This past week, we celebrated our fifth Linked Not Ranked event. Hold up. Wait.. FIVE?! Are we counting right?! Is that real? Talk about time flying...

For this installment of the series, we expanded the movement like never before with our fearless leaders—Natalia Petrzela & Patricia Moreno, co-founders of Linked Not Ranked and intenSati Founder & Premiere Leader (respectively), joined by Melanie Griffith of SoulCycle. They guided our minds and empowered our bodies as we stepped out of our comfort zones and pushed ourselves, and our way of thinking, to new limits. Here's what went down. 

The short and sweet version? Melanie showed us what it means to truly live in the NOW. Natalia taught us that our voice is our most valuable tool. Patricia reminded us to remain true to our core. We laughed. We reflected. We loved ourselves. We loved each other. You better believe we used our voices. We nommed. We listened to one another. We looked out on stunning views of our city and thought, "Wow. This is ours. Think of what we can do."

But that's all just the beginning.

Liquid Metal Tall Band & Blue Hologram Tall Band Leggings

We kicked off the event with introductions from each of our leaders: Zara, Co-Founder & CEO of Terez, spoke about the origins of the Linked Not Ranked movement and how far we've come since our first event over 2 years ago. Natalia and Patricia gave us a new lens to look at the movement through: with so many influential women (instructors, bloggers, writers, and more) in the room, they reminded us all of the power that our voices have. Our students, our followers, our friends, our family, our children all look to us as a voice of reason, and what we say has much more power than many of us realize.

Flower Crown Crystal Skull Leggings (coming soon)

"What do you want to say? How do you really want to motivate and uplift people? How do you really want to make a difference? What is your message? What is it that you want people to learn when they come into that room that nobody else but you can do? ...If we're the leaders, what direction are we going? ...Look and ask yourself, how can I leave this industry better than I found it?"

—Patricia Moreno

Melanie then reminded many of us why we joined the fitness industry in the first place, as she opened up about her unconventional path to becoming an instructor (fun fact: she was a lawyer first!), finding happiness and life's balance with motherhood, and using fitness to battle her way through cancer. Check out our recent Q&A with Melanie to learn even more about this superstar.

After a moving series of speeches, Melanie shifted gears and got our blood pumping with a workout that involved strutting, dancing, and even leaping. Those hops tho!

Natalia and Patricia then continued the class with an intenSati workout—affirmations of "Mind, body and soul," "We are warriors," and "The leader in me sees the leader in you" reverberated off of every wall as we continued to sweat and shine, united in this single cause.

Gray Camo Tall Band & City Sunrise Leggings

Buzzing with a renewed sense of purpose and self, we refueled our minds and bodies with conversations with new and old friends—and of course, also with healthy treats. Salads from sweetgreen, gluten-free & vegan goodies from Erin McKenna's Bakery, and natural mixers from BeMixed were exactly what we needed post-workout.

A temporary tattoo bar, courtesy of our besties at INKED by Dani helped us rep our positive mindsets right on our bodies, too. Yas yas yassss.

Side bar: We were so empowered to see so many soon-to-be moms attending and sweating with us throughout the day! And the fact that Zara's water didn't break throughout all of the day's activities means the event was definitely a success...   

Ashley Chmelka, blogger, and Zara Tisch rocking their baby bumps. // Gray Camo Tall Band & Oyster Leggings

This beautiful event was an enlightening reminder that we have indeed come a long way in changing how women view themselves and one another. But also a sobering one in that we still have a ways to go. However, with a community like this ready to support us no matter what, we have no doubt that the future could not be brighter.

And the biggest thank you to our participating studios: Bari Studio, Body + Pole, Body By Simone, Body Conceptions, Body Space Fitness, Box + Flow, CITYROW, Commando Fit, Core Power Yoga, DanceBody, Flywheel, intenSati, Laughing Lotus, Mission 360, modelFit, Peloton, Physique57, Plank Pilates, Ripped, Row House, Shadowbox, Solace, Surfset, Uplift, Y7, & more!

Special thanks to our partners: CORE Water, sweetgreen, Erin McKenna's Bakery, BeMixed, Sweat Cosmetics, Runa Tea, Bombas Socks, The Laundress, Perfect Bar, & Eat Enlightened. 

What has the Linked Not Ranked movement taught you? How do you live it out in your daily life? Let us know in the comments below!