Chaz Sandifer is confident, connected, and high energy. In 2012, amidst a personally significant transition she reinvented herself, leaning into health and wellness. It’s when her business, theNEWmpls, was born. A decade later, as a Black woman notably first in several roles, she continues to lead, innovate and represent her community in empowered ways.

Addwomxn caught Chaz in an enlightening virtual session to dive into her story from her Minnesota roots to her thriving business and the many initiatives she’s deeply vested in. From that conversation, we bring you a little of our Q & A, lightly edited for clarity.

Let’s revisit Chaz’s childhood. What stands out from your youth?
My childhood was about good faith and fun. We lived in Bloomington, MN, in the seventies and eighties – my sister, younger by four years; and my parents, still married to this day. I attended a private Lutheran school from pre-k to seventh grade, where I was the only person in the school that was not white. I took nothing negative away from that experience.

This was in an era when Bloomington was 90% white and race wasn’t really talked about, but I was very aware in a positive way that I was Black. On my suburban block, I had a friend who was Indian and a biracial friend, so differences seemed accepted in my immediate environment. I think it also made a difference that my roots were strong. I knew who I was. My best friend was white and we saw no issue with our friendship, until we were at camp at age 12 when others found issue with it. My friend stood up for us, and it became defining moment in time when I realized that being in the world meant navigating far beyond my acceptance of differences.

As you transitioned into your teen and early adult years, what did it look like to navigate change and new ventures?
Outside of my small private school I attended through seventh grade, I began to see friends’ yearbooks, the pages filled with people like me. I presented a solid case to my parents, asking them to bless my wishes to attend a public junior high school. I always got good grades and would continue to! They allowed it.

At the time there was an influx of Black families from Gary, Indiana, and Chicago moving to the Bloomington area. When I started school I thought I’d assimilate well, but because my family was Black, well-educated, rooted in the community, and thriving middle class, classmates didn’t know where I fit. It became grounds for the bullying I experienced. It shook my confidence a bit. Thanks to my amazing school counselor, I moved through it and learned to navigate. After high school, I went to college at Concordia University for marketing and spent a semester abroad in Costa Rica. I lived a very full youthful existence, doing all of the things I should have been doing at that age!

Fast-forward to your early 30s. Talk about the communities, environments and experiences that shaped you.
The experiences of my twenties and thirties shaped the themes and ideas of what created and continues to fuel theNEWmpls today. I have fond and vivid memories of going out downtown Minneapolis in the 90s. The city felt safe and alive. The experiences were all there to be had – there were clubs galore from the Prince infusion at First Ave, to South Beach, to Glam Slam; theaters, restaurants and art. At the time what’s now the North Loop was North Minneapolis or The Warehouse District.

Life continued to move forward. Married, two kids, a divorce later and a survivor of domestic violence, I found myself at age 34 facing reinvention. It was time to rebuild the new me. And in the process of that, I realized the parallels between rebuilding myself and a vision I had to rebuild Minneapolis. This was in 2012, pre-George Floyd and pre-Covid, mind you. So it also feels fortuitous that I’ve put so much energy into my community, business, and brand over the past decade. It allows me to step into the conversations our community needs to be having right now around social justice and food and health equity.

I’d like to hear more about how you reinvented yourself.
Around age 34, during the transition we just talked about, I realized I could be whatever I wanted to be. It was time to shed the layers of things that weren’t serving me. I became a figure body builder, changed my nutrition, and continued therapy to heal myself. Unhealthy relationships fell away and I felt like I was vibrating on a higher frequency. theNEWmpls, which creates and provides accessible health and wellness offerings that improve the lives of individuals through education, action, and community engagement. continued to grow. People saw me as a Black woman who represents health and wellness in Minneapolis, and that was something new to a lot of people in the industry.

In my reinvention, I leaned into something that’s always come natural to me – confidence. I have the ability to believe in myself and move forward with the mindset that nothing can stop me. This trait came from my parents who instilled confidence and security in our home, which informed my behavior and way of being. Having confidence, resilience, and tenacity help me strive to reach the next level. A friend of mine once noted how I seemed to have no roof, no limit. I’ll take that!

You’re a connector of people and ideas. Describe how you approach relationships, friendships, and collaboration.
I don’t know how to follow a crowd. I’ve always valued having a variety of friends, but this doesn’t mean that my friendships don’t run deep. I’ve sort of collected them through different walks of life, a testament to how I navigated individual friendships from an early age. Maybe I’m seen as the popular/unpopular girl, lol! or it’s because my friendships aren’t traditional Minnesota group style. Either way, I’m totally okay with that. I love that my diverse group of friends allows me to form a variety of collaborations to create inclusive health and equity.

You’re involved in so many things. What is your driving force for the work you do? What initiatives are you part of right now?
My mind is always actively firing with new ideas and ways to collaborate. theNEWmpls is the heart of my collaborations and everything I do is tied back to my passion for health and wellness. It could be for personal health or the health of communities. I’m specifically focused on educating the Black community. I hope through my journey I can inspire people to heal their personal and collective trauma – which all requires knowledge, education, and therapy. I like to say that therapy is your friend and I follow that up with a personal belief that all Black people in America should have access to free therapy.

My role as a mom to two wonderful kids — Janae and Jalen – who are now CMO and CFO of theNEWmpls, is definitely a driving force for me to do good in the world. I’m also a certified life and wellness coach, certified group fitness instructor, and I specialize in diabetes prevention and arthritis prevention. I have a new contract with Ramsey County to execute diabetes prevention and continue to serve on the Minnesota Department of Health’s arthritis prevention team. I’m part of the University of Minnesota’s Search Education Work Group for the next two years, charged with co-creating community engagement projects for the Twin Cities. And I’m co-owner for Let Go Let Flow, a wellness company and host of healthy conversations.

What’s new and next for Chaz?
I’m enjoying and challenged by the work around creating wealth for Black people, which begins with access and empowerment. My work as the development chair for the Association for Black Economic Power (ABEP) is about serving the unique needs of the residents in North Minneapolis by bringing new leadership, ideas, commitment, and energy to make the Minneapolis Northside Black Credit Union a reality.

Another major focus of mine in 2022 is moving the farmers market I established as Camden Farmers Market, the only Black woman owned farmers market in Minnesota, to Robbinsdale, MN. The move expands the reach of the market threefold and involves more community partners like the City of Robbinsdale and the Robbinsdale Chamber of Commerce; and partners interested in improving food equity and community health including Blue Cross Blue Shield. Under this new model: Lakeview Terrace Farmers Market empowered by theNEWmpls, we’ll be able to make a broader, sustainable impact.

— Addwomxn Amplifies is an ongoing series designed to highlight the work and lived experiences — personal and professional — of our BIPOC community.