Fronts of Coppell is a Sidekick series in which executive news editor Shivi Sharma profiles a Coppell business owner to bring awareness to community-based establishments.

Every morning since 2016, Black Vegan Fitness founder and Fit Hub co-owner Jeniece Paige prays over her vision board. When Paige decided to resign from her job as a project manager for AT&T, she created a vision board with photos of smoothies, fruit and vegetables, workouts and books. 

After receiving clients from her doctor to train and advise, Paige founded BV Fitness, her personal training and nutrition business. In September 2018, she established Fit Hub, a smoothie bar, with her friend and co-owner Thalissa Williams. 

Paige’s 2016 vision board still sits in her prayer room, with one item left undone: writing a book, which is currently in progress. Fit Hub is open Monday through Saturday from eight to two, with happy hour specials from three to five on Fridays. 

What inspired you to become a physical trainer, certified fitness instructor and nutritionist?

Years ago, I wanted to lose about 15 pounds because I had some extra weight that I thought I needed to lose. I lost the weight I wanted, plus some. I lost a lot of muscle in the process, and I started working out at the same time. I started looking very malnutritioned, like something was wrong. I went to a personal trainer to learn how to train myself to build the muscles back. It just became a passion. 

I transformed my whole body, and people started asking me “Hey, can you help me?”. The more I studied, the more I educated myself, the more I learned, the more it became a passion for me. What I tell people is, nutrition is my first love. Physical fitness is my second love, but you gotta have them both; they’re like a husband and wife team. 

At what point did you decide to turn that connection with customers into a business? 

People were asking me to help them, and they were willing to pay me. I lost the weight, and I built the muscles and my doctor said, “you can really help people do this.” So, I started doing the research, and he started sending me clients. They started telling people about my transformation, and then people in my church started asking me, “Hey, how much do you charge to do this?” It wasn’t like a big business plan; it just fell into my lap.

What is it like working for yourself?

I knew that I would someday be my own boss. I just didn’t know when and how it was going to happen. I would rather do it for myself than do it for someone else that I can’t control. It is a beautiful thing, but I would tell people in a heartbeat to make sure you’re built for it. To make sure you’re gonna make the sacrifice and also get the support of your family because that is key. You’re making a sacrifice and the sacrifice is them. You’re not going to have the time that you would normally have because you’re building a business now. It is a beautiful thing; it’s a wonderful feeling. I get up every day, I look forward to going to my club. I get excited. I’m grateful. I’m solely working for my purpose.

How do you balance running both BV Fitness and Fit Hub?

It works great because I get to incorporate my personal training into Fit Hub. If I get a customer that comes in that wants some training, I get to sign them up at BV Fitness. They can join my Zoom training or I make a meal plan for them. Most of the people that come in here know that we have a business outside of Fit Hub and it’s all health-related. That’s what I love. I get to marry the two. I have an online fitness class, then I have online nutritious courses that I’m releasing, and it’s all on BV Fitness. 

How has Fit Hub handled the COVID-19 pandemic?

The business slowed down from March to April. We lost like 50% of our business. Mid-May is when people start trickling back in and supporting us. That’s when Coppell was really saying “support small businesses” because a lot of them closed. We started getting more support, and then in June, people picked up. We still have not got the traffic that we were getting before COVID, but we have a lot of faithful Coppell residents that love us and the products. 

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