Photo by Tom Jenz
Jolie Kadima-Brox
Jolie Kadima-Brox
Over Memorial Day weekend, I met Jolie Kadima-Brox at the 10th annual Heal the Hood event in the central city. She was a member on the planning committee for the event, which felt more like a festive party for the almost all-Black residents. Happiness was the main attraction. In the center cross-block stood a raised stage for performers, surrounding streets lined with vendors, nonprofit booths and promotions.
At 38, Jolie and her husband Rob Brox are co-owners of Fit4YouMKE, a wellness business focusing on fitness and health products catering to all ages. They are known for their tasty Lavender Lemonade. Their added responsibility includes parenting four children. Jolie carries a lively personality, and her enthusiasm is catching. If you don’t smile when talking to Jolie, then you need to exercise your attitude.
How did you get involved in Heal the Hood?
About eight years ago, my husband Rob and I met Ajamou Butler, who runs this event. Rob became Ajamou’s friend and personal trainer. Ajamou’s Heal the Hood mission aligned with our business Fit4YouMKE, which provides health and wellness services and educational resources for the community,
What is your background; where you were raised?
I was born in the D.R. Congo, formerly known as Zaire, Africa. My family moved to Milwaukee the day before I turned one year old. We settled in the inner city at a couple different locations. My dad, now retired, was a high school teacher, and my mom, also retired, was a Certified Nursing Assistant at St Mary’s Hospital. Six kids in our family. I had the pleasure of going to Milwaukee French Immersion School. At that time, it was on the South Side, a Milwaukee public school. It is now located on the North side. My four children attend French Immersion now.
I went to college at UW Stevens Point where I met my husband, Rob. After college, we both worked in the corporate world. Rob worked as a personal trainer at a Milwaukee fitness center that catered to successful businessmen and professionals. In 2011, he started the Fit4You brand, which focuses more on people in our underserved community. I joined the business a year and a half later.
Tell me more about your business Fit4YouMKE, and how it helps people.
Fit4YouMKE helps people with health and wellness all the way from infants through to seniors. A few years ago, I worked with the African-American Breastfeeding Network as a Peer Breastfeeding Advocate to support breastfeeding & wellness for moms. My husband Rob was the Father Peer Advocate, meaning he was working with the fathers to help support the mothers of their children. At one point, we started working with COA Youth & Family Services—from toddlers on up to middle schoolers providing obstacle courses, walks and talks in the garden and daily stretching techniques. We went onto work with the Silver Spring Community Center and their high schoolers. We’ve been doing all this for 11 years under our Fit4YouMKE brand.
NOTE: Fit4YouMKE LLC has operated as a Traveling Trainer since 2011, bringing the gym to clients’ homes, work places, schools, church groups and community organizations. In 2014, services expanded into health products including a variety of fruit/veggie smoothies and juices. Fit4YouMKE will be opening its marketplace soon in the shopping mall on 6007 N. Teutonia. For more information, check out the website: fit4youmke.com.
What is the purpose of the Heal the Hood event?
The mission is healing the hearts, healing the homes, and healing the hoods, one community at a time. Founder, Ajamou Butler provides resources that educate and elevate our neighborhood residents through jobs, educational and family resources, community organizations, writing and poetry workshops, just to name a few.
