Payal Kadakia
CEO & Co-Founder of ClassPass; Entrepreneur; Founder & Artistic Director of Sa Dance Company
Payal is the Founder & Chairman of ClassPass and the Artistic Director of The Sa Dance Company.
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Full Bio
Payal is the Founder & Chairman of ClassPass and the Artistic Director of The Sa Dance Company.
Payal has been a “dancetrepreneur” since the age of 3 when she started training in Indian classical and folk styles of dance. It was her passion for dance, entrepreneurship, and making the world a more active, happy place that led to the founding of Classpass. ClassPass is a membership program for fitness classes across multiple gyms and studios, making working out more engaging, accessible, and affordable.
With over 25 years of dance experience, Payal also founded The Sa Dance Company, a contemporary Indian dance company. She has led the company to achieve tremendous community support, soldout performance, celebrity endorsements, and positive reviews in The New York Times, MTV, and prominent South Asian publications. Payal has been quoted as “the dancer possessing not only the stand-out talent, but the undying passion, congenial disposition and sharp business savvy to be truly a force to be reckoned with” as the South Asian culture continues its inevitable integration into America.
Prior to founding ClassPass, Payal worked as a consultant at Bain & Company and in Warner Music Group’s Digital Strategy and Business Development Group. Payal also has a degree from MIT in Operations Research and Economics.
Testimonials
Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!
LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!
MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!
SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!
CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!
PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Topics
- Payal Kadakia is the founder and chairman of ClassPass, a membership program for fitness classes across multiple gyms and studios
- ClassPass is one of only 20 female-founded “unicorn” companies in the U.S. to achieve a $1B valuation
- Founded ClassPass after she was unable to find a dance class she could attend after work
- ClassPass is available in more than 35 cities and 8,000 studios across the country and around the world.
- Founder and artistic director of The Sa Dance Company, a contemporary Indian dance company
- Named one of Fortune’s “40 under 40” and Fast Company’s “Most Creative People”
Videos
Payal Kadakia | ClassPass | 2018
Payal Kadakia | INBOUND 2018 Spotlight
Books
News
Testimonials
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