'Tech Neck' Lead Jayyiah Fields To Open Lift Up Fitness

Tech jobs can be more dangerous than they look. Jayyiah Fields founded Lift Up Fitness after healing what she thought were permanent ergonomic injuries. “I was working crazy long hours, and I also was in a one-bedroom, 600 square foot apartment staring down at my laptop on my kitchen island” she told HelloBeautiful. “I destroyed my neck and my back.”

Tech neck syndrome has been labeled an epidemic by medical journals. It can have serious consequences. 

“It was months that it wouldn’t go away. I saw chiropractors and orthopedic doctors, and then I ended up just needing to get a better setup to take time away from the computer and to get more active and just ultimately strengthen my muscles.”

Inspired By Pain 

Fields tried to stop the pain with movement. Her efforts turned into a healthier lifestyle. She prioritized fitness from home, turning to the gym in her building. “I was just kind of at the time stuck going to the one that was in my apartment,” she said. It didn’t give her the social aspect that many people at gyms enjoy. 

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As a New Jersey native. She noticed many people in her “commuter town” were not getting to know one another, as friends and neighbors, even if they were doing the same activities in the same area frequently. This was live evidence of the loneliness epidemic people were constantly talking about. 

She joined another gym later. But after she began taking classes, she found something missing from the landscape in her area. “It was really intimidating, like walking into the gym every day, and seeing people at like 5 a.m. who were super serious,” she said. She wanted to have a more welcoming environment. She craved something larger than a dainty storefront yet more intimate than a sprawling fitness club.

Stretching Towards Community 

When she couldn’t find the balance she was looking for, she opened one in Roselle Park, New Jersey. Lift Up Fitness is a boutique gym that caters to both members and drop-ins. It encourages socializing but has intensive options for those interested in learning how to push themselves. 

“We have specialized classes, and we like to keep them fresh and out of the box, but we also have ample space and a back area where people can just drop in and work out at their leisure,” she said. Her goal is to offer “a more refreshing social aspect” to working out. Instead of serving snide energy that snubs newcomers, she is developing “ a place where people play around and find what works for them.” 

“I think that is missing in a lot of gyms,” she added. 

Leapfrogging The Flood

Fields researched the fitness industry and formulated a plan. She found a space and renovated it from the studs up. She watched in horror as that space was threatened by nature less than a month after it opened. 

Lift Up Fitness flooded over a three-hour period of intense rainfall. One year of her hard work and her life savings looked like it might be washed away. “To see literal water just pouring in. It was just like this is all over,” recalled Fields. “I remember I tried to mop it up, then just threw them up and saved myself in my car, because, like the entire street, was flooded at that point.” 

Many small businesses, especially those bootstrapped by Black women, face elimination at the hands of natural disasters. They are not something easy to come back from. 

Saved By Connection 

Fields was devastated after returning to her apartment. “After taking all my sewage water clothes off, I called my mom on speakerphone and just cried,” she said. Her mother encouraged her. 

“You’re meant to do this,” her mother told her. “You did this for a reason, and if it’s meant to be at all, work out.” The next day, she got a sign that things were meant to be after all. She showed up ready to roll her sleeves and survey the damage when the water receded. She was surprised to learn she wasn’t alone. 

Neighbors showed up to aid her in rebuilding her dream. “The community was super helpful. Everybody had mops and buckets and vacuums and we just went to town,” she said. “We only closed for a week and a few days.” 

Running Towards Success 

Lift Up Fitness is up and running. The business also organizes a run club where the members can get to know one another outside of the space.

Run clubs have become trendy among young professionals looking to connect with people who share their priorities. They have led to the expansion of friendship circles and even a few engagements. “That’s what I think I’ve been the most excited about throughout this whole entire journey. Because I just really can’t wait to connect neighbors with neighbors and people who live down the street,” said Fields. 

She feels securing community members over clients is a good path to longevity. 

“I think being able to have a space that kind of does a little bit of everything just creates this melting pot.”