Melanie Whelan

As an Advisory Partner, Melanie works closely with Summit’s Growth Products & Services team, to identify new investment opportunities and collaborate with portfolio company leaders to help shape growth strategies focused on long-term value creation. Melanie currently serves on the board of directors at Hairstory and PostPilot.

Prior to Summit, Melanie was CEO of SoulCycle. She joined SoulCycle in 2012 as COO and spent three years building and leading operations before her promotion to CEO in 2015. Under her direction, SoulCycle grew from eight NYC-based studios to nearly 100 studios in 18 markets across three countries. She led the company's diversification efforts, which included launching a vertically integrated, direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform and building a media division to drive audience and revenue growth strategies, including a 24/7 SiriusXM channel.

Previously, Melanie led Business Development for Equinox where she was part of a team that executed a multi-brand strategy with the U.S. launch of Pure Yoga, the creation of Blink Fitness and the acquisition of SoulCycle. Earlier in her career, she was a member of the founding team of Richard Branson's U.S. air carrier Virgin America and worked in corporate development at Starwood Hotels and Resorts.

Melanie currently serves on the Board of Directors of Chegg (NYSE: CHGG), the Board of Trustees of Southern New Hampshire University, and the GO Project, a non-profit focused on K-8 education inequity in New York. She holds a BA in engineering and economics from Brown University and is a member of the Aspen Institute’s 2018 class of Henry Crown Fellows.

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^{Advisory Partners are a group of persons employed and/or retained by Summit or any of its affiliates (and include both Summit and/or portfolio company employees and individuals not employed by Summit or any portfolio company) to provide certain functional and other services to Summit, the Summit funds and their portfolio companies. Advisory Partners are expected to receive expense reimbursements and compensation (including salary, retainer, fees, incentive equity, stock awards or other profits interests) from Summit, portfolio companies, prospective portfolio companies and/or directly from the fund, and are permitted to receive carried interest in one or more Summit funds. Such compensation will be in addition to and will not result in offsets to or reductions of the management fee paid to Summit by the fund. Advisory Partners are expected to work closely with Summit on various functional matters including, not limited to, business development activities, collaborate with investment teams to identify new investment opportunities, team with portfolio company leaders to help shape growth strategies focused on long-term value creation, or hold board seats at portfolio companies.}