Asja Jordan was headed down the wrong path and she knew it. She started hanging out with the wrong people and “messed with the wrong things,” while she was in high school. Everything could’ve all ended right there for Jordan. But her high school powerlifting and swimming coaches saw potential that Jordan didn’t even see in herself. That’s how she started her fitness and business journey.
In high school, fitness wasn’t initially something Jordan was interested in but she still decided to join the powerlifting and swimming team. Once she joined the team, there was no going back on fitness. Jordan started going to the gym to work on her powerlifts, but watched as her at-the-time boyfriend worked on body building.
“I kind of was attracted to that so then I started really really getting into [fitness]. Ultimately, it was those high school sports to be the catalyst for me to develop my own routine,” said Jordan, a ULM senior communications major.
Even with her obstacles she faced in her high school years, Baxter Flor, one of Jordan’s friends, said she hasn’t let this rule her life. Flor said Jordan has inspired him to overlook life circumstances.
“Whether or not you grow up in an unhealthy environment, success can be [achieved]through determination, spirit and hard work,” said Flor, a ULM biology major. “These are all characteristics that Asja very much embodies.”
Eventually, all of her time at the gym led her to become a yoga instructor and a personal trainer. Jordan didn’t just want to do these jobs to make money. She wanted to be a catalyst for others just like her high school coaches were for her.
“Working as a personal trainer has been one of the most fulfilling things… It’s so fascinating over time seeing my clients walk with more confidence,” Jordan said.
While Jordan enjoyed doing personal training and instructing yoga, she knew she wanted to do something more with fitness.
Around two years ago, Jordan had just ended many things in her life- a relationship with her boyfriend, friendships and she had changed her major from kinesiology to communications. She said she no longer felt a sense of purpose.
According to Vanelis Rivera, a close friend and English instructor at ULM, Jordan was “in self-discovery mode,” during this stage of her life.
But during this time of self-discovery, Potential 2 Kinetic popped into her brain. Jordan said that initially P2K was not a business plan, it was just a hashtag she had created for her social media. She said whenever she made any idea happen she would hashtag P2K.
Jordan said she came up with P2K while writing in her journal. She thought about how motivational speakers always talk about reaching your full potential, but she decided that reaching her full potential wasn’t enough.
“Potential energy speaks of something stored that is untapped… And for me it was like I don’t want to be potential I want to be kinetic,” Jordan said.
Rivera said that P2K was something she watched grow into something more for Jordan.
“I remember her conceptualizing P2K. At the time she was really into taking biology concepts and turning them into poetic prose, and as far as I can remember that’s how the concept began to flourish,” Rivera said.
The more Jordan thought about it, the more she realized that this didn’t have to be just a hashtag, it could be a business. Over the past year, Jordan has grown the idea of making P2K a business into a reality. Her vision for P2K is that it is “a catalyst for growth and transformation within individuals and communities through physical and mental health practices.”
Many people are helping Jordan’s business dream become a reality like Kelsey Bohl, Jordan’s men-tor in ULM’s mentorship program. Bohl said she has pushed Jordan to focus more on pursuing any opportunity that comes her way because this will help her make P2K her career.
“Asja is so passionate and has many great ideas, but I’ve encouraged her to really concentrate on things that will benefit her and P2K in the future,” Bohl said.
Jordan has already started making this dream a reality by doing yoga with ULM’s women’s basket-ball and soccer teams. She is also currently one out of 20 businesses in ULM’s Warhawk Business Pitch competition. Jordan said this competition has helped her narrow down her vision and figure out how to make P2K into a profitable business.
What Jordan said makes P2K different from most fitness based businesses is its involvement with community projects. This past summer, P2K hosted an event called Relief for Ruston which was a two day yoga event. Any money donated to this event was given to help support Ruston after the tornado in April.
Another community event Jordan said she is having on Oct. 26, Poses and Painting for a Purpose helps the old DeSiard Street shelter receive a fresh coat of paint on its walls. But before volunteers go paint the shelter, everyone will meet at the new DeSiard Street shelter and practice yoga.
Jordan she said she has plenty of other ideas for the future of P2K. P2K is an all-or-nothing to Jordan.
“I don’t even want to have a plan B. Ultimately, I want to make P2K a profitable business and I will work my butt off to make P2K happen,” Jordan said.