Ally Love, Founder & CEO of Love Squad; In-Arena Host of the Brooklyn Nets, and Peloton Instructor
Interviewer: Jen Wieczner, Senior Writer and Co-chair, MPW Next Gen, FORTUNE; Co-founding Editor, The Ledger

MPW Next Gen 2020: One on One: Bringing the Love

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We sit down with this powerful multi-hyphenate to talk about the success of Peloton, creating impact, and bouncing back from adversity.


Hey ali, how are you? Great to have you here. Thanks dan. Hi everyone, I'm so excited to be here with you. We are excited. Um but actually that's what I want to talk about first because every day, you know, I was just saying, I saw you on instagram live around eight a.m. This morning. Um every time you show up you're on camera, you have so much energy. Um and you seem to stay motivated even throughout this whole pandemic, where, you know, sometimes it seems, I think it's fair to say that something news around us can get you down. What's your secret to staying positive, staying motivated every day when you get up. So it's so interesting because I think this question comes up quite often and to be completely transparent, like many of you that are out there, I am not a positive patty as much as I'd like to say I am. Um but in order for me to find that element of positivity or to stay motivated, I can tap into my purpose. And what I mean by that jen is that I think about why am I waking up every day? Why do I do the things that I do? And so oftentimes what comes to mind is not only of course the legacy of my family, future and past generations, but more importantly the response social responsibility that I have, my community, which I hold so near and dear to my heart, my community is there in terms of community, I mean those that following social, those that are part of the pellet on community, those that are Brooklyn nets fans that, you know, follow love squad, all the things that I do. Um I feel very much connected to them in terms of like them in encouraging me and of course vice versa. And so that that's my purpose, is to make sure that I'm getting out there and I am encouraging other people. They always say when you're having a bad day or you're not doing so well or you're not feeling yourself, is that you, you share a piece of kindness or you give something away to someone and then oftentimes that put you in a great position. And so those days where I'm not, again, my most positive self, I'm having a down day because I'm entitled to one and I definitely have them just like everyone else. Um, I lean on my community, I lean into those that I follow on social, those that I talked to and and allow that to be the catalyst for me in that moment or those moments. Speaking of that community love squad, you're the Ceo and founder of that. Um, and you have something that's pretty busy month called Boss october this month, where you are doing certain things and you're also giving up certain things. Talk about that and how that started. Absolutely. So by fax over, started about five years ago, it was something that I did for myself as you all know, the holidays are approaching. And if you're anything like me, the holidays can be quite enjoyable, but also very overwhelming. Um, we're trying to wrap up an entire year of work in 6 to 8 weeks. We want to spend time with our families, we want to get gifts. We want to celebrate, We want to relax. I'm gonna do so many things in a short amount of time and we feel like we're on this timeline or at least I did for a while. And so what I decided to do was dedicate october two a month of me taking away and practicing discipline. So I would give up a luxury items such as alcohol or red or shopping. Um for some of us it could be cursing whatever luxury item is. My first year I gave up drinking, I was like, you know, I'm not, I'm not going to go out and socialize a lot, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be steadfast than this. Um and the second element of last october is that you prioritize your health and fitness, so it's kicking up your workout routine. So I started really kicking up, make sure that I'm leaning into a personal training, like I have my own personal trainer as well, even as an instructor, right? Um make sure that I'm going to my personal training sessions. Who is it, is it God help in in new york. Um and and it's incredible to have someone else is kind of like a, you don't always want to cook for yourself, You want someone else that cook for you. So that's what he does. And so with that I make sure, you know, again, I prioritize fitness and health, making sure that all my doctor's appointments are done by the end of the month. Anything that kind of slipped through the cracks was too busy. And then the last thing, which I will say jen and has is the most challenging every year you're in and you're out that I am kind to myself. So I create a mantra that I say every month, it's different every month and every day of that month. I say that and that element of talking and speaking and thinking kind things about myself. Exactly, really hard. Um, not just for me for many of the people that I talked, yeah, talking about kindness. Um, I know you've been obviously supportive of Black Lives Matter and pretty outspoken about that. Um and uh you've also talked a little bit about how that's giving you a chance or maybe forced you to do some soul searching and kind of examine uh you know, different parts of your own relationships and with family and friends. What was that journey been like for you? What have you learned? Well, to be completely transparent. It has been challenging over the last few months with the turning point of Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter has been around for seven plus years and it being turned or deemed that term. And um in one of the things that has come up for me is that I've taken the time during the pandemic, as you mentioned for some personal awareness uh doing some of the internal work of who am I and how do I fit into all the things that I do? How do I show up every day, not just for my community, but for myself and for the legacy of my family. And so within that work came a lot of racial trauma that I had conversations about that I seek professional help with in terms of having uh to lean into a therapist or having those conversations with my family and why do we believe what we believe and who are we and who am I. And all of this got me to a place and this place is never, it's not a destination. So it's not some place that I'm saying, but has got me to the point. Um, so far that I make sure that I'm showing up to not only represent for my culture, but also to make sure that I am creating space for all people, that whether it's in my Palestine rides, the entry point is always available, whether you are on a different training journey or you're the music is diverse. Um the language is diverse and making sure that I'm being honest because at the end of the day age and many of us have to go and look at ourselves in the mirror and I know that I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't make sure that I spoke out about, you know, anti racism or racism in general. Um that I didn't educate myself and lean into resources and make sure that it's translating and everything that I do, whether it's love or it's a conversation with you right here on this platform or political class. And so I make sure that in any shape that I'm showing up, I'm truly showing up and being that representation that I always talked about that matters. Yeah. I want to remind people listening if they have questions for allie to please put them in the chat so we can take those. Um but I want to ask you a follow up. That's a bit personal. But have you, you're obviously out in front of everyone, you know, the Brooklyn nets, do you experience racism in your work? And how does that manifest? So I don't think that there is never I don't think that there is an incident that I can put my finger on of racism happening to me. Has it happened? Absolutely. Um there hasn't been some things that have come up when I talk about racial trauma that has come up in the past that I had to deal with, that I had to reconcile and I didn't know it many times in my life when I was speaking to my mom actually uh there were points in my life that I remember that I was angry or I felt um overwhelmed and now as we start to open up these doors for having these conversations and understanding what racism can look like and microaggressions can how they can translate. I was having these conversations with my mother and I was saying wow this is a moment that I didn't know what I was feeling, I didn't know what I was, what I was doing because I was talking it up to being a boss and hustle harder and you got to just push through as a dancer growing up. I I studied dance and I came to new york, became a dancer, graduated from Alvin Ailey, Fordham University went on to dance with other companies and in those moments of struggle I just thought I had to be better than everyone else. And so there was not necessarily to your answer your question. It's not necessarily one incident that I'd like to share. It's just being able to have that awareness past and present of micro aggressions or making sure that I don't add to systematic racism or that I don't necessarily feel that I need to wear it all on my shoulders. Sometimes we look at ourselves like especially as black women, we are dehumanized because we need to be stronger than everyone else. So no longer do I wear that title of being stronger by default, but I wear that as something that I say that I want to be. I get to decide if I want to be strong at any moment. And and so I think that being aware of of of situations like that are being aware of my surroundings are being able to identify. Um some of these words, these key words that can trigger for people, you know, white supremacy racism, anti racism, anti blackness. Being able to articulate myself a little bit more has really helped me reconcile some of those past issues and again helped me identify where I am now. Um, and I will give a big shout out that work for two great organizations skeleton and the Brooklyn nets where in terms of, especially with telethon we have, we have a pledge out there $100 million anti racist organisation from our ceo down and we are very flat organization. So I should say from our ceo around um, it is, it is our responsibility and I take that truly to heart. Yeah, I mean yeah, you wear so many different hats. Whether it's tell us on whether it's Brooklyn nets, whether it's love squad. How do you balance all of those different responsibilities when you have a poster child like the flash generation? How do you find the and focus on your personal brand within all of those identities? Yeah. As you see, I speak very fast. I don't take that back because I know time is limited for everyone right? And especially when I wear when I said I forged this concept of flash generation, I take pride in the fact that I can be you know a jane of all trades and not just a jack of one and I use them interchangeably obviously. And so I say I say all that say When we think of balance which comes up quite a bit, there is no such thing. We think of balance is like 50, 50 equal parts. And the reality is when you have so many things going on and we talk about, I talk about Austin living into in your intersection right intersectionality is real being multifaceted. Multidimensional is a real thing. You don't always have to be one thing and I don't subscribe personally to being one thing. So as I live in my intersection of who I am, I realized with wearing many hats, this idea of everything equal parts, equaling balance is unrealistic. It's more of a vertical thing of of kind of like switching those roads of what's my priority at that time during the beginning of next season's most times, that takes the number one priority because we have our home opener. I gotta focus, we got a lot of things going on when it comes to a new series or showing up for my Palestine classes or innovating there, I take that as my priority. And so as I think of balance, I don't think of equal parts. What I think of is what are what are the couple of things that need my attention right away immediately And how do I prioritize that and give more of myself to that in that time than in other times? And so that's how I quote unquote, find balance amongst all of these things and live in that intersection. Yeah. One thing that I find interesting about your classes that you're very open about your face. Um, and that your religious and you know, that can be a controversial topic at work. Why? You know, why do you bring that part of yourself, you know, to your work? And how do you kind of, you know, why is that the right thing to do or how do you feel comfortable with that? Uh, I feel comfortable with because it's who I am. I think one of the things that not only political but also that's important to my colleagues, many of my friends and my family and many of us is when we talk about the work space we want to show up as ourselves. I this concept of authenticity, being our authentic self in any room that we're in has come up and been talked about quite a lot in order to do that. You have to bring all parts of yourself. They always say leave home at home and work at work. And the reality is you can't do that. And if you try to do that, you struggle internal. There's an internal balance battle. And so showing up as my, my face with my face on my shoulder, just as much as I show up with my hair big and the history of my family and stories about my mom and dad is truly who I am and I would encourage anyone in any space that I am in that I will continue to hold space that you show up and be who you are. If I preach it, I want to make sure that I live in and it doesn't mean you have to believe, look like share or be the same as anyone around you. That's what it is. I always say our differences make us unique, but our will to be better, brings us together. And so I want to always show up then as myself and everything that I believe and do and I encourage anyone, no matter what you believe or don't believe or who you are or what you don't have and what you do have. I want to make space to make sure that you feel included because you have a right, you deserve that. Well, ali, I'm sorry, That's all the time we have. I feel more motivated after speaking with you. Thank you so much for being here. It's wonderful to talk. Thank you so much for having me.