Lawanda Dickerson: A Journey to Health and Fitness

Born and raised in San Francisco, Lawanda Dickerson’s story is one of personal transformation and passion for wellness. Influenced heavily by her parents’ struggles with diabetes and high blood pressure—common health issues in her family—Lawanda embarked on a mission to break the cycle and inspire others to do the same.

Driven by her personal health experiences, Lawanda dedicated three years to studying fitness and nutrition at a nationally accredited school. This rigorous education laid the foundation for her to become a Certified Health and Fitness Life Coach. Applying her newfound knowledge to her own life, Lawanda achieved a remarkable feat: she lost 60 pounds and gained a renewed sense of well-being.

With a desire to help others take control of their health, she founded U3FIT Fitness Gym. The gym embodies her mission of promoting sustainable lifestyle changes through fitness and nutrition education. As an advocate for holistic wellness, Lawanda not only guides clients through workouts but also offers personalized coaching that addresses the mental, emotional, and physical aspects of health.

Lawanda’s journey is not just about personal transformation; it’s about inspiring a community to embrace healthier lifestyles, one step at a time.

In an exclusive interview with Lxmped, Lawanda Dickerson shared her experiences growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Where are you from?

I was born in San Francisco, CA, and soon after, my family migrated to Petaluma, CA. I stayed there all my schooling years, and then my husband and I moved back to San Francisco in 2011.

Where did you get your inspiration?

My inspiration came from my parents. As far as a business, my inspiration came from my family the reason why is because I had a lot of questions about why African Americans were having such health issues, and I saw my mom and my dad work hard to counteract that so I would see my dad get up and go run in the morning. When my mom almost reached over 600 pounds, she decided to have surgery to help with weight loss and see her get up every morning and walk five miles a day. I would see them working hard every day, and I would be at family reunions and see my family. I thought there had to be a better solution than to keep seeing people in my family pass away from medical-biological reasons that could have been prevented. I was inspired by my parents working hard to see something different, so I wanted to get more education to get more solutions and support more people behind it. African Americans, when it comes to health issues, that's where the true pandemic has been. I did not know what to do or how to do it, so that's where I got inspiration from my mom and dad.

How has San Francisco shaped you?

San Francisco has shaped me into the businesswoman I know I could always be. There are so many opportunities I could take advantage of here in the city: the support, grants, merchant association, OWD, and CBD. All the associations that supported me in starting and launching my business have shaped me into the businesswoman I have always known I could be. It has presented a lot of opportunities. I don't think there are other opportunities in other cities like this.

How did you get started?

I always say it's not what you know. It's who you know. I was still in school back in 2013. I recently lost 70 pounds, down from almost 240 something pounds. I hadn't taken control of my health and used myself as a prototype in school. I was at the YMCA working out, minding my own business, and this gentleman walked in, looked at me, and said, who are you? And what are you doing? And so he asked me. I had just come from the doctor, and I hated working out. Would you be able to help me? And I said, of course, I would help you. And he said do you think I could lose weight? And I could get 30 pounds in four months? I said not only would you lose 30 pounds in four months, but you would be flexing in five months, and that's what happened. Little did I know at the time, he had real estate offices all across the Bay Area, and he put me into 70,000 of his mailings. The next thing you know, I worked out of my job and started training full-time. So it was who I knew, and the next thing I knew, he started introducing me to other people because of his success story, and one thing led to another. The next thing I knew, I'd met almost 500 people in this community with nutrition, fitness assessments, training, and support for their health & wellness.

Who are some of your influences

There are so many, I would say, in the community. April Spears Mays was one of my influences; my friend Kristin owns three restaurants here. Kristin, I didn't understand how one person could have three or four businesses, so she was the one who inspired me to believe that I could have one or more locations. Mayor London Breed inspired me by her coming here and me training her for over a year and supporting her in her health & wellness. She would just speak to me about business and prospects, motivating me. My other inspirations are my clients, who trusted me with my knowledge and were able to see them walk in the fullness that they know for themselves. Several clients have lost over 100 pounds and trusted me enough to walk them through where they wanted to be with their health & wellness. Whether it was weight loss, getting off medication, restoring their relationships, or getting a new career, U3FIT is about body-soul purpose, not the body. It's about who you are in the balance.

Lastly, what advice would you give a young African American looking to enter the fitness space?

I highly recommend working in a commercial gym alongside people who have been in the field for a while—their experience levels to this. I think because I had a strong business background, I was able to move into a commercial space. Because I'm business savvy, and you also have to know what you do when you are a personal trainer or corrective exercise specialist, I'm also a nutrition fitness and weight loss specialist. When discussing going into a space like this, I had much to offer people. Number one, I would get experience from a commercial gym, listen, and learn. Still, if they want to have their own space, I would recommend business courses to help them understand what the business looks like. Don't be afraid to ask and, don't be scared to go and shadow, and don't be afraid to find a mentor and somebody who's been there done that because you can eliminate a lot of pitfalls when you are asking questions and learning you can learn from other people experiences so I would high recommend mentorship.