Transcription of Stephanie Cabot for the show Financial Fitness, #110
Dr. Lisa: For those of us who grew up in the television era, we always think about the commercial that goes, “Two great tastes that taste great together, chocolate and peanut butter.” I don’t think that Stephanie Cabot is old enough to really remember this commercial. It’s about a chocolate bar. She’s doing the opposite things. She’s bringing two great things together and this would be yoga and cycling.
Stephanie Cabot is the owner, founder, and a cycling instructor at Reve Cycling Studio which is right here in Portland. I think it’s pretty interesting that you’ve managed to do yoga and cycling both in a short space of time in your brand new studio. I wanted to bring you into talking about this.
Stephanie: Yeah. Reve just opened two months ago. The cycling and yoga component is taking off. What it is is it’s 45 minutes of cycling and a room that’s dimly lit, has energizing music, motivating teachers and then you transition in a span of three to five minutes to give you time to actually take a few breaths, decompose and go right in to the yoga studio where you follow it up with a 30 to hour-long yoga class where you come out feeling like a new person.
Dr. Lisa: You yourself, you went to Bates. You played field hockey and squash. You began cycling as part of your training in the offseason.
Stephanie: I did. I originally get into cycling or spinning going into my sophomore year of college. I used it as a training regimen because I had a stress fracture in my foot. I found I couldn’t run or I couldn’t do any of the training that I’d previously done so I could hop on the bike and do interval work. That’s how I originally fell in love with cycling.
Dr. Lisa: On the other side of it is yoga. We know that in order to be strong and fast, we have to be able to work on our endurance and our strength but then there’s the flexibility piece; the flexibility not only of body but of mind that yoga brings.
Stephanie: The great component about Reve is during the cycling classes, you are in a dark environment that allows you not to be competitive with other people in the room. You focus in on your own performance. The same goes with the yoga component afterwards. You really are internally reflecting on everything you’ve just accomplished as well as in cycling, you’re compressing muscles.
Then in this form of yoga, we’re really working to open up the chest, elongate our leg muscles, everything to make it so that you can stay healthy and keep living a very active lifestyle.
Dr. Lisa: Why do this in Portland, Maine? You’re originally from I believe outside of Boston.
Stephanie: That’s a great question. I came to Portland a little over a year ago after graduating from Bates. I took a little span of traveling time. Since coming back when I originally decided to open up Reve, there wasn’t an indoor cycling studio and especially one with the yoga component. Portland is such a cool city. It has so much going on, so many great activities but there are some cold months.
I personally was looking for a place that I would want to go to exercise and to not make it feel like a regular gym. I wanted to go beyond just the gym environment and create something like a community where people can go and hang out after the class, get to know each other and then really generate this great energy during the class that helps people increase their fitness level.
Dr. Lisa: How’s that working out for you? How’s your community coming along?
Stephanie: It’s going surprisingly well. I am very impressed especially since it’s so young. It’s a new concept but people just keep coming in and it’s fabulous. I get to meet a ton of very interesting people. The Reve community is definitely growing which is great.
Dr. Lisa: Now you’re a relatively recent Bates graduates taking a big chance in opening a new studio in what’s for you a new city, not necessarily a new state but not your home state. This takes some determination and some bravery. How do you keep showing up every day and digging dip so that you can move this forward, something that you really believe in?
Stephanie: I really find that I show up every day to see the people. I know people are depending on me. I know they’re very interested in what we do at the studio, using that inspirational music to motivate people. We’re trying to work together to accomplish a set goal. Just seeing people so excited about coming in and leaving so energized, that keeps me coming back and keeps me energized. Then there’s also my dog who’s always waiting outside who whatever he’s doing, he always brings light to the situation.
Dr. Lisa: You have a background also, I believe in art history, is that right?
Stephanie: I do, yes. I was an art history major.
Dr. Lisa: How has that been brought into the mix as you’re moving forward and the creation of your new business?
Stephanie: That was actually I focused more on architecture, interior design, that type of thing. When I actually built out this space I could put a lot of those tools into the next so that I had a fabulous time designing, working with another Bates graduate, a local contractor in the area. We got to make a very kind of Zen space that you wouldn’t think of as your normal gym space, which was great, which is fabulous. I had a great time doing that.
Dr. Lisa: Have there been any challenges that you’ve encountered along the way?
Stephanie: Definitely marketing. I did not anticipate how difficult it would be. I expected I’ll put up the sign, put up the little blackboard outside and people will just flood in. That’s not the case as a small business there. It boggles my mind how people succeed. You have to be so determined and you just have to get out there. Marketing was definitely something I’m constantly working on every day whether it’s social media, whether it’s print, whether it’s anything. It’s been a big eye opener.
Dr. Lisa: You have this great product and now you need people to know about it really.
Stephanie: Exactly. Exactly. That takes time I think. Word of mouth is big. For right now we’ve got a great core community, a lot of regulars and that’s fabulous.
Dr. Lisa: Do you have a website or Facebook page?
Stephanie: We do have a website and Facebook page, Instagram, Pinterest, we’ve got it all. The website is revecyclingstudio.com. It’s very easy to use, user-friendly. It’s got a great sign-up system where you can reserve a class seven days in advance and cancel up to 12 hours before the class. We want to make it super easy for people to either just walk in and show up or sign-up online if they know their schedule.
Dr. Lisa: Stephanie, I wish you all the best. You have great energy. I know that you’re very enthusiastic about the Reve Cycling Studio. It sounds like a place where people can get many of their needs in that all at the same time, community and some endurance and strength and aerobic workout and also the yoga flexibility and breathing. I encourage people to go to your website or drop in and meet you.
We’ve been speaking with Stephanie Cabot who’s the owner, founder and cycling instructor at Reve Cycling Studio.
Stephanie: Thank you. It was great to be here.
Dr. Lisa: You’ve been listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast show number 110, Financial Fitness. Our guests today have included Kate Northrup, Tom Shepard, and Stephanie Cabot. For more information on our guests and extended interviews, visit doctorlisa.org.
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Dr. Lisa: This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. I hope that you have enjoyed our Financial Fitness show. I also hope that you take a moment to think about the low-hanging and maybe not so low-hanging financial fruit in your life. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. May you have a bountiful life.