As I’mPossible Wellness founder Loretta Richardson reflected on Black Business Month in August, she thought of her late grandfather who died last year. A graduate of Howard Medical School, her grandfather ran a dermatology practice and started a real estate business.
Coming from a doctor-heavy family, Richardson is honoring her grandfather in her own way through her mobile Pilates and wellness business in Alexandria.
“It’s my way of thanking him for everything he did, and I know that there are challenges with being an entrepreneur, but if he could do it, I know that I can,” Richardson told ALXnow.
I’m Possible Wellness opened in 2024 with a focus on meeting people where they are in their health transformation rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. A previous Pilates instructor at sculp’d on Queen Street, she balances I’m Possible Wellness with her marketing job at Xbox Gaming.
“I taught for about four or five years here in Alexandria,” Richardson said. “But I went out on my own after three years because I noticed that there was a need in the market to make Pilates a lot more accessible and bring it to more people.”
The studio started out as a digital program inspired by Richardson’s mother. When her mother came to visit, she enjoyed taking a Pilates class even while working on mobility and stability challenges. Richardson started online classes with her mother and a few aunts. After that, she realized being a mobile and virtual studio allowed her to bring her classes to more places locally.
“I started partnering with like physical therapy gyms, gyms within the area, and I was able to bring my classes to community centers like Durant [Center],”
Richardson teaches at Alexandria’s Oswald Durant Center on Tuesdays and Fridays and also holds regular private and group classes and special classes like Teacher Appreciation. The upcoming teachers appreciation pop-ups at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 21 and 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 2 will allow teachers to work out for free at the Durant Center and are aligned with ACPS teacher work days.
The I’m Possible Fitness program uses a Pilates tool called a Heroboard to help people who are experiencing joint pain or movement limitations. The portable Pilates board, which Richardson says mimics the Pilates Reformer machine, allows them to get deeper into lunges or engage their deeper core in a way they can’t with a traditional Pilates mat.
Richardson takes to heart the history of Pilates being founded by Joseph Pilates for people who were bedridden in prison.
“It was designed for differing abilities, and that’s what I love about it,” she said. “You’re able to modify moves to accommodate all people within different life stages.”
The name I’m Possible Wellness came from an Audrey Hepburn quote, “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible.” Richardson was also inspired by Gloria Lockhart, one of the first Black African American women to successfully climb Mount Kilimanjaro. She reached a personal goal of becoming a mountain climber and climbed Kilimanjaro and Machu Picchu.
“That’s when I knew that like you don’t need to have the perfect body to do incredible things, and really nothing’s impossible,” Richardson said. “You just have to have that community and be consistent, and celebrate every single win.”
