Cincinnati entrepreneur Morgan Owens tells her clients that it's important for them to believe in themselves first before anyone else can believe in them.
It's an attitude that's inspired Owens throughout her entrepreneurial journey, and a foundation that her two brands are built upon.
Her story begins in 2014, when Owens originally started Curvy Cardio as a side hustle. Since then, it has developed into a company that offers isolated cardio workout classes designed for curvy women. They get participants moving to the latest radio hits and focus on toning the glutes, legs and arms.
“When Curvy Cardio came about, it was because I struggled with my weight and self-esteem issues all my life. I suffered from not loving myself,” Owens said. “When Curvy Cardio started and inspired others, I thought it could really be something.”
"This is never the life that I envisioned for myself, but seeing women in powerful positions that looked like me that were their authentic selves let me know that I could to whatever it is that I wanted to do."
So far, thousands of women in Cincinnati have taken Curvy Cardio classes, and an after-school program teaches young girls about healthy body image and self-esteem.
These programs have resonated with customers across the area and the country: There's a partnership with UC Health brings her online program “30 Days of Werk” to a larger local audience, and Curvy Cardio's retail line of “Fashionably Fit” gear has expanded nationally.
Owens' next goals are expanding the Curvy Cardio programs themselves across the U.S., and developing the brand into a holistic lifestyle community that espouses confidence from every level.
For example, the idea of "curl confidence."
"Women in the African-American community sometimes are afraid to work out because we don’t want to sweat our hair out and release our natural curls,” Owens continued. “I’m trying to instill the empowerment of rocking those natural curls and being confident in curls like you’re going be confident in your curves."
Curvy Cardio isn't Owens' only entrepreneurial focus. She has created a personal brand in 2017 that focuses on helping women become more marketable in their corporate careers and supporting their entrepreneurial endeavors. The Morgan A. Owens brand boasts workshops, consulting and coaching, webinars and a retail line, which includes the best-selling “Werk Book" — a guide to help women set and achieve goals, as well as make time for self-reflection.
There's also the Professional Pretty subscription program, which delivers a different video lesson each week in marketing, branding, business development, funding and other growth opportunities.
The underlying attitude is "that we can still be cute, we can be pretty, we can be poppin’, but we can also be powerful,” she said.
Owens created the program after having feelings of frustration from corporate events where she'd feel judged (until her job title made its way into the conversation) or like she was the only person in the room who looked like her.
The latter feeling was an especial problem, Owens added; oftentimes, if you don't have successful role models you identify with, you don’t think your goals are possible.
“I didn’t really aspire to be anything except climbing the corporate ladder and getting a good paying job," she continued. "There’s nothing wrong with that, but I didn’t know I had the capability to be an entrepreneur. This is never the life that I envisioned for myself, but seeing women in powerful positions that looked like me that were their authentic selves let me know that I could to whatever it is that I wanted to do.”
