Flywheel Sports Inc., New York, has appointed Sarah Robb O’Hagan as chief executive officer, effective Wednesday, Flywheel announced.
Previously, O'Hagan had been president of Equinox, New York, where she started in August 2012. In February 2016, she left Equinox, which owns Flywheel's competitor SoulCycle, to start EXTREMEYOU, a start-up content platform with inspirational and educational articles for "extremers." She also wrote a book, "EXTREMEYOU," which is about over-achievers from all walks of life. Her EXTREMEYOU website says the book will be available in April.
Prior to joining Equinox, O'Hagan had served as global president of Gatorade, where she led the business through a major repositioning and business turnaround. She has also held leadership positions at both Nike and Virgin Atlantic Airways.
As CEO of Flywheel Sports, she plans to transform the business into an omni-channel lifestyle brand through the enrichment of program content, enhanced services and the strengthening of its technology platform, according to the announcement.
The announcement called O'Hagan "a high-energy combination of disruptive business leader, fitness fanatic, passionate author, and cheerleading mom."
O'Hagan said in the announcement: "I'm so fired up to be joining the Flywheel team. I feel like this great business is the opportunity towards which my entire career has been building. Having spent the last few years writing a book about what it takes to exploit your own potential, it was amazing for this role to present itself at the exact moment that I knew where I needed to be. Flywheel has an awesome team delivering an indoor cycling experience that has all manner of potential to stretch into additional offerings. We have an incredible growing community of passionate riders and barre participants that come into our studios every day wanting to push themselves to the next level. I can't wait to help them get there with even more innovative offerings that meet their fitness needs.”
Flywheel Sports has 40 boutique studios in the United States. It is private equity backed with more than 1,200 employees, according to the announcement. Flywheel launched its flagship studio in the Flatiron district of New York in 2010. In her new role, O'Hagan will be based out of the company’s headquarters in the Flatiron district. Flywheel also created FlyBarre, which now has 22 locations alongside Flywheel studios.
"I am thrilled to have Sarah join us to provide the vision and leadership to enable the brand to realize its great potential," Lew Frankfort, executive chairman of Flywheel Sports and chairman emeritus of Coach Inc., said in the announcement. "Her experiences leading innovation and transformation as an executive in the airline, sports and fitness industries as well as her clear personal passion for our mission to help people achieve their physical potential makes her the perfect match for this opportunity. I am delighted to partner with Sarah in the next chapter of our journey."
Flywheel Sports Co-founder Ruth Zukerman, who is actively involved with the company as creative director, said, "I am so excited to welcome Sarah to Flywheel. Her energy and passion for our team and our riders are just the right recipe to help us take our business to the next level."
Ed Kinnaly had served as president and CEO of Flywheel until August 2016 when he left the company. He was appointed to the position in January 2015.