Meet LaSonya Jones of LL Dance and Fitness

Today we’d like to introduce you to LaSonya Jones.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My journey began as a young girl with my the love for dance and my desire to have a future that would allow me to help others. I though that meant becoming nurse but I hated needles so that would not have worked out.

While working as a transportation supervisor in Los Angels, California at the age of 43, I gained 30 pounds and was completely miserable. A friend invited me to join a pole dancing class. And after just one class, I was hooked. I became obsessed with working out. Working out and losing the weight gave me confidence I never thought I had and I knew becoming a fitness instructor was somewhere in my future.

In 2010 I relocated to Atlanta GA. where I stumbled on a fitness class I had never heard of called Zumba. After dancing with the instructor and one other student, I asked the instructor how could I become a Zumba instructor. In high school, I was captain of the varsity cheerleaders, so dancing in front of people and having them follow my lead was perfect workout for me. I went home a signed up for the training that night. I became a licensed Zumba instructor in November of 2010, taught my first class in January of 2011 and in 2012, LL Dance and Fitness LLC was born.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In the beginning finding clients was easy, I taught classes all throughout the metro Atlanta area for companies. like Delta. Rubbermaid, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and the Smyrna Community Center.

In 2013 I opened my first dance fitness studio. Within two years, we outgrew that studio and moved to a larger location. For three years, everything was great but being close to the new Atlanta Braves Stadium was a plus and a negative. The plus was having more traffic in the area; the negative meant higher rent. In 2018 I decided to close the studio but continue teaching wherever possible. This industry is tough for boutique fitness studios to compete with the larger fitness chains but we keep pushing any way we can.

In 2012 I was given the opportunity to volunteer to teach a senior fitness class for Meals On Wheels Atlanta and it gave me an entirely new calling. Since then, I am proud and filled with joy to be able to share dance and fitness with seniors from as far as Palmetto GA, South Fulton, Mid-Town, Smyrna, Buckhead and Sandy Springs, GA.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our mission is to encourage individuals of all walks of life and age demographics to live healthy and fit lifestyles through dance and fitness. We are committed to providing ethical, quality, professional and knowledgeable health and wellness fitness programs to the senior center, personal gyms, in-home, schools, corporations and to the community we serve.

We specialize in Senior Fitness class but we are known for our volunteerism. All throughout the year, we are committed to giving back through volunteering for Atlanta/Marietta MS and Heart Walks, collecting items and raising money for Wellspring Living for sexually exploited women, hosting fundraisers 4Sarah Inc nonprofit organization helping sexually exploited women in Atlanta. We hosted a Zumba fundraiser for Prostate Cancer Awareness, featuring some of Atlanta’s top dance fitness instructors. Every year for the past 11 years, we host Breast Cancer Awareness fundraisers and donated the proceeds to a local cancer survivor or the family of someone who lost the battle but gained their wings.

The state of Georgia has a huge dance fitness community and as a way to unite us, LL Dance and Fitness has hosted Zumba Masterclass with international dance fitness presentors from Curepipe, Mauritius, Cali, Colombia and the United States. These events have been truly amazing to witness hundreds of dance fitness lovers loving life one dance at a time.

We are most proud of the fact in the past 12 years, we have made a positive impact on the lives of thousands by providing them with the tools needed to live a healthy and fitness lifestyle. I am also proud of my accomplishment of becoming a professional Womens Physique Bodybuilder at the age of 55.

My goal and purpose in life is to inspire women to believe in themselves at any age and to not let obstacles of self-doubt get in the way. By competing in my first bodybuilding competition at the age of 55, during the pandemic, and winning my pro card is proof that we can achieve our goals in life and to never give up on your dreams.

Owning a fitness business during a pandemic has allowed us to reach out to individuals that I would have had no way of reaching. We now offer virtual and in person Zumba, personal training, and group fitness sessions to individuals around the nations. Our main objective is to build better bodies through dance, fitness training and healthy eating.

At LL Dance and Fitness, we care about our community. We care about changing the lives of our clients. We care about loving life one dance at a time.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Always remember that what you are doing, the service you are providing, the business you are thinking of starting is not about you. We all have a purpose in life and that is to help each other by using the gift we are blessed with.

One statement I wish I knew when I first got started was, “Never doubt your worth, compare your worth or let others dictate your worth or your contribution to society.”

Contact Info:

• Email: lldanceandfitness@yahoo.com
• Website: lldanceandfitness.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lldanceandfitness/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lasonyajones2014/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fitnesswithll
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpHRMIuwILfzNMf42DQdvNg
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ll-dance-and-fitness-atlanta-2

Image Credits
Meals on Wheels and Sex Trafficking Flyers by Mprint Creations Body Building Photos by John Nalls Photography and Thomas Jones (hudband) Zumba Photos Melissa Prossers Photography, Thomas Jones (husband) Chriss Jones Photography