505. Kirsten Ferguson, Peloton Tread Instructor

"There was a moment where I looked at myself in the mirror and said, 'Whoa, this is what you're meant to do. This is it.'"

Kirsten Ferguson is living her dream. She once wrote "Become a Peloton instructor" on a Post-It note, and today she's doing exactly that. (And she still has the manifestation-filled Post-It.) The Peloton Tread instructor is a single mom of two, and the road to this dream life hasn't been an easy one. Kirsten grew up with aspirations of working in the fashion industry. But when she enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology, she quickly realized that she wanted to do something completely different. She ended up getting a job working in sponsorships with the NFL, where she worked for seven years before leaving and having children. Along the way, Kirsten suffered two miscarriages. That's when she found fitness. Kirsten leaned into cycling classes during her darkest, most isolating, and most challenging days. On their third try, Kirsten got — and stayed — pregnant. In this conversation, she's honest about what new motherhood was like for her, and about what happened when she had just become a fitness instructor and was going through a separation when the pandemic hit. She talks about how she got the Peloton job and about how she became a runner, about creating the "Ratchet Mom Club," about being at the Super Bowl for Beyoncé's epic halftime show, and about why she welcomes fear into her life.

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What you'll get on this episode:

• How Kirsten's latest Peloton class came together (5:45)
• Why Kirsten takes her own classes (7:50)
• What Young Kirsten was like (10:40)
• On going to the Fashion Institute of Technology — and then having a change of heart and working for the NFL (13:00)
• Kirsten's road to motherhood (22:50)
• How Kirsten found fitness (29:30)
• What new motherhood was like for Kirsten (35:30)
• How Kirsten found her purpose (40:45)
• How Kirsten overcame her fear of public speaking (49:15)
• On getting the Peloton job, and what happened next (50:50)
• What does a Peloton producer do? (58:30)
• All about the Ratchet Mom Club (1:01:40)
• On learning to call herself a runner (1:05:00)

For more, check out:

Fear is my Homeboy by Judi Holler

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• Instagram @iamkirstenferguson

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