Tylan Didn't See Himself in Fitness Spaces. Now He's Building Them.

Tylan Nichols grew up in Indianapolis. By his own account, fitness wasn't part of his world as a kid — no sports teams, no gym culture, no sense that movement spaces were built for someone like him. "I didn't see myself as someone who belonged in fitness spaces," he says simply.

That kind of quiet exclusion doesn't announce itself. It just shapes the assumptions you carry into adulthood — about where you're welcome, what's available to you, what the word wellness even means for someone with your life.

Then Tylan found Pilates. And something shifted.

A Different Way In

The path that led Tylan to the mat wasn't a straight line. It ran through healthcare — through professional environments where he was learning to see the body as something that needed more than treatment. More than fixing. Pilates gave him a different framework entirely.

"It showed me that wellness isn't just for athletes or people who have always been active," he says. "It's something that can be accessible to anyone, regardless of where they start."

But the shift went deeper than access. The more Tylan practiced, the more he saw what movement could actually do — not just for the body, but for a person. "I saw how movement can improve confidence, reduce stress, and help people reconnect with their bodies," he reflects. "It changed my perspective from teaching workouts to helping people build a healthier relationship with movement."

That's not a small reframe. That's a calling.

Showing Up When the Room Isn't Built for You

As a young Black man, Tylan has navigated wellness and healthcare spaces with an awareness that doesn't turn off. He's experienced ageism, felt the weight of being underestimated, and known the particular exhaustion of not being taken seriously in professional environments where you're working twice as hard to be seen clearly.

"Those experiences made me more aware of how perception can influence opportunity," he says, "and how important it is to show up with confidence and consistency."

He didn't let it shrink him. He let it sharpen him — into someone more intentional, more attuned to who else might be feeling overlooked in the same rooms. "It's shaped the way I approach both wellness and healthcare, with an emphasis on inclusion and professionalism."

For every student who walks into his class wondering if they belong, Tylan is an answer.

"I’ve realized that wellness doesn't have one look, one background, or one way of showing up," he says. "As a teacher now, representation means being visible as my full self while still being professional and intentional. It's about showing people that you don't have to change who you are — your culture, your personality, your expression — to belong in wellness spaces."

Why Equity Has to Be the Starting Point

When Tylan talks about the Breathe Foundation scholarship, he's precise about what it actually does.

"It means that barriers that often prevent people from pursuing wellness education are being recognized and addressed from the beginning," he says. "Equity-focused opportunities create access for individuals who may have the passion and ability to make an impact but lack the resources to pursue those opportunities on their own. To me, that's how meaningful change happens."

Not diversity as an afterthought. Equity baked into the design. That distinction matters to him — because he's lived the difference between a space that tolerates you and one that was built with you in mind.

Where He's Going

Tylan is pursuing nursing. He wants to bring his Pilates practice and his healthcare training into the same vision — one where wellness isn't just about treating illness, but about prevention, movement, and building habits that support a lifetime of health.

He sees the bigger picture clearly. "When people gain access to supportive wellness spaces, they often experience benefits that extend beyond physical health," he says. "Confidence grows, stress decreases, and people become more empowered to take charge of their well-being."

That's not just a philosophy. In his hands, it's a practice — in every sense of the word.

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The Breathe Foundation, by The Hot Room, provides equity-based scholarships for BIPOC individuals, LGBTQIA+ community members, people from low-income households, individuals with disabilities, and those who have experienced trauma or adversity — because representation in wellness isn't optional. It's the mission.