ighteen months ago, EVAN ARBOUR's life changed. Find out what led him across the country and all the way to the podium at BELLEVUE.
I have the amazing privilege to be one of the first instructors to bring SOUL to the Pacific Northwest. I am so proud of my riders and how strong they have become in the almost five months we have been open in Bellevue. I've told them from day one, "This room will change your life; I know it will, because it changed mine."
I tell them all it takes is one class that you'll never forget. Mine was in New York City in December 2015.
I graduated with an acting degree and was doing the hustle of being a young actor in New York City — scouring the web for auditions, waiting in lines before the sun came up only to be turned away, memorizing lines on the trains, and I was making it work. I was content. My place to escape was always SoulCycle. At the height of my escapism, I was riding 14 classes a week.
Tomas, a NYC-based Senior Instructor who would later become a close friend and mentor, came up to me after one class and said, "You are a great rider and next time, you're riding up with me." I was working the front desk at SoulCycle and had taken his class a handful of times. I stammered some sort of thank you as my stomach did flips.
The next day I rode on the podium next to him for the class that changed my life.
It was in that class, as we rode to "Pretty Girl Rock" and "Black and Gold," that I felt unstoppable. I felt completely supported and encouraged and celebrated. No audition or rehearsal or notification that I had booked a job made me feel that way. That class revealed to me that I found something really special. I found something I never wanted to let go.
I didn't want to simply be content with my life, I wanted to be in love with it. I had found what gave me that feeling. It was during that class I decided to become a SoulCycle instructor.
If I was going to do this, I needed to be all in. I stopped looking up auditions online or going to casting calls and dedicated even more time to taking class. I even began searching for music and creating playlists as if I was already an instructor (if you need a laugh, I'll show them to you sometime). My whole life began to change.
This job has brought me to Seattle and I am truly grateful to teach such an incredible group of dedicated and inspiring people. I love my riders. I love my life. I love my job.
That room and that bike will change your life. It changed mine.
Catch classes with EVAN at BELLEVUE. Ready to ride? Grab a series HERE.