FITNESS & FAMILY: LIKE A BLACK MOMPRENEUR, THE WELLNESS EXPERIENCE IS NEW FOR LOS ANGELES RESIDENTS
HELP FROM CHASE TAKES BODY FITNESS TO A NEW LEVEL OF BUSINESS (AND PERSONAL) HEALTH
A successful black entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry, Aliyah Ortiz founded Tone Body Fitness in the mid-1990s out of a desire to provide her local Hawthorne community with the foundation they need to successfully achieve their health and fitness goals.
It was a unique mindset at the time – that was before the health club boom and social media fueled health and nutrition trends. Inspired by the long-term benefits of physical fitness and diet, Ortiz wanted to make change and encourage her community in the Los Angeles area to adopt healthier lifestyles. She became a certified master trainer, studied fitness and nutrition at college and signed the lease for her first fitness center in 2001.
Today, 20 years later, Ortiz has influenced countless lives with a world-class gym in the Hawthorne community, greater Los Angeles. Combining her love of fitness and nutrition with years of business experience, Ortiz welcomes a wide range of customers and athletes to Tone Body Fitness. The facility has grown to make machines, dumbbells, studio classes, a cozy lounge, food bar, and more available to the public.
“We’re more than just dumbbells and treadmills,” said Ortiz. “We’re helping bring families and the community together by providing a facility where people not only play sports, but also get the education and resources they need to live healthy lives.”
Ortiz says it is their loyal customers, and ultimately their children, who become customers themselves who have made the difference in helping their business stay afloat in an otherwise over-saturated market. What their customers and their community may not see, however, is that Ortiz works diligently behind the scenes every day to scale their business and better serve their customers.
Although Aliyah has been a successful business owner for more than two decades, she knows there is always room for improvement – especially as her business continues to evolve in response to COVID-19. From the lot their physical store stands on to the recent rollouts of tech services like virtual coaching and touchless payment, Ortiz has big plans for Tone Body Fitness. She understands the importance of having a business partner she can rely on – especially when it comes to meeting her long-term goals, such as expanding to include courses for children with special needs, seniors, and other underserved communities .
Helping minority-owned companies stay fit (financially)
Earlier this year, Ortiz was introduced to Lisa Dixon Stevens, Vice President and Senior Business Consultant at Chase. The bank recently launched a new initiative to address structural economic challenges facing minority communities as part of its $ 30 billion commitment to promoting racial justice and creating economic opportunity. Although Dixon Stevens and Ortiz have only been working together for a short time, Ortiz refers to Dixon Stevens as her “Guardian Angel” and is grateful to receive such instrumental support from her financial partner.
“At our first meeting, [Ortiz] told me, ‘I don’t need another financial institution to deposit my money. I need someone to help me grow, ‘”said Dixon Stevens. “At that moment I knew that we could be successful together.”
Born into an entrepreneurial family, Dixon Stevens has a long history of helping local minority small business owners access the resources, technology support and mentoring they need to grow their business. For example, Dixon Stevens helped Ortiz envision and bring to life new virtual coaching services, including group fitness therapy and a YouTube series, to expand their impact on new, virtual audiences during the pandemic. In addition, Dixon Stevens Ortiz helped improve their customer service through contactless payment options at the point of sale.
“[Ortiz] is the perfect portrayal of this Chase program because we want to be catalysts for positive change, especially in underserved communities, ”said Dixon Stevens. “She lives this mission every day and in everything she does.”
JPMorgan Chase’s new program aims to fuel sustainable business growth for entrepreneurs in historically underserved neighborhoods. The initiative connects small business owners in 13 US cities, including Los Angeles, with a senior Chase management consultant who provides advisory services such as mentoring, business development coaching, resource and financial planning. The program is available to everyone, both Chase customers and non-customers.
With the support of Dixon Stevens and her financial partners at Chase, Ortiz is “strong, confident, and motivated to build on her company’s long-standing success and create real generational wealth for her family.”
To learn more about how Chase supports minority entrepreneurs in the Los Angeles area, contact Chase Senior Business Consultant Lisa Dixon Stevens at [email protected]. JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA member FDIC.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
