What do you do when the career you want keeps saying not yet? If you're Alicia Portelli, you open your own studio, close it when the universe makes it clear it's time, pack up your life and move to Singapore, build something beautiful there too, and then — nine years after first watching a coach on Instagram and thinking I want to work with that person someday — you move to New York and make it happen. The plot twist? That coach is now her boss at AARMY. In this episode, Alicia and Hannah dig into what resilience actually looks like from the inside — not the highlight reel version, but the fired-twice, start-over, teach-to-two-people version — and why hard things might be exactly the point. EPISODE SUMMARY Alicia Portelli is a cycling coach now based in New York, where she teaches at AARMY alongside Akin Akman — the coach who first inspired her back in 2017 when she watched a video of him riding to Our House with his hands off the handlebars. Originally from Sydney, Australia, Alicia spent years teaching across the country's top cycle studios before opening her own — JAMM — a community-driven studio that became known globally for the athleticism of its riders and the family it built. After closing JAMM in 2023, she moved to Singapore to lead the cycling division at one of Asia's largest boutique fitness studios, coaching across Singapore, Bangkok, Malaysia, Mexico, and beyond — before finally landing in New York in early 2026. In this conversation, Alicia walks Hannah through the full, beautifully nonlinear journey: the stranger who double-timed in her class and redirected her entire career, the two studio firings that didn't break her, the Lululemon ambassador call where she blurted out "I'm going to open my own studio" with zero plans, the noise complaints that eventually closed JAMM, and the twelve-month visa process that stood between her and the job she'd already been offered at AARMY. But this episode isn't only a career story. Alicia gets honest about her long battle with bulimia — how it shaped her need for control, how she eventually found her way through it, and how that experience quietly became the foundation for the way she coaches today. She also opens up about the cost of being so tunnel-visioned on career that other parts of life can get left behind, and what she's actively working to change about that. You'll also hear Alicia and Hannah go deep on the creative practice of building a coaching identity — how to pull inspiration from everywhere without just copying someone else's homework, why simplicity on the bike is sometimes the hardest and most powerful thing you can offer a room, and what Michael Jackson, Fred Again, and a Pilates teacher's vocal authority all have in common. Plus: book recommendations, the "rapid river" metaphor that made Hannah tear up mid-interview, and the playlist conversation that will absolutely derail your evening. If you've ever been told no, wondered if the slow build is actually adding up to anything, or needed permission to start over one more time — this episode is it. Connect with Alicia InstagramAARMYBooks mentioned: Want to level up your coaching abilities? The SPRING SALE is HERE for all Instructor Magic courses, including 1:1 coaching! Get up to 40% off online education with lifetime access in the Instructor Magic Academy and suite of courses for instructors who want to level up, fill classes, and change lives.
