Spoke Club - How We Got Here
It’s amazing how we end up exactly where we’re supposed to be. Especially when we stop forcing a narrative that isn’t serving us any longer. I had that experience 4 years ago when I went with my gut and walked away from both a successful career and my comfort zone. I did it to move down to Costa Rica with my then fiancé (now husband). One of the draws for us was an opportunity to live a healthier lifestyle. Being an athlete pretty much my entire life, exercise and physical exertion is in my DNA. I crave sweat, exertion, breathing hard, getting uncomfortable and feeling gains. Throughout my corporate career, indoor cycling was my favorite way to release stress and get those feel good endorphins running through my body. I was obsessed; either on a bike in a hip studio or at home, I was cycling as much as 7 days a week.
When we moved to Tamarindo, I found Jess Beers. She was the owner and master instructor at White Lotus Transformation and she was offering an instructor certification training. I dove right in, taking her classes (she’s amazing!) and going through the certification training. What started as teaching a couple classes per week, soon turned into teaching most days. My husband also happens to be a self-described cycling nerd like me! It’s really our favorite “us” time. When Jess decided to move on to a new chapter, we bought the bikes and equipment and built our new studio, Spoke Club. Jess is still involved, holding instructor trainings and retreats at Spoke Club. So for all of you loyal WLT fans, you’ll see her on occasion and feel her influence! You can find her at jessbeers.com.
We’ve already had lots of inquiries and curiosity about the name, the studio design and the website. We’re lucky enough to have an amazing network in Tamarindo. One of many perks living here is that you meet lots of interesting and super creative people. Ryan Priest, who owns Pixelcarve, a Toronto based web development company (pixelcarve.com) is without a doubt the most creative person we’ve met with respect to physical design and branding (which goes way beyond his day job). He thrives at taking your idea and objective and turning it into a full blown branding opportunity that differentiates you from the rest.
We want to openly and whole heartedly welcome you to come experience the studio and boutique lounge for yourself and stay connected to us on www.spoke.club. Speaking of our website, one of our new instructors, Pasha Tabibzadegan, is also a Canadian based web developer from Vancouver Island at Brain Wave Creative. With extensive experience in digital marketing and website development, Pasha was looking to get involved in the community a bit more and up his personal health game when he found WLT. While going though the instructor certification training, we learned about Pasha’s professional background and hired him to develop our website. Not only will Pasha be instructing at Spoke Club but he’s the guy behind our website and our social handles. Oh, and Pasha’s a musician as well, performing at local venues in Playa Grande. Cool, right?! You can follow him @pash_attack on IG.
Finally, I need to talk about my husband for a quick moment. Rob is a genius in the IT world and has a passion for music. He has worked tirelessly on the sound system and ensuring every detail is in place as construction continues. He has a unique talent for sound, which makes sense as he’s played in a band for decades (check out @whiteyfordlive). This has been a labor of love and I’ve enjoyed watching him in his zone. Thanks, babe. You rock!
If you’ve made it this far, you’ve hopefully noticed a trend with each person mentioned in bringing Spoke Club to life. It’s innate passion. Passion for expressing oneself through creation. You see it in the logo, the design, the website, the live experience in the studio (and soon to be boutique lounge). That’s what we promise to provide you at Spoke Club, a venue that allows you to be passionate about yourself and the story you’re creating. A “sanctuary” where you can feel good about saying yes to you, regardless of the noise the world throws your way.
Over the course of the next several months, we’ll be growing Spoke Club by introducing new instructors, completing the boutique lounge and offering additional class types. So please stick with us and stay connected. We want you on this journey too! See you on the bike.
— Brooke Swanson