July 18, 2023
Peloton users may be accustomed to hearing wisdom from head instructor Robin Arzon as they pedal away on their stationary bikes. Now, the Philadelphia native — who also serves as Peloton's vice president of fitness programming — is transferring her invigorating words from the fitness studio to the pages of a guided journal.
The journal, titled "Welcome, Hustler: An Empowerment Journal," encourages people to write down their innermost feelings and goals by providing thought-provoking prompts. Along the way, Arzon sprinkles mantras meant to inspire, including lines like: "I am the CEO of my life" and "Be willing to get uncomfortable physically until you become tenacious mentally."
"This journal will provide you with the tools to create your future now," Arzon said in a press release. "Stop waiting for the right time. The future is created now."
The journal, due out Sept. 26, is available online for pre-order.
Arzon, 41, grew up in Philadelphia with a Cuban refugee mother, who learned English by watching PBS and went on to become a doctor, and a Puerto Rican-born father who was an attorney. Although Arzon is now known for her athleticism, she was not involved in sports growing up and instead focused mainly on academics.
She graduated from Abington Senior High School in Montgomery County in 1999, and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in April.
Robin Arzon's guided journal, titled 'Welcome, Hustler: An Empowerment Journal,' will be published Sept. 26.
After high school, Arzon attended New York University. At one point, she and 40 others were held hostage by an armed man in a Manhattan wine bar.
"That incident is the reason I started running, because I physically needed to run the trauma out," Arzon told ESPN in 2019. "I don't recall when it became something that is a historical reference, but at some point it became something that happened rather than something that was happening to me. That shift happened with training."
After college, Arzon returned to the Philly region to attend law school at Villanova University, during which time she ran her first race. She spent several years practicing as a corporate litigator before leaving the profession in 2012. She joined Peloton two years later, after sending an email to the company's founder, John Foley.
Now, Arzon teaches classes and consults on fitness content at Peloton. The company's popularity skyrocketed during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic amid the desire for at-home fitness, but it since has suffered a series of setbacks including bike recalls, layoffs and a potential dip in subscriptions.
Along with her Peloton gig, Arzon is also an avid marathon runner, a soon-to-be mother of two, an Insta-celeb with a million followers and a bestselling author. She has written the memoir "Shut Up And Run" and a pair of children's books, "Strong Mama" and "Strong Baby." The latter was released earlier this year.
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