Jay Ell Alexander Wants To Dispel The Myth That Black Women Don’t Run

In Bustle’s Quick Question, we ask women leaders all about advice — from the best guidance they’ve ever gotten to what they’re still figuring out. Here, Jay Ell Alexander shares how she balances leading Black Girls Run and a PR firm, motherhood, and prioritizing wellness.

A doctor’s visit 12 years ago jolted Jay Ell Alexander into running. “She was like, ‘You’re way too young to have your blood pressure be this too high,’” she tells Bustle. “[The doctor] was very proactive about not giving me a script and said let’s see how lifestyle changes can really impact you.” A week later, Alexander signed up for her first 10K.

Since, she’s turned wellness into a business of inspiring other Black women to take their health seriously. The 34-year-old bought and became CEO of Black Girls Run (BRG) in 2018 after the founders stepped down from the platform they started as a blog in 2009. Intending to continue the mission to make running accessible and collaborative, Alexander set her sights on fostering stronger communities for Black women to come together in a safe space to share their wellness experiences. With locations in 32 states, Black Girls Run has evolved into one of the nation’s most popular running movements with programs like the Walk B4U Run initiative and sponsored race events.

The pandemic didn’t slow Alexander’s vision of making fitness and wellness more achievable nationwide for women, either. Instead, “there has been a 30% increase in membership,” she says. Most notably, there was a surge in virtual challenges. Women could pick and log the total mileage — a suggested range was between 20 and 100 — they hope to run each month. The growth also created an equal playing field for BGR runners, Alexander adds, because everyone felt more comfortable going at their own pace than in a pack where some may have feared running slower than the rest.

In addition to leading Black Girls Run, the Richmond-based entrepreneur, who has a background in marketing and public relations, is also the founder and principal at The Vaughn Strategy, a consulting firm she started in 2012. The balancing act has since become more complicated with having her first child shortly before the pandemic and now expecting her second.

Here, Alexander shares the challenges of running her businesses, the importance of fitness in the Black community, and navigating motherhood.

Running as a pastime hasn’t always been synonymous with the Black community. Why did you want to focus on dispelling that notion?

Most folks have seen us dominate in competitive track and field — worldwide events like the Olympics show this. With endurance running for everyday wellness — with your 5Ks and 10Ks — there’s not a lot of representation. It’s still very whitewashed. Our fight for representation breaks this cycle. In BGR, we have women from all spaces, all sizes, and all backgrounds. It makes a difference to see yourself in a sport that hasn’t felt like home for so long. In our communities, it’s important to show Black women do run, that we care about our health. We need to normalize this behavior and change the trajectory of what health looks like within the Black community.

What challenges have you faced as you’ve set out to inspire all women, especially Black women, to be healthy and hit the pavement with your business?

Generally and practically speaking, Black women are always in the caretaker role for our families, friends, and community. Sometimes that requires pouring from an empty cup and putting people before our own. And we end up neglecting our needs. I’ve struggled with that. With a recent COVID scare at my son’s school, he’s been home. So I haven’t been able to get a workout in or find time for me. And that’s how it goes — we quickly lose track of our routine and what we should be doing because life can come at you fast. And slowly, we lose that momentum of health and fitness because that’s the first thing we put on the back burner. So, at times it’s hard to evangelize this balance of family, wellness, and entrepreneurship when I know the struggle for us is real. That’s where being transparent with each other is important.

How do you balance both The Vaughn Strategy and Black Girls Run?

I like to take things day by day. When the pandemic started, my son was 6 months old, and I’ve been a full-time entrepreneur for the last four years. So navigating those nuances and still creating time for myself to make sure I’m staying healthy, that my work is in order — a lot of that has gotten complicated with those additional factors over the years. I’ve learned that not everything will be perfect or get done in a day and to allow myself more grace. That means learning to say, “OK, just go ahead and shut it down, Jay. We can restart tomorrow.”

And between BGR and your PR firm, you must be in a lot of meetings regularly. How do you prepare for big meetings?

I think we’ve all learned during this pandemic that we just can’t be behind the computer for hours and hours in a day. So I try not to overload my schedule. Being organized has been vital to that end. That means planning the meeting with a specific agenda and then sticking to it. I also limit meetings to 30 minutes. Right after meetings, I allow myself time to debrief and process what was just discussed. Sometimes that means making up a to-do list.

You’re expecting your second baby; congratulations. How has motherhood been while running two businesses and prioritizing wellness?

People don’t fully comprehend the grind, tears, and pain behind entrepreneurship or motherhood. Both together can be extremely taxing. But with the right kind of planning and scheduling, that makes a world of difference. Just making sure there’s order to every day.

I’m still navigating motherhood. Postpartum was a lot to handle: I was managing hormones, my hair was falling out, and I was always crying. After having my son, I turned to running again; I lost over 100 pounds my first year post-delivery. Running became my outlet to get back to me in every sense of that word.

Now, in my third trimester for baby two, I am focusing more on strength training to help keep my fitness and wellness in check. And after baby girl drops in April, I’ll be back to running.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking of launching a business?

Don’t quit your 9-to-5 without having a strategy. (I kept mine for six months after buying BGR.) The road to full-time entrepreneurship has its ups and downs, so you’d want to ease into it. You also want to make sure you have the right resources in place for your business needs, or at least know what they are. For example, how much overhead would you have? In those early years, how can you reduce debt? What’s your savings account looking like now? Do you plan to tap into your savings initially, or are you looking to investors?

So, that strategy angle is really important. It helps you be smart about your next steps. And always have a backup plan A, B, and C. Because as good as your execution can be, you have to be ready for the unexpected.

What's the best piece of career and life advice you've received?

You can't be the smartest person in the room. So you have to surround yourself with people who challenge you and know more than you. This way, you can always have someone to call on. Whether it’s someone in legal or accounting, you can’t do it yourself.

And, when it comes to social media, take it with a grain of salt: It’s not real life. Basing your goals or who you want to be because of something you saw on there does more harm. There’s this idea of comparison — because people only showcase their highlight reels on those platforms — that is amplified on there that makes people question their true goals, like, “Oh, should I be doing this instead? Should I be traveling too?” And it’s like no, just do you — we all have our own journeys.

What can we expect from BGR this year?

We plan to launch another virtual challenge in March. In September, our popular conference, Sweat With Your Sole, will be coming back after three years of being on hiatus because of the pandemic. It will be a three-day conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, with workshops and activities that are all about health, fitness, and sisterhood. We’ll cap it off with a race.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.