Equinox group fitness instructors share what they hope members take away from Pride.
Pride isn’t just a moment for joyful celebration. It’s an opportunity to reflect, connect, and empower.
To commemorate the season, which begins in June and continues through the summer, three group fitness instructors are opening up about the meaning of Pride and the transformative power of building community at Equinox.
Layton Taylor, Group Fitness Manager
Pronouns: He/Him
Clubs: All Equinox London Clubs (primarily Bishopsgate, but also Kensington and E. St. James’s)
About Layton: “I joined Equinox in 2020 at a time when there was a lot of uncertainty due to COVID. I really thrived with the opportunity to help bring our community back into the Clubs and get people moving again. As a group fitness manager, I take pride in supporting both my team and our members in achieving their goals and getting the most out of their training
“My favorite classes to coach are Stronger, a dedicated strength format, and EQX3, a hybrid class that Natalie Hope and I co-designed for London as a regional hero program. My classes are high-energy and purposeful, with a strong focus on performance, but are always grounded in connection and support. Having competed as a Welsh and U.K. sprint champion at 17 first shaped my passion for performance training and still influences my love for coaching Precision Run today.”
Tell us about the community you’ve found and built through Equinox. How has it impacted your life?
“The community I’ve found and built through Equinox has been genuinely transformative. It goes far beyond fitness — it’s a space where people show up not just to train but to belong. Every class becomes a shared experience of pushing limits, lifting each other up, and celebrating progress, no matter how small.
“For me, personally, it’s reinforced the importance of connection in well-being. It’s impacted my mental and emotional health as much as my physical. It's reminding me daily that authenticity and vulnerability are strengths. Being part of this community has empowered me to show up fully as myself while also creating an environment where others feel safe to do the same. That sense of shared energy and trust is something I never take for granted.”
What do you want members to better understand about Pride?
“It’s about more than a celebration. It’s about visibility, connection, and the power of being fully seen. It’s also a moment to recognize and remember those who came before us, who made it possible for us to live more openly and freely today. Pride is a reminder that everyone deserves to feel safe and valued exactly as they are, not just for one month, but every single day.
“For me, this is deeply personal. I met my partner in one of my cycle classes before my time at Equinox, and it was in that environment — surrounded by energy, music, and community — that our connection began. We’ve now been together for seven years and recently got engaged, and it all started in a space where we both felt comfortable showing up as ourselves. That experience really shaped how I view what we do as instructors. It’s never just about the workout.
“That’s what I aim to create in every class: a space where people feel seen, supported, and confident enough to be unapologetically themselves. Because when that happens, it goes far beyond fitness. Real connections are formed, lives are changed, and sometimes even love stories begin.”
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Pride is a reminder that everyone deserves to feel safe and valued exactly as they are, not just for one month, but every single day.
Casey Sines, Group Fitness Instructor
Pronouns: She/Her
Clubs: Equinox Palos Verdes and South Bay
About Casey: “I joined Equinox in the fall of 2022 and hold National Academy of Sports Medicine certifications in personal training and group fitness, along with running, strength, cycling, rowing, cardio, and TRX. Alongside coaching at Equinox, I’ve spent nearly a decade working in on-camera and voice-led fitness across global digital platforms. My favorite classes to teach are Beats Ride, Elevate, and Precision Run.”
Tell us about the community you’ve found and built through Equinox. How has it impacted your life?
“Through Equinox, I’ve met some of the most important people in my life. I came in expecting to teach and train, but what I found, in the most beautiful way, was a true community. During some of the hardest seasons of my life, it was the family I built at Equinox that showed up for me, supported me, and reminded me I wasn’t alone. I say it in class, and I genuinely mean it: ‘Look around at your teammates — these are the people who showed up with you.’ Growing up playing team sports, Equinox helped me find that sense of team, belonging, and support again.”
What does Pride mean to you?
“Pride, to me, is a celebration of love, acceptance, and the freedom to fully be yourself. There are so many beautiful stories in this world, and I love that Pride gives us space to come together to celebrate, learn, dance, laugh, cry, and support one another — all from a place of the purest love.
“For a long time, I was scared to come out because I didn’t know what it would mean to truly be myself. I spent years playing a part and avoiding what was waiting on the other side of that door out of fear. It took many years, and so many supportive people, to start to embrace who I am and realize how much love and freedom were waiting for me.
“That’s part of why Pride classes feel so emotional and meaningful to me. One of my favorite songs to play in a Pride class is a remix of ‘This Is Me’ from ‘The Greatest Showman.’ I vividly remember hearing it in a Pride class before I was fully out and just crying, wanting so badly to know myself but being terrified of what I might find. Now, every year when I play that song, I smile a little more because I’ve gotten to know myself more deeply. When I feel unsure, I know I have a community filled with love to support me.
“My message to anyone: Wherever they are in their journey (allies included!) is that you are seen, you are worthy, and you are beautiful exactly as you are. This community is here to welcome you with open arms, whether you know exactly who you are or you’re still discovering yourself.”
Jude McCarthy, Group Fitness Manager
Pronouns: He/Him
Clubs: All Equinox Chicago Clubs (Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, Lincoln Common, The Loop, Fulton Market)
About Jude: “I joined Equinox on June 1, 2017, in the Dallas market. Somehow, a job I originally took because I loved movement turned into a life that completely changed me. Today, I serve as the group fitness manager (GFM) at Gold Coast in Chicago, the field co-lead for EQX PRIDE, and a Team USA triathlete who believes fitness is one of the most powerful tools we have for connection, healing, and self-discovery. I teach across cycle, treadmill, Main Studio, and pool formats, and I genuinely love helping people feel seen in spaces that can sometimes feel intimidating.
“In 2026, I was honored to receive the Noxie Award for Group Fitness Brand Ambassador of the Year, an award voted on by GFMs across the company, which meant the world to me because it reflected the community and culture we’ve built together. I love this work so much that I literally got married head-to-toe in Equinox gear. Truly.”
Tell us about the community you’ve found and built through Equinox. How has it impacted your life?
“When I think about the community I’ve found through Equinox, I think about the people who saw something in me before I fully saw it in myself. Mentors who pushed me. Members who trusted me. Teammates who reminded me that leadership is less about being the loudest person in the room and more about helping people feel safe enough to become who they are.
“Equinox gave me a space where I learned that vulnerability and strength can exist at the same time. I’ve cried with members after class. I’ve celebrated weddings, sobriety anniversaries, new jobs, race finishes, and huge life transitions with people who originally walked into the room as strangers. Somewhere along the way, the studio stopped feeling like a gym and started feeling like home.
“I see that most clearly during Cycle for Survival. There is something incredibly powerful about watching people move together for a purpose bigger than themselves. You see grief, hope, joy, resilience, and love all existing in the same room at the same time. Those moments remind me that fitness can absolutely change lives, but community is what carries people through them.
“I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that kindness is not weakness. Kindness is leadership. Kindness is power. I always come back to this idea that kindness is like honey, healthy for the body and sweet to the soul. The smallest moments matter. Remembering someone’s name. Checking in after class. Encouraging someone who is clearly struggling. Those things change people.
“Fitness also helped me reconnect to myself during some really difficult chapters of life, especially after injury and during moments where I questioned who I was outside of achievement. I’ve raced for Team USA around the world, but honestly, some of the moments I’m most proud of happened in studios with twenty people singing together completely off key during a hard interval.
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“Life is such an adventure. I really believe that. I think we spend too much time waiting until we feel ‘ready’ to fully live it. Equinox taught me to stop waiting. To take up space. To try the scary thing. To trust people. To let myself be supported. There are so many people who want to see you win, but you have to let them help you. You have to be willing to take the feedback, apply the notes, do your homework, and trust that the people mentoring you are investing in your growth because they believe in your potential.
“And honestly, that sense of belonging changed my life.”
Pride is about humanity. It is about people deserving to exist fully, safely, loudly, quietly, imperfectly, and honestly.
What do you want members to better understand about Pride?
“Pride, to me, is so much bigger than rainbow logos or one month on a calendar. Pride is about humanity. It is about people deserving to exist fully, safely, loudly, quietly, imperfectly, and honestly.
“As someone who works in fitness and also performs in drag as FondaLynn, I’ve learned that authenticity changes rooms. Sometimes in huge, obvious ways. Sometimes in very quiet ways. FondaLynn always says, ‘Thank you for letting me be a roach on your stage,’ which started as a joke but honestly became something deeper for me. It’s about gratitude. Gratitude for spaces that allow people to exist creatively, openly, and unapologetically.
“I also think people underestimate the power of quiet activism. Not every act of advocacy has to be loud to be life-changing. Sometimes activism looks like introducing yourself with your pronouns so someone else feels safer doing it, too. Sometimes it’s correcting someone with kindness. Sometimes it’s standing beside someone when they feel alone. Sometimes it’s simply refusing to let people shrink themselves to make others comfortable. Quiet activism can have a bold impact.
“One of the biggest things I want people to understand about Pride is that allyship matters deeply. The LGBTQ+ community did not get here alone. There were people who opened doors for us, protected us, stood beside us, listened to us, and fought for us even when it was unpopular. That matters. It still matters.
“I also think empathy is one of the most underrated leadership skills in the world. If you move through life with forgiveness, grace, and awareness of the people around you, empathy will take you further than your wildest dreams. People remember how you made them feel. They remember if you saw them.
“At the end of the day, I just hope people leave my classes, my performances, my leadership, and my life feeling a little more allowed to be themselves. That’s the goal. Every single time.”