Friends With Business

Turning Trials into Triumph: Jaliyla Tillman's Inspiring Journey to Gym Ownership

• Carl Gray III • Episode 20

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Ever thought about how you can turn your trials into triumph? Today, we journey with Jaliyla Tillman, a powerhouse of determination and resilience who has turned her personal struggles into an inspiring entrepreneurial journey. Jaliyla shared stories about her weight struggles, her deep personal loss, and how fitness became her healing tool. Her journey is not just inspiring, but also a testament of courage and resilience.

The conversation takes a turn as we talk about the pandemic - a time of crisis that Jaliyla embraced as a catalyst for change. She shares her experiences of transitioning into personal training and launching her gym program during these challenging times, proving that opportunity often dresses up as adversity. Jaliyla's optimism shines through, encouraging listeners to stay positive during tough times.

From her unique approach to marketing her gym to her commitment to creating a safe space for women in fitness, Jaliyla is changing the game! Her marketing strategies range from social media ads to collaborations. She emphasizes the importance of building connections, fostering collaborations, and tailoring services to specific markets. This episode covers it all - fitness, entrepreneurship, and inspiring journeys. If you're ready to get inspired, join us in this engaging conversation with Jaliyla Tillman.

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Speaker 1:

If you could just stay confident in truth, in who you are, you're going to go so much further than anybody else. And don't worry about what anybody says to you. Keep your head up, stay strong and stay focused.

Speaker 2:

Hello everyone, welcome to Friends with Businesses, where I introduce you to my friends with Businesses and you will benefit. Today we're kind of sticking with this theme of health and fitness and you're hearing it from the fat guy, right so I have to bring in people who actually know what they're talking about, because I'm not able to do that Like I would be a hypocrite sitting there and tell somebody you know to be fit while doing this. So I'm like I gotta go ahead and bring on some experts. So today, please introduce yourself to the people who you are and what you do.

Speaker 1:

Yes, so my name is Jalila Tillman. I am a personal trainer and gym facility owner. The name of my gym facility is called Mission Slim Possible and if you follow, if you want to see what we're about, you can go to Instagram. We are on there. It's listed as Mission Slim Possible G-Town. We're located in Washington DC near the Georgetown Global Park area, so it's kind of in between Tinley Town and Georgetown, so I like to describe it as where they meet in the middle and, yeah, what we got. I'm also a Hampton University alumni. Yes, carl and I have that in common. We were there together. So, yeah, that's pretty much about me.

Speaker 2:

How'd you get started, how long you've been in the business and all that stuff.

Speaker 1:

This isn't my first business. Prior to this I had a very successful. I started in multi-level marketing. Of course got me, but I will never discredit it because it really taught me a lot about myself.

Speaker 1:

It taught me a lot about business. It taught me what I was capable of and at some point because I was the first time that I was a full-time business owner so I went from part-time to walking away from a job in human resources that I didn't like and I went full-time with that business. So that business venture allowed me to learn about myself, to make a lot of mistakes and to really realize my full potential. So, yeah, so that's kind of like where I started business-wise. After I decided that I didn't want to do that anymore, a couple of things happened. I kind of fell into a depression. I also had some family members pass away, like all in a row within like a six or seven month timeline. It was literally like one person a month, which included, like my father and other people that were very close to me. I also just, you know, mentally I wasn't fully there. So I gained weight and just a lot happened.

Speaker 1:

And when things change in your life, you know it shifts your perspective and mentally I just wasn't in a space to be a full-time entrepreneur, not emotionally or mentally in any capacity, and the bills weren't getting paid. So went back to work. Thank God for a Hampton University degree as well as Marymount MDA, because the one thing about education is at the drop of a dime you can go get a job and you don't start at the bottom of the totem pole. So for anybody that needs credit education, let me be clear that it helps you fall back. It ain't no me, but yeah. So went back to work, worked for a non-profit, then I went back into HR at FEMA, hated it. I just, you know I. Time and time again, history has shown with me and nine to five jobs that I'm a temporary worker like. Literally two to three years max is all we can make it through.

Speaker 2:

That's a long time to me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, I literally that's. I don't think I've worked anywhere longer than three years, except for the businesses that I've had. So it just became evident to me that after about two years, like somewhere around the two year mark, me and the job don't agree, whether it's supervisor, whether it's the lack of growth, the cycle growth. I can't be in that situation. It just doesn't work for me and it really weighs me down mentally. So fast forward. How I got the gym and how that came to be was as a result of me trusting my faith A second time, listening to God, and God told me to go and not worry about the money. We'll figure it out when we get there, but you need to go In the midst of that.

Speaker 1:

I've been in love with fitness for probably about 12 or 13 years. I, growing up, have always battled with my weight. It's always fluctuated. So when I started my fitness journey it was after college and after weight gain like and being the biggest size that I had ever been, and I fell in love with fitness because I realized how it made me feel after the workout. I realized that I'm also really aggressive, you know, and you figured out when I mean you're down. I figured out that it helps relieve my aggression. So instead of me snapping on people, you know you can't walk down the block and slap people all day. So fitness really helped me turn that around, helped shape my attitude, because I realized how much more clear and level headed I was if I actually physically moved.

Speaker 2:

So imagine you walk down the street slapping people. Are you off in the city?

Speaker 1:

So you know people should be getting slapped all day. You and I know it's true, okay, but you can conduct yourself that way if you like your freedom and obviously, as an entrepreneur, I do.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, yes Hard to run a business in jail.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, so lost the weight. I lost about 35 pounds and it became like a regular part of my life, so literally it became something that I look forward to. Also, you know my family, my mom's family, like 80% of her family, have diabetes and it's scary to watch family members with insulin and episodes. It's a lot. I've had to help take care of people and it was something that really like scared the Jesus out of me and that I don't.

Speaker 2:

I can imagine. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so when you read about diabetes and how sugar works and insulin works, you realize that movement is essential and heart disease is prevalent to black people as well, not just in the beating. Any way to fix your heart is to move.

Speaker 2:

So wait you just you've covered a lot. I wanted to jump in because I know you're gonna go for a while. A couple of things we started. So you said you've been in love with fitness for about 12, 13 years, right, and that predated your business by about how many years. So did you start off in the gym, or did you start off personal training on your side? How'd that happen?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I actually. No, I wasn't a trainer. I started off just a regular gym goer that was obsessed. Eventually it was like, oh, try, kickboxing. And then I don't know what happened after that. It just I just kept going and then I just couldn't live without working out and it just elevated higher and higher. So I actually me being a trainer was a result of quarantine, because, just like everybody else, quarantine as an extrovert. We're like there's nothing in the calendar, now what?

Speaker 2:

I was man, I was upset.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I couldn't. I've never seen my calendar empty Like it was mine, but I was like wait, there's nothing on it now I started three businesses during the quarantine Like it was the best that works. Like I didn't get what I was doing.

Speaker 2:

So you spent money entire.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so it was the result of quarantine. It was also the result of the trainer that one of the trainers that I worked with. He saw something in me that he had mentioned right before quarantine hit and he actually wanted me to teach there. And he was like, you will be so good. Look how you are with other people when they're new here. You know how you encourage your friends to work harder. And I was like, really, so, yeah, quarantine birthed something. I had time and I needed something to do and, yeah, I'm a busy body. So it was like one of the first times in my life that I only had one job. Like one job. It was like one really you know, so that's not that's unusual for me.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, when I pulled my friends and I had a list of three things that I narrowed it down to and they were like nope, I think that makes me work for you.

Speaker 2:

So what's crazy is this? So I look at the quarantine, the shutdown, the whatever people want to call it. You know the conspiracy, everything, whatever we want to call it, and I know it affected a lot of people in a lot of ways. Right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

But what I'm noticing is that that was the land of opportunity for a lot of people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it really was.

Speaker 2:

It was crazy. You know, we were just talking about doing a pre-production meeting, talking about, you know, like EYL and like how they blew up during that time. And you know all these, you know these folks where it was like, hey, wait, there is nothing but opportunity, because now everything is ground zero. Yep, everything was ground zero. And so I'm like I'm sitting there like yo, when is the next? Like the next, I'm like what the next? The next meeting, the next meeting, the next meeting, the next meeting, the next meeting? I did shut down again, I did you.

Speaker 1:

What I want to do is be able to go to a beach house and do it this time. Okay, that's it Right.

Speaker 1:

Because we were going get wrong. But yeah, no, I think that quarantine was a great thing for me. I think that it allowed the quiet time, it allowed no distractions, it allowed the creative side of my brain to function Right, like being an extrovert we talk all day, we talk all day. We talk all day. You know, but like also, you have built the pay, you have these responsibilities, you have social responsibilities, you got to show up for people, whatever, and we don't have time for ourselves and it allowed that side of my brain to like work at full capacity with everything it really was, and it was so calming and relaxing.

Speaker 1:

And when you are calm and relaxed and you're happy and you're using the other side of your brain, so many different things come out of that and mental clarity, right.

Speaker 1:

So, like being able to, you know, just be innovative. Cause my original program and once I was certified was a virtual program. I had no intentions on owning a gym. I had no intentions on working in the gym because of COVID. No thanks, I'm good, I'll see you here. So the first thing that I did was how do I do an online program? And I launched a eight week program that January. I got certified in June. I kind of dragged my feet a little, feeling like okay, so I'm certified, but how do I know people will trust me? And then I just decided to give myself a pep talk. Basically is what happened. And then I said, no, we're gonna move forward, we're gonna launch something in January on fitness. And I did. I launched my first eight-week online program called Mission Slim Possible.

Speaker 2:

So much that you talked about thus far, and part of what I do on this podcast is talk about us, our community, what we do right. You talked about two different things that I think stand out. One, of course, is our health, some of the health challenges that we have in the black community, whether it be, you know, like you said, diabetes, high blood pressure. You know all of that stuff. And then also, you know and people might get mad when I say this a lot of times we suffer from a victim mentality, right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

You know, I mean you talked about how, when the COVID-19 hit, you didn't COVID-19?. Covid-19, no, I made it up.

Speaker 1:

I don't think that's COVID-19.

Speaker 2:

It is in my universe, my podcast. Covid-19 is a word okay.

Speaker 1:

COVID-19,. Okay, covid-19. All right, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Trademarked 2020.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we're gonna put that on a shirt.

Speaker 2:

But more so of the economic piece of it. Some people still have not recovered and I'm not blaming them necessarily. I'm not saying, hey, you know, so you should have just pulled yourself over by a bootstrap, but it's really just a way of seeing things, you know, yeah, yeah, you know like there are some of us who you know, we saw you like look, I need a stim. Where am I stimming this shirt? Where is my PVP loan? Where is this? Where is that? Who's gonna take care of me? Who gonna do this? And the other.

Speaker 2:

There are others of us who said there is an opportunity out here somewhere. You know, and I think we all and this is not, I'm not even saying everybody has to be a full-time entrepreneur. They had to have all that stuff, but we all need to have something in our back pocket that we can pull out, that we have love for everything that we love. We can turn into a business. Like you said, you fell in love with fitness 13 years ago and that love in 2020 saves your life economically speaking. You know, we all have to look at something and find out what it is that you know, in case of emergency, break a glass. You know one thing, as many people may know, I am a controls auditor and consultant and one of the things that I do is I audit disaster recovery plans and continuity operations for companies like I did this for, like Marriott, I did it for Orange County Metro, so the big boys.

Speaker 1:

And you know everyone's a big man who I used to work for.

Speaker 2:

Right, and do you know that every last one of them for the past 15 years is supposed to have a pandemic response?

Speaker 1:

Really Every.

Speaker 2:

So a part of a good disaster recovery plan includes what to do in the instance of a pandemic. It's been on the books for a very long time that in this instance, break a glass. I just told you tabletop exercise if this person goes down. This is how we're gonna operate. If this person goes down, this is how we're gonna operate If we can't come out of our doors. We gotta operate like this, that and the other, and everybody needs that. We all need that, you know. I mean everybody talks about. You know, save ups have six months of this, that and the other saved up. The pandemic lasted. I mean. Some people think it's still going on, depending on how you look at it scientifically.

Speaker 2:

It's like yo we still in COVID, like I-.

Speaker 1:

But we think that that was a lesson to be learned, not only for the bigger companies but the smaller ones, like we need to make sure that we have our plans in place for anything, cause there were a lot of businesses that immediately did not shift well to virtual. They didn't shift well, they, you know, they just they froze. And we it's not just about saving, it's about having those contingents and planes and also being able to pivot fast. Cause Right, and what I saw, there were companies that did not pivot fast and you have to be able to adjust. You gotta be able to figure out a solution and you gotta figure it out fast.

Speaker 1:

Well, that one of them came out very fast.

Speaker 2:

And one of the things about small businesses is that we have to know we actually have a better chance of pivoting because we have less overhead, less people and all that. Hey y'all, everybody, shift your focus. This way. We ain't gotta worry about union contracts, no, don't worry about. You know, this is like ain't. No, you think you got PTO over me, you don't Right. Yeah, yo, no, you sleep to. Oh God, you replaced to to all that stuff. But yeah, but we have to. You know, look at it from that perspective. What do we all have in our back pocket? What I mean? Every family needs to have this discussion Like hey y'all, if something goes down, who gonna do what in this house to bring in money what we got? Who knows how to? Who got a bunch of clothes in the house we can sell on Poshmark? Who know how to cook something to be a bag up and sell? Who know how to go clean stuff? Who gonna do this?

Speaker 1:

I mean we talking about for your household, if you're a couple, we're talking about in business and like in just so many different instances, there needs to be contingency plans and let's keep it 100. This isn't a dating show, but I'm just gonna say this and then I'm gonna leave it right here. When we're dating, like these are the kind of questions before we get married that we should be, like, you know, getting people's opinions about, because the reality is like we go back to bringing back the fitness and health right, like if I get sick tomorrow and I'm with you and we are together, what is the plan? Because if I can't work, what do we do?

Speaker 2:

What's the continuity?

Speaker 1:

operations, and for me I don't know about anybody else, but when I date, it is important that I am seeing certain types of behaviors from the men that I'm dating. Because if you don't display that kind of behavior where, if something happens to me, I feel like he's gonna take care of business, then I can't date you. And that's the difference between dating with a purpose versus willy-nilly. But I digress. Yes, say that I pay attention to things that most women do not. That's all.

Speaker 2:

She wants to see your books, email her, their quick books password, but not continuing on, continuing on. So, yes, your target market is women and that's interesting, and you know cause I see it a lot. You know most people end up hyper focusing somewhere, especially in the health and wellness field, and so talk to me about how you made that decision, or even made the recognition that that's what it was. So I'm like I'll take anybody who walked through, but tell me your story and how you got this?

Speaker 1:

No, I think that the path that God has set me on with everything that I've done has involved women or younger girls. I really haven't had too much experience with men, just in general, as far as like fitness or even the last business or just anything, so my comfortability sits with women. Also, when you cater to women, it's a specific niche. Women tend to commit more, they tend to work harder, they tend to be more serious because they are more serious about how they look, how they feel, and I've just realized that when I looked at the other gym spaces and fitness in general, that there is a deficit, like we. How do I explain this without like being super brash? But yeah, so women you already sound sexist.

Speaker 2:

You know, you already sound sexist.

Speaker 1:

Continue. So I'm not a feminist. I'm actually more traditional than people think.

Speaker 2:

How would you like women are more-. No, it's not even that it's better.

Speaker 1:

We don't realize how much like creepiness, I would say, or like how we feel about everyday things. So like, for instance, when I go to a gym, if a guy is staring at me, it's creeping me out and I don't wanna work out here anymore. Or sometimes, if you have a trainer of the opposite sex. There's with fitness, especially personal training, we have to adjust you right. Things can get a little awkward. Or just simple things Like, for instance, if I take a walk in the neighborhood the other day, two or three different men within two minutes either stop their cars, or they're staring at me or they're asking me like they're just lingering and I don't know them, and safety becomes a thing for us right and like comfortability. So one of the things that I realized when I opened the facility was that I was clear on the fact that I really wanted it to be a safe space for women where they felt confident, they felt safe and they felt like they could come and work out in a judgment-free zone and not from, like males, you know, just being creepy.

Speaker 1:

Basically, I'm not trying to bash men in any capacity. Let me just give that disclaimer. There are things that men do towards women that they don't know and they don't realize how it actually impacts us. Like you know, even If I had a job and like my gym is 24 hours so you can come there late at night, right, but like if I had a job and I needed to work out and I'm, or I just wanted to blow off some steam, and it's 4 am, 3 am, and I go to a normal gym where there's a bunch of guys. You know, Anything can happen, but in our space we do the best job that we can to keep people safe and all of that and to make it so that you're just Comfortable to be you and do what you need to do for you without having all of the extra issues.

Speaker 2:

So is your gym, women only.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, so our gym is primarily female oriented. Yes, with our classes, with most of the training that happens. However, we do have Some men that do take advantage of the 24 hour fitness what am I trying to say? Fitness access, but we are moving at a pace where my hope is to be able to make it strictly for women At some point, just because I do think that it's necessary. I don't know that we're going to be able to do it in this specific location right now, and that is the vision for our next location.

Speaker 2:

Yes, oh wow, interesting talk to me about you know, uh, how you acquire your clients, that's not a really good question. Yeah, so there's a number of ways that.

Speaker 1:

We get clients. We get clients through Facebook and Instagram ads. We get clients Um this. We've only been open at the facility for a year, so we're in years of training. So another way is this entire summer we spent outside Just out at different events to kind of get the word out. With us additional visibility. So we were at like global park day and we were at ubiquitous expo and All of that. I've also been featured on fox 5. We'll be on there again next Friday. So that has given us great visibility as well and we have a lot of people that are Visibility as well.

Speaker 1:

Um, and we've also made Connections and network with people in our neighborhood. So one of the great things about having a business in DC is that they have what is called a bid and those are nonprofits that are specific to helping and funding things for small businesses in that particular zone or area or neighborhood. So we have been working very closely with the neighborhood bid. That um works with the small businesses in our area and they also help us get the word out. I've also um, because we're in such a unique area. Um, we've also been in contact with Georgetown University to offer the students Um a discount, a student discount for becoming a part of our facility as well. Um, and different things, like that next door app.

Speaker 2:

Um, yeah what have you found has been your most effective way Of getting clients?

Speaker 1:

you know, passive type of Marketing is cool and all, but I really like to be in the trenches and in people's faces. Um, I am big on making like a Face-to-face connection because I feel like those are like way more lasting, um, then Like a fly-by-night advertisement that you see like they're effective. However, um, I I prefer for us to be like outside. That's just my, that's my thing. I know that doesn't work for everyone, um, I think it works for my personality, right, and it has worked in the past and other businesses.

Speaker 1:

So, um, my favorite type of Marketing is like to be at like an event and talk to people and, you know, feed off their energy and they feel my energy. Um, and I tend to um offer like a free workout, um, and stuff like that, and I think it it means something when you're building one-on-one connections and you're actually getting to know somebody, um, and it's not just about the gym, it's about who they are and what they've got going on too, and also like, is there something that we have that you meet and that connection, um is what brings people to us?

Speaker 2:

So one thing I've noticed you know because I follow you and I be paying attention. Sometimes I like, sometimes I don't. People like honestly. I'm sorry, I meant to, but I just be scrolling so fast. Um, but I've seen you do a number of different partnerships. I'll think you talk about those real quick. I know you did some. You talk about it, I don't have to write it up.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. So, um, I am big on collaboration, um, because I think that An impact is greater when you do it together, um, and I love to see when businesses can come together and share, share their followers, um, and, and, really I think, get creative and have fun doing it as well, and I think it's built over into the customer base. Um, so, yeah, I've done a number of collaborations. Um, let me see girls Inc. They actually called me today. We've got, we're working on some stuff with them, so they're like a nonprofit and they work with young girls and their mission is for them to be strong, smart and bold, which fits right into fitness. Um, if there's little girls, there's moms. So that was one thing, and they're an international organization, so to have a collab with them has been wonderful.

Speaker 1:

Um, fabletics um, I teach in that store once a month in tyson's corner, so they have brand new stores. That had they were brand new when I started teaching there a year ago and, um, yeah, that collab has been wonderful because obviously they have, like our clientele, right, women, their um, athletes, your brand. So everybody wants to work out where, because, for women, when you look good, you feel good, you work out better, right? It's simple formula.

Speaker 2:

So you know that simple man, but I got you.

Speaker 1:

So it was the best of both worlds, right? Um, I. Also, we have a collaboration with south block um. We're next week Um for is it next week, the week after we have a week long work of um workout, that we're going to be doing um for south blocks People, their target market, which matches ours, and it's the south block that is in georgetown, um, so their target market will be able to come take our classes for seven dollars um Throughout the week, and then we're going to end with the sweat fest which is going to have raffles, fitness inspired games.

Speaker 1:

They'll get um some merch from us, um and stuff like that. So, yeah, we've got a number of collaborations, but the collaborations allow you to not, I wouldn't say some people look at it as people are poaching um. You know some people don't like collabs because they don't want you to like poach their clientele. But the reality is like we don't have to act in a crab and a barrel mentality, like the reality is people going to follow who they want to follow. Um, like I might have some people that shift from me to you and you to me, and that's okay. The people have a right to find their fit and the reality is, neither one of us might not lose.

Speaker 1:

In fact, it might actually elevate both of us, because the next thing that happens as a result of that collaboration could very well be for the both of us. So you know, and I think it's something to be said when, like if we are like ying and yang, because if the two collaborators are like ying and yang and it balances out, it actually makes both of you look better, so yeah, so that's another thing.

Speaker 2:

I'm a thousand percent of a collaboration. As a matter of fact, I don't know if you know Junior Bangor, Dauda Bangor. I don't know, I feel like all y'all fitness people know each other, but I interviewed him last week and you know.

Speaker 1:

You need protection.

Speaker 2:

People. We all guys are lots of brothers, so this is what it is. For those of you who are listening, I have lots. So, yeah, he and I and by the time this episode was dropped, that should have been dropped as well we're doing a collaboration. It's called the Fat Guy and the Fit Guy. I don't know if it's really called, but that's how it feels to me. So actually doing a challenge for entrepreneurs who want to get in shape, right. So 21 day challenge, doing virtual and like cause. It's part of it is because I want to get in shape as well. But the best way for me to what motivates me honestly is making money, right. So if I can make money while getting in shape, guess what I'm gonna do Six pack by January.

Speaker 1:

But Wait a minute. Where did the coming to America song come from? What was giving he's your queen to be Right?

Speaker 2:

So, and you know, because we found that he and I have a very similar demographic, we also have a very similar style of delivery in how we deliver stuff, like we're very no nonsense when it comes to stuff very factual, very research and stuff like that. And sometimes you know people are nerves, right, but hey, huh.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I'm sorry, what.

Speaker 2:

You agreed a little too hard. I didn't like that I didn't like that.

Speaker 1:

Huh, you heard that.

Speaker 2:

I did. I heard, it was a massive agreement, your voice.

Speaker 1:

I don't know what you're talking about.

Speaker 2:

It is what it is. If somebody wants to collaborate with you, what are you looking for? What is your? What is that like hyper target? What is your avatar? What do they need to bring Cause? I know you probably don't want somebody else to do Jumbo Jackson with you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no. So so my avatar is the everyday working woman. So, essentially, my clients are 30 and up and literally they go from 30 to 70, which is a very wide range. So, listen, my clients come to me for specific things. So it's your everyday woman, right? But we have the weight loss woman, we have the strength and mobility woman Like there's layers to this, right, so it's not really just one, it's literally like two to three categories. We have the third category is the woman that wants to be stronger overall, right? So there's three different things happening, because that's see, this is your male, see, you don't, you don't. This is this is.

Speaker 2:

I knew it. I knew you were trying to woman explain it. Go ahead you talk.

Speaker 1:

This is what y'all do to us.

Speaker 2:

You woman, you woman explain it. That's what you're doing, you woman.

Speaker 1:

Explain it. Yes, like there's three different types of women that come to me. So, yes, I was explaining that.

Speaker 2:

I was quiet. I literally wasn't saying a word. You were like this is what y'all men do.

Speaker 1:

You literally did that in the middle. I was quiet and they gon' be able to see your face, so they gon' know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2:

They ain't gonna be able to see my face Most people. So, according to the stats, most people listen on mobile devices, so they won't even see my face.

Speaker 1:

Don't just listen today. Today, I need you to go to the podcast, pull it up. I want you to scroll forward to this moment in time. We about 38 minutes in so you can see his face and how he was man looking at me.

Speaker 2:

How was that man looking at you? Where's Kevin Sandals?

Speaker 1:

Look at her face. You're dead.

Speaker 2:

Amy, dang it, Don't, don't attack me, boo, that ain't my lane, so continue with your target market.

Speaker 1:

Yes, but anyway, 35 and up, weight loss, strength, because you know you wanna just be sexy overall and stronger and fit. And then we have our mobility and our strength and conditioning group, which is our more seasoned women. Or if you've had, like, an injury or surgeries or whatever the case may be, because you're working on maybe loosening your hips and you wanna just be able to focus on doing everyday things, or, you know, lifting grocery bags by yourself, bending over, coming back up regularly, all of the things. So our demographic usually makes over 60K a year. They also we're talking to women that love wine festivals. They tend to love, like, they're very loyal to brands. So, like you know, they have subscriptions and they like the finer things in life a lot of them and they like the- Essentially DMV does.

Speaker 1:

What I'm sorry.

Speaker 2:

I said essentially DMV does yeah.

Speaker 1:

Not quite, but yes, not quite, but yeah. So women that you know they like to party and cut a rug, but they also they have another side to them that I wouldn't say it's conservative, but you know they also are into other things like the arts and whatever. So yeah, demographic that's kind of amazing.

Speaker 2:

So those type of companies out there, do you do the nutrition side or not?

Speaker 1:

No, so I'm not a nutritionist, I'm a trainer. So we focus on helping you guide you through, because for us it's a lifestyle, so I'm not doing nutrition. However, we do hold you accountable. We do help you track your food in an app, because that's what apps are for. You don't really necessarily need a full nutritionist for that and then we also teach you healthy habits because it's a lifestyle. So we're going to go through on our assessment, exactly what you're doing and not doing, and we're going to turn up the heat and not on the accountability with those things.

Speaker 2:

No, that's actually really hitting the reason I asked. That is, you know, for those of you out there who you know, I want you to understand how collaboration works. Like you may think that just because you have, you know you're not in the fitness or health and wellness sphere, that you can't collaborate with somebody in health and wellness, that's actually who you need to collaborate with, because you just what you do is you provide supplemental services. So if you do have, you know, a nutrition company or a time management company because you just talked about lifestyle and one of the things that happens, you know, if you're, if you're a lifestyle coach that helps people manage their time, you know then part of that time is going to help Is it going to be about their fitness? So, you know, think about collaborations in a different way. As you heard she literally talk about. She has like 7600 collaborations just this week coming up.

Speaker 2:

You know like she's going to be on the news Friday but before that you know she's going to be at Fabletics and then she's going to be on the South side, then she's going to be with the Georgetown audience. Do you do anything virtual?

Speaker 1:

Um yeah, so I still offer virtual personal training as well. As the eight week program is still rolling. We take a break throughout the summer because I mean, y'all tell me y'all want to do it, but you don't, and then there's that. So we have our first day of the year we have our last.

Speaker 1:

I don't like to waste people's time or money or energy Like we don't have time for that. So, um, our next eight week program will begin mid September. So once y'all get the baby back in school we can get you back on your regimen, and we're working on being sexy by Thanksgiving. So that is the last one for the year and then we begin again in January and we have two back to back. So there's the winter one in January and then we have the spring one that starts usually in April and then we're back at summertime again.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, if people want to get in contact with you, how would they do that?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I can be reached a number of ways. So if you go to Instagram, my personal trainer and Jalila Instagram is. I just want number two, be healthy. The gym facilities. Instagram is mission limb possible G town. I'm on Facebook. It's just Jalila Tillman J-A-L-I-Y-L-A. Last thing, Tillman T-I-L-L-M-A-N. Curious about like inquiries or um collaborations or anything like that? You can email me directly at. I am I-A-M-J-A-L-I-Y-L-A-T at gmailcom.

Speaker 2:

Part of my the first young entrepreneurship camp judges panel. And you know, you actually hired one of my students who was amazing. I mean, I'm still in shock and all by how well she did. But what most people don't know is I'm actually turning that into a full-time program now, teaching the young folks, yeah, and so is there anything that you would like to say to the kids, to the young folks? Give them some wisdom of words. I'm actually coming off the screen so that you can have a screen by yourself as you say it.

Speaker 1:

And so with that, I want to give my friends to the kids. What I would say is don't be afraid to follow the plan that God has for you and what you're passionate about. I don't care if it seems uncool to everyone else, if it goes against what everyone else is doing, and I don't care if they're calling you a nerd, it doesn't matter. The reality is, what's cool is that you know who you are and that you're following that to a team. So I think that it's very cool to stand out. I think that I was the kid that stood out. I think that I didn't know what my gifts were. I wasn't always into what everyone else was into, and that is totally okay. I listen to different music. I read different books. You know I also talk different. So if you could just stay confident and true to who you are, you're going to go so much further than anybody else. And don't worry about what anybody says to you. Keep your head up, stay strong and stay focused on what you have to do for someone.

Speaker 2:

Love is good. I thought you were going to cry. Y'all are choked up talking. She really cares about the kids. I do care about the kids, jay. Let it go.

Speaker 1:

Don't, so you can take the children. It's not a thing. How do you?

Speaker 2:

want to collaborate? Let's do it. Which one? I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. Let's do it.

Speaker 1:

Which one do? We can do a collab, why not? I'm excited, I'm excited. I don't know whether you have. Let's see, let's see, let's see. Oh, what if we did another podcast situation that was more fitness focused?

Speaker 2:

So I recorded a gym or something.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yeah, let's do it. Can we record in the facility?

Speaker 2:

We can record in the facility you want me to work out, I can work in it.

Speaker 1:

You can bring me a couple of women and without it's free, it's on me and we'll do it at the gym All right, I'll do that.

Speaker 2:

I'll have to set up a sound and all that stuff. Make sure it works. Yeah, okay, we'll do that.

Speaker 1:

It'll be a once with Carl free session and you can tell me you know who you want to attend. We'll figure it out.

Speaker 2:

And if they sign up, I want my affiliate commission. I'll play the game. Do you have an affiliate program?

Speaker 1:

No, I need help with that. That's your job.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to start with the affiliate program I'm going to start with the affiliate program. It's out of the game, right? So, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to stop her affiliate program for mission slim, possible? Oh, that's what's going to be in the link, because she about to have me right now and we go ahead. I've been running by the time it drops.

Speaker 1:

in September we got a lot of work to do kid.

Speaker 2:

I have a lot going on.

Speaker 1:

Man, I want to live. You know like I want to live too. Me too, I'm trying to live, yeah, but I don't want to just be working 24-7. I love work. We got to put a pause on some of this active work at some point.

Speaker 2:

When I tell you I'll be honest with you when it comes to this work thing. I love it.

Speaker 1:

I mean, I do love what I do. However, one thing I've realized is that it's very physically taxing and I don't think I realize how physically taxing this particular industry.

Speaker 2:

What was the last thing we talked about? Like I said, that's in the offload there.

Speaker 1:

The collaboration with you and I and I gave it a like to these children.

Speaker 1:

Do you want me to give my entrepreneur advice? Please do. If and when you decide to be an entrepreneur and you have a job and you decide to take the job, get the job that you can leverage your passion with. So don't just get any job. Try to get something that will pay for your certification, if you need it, that you can, or it'll pay for your schooling, whatever it is, or it at least provides you some sort of access to people that are doing what you want to do ultimately Right. So try to get a job, because this is something I wish I would have done.

Speaker 1:

Get a job that's going to help you leverage yourself so you can get to your passion as quickly as possible and as cheap as possible, because being an entrepreneur is really expensive. The other part of that is I feel like if I would have started earlier, knowing what I know now, it would have made a huge difference, like financially. So if you're in your 20s and you're a young entrepreneur, I would say enjoy life, but don't splurge on all of your extra money. Like, literally, take 50% and invest it early, and I don't care what you invested in, but just invest it Like it could be stocks, it could be mutual funds, it could be real estate, I don't care but literally don't spend all your money, because when you get to our old age of 40, these mistakes that we need right that we were uninformed about because we didn't have access to information like you guys have access to.

Speaker 1:

It would have set me up for greater financial success faster. So I would say try to always look for a job that you can leverage and always, always, take 50% of your extra. Forget the bottles at the club. You literally can't do anything with that.

Speaker 2:

Invest it in something I like that and you enjoy money much more when you're older.

Speaker 1:

Being honest and life is actually like grand. When you're older, you have like, if you have money, and you're older, like, your outlook on things is completely different and the parties are meeting this thing.

Speaker 2:

Everybody. Please like, subscribe, follow. You know a comment is better than I like and a share is better than a comment, so please put it out there. The people know I have friends with benefits and I know you will benefit. This is Carl Grave. If you have any questions, comments, metaphysical considerations, please drop them in the drop them below and I'd love to hear from you. Y'all have a good one. Say bye, jaleena.

Speaker 1:

Bye.

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Carl Gray

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