{"id":3877,"date":"2021-04-19T16:55:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T20:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/?p=3877"},"modified":"2025-01-28T09:18:25","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:18:25","slug":"experiential-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/2021\/04\/experiential-exercise\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiential Exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jen Cotter \u201994 pursued a career path that led from a television internship in college to her role as a Peloton executive<\/em>.<\/h6>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

By Katharine Gammon<\/span><\/p>\n

Jen Cotter \u201994 says she\u2019s been lucky in her life. But fortune favors the prepared mind, and she has always been ready to tackle big challenges \u2014 from television shows to her current role as chief content officer at Peloton, an interactive fitness company. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cotter was in the first generation of her family to go to college, and when she arrived at Seton Hall, she took a television production class \u2014 and fell in love with the behind-the-scenes aspects of the business. \u201cWhy not do a job that you could have a lot of fun at?\u201d Cotter recalls. She went on to major in communications and minor in psychology and Japanese.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the spring of her senior year, Cotter lucked into a dream gig: a semester-long internship with the \u201cLate Show with David Letterman\u201d in New York City. She commuted in and out of the city by bus to work a full-time job as her friends were enjoying the end of their college years on campus.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing that has led Cotter through her career, she says, is a knowledge of her unique strengths. As she worked as an assistant to Letterman\u2019s executive producer, she realized she could use what she had to her advantage.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t the smartest person in the room. I was never the funniest person in the room \u2014 it\u2019s hard to be [that] at Letterman,\u201d she says, in a characteristically understated way. \u201cBut I was really focused. I knew my place; I was\u00a0<\/span>solutions-oriented<\/span>. I wasn\u2019t emotional, and I loved being there.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Allyson Jerome \u201994 roomed with Cotter at Seton Hall \u2014 they met during their first\u00a0<\/span>year.\u201c<\/span>\u00a0[Jen] was smart, friendly, outgoing, humble and funny as heck,\u201d Jerome says. \u201cPeople gravitated towards her. I still see all these same qualities in Jen today.\u201d\u00a0 Cotter was working while her classmates were still wondering what to do with their lives. \u201cWe knew she was certainly capable of great things.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early on, Cotter worked as a writer\u2019s assistant, a production coordinator, and at other entertainment jobs \u2014 a process of elimination to find out what she liked, she says. Eventually, she began developing content and talent, creating shows such as \u201cSnapped\u201d and \u201cGirls Behaving Badly\u201d on Oxygen before moving to the Home Shopping Network.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then she got a Peloton bike and was able to stream studio-style classes led by an instructor into her home. Cotter instantly understood the importance of the connection because she had learned so much about the power of on-air hosts at HSN. \u201cI got the Peloton, and I fell in love with it for all those reasons.\u201d When a job opportunity came up at the company a few years ago, she saw it as the perfect fit, tailor-made for her professional expertise and passion for Peloton.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cotter says Peloton is attuned to its 4.4-million strong customer base, and members connect with\u00a0<\/span>each other<\/span>\u00a0as well as the company. As chief content officer, she helps design classes and guide the instructors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Peloton offers thousands of classes, and any one of them would provide a good workout. But Cotter knows how much members love their instructors, so she and her team spend a lot of time thinking about ways to curate the lessons to suggest the best options for a busy member who may want to go on a quick ride but does not have time to pick from all the options. \u201cThe entertainment value is something that we cherish, and [we] continue to develop the production quality, making sure it looks the best and invites you in the quickest,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Combining entertainment, personalities, and music is all part of the promise of fitness content in the future. Peloton now offers 10 types of workouts, including strength, running and yoga \u2014 with plans to keep innovating.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t even imagine that I got this opportunity in life \u2013 I\u2019ve been so fortunate along the way.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Katharine Gammon is a freelance writer based in Santa Monica.<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jen Cotter \u201994 pursued a career path that led from a television internship in college to her role as a Peloton executive. <\/p>\n

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