Meet Lorene Lolo” Fisher | Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lorene “Lolo” Fisher and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lorene “Lolo”, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Since I was young, I dreamed of owning my own dance studio. I called it the “super studio” because I wanted it to be so much more than a dance studio, more like a community center. I wanted it to be transformative. As a multiracial Black girl in a lot of predominately-White spaces, dance was a place for me to really explore my identity and it gave me opportunities to travel and learn about other cultures and ways of movement and wellness along the way. So as you can imagine, the dream of that dance ‘super’ studio evolved over time.

After my collegiate experience, work experience in higher education, and of course, the school of life, my mindset shifted from wanting to own a studio for kids to a studio for adults. I still wanted to offer that transformative and inclusive experience, but realized there are far less options for adults in my community for wellness, healing, and movement than there are for kids. And I felt uniquely positioned with my location, skills, and calling to make this dream happen sooner than later. I, of course, received a lot of dissenting feedback that this wasn’t a great idea, or not the right time, or not a financially-secure option, as I’m sure most business owners and entrepreneurs hear at some point in their lives, but for my entire adult life, I have always had the eventual aim of time freedom for myself and my family, creating generational wealth, fostering a legacy of community impact, and running my own business without the bureaucratic step ladder of the organizations I had previously worked in. When I opened the studio, it was my leap of faith to making my career dreams and personal goals align, of course, with risk associated, but more importantly, with my vision clear.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
UPLIFT Community Wellness Studio started as a dream that I thought was a lot farther away. I started off teaching yoga, dance, and meditation for adults on the weekends and for youth on weeknights outside of my full time job in college student affairs. I was trying to save as much funds as I could and learn as much as possible about running a business to be prepared to open the studio in about 5 years, but the pull inside to do it now was strong, and when the opportunity for a well-priced and positioned space came along, I couldn’t turn it down.

Creating UPLIFT was about both giving into my own dreams of opening a studio and running my own business, as well as filling a gap in my community. There were gyms and one religious-based yoga studio, but we didn’t have a place that was providing inclusive wellness and movement classes that was truly centered on healing and community. We pride ourselves on the culture of our space. UPLIFT is different than your typical yoga or dance studio. In a predominately low-income community, where most Black and Brown people who live here don’t see themselves represented in the wellness industry, especially in our area, and are unfamiliar with how movement practices like yoga and meditation can be culturally-responsive, we know we had to model our business differently. We pride ourselves on the culture of diverse community connections we create in our space.

We don’t just value diversity – we put it into action. Our teaching staff represents a variety of cultures, spanning ethnicities, ages, genders, body types, and more, and are all trauma-informed and able to support a the holistic needs for our clients that come in. The feedback we get the most often in our reviews is how comfortable people feel being authentic in our space and knowing that they belong, especially when they may not have felt that way in past fitness, yoga, or dance spaces. In addition, we offer a diverse class offering to really meet the assorted needs for health, wellness, and fitness in our community, including multiple styles of yoga and dance, pilates, breathwork, meditation, Zumba, salsa and bachata, and specialty classes with guest teachers in the community, like Tension Release and Burlesque.

Starting and running a business is far from easy, especially one that doesn’t fit the norm of a typical yoga studio, dance studio, or gym, and so many lessons are being learned every single day along the way. I am proud that even through the challenges many business owners are all too familiar with, we have stayed aligned in our values of community, connection, care, and inclusion and remain community-centered in the work that we do.

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.
As a southern California native who has been living in central California for the past 3.5 years, I would love to take my best friend to some of my favorite spots throughout the state.

We’d start in the Bay Area, making our way to Lois the Pie Queen (restaurant in Oakland), the Silicon Valley Capital Club (beautiful scenery and great place to meet other entrepreneurs and business owners in San Jose), and both Vibe With Me Dance Studio and Paradise Dance Studio (offering some of the best heels/dance classes in Fremont).

Then we’d head closer to my neck of the woods, to Merced, where I would HAVE to show off my “baby” (aka my studio) UPLIFT Community Wellness, grab a bite to eat at Bella Luna Merced and any of the awesome Thai restaurants, grab a juice from Kind Neighbor, and check out Lake Yosemite for a beautiful sunset.

With Merced being the gateway to Yosemite, we would then take a trip to hike in the beautiful Yosemite Valley of Yosemite National Park and stop by some of the small businesses in Mariposa.

From there we’d start heading down to southern California, making sure to stop for some ramen in Little Tokyo and the Last Bookstore. When we’re ready for some more movement, we’ll take a class at Epicenter Arts and Entertainment (in Torrance, previously known as Boogiezone), and then head to my hometown of Chino, where we can get the best homemade meal from my Momma’s kitchen, visit the dance studio I grew up in, The Talent Factory, and head to the Shoppes for a nice walk in a family-oriented community.

We’d finish the trip, of course, at the beach! We’d likely go to Huntington Beach and then take the train down to San Diego for more beach time!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I definitely could not find success in my endeavors the way I have if I didn’t have my community supporting me! I have to give a huge shoutout to my mom, Shirley Fisher for her years and years of support in all the risks I’ve taken along the way, to my some of my best friends who have encouraged me and heard me repeat my dreams and visions over and over Thasha, Anthony, Juliet, and to my mentors, especially Angie Franklin and Nicole Carter for helping me to clarify the steps I needed to take to reach my goals, and to my family for the love and prayers behind the scenes; and to all the people who helped me physically build the studio, to the folks who have taken my classes since day one before I had a physical space, to my UPLIFT team that keeps our business running and growing, and to my UPLIFT family, my community for continuing to show up – thank you!

Website: www.upliftmerced.com | www.dancewithlolo.com

Instagram: @uplift.merced | @dancewithlolo

Linkedin: Lorene “Lolo” Fisher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenefisher/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dancewithlolo/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/uplift-community-wellness-merced

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@upliftcommunitywellnessstu5216

Image Credits
Juliet San Nicolas de Bradley Julian Ramos