350. Matty Maggiacomo, Peloton Instructor

"Being able to come to work as my whole self. Being able to be out. Being able to appear on camera in drag. Hopefully for those of you that are out there listening, if you work at a company or a place where you cannot be yourself — and I know you need to make the money — it is not worth it. It is not worth it to stifle that magic. You will slowly die inside. Go work for a place where you can be Mara every single damn day. Let your freak flag fly and be who you wanna be. We are too advanced in this society to be squandering any time on not being able to be ourselves."

Growing up in Rhode Island, Matty Maggiacomo had a tumultuous — and at times traumatizing — relationship with sports and coaches. But today, he's a fitness instructor on the world's largest streaming platform. On this episode, Matty talks about how he rediscovered fitness later in life, and how he got the job teaching treadmill and strength classes at Peloton. He talks about his dreams of being on TV, including how he made those dreams come true right out of college, and why that dream came to a screeching halt on an assignment one day. Plus, Matty talks about his sexuality and about coming out, and about the importance of letting his "freak flag fly" at work — which means we get to hear from Mara Thonner, Matty's treadmill-running alter ego, and about what it's like teaching a live class for thousands in full drag! Matty is a true joy, and this conversation is long, fun, and filled with hefty doses of both laughter and inspiration.

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What you'll get on this episode:

• On taking time off (9:15)
• How Matty would describe his Peloton classes (11:00)
• Getting to know Young Matty (15:45)
• All about the NBC Page program, and working in live television (22:30)
• How Matty got the job at Peloton (34:45)
• How you learn to be a Peloton instructor (39:15)
• On the magnitude of it all (49:35)
• MARA joins the show! (54:20)
• On the Peloton family, and how Matty feels about his colleagues (1:02:15)
• Matty shares his most memorable Peloton memory thus far (1:06:30)

What we mention on this episode:

Jess Sims on Episode 261 of the Ali on the Run Show

Tunde Oyeneyin on Episode 311 of the Ali on the Run Show

Olivia Amato on Episode 344 of the Ali on the Run Show

Veneno

It's a Sin

"The Original Jess Sims Scare"

Follow Matty:

• Instagram @mattymaggiacomo
• Twitter @mattymaggiacomo

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• Instagram @aliontherun1
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• Twitter @aliontherun1
• Support on Patreon
• Blog
• Strava

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