Riding High by Ruth Zukerman: A Blueprint for Reinventing Your Life
Ruth Zukerman's memoir Riding High isn't just another business success story—it's everything you need to know about personal reinvention.
By the time Zukerman found herself promoting Flywheel in her 50s while navigating menopause in the youth-oriented fitness industry, she already had lots of experience starting over.
As the co-founder of both SoulCycle and Flywheel, she had repeatedly faced situations that required her to rebuild, rethink, and restart—from ending her marriage to rebuilding her professional life to learning to stand on her own.
Whether you're changing careers, starting over after a major life change, or simply feeling stuck, her life lessons offer practical wisdom for navigating change.
Who This Book Is For
While Riding High offers valuable insights for anyone facing change, it speaks to:
Women Starting Over: Whether through choice or circumstance, starting over can feel overwhelming. Zukerman's journey from dependent daughter to wife to independent entrepreneur offers a roadmap for women rebuilding their lives.
Midlife Reinventors: Those facing midlife transitions will find a kindred spirit in Zukerman. She tackles the challenges of reinvention after 50, including:
Building physical confidence in a youth-oriented industry
Navigating body changes while in the public eye
Finding strength in experience rather than seeing age as a liability
Entrepreneurs Seeking Authenticity: For business builders tired of polished success stories, Zukerman offers a refreshingly honest look at:
The messy reality of partnership dynamics
Balancing rapid growth with maintaining quality
Managing public scrutiny and criticism
Building a business aligned with personal values
Empty Nesters and Career Changers: Those facing an identity shift will appreciate Zukerman's insights about:
Rediscovering yourself after a life role ends
Building confidence in new environments
Learning to trust your instincts
Finding purpose in unexpected places
Through her journey, Zukerman distills five core principles for successful transformation:
knowing yourself deeply
building authentic relationships
making aligned decisions
developing resilience
embracing imperfection
These lessons form the foundation of her approach to both personal and professional growth.
1. The Foundation: Building Self-Knowledge
The heart of successful reinvention is understanding yourself. Zukerman learned this lesson repeatedly as she evolved from a dependent daughter to an independent entrepreneur, rebuilding her life and identity along the way.
"You're far more likely to seek out and sustain good relationships at work and in your personal life if you get to know yourself first." - Lesson #4
This self-knowledge proves essential when facing transitions, such as:
Moving from employee to entrepreneur
Rebuilding after a relationship ends
Starting fresh in a new industry
Adapting to an empty nest
Navigating midlife career changes
Learning to trust yourself is the key to success in all these changes.
As Zukerman notes in Lesson #19:
"One of the most difficult things for us to do in life is to recognize who we really are---our true selves---when confronted with others who are confidently telling us that we're doing things wrong and should change."
2. Building Better Relationships Through Self-Awareness
Zukerman shows how our family relationships shape how we work with others. Understanding these patterns helps us build stronger business relationships.
"Unless we make an effort to understand our past, many of us replay our family dynamics and repeat our relationship issues in our romantic partners, friendships, and business associations." - Lesson #7
This awareness becomes crucial when:
Forming business partnerships
Building a team
Managing conflicts
Delegating responsibilities
Setting boundaries
3. Making Decisions in Times of Change
The heart of Riding High is about making tough decisions. Whether leaving her marriage, starting new businesses, or facing physical changes, Zukerman shows how to make choices that match your values.
"Yes, sometimes you must change your path to flow with the changes in your life, but be as still as you can, and make your decisions based not on other people's judgement but on your own." - Lesson #17
She emphasizes the importance of:
Trusting your intuition
Resisting pressure to make rushed decisions
Maintaining quality while scaling
Staying true to your vision even when others disagree
4. Building Resilience Through Adversity
Riding High stands out because Zukerman shares the hard stuff. Instead of glossing over difficulties, she talks honestly about public criticism, business failures, and even menopause. Her message is clear: real strength comes from facing challenges, not avoiding them.
"Each time you fail, you will discover, as I did, that failure can teach us much more than success." - Lesson #2
Her experiences teach us that resilience involves:
Learning from failures
Maintaining perspective during public criticism
Adapting to unexpected changes
Finding strength in solitude
Embracing imperfection
5. The Courage to Be Imperfect
For me, the best part of Riding High is Zukerman's brave choice to share her story—warts and all.
When an advance reader suggested she remove some parts to protect her reputation, she refused. Her decision makes her book far more valuable than many others. We want to know how others navigate life's challenges because we face them, too.
"Each time you fail, you will discover, as I did, that failure can teach us much more than success." - Lesson #2
Her courage in sharing imperfection matters because:
It Validates Real Experience: By sharing her struggles, Zukerman creates space for readers to acknowledge their own challenges. Her honesty about therapy, divorce, and business setbacks normalizes the hard parts of growth that other memoirs often gloss over.
It Shows True Leadership: Rather than presenting herself as an infallible expert, Zukerman shows that authentic leadership includes:
Admitting mistakes and learning from them
Showing vulnerability while maintaining strength
Being honest about personal struggles
Leading through example rather than perfection
It Offers Real Hope: Unlike carefully curated success stories that can leave readers feeling inadequate, Zukerman offers encouragement. Success doesn’t require perfection, just persistence and the courage to keep growing.
Why This Book Matters Now
In an era where reinvention is becoming the norm rather than the exception, Zukerman’s lessons are more relevant than ever.
Riding High is honest about the messy reality of change. Rather than presenting a sanitized success story, we see the doubts, mistakes, and setbacks that came with each of Zukerman’s transformations.
This memoir is both an inspiration and a practical guide for anyone facing their own journey.
Whether you’re starting a business, changing careers, or rebuilding after a personal setback, Zukerman’s experiences offer valuable insights for navigating change while staying true to yourself.
It's become one of my favorite memoirs.
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I originally reviewed this book in August 2020, but its lessons about resilience, reinvention, and authentic leadership feel even more relevant today. While the book contains 22 specific lessons, the overarching message is clear—we are all capable of reinvention at any age, and our challenges often become our greatest teachers.
