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Trina W. turns plus size fitness into a plus size business

Trina Williams aka T-Will of Thick Chick Fitness
Trina Williams aka T-Will of Thick Chick Fitness

When Trina Williams was seven years old, she had a plan to be a schoolteacher for 20 years and then resign, which is exactly what she did.

She couldn’t have seen how extensive her influence would be on fitness for Black plus size women through her brand Thick Chick Fitness. Her willingness to learn, face challenges, and accommodate different abilities has made her an inspiration to countless women.

In and out of fitness

In the early 2000s, while Trina was teaching in the Riverview School District, she worked out with a friend among “plus-sized, full-figured women.” The center closed and transferred their memberships to another location, but Trina and her friend felt out of place. “They looked like fitness models. I felt intimidated.” She stopped working out for over a year.

Trina kept moving in her classroom though and motivated the kids to move—to help keep them awake. In 2006, a trainer for an intensive exercise boot camp program, named King James, came to her school and put Trina on the spot. She joined and lost 61 pounds within the first year. Occasionally, trainers allowed her to lead classes.

Eventually, Trina felt confident enough to start her own fitness business. She found a location in North County and business grew. While Trina excelled at classroom management, she admits she didn’t know much about business management. “I didn’t have a business plan—not on paper.”

Trina left Riverview for Normandy School District, teaching three fitness classes every morning before starting her school day. She laughs, “I was much younger then, so I could move zip-zip.”

Her busy schedule eventually led to burn out. In the summer of 2011, she traveled to Las Vegas and on a cruise. She stopped teaching fitness and working out and gained weight. She says, “Part of me was like ‘I don’t even do fitness anymore, so what difference does it make?’”

Line dance and the birth of Thick Chick Fitness

Two years later, a woman at Trina’s former church suggested she come to a line dancing class there. Trina says, “It was fitness, but it wasn’t hardcore fitness like Boot Camp. When I got done, I was sweating!” She attended the line dance class faithfully, which eventually moved to O’Fallon Park Rec Complex in north St. Louis city.

In 2014, Trina stopped dancing when her friend and mentor, Diana Bowles, lost her fight with cancer. She says, “I would be at the hospital seven or eight hours with her family.” She was devastated. Trina’s boyfriend at the time suggested she start teaching classes to lift her spirits, telling her she loved line dancing more than him. She rejected the idea, not wanting the responsibility of starting and maintaining a line dance class and preferring to focus on getting her Education Specialist degree at Lindenwood.

Trina’s boyfriend persuaded her to go to Special Tymes Banquet Hall at 5950 Natural Bridge Ave for a “surprise.” He sang her praises as a line dance instructor, though she had never taught, and they asked her to teach there. She began teaching line dancing classes on Mondays.

Trina liked to mix old and new line dances in her classes, and her dancers had varying levels of knowledge about those line dances. She remembers one seasoned line dancer who would vocalize a quick buzzer sound at any of Trina’s missteps. She laughs, knowing others might be offended, “It made me do was go home and learn them dances—and I mean learn them.” She improved, and eventually had confidence to call herself a “line dance instructor.”

As Trina’s classes grew in popularity, she decided to teach fitness again and opened Thick Chick Fitness in Jennings, Mo. Although all women are welcome, Trina decided to cater to plus-size women. She says, “Unfortunately, even though we are the ones who should be in the gyms working out, society and [social media] make it seem like only Instagram models should be in the gym.”

Bobalagaboom and the power of social media

In 2016, Trina got the opportunity to choreograph a new line dance for the late Rhythm & Blues artist, Wendell B. and his song, “Bobalagaboom.” She shot a video of her class dancing to the song and sent it to him, and he included it in his official YouTube video.

Trina was invited to teach on the Line Dancing Groovy Cruise. She says the line-dancing community is huge and the dances vary from state to state. She took 29 people from St. Louis on the cruise ship and shared Wendell B.’s song. “It was major,” she says. Videos of the events made their way to Facebook and created more interest.

Trina’s line dancing classes eventually moved from the banquet hall to Jennings Civic Center, where she could hold all of her fitness and dancing events. “I just took over the whole space,” she says.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a “stay at home” order was issued, and teaching became virtual. Trina says the computer kept her hands tied. She felt her teaching career was at an end and told God, “If we’re going to be home, then I’m going to start getting on social media and doing my fitness.”

Trina discovered videos of step aerobics classes run by Phillip Weeden and his popular Xtreme Hip Hop with Phil out of Ohio. The videos showcased plus size women, too and, she says, “They’re on those step boards and it looks like they’re dancing!”

Trina had wooden step boards made and practiced in her backyard with a client. Soon, she got official step boards, invited other clients, and moved the classes to the city sidewalks. She went live on social media and interest grew.

Eventually, health officials said people could go outside if they maintained social distancing. Trina took her class to a large parking lot. “We were bored, you know,” she says. An urban news outlet, Real STL News, featured them. Trina gained certifications in Xtreme Hip-Hop, Step, and group fitness. In the same way she varied instruction in education, Trina offered alternatives in fitness. She used standard size and half-step boards. She says, “If you’re having complications standing while working out, then I show you how to do the same exercises in the chair.” Her chair workout to “The Cupid Shuffle” song went viral on TikTok. “You have to do what’s best for you and move your body,” but she also says,

Don’t be afraid to try new things.

Thick Chick business

Trina celebrates her new space

In the last few years, Trina has focused on increasing her business knowledge. She trademarked “Thick Chick Fitness” and goes by the name “T-Will.” She enrolled in Ready! Set! Launch!, a small business development program, at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc. Women’s Business Center as well as a digital marketing class through the Urban League and Maryville University. The classes helped her with tax requirements, business accounting, and social media.

Trina has over a million followers among her social media platforms and is a social media coach and consultant. Her private Facebook groups include daily workouts, motivational talks, and discussions on food.

Trina says, when it comes to losing weight, “Nutrition is 80 percent and working out is 20 percent.” She says diet helps you see the full results. She understands people may relax their healthy eating habits on a trip, but it’s important to get back on track. “Don’t beat yourself up. Go back to working out.”

Thick Chick Fitness has reopened at 9197 West Florissant Ave. in Ferguson, Mo. The new location has a spacious workout area to accommodate a variety of fitness classes and comfortable seating areas for socializing. The engaging workout programs include strength training, line dancing, step aerobics, and low-impact standing and chair exercises led by T-Will.

“Our diverse class offerings cater to different interests and fitness levels, from early morning Rise & Grind sessions to high-energy Urban Step Aerobics and groove-packed Line Dance classes. Thick Chick Fitness is more than just a gym. [It’s] a community where everyone is celebrated for who they are.”

Trina

Trina is a member of the Community Health Consultant Program with the Center for Community Health Partnership and Research.