Father-son duo Johann “Yogi” and Jonathan Joseph have always loved dance.

They started the Bod Shop together after Yogi discovered just how effective dance is for weight loss.

Yogi used to travel with the artist Cupid, and choreographed many of his dances. Later he became a teacher, and he saw the opportunity of combining those two passions, so he jumped on board.

Jonathan, known as J-Rok started a rap group called Young Hub City in high school with his sister, known as Lil Beezy. Together, they created dozens of hit singles, incorporating Louisiana jig rhythms with clean lyrics. Jonathan would choreograph the actual dance moves that accompanied the tracks. The group’s latest track, “Mr. Weatherall” has nearly a million listens.

Yogi and Jonathan sat down together to talk about the history of the Bod Shop, and their views on Black History as it pertains to the community.

How long have you been in business?

Yogi: Bod Fitness has been around for six years.

What made you want to start your own company?

Jonathan: I got an idea from his (Yogi) brother Uncle Leroy because I used to dance, for a long time. So he gave me the idea of taking the dancing I do, which is the Louisiana jigging and bounce dancing, and putting it into exercise.

What has been the biggest challenge that you’ve faced as a business owner?

Yogi: It’s trying to bring the best product to everybody cause people see it and love it here, but we get people all the time who see it and say, “Oh, I love it, I would love to do it, but we’re in Dallas, or we’re in Chicago.” That’s truly the next evolution of the Bod Shop, bringing it in some way visually to different places.

Jonathan: Even if someone has rolled with us for the six years we’ve been out, for every one person, there’s a bare minimum of 100 that hasn’t seen it before or who thinks it looks fun but has never tried it, so it’s about making it available to everyone, everywhere.

What is your favorite memory from your time in business?

Yogi: A year or a year-and-a-half ago, at the old location, we had a live performance. A drummer came and played, and we called it Hip Hop Night. Young Hub City (his son and daughter’s rap group) got to perform. My daughter was pregnant at the time, so she was on stage rapping the words to a song carrying my first grandchild. There were 30-35 people in the crowd, and they got the workout, the music, the feel, the live vision, and all the songs they were hearing were their songs (Young Hub City). That was a vision of mine.

Jonathan: I can’t think of a specific time, because we do everything together, and there’s been so many substantial moves that we’ve had. Honestly, it could be the first day of opening the Bod Shop, we had 65 people. It was our first time opening our own place of business, and we were so nervous to see how many people believe in you. And we did that together.

If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Yogi: To be more selfish. I never thought about self, never. It was always easier for me to be the second or third or fourth person to somebody else. I was always told, you are meeting such and such, give ‘em your phone number and tell them what you do. You can draw, tell them you’re an artist, you’re good with children, you have a vision of doing music for little kids, tell somebody. I’ve lived long enough to see ideas I’ve had manifest through other people’s vision and not quite how I would do it, but their families prosper. If I could go back to 18 or 19 years old, I’d tell myself, “Thinking of yourself and your future is not selfish.”

Jonathan: It’s okay to work on it. Everything else can wait. I took everything for granted, and I did so much more than I expected myself to do. I had no interest in anybody’s opinion or being in entertainment, so I would have told myself, “It’s okay to work hard.” I would be a lot further. I was a little too humble, because I never really promoted myself, because I felt like I was bragging.

If money was no object, what other program or business would you start in Iberia Parish? Why?

Yogi: I would start a place like the old Gatti Town in Lafayette. It was almost like an indoor fair with bumper cars and games. I didn’t make the kind of money to take my children out to Destin, Disney, the Great Lakes or anything. So we went to Gatti Town. When we walked in and got tickets, I remember the smile on my children’s face, so if money was no object, I’d start something like that in New Iberia. If we had that in this area, I think it would change the dynamic. We have entire generations with nothing to do. All props to the Boys and Girls Club, they do a great job in the community. But outside of the Boys and GIrls Club, you have the street, or the gym, or the park. Most of the time, it’s not supervised.

Jonathan: I would start a Megaplex of Boys and Girls Clubs because too many kids in one space is not going to work, But if we can space them out, it will be alot easier to hit their target. Everyone’s missing the one bit of info that you don’t understand, so being able to take them and have the tutoring, the counseling, the fun, almost like summer camp, it would be fantastic.

Would you recommend business ownership/entrepreneurship to others? Why or why not?

Yogi: Definitely, and there’s a right and a wrong way to do everything, but it’s not hard to do. I’d definitely tell everybody to believe in yourself and take the opportunities to do what you dream to do. Being an entrepreneur is a beautiful thing. My momma always told me to work towards owning something or doing something myself, but I always thought, sure, just let me go to high school and college and go work. It was always okay to work for someone else. I don’t recommend someone just start an LLC and sit down and play Madden, expecting the business to grow. It just doesn’t work like that. With all the ups and downs we have with this country, it gives you an opportunity to go out there and make a name for yourself. What you do with that name is left up to you.

Jonathan: I would. At the end of the day, you want something to call your own, and you’re always gonna need something for yourself, be it taking care of yourself or your family, and a lot of the time, you don’t have that time working for a company. As long as you have the drive, yes, but make sure you have something on the side.

What does Black History Month mean to you?

Yogi: People find the negative in anything, and I get that, but it means a lot to me because I take pride in telling people that our community, yes, we have Martin Luther King, yes, we have Rosa Parks, yes, we have Harriet Tubman, but don’t get caught up in that. Black history is your father, your mother, your grandparents. Everyone around that has built something is history. Black history is all around you. What is Black History? I am Black History, because every day I live, I add to this world.

Jonathan: Foundation, growth, and expansion. Everyone is part of their own history. We all have our separate paths and our own races, but at the same time, it’s a very big story. A majority of it isn’t in the books, but it’s everyday life, small or big.

What do you consider to be the biggest challenge facing the Black community today?

Jonathan: Ignorance. The biggest thing we face is a lack of understanding that everyone is the same. All this stuff you are struggling through or are very passionate about, he or she is going through that in their own way. So, there’s just a large amount of misunderstanding and miscommunication going on. For me, that sums up everything.

Yogi: Forgetting how far you’ve come. You don’t have to follow the same programming. People say, “I’m breaking generational habits, but they should’ve been broken.” I’m the first person in my family to do something, which is great, and we should keep it going, but somebody 20 years ago should have told their parents, you’ll be the first person. We put boundaries on ourselves that’s not there. You may not have the same opportunities or steps as somebody else because of race or place of work or income, but if you put a mental barrier on yourself, you can’t accomplish it. What are you going to contribute to the history?