Kelli co-owns "Goals Not Dreams," a Chicago powerlifting gym that opened two months ago in the West Loop.

Kelli and Lexy, their (business and romantic) partner have created a unique space in the world of iron: a powerlifting gym and a safe haven for every athlete.

H: How did you get started in powerlifting?

KELLI: I was a competitive athlete all through school, but when I was 23 I was over 300 pounds. I was extremely overweight. I was really lost.

I was trying to find my way — I moved back from Urbana and I was working in pharmacy tech. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm super fat, I'm uncomfortable, I hate this. I don't know what to do with my life.

Going from being a 5 sport athlete to being this overweight person who could barely walk on the treadmill — it was like, culture shock. I don't know if that's the right word to describe it, exactly, but it was hard.

My doctor told me that I was going to die if I didn't do something about it. I'm like, “Okay cool, what do I do?” And he was like "I don't know."

When you get to that low point of like I'm 300 pounds, what do I do? No one has any answers. They just want to put you on a bunch of medications or whatever. You're fat, go figure it out.

That's when I knew — I needed to be a person that can actually help people like me.

So then I became a personal trainer — and then, through that, I found powerlifting, which I loved. People look at me and they think like, “Oh, you're fat. You're a trainer? That doesn't make sense.” But that's why I pushed so hard to start the gym: I knew I could make that space for people.

H: How did the idea for a gym, for this community, beyond working with people as a trainer, come together?

KELLI: I really just didn't fit in gyms, like commercial gyms are really -- well, there are often no people of color, there are no queer people. But I've always been the gay one, the black one, the one that looks like a boy. That's been my whole life since I was like five years old. I’m really competitive — but especially being this weirdo, you know, black kid, doing stuff that’s not popular in the culture, that makes people be like what are you doing? I’m used to that. But, in 2018 I was working at the Willis Tower and had this super supportive boss. I was an assistant manager at that gym, and she just saw a lot of potential in me.

At every gym I've worked in, I've been one of the top trainers because I'm relatable. That’s what it comes down to — being a person. Relatability will win every time.

H: That's a cool thing to prioritize.

KELLI: Definitely — and, you know, the pandemic happened. Lots of things have gotten in the way over the years: I’ve left and come back to this work a few times.

I bring up that gym because it’s also where I met my partner, working at that gym. So I finally had a partner who didn’t think I was insane because I'm ambitious. And I think meeting her was that missing piece. We wanted to have a safe space for everybody, that's the goal for everything we do, and for this gym.

And now it's like, okay, we can do this together — and we did.

Health is for everybody. Everybody is entitled to be strong. Everybody's entitled to be healthy.

We’re both committed to making this possible and providing a safe haven for our clients. We're also two people who don't back down — we're going to protect the people that come in here and work with us.

H: Can you explain why you might stand out as a powerlifter in a normal gym? Beyond being Black, Queer, fat — being a powerlifter, why is that a little out there in a normal gym?

KELLI: Because powerlifters look like weirdos. We’ll have this huge bag of stuff with us. Multiple different belts, different wrist straps, knee straps, whatever. Uh, then also probably chalk and a belt. And besides all the gear, it looks weird. When you're doing the three main lifts — squat, deadlift, bench, it’s really heavy.

When you see someone powerlifting in a commercial gym, they're probably squatting three or four plates — that looks weird. It’s pretty different from what everyone else is doing there — it's just not normal. I guess, what is normal? but, you know — you get looks.

H: What kind of looks?

KELLI: Oh — I've been approached by men, hit on by men, all types of weird stuff in commercial gyms.

They'll be like, "Let me give you some tricks" — no! You're not bothering the girls doing the booty body workouts, leave me alone!

H: Can you describe what a powerlifting meet is like for the people who have never been to one?

KELLI: It's amazing. It's probably one of the only sporting events where you will see people cheering for strangers and people they’ve never met. If the weight on the bar is high, they're gonna cheer for you. Especially in the local meets, everyone is very supportive. It's really, really cool — it's also really, really loud.

H: What's something other trainers do that drives you crazy?

KELLI: When they’re with their client but not paying attention or talking to their friends on the phone. If you're brushing your client off, or you’re not responding to them — why are you a trainer?

Another one: making a lot of assumptions. I think for many trainers, when they have a new client that’s overweight, the first thing they’ll tell them is, “Let's get you to lose weight.” But you don’t know what your client’s goals are —

H: For you, for example — that feels like it would make you worse at your sport, it would actually inhibit your performance as an athlete.

KELLI: Exactly — I pride myself on meeting people where they're at. I don't judge people on what they look like, because you want your clients to be the best that they can be, but you have to listen to them.

H: If you were giving advice to somebody who was gonna hire a personal trainer, someone trying to avoid all the things you just mentioned — what would you say?

KELLI: Look at how that trainer treats other people — how they talk about their clients, how they talk about everyone.

It’s also about figuring out how you work together: evaluating not just their programming style, or if they have a trainer and how they prioritize their own growth, but also if this person is someone you can communicate with. Some of this comes with learning to advocate for yourself, but it’s also about how they respond.

If you say like “Oh, I’m worried because when I squat, my knee hurts” and they're like “Just push through it!” Then it’s probably not a good fit.

H: How can people work with you and support the gym?

KELLI: Right now, our membership base is competitive powerlifters, bodybuilders, and people with lots of lifting experience because we're a semi-private training facility and we’re just getting started.

But we’re growing fast: we’re introducing small group training classes in July, and we’re thinking about doing a barbell basics program where newcomers meet three times a week with the same group to learn the barbell lifts and accessories and get into mobility and stuff like that.

H: What do you find most important when it comes to taking care of yourself as you grow — especially when things get hard?

KELLI: Everybody asked me this question.

H: I know — it's kind of corny.

KELLI: No! I don’t think it’s corny — but it's the hardest question because the truth is — I'm always working.

And I do other work — I’m a real estate agent. I was in STEM in school, so I like to learn and spend time doing new stuff and challenging myself every day. Right now I’m learning all this new stuff about marketing, for example, and it’s cool.

And it's all grown so quickly — profitability is still a ways off, but not nearly as far off as I thought it would be at this point in our business, we’re only a few months old. It took us a while to find a space and stuff like that, but even with a bunch of hiccups, especially around the location, with financing — when we found this place, it was like, okay, this is it, let’s do it.

We’re in West Loop, we’re going to be Gay as Hell and Black as Hell in West Loop. Let's crush every single idea about what’s possible for us and this gym.

Everything happened in the time it was supposed to happen.

I guess, like, traveling is maybe my getaway. We spent some time traveling before we got ready to launch and that was like the calm before the storm.

I’m doing this with my best friend and I never get tired of her, but we do need to make intentional time together outside of the gym.

It’s a whirlwind, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. But I have been more intentional about taking care of myself since we launched because if I break down, this does not continue.

H: A lot of times when I ask this question to people who have a “mission” of some kind — they’re like “Dude, I don't know. I'm always working but I'm also having the time of my life.” Does that sound like you?

KELLI: Yeah! I believe in myself and what I’m doing. And I really truly am having the time of my life — it doesn't always even feel like work.

Want to join the gym?

Sign up for a consult on their website here.

You can also follow ❤️‍🔥@GNDStrengthSociety and ❤️‍🔥@kcflexem @flexx.w.lexx on Instagram.

Or — read more about Kelli and the gym in Block Club Chicago.

Other Stuff This Week:

BTW, you can read interviews in this series about money and feelings here.

I live-tweeted what happened at this week’s Chicago City Council Finance Committee this week for City Bureau: highlights include Parks Department budget drama and the latest round of settlements for CPD horrors through the decades.

Also made this video about the popularity of defunding the police. Illinois Policy (where Vallas just got hired) has a strong TikTok presence and it bothered me.

What have you been up to this week? What are you thinking about when it comes to Chicago politics, work, and *weird queer stuff*?

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