We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rhonda Mapp a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Rhonda , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The story behind my mission is to not just train women so they can feel and look better physically but I want them to mentally feel the same way. As women we have a lot on our plates, kids, work, making sure everything around the house is in order etc. we tend to put ourselves last. Fitness heals the body and mind. I also want women to feel empowered by their strength and also letting them know they can enjoy the foods they love while still achieving their fitness and nutrition goals.

Rhonda , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My husband first got me into fitness years ago, he taught me everything about it. I wasn’t serious with it initially. It wasn’t until 2020, I started experiencing anxiety and panic attacks for about 6 weeks straight, I lost over 40 lbs during that timeframe because I didn’t have an appetite. I finally stepped back in the gym and it felt good. The gym was my escape and it helped me physically and mentally. My anxiety and panic attacks ceased, I gained my weight back and became stronger each week.

I started recording my workouts and a lot of women on Instagram asked for tips and help with certain exercises. This was my sign to get certified! This was scary because I was a tall women’s fashion designer. I was in NYFW,LAFW, I was a vendor for The Talk Society and traveled with them to NY, DC, and California, WNBA players were wearing my clothing brand, my brand was in boutiques in California etc. My passion for fashion died down and I felt my assignment for that was complete. I made that leap of faith and became a personal trainer.

It’s not a lot of black female personal trainers in the RDU area, this alone set me apart because during my consultation with a lot of potential clients they have said they couldn’t find someone that looked like them. My IG also shows workout videos, recipes, and fitness and nutrition tips so this also gave me exposure to a lot of women in the area and across the world. I have women who want to lose weight and gain muscle, grow their muscles bigger and even clients who just want to feel better mentally.

A month ago my husband and I who is a trainer as well, decided to join forces and turn our personal training businesses into one. We are Mapp To Fitness. We love to help men and women reach their fitness and nutrition goals. Whether your goal is to lose weight/fat, tone or build muscle mass we have the “Mapp” to your fitness destination. We provide high quality coaching and nutritional advice while focusing on strength training, functional training, athletic training (for athletes) and cardio.

Because I have a passion for helping women, I only train women. My husband trains men and women. We offer one on one personal training, semi private personal training, virtual personal training and we just started offering a Saturday fitness group class called Sweat It Out Saturdayz. For just $15 every Saturday, anyone on any fitness level can join us for an hour workout. What makes our Saturday class stand out is that we just don’t train you, we learn about your fitness and nutrition goals and struggles. Even though it’s only on Saturdays we get to know each and every person, give them nutrition advice and goals that can help them throughout the week and we challenge them to get active throughout the week.

What sets our training apart is our ability to provide specific training that each client needs, we accommodate everyone’s fitness level and we actually help you through injuries that you may have had in the past and pains that you may feel. Our goal for our clients is when they are in their 80s and 90s that they will not need help getting up, bending over to pick up something, and that they can do everything on their own. We want our clients to live a long healthy life, get off any medications that they may be on, perform better in sports and actually live a lifestyle where fitness and nutrition is the norm for them.

What I’m most proud about is that I get to work along side my husband. You won’t find too many married self employed personal trainers in the area. Even though he has his own clients and I have my own clients. We share the same goals, mission and teachings that our clients need and want. We’re really the dynamic duo that clients are looking for.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I met my husband on Instagram in 2012 (true millennials lol). He was in the Army. We married the same year and he deployed a few weeks after we married. December will make 10 years of marriage for us, we have 2 girls.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

So after I became certified as a personal trainer, glute specialist, nutrition specialist and sports and conditioning I knew that I didn’t want to work at a gym. I have an entrepreneurial mindset and that stuck with me. As a new trainer, I wanted to work for myself, determine my own income and create my own hours, so I did just that. My husband lost his job due to COVID in 2020, this was scary because we were a family of 4 and by me just starting out being a trainer we lost 70% of our income. I literally had NO choice but to make personal training work as my husband was trying to find another job, but as you see, his passion was fitness as well, remember he taught me everything.

The first gym I rented out space was Snap Fitness. Eventually part of that gym closed and it wasn’t enough room for me to train my clients. By the time I moved to a second gym, RealFit Club, I was already making enough money to support our family. Not too long after this my husband wanted to make this his profession as well. My clientele increased to the point where I had to leave that gym because it wasn’t enough room for my semi private classes. Mapp To Fitness currently trains our clients at AV Fitness Facility, it’s a private gym for personal trainers and we love it. We don’t have to worry about outside people coming in and crowding the gym or anything. Which is one of the best feelings! Our next goal is to have own fitness facility for our clients.

So there really was no funding for our business or when I was doing it solo. It was pure faith and believing that God would provide for us through those difficult beginning stages and He’s still doing it today. A lot of my semi private sessions time slots are full. My husband is training MMA champions, athletes and anyone who wants to get into better shape.

I’ve had the opportunity to partnered with huge brands such as MyFitnessPal, Body Complete RX, AOXJOX, Chike Protein Coffee, Legion supplements, Transparent Labs supplements and many other brands that has brung in an additional income. God was our funding. We literally walked by faith and God provided.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.MappToFitness.com
• Instagram: Www.Instagram.com/mapp_to_fitness
• Other: Rhonnie’s Instagram: www.Instagram.com/rhonnie_fit Rock’s Instagram: www.Instagram.com/45_plate_standard

Image Credits
Outdoor photography: Josiyah Lunsford Gym photography: Rhonnie and Rock Mapp