Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tiffini Holmes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tiffini, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents challenged and modeled for my brother and I to dare to be different. They always taught us to be true to our values and beliefs, pursue things that made us happy, and be willing to stand alone knowing that no matter what we would always have their support and unconditional love. That is what gave me the courage to leave a six figure corporate career path and become a plus size health coach.

In an industry where size and looks are highly scrutinized I was willing to take the risk of starting a business in a space where no one looked like me and stick with it for more than 10 years now.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My love for health and wellness was birthed from my own wellness journey. In my early 30’s I decided to get serious about losing weight. I was more than 400 pounds and I would get winded walking up a flight of stairs. Plus, I traveled a lot for work and hated to always ask for a seat belt extender on flights. I got with a personal trainer who was really great about introducing me to fitness, educating me on nutrition, and really pushing me to realize how much more my body could do physically than I ever thought. However, there is a huge mental and emotional component to weight loss that most people don’t talk about and that is often neglected. Additionally, weight loss is unique to the individual and at the time there were not a lot of custom solutions; everything seemed cookie cutter.

I got into health and wellness coaching to fill that gap. To provide accountability, to help individuals find sustainable solutions that would work for them, to talk through the emotions that come up and to help develop their mental fortitude for the journey. After going through the process of losing 160lbs I wanted to be a resource to others that I needed on my own journey.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

The first business I started, Total Transformation Solutions, I started out of my home. I was doing HR consulting and health coaching. I was able to grow from there by refining my business model, becoming an author, and learn more as an entrepreneur. That experience gave me the confidence to co-develop a project called, The Aux, which will be a wellness hub that will be home to more than 10 primarily black-owned wellness companies that will provide a myriad of wellness services in Evanston.

My second business (and first brick and mortar business) Well Beings Chicago will also be in The Aux. It will be a wellness center complete with a private membership gym, health coaching, personal training, group fitness classes, massage therapy, mental health therapy, and more.

The main reasons I did this is because wellness is more than physical health. At Well Beings Chicago we focus on the total person and all aspects of wellbeing. But also, I wanted to be a part of co-developing The Aux because there are so many barriers to entry for black business owners and to be a part of an opportunity to mitigate those barriers for many businesses and create a repeatable process that can be implemented around the country was the opportunity of a lifetime.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I met my business partner, Gabori Partee Sr. in the gym. I was in the beginning stages of my weight loss journey and I would show up at the gym every day and walk on the treadmill. After watching me for a while, he came up to me and said I could do more than that and to give him a call. It took a few weeks and a couple more call outs from him before I finally did. He was not the first personal trainer I had worked with but he was by far the most effective. He challenged me to do more than I ever thought I could do physically and even encouraged me to start my coaching business.

After I had been coaching some time we began to partner on wellness retreats, seminars, workshops, and wellness challenges. We had talked about opening a wellness center but it always seemed so big and farfetched. Well look at us now, we are doing it! When you have a track record of success like ours it definitely makes it a little easier to take on new, BIG ideas.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wellbeingschicago.com
• Instagram: @wellbeingschicago and @ttwcoach
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WELLBEINGSCHICAGO and https://www.facebook.com/ttwcoach
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffiniholmes/

Image Credits
Partee Images