Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 118. Jay Ell Alexander, CEO & Owner of Black Girls Run

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118. Jay Ell Alexander, CEO & Owner of Black Girls Run · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: Surround yourself with cheerleaders that cheer you on and speak
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Speaker 1: your name louder even when you're not in the room.
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Speaker 2: Hey Hurdlers, Emily Abadi here bringing you episode one and
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Speaker 2: eighteen of Hurdle, a wellness focused podcast where I sit
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Speaker 2: down with inspiring individuals to talk about everything up from
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Speaker 2: their big wins to how they've gotten through some of
0:36
Speaker 2: life's toughest moments. On the show, you can expect a vulnerability, motivation,
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Speaker 2: and candid discussions with everyone from top athletes to aspiring
0:46
Speaker 2: entrepreneurs and what it really takes to follow your passions.
0:49
Speaker 2: My mission is simple to inspire you to be your
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Speaker 2: best self, move with intention, and have some fun along
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Speaker 2: the way. Today's episode, I am chatting with j. L. Alexander.
1:02
Speaker 2: She is the CEO and owner of Black Girls Run,
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Speaker 2: an organization whose goal is to encourage African American women
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Speaker 2: to make fitness and healthy living a priority. In today's episode,
1:15
Speaker 2: we talk about some staggering statistics. According to the CDC,
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Speaker 2: eighty percent of African American women are overweight and so
1:22
Speaker 2: bgr Black Girls Run. They want to create a movement
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Speaker 2: to lower that percentage and subsequently lower the number of
1:30
Speaker 2: women with chronic diseases associated with an unhealthy diet and
1:33
Speaker 2: sedentary lifestyle. In today's episode, Jyll gives me her entire backstory.
1:39
Speaker 2: We talk about everything from her upbringing, having two extremely
1:42
Speaker 2: active parents, going off to college, and like me, also
1:46
Speaker 2: gaining a fair amount of weight. And what I found
1:48
Speaker 2: really refreshing and interesting about Jl's story is that it's
1:51
Speaker 2: a prime example that carrying weight can feel different for
1:55
Speaker 2: different people. So for JL, she was extremely happy in college,
1:59
Speaker 2: even with you know this little extra love, so to speak,
2:01
Speaker 2: whereas I, for instance, felt really stuck and alone and
2:05
Speaker 2: knew that I needed to make a change at that time.
2:08
Speaker 2: Jalle goes on to tell me that after college and
2:10
Speaker 2: she got into the working world, that's when she felt
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Speaker 2: as though she wasn't her best, that the weight was
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Speaker 2: starting to really hold her back a little bit, and
2:17
Speaker 2: that's when she got into running. We laugh a bit
2:20
Speaker 2: talking about those first few runs, that first race, her
2:23
Speaker 2: now husband banditing alongside of her to motivate her and
2:27
Speaker 2: help her make it through, and she tells me all
2:30
Speaker 2: about her journey to finding Black Girls Run and how
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Speaker 2: she got so heavily involved in the organization, and we
2:36
Speaker 2: also talk about how the current events are impacting her,
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Speaker 2: her family and Black Girls Run and what they're doing
2:43
Speaker 2: to show up. There is a little little little bit
2:46
Speaker 2: I'll just say this upfront of technical wonkiness in this episode,
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Speaker 2: but trust me, stick with it. It's well worth the listen.
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Speaker 2: This was the recording I've been looking forward to since
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Speaker 2: meeting JL down in Atlanta for the Olympic Marathon trials.
2:59
Speaker 2: We sat down to on a panel discussion, including past
3:02
Speaker 2: hurdler Des London. Before we get into the swing of
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Speaker 2: media by tagging at Hurdle Podcasts and at Emily a Body.
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Speaker 2: If you have a hurdle moment of your own to share,
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Speaker 2: or you just want to say hi, I'm always available
5:26
Speaker 2: over email. It's Emily at hurdle dot us. And last,
5:29
Speaker 2: but not least, I do one more time. Need to
5:31
Speaker 2: call out the Black Girls Run Challenge, the one Million
5:34
Speaker 2: Miles for Justice. I set up a team just for
5:38
Speaker 2: the hurdlers. It's called Hurdlers and basically what it is is,
5:41
Speaker 2: with your twenty five dollars registration fee, you decide on
5:44
Speaker 2: the number of miles you would like to pledge. You
5:46
Speaker 2: register for the virtual event, you complete your mileage, you
5:49
Speaker 2: track your mileage, and it's just a way for us
5:52
Speaker 2: to come together stand for what's right, raise awareness and
5:55
Speaker 2: of course also raise some funds. The net revenue from
6:00
Speaker 2: this event goes toward the NAACP, and I'm so amped
6:04
Speaker 2: for you to join us. It goes until July fifteenth,
6:08
Speaker 2: So the link to register is in the show notes
6:11
Speaker 2: and the password for Team Hurdlers is hurdle moment. And
6:15
Speaker 2: with that, let's get to hurdling.
6:25
Speaker 1: Today.
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Speaker 2: I am sitting down with JL Alexander. She's the CEO
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Speaker 2: of Black Girls Run. Jail Hicky, I'm doing great?
6:34
Speaker 1: How about you?
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Speaker 2: You know what? I am actually really good now that
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Speaker 2: we're like sitting in one place on the sounds good
6:43
Speaker 2: first and foremost, why don't you kick us off by
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Speaker 2: talking to me about what Black Girls Run is?
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Speaker 1: Sure? So we are Black Girls Run. We are a
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Speaker 1: dynamic organization, no bias at all, but we are a
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Speaker 1: national run organization. We have been around since two thousand
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Speaker 1: and nine and our mission is to empower women with
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Speaker 1: an emphasis and focus on African American women to make
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Speaker 1: healthy living and physical activity a lifestyle. And we do
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Speaker 1: that through the sport of running, through community building, sisterhood
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Speaker 1: and all walks of life can join us. Our only
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Speaker 1: role is no men allowed, but blue, black, green, or yellow.
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Speaker 1: You can join us on the pavement and help bring
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Speaker 1: awareness to just the statistics that impact the health statistics
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Speaker 1: that impact the Black community.
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Speaker 2: So let's talk about those health statistics. I read on
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Speaker 2: the Black Girls Run website that the stat that you
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Speaker 2: lead off with is that African American women have the
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Speaker 2: highest rates of being overweight or obese compared to other
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Speaker 2: groups in the US.
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Speaker 1: Right yep. Four out of five women are considered obese
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Speaker 1: are overweight, And obviously when you are carrying more wheat
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Speaker 1: sometimes that lends to other issues like high blood pressure
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Speaker 1: or diabetes, but even things that may not be weight related,
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Speaker 1: so like breast cancer and ovarian cancer and even most
8:17
Speaker 1: recently COVID nineteen, Black people are at the top of
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Speaker 1: the charts again because of those pre existing conditions. So
8:24
Speaker 1: we just culturally, we've been just the people that have
8:28
Speaker 1: been unhealthy for a long time, candidly speaking, and so
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Speaker 1: our mission is really to start changing those numbers and
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Speaker 1: start impacting communities to really make us a healthier people.
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Speaker 2: I love that, So let's dial it back because I
8:43
Speaker 2: feel like when I talk to individuals about that, my
8:47
Speaker 2: personal passions are health and fitness. The first question that
8:51
Speaker 2: I get is okay, So have you always felt this way?
8:54
Speaker 2: So now I'm turning the table, I'm bringing it to you.
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Speaker 2: Talk to me about where you grew up. I know
8:59
Speaker 2: now you live in Richmond, but give me your beginnings.
9:03
Speaker 1: So I was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia. Most
9:06
Speaker 1: folks know us as the tide water right on the water.
9:09
Speaker 1: I've been in Richmond for a little over ten years now,
9:12
Speaker 1: but grew up just a regular childhood, great childhood mom
9:15
Speaker 1: and dad. But my parents have always been active. My
9:19
Speaker 1: parents met on the tennis court and they are still
9:22
Speaker 1: seventy and seventy five, very avid tennis players. As much
9:26
Speaker 1: as I might not admit it before, I guess before
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Speaker 1: becoming grown teenage years, I wouldn't have said that health
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Speaker 1: and fitness was an impact on my life or was
9:36
Speaker 1: a priority. But now that I look back now, my
9:39
Speaker 1: parents definitely emphasized that early on, so always playing sports.
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Speaker 1: My mom was a health and physic, a professor at
9:48
Speaker 1: a historically black college, and like I said, my dad
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Speaker 1: played overseas basketball, played college basketball. So physical activity has
9:56
Speaker 1: always been at the forefront, and we've always just kind
10:00
Speaker 1: of talked about just healthy eating and so forth, And
10:03
Speaker 1: obviously with my mom coming from an academia background, that's
10:07
Speaker 1: always a conversation as well. So she kept this active
10:11
Speaker 1: growing up and obviously continue to play sports. And then
10:14
Speaker 1: when I got got by myself and started living on
10:17
Speaker 1: my own and didn't understand, oh I have to cook
10:19
Speaker 1: every day, Oh I have to go to the grocery store,
10:22
Speaker 1: that's when the weight started coming. So yeah, so but
10:29
Speaker 1: fortunately healthy living and physical activity has actually been a
10:33
Speaker 1: part of my lifestyle for as long as I can remember.
10:36
Speaker 2: I'd love to dive in if you don't mind a
10:38
Speaker 2: little bit to that's when the weight started coming and
10:41
Speaker 2: where your head was at at that time. Because for me,
10:43
Speaker 2: for example, I know when I was overweight in college.
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Speaker 2: It wasn't like I didn't know it right, Like I
10:50
Speaker 2: knew that I was overweight. I knew that I wasn't happy.
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Speaker 2: It was bigger than just a number on the scale.
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Speaker 2: I felt like I didn't want to take photos of
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Speaker 2: myself sometimes I felt really self conscious about like the
11:02
Speaker 2: clothes I would wear and where I would go out
11:04
Speaker 2: at night, and et cetera, et cetera. And so for you,
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Speaker 2: when you felt like that was getting out of hand,
11:10
Speaker 2: did you find that it was manifesting in other ways.
11:13
Speaker 2: Did you feel really self conscious H.
11:16
Speaker 1: If I think back. I definitely put on the freshman
11:18
Speaker 1: fifteen for sure in college, but I don't know if
11:22
Speaker 1: it really impacted. I don't know if it really impacted
11:26
Speaker 1: like my outward expressions or outward feelings. I was like
11:30
Speaker 1: on my own, I was College was just a ton
11:33
Speaker 1: of fun, and so I don't think it really The
11:37
Speaker 1: weight really started impacting me until like after college and
11:42
Speaker 1: I was in the real world a little bit older,
11:46
Speaker 1: and the weight wasn't coming off as easy as it
11:48
Speaker 1: once was before. I think that's when it made a difference.
11:51
Speaker 1: So my weight fluctuated through college, but I was always
11:57
Speaker 1: if you would, I'm five ten, so the weight really
12:01
Speaker 1: didn't start showing until you know, twenty twenty five pounds
12:05
Speaker 1: because I was more so tall and lean for so long.
12:08
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, no, I totally hear you, And I think
12:10
Speaker 2: there's a big difference obviously. I mean there are so
12:14
Speaker 2: many different healthy weights, like there's no like one number
12:18
Speaker 2: that's good for everyone, of course, and for me in
12:21
Speaker 2: my experience, I noticed that I was just like actually unhappy,
12:25
Speaker 2: which is why the weight was more so an issue
12:27
Speaker 2: aside from the general health concerns, But for you, it
12:30
Speaker 2: sounds like, you know, you felt really confident in who
12:33
Speaker 2: you were, which is just a really special, special thing.
12:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think the the weight really didn't change
12:40
Speaker 1: until later on til like I kind of say it now,
12:43
Speaker 1: until life like really started happening. I think in college
12:46
Speaker 1: I was still fun still well I'm not not to
12:49
Speaker 1: say that I'm not fun now, but you know, college,
12:52
Speaker 1: you didn't have real responsibilities and you were still kind
12:55
Speaker 1: of like a just a child just learning to figure
12:59
Speaker 1: out life, and life really wasn't coming at you yet.
13:04
Speaker 1: And so I think that's when it, really, like I said,
13:06
Speaker 1: started impacting me after college, when you start looking for
13:08
Speaker 1: a job, you get in the routine of a nine
13:11
Speaker 1: to five, you get real bills, you move out the house,
13:15
Speaker 1: and it's like, hold on, I just turned to an
13:17
Speaker 1: adult overnight, and I don't know how to process this.
13:20
Speaker 1: And then that's when I think I started going to
13:23
Speaker 1: food for more comfort and not really you know, dealing
13:26
Speaker 1: with portion controls. And then I met my now husband.
13:29
Speaker 1: Of course, you put on that happy weight, So it
13:32
Speaker 1: was a lot of things happening immediately after graduating from college.
13:36
Speaker 1: That started to attribute more to my emotions and how
13:40
Speaker 1: I reacted to certain situations that I found comfort and food.
13:43
Speaker 1: And then I was like, okay, now this weight is
13:46
Speaker 1: really an issue, so we have to do something about it.
13:49
Speaker 1: Did you have like.
13:50
Speaker 2: A specific moment where you kind of came to terms
13:52
Speaker 2: with that.
13:54
Speaker 1: I think I hit now this is almost I guess
13:59
Speaker 1: a brush on my own shoulder to say good job.
14:01
Speaker 1: But my then heavyweight was two thirty seven, and I
14:05
Speaker 1: could and I could feel a difference in my body.
14:08
Speaker 1: And that's when my husband and I were in our
14:11
Speaker 1: prime of you know, the honeymoon stage of dating and
14:15
Speaker 1: you I was just I was just eating.
14:17
Speaker 2: And living, having a good time, right, just.
14:21
Speaker 1: Having a good time. And then I got on the
14:23
Speaker 1: scale and I was like, holy smokes, like something feels
14:27
Speaker 1: different about my body. And I saw two thirty seven.
14:31
Speaker 1: Now now I say that now I'm a pounds away
14:34
Speaker 1: from two thirty seven, but I've also lost, like I
14:38
Speaker 1: hit my heaviest with my son at three or four,
14:41
Speaker 1: So two thirty seven is now now a positive for
14:46
Speaker 1: me that I'm going back to. I hit my heaviest weight,
14:49
Speaker 1: my then heaviest weight again in twenty ten, so ten
14:52
Speaker 1: years later, I'm getting back to my then heaviest weight,
14:55
Speaker 1: which is a positive for me now. But in twenty ten,
14:58
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, Jay, you have a ment over
15:00
Speaker 1: two hundred pounds your whole life. What is going on?
15:03
Speaker 1: And that's when I realized I needed to shift some
15:06
Speaker 1: things and kind of get a little bit more serious
15:08
Speaker 1: about my health as well.
15:09
Speaker 2: So when you say that you were ready to get
15:12
Speaker 2: a little bit more serious about your health, what was
15:14
Speaker 2: your first instinct, the first thing that you wanted to
15:17
Speaker 2: kind of tweak a little.
15:18
Speaker 1: Bit physical activity. I wasn't. I was almost like against
15:24
Speaker 1: going to the gym, against working out. I just wasn't
15:28
Speaker 1: physically active at all. I was going through grad school
15:31
Speaker 1: so really hyper focused on my career and love life,
15:37
Speaker 1: and just some things were just taking a back seat.
15:39
Speaker 1: And so that's twenty ten is when I started running.
15:43
Speaker 2: Okay, so talk to me about that first run.
15:49
Speaker 1: I signed up for a training team, and I had
15:52
Speaker 1: signed up for I'm one of those people that I
15:54
Speaker 1: have to pay for something to feel obligated and see
15:59
Speaker 1: it through to the end. So I signed up for
16:02
Speaker 1: ten k, huge tenk here in Richmond, and I was like,
16:06
Speaker 1: we're going to do this, We're going to sign up,
16:07
Speaker 1: We're going to train for it, signed up for a
16:09
Speaker 1: training team, and I look back at pictures now, it
16:12
Speaker 1: was the worst pair of shoes I could have had,
16:15
Speaker 1: the worst clothes I could have had. But I think
16:18
Speaker 1: I was just so focused on finishing. But though that training,
16:24
Speaker 1: that training was tough, very tough one. I was probably
16:27
Speaker 1: one of the only black women out there on the
16:30
Speaker 1: training team because at that time, running wasn't running wasn't
16:34
Speaker 1: what it is now. You didn't have communities like you
16:37
Speaker 1: do now, and social media was just kind of coming
16:40
Speaker 1: into the fold as well, where it was open to everyone.
16:44
Speaker 1: So like Twitter and Facebook, which was once you know,
16:47
Speaker 1: just for college students, now it was open to everyone.
16:50
Speaker 1: So we didn't have that sense of community outside of
16:53
Speaker 1: just the regular people that I hung out with. So
16:55
Speaker 1: my training team was just a whole bunch of white
16:58
Speaker 1: girls and me.
16:59
Speaker 2: After that make you feel, well, you.
17:01
Speaker 1: Know, I come from a very my My community in
17:06
Speaker 1: Norfolk is definitely very black and white, so and I
17:10
Speaker 1: went to a majority white high school. So it wasn't
17:12
Speaker 1: anything that I felt different about or made me feel different,
17:16
Speaker 1: but it definitely made me. I think started to consider
17:19
Speaker 1: that now I'm coming into spaces where I'm not a majority,
17:25
Speaker 1: and you know this, I can treat it as a
17:28
Speaker 1: learning lesson or I can deter me. And so my
17:31
Speaker 1: first kind of running crew was definitely all white girls.
17:34
Speaker 1: But you know, I kind of continued to push through.
17:37
Speaker 1: And that's what's ten years later, I'm still running. I
17:40
Speaker 1: didn't realize, I guess the environment that I was in
17:42
Speaker 1: until I look back at on look back on it
17:44
Speaker 1: now and realize, yeah, I was probably one of the few,
17:47
Speaker 1: if not the only black girl just on the training team.
17:52
Speaker 1: But then that's when I started to build that community
17:56
Speaker 1: of when I see the other black girl that she
17:59
Speaker 1: might be on across, I was like, oh, let me
18:01
Speaker 1: go link with her. So it was a few just
18:04
Speaker 1: seeds that started to be planted in terms of building
18:10
Speaker 1: a community that I needed to kind of help foster
18:14
Speaker 1: that that need to stay physically active, to stay healthy.
18:19
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think that all of that definitely helped
18:22
Speaker 1: to contribute to just just how I continue to just
18:26
Speaker 1: kind of persevere through it all.
18:28
Speaker 2: So when you started running, you you ran a race. Yep,
18:32
Speaker 2: how did the race go?
18:34
Speaker 1: Tim k went? Okay?
18:38
Speaker 2: Define okay?
18:41
Speaker 1: You know that first run you get that runners high,
18:44
Speaker 1: and I don't even know if it's runners high, if
18:47
Speaker 1: that's you like your first run, but it's like you
18:49
Speaker 1: get so excited with all these people out here and
18:51
Speaker 1: people in costumes, and I probably took off way too fast.
18:55
Speaker 1: And then I just had a pair of rebounts on
18:57
Speaker 1: that I think they were more like aerobic shit versus
19:00
Speaker 1: running shoes, so didn't know about like the running shoes
19:04
Speaker 1: of the world. And had like on this like baseball
19:08
Speaker 1: sleeve type of cotton shirt and I had it like
19:12
Speaker 1: customized with like my name on it, and like I
19:21
Speaker 1: was doing the most and yeah, so the run went okay.
19:25
Speaker 1: My husband actually ran it rogue with me. He didn't
19:29
Speaker 1: have a bib or anything, but he kind of got it.
19:32
Speaker 1: He got yeah, he got caught in the shoe and
19:34
Speaker 1: then he just kept on running on the sidelines with it.
19:37
Speaker 1: And he ran it in Jordan's which is even more hilarious.
19:46
Speaker 1: We both say that now so but again, we were
19:49
Speaker 1: much lighter in weight back then, so I think that's
19:52
Speaker 1: the only reason we got away with it.
19:55
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, Oh my gosh. When you ran that
19:58
Speaker 2: first race and you must have something right despite all
20:01
Speaker 2: of the small shortcomings, because we're like, shoot, I can't
20:05
Speaker 2: wait to do this again.
20:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't wait to do it again. But we
20:08
Speaker 1: got to critique some things and we got to switch
20:10
Speaker 1: some things up. So yeah, So that's when I started
20:13
Speaker 1: just diving into the whole running world of Okay, what
20:16
Speaker 1: do I really need so this won't be so painful
20:20
Speaker 1: the next time?
20:21
Speaker 2: And also, of note, I think something you just brought
20:23
Speaker 2: up your husband banditing it with you is really special
20:28
Speaker 2: because I think that's one of the best pieces of
20:31
Speaker 2: advice that you often hear about starting any new activities.
20:35
Speaker 2: Start it with someone, oh for sure can keep you accountable.
20:39
Speaker 2: So I mean, aside from that accountability factor, I mean,
20:42
Speaker 2: we mentioned you were wearing the wrong clothes, so maybe
20:45
Speaker 2: gearing up right. What other best practice tips do you
20:49
Speaker 2: have when it comes to someone who may really want
20:52
Speaker 2: to get lacing up but just doesn't know where to start.
20:56
Speaker 1: I mean, I think you've hit it on the nose.
20:59
Speaker 1: Good pair of shoes, pair of socks, and then finding
21:01
Speaker 1: someone to hold you accountable because it's so easy to
21:04
Speaker 1: fall off when it's just you by yourself. You'll coop
21:07
Speaker 1: one pushing it Oh next Monday. Oh yeah, I'm not
21:11
Speaker 1: feeling it today. But if you have someone that's supposed
21:14
Speaker 1: to be showing up to meet you, or you're kind
21:17
Speaker 1: of in a challenge together to hold each other accountable,
21:21
Speaker 1: more often than not that you will keep pushing.
21:24
Speaker 2: So it's not that long after this first race that
21:27
Speaker 2: you first found Black Girls Run.
21:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was shortly after, but oddly enough, I was
21:35
Speaker 1: introduced to BGR through my professional side, which is in
21:39
Speaker 1: marketing and PR. And that's when BGR in two thousand
21:44
Speaker 1: and nine twenty ten really started taking off from being
21:47
Speaker 1: just an online blog presence to now they were actually
21:52
Speaker 1: diving into the idea of creating communities, creating run groups,
21:56
Speaker 1: creating meetups, and they started just building up a lot
22:01
Speaker 1: of traction. That kind of grass roots really started catching fire,
22:07
Speaker 1: and they needed some media assistance and it was actually
22:10
Speaker 1: introduced through a professional colleague to help them out with
22:13
Speaker 1: their media and PR.
22:15
Speaker 2: And so where was Black Girls Run originally founded.
22:19
Speaker 1: It's a combination between New York and Atlanta. New York
22:21
Speaker 1: was kind of the first group, and then Atlanta's Peachtree
22:26
Speaker 1: Road Race was the first meet up, so that it's
22:29
Speaker 1: a combination of those two locations.
22:31
Speaker 2: And how did it feel for you to finally feel
22:35
Speaker 2: as though you had like a very solid, big community
22:40
Speaker 2: of women that were not only you know, interested in
22:44
Speaker 2: what you were interested in, but then also without a doubt,
22:47
Speaker 2: I'm sure like minded.
22:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I think back on it now, it's
22:52
Speaker 1: been eight years since I've joined in with BGR, and
22:58
Speaker 1: I was I don't think I even really understood it then.
23:01
Speaker 1: I was like twenty four twenty five years old and
23:05
Speaker 1: still kind of figuring out my place in life. So
23:10
Speaker 1: even though I was surrounded by like some dynamic women
23:13
Speaker 1: that health and fitness was on the forefront, I was
23:18
Speaker 1: still in a community that most of the women that
23:23
Speaker 1: I was around, they were already in kind of the
23:26
Speaker 1: groove of what they had going on for in life.
23:30
Speaker 1: So I was kind of at a place trying to
23:32
Speaker 1: figure it out. And I think that helped to contribute
23:35
Speaker 1: to kind of me coming into my own. But I
23:38
Speaker 1: don't think at twenty four to twenty five I really
23:40
Speaker 1: understood the dynamics of the organization that I had just joined.
23:46
Speaker 2: I think also, I mean, running has done so so
23:51
Speaker 2: much for me, and I'm sure at that time when
23:54
Speaker 2: you were trying to figure out, you know, the right way,
23:59
Speaker 2: so to speak, with quotes around it, because there is
24:01
Speaker 2: no one right way, but the right way to get healthy,
24:04
Speaker 2: the right way to kind of find yourself. That that
24:08
Speaker 2: first race, that next run after the first race, the
24:11
Speaker 2: next run, after the next run, after the first race,
24:13
Speaker 2: like all of them helped you believe in what it
24:18
Speaker 2: was that you had to offer.
24:19
Speaker 1: Again, Oh absolutely, to say that, you know, I say, now, oh, yeah,
24:26
Speaker 1: I'm just going to go out for three miles. I
24:30
Speaker 1: didn't say that when I first started. And so if
24:32
Speaker 1: you see, like just not to you know, three miles
24:35
Speaker 1: is a huge feat. I don't care if you've been
24:37
Speaker 1: running for a long time or a short time, to
24:40
Speaker 1: just say that now I've seen how far I can come.
24:43
Speaker 1: But even just early on, just to continue to sign
24:46
Speaker 1: up for racist just even not even races, but just
24:49
Speaker 1: to continue to show up, I think that was helping
24:53
Speaker 1: me to develop into whoever person I was going to
24:57
Speaker 1: become and help contribute just to my characters. Well, I
25:00
Speaker 1: always say that runners, we have something in us that
25:05
Speaker 1: everyone just doesn't have, and it's something special, and I
25:08
Speaker 1: think that's something special. Was starting to develop and trying
25:13
Speaker 1: to kind of build that community.
25:14
Speaker 2: At the same time, you get involved with the black
25:17
Speaker 2: girls run community on the marketing side of things, And
25:22
Speaker 2: where does that journey really take you? Everywhere?
25:27
Speaker 1: Literally everywhere that you can imagine. I was fortunate enough
25:32
Speaker 1: just to be presented with this opportunity, just to start
25:35
Speaker 1: off as a volunteer and the you know, my first
25:39
Speaker 1: job with them, you know, I flew up to New
25:43
Speaker 1: York to work a media PR event and from there
25:46
Speaker 1: I slept head to toe with the co founders in
25:49
Speaker 1: a studio apartment, first time meeting them in person. It's
25:53
Speaker 1: crazy to say that now, and literally fast forward, I
26:00
Speaker 1: just became their right hand person and learned the ins
26:03
Speaker 1: and outs of the business, learned the ins and outs
26:06
Speaker 1: in building relationships and communities. And here we are eight
26:11
Speaker 1: years later, and I bought out the company and now
26:16
Speaker 1: I managed the vision of pushing the company forward.
26:20
Speaker 2: So what does that mean when you say, like, talk
26:22
Speaker 2: to me about that process and what made you decide
26:25
Speaker 2: that that was the right thing for you to do.
26:28
Speaker 1: This is a very interesting story. But twenty seventeen, I
26:36
Speaker 1: think our co founders just kind of hit a point
26:39
Speaker 1: where they saw the organization just get to where it
26:43
Speaker 1: could be under their leadership, and it was time for
26:47
Speaker 1: a new chapter. And we shopped it around to a
26:51
Speaker 1: few companies and nothing ever came to fruition. And I
26:56
Speaker 1: was kind of always part of the package deal if
26:58
Speaker 1: you will, like we'll sell, you know, but Jail has
27:01
Speaker 1: this institutional knowledge and she'll continue with the organization. And
27:05
Speaker 1: nothing came to fruition. And then at the end of
27:09
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, they were like, well, Jayo, how about you
27:11
Speaker 1: buy it from us? And I was like, oh, nah,
27:13
Speaker 1: I'm good. Thanks, but I'm seeing the headache that this
27:18
Speaker 1: is cause I've seen, you know, what has happened. I've
27:20
Speaker 1: seen the back end of things, and you know, my
27:24
Speaker 1: life is kind of steering in a different direction. So
27:27
Speaker 1: I'm good over here. And you know, it continued just
27:31
Speaker 1: to weigh on my heart, like, all right, so if
27:33
Speaker 1: I don't buy it, then what's going to happen? You know,
27:36
Speaker 1: where does this community go? And so I had just
27:40
Speaker 1: a candid conversation with my family, with my husband, you know,
27:43
Speaker 1: trying to pay off debt, wanted to start a family.
27:45
Speaker 1: So the next chapter in my life I was kind
27:48
Speaker 1: of planning for and this wasn't part of it. And
27:51
Speaker 1: went home for Christmas dinner that holiday and pitched the
27:56
Speaker 1: idea to some family members, some friends, and then they
28:00
Speaker 1: were like, jay O, you love black girls, line, like
28:02
Speaker 1: why wouldn't you do this? And I was like I do,
28:06
Speaker 1: but like no, I don't. I don't want this, and
28:10
Speaker 1: I just kept on coming up with like different reasons
28:12
Speaker 1: of why not, and I, you know, just continue to
28:17
Speaker 1: toy around with it, and you know, we I was able. Basically,
28:22
Speaker 1: I was able to get some angel investors from my family,
28:25
Speaker 1: six family and friends to basically write me a check
28:27
Speaker 1: and they were like, Jayo, go pursue your dreams, like
28:30
Speaker 1: you know, this is what you were intended to do.
28:34
Speaker 1: And I really believe, you know, no matter how non religious, religious,
28:39
Speaker 1: non spiritual, wherever you find yourself on the spectrum, I
28:43
Speaker 1: really feel like my steps were ordained way before I
28:46
Speaker 1: even made the decision to say, hey, let's sign this,
28:49
Speaker 1: let's sign the dotted line, let me go ahead and
28:52
Speaker 1: transfer over this money. I think things were already set
28:55
Speaker 1: in place for me to make it happen. So you know,
28:57
Speaker 1: I wasn't. I didn't. Fortunately I wasn't. I didn't have
29:01
Speaker 1: to go to a bank to get alone. My family
29:03
Speaker 1: and friends were able to back me and say, hey, jail,
29:06
Speaker 1: we see the vision, we see we know who you
29:10
Speaker 1: are as a person, and we support that. So that
29:14
Speaker 1: literally had happened as easy as that. Yeah, Like I said,
29:17
Speaker 1: here we are two years later.
29:19
Speaker 2: I'll never forget. Like a year ago, I was listening
29:22
Speaker 2: to a podcast and someone told a story different than yours,
29:26
Speaker 2: but then used the phrase angel investor, and the host
29:30
Speaker 2: stopped them right after they said it and said to them,
29:33
Speaker 2: can you explain what that means? And I thought at
29:36
Speaker 2: the time that it was so valuable because I feel
29:38
Speaker 2: like that's one of those terms I gets thrown around
29:40
Speaker 2: a lot and people just are like, yeah, totally, but
29:44
Speaker 2: like fifty to sixty percent of the people don't know
29:46
Speaker 2: what that means. So would you mind explaining really quickly
29:50
Speaker 2: what it means that your family and friends angel invested
29:52
Speaker 2: in you.
29:53
Speaker 1: So, I mean, candidly speaking, is someone a person that
29:57
Speaker 1: provides the capital or the money to get started with
30:03
Speaker 1: the business. So my mom wrote me a check made
30:07
Speaker 1: out to me, and I went through the whole legal
30:10
Speaker 1: process with an attorney drew up drew up to make
30:13
Speaker 1: it as real as possible and hold me accountable, drew
30:17
Speaker 1: up papers that we both signed off on saying that
30:19
Speaker 1: I would pay back by this amount of date. But
30:22
Speaker 1: just you know, the black and white of it is,
30:25
Speaker 1: they provide the money, the capital for a business startup
30:30
Speaker 1: or like ownership to become an owner in some type
30:34
Speaker 1: of equity. They yeah, they just they just gave me
30:38
Speaker 1: the money.
30:39
Speaker 2: Got it. Sometimes you just need someone to like put
30:43
Speaker 2: it out for you in a way that you can understand.
30:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, yeah, I can provide it's candidly, but yep,
30:48
Speaker 1: that's it. I didn't have to go to the bank
30:50
Speaker 1: to get a loan, but basically I'm more so in
30:53
Speaker 1: debt to my family and friends than an actual bank.
30:56
Speaker 1: Got you.
30:57
Speaker 2: So, once you became the owner and CEO of Black
31:01
Speaker 2: Girls Run, what changes for you?
31:04
Speaker 1: A lot changed. I had to really take in on
31:08
Speaker 1: a community and trying to manage my own expectation of
31:12
Speaker 1: like what's next as an owner and CEO? How do
31:16
Speaker 1: I just kind of continue quote unquote business as usual?
31:20
Speaker 1: What now we have a different direction in the business.
31:23
Speaker 1: So for the first six months, I was still working
31:26
Speaker 1: my nine to five job and managing the company, And
31:31
Speaker 1: that first year I did like an eleven city tour
31:35
Speaker 1: of hosting like fitness events across the country and it
31:38
Speaker 1: started just taking a toll on man. I was like,
31:40
Speaker 1: I'm going to burn out before I even make it
31:43
Speaker 1: to like one year of owning this company. This is
31:46
Speaker 1: not gonna work. And I just had took the step
31:49
Speaker 1: of faith and stepped out and just started doing it
31:52
Speaker 1: full time six months after buying out the company. And
31:56
Speaker 1: so that that has been that has been rewarding, a
32:01
Speaker 1: learning process. It's ebbs and flows every day, obviously, even
32:06
Speaker 1: in the times that we're in now, being so I
32:09
Speaker 1: kind of got forced into becoming an entrepreneur, if you will.
32:13
Speaker 1: But yeah, that's where BGR has taken me into ownership
32:19
Speaker 1: of my own company.
32:21
Speaker 2: What would you say if you had to look back
32:24
Speaker 2: on this time period since you stepped into this owner
32:28
Speaker 2: and CEO role, have you had any interactions in particular
32:33
Speaker 2: that you can recall that were really just those light
32:35
Speaker 2: bulb moments that were like, you're doing the right thing.
32:37
Speaker 2: You're doing the right thing, even when it felt really hard.
32:41
Speaker 1: I thought your question was going to be, have you
32:44
Speaker 1: had the light bulb moments where you're like, no, this
32:48
Speaker 1: is not gonna work.
32:49
Speaker 2: I know you're believing it because you're talking to me.
32:52
Speaker 2: So there's got to be those moments man.
32:54
Speaker 1: I agree with you, but I think I may have
32:57
Speaker 1: had more situations where it's like, what the hell.
33:00
Speaker 2: Do I want to hear about all of it?
33:02
Speaker 1: I want to hear about all of it. But I've
33:05
Speaker 1: absolutely had those occasions. Like I said in my first year,
33:10
Speaker 1: I really the women of our community and a Black
33:14
Speaker 1: Girls Run are just so absolutely amazing. And you know,
33:20
Speaker 1: we're a national organization, but really, what I always say
33:24
Speaker 1: is that the magic happens at the local level. When
33:26
Speaker 1: you meet someone who is training for their first half marathon,
33:31
Speaker 1: who used to be a smoker, who used to be overweight,
33:34
Speaker 1: and now she has a story to tell, and I
33:36
Speaker 1: can look in her eyes and see how much BGR
33:40
Speaker 1: has impacted her life. And so those kind of conversations,
33:45
Speaker 1: when I'm able to get into the community and go
33:48
Speaker 1: run with you know, a BGR Cleveland on a Saturday
33:52
Speaker 1: morning through the neighborhood for just a three mile easy
33:55
Speaker 1: run and talk to those women, that's those conversations have
34:00
Speaker 1: what has been what has continued to push me keep
34:04
Speaker 1: the fire lit to say, Jo, you are absolutely on
34:08
Speaker 1: the right track, and so that yeah, that's so We've
34:12
Speaker 1: had those situations and I've had you know, I've had
34:16
Speaker 1: those conversations where things are not going so well either,
34:19
Speaker 1: and then I have to look at the bigger purpose
34:22
Speaker 1: and see and understand that the work that I'm doing
34:25
Speaker 1: is definitely bigger than me, so we can we can
34:27
Speaker 1: continue pushing through.
34:29
Speaker 2: Talk to me about the difference between just having the
34:32
Speaker 2: opportunity to talk to and obviously your your organization is
34:37
Speaker 2: all encompassing and it's not just black women. But what's
34:41
Speaker 2: the difference for you between having the opportunity to sit
34:44
Speaker 2: down and just speak with a woman versus having the
34:49
Speaker 2: opportunity to lace up and run with another woman.
34:53
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a huge difference. On the pavement, I
34:56
Speaker 1: always say this, on the pavement is a level playing ground.
35:00
Speaker 1: Everyone puts on their shoes the same way, everyone laces
35:03
Speaker 1: up their shoes the same way, and we're going to
35:06
Speaker 1: run the same mile. No matter how fast or slow
35:09
Speaker 1: you're going, We're still running the same out as a runner,
35:12
Speaker 1: You're still going to go through the same experiences. So
35:14
Speaker 1: I think that is more impactful for me to go
35:18
Speaker 1: out and actually run with someone versus just kind of
35:21
Speaker 1: chopping it over coffee and a bagel, and you know,
35:27
Speaker 1: the conversation may get a little bit deep, but sometimes
35:30
Speaker 1: it may stay you know, some type of sometimes superficial.
35:33
Speaker 1: But I think running when you're sweating and you get
35:36
Speaker 1: your wind going and you're like, damn, I can't talk
35:39
Speaker 1: right now, like I'm winded, and things, you start talking
35:42
Speaker 1: about some things that you may not have conveyed during
35:45
Speaker 1: that coffee networking meeting. But on the pavement we're on
35:50
Speaker 1: a level playing ground, And I think that's what makes
35:52
Speaker 1: the connection so much more authentic.
35:55
Speaker 2: I think you get vulnerable right like the second you
35:57
Speaker 2: start sweating, the second you start breathing heavy, the second
36:00
Speaker 2: that you have a moment where you remember like okay,
36:05
Speaker 2: like I might not have this completely in the bag.
36:08
Speaker 1: You're going down Absolutely when I started getting winded. Even
36:12
Speaker 1: with my crew that I run with now on a
36:14
Speaker 1: regular basis, if a Saturday morning is just I'm not
36:18
Speaker 1: my body is just not feeling it this morning, and
36:20
Speaker 1: they can see me lagging behind, you know, their question
36:24
Speaker 1: of jail, how you doing or what's good jail, like
36:27
Speaker 1: you are right? That comes really from a point of
36:29
Speaker 1: sincerity versus just saying hey, how you doing today, Like
36:33
Speaker 1: they're wondering why are you lagging back there? Like what's
36:35
Speaker 1: going on today that has you know that you're not
36:39
Speaker 1: feeling the run. So yeah, absolutely a level of vulnerability,
36:44
Speaker 1: you know, accountability, and just the opportunity to connect on
36:48
Speaker 1: a deeper level.
36:49
Speaker 2: So after you take on this new position with Black
36:52
Speaker 2: Girls Run, how are you managing to kind of intertwine
36:57
Speaker 2: this with your personal life?
37:00
Speaker 1: Hmmm. I always say there's no such thing as work
37:06
Speaker 1: life balance. It's more so work life synergy. But running
37:12
Speaker 1: is definitely ingrained in me. So going out for a
37:16
Speaker 1: morning run a few days a week and doing some
37:21
Speaker 1: type of physical activity every day, I am definitely more
37:24
Speaker 1: conscious of making sure that that gets done because I
37:28
Speaker 1: have a community that I'm leading, so I definitely need
37:30
Speaker 1: to make sure that my actions speak louder than my
37:35
Speaker 1: words and so yeah, so running has definitely become just
37:40
Speaker 1: a part of me, and so yeah that I would
37:44
Speaker 1: say that's probably the best way I'm managing it is
37:47
Speaker 1: it has definitely become a lifestyle.
37:55
Speaker 2: Taking a break from today's episode to give some love
37:59
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38:03
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38:06
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38:11
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38:13
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39:01
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39:12
Speaker 2: the last time we hear about your partner, you're running
39:15
Speaker 2: your first mile. What's going on with your partner at
39:17
Speaker 2: this point?
39:19
Speaker 1: My you mean my husband, of course? Oh yes, now
39:26
Speaker 1: he is my husband. Were fast forward eleven years later.
39:29
Speaker 1: We are we've been married for seven years and We
39:31
Speaker 1: have a beautiful son that's nine months old. But he
39:36
Speaker 1: he has you know, ebbed and flowed with his weight
39:39
Speaker 1: as well over the years, and now he's kind of
39:43
Speaker 1: in the same boat that I am. Trying to get
39:45
Speaker 1: more physically active so we can be healthy as a family,
39:49
Speaker 1: and obviously with a son now that is starting to
39:52
Speaker 1: keep us even more busier. We want to make sure
39:55
Speaker 1: that we're here for the long run as well, so
39:57
Speaker 1: he makes sure that he's go out to run or
39:59
Speaker 1: by as well. So we're still going neck and neck
40:03
Speaker 1: trying to keep each other just as healthy as possible.
40:06
Speaker 2: Talk to me about becoming a mom while also overseeing
40:09
Speaker 2: this organization.
40:10
Speaker 1: Woof, that's a whole another podcast, but in another In
40:16
Speaker 1: a nutshell, motherhood has been the hardest thing that I've
40:20
Speaker 1: done in my life. Nine months of pregnancy doesn't prepare you.
40:25
Speaker 1: Or when people say you'll never be really ready, Oh,
40:28
Speaker 1: I understand that now, So you know, there's never a
40:35
Speaker 1: good time, but you know, things happen for a reason.
40:39
Speaker 1: My husband and I, like I said, we were married
40:41
Speaker 1: for quite a few years before we decided to take
40:43
Speaker 1: the next step of adding someone to our mix. But
40:48
Speaker 1: it has been it's been a struggle more often than
40:52
Speaker 1: not to say, hey, I have to turn off the business.
40:58
Speaker 1: I have to turn off being a sea so I
41:00
Speaker 1: can focus on being a mom and being a wife
41:03
Speaker 1: and making sure that I'm one hundred percent present. So
41:07
Speaker 1: that's probably more so when the balance has to come in,
41:12
Speaker 1: and not even the balance some being a mom is
41:16
Speaker 1: a twenty four to seven job. So if I did
41:19
Speaker 1: not have my husband, I don't know how I would
41:22
Speaker 1: be doing this at all, because it definitely definitely takes
41:25
Speaker 1: a village to raise a child and you can't do
41:27
Speaker 1: it by yourself. So it has definitely been a learning
41:30
Speaker 1: lesson over the last nine months that I can't do
41:34
Speaker 1: it by myself and that I have to understand when
41:39
Speaker 1: one thing takes priority over another to make sure that
41:42
Speaker 1: I'm one hundred percent present when I'm able to be
41:44
Speaker 1: in that space.
41:46
Speaker 2: Talk to me about running through your pregnancy.
41:50
Speaker 1: It was beautiful. My pregnancy was so awesome. I'll go
41:54
Speaker 1: back to being pregnant any day. Pregnancy was beautiful. This
42:01
Speaker 1: time last year. It was this June. This time last year,
42:04
Speaker 1: I was like seven months pregnant. So yeah, so I
42:08
Speaker 1: ran all the way through eight months, ran a half marathon,
42:11
Speaker 1: at eight months, stayed physically active as much as possible
42:17
Speaker 1: in terms of just you know, continuance and strengthen, doing
42:20
Speaker 1: pelvic exercises, getting ready for labor. Had an amazing trainer
42:25
Speaker 1: just to continue to just kind of push me and
42:28
Speaker 1: keep me active, and it really helped to keep me
42:31
Speaker 1: healthy throughout my entire pregnancy as well as just prepare
42:35
Speaker 1: me for the actual labor as well. So yeah, running
42:39
Speaker 1: was something that I definitely had to do all the
42:41
Speaker 1: way through to stay just as healthy as possible.
42:45
Speaker 2: Once you have your baby, though, I would imagine that
42:48
Speaker 2: getting back and do the swing of things with activity.
42:52
Speaker 2: It's what was that like for you? Because for so
42:56
Speaker 2: many God, I mean, it's just you're overwhelmed. You having
42:59
Speaker 2: a new baby at home. You like want to take
43:02
Speaker 2: time for yourself. You can't take time for yourself. Like
43:04
Speaker 2: talk to me about your experience.
43:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, all of the above, And I don't think what
43:09
Speaker 1: you just said is any different for anyone. Everyone goes
43:13
Speaker 1: through those same feelings. I just wasn't ready for those feelings.
43:16
Speaker 1: So my son was born two days after my due date,
43:21
Speaker 1: So that was an amount of an anxiety that I
43:24
Speaker 1: was not ready for. Because you have this like date
43:26
Speaker 1: in your head, and you're like, yeah, he'll be here
43:28
Speaker 1: September tenth, and then September tenth goes by, and September
43:32
Speaker 1: eleventh goes by, and you're like, all right, so what's
43:36
Speaker 1: going on? So my son came two days late, and
43:39
Speaker 1: then at the same time, I was also planning our
43:43
Speaker 1: major annual conference for Black girls runs. So I had
43:47
Speaker 1: a lot on my shoulders and was really praying that
43:53
Speaker 1: I had a healthy delivery. And you know, I was
43:56
Speaker 1: able to bounce back as fast as possible so I
43:58
Speaker 1: could be present at our national conference. And that was
44:02
Speaker 1: six days later after my pregnancy, and I we drove
44:07
Speaker 1: to Charlotte, North Carolina with a six month old for
44:10
Speaker 1: a four day conference. So that might not be it's
44:13
Speaker 1: common to everyone, and I still don't know how I
44:16
Speaker 1: did it. I was absolutely exhausted at a conference learning
44:19
Speaker 1: how to breastfeed with a brand new child. My entire village,
44:26
Speaker 1: my aunts, my cousins came with me, my husband, and
44:30
Speaker 1: they were quarantined to the room, obviously because we had
44:33
Speaker 1: a six day old child. But that was my first
44:36
Speaker 1: week of a brand new child.
44:39
Speaker 2: I was.
44:42
Speaker 1: Bgr continued to persevere.
44:45
Speaker 2: My God, what a woman. I mean I only know
44:51
Speaker 2: this from talking to you before, but in the weeks
44:53
Speaker 2: and months that become I mean, I feel like you
44:55
Speaker 2: start off and you feel like superwoman. And then a
44:58
Speaker 2: few weeks go by and you started to notice. He
45:01
Speaker 2: started to notice that everything wasn't coming up roses.
45:05
Speaker 1: No, not at all. I would say that I probably
45:08
Speaker 1: faced that early. On day one, my son came home
45:11
Speaker 1: and I think he was still in hospital hours and
45:15
Speaker 1: we were like, Oh, he's amazing, Like he's sleeping through
45:19
Speaker 1: the night, like he's only like seventy two hours old,
45:22
Speaker 1: Like this child is amazing. And then day four came
45:25
Speaker 1: and he was like, oh yeah, I thought, y'all I
45:27
Speaker 1: had it easy. Like now I'm about to cluster feed.
45:30
Speaker 1: I'm about to eat, like nibble on you for every
45:33
Speaker 1: twenty minutes. I'm about to cry until I don't have
45:36
Speaker 1: any lung left. And our first pediatrician appointment was Monday
45:41
Speaker 1: morning at like seven thirty am, and we went in
45:43
Speaker 1: there after a night of being up all night as
45:47
Speaker 1: new parents, and we looked like deer in headlights and
45:50
Speaker 1: the pediatrician just like rubbed my shoulder and was like, baby,
45:53
Speaker 1: it's gonna be okay, and I just bawled out, started crying.
45:58
Speaker 1: It was so much emotion, like it was the craziest
46:03
Speaker 1: thing ever. Yeah, my emotions. And I'm not an emotional
46:08
Speaker 1: person at all, but I think I've cried enough of
46:10
Speaker 1: the last nine months that will set me for life.
46:15
Speaker 1: And so it's just a different type of hormone that
46:18
Speaker 1: takes over your body, I swear. And I started dealing
46:23
Speaker 1: with my first few bouts of postpartum depression very early on,
46:27
Speaker 1: trying to still try to hold on to an old
46:31
Speaker 1: lifestyle that was slowly going down the drain, still thinking
46:35
Speaker 1: I could just get up and go thought I was
46:37
Speaker 1: going to just bounce back to running, like oh yeah,
46:41
Speaker 1: we can just go out and run, and that was
46:44
Speaker 1: not the case at all, And I just didn't know
46:46
Speaker 1: how to manage that emotion. And so, yeah, postpartum depression
46:50
Speaker 1: was very real for me very early on that I
46:54
Speaker 1: didn't understand what was going on, and that was truly
46:58
Speaker 1: a transition for me into becoming a mother.
47:02
Speaker 2: Did you during that difficult time where did you look
47:07
Speaker 2: or who did you lean into to better understand what
47:11
Speaker 2: was going on?
47:12
Speaker 1: I would say my husband. I never went to I
47:17
Speaker 1: don't think it ever got to the extreme where I
47:20
Speaker 1: needed to go, like talk to someone professionally, but my
47:23
Speaker 1: husband was my rock. I was able to just you know,
47:27
Speaker 1: curse him out one minute and then the next minute,
47:30
Speaker 1: you know, love on them and like say I'm sorry,
47:34
Speaker 1: and like he really didn't understand it either, but he
47:36
Speaker 1: knew he just needed to be just be present, and
47:40
Speaker 1: I think that was the biggest thing for me. I
47:43
Speaker 1: talked to my mom for a little bit, but I
47:45
Speaker 1: feel like there's a little bit of generational gap there
47:50
Speaker 1: in terms of when she had me versus me having
47:53
Speaker 1: a child now. I don't think you know that whole
47:56
Speaker 1: mental health and depression conversation was a little bit more,
48:03
Speaker 1: was a little bit more shamed doing her generation than
48:06
Speaker 1: it is now, so she didn't really understand what I
48:08
Speaker 1: was going through. And then, more oftentimes than not, I
48:12
Speaker 1: sent a few nasty grams to some girlfriends that had
48:16
Speaker 1: had kids, and it was like, so you didn't tell
48:20
Speaker 1: me that my hair was going to come out? And
48:22
Speaker 1: they were like, oh, yeah, I remember that. I was like,
48:26
Speaker 1: so why didn't you tell me about it? So yeah,
48:29
Speaker 1: it was a combination of a little bit of everybody,
48:32
Speaker 1: but I would say my husband was definitely the person
48:34
Speaker 1: that just kind of held it down and if I
48:37
Speaker 1: was boohoo crying, he would, you know, just kind of
48:39
Speaker 1: leave me be and let me go through what I
48:42
Speaker 1: needed to go through, and then you know, come back
48:46
Speaker 1: and continue to check on me to make sure I
48:48
Speaker 1: was okay.
48:49
Speaker 2: You talked about a generational gap. You talked about how
48:52
Speaker 2: things were difficult, you thought, You talked about how you
48:54
Speaker 2: wish that maybe you had some more insight. It's so
48:57
Speaker 2: interesting to hear this of a good friend, her name's
49:00
Speaker 2: Cassie short Sleeve that just started a resource for new
49:05
Speaker 2: mothers and mothers in general called Dear Sunday Motherhood, and
49:10
Speaker 2: she had just so many of the same issues that
49:12
Speaker 2: you're speaking about. Just like, why didn't anybody tell me
49:15
Speaker 2: that it was going to be like this right right?
49:17
Speaker 1: You go to you know, you go to these pregnancy
49:22
Speaker 1: classes and training classes, and you prepare so much for
49:26
Speaker 1: like the labor but and then you get like this
49:29
Speaker 1: whole dissertation before they let you out of the hospital,
49:32
Speaker 1: and I don't even know why they think like you're
49:35
Speaker 1: really listening, but they talk about Mommy blues will hit
49:39
Speaker 1: around day four, but that's it, and then everything else
49:42
Speaker 1: you're just kind of on your own. You're responsible for
49:45
Speaker 1: a whole human Now you're a whole different woman. Your
49:48
Speaker 1: body is like going crazy berserk, and you're supposed to
49:54
Speaker 1: like just keep pushing and keep nursing and keep cooking
49:56
Speaker 1: and keep cleaning and keep being a wife. And it's like, well,
49:59
Speaker 1: who the hell came up with these ideas? Yeah, so yeah,
50:04
Speaker 1: it's a lot, it's definitely a lot. But we're women,
50:07
Speaker 1: we're fearless, we have you know, we're full of emotion,
50:11
Speaker 1: and well, one thing that I can say now, maybe
50:14
Speaker 1: not nine months ago, one thing that I can say
50:17
Speaker 1: now is we are absolutely built for this. And I
50:20
Speaker 1: can see why women have children and not men.
50:27
Speaker 2: From being a mom. Okay, so talk to me about, uh,
50:33
Speaker 2: what life is like for you these days, heading up
50:36
Speaker 2: black girls, run being a mom and trying to you know,
50:39
Speaker 2: juggle all the balls at once.
50:42
Speaker 1: It's it's actually pretty good. We've we've hit a stride
50:46
Speaker 1: right now, no pun intended that we are. You know,
50:51
Speaker 1: we're figuring out how we work as parents, how we
50:54
Speaker 1: work with each other, what's our cues of Okay, Mommy
50:58
Speaker 1: needs a little bit of time off. Daddy needs some
51:00
Speaker 1: time on himself as well, so I think we're in
51:03
Speaker 1: a stride right now that we're regular routine. And then
51:06
Speaker 1: my husband also understands just my life is an entrepreneur,
51:11
Speaker 1: that I don't work a nine to five and that,
51:15
Speaker 1: you know, some days are better than others. Some days
51:17
Speaker 1: I'm completely behind the screen and completely unavailable or checking
51:23
Speaker 1: emails at three a m. I think he understands that. So, yeah,
51:28
Speaker 1: we're we're definitely in a very good space. It's still
51:31
Speaker 1: a lot on me at times, but I have learned
51:34
Speaker 1: to just better manage my schedule, what I'm available for,
51:39
Speaker 1: what I'm not available for, being okay with saying no.
51:43
Speaker 1: I think I'm in that much better space of doing
51:45
Speaker 1: that now. And I don't have to be available for everything,
51:49
Speaker 1: and everything is not an emergency. So yeah, so things are,
51:53
Speaker 1: Things are good, The business is well in light of
51:56
Speaker 1: everything that's going on just around us. You know, things
52:00
Speaker 1: are definitely on the up and up.
52:02
Speaker 2: Let's talk about that for a second. It's going on
52:05
Speaker 2: around us, right to say it simply, I know, I
52:08
Speaker 2: don't think there's like again, I mean, how many times
52:11
Speaker 2: in this one episode can we say there's no right
52:13
Speaker 2: answer for absolutely anything? These days are no there's no
52:18
Speaker 2: one right approach to anything, but if you had to
52:22
Speaker 2: to be honest about like the one or two thoughts
52:25
Speaker 2: that you feel as though might be circling constantly in
52:28
Speaker 2: your head, like give me some insight into where you're.
52:31
Speaker 1: At, and you know, I have to actually kind of
52:35
Speaker 1: like press for wine, like back to three months ago,
52:38
Speaker 1: when like the pandemic became very real, like the idea
52:43
Speaker 1: of when they said when our first race was canceled
52:47
Speaker 1: back in March, Like I started crying and my husband
52:51
Speaker 1: was like, why are you crying. I'm like, because this
52:53
Speaker 1: is my livelihood, and like things just changed so drastically
52:59
Speaker 1: that we couldn't put like, okay, so what happens next.
53:03
Speaker 1: So it was a lot of emotion early on, trying
53:06
Speaker 1: to understand, like I know, like so other many like
53:10
Speaker 1: I can't go outside, it's a virus. I can get
53:13
Speaker 1: sick from people that are not in my household, Like
53:19
Speaker 1: what's going on? And so trying to process those feelings
53:22
Speaker 1: being quarantined, you know, having to wipe the process of
53:27
Speaker 1: going to the grocery store and having to wipe all
53:29
Speaker 1: the items down before you come in the house. It
53:31
Speaker 1: was just a lot and I think it's it's still
53:34
Speaker 1: a lot. I think we've come into a new normal,
53:38
Speaker 1: but it's still a lot. Going to the grocery store
53:40
Speaker 1: is a lot for me. Having to wash my hands
53:43
Speaker 1: all day every day, especially with a young child, is
53:46
Speaker 1: a lot for me. Not Being able to see my family,
53:49
Speaker 1: especially my mom and dad, especially within the first year
53:53
Speaker 1: of a child's life, where they seem to be doing
53:56
Speaker 1: something different or changing on a daily basis, that has been.
54:00
Speaker 1: You know, I'm totally I continue to say, I'm really
54:03
Speaker 1: over the zoom and face time like that can be
54:06
Speaker 1: taken away from me today if I could see my
54:09
Speaker 1: mom tomorrow. So so it's been. It's been a lot.
54:14
Speaker 1: I don't think one word could explain it other than
54:17
Speaker 1: probably overwhelming. But then I also have to kind of
54:22
Speaker 1: change my perspective that this has been an opportunity for
54:26
Speaker 1: me to This year was really was supposed to be
54:30
Speaker 1: really busy, and you know, I was going to do
54:33
Speaker 1: a lot of traveling, even as a new mom, And
54:37
Speaker 1: now I was able to kind of press palls and
54:40
Speaker 1: really be one hundred percent present for my son and
54:44
Speaker 1: all of his development, strengthened my relationship with my husband. So,
54:48
Speaker 1: you know, as much as I can kind of complain
54:50
Speaker 1: and whine that you know, I don't like sitting at
54:52
Speaker 1: home and I don't you know, being this this alone
54:56
Speaker 1: together idea was really like the craziest saying to me.
55:01
Speaker 1: But now, like I said, now I have to kind
55:02
Speaker 1: of change my perspective and see, okay, we're actually better
55:06
Speaker 1: coming out of this. And then in recent weeks, with
55:10
Speaker 1: just the shift in the racial culture across the country,
55:16
Speaker 1: you know, that's been something else compounded on top of
55:20
Speaker 1: a pandemic, and those emotions are hard to explain now
55:24
Speaker 1: even more I feel like they impact me because I'm
55:27
Speaker 1: a wife to a black man, I'm a mother to
55:30
Speaker 1: a black son, and those conversations have become part of
55:35
Speaker 1: our household now and will continue to be a part
55:37
Speaker 1: of our household as we raise our son. That conversations
55:41
Speaker 1: that we may not have had before. So it's been
55:44
Speaker 1: a lot of emotion, I would say, over the last
55:46
Speaker 1: three weeks, trying to understand just where we are as
55:50
Speaker 1: a country and how black girls run has been able
55:56
Speaker 1: to foster conversations even in the running world that may
55:59
Speaker 1: not have existed before. But then also just conversations is
56:03
Speaker 1: just a husband and a wife that we haven't had before.
56:07
Speaker 1: Now that we have a sign together and we have
56:09
Speaker 1: to raise someone, you know, in this climate of a world.
56:14
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's been interesting just to say the least,
56:19
Speaker 1: but just overwhelming with emotion as well.
56:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you're doing a lot, and I think
56:27
Speaker 2: especially right now. I mean, aside from the conversations you're
56:31
Speaker 2: having in your own home, have you had different conversations
56:36
Speaker 2: within your organization about how you guys can show up
56:39
Speaker 2: during this time or maybe some people don't want to
56:42
Speaker 2: show up during this time, or maybe people just want
56:44
Speaker 2: to break or do they want more Like what is
56:46
Speaker 2: it that you're seeing in your organization?
56:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, you know, it's definitely taken an impact on
56:52
Speaker 1: our organization and the conversations we having. We had to
56:55
Speaker 1: immediately pivot, just like all other organizations in terms of
57:00
Speaker 1: are now in terms of in person, how do we
57:04
Speaker 1: still show up? How do we still be a community
57:07
Speaker 1: alone together? How do we make sure that people are
57:11
Speaker 1: still healthy and active through this pandemic and still hold
57:16
Speaker 1: each other accountable? Why are black people at the top
57:20
Speaker 1: of this list? Again, like these are continued conversations and
57:23
Speaker 1: of why BGR has to continue to show up because
57:26
Speaker 1: our work is not done if not it's gotten even
57:29
Speaker 1: harder now to still be to still provide the services
57:34
Speaker 1: and support now that we're in this pandemic and we
57:38
Speaker 1: have something else that has you know, that's impacting the
57:42
Speaker 1: black community again. So yeah, we we've definitely talked about things,
57:47
Speaker 1: but even it's put us in a different different rooms
57:51
Speaker 1: now as well with the whole with the entire U.
57:55
Speaker 1: We're talking about social injustices now, we're in conversations with
57:59
Speaker 1: people that we wouldn't have had conversations with before, and
58:02
Speaker 1: so it's definitely been a shift and has taken had
58:06
Speaker 1: an impact on the company very very very fast, very fast.
58:11
Speaker 2: Can I ask you, like for an example of the
58:14
Speaker 2: conversations you're having now that you weren't having before, like
58:17
Speaker 2: within your organization, not necessarily in your home unless you
58:20
Speaker 2: want to open up about that as well.
58:22
Speaker 1: Well, Yeah, I mean just organizationally, you know, candidly speaking,
58:26
Speaker 1: I've talked to the most white people in the past
58:29
Speaker 1: week than I ever have just with BGR or in
58:33
Speaker 1: the last two years of owning the organization, you know,
58:39
Speaker 1: to the credit of some of the organizations that we've
58:42
Speaker 1: partnered with, we've been talking about how to be more
58:47
Speaker 1: diverse and how to be more inclusive for years, and
58:51
Speaker 1: the kudos to them. But now what we've seen is
58:54
Speaker 1: a surge in organizations and a surge of individuals reaching out.
59:01
Speaker 1: Not sure if it's guilt, not sure if it's authentic,
59:08
Speaker 1: because in the back of my mind it's why now
59:12
Speaker 1: you know now that someone has someone else has been killed,
59:15
Speaker 1: Now that we have riots and protests nationally but also globally,
59:21
Speaker 1: Now you know, why now are you reaching out to
59:24
Speaker 1: black girls one when we have been a pioneer in
59:27
Speaker 1: the black community and in the running community of bringing
59:30
Speaker 1: more representation to the industry for over a decade now.
59:34
Speaker 1: So it's definitely those conversations have It's been a lot
59:38
Speaker 1: over like the last seven days, it's the whole George
59:42
Speaker 1: Floyd and a model are bury. But again I have to,
59:45
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes change perspective, not look so negatively at
59:49
Speaker 1: the situation and say that this is an opportunity to
59:53
Speaker 1: start building relationships and start building the authenticity between organizations
59:59
Speaker 1: and brand and so forth, that we can start creating
1:00:03
Speaker 1: impactful change and sustainable change. So you can look at
1:00:06
Speaker 1: it from both ends of the lens. But I think
1:00:08
Speaker 1: you know, we we hopefully are starting to move in
1:00:11
Speaker 1: a direction that will definitely change the country.
1:00:14
Speaker 2: I think like the next logical question is how can
1:00:18
Speaker 2: I help? What can I do that helps you further
1:00:21
Speaker 2: what it is your mission is not just you know,
1:00:24
Speaker 2: as the CEO of Black Girls Run, but I mean
1:00:28
Speaker 2: for all black female runners.
1:00:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it's not a simple way to ask
1:00:34
Speaker 1: that question.
1:00:35
Speaker 2: Definitely, No.
1:00:36
Speaker 1: What I what I've kind of what I've kind of
1:00:39
Speaker 1: responded to with that question of what can I do
1:00:43
Speaker 1: is look a look at the end goal, like where
1:00:46
Speaker 1: are we ultimately? What do we want to see? What
1:00:50
Speaker 1: do you want to see happen between my organization or
1:00:53
Speaker 1: what do you want to see happen in the world,
1:00:55
Speaker 1: And then kind of back tread to figure out, Okay,
1:00:58
Speaker 1: so how how do we know how we got here?
1:01:02
Speaker 1: But how do we get to where we need to be?
1:01:05
Speaker 1: And you know, and I think that's where the conversations start.
1:01:09
Speaker 1: And then we just have to make sure that when
1:01:12
Speaker 1: you ask the question of what can I do, that
1:01:15
Speaker 1: it comes from a very authentic place and that it
1:01:18
Speaker 1: just doesn't you're not asking just because of what you
1:01:22
Speaker 1: see in the media, and you're not just kind of
1:01:26
Speaker 1: what's the word hopping on the bandwagon? Because everyone else
1:01:31
Speaker 1: has made the statement about how they can become a
1:01:34
Speaker 1: better organization, making sure that you guys have some meat
1:01:39
Speaker 1: and this is not just lip service, and that this
1:01:42
Speaker 1: just won't go off into a diversity and inclusion coalition
1:01:47
Speaker 1: that we're going to form, that you're actually changing the
1:01:49
Speaker 1: culture of your work environment, that you're actually going to
1:01:54
Speaker 1: put some put some meat and bones behind a meat
1:01:59
Speaker 1: and potatoes, I should say, behind what you say your
1:02:03
Speaker 1: organization needs to do better. So I think you know,
1:02:07
Speaker 1: coming from a place of authenticity. But then also in
1:02:11
Speaker 1: a way when you ask the question that when you
1:02:16
Speaker 1: ask it to a black person or ask it to
1:02:18
Speaker 1: a black running organization, is that all right? We don't
1:02:22
Speaker 1: know what the solution is either, like we can, we
1:02:25
Speaker 1: can very we can very candidly say okay, racism just
1:02:29
Speaker 1: needs to end, but that's a big statement like we
1:02:34
Speaker 1: wouldn't be here if you know, racism just didn't if
1:02:37
Speaker 1: it didn't exist, So I don't and and and in
1:02:41
Speaker 1: that people need to understand that it's okay for organizations
1:02:45
Speaker 1: to say, yes, we messed up, Yes we don't have
1:02:48
Speaker 1: representation that is diverse, but we don't know how to
1:02:52
Speaker 1: fix it. It's okay to say I don't know what
1:02:56
Speaker 1: the next step is. You we we didn't get here overnight,
1:03:01
Speaker 1: and we haven't been here for a short time. It
1:03:04
Speaker 1: took some time to get to the climate that we're
1:03:06
Speaker 1: in now. And I think saying I don't know probably
1:03:10
Speaker 1: will speak speaks louder and speaks more transparent than trying
1:03:15
Speaker 1: to say we're going to do X, Y Z, and
1:03:17
Speaker 1: we're going to give money to this and do this,
1:03:20
Speaker 1: and you know, it kind of fall falls short and
1:03:23
Speaker 1: it doesn't have that impact that we're looking for. I've
1:03:25
Speaker 1: talked to brands and organizations over the last week, and
1:03:29
Speaker 1: it could be just as simple as you know, they're
1:03:32
Speaker 1: saying their employee base does you know, is not reflective
1:03:36
Speaker 1: of the community that they serve. Well, send us. You know,
1:03:40
Speaker 1: people may not be aware of your employment opportunities. Send
1:03:43
Speaker 1: me the employment opportunities and we could broadcast them out
1:03:47
Speaker 1: to our community. You know, it could be just as
1:03:49
Speaker 1: simple as just collaborating on content, making sure that there's
1:03:54
Speaker 1: representation and imagery. But you know, you know these whole
1:03:59
Speaker 1: sensitivity you know, sensitivity trainings and cultural trainings. You know,
1:04:05
Speaker 1: it's very it's very corporate, and I think we have
1:04:07
Speaker 1: to be. We have to figure out steps that are
1:04:09
Speaker 1: a little bit more intentional that create more authentic relationships
1:04:14
Speaker 1: than just kind of checking off a box.
1:04:16
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I'm with you. I hear you, I hear you,
1:04:21
Speaker 2: And I think and I think that these conversations like
1:04:24
Speaker 2: the one that we're having right now, like these are
1:04:27
Speaker 2: let me just ask, like, let's let's have the conversation,
1:04:30
Speaker 2: Let's like get the ball rolling, Let's figure out, like
1:04:32
Speaker 2: what is it that I can start to do now
1:04:34
Speaker 2: that can create this change? And then of course, like
1:04:37
Speaker 2: let me learn from you, just like at any given moment,
1:04:40
Speaker 2: you know, you can learn from me exactly.
1:04:43
Speaker 1: It deserves these conversations, you know, the conversations have to happen.
1:04:49
Speaker 1: You and I wouldn't have you even met each other
1:04:51
Speaker 1: if we weren't in a space together that was talking
1:04:55
Speaker 1: about you know, women in diversity in the running world.
1:04:59
Speaker 1: And so it took that atmosphere to happen for us
1:05:03
Speaker 1: to create a relationship to where we are now. And
1:05:06
Speaker 1: so I think more that needs to happen where we
1:05:09
Speaker 1: create safe spaces, where we create these opportunities so organic
1:05:14
Speaker 1: relationships can continue to manifest.
1:05:18
Speaker 2: When you look back on your time since taking on
1:05:22
Speaker 2: this role with Black Girls Run, What would you say
1:05:25
Speaker 2: has been some of the best advice you received in
1:05:28
Speaker 2: this role?
1:05:30
Speaker 1: Probably to surround yourself. Probably one of the top things
1:05:34
Speaker 1: is to surround yourself with cheerleaders that cheer you on
1:05:38
Speaker 1: and speak your name louder even when you're not in
1:05:42
Speaker 1: the room. And that requires, you know, just being very
1:05:45
Speaker 1: strategic and creating again authentic relationships with the people that
1:05:51
Speaker 1: are around you. A lot of the opportunities that I've
1:05:54
Speaker 1: come into over the last couple of years in this
1:05:57
Speaker 1: in this role is because of people believing in me,
1:06:02
Speaker 1: maybe when I didn't see it in myself, or believing
1:06:06
Speaker 1: in BGR and and they they cheerleaded louder for me
1:06:12
Speaker 1: even when I wasn't standing beside them, So that that
1:06:16
Speaker 1: would probably be the biggest takeaway or the biggest learning
1:06:20
Speaker 1: lesson that someone has taught me of just surrounding yourself
1:06:23
Speaker 1: with people that can really uplift you.
1:06:26
Speaker 2: People come to the BGR website, they might come on
1:06:29
Speaker 2: over to your social media, they see a woman who
1:06:34
Speaker 2: is a mother and a runner. When you look in
1:06:38
Speaker 2: the mirror, what is it that you see looking back
1:06:40
Speaker 2: at you?
1:06:42
Speaker 1: I see I see a badass woman. I really do.
1:06:45
Speaker 1: I really do. Oh, and I say that confidently. I
1:06:49
Speaker 1: think becoming a mother has been has put another notch,
1:06:54
Speaker 1: you know, put another notch on my belt, if you will.
1:06:58
Speaker 1: But I really do see someone that has overcome some
1:07:02
Speaker 1: struggles in her life, you know, someone that has matured
1:07:06
Speaker 1: through a lot of situations to become a better person.
1:07:10
Speaker 1: Someone that is vulnerable, that has emotions, that cries, that
1:07:14
Speaker 1: has our bad days and then we wipe the tears
1:07:17
Speaker 1: away and we make sure that the next day is
1:07:21
Speaker 1: better than yesterday, and that I treat every day as
1:07:24
Speaker 1: a blessing as well. So yeah, I confidently say that
1:07:29
Speaker 1: I definitely see myself as a badass woman.
1:07:34
Speaker 2: All right, we're winding down your jail. Awesome. My final
1:07:39
Speaker 2: question for you, all right, you have an opportunity right
1:07:42
Speaker 2: now to offer yourself a piece of advice. Let's go
1:07:46
Speaker 2: back to the time period where you feel like your
1:07:50
Speaker 2: journey is taking you one way. You think that you're
1:07:53
Speaker 2: about to move this way in your personal and professional life,
1:07:55
Speaker 2: and then all of a sudden, it's this bigger opportunity
1:07:59
Speaker 2: that kind of like divine intervention comes your way. You
1:08:02
Speaker 2: have an opportunity right now to offer yourself one piece
1:08:05
Speaker 2: of advice going through that hurdle moment right now, what
1:08:10
Speaker 2: do you tell yourself?
1:08:12
Speaker 1: I would tell myself to slow down and breathe and
1:08:18
Speaker 1: trust the process. Yeah, that that's probably what I would
1:08:25
Speaker 1: tell myself then, that you have to trust the process.
1:08:30
Speaker 1: So often we look at the end goal, we look
1:08:34
Speaker 1: at the victory, we look at what's on the other
1:08:37
Speaker 1: side of the finish line, not understanding that there that
1:08:41
Speaker 1: the pain and the hurt and the small successes that's
1:08:47
Speaker 1: in the journey. There's beauty in the journey, and so
1:08:49
Speaker 1: trust the process. That's absolutely what I would tell myself,
1:08:52
Speaker 1: and just just slow.
1:08:53
Speaker 2: Down, slow down. Thank you so so much.
1:08:58
Speaker 1: You're talking to you. This is beautiful. I appreciate the
1:09:01
Speaker 1: opportunity just to kind of let my hair down and
1:09:04
Speaker 1: talk openly and yeah, be able to share my story, lady.
1:09:09
Speaker 2: You can do it with me anytime.
1:09:11
Speaker 1: Sound good.
1:09:13
Speaker 2: Thank you so so much. Please take a moment and
1:09:16
Speaker 2: leave a quick review of the show by clicking the
1:09:19
Speaker 2: link with the description to this episode. We all face
1:09:21
Speaker 2: multiple hurdles in life. I want to hear about yours.
1:09:24
Speaker 2: Reach out to me at Emily at hurdle dot us.
1:09:26
Speaker 2: Connect with the podcast on Instagram and Twitter at Hurdle
1:09:30
Speaker 2: Podcast JL. How do they keep up with you? How
1:09:32
Speaker 2: do they follow Black Girls Run? Give me the details.
1:09:36
Speaker 1: Black Girls Run dot com. You can head to the
1:09:38
Speaker 1: website to find a local group near you and then
1:09:42
Speaker 1: connect with us on social media at Black Girls Run
1:09:46
Speaker 1: on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and just join the movement
1:09:51
Speaker 1: and continue to preserve the sexy with us.
1:09:54
Speaker 2: Preserve the sexy. Yes, I am at Emily Evadi. Hurdle
1:10:00
Speaker 2: Podcast Another Hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.