Cracking the Code

Emily Katz of B/SPOKE

B/SPOKE, the popular spin studio in Boston that opened a satellite studio, “The Cape House” in Mashpee Commons a few years ago, also found themselves at a crossroad on March 16, 2020 when the state regulations shuttered businesses like theirs. Emily Katz, Director of Studios, says the entire team at B/SPOKE jumped on a call the next day and started to brainstorm. “We started thinking on a bigger and grander scale and took advantage of using this time out of the studio to reimagine our goals. We were able to finally consider green-lighting a bunch of ideas that we had on the back burner and never seemed possible because we were so busy running the day-to-day.” Those creative moments launched virtual offerings for this organization as well. “We thought, if people can’t get to the studio, let’s get the classes to them,’ Katz recalls, a concept perfectly poised given the worldwide phenomenon that the global brand of Peleton was concurrently experiencing. In addition to spin classes, the team at B/SPOKE developed online yoga and strength training classes for members who did not have access to a bike in their home.

The response from the public was profound, and according to Katz, gave the organization the confirmation that during this time of internal reflection people were experiencing, their product offering was both empowering as well as nurturing. As the weather improved through the spring and summer months, the creative team had another revolutionary idea. “We decided to do a pop-up outdoor spin class in the parking lot at Mashpee Commons for the Fourth of July weekend,” Katz remembers. “Our studio staff set up 50 bikes that we stored in storage pods in the parking lot, and the classes filled up.“ They continued with the classes through October, as the bikes were wheeled out of the storage pods early in the morning, and back in when the day’s classes ended. Yoga and strength training classes found a home on the grassy expanse of The Commons’ band shell, previously enjoyed by concert-goers from another time and era.

The years of 2020 and 2021 certainly have earned their place in the history books, but for Cape Cod businesses, many whom have struggled to stay afloat during such life altering times, and many who have invested everything they have to try new things, the wide ranging innovation and creativity have made the Cape a shining example of resilience.