know, things like that. So anyways,
so I vetted her out. We had this amazing session,
(33:21):
um and it was like a two hour long session,
and I said, can we follow up? And She's like yes,
And so I followed up for the next week and
she's in stuff with me now for two years. So
as someone who is very much an amateur life coach
but likes to give ideas as opposed to advice and
tries not to do it unsolicited, I'm curious about your
(33:41):
ability seemingly to see the opportunity and get excited about
that as opposed to being fearful of the obstacles. And
I think I try to expect if you can see
the opportunities and first of all, clear of the static,
can be open to the opportunities universe presents every single
day and free moment, which is hard if you're cluttered,
(34:02):
it's clart hard off the static is there if you
can be excited about those. It gets in the way
of being fearful of what might happen or the obstacles
of the potential pitfalls. But it's not easy to do.
That takes time, it does, and my life, my life
coach calls those gremlins, and so my gremlin, and she
(34:23):
has a name and everything. Her name is dirty. I'm
gonna tell you my gremlin because I love alliteration. Um,
Gertie loves logistics, Chris, so I can I can see something,
I can have an opportunity. But the second Gertie grabs
hold and it's like, well, how are you gonna do that?
You have two dogs? You are how are you gonna
how are you gonna fly over? You don't have a
(34:44):
ticket for that? And then if you don't do that,
then how are you going to do your peloton class?
And then I start to worry. And then I start
to say, okay, we versus. Okay, what do I have
in my power? What do I have control over? And
how can I ask for help in whatever area that
I need? So it's ways of quieting down that gremlin
who loves logistics and who loves to have me worried,
(35:06):
because then that keeps me small. My grandma loves to
keep me small, and so that's something that And don't
get me wrong, I'm not great at this all the time.
I just had a conversation with her. Um, okay, I'll
give you a live. I was sick last week. I
got a twenty four hour stomach bug right before a
game day, two days before I had to move my
flight and everything. I wasn't sure if I was going
to be able to go. It happened right after my
(35:28):
peloton classes. I poked right on the street. It was great,
um and I was super super sick, and then I
was better in twenty four hours. Like it's as quickly
as it came, it left. I did the show, had
a great show, flew back and Sunday I got to
relax and watch the NFL all day. And then last
night I started to get anxious. I was like, well,
(35:51):
am I doing too much? Wow? Was it? Because? It?
Is it? Because I'm traveling too much and I have
my peloton classes and that should I slow down? Oh?
Well wait? What if that What if that was more
than just the stomach blug? What if that is? And
I just started spiraling and I got on the phone
with my life coach this morning, and she was like
it was girty Dirty's like cool, Okay, she's sick. This
(36:13):
is the time where I'm gonna tell her she's doing
too much and you know this and that, and that's
where that sense of anxiety that picked my stomach comes from.
But the second I can kind of clear that out,
Mantra's works so well for me. So whenever Gertie starts
to creep in, I started to say, okay, um, I
thrive under a lot of stimulus. I thrive under a
(36:35):
lot of stimulus. So whenever I start to think am
I doing too much? I thrive under a lot of stimulus.
That's something that keeps paying. That's interesting. I mean, then
you have to sort out whether or not it's gurty
or just some other part of your soul saying hey,
j this is some common sense. I mean, you could
(36:55):
frame it as anxiety or fear and put it in
the in the box of the m one. But it's
hard to know sometimes because sometimes you're in a voice
telling you you are doing too much? Do you have
to slow down? Trust me, you get to sixty, you're
gonna you're gonna pay attention to that voice. A little
bit more, because sometimes it's just common sense, right, you
need to check yourself. But Chris, this was coming after
(37:17):
I had I was off last Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, so
I had three days off. I didn't have game Day,
and I did have telephone stuff, and so I knew.
And and here's the thing about me too. If I'm
not working, I am completely decompressed at home, like I
am not on. So I know how to preserve my
energy so that I can do what I need to do.
(37:38):
Um Again, the boundaries piece, like if friends say, oh,
you want to go grab go grab dinner, I'm like,
it's gonna be allowed restaurant. I'm gonna be you know,
like there are things that I can prevent in order
to keep myself sacred and safe. And so this week no,
but any other week maybe. But I'm I'm pretty good
at discerning between whether it's my inner voice or whether
(37:59):
it's the gremlin. Alright, we'n in the listeners. I'm gonna
pivot of fitness because that is something that for me
is a passion. I view fitness as wellness, and increasingly
I view wellness as longevity, which is important. So it's
not something I have to do with something I get
to do. But you deal with people all across the
range of spectrum who maybe you're just sampling peloton and
(38:19):
they I'm not really sure this is for them. To
those who are like, yes, hardcore, I'm taking four classes today,
they don't need the same kind of motivation. But I've
heard you say pretty often that movement is medicine. I
love that it's medicine isn't always have a positive connotation.
Sometimes it's something you have to take. But how do
you frame it as something that you get to take
and something that it is good for you? And the
(38:41):
movement of any kind fits into that. You don't have
to grind for sixty minutes. It's just sometimes get out
of the chair and walk around the block. Say if
you're having a bad day and move your body. If
you're having a great day, move your body. If you're
having it, okay, they move your body. It is healing
at all levels. UM. And it's interesting because for me
the scifically as a former athlete. UM, you don't have
(39:04):
to get to stem from that and from two different things.
One we had a time mile every year in November
one for basketball and all of us were sick to
our stomites over We're like, we'd never run a mile,
Like this is such a mental mind game that our
coach was playing, and she admitted it it was, and
it was for mental toughness. So it wasn't really explained
that way until you know, girls were throwing up at
the track before I was going on. But you didn't
(39:27):
have to, you know, run at a guard's page, befoward's pace,
things like that. You have to just beat your personal
bests from the summer and you know, with the adrenaline,
that's a hundred percent doable, Like that's that's fine. But
we were so in our heads about it. And so
ironically enough, the fastest girl on the team she was
running under like it was like five something, and she
(39:48):
was the only girl that did not beat her time
and she had to go back to the track and
we all went to support her every day, and so
I think she had to run like five days in
a row, and she literally wrote in sharpie, you don't
have to run, you get to run. So that was
a reminder for her of like, this isn't in a
punishment and oftentimes, as former athletes, we thought of running
as punishment you lost, you you're you're you're being lazy
(40:11):
on the court, you run, you're late, you run um.
But we need to start shifting that it's not punishment
to move because God forbid, God forbid, we get hurt
and we're out for a week, a month, a year,
eternally we missed what we had the freedom to do before.
And so I think that it's so important to get
(40:32):
in touch with your body, to know yourself, to know, wow,
my shoulders are tight, Wow, I should fore all my quas. Wow.
You know when I was walking, my achilles was a
little bit tight. We need to know ourselves as well
as we know what's going on in the news, what
the Kardashians are doing, what you know, any other we need?
(40:54):
But that's it, No, but think about it. If someone says,
oh you could you couldn't ask me anything about I
don't know anything about them, but if any other celebrity.
We often know more about our same as our favorite
celebrity than we do about ourselves. And that's not good
because we need to know how we are in this moment,
because if we don't, how are we going to ask ourselves?
(41:14):
What do we need? If you don't know people learn
about themselves just through through peloton, through the classes. What
do you want them to learn about themselves? Want? Number
one their strength. I want everyone to know their strength.
We all possessed the strength physical, mental, emotional, professional, everything.
We have to tap into it and we have to
practice it, just like anything. How do you get strong?
(41:35):
How do you literally get strong with your muscles? You
have to give it some sort of load or some
sort of resistance so that there are micro tears than
the muscle. So don't be afraid of the micro tears
in life, because that signals, hey, we need everyone. We
need to pack in that that protein we gotta we
gotta repair those muscles. And then what happens when you
repair you get stronger than you were before. So it
(41:58):
is what your body is doing is literally what we
want to do and what we want to practice doing
in life, because guess what, life doesn't get any easier.
Life is challenging. It's one obstacle act of the next.
But when we are practicing to do hard things by
doing hard things, that's what I want people to get
out of working out with me times, just showing up
(42:19):
is half the battle. What what is the message to
people who find that much easier to be sedentary and
be static than to to get up and get going.
And just whether they're stuck or stalled doesn't have to
be in fitness. It could just be in life and
and and anxious about that, because anxiety often follows being
stuck somewhere not knowing what's next. One of my favorite
(42:42):
mantras that I have in my wall in the other
room is one's doing one small thing can completely shift
your day, and that thing is almost always movement. For me.
It might be I might get up after reading or
you know, being at my desk for a while, and
I'll just foe roll. We're all stretch. I'll take a
ten minute hips flow on peloton, which I love. I
love the hip focus yoga flows um because that can
(43:05):
give you the mental space and clarity that you need
from in space from what you were just doing, but
also your body reacts to that. Like we hold emotions
in our hips, we hold tension in certain places. Like
I know I hold a lot of tension specifically in
my left hip, but I know a lot of people
hold tension in their upper backs. And so when we
(43:26):
are aware of that and when we know better, we
can do a bit better there. So I think that's
that's something that's really really important. People listening can't tell,
but there's a special guest and and I guess if
they see if your your dogs are frequently they show
up at certain moments and they seem to know when
(43:46):
you're giving off this like I don't have performance energy
whatever it is. They want to be in the room always,
no matter, Well, keep this one. This, this little one
is Shiloh. This is my little boy. He's like my
people can see it this. Yeah, you've got got two
dogs there on the bed. Yeah. Oh and this is Yeah,
that's Sienna and that's her bed. This is the guests room.
This is this is really essentially what she says. Yeah,
(44:07):
it's nicely you have those companions to come home too.
That'll that'll help keep you ground that when your head
is spinning and you do all these classes and you're
traveling for a game day, to come home and be
able to there is nothing that I literally just hold
onto their faces and just like kiss their noses NonStop,
because if there's nothing better. You talked about something last week.
(44:28):
We were setting this up about having sort of a
six year cycle or having these almost rhythmic pivots in
your life where you're shifting, if not leaving one thing,
you're at least taking on something new. And do you
see yourself going forward This is unknowable, but do you
see yourself having these periodic pivots just where you're going
to always continue to branch out and search for a
(44:50):
fork in the road that looks interesting. Yeah, well to
your point, yeah, it's hard to predict the future. But
I'm a very naturally curious person and I love learning,
and so when you pair those two things together, it's
bound for new experiences. So I definitely think that I'll
continue to grow and and flow in different directions. But
(45:10):
I'm so happy where I'm at. I I really feel like,
like you said before, and I totally agree with this,
is like we are most powerful when we are authentic,
and so being in spaces that not only allow my
authenticity but promote my authenticity. When I started at Peloton,
Dennis Morton said, Jess, I've never worked at a place
(45:34):
that has asked me to be more. Dennis Morton that
I'm already than I already am, and I think that's
so true. And the same thing with the espn is.
I think that one of the things that caught me down.
Once I got, you know, the offer, I was like,
oh my gosh, it's football, Like are they what do
I need to do? Bol ba like? And I had
that a little bit of imposter syndrome and question myself.
(45:56):
A bunch of the people that are on the team
take my classes and they said, jest, this is the
perfect marriage. We know what you bring. We want that
jet's juice, we want that authenticity, that energy, and we
want to apply it the game day. And we know
that you can do it because we take to costics.
We see which you're capable of, and like that kind
of confidence in that sort of experience. Breathe that you know,
(46:22):
you said a really important word, curiosity, And I'm not
surprised that you embody that you try to get anybody
you teach to have that same mentality, whether it's a
kindergartener or someone in your class, That is a common
trait that time and time again. Really successful people, however,
success is defined for them, lists as an important quality
(46:42):
curiosity because you ask questions, you're eager to learn, your
less inclined to fear trying something new and changing courses
because you have that naturally within you. Um, curiosity. I
think it's played a huge role for you. It seems
like getting where you are. Yeah, and I'll never forget to.
In Cheryl Sandberg's book Lean In, she said, UM, it's
(47:05):
not necessarily about your experience with things, because I remember
applying for things and saying, like, oh my gosh, it
says I need five to ten years. Experience always says
I need this, and things like that, and I used
to be deterred by that. But in her book she said,
it's not about your years experience. It's about your ability
to learn quickly and to contribute quickly. And those are
(47:25):
two things that I have really taken with me. I'm like, Okay,
I might not know everything right now, but how can
I learn quickly and contribute quickly in these new scenarios
that I'm in. When you're mindful and you live at
day to day and and don't live in the past
of the future, it's easy for you to imagine where
(47:48):
you might end up with this. Do you spend any
time thinking about the future, Because one of the things
you've clearly done is you have not looked for security.
You look for flexibility and freedom, which I think many
people get locked into security being the most important thing.
I don't speak from someone that has kids to put
through college, so my experience might be different than some,
(48:09):
but but always making sure that you have flexibility in
life and freedom there's always been more important than security.
How do you How do you say that? And I
that's interesting because I used to have the opposite, like
when I was in education. That's why I think that
do or die thing was so important to me because
I remember having my whole life planned out. I was
going to be a principle for a few years. I
wanted to be a superintendent. I wanted to get my
(48:31):
doctorate at Harvard UM. I wanted to get into policy
change and law. And I had everything all planned out.
And you know what they say about when you have
a plan. Everyone's got a plan until you get punched
in the face. And I got punched in the face
when I realized, Okay, you're playing it small, you're playing
it safe, and that's that's what changed it for me.
I was like, okay, wow, Like maybe having control over
(48:55):
everything is not the way to go. Maybe it's going
where things feel good and I'm learning and I'm growing,
and I'm appreciated and I'm contributing. And if I continue
along that path, how could I be scared wrong? Yeah,
you're a great embodiment of the idea that you know, life,
if it's like a river, better just to flow with
it and see where it goes. And I often talk
(49:17):
to young people with the futility of having these long range,
ironclad plants. It's okay to have goals. I believe in
in directions more than goals, and and and sometimes not
even not even a path, it's just a direction because
the path isn't even clearly defined. But but yeah, it's
gonna be very interesting to see where the flowing river
(49:38):
of life takes you, just because there's probably a lot
of things where your skill set and your talents and
your experience could end you up a lot of places. Well,
thank you, that is so kind. I received that. And yeah,
it's it's being ready. And this is another thing that
I've I've realized in the last year or so specifically,
is being ready is a decision. It's not a feeling.
(50:00):
And I and I think I have to be very
careful about my words. I think that I spent so
much of my life, not feeling ready and thinking that
that was good enough. And it's not about that, because
feelings are so temperamental. They change, and they you know
and you can't and you change, and so I think
that when you make the decision Okay, I'm ready for this,
(50:22):
how could you go wrong? Wise words, there's a lot
going right for Jess Sims these days. I really enjoyed
our conversation and learning more about her journey. Thanks as
always to my co executive producer Jennifer Dempster and the
team at Octagon for editing the episode. Please rate, review, subscribe,
and check out. Are many great archived episodes. I'll talk
(50:46):
to you, Sue with more Season five Fowler, Who you
Got
You are in a classroom, standing in front of twenty
seven kindergarteners and fresh out of college yourself. Then you're
add limbing into a camera while running on a treadmiller
lifting weights, motivating millions of Pelotson clients around the world.
And now every fall Saturday morning, you're broadcasting live while
surrounded by thousands of crazed football fans. As a brand
(00:33):
new member of the college game Day team, my guest
has met all these opportunities and challenges and many others
with enthusiasm, confidence and authenticity. Today I've got Jess Sims. So, Jess,
you're experiencing some of the most manic energy and television
(00:53):
as a new member of the college game Day cast.
The energy is pretty unique, and you're right out there
among the people, mostly students, many of them up all night.
Many of them are hyped to represent their school and
get on camera and see you up close. So how
has that been in year one for you? I mean,
you hit the nail on the head right there, that
manic but beautiful energy that you can really only get
(01:14):
at game day. Um, I'm thrown like it's funny. When
I was first told, oh yeah, you're gonna be in
the middle, in the octagon, and I'm like, the octagons,
I'm looking for something that has, you know, eight sides,
and actually the big circle that's in the middle, like
in the middle of the crowd, and I'm like, that's
that's not it. Oh my goodness, think goodness, it's not me.
There's no eight sides of the circle. And then Jimmy,
(01:34):
She's like, no, no, that's the octagon, and I'm like,
that's a circle and that is wild. Um. But some
of my favorite favorite memories have been in that octagon. Specifically,
just this past weekend in Tennessee, I got the holes
the puppy. Um, it might be a new mascot to
be on. His name was Topper, and it was like
the highlight of the whole show for me. So is
(01:55):
that the new little smoky blue tick your hand that
they have. That's that is a highlight. That's cool. You're
dog comes together. They're exactly all the world's colliding right
at the beginning. You know, I didn't I didn't know
it was called the octagon. It wasn't called that when
I hosted the show. But the octagon is sort of
synonymous with approving yourself and taking punishment, dishing out punishments.
(02:15):
I hope it hasn't been that literal. Well when you
put it that like, that's hilarious, but no, it's not amazing.
I have the crowds are I can't even put it
into words, honestly, Chris, it's just this energy that, honestly
I missed. I went to a small um college. It
was actually pretty much the same size with my high school,
and I always that was the one big regret, I
guess you could say, is not going to that huge school.
(02:36):
So I really think that this is my second chance
to be able to go to all of these huge schools.
That's what's neat. I mean, you bring an energy that
helps even people that are veterans at this see it
through your eyes, see it with a fresh eye, because
you hadn't been to Knoxville for a big game, to
Clemson for a big game, and and most of the
people watching haven't been there either in person. So I
(02:58):
think being able to convey that will also show what's unique,
because that's what that's what the fun part of the
job is. It's not just screaming kids in different color shirts.
There's something about each campus it's a it's a different energy,
and it's your job, and this shows you have to
bring that home. Yes, And oh my gosh, that's the
other part that I absolutely love about the job too.
As soon as we get the location, which is not
(03:20):
much earlier than when the whole world knows, or at
least for me, and so as soon as I get it,
I'm like, Okay, book the flights. And then I'm like,
all right, what is unique about this school? And I
google traditions that get all the mask off. The color
is what's new with the coaches, the quarterbacks, you know,
all that stuff, and it's it's just become this really
nice routine for me on Sundays and I really look
forward to it every week. And you're down there much
(03:42):
more with the people than the guys on the set.
People aren't familiar with the geography of college game day.
There's the set, and there's a net behind the set
because we've had to put a net up because some
people like to throw stuff and that's saved your lives
a few times. But you're out there with no net,
very very close. I'm asking through the crowd, um, and
that's that's an interesting experience because we'll get to your
(04:05):
Peloton background and used to being around energy, but it's
a little bit different when they're like arms reach and
you don't know what they're gonna do sometimes, right, Yeah,
I mean so far, knock on what. Everyone's been very
respectful and we have great security on the ground. But
it's been everyone, every kid and every adult because it's
not the majority like you said, are you know students
at the schools, but a lot of alumni come in
(04:27):
and so it's been really really nice. Uh. I get
signed myself, which still blows my mind because game day
is known for the signs and every wrather be careful
of the signs, like there are some like wild ones
and okay, let me see. And I get so much
support from the Peloton community. Um. One quote that I've
been saying since I started is you don't have to
you get to. So there's a crew of people that
(04:47):
have come together based off of that quote and by
taking my classes, and they've kind of organized wherever the
school is that we're going to each week, they organized
who and what they're going to bring to each of
the campuses and the signs that they bring, like jet
this is the only ten I see, you don't have
to be evolved, you get to be evolve. Um. It's
just really really amazing to see my world's collide in
(05:08):
a lot of ways. We'll get to the Peloton community.
What's cool about that? But I did notice in your
comments when you announced that you were gonna be going
on game Day, how many of the people that know
you as an instructor and field that connection with We
just went crazy with support and enthusiasm, and so of
your fellow Pelton instructors. I'm taking a mout Wilper's class
the other day and it was later in a Saturday
(05:28):
after he watched you on Game Day, and that's kind
of neat. Yeah, it's honestly, Chris, Like it takes my
breath away, Like I really have to stop and be
like wow, why me? Like why was I chosen for this?
Because the amount of support that I get from Peloton,
and it's it's a two way street. You know, so
many people say, just you motivate me. You're the reason
why I've lost this weight, why I you know, got
(05:50):
through my treatment for whatever illness I'm going through, or
you know, job loss, personal loss. Um. But it really
works those ways and I'm growing up in front of everyone.
Like I started four years ago. Literally UM I launched
in November of two thousand and eighteen, so it's been
four years just about UM, and I've grown tremendously as
(06:11):
a person. And so I think the thing that really
makes me so relatable to everyone is that I am
very vulnerable with what I'm working on, and I always
say like, I'm far from perfect. The reason why I
know what to say to you is because I know
I have to say it's myself too, and so it
kind of just creates a sense of camaraderie and community.
And it's not me standing on a soapbox and saying
(06:31):
you should do this. It's like, if you're going through this,
I'm also going through this. This is what I'm trying,
this is what I'm working on with my life coach,
this is what I'm practicing. Let's do these hard things together,
and it's been really empowering on both sides of the street.
Definitely get back to Peloton listen. There are so many
different non traditional ways to get into over the air television. UM.
(06:53):
Being a Peloton instructor is certainly one of them. How
did the opportunity come about to make that leap to
game day. Yeah, so I, um, let's see so yeah,
so yeah. I never thought like, Okay, I want to
be on college game day. It's just not something that
I've I've thought of or thought that it would even
be in my wheelhouse. But I am essentially a host.
While I'm running, walking, cycling, lifting, doing what's stretching, leading
(07:17):
a class, looking at ten different cameras, connecting with viewers
at home. And so through that, the viewers at home
are members. They are coaches of teams, their owners of
teams and leagues and conferences and things like that, and so, um,
the w n b A, specifically the New York Liberty
reached out to me and they asked me if I
was interested in doing in arena hosting, and they said,
you know, obviously it's it's the best of both worlds.
(07:38):
You're looking at a camera, but you're also getting everyone's
super super excited in the arena, and so we would
love for you to do that. So I've been doing
that now for two years. Uh. And then after one
year of doing that, the Big East Women's Basketball Tournament
reached out and I said, hey, we take your class,
as we love your classes, we love your energy. You
used to play college basketball, Um, would you come and
host at So I'm like yes, And so all these
(07:58):
opportunities that are just making sense, Chris, like, they're not
anything that feels forced. It's just like, wow, yeah, that
makes sense for me to do that because I'm so
passionate about women's sports specifically but about sports in general,
and I love getting people on our guys um and
feeling good. And so through those experiences, UM, I started
working with an agency. I'm signed with Excel Sports UM
(08:19):
and my agent said, you know, I want you to
meet with someone at ESPN just to kind of chat
with them and see if there's anything you know that
they're looking for maybe now in the future. So I
met with someone and had this conversation. It was just
the intro get to know you, and we shook hands
at the end and said all right, like we'll keep
in touch if there's anything that we see that could
be a good fit. And then like, not even two
(08:40):
weeks later, they reached out and asked me to come
to Bristol to meet with the whole team and it
was for college game Day. What was your reaction when
that that gig was presented to you. It feels very natural, fears,
very authentic, but it's still different. It's a little different.
It's a different way to express some of the same
things you're talking about. What was your reaction, I mean,
just dive right into these new challenges without any trepidation
(09:02):
And well, so it's interesting, I think that I've been
training for this, Chris, like, this is something that I've
been training my mind. And when you train your mind
and you change your lifestyle and your habits, it doesn't
really matter what your goal is. Your goal could be anything.
So goals are kind of sure, they're nice to provide clarity,
but it's kind of like a means to help you
figure out what habits and what you need to be
(09:24):
working on in the current. But Transfordable skills are really
what gets you from point A to point B, and
he allows you to enjoy it in between. And it
was perfect timing for me because specifically I had just
run the Boston Marathon, so this was back at the
end of April. So I met with um the guy
from ESPN, two days after I had run a marathon,
(09:46):
and the runners high is real and I just had
this but it was weird. It was this runners high,
but it wasn't this high enthusiastic energy. It was this
sense of calm because everything that happened to me on
the marathon day was supposed to happen to me. I
surrendered to everything. So every little inconvenience and every little advantage,
(10:08):
I was like, I'll take it, I'll take it. This
is happening. Surrender, Enjoy this moment is getting a little chilly.
Enjoy this moment because when you turn the corner of
the sun might be blaring and it might be really
hot again, you know. And so I just I've been
practicing surrender, um. And when you practice surrender with preparation, amazing,
amazing things happen, and you realize that the universe is
working for you, and the universe is happening for you,
(10:32):
not to you. So you kind of get rid of
this victim mentality and this oh my gosh, I don't
know if this is for me mentality, and you just
kind of accept. And so when I took that meeting,
had that great conversation, I didn't have any expectations. And
then when I was invited to Bristol, I was like, well,
I have been watching ESPN my whole life, So to
even just go to the campus is going to be
such a great experience. If nothing comes of this, I
(10:53):
will be able to say that I went to ESPNS
Bristol campus and so I just have this immense sense
of gratitude. Um. And so I just had the best
time with everyone. And after I met with the four
guys that I was I had to meet with, I
was walking around a campus. We were going to grab lunch,
and I ran into like three or four people that
take my peloton classes and they were like, Oh my gosh,
(11:14):
are you gonna work here. You'd be such a great
fit for this show or for this and so it
was just so affirming and so validating, and I was
just like, Wow, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.
And to your point, Chris, yes, it's different football. I
will never say it's basketball. I'll never say it's soccer,
all across the other two sports that I've played competitively.
But as Kobe Bryant said, it's the same mentality but
(11:35):
just a different arena. So you're able to apply it
when you do the work. Yeah, I mean we could
go on and on. We're so much in the same
frequency about things like gratitude and acceptance, to the point
where people listening to this would certainly roll their eyes.
But if you want to circle back to a little
bit later, that could maybe be our our mic drop.
But authenticity is what I always say when goople asking
(11:56):
what's the success of game day? How is it growing
in blossomed over over twenty five years? And you do
bring an authenticity, so you do fit in right away
with that. You are very much yourself. You're the same way,
it appears to me anyway as you are when you're
doing your various classes in the treadmill or with the weights.
And there's another place where authenticity is important, because lack
(12:17):
of it is instantly sniffed out and sensed and called.
And that would be in front of a classroom. And
you have experienced in front of seven kindergarteners, and even
at that age, if you're not yourself, if you're trying
to put one over on them, they sense it. So
what did it go from? You know, you're very young
at this point doing that, but learning to deal with
(12:41):
undisciplined but fun but chaotic atmosphere in the classroom. Well, yeah,
I mean so I graduated from Trinity College in Hartford
when I was twenty two, and I moved two weeks
after graduation to Houston, Texas, and I taught fifth grade
in third grade, and then to your point, I came
up to New York and I talked of art and yeah,
(13:02):
so and I taught summer. So you got baptized with
third graders from fifth graders. You didn't start off with kindergarten.
At least you had the the autonomy and the independence
of fifth and third graders tremendous. But the who are you?
How old are you? How long have you been doing this?
I had to have I'm sixty seven years old. I've
been teaching for twenty four years. I just moved here
(13:24):
from you know, I thank you. I was from Boston,
so I thought I moved from Boston. But you just
had to have It's interesting. I got advice, and a
lot of people struggle with this advice. They say like, oh,
I don't agree with it, but I personally agree with
it because I know it's worked for me. It's fake
it till you make it. I'm not saying be fake,
but you kind of have to be in the shoes
and step into your power, even if you don't fully
(13:46):
feel it yet yourself. So I knew that I was
a teacher leader. There's no way that I would have
been the captain on my basketball team for three years
UM in college in a three sport captain in high
school at a huge school. There's no way that would
have happened. There's no way that I would have gotten
teach for America with was very very hard to get into,
especially at that time. UM if people didn't think that
I possess leadership skills in qualities that can bring success
(14:09):
to children in an educational setting. So even on those
days where I felt insecure, I had to be like,
j I know you're feeling insecure right now, but believe
in yourself because these kids lives are depending on it.
So you need to be the leader. You need to
step into that power even if you don't feel it today.
So I kind of had that um practice of just like,
(14:29):
you've got to be confident, and when you're confident, the
kids sit back and relax. When you're not confident, you
can get eaten alive. Well, that's what I think is interesting.
Look all of us throughout every stage of life, at
one time another, have to declare our credentials, have to
reprove ourselves, no matter what it is. But it's funny
(14:50):
to hear you talk about how unfiltered kids are and
how they're going to stand in front of you and
like demand to know why they should listen to you,
Why are you here? What have you done? And so
to have to do that a really young age to
a tough crowd is interesting. Yeah. And it's a delicate
balance too, because one of my favorite quotes, Burnee Brown,
always talks about not hustling for your self worth. So
(15:12):
you're not like trying to show people like, hey, no
I belong to I belong here, like I'm I want
you to see that I'm worthy of this, But it's
almost like you're you're doing it for yourself because we're
the our biggest critics and we're our biggest doubters. Um.
I know that about myself a hundred percent. There's no
one that can say something harsher to me than I've
said to myself. And so the negative self talk is
(15:32):
where I need to fake it till I make it,
because deep down I know I'm qualified to be here,
So even if I don't feel it on that day,
I need to step into it. Did you have to
get through the phase of worrying about making a mistake?
Mistake avoidance is a mindset that no one would say
is where you want to be. That's not associated with
the ultimate performance level. You've got to get to the
(15:53):
point where you you filter out the fear of making
a mistake and just do your thing. Has that been
something that you've dealt with along the lines, whether it's
being in front of a classroom or being in front
of a pelotine class and then being on TV now,
I mean I still deal with it and mistakes and failure,
and if people can't see I'm doing, I'm using quotation marks.
(16:14):
So I don't really believe in failure. I think failure
is feedback, and I also think it's relative. I think
that's something that you consider a feedback from the present.
In five ten years, you can look back and say, wow,
I know why I didn't get that at that time,
because this would have changed my path and I wouldn't
be here. So there's that. But I'm embarrassed to say,
Chris that one of the toughest interview questions when I
(16:35):
was applying for roles that people would ask, is name
a time that you failed or name a time where
you made a mistake that you wish you could go
back and change. And I didn't have an answer, And
that is not a good thing. I'm not saying that's
to brag like, oh, I never failed at anything. As
a matter of fact, that I hope to have kids
one day and I want to encourage them to fail quickly,
to fail often, to fail fast, and because that's how
(16:56):
you learn. And also that's how you don't hold yourself back.
Because there are times where I've delayed going after something
for fail for fear of making a mistake. But I've
learned that making mistakes makes you human. And that's what
the world needs to see. We don't need to see
the curated perfect staying out there. We need to see
(17:19):
people making mistakes, learning from it and getting better, making
more mistakes, learning from it, going in a different direction.
I think that that's what the world needs to see.
They need to stop seeing perfect heroes. I think there's
actually was the comment. It was someone who said that.
I think it was common who said when he learned
that Martin Luther King had flaws, he loved him more.
(17:39):
And I think that that is so huge when you
find out who you're here, when you figure out my
hero is this person, find out what their flaws are,
find out what mistakes they've made, and realize how empowering
that can be for yourself. Why wasn't it easy for
you to think of a time when you had failed?
Did you reframe it after the fact? Did you just
block it out and move on? Because it's interesting. I
(18:00):
can certainly think of a few things that I would
have answered to that question, including on the job when
lack of humility was the failing that I had, and
that balance between approaching something new with humility but also
confidence because you have to project that as well. Sometimes
getting that balance out of whack and getting publicly scolded
(18:21):
in front of a newsroom when I was very new
to the job and I absolutely had it coming and
was absolutely one of the most important moments in my
TV career, not in front of a camera, but with
thirty people who are veterans in the newsroom looking on.
And here's this kid fresh out of college getting scolded
and he had it coming. No. I mean, I'm embarrassed
(18:41):
to say because this was probably this isn't my low
twenties is I didn't put myself in positions to fail.
I really didn't, UM, And so everything that I set
my heart out for I worked for and got, but
I played it safe. I played it small. And that's
one of the reasons why I considered my transition from
education into fitness as do or die like I really,
(19:05):
I really really felt that. And it wasn't me being
dramatic and you know, anything like that. It was really like,
all right, Jess, you can stay here. You've literally worked
your way up from teacher to principle in six years.
You got your masters and education. You're comfortable here, You're
you're more than comfortable here, you're thriving here, You're doing great.
But are you truly happy? Are you really having an
(19:26):
impact on this world that you know that you want
to have? Beat down? And the answer was no. And
it was the thing that was separating me from that
was myself, was me being afraid to fail, of making
a mistake in front of people. And so when I
started in fitness UM, I was on a microphone and
I was petrified of it. There were no cameras yet
at this point, I just talked two boutique studios here
(19:47):
in the city. But I was like, what if I
stumble over my words? What if my count is wrong?
What if I said I mess up the combination because
I was teaching boxing. Um, there were a lot of times,
but I ended up realizing that one of my superpower
ours is is humility is saying y'all, I just messed
that up. Like Wow, congratulations, jet I'm human. I just
joined a big club of people that just that also
(20:08):
struggle with you know, X y Z. So I think
that's how I kind of stepped into that bit of vulnerability. Yeah,
I do want to get into pivoting to reinvention, because
it seems like you've done that a few different times.
The moment you said when you realize you weren't happy
being an educator, And by the way, when you're a
principle at your age and you're also a leader of
(20:31):
teachers who have been at this for decades, I would
think you're putting yourself any position to potentially fail or
where confidence is required, and and that's that's quite a responsibility.
Your look too for a lot of things from a
lot of people, teachers, parents, and of course of course
the kids. Um, what was the principle experience, like and
(20:52):
why did that sort of become the ultimate step that
you took an education before starting you need to move
out of it. Yeah, what's interesting because in education, oftentimes
people think that there's a ladder to climb in order
to get to being a principle. Now, I definitely think
a percent that as a principle, it's ideal to have
teaching experience, so that you know what the teachers are
(21:13):
going through, you know what the kids are experiencing on
a daily basis, things like that. But I know some
teachers that I don't want to be principles and also
wouldn't be great principles because they're different skill set. It's
a very different skill set. UM. And so I watched
the show Abbot Elementary, so I'm familiar with. I don't
know if your school is anything like that. The personalities
(21:34):
in the politics, but usual principal teacher relationship is very
funny there. Yeah, no, and of course, of course, and
like there's also a public charter private. There's so many
nuances in all of the schools as well, UM and locations.
Because I taught in Texas, UM, New York and uh, Massachusetts,
So I also had like different experiences there as well.
(21:55):
But um, I just realized. So also in between s
fifth grade, third great kindergarten, I worked for Teacher for America.
In between UM and I got to work at summer
schools and be an assistant principle and be a principal
type that gave feedback and worked with families and things
like that. And I just love working with people. And
I am very very organized, uh, And I have this
(22:18):
ability that where I can take something that's very complex
and not dumb it down by any stretch, but make
it more accessible just to everyone and anyone. And so
I think that that's something that has brought me success
in both the classroom but also as an as an administrator.
And so I was an operation structor at a charter
(22:38):
school here in the city. UM, but because I had
teaching experience, they said, Wow, we would love to have
you help with kids and families. We would love to
help you. Have you help teachers and give them feedback
on their class plans and lesson plans and things like that.
And so it kind of morphed into this assistant principal
role and then UM, I got a once in a
lifetime opportunity to open up a charter school in the
(22:59):
Boston area where I grew up, specifically in the city
that I was born, in the city that my dad
was born and raised, and where I played basketball and
really started everything. And so I went back there and
was an assistant principle. And that's when I had this
AHA moment, Chris, because everything was working beautifully. I was
I was close to home, close to friends and family.
I was in the community that I wanted to get
(23:20):
back to in every way, the kids were amazing, the
families were amazing, the teachers were great, everything, but there
was still something missing. And I just think that at
that time I realized I am most passionate and happy
when I am helping people live happier, healthier lifestyles and
starting with mental health and then getting people moving and
(23:42):
eating well. And that's really where it all began. Well,
there's great power and value to what you continue to
do in your fitness career. I think I think for
me the TV side of it, sometimes all the wus
a job I want to do since some ten and
I'm passionate about it and i love it and I'm
grateful to have it on some levels, is pretty silly. Um.
And teaching is something that is viewed by many as
(24:04):
a calling because you're having such a great influence of
shaping young lives, and so this view is very important,
and it is important in our society. There aren't enough
teachers and not enough good ones, for sure. So when
you leave that where there are people who say, oh, fitness, really,
I mean, you're gonna go leave this, this this calling
of teaching and do something which is not quite viewed
(24:25):
the same way. Even though it has, as I said,
great value empower to people, there were there people who
question that decision or for sure. I mean even my
parents were like, it's funny. My mom always wanted to
be on TV. She's always you know, like probably just
like every parent wants their kids to be on TV.
But she was like, yeah, you should be on TV
and my home, that's the last thing I want to do.
But I was a psychology in his Stanic Studies major,
and I got my like I said, I got my
(24:46):
masters in education, and so I always felt like I
wasn't leaving it forever. Necessarily I could always go back
to it, But it was just this this urgency that
I was feeling, like Jeff, put yourself out there. There's
a chance for you to have a bigger and better impact,
Like sports have always played such a huge role for you.
When you were super stressed as a first year teacher
and you called your mom, the first thing my mom
would say, have you moved your body today? And I'm like,
(25:09):
oh my gosh, because I didn't even have to think
about that before because I played sports my whole life,
so of course I moved my body. But now as
an adult, you know, re reassessing my workout routine. I
never had to even think about that. UM. And then
my sister now sister in law, sent me a book
on meditation, and so I started reading that. It's a
book called Wherever You Go, There You Are. And that
(25:31):
was also my first year of teaching. So I just
realized how sacred mental and physical health is, Like you could,
it doesn't matter what you're doing. If you don't have
your mental and physical health, you don't have anything. And
so that was really really important for me to think about. UM.
And so, like I said, I always I told my parents, like,
you know, what do doesn't work out, I can always
go back into teaching, But right now I want to
(25:51):
um continue teaching, but just in a different setting. And
I think that when I drew that parallel, because, like
you said, teaching, I believe too is a calling. I
think to any a good teacher can teach anything, especially
if they're passionate about it. And so I said, I
am still long to use all of my experience of
teaching and just apply to a new setting. And so
when people ask me, just you miss teaching, you miss education?
(26:12):
My answer is always I miss the hell out of
the families and the kids. But no, I don't miss
teaching because I'm still teaching just the subjects that I'm
more passionate about. As a Pelton instructor, you have one
of those jobs. It connects with millions of people, but
it's also one that at least hundreds of thousands of
people watch. They go, I can do that. I I
like to be active. I can pet people up and
(26:35):
they have no idea really what goes into it or
the process of even getting selected by pellets On where
the casting is elaborate, intense, and it's about like trying
to get into Harvard. Yes, yes, right, but you know, Chris,
actually it's funny. I actually don't get a lot of
people that are like, oh, I can do that. I
get a lot of people that say, how do you
(26:56):
do that? I'm literally at home, that's more like it.
That's yeah, yeah, but I do. But I will say
it has inspired a lot of people. I've gotten a
lot of messages saying, you know, whether it's the exact
same path as me, I'm a teacher, but I love fitness.
I'm super passionate. How did you get into Peloton? How
did you get into fitness? Um, So there's definitely a
lot of that, but it's Yeah, to become a Peloton
(27:17):
instructor is definitely a rigorous experience. And like you said,
it's casting. Um, they want someone for everyone in the world,
so they're not going to hire two people that bring
the exact same thing, that have similar stories anything like that.
I think that's the coolest thing is when you really
do a deep dive into the instructors, everyone's story is
so different and so cool. Um. And so it's kind
of like having your trainer certification, being knowledgeable about everything.
(27:41):
That's kind of like the basic Like they don't even
really worry about that when you're hired, because like that's
the least of their worries. UM, they want to they
want to not even have to worry about that. You
need to be a great production partner. And you know,
we all have producers. We work with the marketing teams,
the social teams, UM, with the product innovation team, with research,
and there's so many teams that you work with and
(28:02):
you have to be great with email and calendar and organization.
And then there's photo shoots and there's press and so
it's it's it's a lot. And so whenever someone asked me, yes,
so wait, how many classes of the week do teach?
And I'm like, well, you know it's not necessarily how
many classes and how many days? And I teach five
days a week. And they're like, wait, that's amazing. So
you only go in so if you have to thirty
(28:23):
minute classes, you're done in an hour. And I'm like, y'all,
it is not that easy. No, No, Like the call
time is an hour before you got. So much goes
into it. We make all of our own playlists, our
own programs. UM. We have meetings with our producers weekly.
We have meetings, instructor team meetings, we have workshops, we have,
(28:44):
like I said, photo shoots, it's every week is so different,
and that's why I love the job so much as
I can have like a lower uh stress week, but
then other weeks I'm you know, slammed the whole day.
People are used to seeing their instructors individually, not not
you guys together. So it's interesting to hear you talk
about kind of the community of instructors. And the assumption
(29:04):
is that you know, whether it's it's Alex Tucson really
love that they must ride their bike their whole lives
every day and now they're just doing it in front
of a camera. But but the way you describe different
life experiences being brought into that that job and reflected
in how you guys instructed these interesting because it's not
(29:24):
like everyone who you see in Peloton did that their
whole lives and now they're just doing in front of
the camera. They did a whole lot of other things
and bring it to the job, correct. So everyone is
just so so different. So after Peloton, do you conserve
this a pivot into TV or is it just another
expression of the same personality. Do you see yourself continuing
(29:45):
as as in the fitness world for a long time
or will be a full time transition to TV. Yeah, no,
so I always say that I will retire from fitness
that peloton for sure. Like I just peloton is the
best and it's the best job, and I absolutely love it.
And like I said, to have the impact on the world,
specifically in two thousand twenty to two thousand twenty two
when we're all going through a global pandemic for the
(30:07):
first time, um has been an experience that I will
treasure forever and so I want to be here as
long as I can. Uh. And then of course at
the ESPN brand new I'm so super excited to see
where that goes. But yeah, I'm just surrendering to the
moment and seeing where everything takes me. You know, so
many people when they pivot aren't sure whom to listen to,
(30:29):
whether it's the voice inside, the gut, the heart, whatever
you want to call it, and the ways they try
to arrive at that moment of clarity and stillness to
make their own decisions versus the internal static, which is
certainly part of it. You touched on that sort of
the if there is a self doubt or a lack
of clarity about whether this is for you or certainly
(30:50):
the external staff, well meaning people who know you well
might even be wiser than you, more experiencing you in
some ways, but they all think they know what's best
for you. That's not the case. Have you had to
sort of find the stilliness to tune out the static,
whether it's from within or from outside. Yeah, that's a
(31:11):
good question. I feel like I keep my circle very small,
and I really have been very good about setting boundaries
even with family. UM specifically because because just because we
think family, oh, because someone's family, they should have, you know, access,
they whenever they call, you have to answer the phone.
(31:33):
And it's like, no, you actually don't have to do that.
You don't have to do that because you're an adult
and you have a busy life and things like that,
and you don't know how things are going to affect
your energy. And energy is very very important and it
can shift so quickly from a text, from an email,
from answer whatever it is. UM. So I would say
that I keep my circle small. I asked specifically for feedback. UM. Like,
(31:55):
sometimes I'll call a friend and I'll say I don't
need advice, I need to just listen. I need needs
the event, and it's like, okay, cool, got it, And
I try to do the same thing because it's important
because sometimes when someone calls you, if they just want
to vent you give advice, you're gonna shut your friend
down or your family member down. But if they're like
if they set the tone and say, hey, I just
need to get this off my chest, you just listen.
You said I got you. UM. So I think that
(32:18):
that's something that's very important. Number Two, I really try
to reach out to people that are in the arena
with me. Another Renee Brown um quote or Teddy Roosevelt quote,
but from Renie Brown who made it super popular, where
I don't. I try not to get bogged down by
people who are not doing the work with me, that
(32:38):
don't understand what I'm trying to build, that don't see
what I'm seeing. And so unless you're like minded in
that sense, I don't want your feedback. I don't want
your help. So I think that that's something that I've
been working quite a bit on with my life coach.
Do you have a life coach who's a regular every
(32:59):
week and wisdom? Yep, every Monday. I talked to her
and she's she's incredible. I had a therapist for years
and I just I transition to a life coach, which
I was skeptical about it first. I was like, m
what's the what's the life coach? And just like anything,
you know, so anyone can say that their life coach,
but it depends on you know, things like that. So anyways,
so I vetted her out. We had this amazing session,
(33:21):
um and it was like a two hour long session,
and I said, can we follow up? And She's like yes,
And so I followed up for the next week and
she's in stuff with me now for two years. So
as someone who is very much an amateur life coach
but likes to give ideas as opposed to advice and
tries not to do it unsolicited, I'm curious about your
(33:41):
ability seemingly to see the opportunity and get excited about
that as opposed to being fearful of the obstacles. And
I think I try to expect if you can see
the opportunities and first of all, clear of the static,
can be open to the opportunities universe presents every single
day and free moment, which is hard if you're cluttered,
(34:02):
it's clart hard off the static is there if you
can be excited about those. It gets in the way
of being fearful of what might happen or the obstacles
of the potential pitfalls. But it's not easy to do.
That takes time, it does, and my life, my life
coach calls those gremlins, and so my gremlin, and she
(34:23):
has a name and everything. Her name is dirty. I'm
gonna tell you my gremlin because I love alliteration. Um,
Gertie loves logistics, Chris, so I can I can see something,
I can have an opportunity. But the second Gertie grabs
hold and it's like, well, how are you gonna do that?
You have two dogs? You are how are you gonna
how are you gonna fly over? You don't have a
(34:44):
ticket for that? And then if you don't do that,
then how are you going to do your peloton class?
And then I start to worry. And then I start
to say, okay, we versus. Okay, what do I have
in my power? What do I have control over? And
how can I ask for help in whatever area that
I need? So it's ways of quieting down that gremlin
who loves logistics and who loves to have me worried,
(35:06):
because then that keeps me small. My grandma loves to
keep me small, and so that's something that And don't
get me wrong, I'm not great at this all the time.
I just had a conversation with her. Um, okay, I'll
give you a live. I was sick last week. I
got a twenty four hour stomach bug right before a
game day, two days before I had to move my
flight and everything. I wasn't sure if I was going
to be able to go. It happened right after my
(35:28):
peloton classes. I poked right on the street. It was great,
um and I was super super sick, and then I
was better in twenty four hours. Like it's as quickly
as it came, it left. I did the show, had
a great show, flew back and Sunday I got to
relax and watch the NFL all day. And then last
night I started to get anxious. I was like, well,
(35:51):
am I doing too much? Wow? Was it? Because? It?
Is it? Because I'm traveling too much and I have
my peloton classes and that should I slow down? Oh?
Well wait? What if that What if that was more
than just the stomach blug? What if that is? And
I just started spiraling and I got on the phone
with my life coach this morning, and she was like
it was girty Dirty's like cool, Okay, she's sick. This
(36:13):
is the time where I'm gonna tell her she's doing
too much and you know this and that, and that's
where that sense of anxiety that picked my stomach comes from.
But the second I can kind of clear that out,
Mantra's works so well for me. So whenever Gertie starts
to creep in, I started to say, okay, um, I
thrive under a lot of stimulus. I thrive under a
(36:35):
lot of stimulus. So whenever I start to think am
I doing too much? I thrive under a lot of stimulus.
That's something that keeps paying. That's interesting. I mean, then
you have to sort out whether or not it's gurty
or just some other part of your soul saying hey,
j this is some common sense. I mean, you could
(36:55):
frame it as anxiety or fear and put it in
the in the box of the m one. But it's
hard to know sometimes because sometimes you're in a voice
telling you you are doing too much? Do you have
to slow down? Trust me, you get to sixty, you're
gonna you're gonna pay attention to that voice. A little
bit more, because sometimes it's just common sense, right, you
need to check yourself. But Chris, this was coming after
(37:17):
I had I was off last Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, so
I had three days off. I didn't have game Day,
and I did have telephone stuff, and so I knew.
And and here's the thing about me too. If I'm
not working, I am completely decompressed at home, like I
am not on. So I know how to preserve my
energy so that I can do what I need to do.
(37:38):
Um Again, the boundaries piece, like if friends say, oh,
you want to go grab go grab dinner, I'm like,
it's gonna be allowed restaurant. I'm gonna be you know,
like there are things that I can prevent in order
to keep myself sacred and safe. And so this week no,
but any other week maybe. But I'm I'm pretty good
at discerning between whether it's my inner voice or whether
(37:59):
it's the gremlin. Alright, we'n in the listeners. I'm gonna
pivot of fitness because that is something that for me
is a passion. I view fitness as wellness, and increasingly
I view wellness as longevity, which is important. So it's
not something I have to do with something I get
to do. But you deal with people all across the
range of spectrum who maybe you're just sampling peloton and
(38:19):
they I'm not really sure this is for them. To
those who are like, yes, hardcore, I'm taking four classes today,
they don't need the same kind of motivation. But I've
heard you say pretty often that movement is medicine. I
love that it's medicine isn't always have a positive connotation.
Sometimes it's something you have to take. But how do
you frame it as something that you get to take
and something that it is good for you? And the
(38:41):
movement of any kind fits into that. You don't have
to grind for sixty minutes. It's just sometimes get out
of the chair and walk around the block. Say if
you're having a bad day and move your body. If
you're having a great day, move your body. If you're
having it, okay, they move your body. It is healing
at all levels. UM. And it's interesting because for me
the scifically as a former athlete. UM, you don't have
(39:04):
to get to stem from that and from two different things.
One we had a time mile every year in November
one for basketball and all of us were sick to
our stomites over We're like, we'd never run a mile,
Like this is such a mental mind game that our
coach was playing, and she admitted it it was, and
it was for mental toughness. So it wasn't really explained
that way until you know, girls were throwing up at
the track before I was going on. But you didn't
(39:27):
have to, you know, run at a guard's page, befoward's pace,
things like that. You have to just beat your personal
bests from the summer and you know, with the adrenaline,
that's a hundred percent doable, Like that's that's fine. But
we were so in our heads about it. And so
ironically enough, the fastest girl on the team she was
running under like it was like five something, and she
(39:48):
was the only girl that did not beat her time
and she had to go back to the track and
we all went to support her every day, and so
I think she had to run like five days in
a row, and she literally wrote in sharpie, you don't
have to run, you get to run. So that was
a reminder for her of like, this isn't in a
punishment and oftentimes, as former athletes, we thought of running
as punishment you lost, you you're you're you're being lazy
(40:11):
on the court, you run, you're late, you run um.
But we need to start shifting that it's not punishment
to move because God forbid, God forbid, we get hurt
and we're out for a week, a month, a year,
eternally we missed what we had the freedom to do before.
And so I think that it's so important to get
(40:32):
in touch with your body, to know yourself, to know, wow,
my shoulders are tight, Wow, I should fore all my quas. Wow.
You know when I was walking, my achilles was a
little bit tight. We need to know ourselves as well
as we know what's going on in the news, what
the Kardashians are doing, what you know, any other we need?
(40:54):
But that's it, No, but think about it. If someone says,
oh you could you couldn't ask me anything about I
don't know anything about them, but if any other celebrity.
We often know more about our same as our favorite
celebrity than we do about ourselves. And that's not good
because we need to know how we are in this moment,
because if we don't, how are we going to ask ourselves?
(41:14):
What do we need? If you don't know people learn
about themselves just through through peloton, through the classes. What
do you want them to learn about themselves? Want? Number
one their strength. I want everyone to know their strength.
We all possessed the strength physical, mental, emotional, professional, everything.
We have to tap into it and we have to
practice it, just like anything. How do you get strong?
(41:35):
How do you literally get strong with your muscles? You
have to give it some sort of load or some
sort of resistance so that there are micro tears than
the muscle. So don't be afraid of the micro tears
in life, because that signals, hey, we need everyone. We
need to pack in that that protein we gotta we
gotta repair those muscles. And then what happens when you
repair you get stronger than you were before. So it
(41:58):
is what your body is doing is literally what we
want to do and what we want to practice doing
in life, because guess what, life doesn't get any easier.
Life is challenging. It's one obstacle act of the next.
But when we are practicing to do hard things by
doing hard things, that's what I want people to get
out of working out with me times, just showing up
(42:19):
is half the battle. What what is the message to
people who find that much easier to be sedentary and
be static than to to get up and get going.
And just whether they're stuck or stalled doesn't have to
be in fitness. It could just be in life and
and and anxious about that, because anxiety often follows being
stuck somewhere not knowing what's next. One of my favorite
(42:42):
mantras that I have in my wall in the other
room is one's doing one small thing can completely shift
your day, and that thing is almost always movement. For me.
It might be I might get up after reading or
you know, being at my desk for a while, and
I'll just foe roll. We're all stretch. I'll take a
ten minute hips flow on peloton, which I love. I
love the hip focus yoga flows um because that can
(43:05):
give you the mental space and clarity that you need
from in space from what you were just doing, but
also your body reacts to that. Like we hold emotions
in our hips, we hold tension in certain places. Like
I know I hold a lot of tension specifically in
my left hip, but I know a lot of people
hold tension in their upper backs. And so when we
(43:26):
are aware of that and when we know better, we
can do a bit better there. So I think that's
that's something that's really really important. People listening can't tell,
but there's a special guest and and I guess if
they see if your your dogs are frequently they show
up at certain moments and they seem to know when
(43:46):
you're giving off this like I don't have performance energy
whatever it is. They want to be in the room always,
no matter, Well, keep this one. This, this little one
is Shiloh. This is my little boy. He's like my
people can see it this. Yeah, you've got got two
dogs there on the bed. Yeah. Oh and this is Yeah,
that's Sienna and that's her bed. This is the guests room.
This is this is really essentially what she says. Yeah,
(44:07):
it's nicely you have those companions to come home too.
That'll that'll help keep you ground that when your head
is spinning and you do all these classes and you're
traveling for a game day, to come home and be
able to there is nothing that I literally just hold
onto their faces and just like kiss their noses NonStop,
because if there's nothing better. You talked about something last week.
(44:28):
We were setting this up about having sort of a
six year cycle or having these almost rhythmic pivots in
your life where you're shifting, if not leaving one thing,
you're at least taking on something new. And do you
see yourself going forward This is unknowable, but do you
see yourself having these periodic pivots just where you're going
to always continue to branch out and search for a
(44:50):
fork in the road that looks interesting. Yeah, well to
your point, yeah, it's hard to predict the future. But
I'm a very naturally curious person and I love learning,
and so when you pair those two things together, it's
bound for new experiences. So I definitely think that I'll
continue to grow and and flow in different directions. But
(45:10):
I'm so happy where I'm at. I I really feel like,
like you said before, and I totally agree with this,
is like we are most powerful when we are authentic,
and so being in spaces that not only allow my
authenticity but promote my authenticity. When I started at Peloton,
Dennis Morton said, Jess, I've never worked at a place
(45:34):
that has asked me to be more. Dennis Morton that
I'm already than I already am, and I think that's
so true. And the same thing with the espn is.
I think that one of the things that caught me down.
Once I got, you know, the offer, I was like,
oh my gosh, it's football, Like are they what do
I need to do? Bol ba like? And I had
that a little bit of imposter syndrome and question myself.
(45:56):
A bunch of the people that are on the team
take my classes and they said, jest, this is the
perfect marriage. We know what you bring. We want that
jet's juice, we want that authenticity, that energy, and we
want to apply it the game day. And we know
that you can do it because we take to costics.
We see which you're capable of, and like that kind
of confidence in that sort of experience. Breathe that you know,
(46:22):
you said a really important word, curiosity, And I'm not
surprised that you embody that you try to get anybody
you teach to have that same mentality, whether it's a
kindergartener or someone in your class, That is a common
trait that time and time again. Really successful people, however,
success is defined for them, lists as an important quality
(46:42):
curiosity because you ask questions, you're eager to learn, your
less inclined to fear trying something new and changing courses
because you have that naturally within you. Um, curiosity. I
think it's played a huge role for you. It seems
like getting where you are. Yeah, and I'll never forget to.
In Cheryl Sandberg's book Lean In, she said, UM, it's
(47:05):
not necessarily about your experience with things, because I remember
applying for things and saying, like, oh my gosh, it
says I need five to ten years. Experience always says
I need this, and things like that, and I used
to be deterred by that. But in her book she said,
it's not about your years experience. It's about your ability
to learn quickly and to contribute quickly. And those are
(47:25):
two things that I have really taken with me. I'm like, Okay,
I might not know everything right now, but how can
I learn quickly and contribute quickly in these new scenarios
that I'm in. When you're mindful and you live at
day to day and and don't live in the past
of the future, it's easy for you to imagine where
(47:48):
you might end up with this. Do you spend any
time thinking about the future, Because one of the things
you've clearly done is you have not looked for security.
You look for flexibility and freedom, which I think many
people get locked into security being the most important thing.
I don't speak from someone that has kids to put
through college, so my experience might be different than some,
(48:09):
but but always making sure that you have flexibility in
life and freedom there's always been more important than security.
How do you How do you say that? And I
that's interesting because I used to have the opposite, like
when I was in education. That's why I think that
do or die thing was so important to me because
I remember having my whole life planned out. I was
going to be a principle for a few years. I
wanted to be a superintendent. I wanted to get my
(48:31):
doctorate at Harvard UM. I wanted to get into policy
change and law. And I had everything all planned out.
And you know what they say about when you have
a plan. Everyone's got a plan until you get punched
in the face. And I got punched in the face
when I realized, Okay, you're playing it small, you're playing
it safe, and that's that's what changed it for me.
I was like, okay, wow, Like maybe having control over
(48:55):
everything is not the way to go. Maybe it's going
where things feel good and I'm learning and I'm growing,
and I'm appreciated and I'm contributing. And if I continue
along that path, how could I be scared wrong? Yeah,
you're a great embodiment of the idea that you know, life,
if it's like a river, better just to flow with
it and see where it goes. And I often talk
(49:17):
to young people with the futility of having these long range,
ironclad plants. It's okay to have goals. I believe in
in directions more than goals, and and and sometimes not
even not even a path, it's just a direction because
the path isn't even clearly defined. But but yeah, it's
gonna be very interesting to see where the flowing river
(49:38):
of life takes you, just because there's probably a lot
of things where your skill set and your talents and
your experience could end you up a lot of places. Well,
thank you, that is so kind. I received that. And yeah,
it's it's being ready. And this is another thing that
I've I've realized in the last year or so specifically,
is being ready is a decision. It's not a feeling.
(50:00):
And I and I think I have to be very
careful about my words. I think that I spent so
much of my life, not feeling ready and thinking that
that was good enough. And it's not about that, because
feelings are so temperamental. They change, and they you know
and you can't and you change, and so I think
that when you make the decision Okay, I'm ready for this,
(50:22):
how could you go wrong? Wise words, there's a lot
going right for Jess Sims these days. I really enjoyed
our conversation and learning more about her journey. Thanks as
always to my co executive producer Jennifer Dempster and the
team at Octagon for editing the episode. Please rate, review, subscribe,
and check out. Are many great archived episodes. I'll talk
(50:46):
to you, Sue with more Season five Fowler, Who you
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