“Be true to yourself and surround yourself with positive, supportive people.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Having challenges in your life open doors for you.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Surround yourself with people who only lift you higher.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I believe you win the race by looking forward, not behind.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I want little girls to believe that they can be CEOs.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Millennials are a bit more free-spirited, more able to go into new places, to feel more assertive and fearless about trying new things.”
― Payal Kadakia
“What’s crucial is to never get stuck. Making hard decisions is such an important part of being a startup in order to keep moving forward.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Surround yourself with people who lift you higher.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Dance has always been the center of who I am. It has given me the inspiration to help other people find a hobby, passion, and activity that fulfills them. It also taught me some of the many skills I need as an entrepreneur: a hard work ethic that takes practice to master and the confidence to persevere through any challenges.”
― Payal Kadakia
“To me, I will be a stronger person if I’m moving forward, doing the work I want, and continue to drive: force the purpose that I want to create versus doing what other people think I should be doing, which is never a way to live.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Every day is quite unique, which is one of my favorite things!”
― Payal Kadakia
“It’s really about if you do the work. Work hard; your results will speak for themselves.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I get bursts of creativity with bursts of physical activity.”
― Payal Kadakia
“The impact we have on people’s lives, to me, is more important than any title anyone can carry.”
― Payal Kadakia
“When I started fundraising like me and leading like me, that’s when I really started to shine and find my own rhythm.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I think, as a founder and entrepreneur, you just keep hustling through it.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Movement inspires a lot in me.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I want to stay active. I want to find that mind-body connection every single day, and I want other people to have that because we spend our lives on our phones, at our desks. We’re not thinking about our bodies and the mental connections we should be having, and those moments help us push through to live our best life.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Growing up as a South Asian-American, I didn’t have any female role models.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I plan my time to a ‘T.’ I plan when I am going to sleep; I plan when I am going to relax. I obviously leave time to have spontaneous life experiences – I think that’s really important. But so much of it is setting up you mental energy in the right way to get the most out of your day and time.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I truly believe that everyone can be creative; you just need to find your form of expression.”
― Payal Kadakia
“If you love what you do, it’s not work.”
― Payal Kadakia
“We’re not trying to be Nike. It’s about evolving into new products that are going to make people’s lives better.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Being a dancer or athlete of any type teaches you the fundamentals of discipline… and the ability to know you can grow.”
― Payal Kadakia
“In a startup, there have to be challenges. Otherwise, someone else would have done it already. And that’s almost the most exciting part.”
― Payal Kadakia
“We want people to be active so you’ll be happier and be more yourself.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I never feel bad. You can’t feel bad – you have to just make the best decision you can at the time you’re in and be like, ‘That’s the decision I believe in.’”
― Payal Kadakia
“The worst thing you can do is sit there and do nothing, right?”
― Payal Kadakia
“The best thing I could do is build a successful company and continue to innovate and be in the right role I want to be in. If I’m not doing that, I’m inauthentic. That’s not a good role model to anyone. That, to me, is the most important thing.”
― Payal Kadakia
“It’s about knowing yourself and what you’re good at. Females, males – anyone can be anything they want to be.”
― Payal Kadakia
“It’s OK when something doesn’t work. It gives you another data point when things do work.”
― Payal Kadakia
“You can always change your branding or hire lawyers, but it’s critical that you figure out if you have product market fit, and if you don’t, figure out how to course-correct without getting stuck.”
― Payal Kadakia
“You make sure to set True Norths for your company. You can’t be involved in every decision and every meeting; you have to make sure the mission is very built into the culture, the product, and how you communicate.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I am anal about my Gmail calendar. It’s my life. I put everything in there – my to-do list, or even if I want to do things.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I work out once a day. When I’m in a massive dance show mode, I’ll probably be active for about 20 hours each week.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I set goals for myself every three months. I write them down.”
― Payal Kadakia
“The only way to do everything in your life is to find awesome people to lean on so you can focus your time.”
― Payal Kadakia
“There are so many times when I think I don’t have time to dance, but I force it into my life because I know it’s so important.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Every moment you wake up and you want to go for a run, or you want to take a class, you should be able to just go.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Sometimes people go to a yoga class and think it’s not for them, but it might just not be the right studio or teacher – try a new one!”
― Payal Kadakia
“The variety and flexibility of ClassPass is limitless, ensuring that you’ll never get bored, and neither will your muscles.”
― Payal Kadakia
“When I dance, I go to a different side of who I am. I feel like I can solve a problem without knowing I’m solving one.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I love meeting our users and partners and talking to them about how ClassPass has made an impact.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I travel pretty frequently, but a few things that are routine are going for a run, getting my green tea in the morning, and checking email… well, all the time!”
― Payal Kadakia
“I like to work out every single day. And it’s about movement.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Sometimes females feel like they should act like men, but they should really just be themselves.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I’m 4’11”, but that doesn’t matter if I’m showing conviction and confidence in what I’m doing.”
― Payal Kadakia
“It’s really lonely trying to build something by yourself. It’s good to have thought partners to bounce ideas off of.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I needed to build a product that got people back to working out.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I will always do what’s best for the company.”
― Payal Kadakia
“We’re encouraged by the engagement on ClassPass and the tremendous growth we’ve had that shows we are fulfilling our mission of helping people live a more active life.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I work out once a day – it’s built into my ethos.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I think I learned to overcome some things in life through dance.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I love barre because even when I’m not dancing, I feel like I’m training those same muscles.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Every person is different and unique. I am a female. I’m Indian. I’m 4’11”. People should never be defined by what they look like and sort of these demographical parts about them, but the most important thing is the work you do, so females are just as capable as doing that as males, and the same thing with any other person out there.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I think it’s so important to have a great support network when you feel like you can’t – I would actually go and talk to the people who tell you that you can.”
― Payal Kadakia
“We stipulate about where we need to be in life: By this age you should be married, by this age you should have kids. But it’s not that you can only do this or only do that. It’s really about creating a holistic life: about planning ahead and being efficient with your time and really listening to yourself.”
― Payal Kadakia
“You should wake up in the morning and say, ‘What do I want to do today? What’s going to make me happy?’”
― Payal Kadakia
“Any time you find yourself doing something out of obligation, that’s a time you should start questioning whether you’re spending your time wisely.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I’m an artist in my heart.”
― Payal Kadakia
“As long as I’m building and doing what I want to do, that’s the only thing that matters.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I’m not going out there screaming, ‘I’m CEO! I’m CEO!’ That’s not the way to do it.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Founders are exceptional, and they all want to go back to creating. And I feel privileged to be able to do that.”
― Payal Kadakia
“You can’t replicate Seamless or OpenTable for another industry.”
― Payal Kadakia
“When I first started out, there were times I would dress or act in a way because I thought it was expected of me or that people would take me more seriously. But once I started leading in a way that was authentically me, that is when I really started to see success.”
― Payal Kadakia
“You need people to encourage you along the way, both during your success and failures, because there will be both.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I reason that as long as I’m smiling 90 percent of the time, I can handle the setbacks that occur 10 percent of the time.”
― Payal Kadakia
“When it’s time to recharge, I don’t feel guilty about it.”
― Payal Kadakia
“The more you practice something, the easier it’ll become.”
― Payal Kadakia
“We never would have built ClassPass if I hadn’t learned so much from the Classtivity experience.”
― Payal Kadakia
“No business is good when, on the last day of the month, you’re like, ‘What was the usage for the month?’”
― Payal Kadakia
“I think I had a lot of people who were like, ‘Payal, we love you, but product’s not there,’ or ‘business is not there.’ I never gave up, though.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I always say investors invest in lines, not dots.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I remember going out to raise my Series A and ending up with multiple term sheets when I had gone to Silicon Valley probably four times at that point and coming back with nothing.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I thought, ‘I have ideas. I’m creative.’ I just didn’t see why I should be pigeon-holing myself in the business world or staying in corporate America when I already knew that I was capable of taking risks.”
― Payal Kadakia
“My assumption was that people are already motivated to go to a fitness class. That’s who I am. I was already ready to go out there and get to class. All I needed was a search tool. But it turns out people need more than that, and that’s why gym memberships exist.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I basically live in workout clothes.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Some people have that school of thought where fitness isn’t enjoyable, but we’re making it enjoyable, I think, by making it more fun, challenging, and engaging rather than this boring thing that you have to do. It’s about using technology and data to change this experience.”
― Payal Kadakia
“We want you to find that thing that will make your life better.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Without a story, people aren’t going to connect to what you’re telling, what you have a pain point about. It’s so important for them to know why you’ve created the company, without that connection to the broader vision that you have – why are you going to do it? What are you going to accomplish?”
― Payal Kadakia
“I think, when I see entrepreneurs, they tend to talk about the market and the industry – which is obviously very important, but the most important thing is you’re product. What are you selling? And does it really have product-market fit?”
― Payal Kadakia
“You need to keep having data points of progress, so even if an investor – and we’ve all had investors say no to us – there are times where you go back, and you keep them in the loop, and you keep telling them the progress and the perseverance you have.”
― Payal Kadakia
“You have to learn to sell yourself. I think people forget they need to look at where else they’ve really performed in their life, where they’ve been in a place where they were confident.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Working out is so mentally and physically important.”
― Payal Kadakia
“As we’ve got more data, and ClassPass has grown, we’ve had to change rather than have a one-size fits all approach.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Focus on your product. A lot of people focus on the name of their brand or the legal aspects, but it’s more important to create your product. It’s why people join. It’s your vision. Without your product, nothing is going to happen.”
― Payal Kadakia
“In running my own company, I was too busy for a while, and I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll stop dancing for a bit.’ It was the worst decision ever. I just lost my creativity and my drive.”
― Payal Kadakia
“ClassPass, to me, is people are choosing a lifestyle to live; it’s saying, ‘Yes, I want to work out and live my healthiest happiest.’”
― Payal Kadakia
“I remember, at MIT, we had to write an essay about something mathematical that you do in your extra time. I basically wrote about how dance, to me, was geometry: it was all shapes.”
― Payal Kadakia
“When I was 5 years old, I saw people dancing in my head. In college, I would choreograph for the cultural shows, and in my notes, I would actually create formations of people. It was how my whole brain worked.”
― Payal Kadakia
“If you feel good, it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Allowing our staff to mix their life with work only makes them more productive and in love with the work that they’re doing.”
― Payal Kadakia
“I want our staff to be able to feel like themselves.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Failure is an amazing data point that tells you which direction not to go.”
― Payal Kadakia
“Whenever people are trying to give you money, and you’re like, ‘No! Don’t,’ you have to stop and consider, what am I saying no to?”
― Payal Kadakia
“When something is aspirational, you don’t want someone to be thinking about payment every single time.”
― Payal Kadakia
“If I exercise once or twice a day on vacation and don’t want to wash my hair too often. I pack a lot of dry shampoo, like Amika’s.”
― Payal Kadakia
“People saw more magic in me than I saw.”
― Payal Kadakia
“You need to find that thing that’s going to get you through your day and that you’re excited about. No day should ever be lived without feeling like it was a fulfilling day. You need to set yourself up for that.”
― Payal Kadakia
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