Meet your SwoleMate — times three

While many people have already lost sight of their fitness-related New Year’s resolutions, the Jones triplets have not. College sophomores Ahmad, Khalil and Malik Jones, better known around Penn as “the triplets,” are using their fitness skills to inspire others to be the best versions of themselves through their fitness brand, 3hree Triplets Fitness.

The triplets began making fitness videos during their senior year of high school in the Washington, D.C. area. The first video they released on YouTube reached 1,500 views in only three days. After a little over two years of making videos, a lot has changed. Now all three brothers are nationally certified fitness trainers, and the world outside of Penn has noticed.

Earlier this month they were listed in BET’s “29 People You Should Know” as part of a Black History Month special. When Malik first saw the email from the network, his brothers didn’t believe him.

“We try to rise above our last accomplishment,” Malik said. “I don’t know how we’re going to up our BET interview.”

At Penn, they have built a following by hosting fitness boot camps and workshops.

“We really knew that it was real when we made our Facebook page at the end of first semester freshman year,” Khalil said. “People will see us as personal trainers and fitness guys.”

On Sunday, they held SwoleMate Bootcamp in honor of Valentine’s Day where participants experienced a “lit, fit, fun, social and healthy” group workout, according to the event Facebook page.

Their boot camp sessions are free. “The motivation is to do something you like to do,” Malik said. “It shouldn’t feel like work.”

Each brother plays a specific role in the company: Ahmad films and edits the video content that the triplets post on YouTube and Facebook. Malik does networking and runs the business side of the company. Khalil does the marketing and branding; he is in charge of getting the word out to other students on campus.

As they’ve grown their brand, they have learned through trial and error what works and what doesn’t. “The amount of experience I’ve had from making these videos over and over again I see has really helped a whole lot,” Ahmad said.

The brothers try to provide the best possible experience for the boot camp participants. Khalil sends out surveys to the participants afterwards to get feedback about what went well and what to change.

3hree Triplets Fitness has the slogan: Be greater. “[It’s] not ‘be great,’ because there’s a ceiling for that,” Khalil said. The triplets hope that their fitness programs inspire people to be the best possible versions of themselves. They believe there is always room for improvement and personal growth.

In the short term the triplets are just hoping to build name recognition for their brand. Most of their current profits are coming from T-shirt sales and written fitness plans.

“Like any start-up you’re not really profiting in the beginning,” Malik said. “At this point it’s not really about making money, it’s about putting out videos, getting our brand out there and letting people at Penn know who we are.”

Going forward the triplets hope to make an impact in health, expand their business and potentially own a few gyms.

“A big part of it is making a plan, if it’s just an idea it’s really hard to know what to work on because you don’t have direction,” Khalil said.

They are hoping to spread their workout content and brand to other colleges across the country. While promoting the brand they continue to work on content creation. In the future, they plan to release a new series of seven workout videos.

When asked if they were planning to collaborate, Khalil said that they were considering working on a fitness clothing line with Wharton sophomore and rapper Kayvon Asemani. They like to be able to support and work with other entrepreneurs.

“We understand how difficult it can be sometimes and we support people trying to do the same thing as us,” Khalil said.

The triplets emphasize that things don’t just happen overnight. It takes hard work and dedication to find success.

“The more little accomplishment you have the more you can build up your confidence, and those smaller stepping stones can build you up to bigger and bigger steps,” Ahmad said.

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