Jaz Jackson, founder and CEO of fitness apparel brand JSculpt Fitness, shares how depression inspired their multi-million dollar fitness line.
Video transcript
JAZKS JAZ: Everything I learned about JSculpt and running a business was done on the first floor. I have no background in entrepreneurship. I don’t have a business background.
The cool thing about learning, when you go, you know you make these big mistakes, but it prepares you for what’s to come. I always have to make sure that I’m okay as a student even though I’m the CEO.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
JAZKS JAZ: Hey yahoo family. My name is Jaz Jackson. I am the founder and creator of JSculpt Fitness. JSculpt Fitness is a line of fitness clothing. We were introduced in 2017. What we launched was called the JSculpt fitness belt and is similar to what the industry calls a waist trainer. As black women, we love to keep our curves and figures, the same goes for Latina women. I wanted to provide something that spoke to it but was still safe to wear. The outline of JSculpt was to give you the silhouette of a waist trainer but give you the flexibility of a regular sweat fitness belt.
Before starting my business, I was diagnosed with depression in 2012. I have gone through many different ups and downs in the type of medication I would take. My doctor told me that one way to combat my depression is to take a holistic approach. So I decided to train. I changed my diet completely and while I was in the gym I wore a lot of different belts. I wanted to bring something new to market that would work for women like me who are curvier. So JSculpt was born.
When I started JSculpt and just my own fitness journey in general, I was a gym rat. I didn’t wake up and lost 50 pounds, you know, by going on a fashion diet. It took me well over a year. I started as an influencer, so I reviewed a lot of products. And so, just based on my own experience and the experience of my audience when I said what they wanted and needed, I turned what they wanted into a new belt.
The story goes on
We have garnered nearly 300,000 followers on Instagram since then, and we really have a close community of like-minded women eager to learn and grow in the healthcare world or the healthcare industry. And we’re a real community of what we like to call our JSculpt babes.
I am very happy to say that we don’t have any financial support. We are a black owned company. I am a black woman, all of my staff is an African American team. And so we just use the resources we have.
We were very lucky during the pandemic. People wanted to exercise, and I’m very proud to say that April was the first time we had sales over a million dollars. But we weren’t prepared for incoming orders. I decided to make sure we always had full stock. I’d rather have a lot of inventory on hand than not and not give my customers the experience they deserve.
I am really excited. We will launch apparel in 2021. We have a size range from extra small to 4X. And we only talk to the everyday woman, the woman who likes to wear sports. I’m really looking forward to getting started and showing what we’ve been working on.
When I decided to fight my depression, it wasn’t for me. It was for other women to make changes in themselves. I couldn’t have asked for a better role.
