Meet Kalyn James | International Pilates Instructor, Model and Event Emcee

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kalyn James and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kalyn, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When I was young, my grandfather owned his own business and I remember my first job was shining shoes in his shoe repair shop and he also taught me how to work the cash register. I loved seeing him with his own business and being in control of his own destiny, especially as a Black Man in the deep south in Alabama. When I grew up, the philosophy was to work hard, get a good education and college degree, and get a great job with benefits. But, being black in America doesn’t guarantee that you are going to have that sort of trajectory and become a success. My process behind starting my own business involved being canceled for speaking out about police brutality against black people (and this was prior to George Floyd’s Murder that made the world aware of how prevalent these sort of actions have been throughout the history of Black people in the United States). I lost my jobs as a tv host and arts professional and that led to a series of jobs where I was sexually harassed or simply mistreated by the people in charge. Therefore, starting my own business was a way to preserve my health, sanity, and well-being. Being a business owner can be difficult, but if you love what you do, it can be one of the most rewarding decisions that you can make. I feel very fortunate to work for myself, be able to control my schedule, and do something I truly enjoy. I also have a positive impact on peoples lives at the same time. I encourage anyone who is a self starter, disciplined and motivated individual to start their own business!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I was very fortunate that the Miss Alabama experience brought many unique opportunities and meant the difference between having to search for jobs versus being able to take advantage of opportunities that came to me. From working in public relations and marketing, to entertainment and modeling, I have had many different job responsibilities that taught me many important job skills that were applicable in every position I had. According to my resume below, you can see that I was able to embrace and pursue both my corporate and creative interests. Throughout it all, I have established myself as a brand using pilates, modeling and emceeing as my main focus. I believe in education, whether by school, trade or experience as a means to achieve success. Having the ability and confidence to pivot when you need to chart a new course is key. Here’s the rundown…

Kalyn James is the CEO & Founder of LitFitness LLC. She is an international Pilates Instructor, a model, a spokeswoman and is known as Miami’s Event Emcee! Kalyn truly embodies a renaissance woman whose versatile talents are blazing a trail for a new generation of influencers. This Mobile, Alabama, native has carved out her own niche and is enjoying a multifaceted platform to engage people who follow fashion, arts, fitness and entertainment.

Her deeply rooted hard work ethic career has a rich history. She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in Sociology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Kalyn began charting her career by making history at being crowned the first, and only, African-American Miss Alabama where she placed as a top ten semi-finalist in the 1994 Miss America Pageant. Kalyn was the face and spokesmodel of the UPN networkin Birmingham, Alabama and served as a television journalist on The Fox Sports Network’s show Behind the Game.

She is an accomplished model, voice over talent, fitness instructor, dancer and choreographer with more than 30 years of dance training. Since moving to Miami she has performed in the MTV Video Music Awards, the Latin Video Music Awards, the Latin Billboard Awards, and danced and choreographed on the Latin Univision and Telemundo Television Networks in Miami. She has worked extensively as an events emcee, a print and television model appearing on the pages of Glamour, Ebony, Essence, Jet, and O Magazine. She was also featured in the Old Navy “Bermuda Shorts” commercial and with her entire family in a national Disney World commercial.

Kalyn made an indelible mark on the South Florida arts and culture scene for four years as the Emmy-nominated host of ARTLOFT, an Emmy Award winning PBS weekly television show highlighting local and national artists. Kalyn was also the host of her web-based show Fashion Style Miami highlighting designers, fashion, art, design, and culture in the Miami area.

She was named one of Legacy Miami Magazine’s 25 Most Influential and Prominent Black Women in Business and Leadership in 2014. She received the 2015 In The Company of Women award for Outstanding Woman in Arts & Entertainment and was listed among Miami Today’s 2016 “Best of Miami” in Arts & Culture.

Kalyn is a sought after spokesperson and event emcee in Miami, having hosted the 2022 Pilates Method Alliance’s International Pilates Conference and Expo in Las Vegas; 2022 Funkfest Orlando; 2022 Splashing Lights Fashion show presented by the Washington Avenue Business Improvement District; 2016-2018 Jazz In The Garden (JITG) Press Conferences; moderated the arts panel at the inaugural JITG Film, Music, Art and Culture Conference; emceed the Tracey (Alonzo) Mourning’s HoneyShine Hat’s Off luncheon; emceed the 2016-2018 and 2022 Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce’s Little Black Dress and Pearls luncheon, the Lotus House fashion show, Girlpower Gospel Brunch and more.

She is the former Corporate Sponsorship Coordinator and Manager of Donor Relations at the Adrienne Arsht Center of the Performing Arts. As Corporate Sponsorship Coordinator, Kalyn assisted in securing and managing nearly $1.5 million in annual funds and in-kind donations from (and delivering benefits to) clients including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Eulen America, Bacardi, Coca-Cola, TotalBank, American Airlines and Carnival Corporation.
Kalyn is the former Head Cheer Coach & Compliance Assistant at Florida Memorial University, an HBCU in Miami Gardens.

Kalyn previously taught dance classes at In Motion Dance, Dance Exchange and Sixth Street dance Studio and taught Pilates and Barre fitness at Ironflower Fitness and Equinox Brickell Heights. She is a graduate of the Equinox Pilates Institute and is currently the CEO and Founder of LitFitness which offers Private Pilates instruction at her studio LitPilates in Miami’s Upper East Side. Kalyn was invited by the Korean Pilates Association to Seoul, South Korea as a guest instructor for National Pilates Day in December 2022 where she taught more than 200 Pilates practitioners.

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.
I feel so fortunate to live in Miami. Living in a tourist destination is a real gift and affords us opportunities to do things that many people cannot do year-round. When guests visit I always start with a trip to the beach. I go to North Beach where it’s cleaner and less crowded. Of course, if people want to visit Ocean Drive, I like to take a nostalgic trip to either Mango’s tropical Café or Wet Willy’s! If my friends are adventurous, we go to Amelia Earhart Park for some wakeboarding.

I live on Miami‘s upper east side so I have lots of great shopping and dining right outside my front door. I like Caracas bakery and We-We bakery for breakfast foods, Flora near 54th St. station is also a vegetarian option and serves breakfast and lunch. If I’m missing home and want some good soul food, I go to Jackson’s soul Food or Red Rooster in overtown. I also love to go to Jimmy’s diner in my neighborhood. Dogma Grill has some of the best hotdogs and a wonderful bison burger and it’s a great place to go for lunch. The Citadel food hall is also one of my favorite places to go because they have so many options. Plus they have an amazing kaiju bar upstairs for creative and mixologist level late night drinks.

For dinner, I have plenty of choices like Phuc Yeah for Thai food, Luna pasta, which has beautiful ambience, delicious food and a great wine selection. I love the Jamaican food at Clive’s Cafe! Taqueria 66 has gone viral and offers delicious Mexican food. On Saturdays at Legion Park we have a beautiful farmer’s market and I highly recommend the Mediterranean grilled olives, Wholly Smokes brisket, the Rasta juice stand (just look for the Rasta man with the sugarcane who has the longest line of anyone). They also sell fresh organic vegetables. Two of my favorite vendors there sell African clothes and goods, and Miss Jackie sells linen clothing that are perfect for Miami Heat. One of the best perks about this farmers market is that you have free community yoga outside under the large trees at 10 AM every Saturday during the market – it’s called Legion Park yoga on Instagram.

For fancy dinners I like to go to Miami Beach to either Mila rooftop restaurant or Bagatelle. You can have delicious seafood, and an inexpensive lunch at Milo’s which is south of fifth avenue on Miami Beach.
The design district is a great place to walk around and look at the art, visit places like Swan or Cote to eat and of course, all of the shopping there is fantastic.

No trip to Miami is complete without visiting Wynwood walls and taking in all the graffiti and walking around to the different bars to get traditional Miami drinks like Mojitos. Zach the baker and 1-800-Lucky in wynwood are also two favorite spots!! Tuesday nights they have a DJ playing the best music at 800 lucky!

I could go on for days, but those are definitely some of the places you will see me hanging out!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My journey has been extraordinary! I feel so fortunate that, along with my hard work, I was able to take advantage of all of the opportunities that were given to me by other people who are dedicated to empowering women. Firstly, my mother, Evelyn, invested in dance classes when I was young because she saw my natural talent for movement. She was a single mother who invested so much time, talent and treasure in my passion for dance, and she ensured that I had exposure to dance performances. She was extremely supportive of everything I did. Without her and my aunt, Mrs. Grace Carter, and cousin Mrs. Mary Watson, my life would be very different. My uncle, Charles Carter drove me to high school nearly every day. He was like a father to me and I cherished that relationship. Women at my high school like Mrs. Hannon and Mrs. Harris left a lasting impact on my life and other women in the community like Mrs. Dorothy Holt, Mrs. V. McCants, Mrs. Bessie Smith, Mrs. Mary Powell were women who were leaders in our community and who always reached back to encourage and support young women like myself. In my adulthood I credit my sister, Shawn McDaniels, for showing me what was possible in modeling and pageants. My dance school was where I developed my talent and learned lots of discipline from Ms. Mary Lou Sheffield, Teresa Noletto Hutchins and Celi Shinn. The women who really believed in my ability to make history in pageants whom I will always remember fondly are Mrs. Betty Rogers Morris, Ms. Carol Ann Jordan and Mrs. Serena Minton. They encouraged me to participate and that resulted in my becoming the first African American woman to represent the state of Alabama at the Miss America Pageant where I was a top ten semi finalist. I paid for my education with scholarships won at the Miss Alabama and Miss America pageants and gained so many valuable skills from that experience. My wonderful husband, Rico James, has stuck by my side and has always been my mainstay, support and encouragement. My two daughters, Phoenix and Zen inspire me to be a better person and are the reasons I worked so hard.

Website: https://Www.LitPilates.com

Instagram: @litpilates @kalynjames

Linkedin: Kalyn James

Facebook: Kalyn Chapman James

Youtube: Kalynjames

Image Credits
Photo 1- courtesy of Left On Friday swimwear
Photos 2-4, 6, 8- Kalyn James
Photo 5 – courtesy of Philosophy Skincare
Photo 6 – Andre Gabb
Photo 7 – Korean Pilates Association