We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Taryn Pascal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Taryn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
In 2019, I had an idea to create a CrossFit/Olympic weightlifting seminar specifically meant for people of color. At the time, the only thing I had built out was a new Instagram handle, Diversity & Barbells. As a biracial Black woman, I was used to being the only Black person and sometimes the only person of color in the gyms I worked out in. I came out with my first t-shirt that read, “Representation matters” and sold 13. Going into 2020, I was hopeful I could start planning for a seminar, and then of course the world shut down because of Covid-19. At that time I met one of my best friends, Saykay Brown (owner of Crossfit HCS), and we immediately connected. I shared my vision of creating a space for people of color in fitness and we ended up getting rid of diversity and barbells and starting a new endeavor called Iron Roots Athlete. From there most of the content and mission were based on CrossFit workouts and ideology and I had recently made the transition to solely Olympic weightlifting so the mission was not resonating as much with me anymore. After a solid year, one of the most difficult and traumatic years for two Black women, we called it quits with IRA because it just wasn’t sustainable. In that same period of time, I had the idea to create a group chat of all the Black women in CrossFit and weightlifting that I knew of and followed just to create a sense of community. Before I knew it, we had an Instagram group chat of 30 Black women in weightlifting and we knew from the jump we wanted to do some sort of meet-up. I started planning an in-person pilot camp with my friend Angela Carlberg for as many Black women as we could get together. The cost was free other than travel and we held our camp at the one and only Cara Headslaughters gym. The 3-day pilot camp was a success, and so many lessons were learned but I knew from that day this new endeavor which started as a group chat, was something so much bigger. That day, The Black Platform was created. The Black Platform is now in year 2 of hosting an annual camp with the purpose of having a safe space for Black women to lift each other up on and off the platform. Our first official paid camp was held at Crossfit HCS (Ferndale, Michigan) in August 2022 and we sold out for our second annual camp being held in Durham, NC at Courage Fitness Durham in 26 hours. The Black platform is meant to be a space where Black women in weightlifting can rest, just be, be themselves, and lift. We often aren’t afforded the opportunity to show up as we are in everyday spaces and that is the main goal of this space. Although this has been in the works for a few years, it’s really just the beginning and I am so excited to see what’s to come and hope to be able to get more funding to help create an even better experience in the long term.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Taryn Pascal, (she/her) I am a DEI practitioner by day (Diversity, equity, inclusion) for a tech company. I have been in this role for almost 2 years now and focus mostly on facilitation training, consulting on processes and systems that need to be more equitable, and overall creating an inclusive and equitable environment for marginalized communities. My full-time career started out in hospitality management, working in restaurants, interning at google cafe, and then officially making a transition into tech accidentally. After I graduated from college (SJSU in 2017), I worked in a recruiting agency that was not the right fit for me and so I resigned and started coaching full-time at a local gym. After a month, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to afford my rent, and I had to figure out what to do next. A kind gym member was able to connect me with her Manager and I got a contracted role for 3 months. It didn’t really pay the bills but it was better than before. During my time there I started applying to so many jobs and eventually right before my contract ended I had an interview. It was another contracted role, but based in SF and that meant I would be commuting from San Jose to SF every day. I got the job and commuted for 6 months until I applied for a full-time role at the organization I was contracting at. Lo and behold I got the job and had to move across the country to Boston. My career journey has led me from kitchens to being a receptionist, to a coordinator, to a recruiter, to where I am now a DEI Practitioner. I also decided to take a big leap in 2020 and get my master’s degree in Human resources development to better understand change and organizational management. My side hustle or passion project is The Black Platform, born from a group chat and now an annual retreat/camp, I have been the founder and facilitator since its inception in 2020. I got into fitness from a young age, I have always had to play at least one sport, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and track, and after graduating high school really felt lost without having that structure. After my second year of college, I decided to join a local CrossFit gym that I found after watching the CrossFit games with my dad for years. It was everything I could have asked for at the time, except I just always felt left out. I am quiet, I am a Black woman and those two intersecting identities come with a lot of perceptions and stereotypes. I often felt like the token biracial Black girl and found myself conforming to white standards because that’s what made people feel more comfortable. After moving from California to Boston in 2018, I realized very quickly feeling like the only marginalized person was probably something that was going to go away unless real effort was put into making an impact. The biggest thing that I am proud of is truly using my voice and finding a way to support my own community. I recognize the privilege I hold being a biracial, cisgender, heterosexual, middle-income person, and I am just grateful to be able to play a small part in creating impactful change. Instagram (tee_smilesss and @theblackplatform_).
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
The biggest lesson I had to unlearn about being in business and being an entrepreneur, is that just because people know who you are doesn’t mean that you know your value, know your business, or know what you do. Coupled with the idea that entrepreneurship is done in a vacuum, and must be done by yourself, I’ve had a lot of learning to do. Being an introvert, I’ve had to learn not to be afraid of sharing my voice, opinions, and business and to be truly confident in what I put out to the world. In addition to building a business that is community-driven, based, and structured, which is not an easy feat with lack of funding. Especially being a business that focuses on a marginalized(s) community, learning to advocate for our mission and not be afraid of holding firm in the values of being pro-Black, supportive of LGBTQIA+ communities, and specifically for Black women only, it can be challenging to say no to business opportunities that don’t align with our values. The most important thing I have to remind myself is to be in business people need to hear your opinions as those are what attract the right people into your community, even if it feels uncomfortable at times.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
One of the most difficult aspects of building The Black Platform is actually building it. Building a brand is relatively simple in the realm of figuring out brand colors, design, and aesthetics but the actual strategy of building a business is challenging. Especially when you have no funding, no prior business experience and you are one person team, for the time being. I started this business by myself after the pilot camp and have hired a few people to help with our landing page, and scheduling needs but I hope to be able to hire a team, business coach, and find a cofounder as I get everything more structured and of course more funding. I’d be remiss to not bring up the concept of resilience, as it is almost a part of being a Black woman because stereotypically we do so many things and have to jump over so many hurdles. I try not to center resiliency in TBP because I am trying to build a community based on softness, rest, and restoration. In our society, Black women can’t make mistakes, aren’t heard and even if we do things well, there is a heightened expectation to continue doing more and more. I don’t like having to build alone as being community-based is very important to me AND I know that I don’t ever want to hire volunteers because I believe in paying people what they are worth and paying for the value they bring to the table. In due time, I know The Black Platform will be everything I envision now and I am grateful to my supportive community (friends, family, my partner) who have helped me get this far.
Contact Info:
- Website: theblackplatform.podia.com
- Instagram: theblackplatform_. tee_smilesss
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarynpascal/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDvZC20Qp2P0F3ZAyQBkokA
- Other: venmo link to donate: https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3505514809919168948&created=1682095064.653269&printed=1 photo credits: @oliviiab_
Image Credits
@oliviiab_ (all photos except me in the blue singlet) @squatchez_media