Icebreakers with Peloton star Tunde Oyeneyin

There may be nothing more motivational than Janet Jackson blasting through your speakers and Tunde Oyeneyin telling you that you can crank up your resistance. The Houston native has become one of Peloton’s biggest celebs. She leads up to 20,000 fans in her community-oriented classes and recently inked a partnership with Nike.

Morning Brew chatted with Oyeneyin about dream jobs and getting comfortable in the gym.

What was your life like before you discovered cycling?

I grew up in Houston, Texas. My parents immigrated here from Nigeria to live the American Dream, to provide a life better than they had for their children. And so, if you’re a child of immigrant parents, you understand at a very young age to make the most of this opportunity. So I moved from Houston to LA when I was 20-something years old to become a celebrity makeup artist. I was a makeup artist and educator [for a cosmetic brand] for 15 years.

I had my dream car, I was living in a fancy apartment in Los Angeles, I no longer had to check the price of the menu to go to a restaurant. This was a big moment. All of that to say, I’d worked my butt off to land this dream job. The dream job arrives and then I realize I hate it. I found myself in this space of being so uncertain about what I was supposed to do next. But in hindsight, the beauty of uncertainty is that it offers infinite possibility. When you don’t know what’s next, anything can be next. You’re no longer limiting yourself on the scale of what you think you should be doing next. And that’s kind of how I found my way to fitness.

What would you say to someone pursuing what they think is their dream career?

I think we’re always trying to chase something. So if you are simply fixated on the end goal: caution, caution. When you get there, you won’t be able to enjoy it. If you cannot find joy in [the journey], you will not find joy in the finish line. That’s a fact.

You’ve said one of your goals as a Nike global ambassador is to make fitness more accessible to women and those who might be more uncomfortable in a gym. Why is this so important to you?

When I first started working out, I was a cardio junkie. That’s the only thing I did. The gym that was near my house in Texas, when you walked in, the left would be the free weight area and toward the right would be cardio. I’d look over at the cardio section and it was mostly women and it looked much less intimidating. It wasn’t until I actually picked up weights that I understood my power, not just physically, but my power internally.

I am so humbled, thrilled, that women see me as this strong, muscular body type and feel this sense of freedom that it’s okay for women to look powerful. Historically, fitness was predominantly a white man’s sport. So to be a Black woman with muscles and no hair in this space, I think that says a lot.

This interview has been edited and condensed from an episode of Business Casual. You can hear more about Oyeneyin’s first spin class and her new book here.