By Shamar Blunt
After 10 years of bringing innovative exercise and wellness services to Barbados, Bajan Fusion is now marking its special occasion with a year-long celebration of activities being planned for clients and newcomers into the workout movement.
In the beginning, the once small start-up on the island aimed at delivering a new type of fitness experience for locals and tourists seeking to get in shape with a Barbadians flare.
It has now grown leaps and bounds according to founder and project manager of Bajan Fusion, Celia Collymore, who spoke to attendees during the celebration’s launch at the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries on Monday.
Collymore added that though the journey has indeed been a long one for her, it has been an equally rewarding one.
“We are on our way to 10 years on December 31st 2022, 10 years of striving for excellence. It’s been a journey fuelled by passion, shaped with consistency and steadied through patience as we Bajan Fusion have evolved in the market place.
“All the people and experiences along the way have played a role in shaping Bajan Fusion into the entity it is today, and will be tomorrow,” she said.
While recounting how the idea behind Bajan Fusion came about, when she experienced an exercise movement back in the United States where Americans were exercising and getting healthy to Barbadian and Caribbean music and culture, Collymore said her vision since then has remained committed to bringing the Barbadian cultural experience, into a fitness and wellness experience that any nationality can enjoy.
“The vision for the brand is fusing fitness, sports and music on the world stage. Everything we do, we love to support the artisans, because that is where it started.
We are in the business of creating experiences, helping get fit for life through engaging events that fuse entertainment, education and excitement.”
Owner of Business by Design and Collymore’s mentor from the start of the project, Lynn Rollins, congratulated her on her success thus far, and emphasized that it was Collymore’s perseverance and belief in the brand that have taken her so far.
“Celia’s business fits into what the academics call the knowledge economy, where she has taken her love and interest in sports, and translated it into a business that really and truly represents fitness.
We are very firmly in the services industry, we are very firmly into fitness and wellness, and we serve a customer that is not only a local Barbadian, but we also serve a customer that is a visitor,” she said.
Rollins added that an export version of the product was currently in the works, with the hope of it being launched as soon as the pandemic permits.“We are exporting, we are going out.
It’s a slow journey, but 10 years later Celia believes me when I say ‘yes, we can export’. We are still hoping to go on a cruise, which should have happened by now but COVID [had] interrupted that plan.
“To you entrepreneurs, stay the course. Every little action that you take towards building your business, it will add, but you have got to be committed to growing your business. You got to be committed to brand, you got to be committed not to networking, but to right working.”
Bajan Fusion’s slate of events this year will include breakfast workout sessions, hiking, camping, archery, and other activities, and will run from January until December 2022.
