What “Together we go far” Looks like at Peloton

If you’re a Peloton Member, you’ve most likely heard the phrase “together we go far” during classes, in our ads, and definitely from our founders John Foley, Tom Cortese, Yony Feng, and Hisao Kushi. For us, it’s more than a phrase. It’s one of the core values that guides our strategy. 

As we continue leading in the technology sector and connected fitness space, we know that we have a responsibility to lift up the communities around us.  Being inclusive and championing equality as we grow and scale are crucial to Peloton. I’m lucky enough to lead not only our growth strategy but our social impact strategy. Peloton is unique because we embed environmental, social, governance (“ESG”) and our social impact work within the same functional team responsible for helping to architect, shape, and drive our overall global business strategy. Growth and social impact don’t need to be on opposite ends of the spectrum - they are most effective when combined into one virtuous circle. 

Living our values since day one

At Peloton, caring deeply about serving our community has been a key element of our culture from the beginning, and is particularly evidenced by our amazing Instructors. It’s also led us to create programs like The Comeback, where family, friends, or community members nominate a deserving individual who is overcoming adversity to receive a Peloton Bike, and to celebrate cultural heritage months with class series and internal enrichment programs for Peloton team members. We continue to identify authentic ways to drive genuine social impact through our broader initiatives, like the HBCU partnerships that were established in collaboration with Beyoncé.

Last year we built on this commitment by speaking up against systemic inequity and taking action toward becoming an anti-racist organization. The Peloton Pledge was not only a culmination of the horrific events surrounding George Floyd’s murder and the broader issues of systemic racism, but also a way to bring together our early social impact work and scale it to ensure that it grows at the same pace as our brand’s influence and reach. 

Scaling our social impact efforts

So what does this look like? I’d like to think that Peloton is embarking on a new model of corporate impact that moves beyond charity and philanthropy and embeds equitable outcomes into our core operations. 

Our social impact team lives by three rules as we consider growth and impact: 

• Let our vision be our guide. Our social impact team’s vision is to “empower individuals experiencing systemic inequities through physical fitness and mental wellbeing to be the best versions of themselves.” We identify partners who share our values and enable us to together bring this vision to life. 

• Co-create, don’t dictate. We collaborate with our partners -- who are the experts in the communities they’re serving -- to imagine how we can clearly articulate and accelerate impact together. We believe deeply that, rather than dictating from the beginning what our funding should go to support, this kind of co-creation sets us up for long-term and sustainable impact. 

• Impact first. We’ve established a rigorous approach to driving meaningful impact in the communities we seek to serve. Together with our partners, we lay out a plan for how our investments will result in change in knowledge, beliefs, and actions around physical fitness and mental health. Having this strong foundation enables us to confidently set measures across our work, which then demonstrate the depth and breadth of our impact.

Rapid growth and social impact can work together to position Peloton to connect the world through health and fitness. 

If you’re interested in making a difference, don’t forget to check our career site for open opportunities to join the team. Together we’ll go far!