Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Boyd.
Alyssa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Ah, what a QUESTION! I will try to make this as short as possible, but my path to where I am now is a little bit of a long one. It’s crazy how everything happens for a reason, and you end up exactly where you are supposed to be with time and dedication.
In 2010, I moved to California to pursue my MBA in Sports Management. When I graduated in 2011 (it was an accelerated program), I started working for a professional athlete’s foundation doing event planning and fundraising management. A few years later I decided to start my own company with two other friends, helping athletes with their charitable efforts and their event planning. At the end of 2014, I knew that California was no longer serving its purpose for me, so I moved back home to Boston and continued along with my event planning career in my hometown.
Within a week of moving home, I found Rev’d. I had been spinning a TON in California and knew it was something I wanted to keep up when I moved. I walked into the studio and immediately felt at home. I was taking classes 7-10 times a week and was approached a few months in about being an instructor. I didn’t think that I had the nerves to do it, but after a few months of thinking about it long and hard, I decided I would give it a shot.
Like I said before, it’s crazy how things work out and timing is everything. I had a big New England Patriots client and was in the middle of planning a HUGE gala for him. Think Brian McKnight flying in from California to perform, tasting stations, big, big party. Well, our Patriots client got cut from the team just THREE days after my audition to become a spin instructor, and my event planning career started to take a back seat. The event was called off, and I started to move my focus onto Rev’d and fitness, which had become just as big as a passion of mine.
With our athlete company slowly changing gears, I took on a bigger role at Rev’d. I started doing little tasks here and there that turned into bigger tasks and was asked to start planning all of our in-studio events. Meanwhile, I was becoming a better instructor and taking on more and more classes. Within a few months, we opened up our second studio and I was teaching 10 times a week. After a year of volunteering my time for the company for all of the admin work, they decided to hire me full time as an Instructor and Events Manager, and now a year and a half later I’m also in charge of our Development Program where I train up our new instructors.
We now have 3 studios in Dedham, Foxboro, and Burlington, I work 7 days a week teaching 12 classes a week, training instructors, planning Rev’d events, and doing SO much more to develop our growing business, and I could not possibly love life more. I started my own “brand” called The APBP Movement (Allow Positivity To Be Your Passion) to help other live and lead a positive life, and I”m just having so much fun with it all. I know that Rev’d will be a career for me as we continue to grow and add new studios, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this all takes me!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road. It was a very hard, challenging, and patience-testing road. Struggle number one was our Patriots client getting cut, and having to switch gears and figure out what my new career path would be. It led me right to Rev’d, but any small business/start-up has their struggles. We’ve grown to be a very successful fitness studio and a big player in the Boston industry, but it took a lot of long hours, tears, sweat, and grinding 7 days a week to get here. For a long time I put Rev’d first above everything, and that was really tough on a lot of people, and me sometimes too. But now, it’s all paid off and ALL of the hard work is absolutely worth it.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Rev’d Indoor Cycling – what should we know?
Rev’d is an indoor cycling studio, specializing in athletic, 45 minutes, rhythm-based rides. I’m the Events Manager, a Full-Time Instructor, and I work on Talent Development. We are known for our athletic rides and being very challenging. I’m very proud of how far Rev’d has come in the only 3 and a half years that we’ve been around. When I first stepped through the doors, the place looked completely different, they only had 4 or 5 instructors, and we only had one studio. Now we have three very successful studios, a full-time team of 6 of us, and I know that we aren’t going to stop here.
What sets us apart from others in the community. The people… they are who make our wheels keep turning. We have the most dedicated community of riders who inspire us, push us, and make us want to do better for them every single day. In any single class, you’ll see such a HUGE range of people. My 66-year-old mother CRUSHES it in my class three times a week, and then you look to her right and see a high school junior also doing the same. What brings us all together is our desire to work hard and make a change/get better, and it’s absolutely incredible to look around the room and see the motivation and inspiration all around me.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
How much space do I have with this one? 🙂 My biggest cheerleaders, mentors, supporters, advocates, and teammates ALL IN ONE are the two owners of Rev’d – Meaghan St. Marc and Clyde Simms. When I first stepped through the doors of Rev’d, Meaghan was the first person I met. She immediately made a huge impact on my life and is now one of my very closest friends, and someone who I look up to every single day.
Clyde is my big brother and boss all wrapped into one, and I could not be more thankful for the two of them for taking a chance on me, and believing in me. They hold Rev’d very near and dear to their hearts, and only allow people in who they know are going to work their butt off and who have the same dream. They saw in me pretty quickly that my love for Rev’d was very, very real, and they took a chance by giving me bigger and bigger tasks, giving me more and more classes, and then eventually hiring me full-time. They have both become family, and a family that I know will stay together forever. They both inspire me, push me, motivate me… and everything I do for Rev’d, I do for them… because they deserve this company to be the best it can be.
I also owe so much to my fiance, Mike. I met Mike only a week before my spin instructor audition, so he’s been along this road with me since almost day 1. He pushes me to get better, he puts up with me when I’m having a day, and has sacrificed SO, SO much for me in order to let me follow this dream. He’s now a spin instructor at Rev’d as well and has the same love for the company, so I know that together we are going to do some big things. Without his support and constant cheerleading, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. He motivates me to make this all work for the US, and I’m so darn lucky to have him in my corner.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.revdindoorcycling.com
- Email: alyssa@revdindoorcycling.com
- Instagram: @revdindoorcycling, @alyssapboyd, @theapbpmovement
Image Credit:
Nick Cosky Photography
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