St. Paul small business owners donate money to Mali Center

The huge beige brick building near St. Paul’s North End houses a group of BIPOC and women-owned small businesses, ranging from a clothing retailer and mental health professionals to an entertainment company and several personal trainers.

Despite the obvious differences in their businesses, entrepreneurs Malian centeropened in June, has three important things in common: they are deeply committed to their community, wear many hats, and go back a long way with Tyrone Minor.

Minor, founder and visionary of the Mali Center at 576 Front Ave., grew up in the Rondo area, attended St. Paul Central High School, Drake University and the University of Minnesota, and now works as a physical education instructor in Osseo, Minnesota. .

A gifted track and field athlete, Minor is also the owner of the personal training business Chizel Inc. and health and fitness companies The FIT Laboratoryboth of which are now part of the Mali Center.

“I’m at a point in my life where I’m starting to think about the legacy I’m leaving,” said Minor, who recently celebrated his 54th birthday.

When the longtime landlord decided not to renew Minor’s lease on FIT Lab in 2023—”after seven years of never missing a rent payment,” Minor said—he knew it was time to take the plunge.

“When you own commercial real estate, you can provide opportunities for entrepreneurs,” Minor said. And that’s exactly what he does at the Mali Center, offering business owners access to private offices, gym equipment, meeting space and an ecosystem of community-driven entrepreneurs.

“Dream Big”

“We met in third grade,” Eric Goodloe said of Tyrone Minor.

Goodloe is now President Fairvater Foundationa non-profit organization that introduces golf to black youth.

Golf teaches kids sportsmanship, honesty and ethics, Goodloe said, “because you have to call the penalties.”

When Minor was renovating the 5,400-square-foot building that would become the Mali Center, he asked Goodlow what the Fairway Foundation needed.

“A net,” Goodloe said, “so golfers can practice their shots.” “He told me to ‘dream big.’ »

A young girl swings a club in front of a virtual golf simulator. — Havanna Smith, 9, of St. Paul, practices on a golf simulator at the Mali Center. (John Auty/Pioneer Press)

The Fairway Foundation now has its own golf simulator at the Mali Center. To the delight of the guys, the simulator will allow golfers to continue training in the winter months.

Dr. Jermaine M. Davismotivational speaker, author and professor, Minor was also approached to become part of the Mali Center.

“What made you want to be a part of this?” he asked Davis.

Davis, who travels widely giving presentations and keynote speeches, said he needed a place where he could teach and conduct workshops.

A man in a blue dress shirt smiles while speaking — Motivational speaker Dr. Jermaine M. Davis speaks at the Mali Center in St. Paul’s North End on Wednesday, October 23, 2024. (John Auty/Pioneer Press)

The Mali Center calls it the “ingenuity room” and is designed as a large conference room with tables, sofas and the necessary equipment.

Anisha Kelly, a mental health professional who runs her company Purpose Health and Wellness out of the Malian Center and is working toward her clinical license, also has hopes for the Ingenuity Room.

Kelly, who used to run with Minor, said she hopes to use the Ingenuity Room to host group therapy sessions, such as grief group counseling and a group for first responders of color.

Dr. Sheila Sweeney, psychotherapist, author and speaker Worlds and puzzleswho first met Minor through a fitness class, said she had a number of reasons for moving her practice to the Mali Center.

Sweeney, who has a private office, said she can close the door when she needs privacy and can also collaborate with entrepreneurs like Kelly, Davis and Dr. Qasim Abdur Razzak. “When I’m here, I’m in the community,” Sweeney said.

Razzaq, a speaker, author and psychotherapist, said he is working to get more black men into the mental health field.

Of all the tenants, Razzaq may have the shortest history with Minor; they met just a few years ago.

It turns out they both grew up in the Rondo area, and Minor coached Razzak’s sister in track. “It’s almost impossible that we haven’t met before,” Razzaq said.

Currently, Razzak’s office is next door to Sweeney’s, and he says the two are “debating” and “bouncing ideas off each other” at the Mali Center.

Other local downtown entrepreneurs with ties to St. Paul include Chadwick “Niles” Phillips, who was once coached by Minor and is now the founder of an entertainment production company. Vanguardand Robert “RL” Davis, Minor’s childhood friend, who owns his own retail store. Righteous souls on the first floor of the Mali Center.

Grow yourself and your business

Meg Katzman of Eagan trains with her trainer Michelle Dallug (right) of Aspire Fitness at the FIT Lab at the Mali Center. (John Auty/Pioneer Press)

The Mali Center’s main tenant is FIT Lab, a state-of-the-art fitness center that is rented by about 10 different personal trainers to run their own businesses, Minor said.

Ann Schwalbe spoke about her fitness business: Gentle Strengthmay not have been possible without the resources of the FIT Lab.

Schwalbe said that when trying to get into a fitness center, she had difficulty finding a suitable location since she also works full time in the public health sector.

“I was looking for somewhere to go myself, and I felt like there was no perfect place,” she said.

Schwalbe, a 40-year-old mother, decided to carve out this niche herself and launched Gentle Strength with support from FIT Lab.

“I really try to make this space inclusive and reach people who might otherwise feel intimidated or out of place in the gym,” Schwalbe said.

“I set my own prices, attract my own clients, my own brand, do my own marketing,” she said. “As a small business owner, I wouldn’t be able to do this if I tried to open it on my own.”

Whitney Cantrell, owner Workout with Whitney and Jamie Minor, owner SilIN Consulting and Tyrone Minor’s wife are just a couple of other trainers who use the FIT Lab to teach classes.

Nine-year-old Sephira Dragset (center) of St. Paul takes part in a workout with fitness trainer Whitney Cantrell’s Workout with Whitney (WoWW) program. (John Auty/Pioneer Press)

The machines are available to all Malian Center members and their use is encouraged, Minor says, because one of his beliefs is, “You can’t grow your business if you don’t work on yourself.”

Michelle Dallug, personal trainer and owner Strive for fitnesswas in a similar situation to Schwalbe and found support and resources through Minor and FIT Lab.

Dalluj has about 15 personal training clients with whom she works, but the Mali Center offers her more than just a place to train.

In August, Dalluj was part of a group from the Mali Center that worked together to host a family fun night before school. The event gave away school supplies and free haircut vouchers and brought the community together, Minor said.

“Any business that benefits financially from a community should benefit that community,” he said.

Don’t call it coworking

Tyrone Minor talks about members of the Malian Center. Minor, the founder and visionary of the business center at 576 Front Ave., grew up in the Rondo neighborhood and attended St. Paul Central High School. (John Auty/Pioneer Press)

At first glance, the Malian Center may look like a traditional coworking space with desks, private offices, a kitchenette and entrepreneurs from different industries working under one roof, but Minor emphasizes that this is not the case.

Named after the Mali Empire in West Africa, the Mali Center gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to run their businesses the way they like, but the community it has brought together is more than just a sounding board, Minor said.

Members of the Mali Center function as an ecosystem, offering each other support, resources and connections, Minor said.

Johnny Allen Jr., executive director of a youth mentoring nonprofit movement by J.K.said the Malian Center has an open door policy with the organization and they often work together.

Although the mentoring program operates out of the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center a couple of miles away, Allen said they still benefit from the resources and community Minor has built by working with members like Razzaq and using the gym space.

“Tyrone works out of the goodness of his heart and wants to see all people succeed and prosper. … The Malian center is an example of what an equitable system can be if it is run by the right people with the right vision,” Allen said.

“I believe we have created a model for how you can build generational health and wealth,” Minor said. “This is my dream come true.”