Its nearly 21,000 Personal Instagram FollowersZakia Blaine calls herself a “professional witch”. And when you look at her impressive list of accomplishments — a businesswoman who just went to college and built a successful wellness brand despite teenage motherhood and living with a debilitating brain disorder, it’s hard not to give women their luster.
“I’ve been through many things in my life. I have every excuse to just sit in my house and receive a disability screening and not really try. But I chose to start a multimillion-dollar business out of it,” she says.
root I spoke exclusively with Zakia Blaine about how she created her business despite the obstacles and the message she brings to the world about what it means to be fit.
I started the challenge
Blaine taught in the Philadelphia school system for 11 years before retiring after being diagnosed with a brain disorder in 2012. She saw diet and exercise as the way to wean herself off the prescription drugs, which caused debilitating side effects. So she developed the “F*ck Being Fat” weight loss challenge to see if others would work with her. “I have developed guidelines to help people be proactive with their health rather than waiting for diabetes and high blood pressure to appear,” she said.
Blain posted her challenge on Instagram with an offer to push the person who has lost the most weight. “And so my work began.” From there, Blain launched the FBF Body Collection, a size comprehensive line of athletic apparel, gym and accessories designed to encourage people to love their bodies. Nearly a decade later, the business she started in her living room is now 185,000 Instagram Followers And I just got a 100000 ranking.
Talking to people not always heard
Although social media has made many voices in the health and wellness field, Blaine says she felt the need for it most. Most people think that overweight women don’t care about their health. Most people feel that we are lazy, we eat too much, and we don’t want to exercise. This is far from the truth. I can run in circles around skinny women when it comes to going to the gym,” she laughs.
Blaine says her journey has always been about living a healthy lifestyle. She came out to dispel the myth that fitness means thinness. In a culture obsessed with appearance, she says, her work speaks to people they haven’t always heard of — plus-size women who want to be healthy but love themselves the way they are. “You don’t have to be ashamed of what your body looks like while working toward the body you want,” she says
As an active plus-size woman, Blaine says she knows what the gym market has been missing. She has deliberately been involved in every step of creating her brand. “I choose the color, style, and fit,” she says. “I know people don’t want sheer leggings that show off your cracked butt. I test everything before it goes into production,” she says.
Blain says her collection is designed to take you from the gym to a night out on the town.” I want people to be able to wear [the pieces] wherever they want.”
“I don’t sell clothes. I sell confidence.”
Although being a successful business owner can be lonely, Blaine says some of the best advice she ever received came from her grandfather, who always told her to keep her head high. She hopes that FBF Body will make her clients feel that they can hold their heads high. I don’t sell clothes. I’m selling confidence.”
And while it took a lot to get her to where she is today, Blaine says she believes it all happened for a reason. “All of these things have happened to me, but I think telling my story is what I was sent to do here. This is my service,” she says.
