Speak: Find Your Voice, Trust Your Gut, and Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

by Tunde Oyeneyin

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Tunde's compelling personal story of how she got from where she started to where she is now is a master class in overcoming adversity.

From Tunde Oyeneyin, the massively popular Peloton instructor, fitness star, and founder of SPEAK, comes an empowering, inspiring book that shows how she transformed grief, setbacks, and flaws into growth, self-confidence, and triumph—for fans of Shonda Rhimes, Brene Brown, and Glennon Doyle.

On any given day, thousands of devoted people clip into their bikes and have their lives changed by Tunde Oyeneyin. From her platform in a Peloton studio, she encourages riders with her trademark blend of positivity, empathy, and motivational “Tunde-isms,” to push themselves to their limits both on and off the bike. Now, fans and readers everywhere can learn about her personal journey, and discover how they too can “live a life of purpose, on purpose” with Speak, a memoir-manifesto-guide to life inspired by her immensely popular Instagram Live series of the same name.

Taking us through each step of the SPEAK acronym—Surrender, Power, Empathy, Authenticity, and Knowledge—Oyeneyin shares the lessons she has learned about loss, love, body image, and how she has successfully created an intentional, joyful life for herself, offering an accessible blueprint for anyone looking to make a positive change in their lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982195441
Publisher:	Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	7,428
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Tunde Oyeneyin, a Texas native of Nigerian descent, is a motivational speaker and a Peloton instructor, training nearly 20,000 riders on any given day. She began her career as a professional makeup artist and brand educator for some of the most sought-after beauty lines in the world. She was named a face of Revlon cosmetics and a Nike Athlete in 2021. Tunde was named to InStyle’s “The Badass 50” list in 2022 and has been featured on Today, Good Morning America, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and more. She lives with her dog Cesar in New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 The Perfect Dress 1

Authenticity

2 A Life of Purpose 17

Empathy

3 Left Foot, Right Foot 35

Power

4 The Blue Light 55

Surrender

5 A Starting Point 79

Power

6 Second Chances 91

Authenticity

7 A New York Moment 99

Knowledge

8 The Mirror 113

Empathy

9 Speak Up 135

Authenticity

10 The Chop 161

Power

11 Always There 177

Knowledge

12 Life Cycles 201

Surrender

Afterword 213

Acknowledgments 215

Editorial Reviews

2022-03-19
A memoir and inspirational guide from the popular Peloton cycling instructor.

In her debut, Oyeneyin, a first-generation American whose parents “emigrated from Nigeria to Houston” before she was born, shares the personal journey that has allowed her to live “on purpose, of purpose, and with purpose.” From an early age, she struggled with her weight, allowing her insecurities to “imprison” her. The author contends that many of us get trapped by our personal expectations and intentionally self-imposed limits. Once she began losing weight, Oyeneyin took notice of the comments she received. “Society had showed me that looking a certain way meant I was invited into places I didn’t fit before, and I now realized that hadn’t been far from the truth,” she writes. With a new sense of confidence, she began pursuing a career as a makeup artist in Houston. Based on encouragement from friends, she moved to Los Angeles to advance her career. The author recounts the ups and downs of her career journey, which ultimately led to finding her calling as a cycling instructor and her dream job, working in New York for Peloton. Oyeneyin also shares a personal experience with racial profiling by the police. Having found her own voice, the author felt compelled to help other women do the same. She formed a group called SPEAK, based on her “five key pillars”—Surrender, Power, Empathy, Authenticity, and Knowledge—created a “SPEAK Up” ride for Peloton, and launched an interview series on Instagram, “showcasing the voices of Black celebrities so that people could see that even they had dealt with racism.” Throughout the book, Oyeneyin tells stories from her own life that correlate with each pillar. Much of the author’s guidance can be found in other self-help books, but her drive to motivate others is apparent.

Fans of Oyeneyin will appreciate her guidance and find pieces of solid advice from her personal experiences.

Kirkus Reviews