We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Julia Meeks. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Julia below.

Julia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Ride On’s biggest and most important mission is to show up for those who find it difficult to show up for themselves. We provide a safe space for people to learn to enjoy movement and to recognize their full potential.

When I found rhythm based cycling, it did a whole lot for me. It allowed me to recognize my strength and it showed me what I’m capable of. It allowed me to create genuine connections with those around me and find a supportive community.
I never in a million years thought this would be my career path and that I would eventually open up a studio where others can find what I did through spin.

Growing up a musician, music has always helped me tap into something bigger, and I think that’s what this is all about- tapping into something bigger than ourselves.

I have always been passionate about health/wellness and can honestly say I enjoy the adrenaline that comes from cardio based workouts. When you add rhythm and music into the picture, it is AMAZING what your mind and body can do with both movement and music. At “Ride On”, this is our objective.

When you walk into the studio, there is no judgement and you are immediately family. You can truly feel that when you’re here! Whether you are here to sweat, escape, dance…you’ll have a whole support system to do it with you. It’s our mission to help you see your growth- on and off the bike!

Julia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi! My name is Julia. I’m a young entrepreneur who chose to take a huge leap of faith and switch my entire career path based on what felt right for me in my soul. Perhaps my story can help anyone else who is struggling to make a jump and potentially help get you through a tough life transition (gotta love ’em).

My whole life, I grew up a musician/vocalist. That was all I ever wanted to do, without question. I felt extremely blessed that I knew what I wanted to do and that I had a deep passion for it. I was fully going for it, and if I’m honest with you, and maybe someone can relate, I never would have guessed that the passion would be gone once I started making income from it.

It was tough to come to terms with that, but ultimately, I felt that the things I wanted, and what the deeper parts of the industry offered did not line up.

I was on a search for something different, and coming to the realization that I had actually never been open to anything else my entire life- and maybe just because I’m good at it, doesn’t mean I need to do it as a career, right?

I started thinking about my passion for health/wellness and thought about how I would feel with this being a new job (not a full time career, yet). I started looking into group fitness. I was boxing at the time, but didn’t feel I had the drive or knowledge to teach it to others. Then, I found spin.

Spin is a perfect mix of everything that fulfills me- music, movement, motivation, positivity and just GOOD ENERGY. Knowing that when I teach, I am opening up and making an impact on someone. That is what I’ve always wanted to do. Teaching spin is an opportunity to connect with others, and also connect with yourself.

Spin has become a major outlet for me. It’s fun, challenging, and you have endless opportunities for growth, no matter where you’re at on your journey.

I think that is what I am most proud of- allowing myself to be open and explore new possibilities and connections that I never saw before. Jumping into a new career is scary, and I certainly never saw myself ever becoming a “business owner”, but I would not trade it for the world.

Owning a boutique studio and starting up your own ground-up vision is not easy and comes with a lot of risks. I’m proud of myself for trusting my vision and having faith that a beautiful community would come from this. It is challenging, but so rewarding.

“Ride On” has currently been open for a little over 6 months, and I already wouldn’t trade this experience or these people for anything. I can’t wait for this journey to continue forward, and if you have not checked out “Ride On”, come join the fun and take one of our RIDE 45 rhythm-based spin classes!

If you’ve made it this far, I hope that my story could inspire you. Life is too short to not do what you love and to not take risks. You never know what can come from them. (:

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Yes, which is CRAZY to look back and think about!

I started teaching rhythm-based spin back in 2020 as a side job, even though it was what I connected with the most!

Because I loved it so much, I eventually turned it into my full time job- teaching every day during the week and picking up front desk shifts on top of that.

I felt that I’ve always had multiple “entrepreneur” bones in my body that I never quite knew what to do with. I liked being creative, I liked to plan, and I always had ideas. Whether it was planning a friend’s surprise birthday celebration or getting creative with how to cook a last minute meal for Thanksgiving- but I never thought to channel it into a career.

One day it clicked for me. I remember taking another instructor’s class and them saying, “Think about why you are doing this. What is your vision for the life you want to achieve? How will you take steps towards that?” I can still hear the little voice inside my head in that moment responding with “I want to open up my own studio”. I was a little shocked, but really tapped into that.

Here we are today, almost 3 years later on month 6 of running my own studio full time.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think with this industry you need to be resilient. There are constant day-to-day changes that you need to adapt to.

It’s definitely difficult (for me) to completely separate work from my personal life, being that work IS so personal to me. There was a time where I had to quickly recover from an unfortunate loss in my family, where I needed to teach and prepare for an event at the studio 30 minutes after I heard the news.

I am blessed enough that my work involves a strong and supportive community to lean on in times like these.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rideonfitness.com
• Instagram: @rideontampa
• Facebook: @rideontampa
• Other: TikTok: @rideontpa