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W e d n e s d ay, S e p t e m b e r 24, 2025
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Terry Robinson FAITH MATTERS
Baton Rouge couple sees fitness as a service Personal trainers Steven and Jacquole Johnson are flexing their physical and spiritual muscles to help people achieve holistic health through a Christ-centered approach. The Baton Rouge couple and longtime fitness enthusiasts founded FLXX (Fit Living Exceeding Expectations) Fitness and Wellness in January with the core principles of fitness, faith and family. “It’s all connected to the ultimate calling in that we want to be able to show the best way we can all attain wellness is being right with God and having the right perspective on how we view our lives,” said Steven Johnson, an associate minister at Calvary Third Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. “It’s just more of a sense of giving ourselves to the community and being the light in a way that God has called us to be.” The mission at the center is to help people flourish in mind, body and spirit, Jacquole Johnson said. She spent five years as a health coach before gaining her personal training certification last year.
Noah James plays a song in the backyard of his home in Prairieville.
STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS
‘I GOT TO RIDE THE WAVE’
He blew up on TikTok and got signed by Sony. This Baton Rouge native is rising in country music
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Jacquole and Steven Johnson, owners of FLXX Fitness and Wellness
“Our goal is to advance Christ’s kingdom, and the vehicle to do that happens to be fitness and health,” she said. The Johnsons said the guiding scripture for FLXX comes from 3 John 1:2: “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” The couple uses the verse about physical and spiritual health to remind people not to neglect one for the other. A mobile company, FLXX brings fitness to popups, churches, community walks, Zoom workouts and home visits through both its nonprofit and for-profit arms. Its third major event, “Ignite: A FLXX Wellness Experience for Educators,” is set for 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 13, at Calvary Third Baptist Church, 1911 Georgia St., Baton Rouge. The theme of the event is “Fan the Flame. Fuel the Mission” from 2 Timothy 1:6: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” Visitors will have access to a workout, brunch and panel discussion. Among the guest speakers will be Rodney Q. Freeman, a longtime East
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BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer
eenage singer-songwriter Noah James crafts music from his childhood bedroom in Prairieville. His instruments, including a few guitars, line the wall next to his sticker-covered closet door. James is a TikTok-viral, 18-yearold Baton Rouge native who has already made a name for himself in the country music industry. He just got signed by Sony-owned Santa Anna Records in December 2024, based in Nashville, and released his first EP, “The Tracks,” with six songs. “In my mind, I thought this was going to come five years from now,” James said about getting signed. “Never thought at 17 that this would ever even be possible.” After posting videos of his raw vocals and guitar strumming for three years, James has climbed to almost 300,000 followers on TikTok. He’s most known for his covers of country singer Zach Bryan and his poetic lyrics about love. In Prairieville, his favorite place to write from is his room. “If I come in here and play, then I’m walking around and playing,”
time to experiment with music. “One thing we do with homeschooling is we want to nurture each of them wherever their talents lay,” said James’ mother, Tiany Davis. “We knew that we wanted to support him in it, but he really did it all on his own.” James said he started taking music seriously at age 15, the same time when he started to post videos on TikTok. He taught himself how to play the guitar, and it didn’t take long for his first video to go viral in March 2024 when he covered “Burn, burn, burn” by Zach Bryan. The video has over 150,000 views. “I got to ride the wave with this,” James said he thought to himself after seeing the success of his video. In December 2024, he covered another Zach Bryan song that alJames shows off a bracelet tied most has 4 million likes, nearly around his guitar that reminds half of the overall 8.5 million likes himself to ask, ‘What would Jesus on his account. By the time he hit 10,000 followers, he was already do?’ at his home in Prairieville. skyrocketing to 20,000 followers. he said. “I was just posting on TikTok, having fun, just writing songs and TikTok fame hoping someone will like them,” James grew up in Prairieville and James said. So when Santa Ana Records conwas constantly around music. His father was a professional jazz play- tacted him in September 2024 with er, and being homeschooled with ä See JAMES, page 2G his brothers gave James even more
Two La. women turn trailer into mobile bookstore Chapter Twenty mobile bookstore, which features a cozy interior, will be rolling through local areas.
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BY JOY HOLDEN
which is where the name of their business, Chapter Twenty, comes from. They bought a trailer, gutted Courtney Degraw and Nikki it and built out a cozy bookstore on Rowland are moms from Watson wheels, ready to roll through their who took a TikTok video idea and community to spread the joy of turned it into their own mobile reading. In August, they saw a TikTok bookstore. The two women have been friends for 20 years, having video of someone across the counmet in business class their senior try who had their own little bookyear at Walker High School. store and got inspired. The longtime friends took a giä See BOOKSTORE, page 2G ant step for their next chapter,
Staff writer