Julie Rice — Co-Founding SoulCycle | The Tim Ferriss Show (Podcast)

Julie Rice describes herself as a super well-behaved, borderline nerdy child. However, she once defied her mother at age 11 to get a second ear piercing at the White Plains Galleria Mall, leading to her mother suing the piercer for $8.99 and Julie having to testify in court.

After working for about 10 years as a manager in Los Angeles, Julie felt a void in lifestyle fitness upon returning to New York City. She was taking classes with an indoor cycling instructor who introduced her to Elizabeth Cutler, who shared a similar vision for an enjoyable fitness experience. Their shared idea led to the rapid founding of SoulCycle.

Julie Rice and her co-founder Elizabeth Cutler made significant sacrifices, including minimizing their salaries. Julie and her husband, Spencer, lived on a strict $200 weekly budget for each of them, giving up credit cards and luxuries like Starbucks and taxis, to ensure all earnings were reinvested into the growing business.

SoulCycle implemented a pay-per-class model, emphasizing a special, high-quality experience every time, rather than relying on memberships where people don't show up. They also developed the first online reservation system, focused on creating a strong brand identity, and fostered a sense of community over competition, with dark rooms, candles, and shared music for a tribal, meditative experience.

Early on, they started seeing a coach, Meredith Haberfield of Think Human, who taught them essential skills for partnership, decision-making, and communication. These tools were codified and scaled throughout the company, fostering a culture where employees felt heard, valued, and empowered to communicate openly.

They learned active listening from the book and workshop 'Getting the Love That You Want' by Harville Hendrix and Helen Hunt. This technique involves making appointments to talk, where one person speaks while the other repeats back what they heard, asking "is there more?" This process helps to uncover the source of pain behind conflicts and foster understanding.

SoulCycle aimed to professionalize the fitness industry by offering full-time jobs with health benefits, paid vacations, and a supportive home base. They viewed instructors as artists and provided a platform for them to find their voice, be creative, and grow, turning them into proud brand ambassadors.

The Bridgehampton studio, opened as an experimental marketing initiative in an old potato barn, became a sensation and a social epicenter in the Hamptons. This unexpected success transformed SoulCycle from a local neighborhood business into a buzz-worthy New York City destination, driving immense demand and inspiring its expansion.

Early mistakes included poor soundproofing for their first studio, leading to irate neighbors. A customer appreciation day offered free classes, which alienated loyal customers when new people signed up but didn't show. Their biggest failure was a million-dollar website rebuild that launched catastrophically, allowing eight people to book the same bike and requiring them to build an app as a workaround.

Julie admits she struggles with sitting still and finds SoulCycle itself meditative. She uses a '16 seconds to calm' technique, focusing on breath to interrupt thought patterns. Critically, her marriage plays a huge role; her husband, not an anxious person, helps de-escalate her stress by prompting her to communicate calmly.

Although not religious, Julie's family celebrates Shabbat every Friday evening. This ritual involves gathering at 6:30 PM, lighting candles, putting away phones until the next morning, and having open conversations without pretense. It creates an intimate, safe space for sharing triumphs and tragedies, allowing Julie to emotionally 'shut down' and reframe time together.