A year and a half ago, Fatimah Ray was at a point in her life where she wanted to combine her passion of personal training and empowering women to start a business instead of continuing to work in the radiation oncology department at Emory. Up to that point, Fatimah had been training as a bodybuilder in her spare time and had also taken on clients from her church as their personal trainer.
In March 2017, she registered her business with the Secretary of State, started working on her business plan and began searching for funding. She was turned down because she didn’t meet all the requirements and became frustrated.
She finally googled “business loans for minorities and women” and found a link to ACE’s website. Right away she picked up the phone and called the Women’s Business Center. After attending the workshop “Access to Capital for Small Businesses” she applied for a $50K loan; however, her application was denied because her credit was not where it was supposed to be for funds she requested. But her story doesn’t end there, because at ACE we believe in helping people achieve their dreams! So, the ACE Women’s Business Center arranged for her to have a one-on-one consultation with a financial expert. The first recommendation was to pay off some of the bills, which she did, and her credit quickly began to improve. She no longer had a job as she had quit to pursue her dream, so it was recommended that she get a guarantor and apply for less funds. Her boyfriend became the guarantor of the loan, and instead of purchasing new equipment for her studio, she had to start her business with used equipment. Fatimah finally closed on her loan for $20,000 in August 2017 and was able to lease space to start training her clients from her own location.
Since then she has been extremely busy growing her business, from training one client when she first started, to training 60+ women. Although her time is limited now for events and outside activities, she did attend the
ACE Annual Speed Coaching and “How to do Business with the Government” workshop. After her coaching to get the loan and get started, she sees the value in getting mentoring to further her business.
A year after opening the doors of Edgy Girl Fitness Studio and working countless hours daily, she has reached out again to obtain additional funding. She wants to expand her business by leasing the space next door, offer
classes, and purchase better equipment to attract more clients. She sees herself expanding the studio again in 2-3 years. She relies on the faith of God, family and friends to continue to be successful in her
entrepreneurship journey!
Ms. Fatimah Ray IFBB PRO
www.edgygirlfit.com
Instagram: Edgygirlfit
Fitness: Edgy Girl Fitness Studio
Telephone: (470) 878-6210