Meet Talisia Guyton | CEO of Healthy Hustle ( Women’s Athleisure Wear )

We had the good fortune of connecting with Talisia Guyton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Talisia, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My long term goal is to open up a gym, but I know I have to accomplish my short term goals to be able to build up to a gym. I was pregnant with my second child and after I gave birth I wasn’t too fond of how I looked because I didn’t snap back as quick as I did with my previous pregnancy. I immediately went back to working out, ( before my 8 weeks was up). My husband and I always have late night conversations about our goals and ask ourselves what can we do to accomplish these goals. My husband mentioned starting a workout line for women so that I can get my name out there before I open up a gym and I thought it was a good idea. I like to workout, I’ve been very active since I was a kid. So I said, ” Let’s do it!” Why not promote health and fitness while also looking good and feeling good. Especially for women. I wanted this to be for all women of shapes, sizes and ages. I know how it can be when your body goes through so many different changes and you feel insecure, but I wanted to help women be able to feel good about themselves. So good that when they put on my apparel it makes them actually head to the gym or even think about working out.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a certified occupational therapy assistant as well as the CEO of Healthy Hustle in which I sell womens workout apparel. What sets me apart from others, is that I like to get to know my customers. I want to make sure their experience in my apparel was great and lifted them up. That is why I decided to go from just selling online to also selling online and in local gyms ( Crunch Fitness). I’m honestly proud of myself because I’m not as shy and I’m not scared of failing, because failures turn into lessons. I remember when I had set up at a local gym for the first time, I did not have a table cloth, no mannequins and no banner. I just had a table and placed my clothes on top of the table with my business cards. Barely anyone was coming to my table, I would go up to people and majority would look at me crazy and I started to feel down and told myself that I’m not doing this again, but I still had a smile on my face. My husband could tell that I was disappointed, but he was like, they’ll be times like this. All you have to do is stay consistent, stay in these peoples faces and they will notice you. You just have to keep going and learn from it. Honestly, I didn’t set up for another month, because I was scared, but this time I was able to purchase a banner, table cloth, mannequins and even a personalized inventory book. Just from buying that, I thought, “okay, now I should capture peoples attention, little did I know I did not make one sale that day, but I was always taught to try and think about the positive in a situation and one positive thing that came out of that situation was that I was more vocal with people and approached people more. I started to feel more comfortable. I noticed, even though I didn’t sell anything that day, I did gain some followers on social media. I started to go consistently to set up at a gym and that is when I started getting people to purchase. The more and more I talked to people the more purchases I was getting. I was honest and very genuine and made women feel comfortable. Then I had more people come from word of mouth and it’s just so exciting to hear that people are talking about your brand and saying good things about it. I realize that people love to see the person behind the brand. When people are able to get to know the owner of a company and physically be in their space to witness them being a genuine person, thats when you get them to keep coming back.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
To be completely honest, I love food. Im kind of obsessed with food and so are my friends so that’s a plus. I know that when we are together, we’re going to eat and we’re going to eat real good. I honestly just started to get out more in ATL and explore the food places, but there is this one place that I would recommend for food and it’s called T’s Brunch Bar. The food is soooo amazing and has a lot of food options. We would definitely take a gym trip at least 4 times a week if they are here for a whole week especially since we will be eating good. Probably go on a hike in Stone Mountain. I don’t know too many places for drinks.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to shoutout my Husband. Honestly, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have started my business. I knew I wanted to have my own business, but I was all talk honestly. I doubted myself. I’m afraid of failure, well I was.I’m a very shy person believe it or not and I didn’t think that I would be capable, but my husband believes that I can do anything and I started to believe in myself more. I have kids and I want them to know that they are capable and able to do something that they put their mind to. They just have to attack it and do it. I also want to shoutout my dad as well for sending me inspirational quotes. He might not know it, but he sends them to me at the right time when I need it. Also, I would like to give credit to my close friends and customers, especially my returning ones. They keep me going and reassure me that this is what I was made to do.

Website: www.iamhealthyhustle.com

Instagram: @iamhealthyhustle

Facebook: facebook.com/iamhealthyhustle