If you attend a Peloton class led by cycling and bike boot camp instructor Tunde Oyeneyin, you might assume her high level of confidence to be a personality trait she’s manifested her whole life.
Not so.
Before Tunde became one of the most popular instructors on the Peloton platform, she spent years doing everything she could to minimize herself and go unnoticed to those around her. Tunde struggled with her weight growing up until the day she tried on dresses to be a bridesmaid in her aunt’s wedding. When she learned the store didn’t make a dress in her size, she realized she needed to make a change. Her mom told her, “If you want to change things, you have got to change things.”
She scraped pennies to obtain and maintain a gym membership, got active and fell in love with movement. Now, after pivoting to a career in fitness after serving 16 years as a makeup artist in Los Angeles, Tunde is known for her empowering and motivational rides that enable people to better both body and mind. She charges riders to surrender to change, discover power through purpose, stay rooted in empathy, show up with authenticity and allow their past knowledge and experiences to serve them today. In fact, that’s the premise of her very first book published earlier this year, “Speak: Find Your Voice, Trust Your Gut, and Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be,” a New York Times best-seller.
Everyone wants to feel confident in who they are and the skin they’re in. We all at some point struggle to find our voice and maintain the confidence to express it. “Confidence is a skill; it’s not a trait,” said Tunde in a 2022 interview.
In leadership, people have a hard time following anyone who doesn’t have a voice or lacks the confidence to back it. Great leaders speak up for themselves and others. They know their core values and communicate them well. They stand up to their own inner critic and defend themselves against imposter syndrome.
At Leadercast Women—Amplify, our can’t-miss event broadcasting Nov. 9 designed to address some of the common challenges women face in their leadership, Tunde will discuss how to find your voice to be a leader of true influence in a noisy world. She shares the stage with four fellow female leaders who will teach women from around the globe how to stand up, speak out and amplify their voices, ideas and passions.
For Tunde, she uses her voice and influence to not only empower her audience to make strides for real change in their lives, but also to advocate the importance of self-care (or “soul care” as she calls it). She encourages people to dig deep and open their minds by addressing human rights and racial injustice. She uses her experiences with a great deal of loss and grief to help others find light in dark times.
Do you know and utilize your voice as a leader? Do you remain confident in speaking up and out for your people and beliefs? Join Tunde at Leadercast Women—Amplify to learn how to use Identity Attunement to amplify your true, authentic voice as a leader. Attend the Nov. 9 broadcast in person at a location near you.
