We put all plans on hold and instead of opening GRIT KO, we converted our brand new boxing studio to a 2nd spin studio so we could safely serve more women while allowing for social distancing. Finally at the end of 2019 we signed a lease for a 2,500 sqft space, spent lots of □□on equipment and finish out while investing tons of time training with a professional fighter (thank u The team and I were ready and eager to share this awesome experience with the GRITFAM in March 2020, but then… RONA □ Another year for our team to do the market research and create the format. In environment where so many small business are shutting down, each day I’m just grateful, as a small business owner, just to be here.ģ years ago I had the vision for GRIT KO – a safe, judgment-free place for women to learn proper boxing technique, let out aggression and get a killer workout with their girlfriends! It took us a year to find a space for the studio. The support and loyalty of our amazing members (I LOVE YOU #GRITFAM) and staff (I LOVE YOU #DREAMTEAM) allowed us to weather the COVID-19 storm and keep the doors of all 3 GRIT Fitness studio locations open. ![]() To God be the glory for keep my business afloat. Reopening my fitness studios after shutting down due to the global pandemic Zach and are about 6 months into home ownership as husband and wife and we couldn’t be more grateful.ħ. My lil bro just got his real estate license, so he was our realtor. This was my first time going through the home buying process. I finally gave up the Dallas Uptown hi-rise life for a proper house. Here’s the link to listen to the full podcast (which is really good btw) – I hope it inspires and encourages you. I had the pleasure of sharing our story on the Masters of Scale podcast, in a 3 part feature (starting at minute 4:15, then 22:44 and last at 45:25). Massive shout out to Capital One Business for selecting my company GRIT Fitness to highlight as one of the courageous small businesses who have pivoted our business model during COVID-19. If this girl from Mesquite, TX who went to public school can go to Harvard and start her own thriving business, you can do ANYTHING! This case is all about the big decision I had to make to grow GRIT beyond our start up phase…we wrapped it up in late 2019…and now it looks like we’ll need to start working on the sequel, “How to pivot your business and thrive in a global pandemic! □” I’m so grateful for all that I learned through this process and more importantly to be role model for young, black, female founders all over the world and be one of the very few black women protagonist in a Harvard Business School case. For 15 months I had pleasure of working with most brilliant case writers and professors at Harvard as they traveled from Boston to Dallas and followed me around all day, interviewed my instructors and staff, performed detailed research about the boutique fitness industry and so perfectly captured my start up story critical decision points and highs and lows I’ve experienced along the way. Navigating COVID-19 as a small business owner has been quite the journey the past 2 months, BUT seeing a Harvard Business School case published this week with ME as the protagonist is something to be celebrated! Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that MBA students all over the world would study the company I founded 5 yrs ago (and still maintain 100% ownership) to learn about effective entrepreneurship. Harvard Business School Case Study Published ![]() Learn more about GRIT Fitness Virtual Studio HEREĤ. Now we have the ability to truly connect and workout with women all over the world via your livestream and on-demand fitness classes. While COVID-19 shut down my brick and mortar businesses, it propelled the development of our new virtual studio. So grateful to do this work, full-time for the past 5 years!Ī few years ago I launched a mobile app with the hope of creating a virtual fitness studio experience…that project wasn’t profitable and didn’t take off very well. ![]() Being an entrepreneur is an exciting, lonely, fun, challenging experience and I would’t change it for the world. We even got matching “BZ” tattoos while we were there! So grateful for fun in sun for a week after our wedding and fireworks on the beach New Years Eve. Little did we know, we’d be quarantining together at home for the rest of the year. Zach and I were fortunate to travel out of the country one last time before COVID-19 hit. So let’s keep pushing forward with hope, knowing the best is yet to come. Obviously, 2020 presented unique challenges, but we made it through! And we didn’t come this far, just to come this far. I believe that what we appreciate, appreciates! So I’m keeping up my long-standing tradition of expressing gratitude for the top 10 moments I experienced this year. Happy New Year friends! Thanks so much for reading my blog.
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