Writer & Fitness Coach for Black Women
Creatives

I teach Black women creatives how to build muscle while cultivating energy and flow

When I moved to a new city in 2012 for my graduate creative writing program, I found myself mostly stuck at my computer in my office or in a coffee shop downtown trying to finish projects, grading, and proposals before deadlines came crashing at me. I would be sitting for hours, binging tea and coffee and blueberry muffins to get me through. When I wasn’t out in public working, I was curled on my couch with my laptop or a book working overtime to be a successful writer and academic. 

In 2013, a classmate suggested that we hire a personal trainer to help us be “fine” literature scholar scholars – admittedly, I was not really into it at first because I did not care to exercise as much as I cared to teach and examine poems. He convinced me, though, and I was up at six am sometimes with him doing jump squats and lunges at our university rec center. Eventually, I hired my own personal trainer and started taking group fitness classes. I learned so much about my body – mainly how out of shape I was and how much my mobility and strength had suffered from not moving my body consistently since throwing in my jazz shoes for a pen at the beginning of undergrad. With the help of a trainer and constant movement, I began to feel like a strong dancer again. I learned exercises to build muscle and I developed a habit of movement that has kept my body and my writing in flow.