Latoya Mckelvin - Movement Matters Collective Brings Fun, Fitness, and Inclusivity
Welcome to RISE Urban Nation with host Taryell Simmons. In this energizing episode, we are joined by Latoya McKelvin, founder of Movement Matters Collective, a San Diego wellness organization built around mindful movement. Latoya shares how she went from professional dancer to Pilates instructor to entrepreneur, why representation matters in the wellness world, and how kind self-talk can change the way we move through life.
Latoya describes herself as a forever student and says the Latoya of January 2023 is starkly different from the one of a year earlier because she dove fully into her business.
She explains that Movement Matters Collective was born out of a need to support her family after several aunts were diagnosed with aggressive cancer while she lived 3,000 miles away.
Her childhood ballet teacher's advice, "make your weakness your strength," still shapes how she coaches people today.
She names her two biggest mistakes: waiting too long to start and believing she had to do everything by herself.
Taryell proposes replacing the term "starving artist" with "abundant artist," and Latoya points to content creators showing how artists can make a living.
She closes with a simple practice: inhale deeply through the nose, exhale slowly, and release anything that does not serve you.
Removing Wellness Barriers: How Movement Matters Collective works to lower the financial, confidence, and comfort barriers that keep people out of Pilates, yoga, dance, and breath work.
Learning Before Leading: Why working in marketing and operations at BASI Pilates and other wellness brands gave Latoya the skills she needed to launch her own business.
Internal Dialogue Matters: Using positive self-talk, micro steps, and the idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy to grow through weakness and fear.
Entrepreneurship Runs in Family: Latoya's family history of businesses in Syracuse, from her aunt's bookstore to a grandfather's radio station and record shop, and how businesses can create opportunity for the next generation.
Culturally Competent Movement Spaces: Why Black instructors and culturally aware teaching matter, from understanding different anatomy to the need for Spanish-speaking Pilates instructors in San Diego.
Future of Wellness: Camaraderie among Black Pilates instructors, Latoya's dream of a Black Pilates crawl, and the shift toward hybrid in-person and online models.
Start where you are, even if it means teaching one class in a park, instead of waiting for perfect conditions.
Pick up the phone and ask mentors and industry veterans for help rather than trying to do everything alone.
Look for the intent behind people's doubts and turn their questions into a stronger plan, such as keeping a day job until revenue is steady.
Surround yourself with other entrepreneurs who ask "how do we figure it out?" instead of "you can't."
Understand the why behind a habit, as in The Yamas and Niyamas by Deborah Adele, so that new habits feel like acts of kindness rather than punishment.
Latoya McKelvin is the founder of Movement Matters Collective, a community-focused wellness organization in San Diego specializing in Pilates, yoga, dance, and breath work. A movement specialist with a degree in dance and a background as a professional dancer, Pilates instructor, and wellness marketer, she has shared the healing benefits of mindful movement with adolescents, seniors, athletes, and new movers in the United States and abroad. Learn more and connect with Latoya at https://www.movementmatterscollective.com/.
Taryell Simmons: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of RISE Urban Nation. I've got a special guest here today. This young lady is full of energy, and let me tell you, when the spirit guides say something through her, it happens. She said something earlier about technology, and the technology just shut down. Latoya McKelvin is in the building, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to RISE Urban Nation. How are you doing this morning?
Latoya McKelvin: I am doing beautiful. Thanks for having me on RISE Urban Nation. I'm very excited to be here to speak with you, my dear friend with such good energy.
Taryell Simmons: For the folks who may not know Latoya, I like to ask this question, and every guest has a different answer. Take it wherever your spirit guides you. Who is Latoya?
Latoya McKelvin: Wow, who is Latoya? That's a question I've been asking myself quite a bit lately. Latoya is a student. I'm a forever student, a forever learner of life, of skills, of self development, community development. So Latoya is definitely a person with a passion for learning.
Taryell Simmons: I love that. I'm a lifelong learner too, and each person I interact with helps me learn something new about the world and about myself. So what have you learned about yourself in the past year?
Latoya McKelvin: That evolution doesn't have to be slow. The Latoya of January 2022 is very different from the Latoya of January 2023. It's a stark difference. Part of that big jump is because I dove fully into my business. I had to evolve to be impactful to my community, to myself and my future goals, and to my family. Movement Matters Collective was the pathway, and to make it happen I had to change. I had to start using my calendar like it was nobody's business, give myself time to be introspective, and become very reliable for others and for myself.
Taryell Simmons: Tell people about the business you just transitioned to, and where you transitioned from.
Latoya McKelvin: Movement Matters Collective is a health and wellness organization that specializes in mindful movement: Pilates, yoga, dance, and breath work. One of our biggest missions is to eliminate as many barriers of entry into the wellness world as possible. It could be finances, confidence, convenience, or just being uncomfortable in a space. We want to create an inviting place for people to come in and reconnect with themselves. I've danced most of my life. My degree is in dance, I danced professionally and taught dance, and then I got into Pilates because I knew I'd be teaching young dancers and I didn't want to break any baby bodies. I had an intuitive knowledge of movement, but I wanted tangible knowledge of kinesiology and proper biomechanics. Pilates had always been part of my cross training as a dancer, so I did a teacher training and fell in love with teaching. It literally changes people's lives. That journey took me to the operations side of a major Pilates education institution, BASI Pilates, where I was on the marketing team and in the admin office. I also did marketing for other health and wellness brands in the consumer packaged goods category before I transitioned to working for myself and bringing my baby to life.
Taryell Simmons: I love that you worked inside businesses and got firsthand training before you created what you didn't see out there. A lot of people fumble through because they never had that chance to learn best practices. That's a gold strategy.
Latoya McKelvin: It is. And entrepreneurship wasn't necessarily on my radar, so when I was with those businesses I was giving my all and absorbing as much as I could. In yoga there's the idea of karmic action: whatever you do, do it well, without fixating on where it has to get you. That served me, because when I transitioned I had a skill set for another pathway of life. We don't know what we're going to do, but let's do what we're doing in this moment well, and go toward your curiosity. I invite people to go toward that one hundred percent.
Taryell Simmons: You made it so easy for me to get involved, and movement is a weakness for me. So in general, if somebody has a weakness or a perceived weakness, what next steps could they take to grow in it?
Latoya McKelvin: My ballet teacher growing up, Deborah Bowden from Syracuse, New York, always said, make your weakness your strength. If you're not a good turner, you practice turning until it's your best quality. My approach with folks, whether it's movement or talking with friends and family, starts with our internal dialogue. Just because something is hard doesn't mean it's impossible, and it's okay for things to be hard. Even if it's a micro step toward something you had a blocker for, give yourself kudos for taking it. Positive reinforcement goes a long way, especially when there's so much negative reinforcement in that internal monologue. Celebrate the fall, celebrate the steps forward. Nothing is impossible.
Taryell Simmons: Words are so powerful. I saw a project where they put positive words on one side of water and negative words on the other, froze it, and the water froze differently. As human beings we're mostly water, so we have to be mindful of the words we take in and put out, because they can manifest.
Latoya McKelvin: Absolutely. I saw this in action with my aunt. She was the plant woman. All of her plants had names, and she gave them words of encouragement. Everyone asked her how her plants thrived, and she nurtured them not just with sunlight and water but with the love she spoke to them. I had a bird's eye view of how words matter. And manifestation is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whatever we put out there, we're creating for ourselves, good or bad. So if I'm going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, I want it to be on the best path possible.
Taryell Simmons: You're in the process of building this beautiful studio. What's keeping you from taking the next step in what you want to do now?
Latoya McKelvin: A little context first. Movement Matters Collective came out of a necessity. I lost one aunt to an aggressive cancer, another aunt was diagnosed with the same cancer, and then another aunt was diagnosed and didn't tell anyone. I'm 3,000 miles away from my family. People pay me to help them with their mental and physical health, and I needed to do that for my family. So it started online and mobile, with things like Pilates in the park. A brick and mortar wasn't even on the pathway, and now I have one. It honestly felt like it was given to me, tailored to what I needed before I knew I needed it. It made me think anything is possible. We see so many signs that something is lacking in how we address overall well-being in America. What's holding me back is two things, honestly. One, there's so much to do that it's hard to know where to start. Two, fear. One reason I stepped away from performing is that I didn't want to be the person in the center of the stage. Now there's fear that I will succeed and that I have to be the one leading. So I'm working on my internal monologue: what steps are you taking, what skill sets do you need to counteract that fear, and what's the first thing you can do?
Taryell Simmons: That's beautifully said, and it's a normal feeling. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Step by step, project by project. And don't compare yourself to anyone else. Run your own race. Your vision was meant for you. So what mistakes have you made that you've learned from?
Latoya McKelvin: Two. First, I waited too long. Everything happens when it's supposed to, but the space I'm filling needed to be filled a long time ago, and I had the skill set. A Black woman in this space is so important. San Diego is one of the Pilates and yoga meccas of the world, with more yoga instructors per capita than almost anywhere, and "Pilates near me" was a top search here in 2022, but very few folks who look like me are in leadership positions. I have to shout out my mentor, who brought me into this world. She's a Black woman and the president of the PMA. I also taught for six months in Ghana, where my friend opened a Pilates studio, a Black studio teaching Black bodies, and it took me going there to say, I can do that here. Second, for six to nine months I thought I had to do it all by myself, without even asking questions of people in the industry. I've been blessed with amazing folks who were a phone call away, and I didn't pick up the phone. If I could talk to myself back then, I'd say just start, even if it's teaching a class outside in the park, and call your mentors.
Taryell Simmons: Let's look at those as opportunities. Just start where you're at. When you're mindful of your thoughts, your words, and your intentions, the universe will provide.
Latoya McKelvin: Do your work, start, and the universe provides. Someone said in a meeting last week that luck is opportunity meeting preparation. And my mom has a saying: don't perpetrate. Don't put on airs, just do it. You might look at my social media and see a studio, but work has gone into it, one step at a time.
Taryell Simmons: Sometimes the naysayers are people who love us and are trying to protect us. How do you overcome the thoughts of people who are against you?
Latoya McKelvin: Honestly, I only see the positive, so I don't know if I have naysayers. People have asked, are you going to make enough money? Those are great questions that help me strategize. I try to see the intent of their heart. Even if they don't think the path I'm on is the best, they want the best for me. And even if something is negative, is there something you can build a strategy on? "Don't quit your day job yet" may just mean make sure your bills are paid while you build. Your nine to five pays for your five to nine. My partner also told me to be around other entrepreneurs, and that was some of the best advice, because they don't say you can't do that. They say, how do we figure it out? And I was a Black ballerina in a world that didn't want me, and I still did what I had to do there.
Taryell Simmons: What should someone read to create better habits and disciplines?
Latoya McKelvin: Creating better habits has been challenging for me from the get go, but The Yamas and Niyamas really helped. They're two branches of yoga, self-practices and self-observances, and the author lays them out in such a practical way. It isn't "do this." It's "if you do this, here's what may start to happen in your life." Once my brain understood the why, it felt like the DNA in my cells changed. We don't do these things to beat ourselves up or force ourselves into submission. They're acts of kindness for ourselves, and if we're kinder to ourselves, we can be kinder to other people. That goes for the food we put in our bodies and the words we put out.
Taryell Simmons: That's The Yamas and Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice by Deborah Adele, ladies and gentlemen. I'm putting it on my book list. Now, what was your first job?
Latoya McKelvin: My first job was working in my aunt Carol's bookstore, Southside Newsstand in Syracuse. It sold used books, newspapers from all over the world, and periodicals, and had a coffee shop. Right next door was the county headquarters for the Green Party, so it was a hotbed for politics. I swept floors, made coffee, ran the register, and organized periodicals. My grandmother also had a restaurant in the family for about twelve years. My first job outside the family businesses was an internship at the Republican headquarters in Syracuse. I learned a lot about politics, including that it's not for me. And our businesses can do so much for our communities and families. My aunt gave me my first job, and now I might be able to give my niece shelf space at my studio. Our first network is our family. My maternal grandfather had the first Black-owned radio station and a record shop in Syracuse, my grandmother opened restaurants, and one of my aunts had a child care business. We come from a lot of entrepreneurs. It's the hustle in us.
Taryell Simmons: You mentioned the starving artist. I want to switch that term to abundant artists, because artists are abundant in how they help shape change and lift up society, from murals to film to poetry.
Latoya McKelvin: I feel like Gen Z is doing that with content creators. They're 100 percent artists, and they're creating a blueprint for fine artists too. If you're painting a mural, time-lapse it and find ways to monetize it. It's not perfect yet, but more folks are asking from the start, how can I make money with my art form? Artists give abundantly of their spirit, so we want them to live abundantly.
Taryell Simmons: What steps would you share with someone who wants to leave their nine to five and turn their passion into a business?
Latoya McKelvin: First, self-exploration and introspection, whether it's journaling. This is a big step, and I don't want to sugarcoat it. Find what resonates with your spirit by seeing what motifs keep coming up in your writing, then figure out a way to bring it to life, even if it hasn't been done, and have a plan. Then find folks in the space you want to get into. I found a Pilates school and got two amazing mentors there. Collaborate, add value, learn the ropes, and maybe offer to TA a full class. Bet on yourself and take the first step. And in San Diego there are so many resources for strategy and business planning, like the SBDC and the Jacobs Center. Be within a community that you can serve and that serves you.
Taryell Simmons: Shout out to VillageUp, the Jacobs Center, and the SBDC, all RISE Urban Nation partners. What does the future hold for your industry, especially for people who look like us?
Latoya McKelvin: Just yesterday I found out about another Black female Pilates instructor in San Diego, and we exchanged information right away. This has been a very welcoming community among Black instructors here. It's not competition. It's, when are you coming in to take a session? I'm putting it out there: by the end of 2023 I want to do a Black Pilates crawl, traveling to different Black-owned Pilates organizations as a group. Wellness is so important in the Black community because there's a lot of intergenerational trauma that hasn't been addressed. Your somatic journey is tied to your emotional and spiritual journey. We hold emotion and past trauma in places like the pelvis, and upper body strength can connect to whether your heart is open to receive love. That's why culturally competent spaces matter. Black women have different anatomy, and an instructor saying "tuck, tuck, tuck" can pull you out of a neutral pelvis. I also haven't come across a Spanish-speaking Pilates instructor in San Diego, and I can't call it a culturally competent institution if I don't have someone who represents the people living right across the street from the studio. I want this industry to look like San Diego. The wellness world is also moving toward hybrid models, in person and online, and every step I take for Movement Matters is to help folks make their internal dialogue kinder and let their physical journey support their emotional journey.
Taryell Simmons: Let's help our brown brothers and sisters get more representation in these Pilates and yoga studios. So what are you working on, and where can people find you?
Latoya McKelvin: You can find Movement Matters Collective on Instagram and Facebook, and my personal pages under Latoya McKelvin. The main project right now is building out the studio, a safe, sacred space for folks to be completely who they are and move from an authentic place. So many people say they'll do yoga once they're more flexible. No, come authentically where you are right now. One of my favorite things is Pilates in the Park, Sundays at 10 a.m. at Memorial Park in Chula Vista, right next to the farmers market, so you can do Pilates and then get your produce. It's every Sunday except when it rains, and I try to offer it virtually then. There are great things coming for Movement Matters that I can't share yet.
Taryell Simmons: More to come, ladies and gentlemen. Latoya, thank you for sharing your story, your journey, and your tips. We'll have links to connect with Latoya in the show notes. Any last words of wisdom?
Latoya McKelvin: Just breathe. Take a moment, inhale fully and deeply through your nose, filling your belly, your ribs, and your chest with good air. Then exhale nice and slow, releasing anything that doesn't serve you in this moment. Do that a few times a day and you'll thank yourself. We all need those moments of kindness to ourselves.
Taryell Simmons: Just breathe. Breath is important to life and in life. Thank you all for tuning in, and we'll catch you next time.
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