How Peloton has transformed people’s relationship to fitness

Dara Treseder: You saw the trend, right, of fitness, moving to the home? Everyone was like, "This is really convenient, I can kind of quickly get my workout in, and then go on with the rest of my day. And I can actually make sure that it happens, because it's happening from the comfort of my home."

Natalie Alzate: Exactly, like this interview. Right? I mean, look at us, I'm wearing slippers under here. (laughs) I got pants on today. (laughs)

Dara Treseder: You are ahead of me, because I'm just barefoot. I don't even have anything on my feet.

Natalie Alzate: Hello, everyone, I'm Natalie from Natalies Outlet, a YouTube lifestyle content creator. I like to say I'm kind of like a self-inflicted Truman Show, because I intentionally broadcast my life to over 10 million people. 1.2 billion people have viewed my videos on YouTube, and I hope to continue to be a creative and positive outlet for everyone.

Dara Treseder: Hi, I'm Dara Treseder. I'm the SVP and head of global marketing and communications at Peloton. Before Peloton, I was the chief marketing and communications officer at Carbon, a 3D printing company. And before that I was the chief marketing officer of GE Business Innovations and GE Ventures at General Electric.

Natalie Alzate: I am such a huge Peloton fan. I actually was really inspired to jump on Peloton through quarantine, because homegirl gained the quarantine 15.

Dara Treseder: You're not alone. I just want you to know that.

Natalie Alzate: Yes.

Dara Treseder: (laughs)

Natalie Alzate: But, so super excited to be here and learn a little bit more about Peloton and just its future. I'm curious, what is Peloton's most difficult business challenge right now?

Dara Treseder: As we scale and grow, right-

Natalie Alzate: Sure.

Dara Treseder: Continuing to make sure that we're putting our community first, and we're continuing to deliver an exceptional experience. That we want to make the world a better place and we want to improve our lives. And that commitment to those values, that commitment to justice, to equality, to community, that unites us. We can all come together and say, "How do we make this a better place by improving each other's lives?" And that's what we do at Peloton; we're one Peloton. And I think everything we do at Peloton is focused on one thing: improving the lives of our members. That's it.

Natalie Alzate: I love that. I think I'm gonna take that same mission statement into Natalies Outlet. (laughs) Your community is growing so much, right? So your — Peloton's — audience is at over five million users.

Dara Treseder: Yeah. Yeah. Over five million members. Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Natalie Alzate: Oh my gosh. So, how does your approach, like, how do you approach your marketing strategy? And kind of mix in that growing audience? And are there any challenges involved in that?

Dara Treseder: Yeah. You know, I think for us it's about making sure that everybody who joins the community feels welcome. In marketing, there's, you know, a little bit of marketing jargon, or maybe the only marketing jargon I'll hopefully say in this wonderful conversation.

Natalie Alzate: (laughs) Tell me. Tell me.

Dara Treseder: But it, audience segmentation. You know?

Natalie Alzate: Yeah.

Dara Treseder: I need to speak to you in a way that's gonna resonate with you.

Natalie Alzate: Exactly.

Dara Treseder: And I think the wonderful thing about our community is, yes, there's this big community, but there's so many smaller communities. We've been the larger community. And so, we really work to make sure we're not only speaking to the big, broad Peloton community, but that we are speaking to the communities that we serve in the voice, with the language, in a way that resonates with them. How do you think about community, not just with your audience …

Natalie Alzate: Sure.

Dara Treseder: But even with your fellow creators as well, and you know, how does that, you know, maybe. How does that influence, right, what you do …

Natalie Alzate: Yes.

Dara Treseder: How you show up on Natalies Outlet?

Natalie Alzate: First of all, I love, you had spoke about audience segmentation, is that what you said?

Dara Treseder: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Natalie Alzate: I'm gonna look into that after, I know you said it's like, marking stuff, but it seems really interesting because, you know, I have an audience of, combined, almost 10 million. And so …

Dara Treseder: Yeah, amazing.

Natalie Alzate: But let me tell you, it's actually, for me, very hard to balance that relatability, personability, and like, speaking to each person. Almost like, segmenting them as you were saying. So, it's been one of the toughest parts of my business. I used to really focus on virality versus community. So, I used to garner like 20, 40, 60 million views per video.

Dara Treseder: Wow

Natalie Alzate: But it wasn't focused. Right? So it's kind of like marketing, as you were saying.

Dara Treseder: (laughs)

Natalie Alzate: It's like, if you're trying to speak to everyone, you're speaking to who? To no one, right?

Dara Treseder: Yeah.

Natalie Alzate: And so, I found that to be very true. So, in the past two years, I've actually refocused my content to be less idea based, which is like, more virality, to more personality based. There was a time where I was doing a lot of back-to-school content, and I was like, "Wait a second, girl, you ain't in school. What's going on here?"

Dara Treseder: (laughs)

Natalie Alzate: I was like, why am I doing this? (laughs) You know? And so, I felt like, I loved the content, but I was like, there- I can't connect to these people anymore. I'm at a different stage. I'm married, I'm a little older. You know, I'm buying a house. Like, there's just different things that I should allow myself to explore. I know that many brands right now, they're really trying to be inclusive, they're talking the talk without actually walking the walk. And I've heard a lot about the Peloton pledge, which I'd love for you to just dig into it a little bit more. What is it? And why does it matter to you?

Dara Treseder: I love talking about this so much, because it was a huge factor in why I decided to join Peloton. The Peloton pledge was basically something that, you know, the Peloton leadership team said, "You know what, how are we gonna become anti-racist? Right? Systemic racism exists, and in order to deal with this, we actually have to do the work to become anti-racist." And that was inspiring to me, because you kinda saw a lot of brands doing performative allyship, which is okay, I'm gonna post a little black square on Twitter. And okay, you can od that, but what are you actually doing to make a difference in your sphere of influence? And it was inspiring to me to see a company willing to say, you know what, we haven't always got this right. Right? We're going to commit to doing the work to getting this right. At this executive level, um, you don't see a lot of Black women at this level. I remember when I was starting out my career, I was looking for Black women in senior leadership positions, and I remember, at the time, it was only one Black woman that I could point to who had been …

Natalie Alzate: Wow.

Dara Treseder: The CEO of a fortune 500 company, and it was Ursula Burns. Now we have three.

Natalie Alzate: Amazing.

Dara Treseder: We have Rose [crosstalk 00:06:38] but three is still-

Natalie Alzate: Yes.

Dara Treseder: It's kinda not enough. Right?

Natalie Alzate: I know. I know, we have to keep paving the way, leading the next generation, right? When we see ourselves in our leaders, we are more, it's almost like a, yes, I can do it too. You know?

Dara Treseder: Yes. We can't be what we can't see, you know?

Natalie Alzate: Exactly, I love that. Ooh, I'm gonna right that down. That's a good one. (laughs) But no, I 100% agree with you, because I think that, you know, it's never been more true in this digital world, like, it's literally at our fingertips. We have the power to make change, and good change. And for instance, like, one of my favorite channels on YouTube, Mark Rober, he spoke recently about his son's autism. And he shed a lot of light on that. And through the power of YouTube, he was actually able to, with the community, to raise 3.2 million dollars. So, there's power in community. Sometimes when I see certain issues, you know, I feel very small. But …

Dara Treseder: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Natalie Alzate: Sometimes even like the smallest of things kind of like what you were saying, the smallest of things can make the biggest difference. Even seeing yourself within other women who are CMOs who are also diverse and different.

Dara Treseder: One of the things I love about you, Natalie, is you celebrate what's real.

Natalie Alzate: Oh. Thank you.

Dara Treseder: And I think that that's something that is so, is so key. Right?

Natalie Alzate: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yes.

Dara Treseder: You find what's real and you celebrate it. And you're not afraid to kind of evolve and grow. I mean, I actually, I was like taking notes when you said …

Natalie Alzate: Really?

Dara Treseder: [crosstalk 00:07:56] virality, right? And community is about personality.

Natalie Alzate: Yes.

Dara Treseder: And real, personal connections. And I think that is such a profound articulation. Natalie, I'm curious because I know that you've had such an incredible journey. I mean, I'm inspired by you. But you …

Natalie Alzate: (laughs)

Dara Treseder: Started out — no, it's true! Because you started out on YouTube when you were younger. And …

Natalie Alzate: Yes.

Dara Treseder: You've grown, and you've evolved so much. And like, I'm inspired by you know, the teenager that you were when you started, and the woman …

Natalie Alzate: Yeah. A little baby.

Dara Treseder: That you've become.

Natalie Alzate: For sure.

Dara Treseder: So you are the guru, so I want to learn from you. Right? How do you manage and engage in an audience that keeps coming back over and over again. Like, tell me, what's your secret sauce?

Natalie Alzate: Anything that I create, I always like to see it as, how is it valuable for my viewer? So, for instance, you know, I like to kind of take that big sister approach. I almost have to like, dissect everything I've done naturally, if that makes sense. Like, I feel that, yes, a lot of it, um, you know, was strategic in my growth. But a lot of it also just came naturally through reading people's comments. Through, you know, I went on a 22-city tour around the United States.

Dara Treseder: Oh my gosh.

Natalie Alzate: Literally in a month. So, I was in every city.

Dara Treseder: Girl.

Natalie Alzate: It's all a blur to me. But I got to visually see the people that watch my content. That was huge for me. That made me realize, okay, you know, my person dresses like this. She's kind of artsy, she likes to paint her nails, you know. And so then I started incorporating a little bit of that into my channel, as well. You know, finding shaving hacks. Like, how do you shave as a hairy, Latina girl? Of course …

Dara Treseder: (laughs)

Natalie Alzate: I always tell people, I'm like, "It is a choice. You don't have to shave. I'm also all for all the hair."

Dara Treseder: Yeah.

Natalie Alzate: But here are some of the tips that I've learned with my hairy everything. (laughs) So, so that's, you know, just like kind of evolving in that way and making your community a part of your business and your strategy, if you will.

Dara Treseder: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Natalie Alzate: It is a business, but it's not product based, unless you actually have like a product that you're selling. It is ... You are the product in a way. And so, I always like to just make sure that I am not manufacturing this thing that just isn't real to me, or that I just can't keep up with because I think that's really exhausting. So showing that you care, I think people share what they care about.

Dara Treseder: Oh, I love that. People share what they care about.

Natalie Alzate: Yeah.

Dara Treseder: It's really hard as a content creator to continue to thrive and grow, and remain relevant, even as you grow, and as you change.

Natalie Alzate: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Dara Treseder: So, Natalie, we recently, as I'm sure you know as a Peloton member, right? We recently got our first Spanish-speaking instructor.

Natalie Alzate: Yes.

Dara Treseder: And I was so excited to take a Spanish class. And it made me think of you. You launched a Spanish-language channel.

Natalie Alzate: I did.

Dara Treseder: And I'm curious about, you know, why you did that, and what you learned from doing that?

Natalie Alzate: Okay, yes. First of all, love the Spanish classes, love all the music, the cumbia, the salsa, the bachata, a little bit of everything. It gets me going. Love it. So my family's actually Colombian, and so they would watch my English channel and not understand anything. And they would be sharing it with like, all the tias, all the tios. And like, everyone …

Dara Treseder: Aw.

Natalie Alzate: Wouldn't understand. And so, my aunts were the ones that actually encouraged me to launch my Spanish channel. The Hispanic market is so invested. They're incredible. Some of the top creators are Latinos and Brazilians. And I will say, it's not easy. You know, because it's like another additional thing to my roster of to do lists for the day.

Dara Treseder: It's not like you don't have enough to do. Yeah. But it's so great.

Natalie Alzate: Exactly.

Dara Treseder: Thank you so much for making time to connect with me. Thank you for opening up and sharing your stories. I mean, honestly like, your- when you talked a lot about not things being manufactured, but things being authentic, like, I'm gonna take that with me.

Natalie Alzate: Yeah.

Dara Treseder: And I'm gonna be talking about that with my marketing team and my creative team, like, hey …

Natalie Alzate: Yeah. That's amazing.

Dara Treseder: Let's not overproduce. Let's not over manufacture. Just thank you so much for being you. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with me. I also am leaving with a lot of nuggets. Natalies Outlet gold nuggets of wisdom.

Natalie Alzate: (laughs)

Dara Treseder: [inaudible 00:11:54] first. I'm gonna be taking that with me, so huge thank you to you.

Natalie Alzate: Thank you, Dara.

Dara Treseder: How do we do that? Do we just do a screenshot or …?

Natalie Alzate: Oh, I'm taking it with my phone so, here just …

Dara Treseder: Oh, wow, okay.

Natalie Alzate: Okay, ready? One, two, three.