Forbes Riley

Forbes Riley was born in New York State as Francine K. Forbes and grew up on Long Island. She also performed under the name Francine Forbes early in her career.⁠[1][2]

According to SpinGym’s biography, her father was an inventor. At 16 she became Miss Teenage New York and appeared in the national pageant featuring Bob Hope. The same biography states that she earned degrees in political science and film studies at the University of Rochester in three years.⁠[3]

She played Julie Parker in Richard W. Haines’s horror film Splatter University, credited as Francine Forbes.⁠[2]

Riley’s own video archive dates her coverage of the first ESPN X Games and a Billy Blanks segment on TLC’s Essentials to 1995. Her professional résumé also lists both hosting roles.⁠[4][5]

Her agency résumé dates her recurring HSN guest work to 2004. She also promoted lifestyle and fitness products on QVC.⁠[5][3]

Riley presented SpinGym, a portable spinning resistance device operated with a cord, on Discovery’s PitchMen. She subsequently continued developing it as her own fitness-product business.⁠[6][7]

Riley was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame. The organization’s Best in the Business publication identifies her as a 2010 inductee.⁠[8]

Her speaker biography published by Women Economic Forum states that she sold 5,500 SpinGym units during a 34-minute HSN presentation that day. The figure is reported in her promotional biography.⁠[7]

She hosted Forbes Living and served as a co-creator and executive producer of the product-showcase program. An April 11 account by the founder of Frogglez describes filming for the program at its St. Petersburg, Florida studio.⁠[9][10]

According to Courageous Woman’s account of the ceremony, Riley received an honorary doctorate of philosophy in business administration and entrepreneurship from Trinity International University of Ambassadors. This was an honorary distinction.⁠[11]

Whitaker Entertainment’s résumé lists Riley in Black Creek (2025), playing The Madam.⁠[5]

Riley and her daughter Makenna publicly announced the launch of Pitch Secrets A to Z. Its official page describes a 240-page physical book covering value communication, objections, trust, video and social media.⁠[12][13]

School of Hard Knocks released a 58-minute interview with Riley about pitching, building trust, communication confidence and personal experience. The $2.5 billion in the episode title refers to product sales.⁠[14]

Riley’s website continues to feature sales-communication training and The Forbes Factor podcast. Her YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel includes interviews, speeches, television work and product demonstrations.⁠[15][16]

Her screen résumé includes 24, The Practice, Picket Fences and Fashion House. Her television product promotions have included the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer and Montel Williams HealthMaster.⁠[5][4]

According to her speaker biography, Riley encountered a device used for office stress relief in London and promoted it for exercise under the SpinGym name. Her official biography identifies her as the brand’s founder.⁠[7][3]

Riley describes herself in the SpinGym manual as the mother of boy-and-girl twins. Her adult daughter Makenna later joined her in book and sales-communication projects.⁠[17][12]

Her website describes the $2.5 billion figure as product sales. It is a claim used in her personal-brand marketing and does not represent Riley’s personal assets or net worth.⁠[15]

Personal website: https://forbesriley.com/ (opens in a new window). X: Personal account: https://x.com/forbesriley (opens in a new window). YouTube: Personal channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ForbesRileyFANpage (opens in a new window).⁠[15][18][19][16]