SoulCycle co-founder Julie Rice just fired up that motivational dance mix, and she’s spinnin’ on over to WeWork as their chief brand officer.
After leaving SoulCycle in 2016, Rice will focus on promoting community at the office-leasing powerhouse, an initiative she’s been super effective at in the past.
Sounds like a match made in heaven
SoulCycle lives and dies by the connection they have with their members — a philosophy that Rice helped build using things like limited edition merch, inspirational instructors, and locker rooms with amenities straight out of a 5-star hotel.
Now self-proclaimed corporate culture guru WeWork is looking for some of that sweat and soul to rub off on them.
This is a big get for WeWork
WeWork made some big moves this year in hopes of evolving past their signature shared-coworking spaces, recently investing in a coding academy, a wave-pool startup, and an in-house, private elementary school for entrepreneurial kids.
Rice will be heavily involved in these ventures along with her main focus: WeWork’s apartment project called WeLive, designed to help reacquaint urban areas with their lost sense of community in place of the “taverns, cafes and open spaces.”
In other words, prepare for apartment lobbies with really nice scented lotions.