I have a rule: Whenever I hear about something from three people, I need to give it a try. In 2008 I heard about SoulCycle from a few friends. At the time, it was two years old and had just one studio, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I was immediately curious. I loved group fitness classes, and I was a consistent runner, but I didn’t Spin. I had tried indoor cycling a few times and hadn’t enjoyed it. My friends promised that this studio was different.

A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2017 issue (pp.37–42) of Harvard Business Review.