As a new mama, finding time to work out seemed like a losing battle. Trying to coordinate a good time and place was an exhausting task that always resulted in me doing absolutely nothing. I needed something convenient, challenging and exciting to keep me focused. Enter Peloton.
With a little convincing, I sold my husband on investing in the purchase. In exchange, I promised myself that I would consistently use the Peloton bike and app for 30 days. Turns out, it was worth every red cent.
Kandice Guice/xoNecole
I immediately bought into the energy of the instructors. Each of them has their own flavor mixed with the same encouraging message of discipline and perseverance. I finished one class excited about the next opportunity to hop back on my bike. Even from the comfort of my home, I felt a part of a community – a special club of overachievers who worked daily towards becoming better.
"Come on baby! Let discipline carry you when motivation won't!"
Kandice Guice/xoNecole
These were cornerstone words from my instructor Alex as I jammed out in a 30-minute Hip Hop Spin class. Through my breathlessness, I found the wherewithal to type his words in my phone as a steady reminder when I wanted to skip a workout. I've had Peloton Church about 76 times since then. Nearly each time, I've thought of Alex screaming that phrase as I put on my shoes to take a ride.
Thankfully, Peloton has a way of enticing me to come back time after time. There's something about the fire playlists and the way each class burns so good that keeps me engaged. Users around the world send virtual high-fives across my screen to acknowledge milestones as the leaderboard encourages me to beat my personal record.
Kandice Guice/xoNecole
Metrics calculate everything from distance to heart rate, giving me the stats I need to feel like a superstar. Badges acknowledge my accomplishments, giving me reminders to be proud of my progress while the calendar of active days encourages me not to break my streak.
On days when I'd like a change in pace, I head over to the Peloton app for strength, cardio or guided outdoor audio classes. Filters help me pick workouts according to length so I can squeeze in 15 minutes on days when being mama makes it tough to carve out more time. Turns out, even small spurts of effort add up.
Kandice Guice/xoNecole
At the end of my first 30 days, I had 26 active days and dropped nearly 10 pounds. Yet these perks aren't the tip of the iceberg.
What no one tells you when you purchase your bike is that you'll gain access to thousands of black women who will motivate, inspire, and cheer for you daily.
Luckily for me, my cousin saw my post about getting a Peloton bike. She immediately messaged me an invite to join Black Girl Magic Peloton Edition on Facebook (affectionately called BGM for short). Joining has literally changed my life.
Kandice Guice/xoNecole
Black women from all walks of life are there with daily inspo that motivates me to step it up. The group includes #BGM challenges, a mentorship program, and dialogue among like-minded women. We follow each other on Peloton taking classes together as a sign of solidarity, celebration, or praise depending on the occasion.
Pre-COVID-19, BGM members participated in meet ups and travel groups to places all around the world. Doctors, lawyers, financial advisors and stay-at-home moms have a space of solitude – somewhere we go for that extra push to keep going both on and off the bike.
Kandice Guice/xoNecole
Each time I enter the group, I imagine the roar of cheers from my team. The energy is magnetic and powerful. In fact, BGM is more than a group, it is a sisterhood.
Every black woman who has the Peloton App, Bike, or Tread should get in on this serendipitous treat.
It's worth it.
If you are thinking about purchasing a Peloton, get $100 off your accessories on us by clicking here.
Featured image by Kandice Guice
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak