Boilermakers balance business and sisterhood

By Kolby Hagmaier

Many people place high value on family and the bonds that unite them in all areas of life — sometimes even close business ties.

Such is the case with Taylor (Chamberlain) Dilk (BS Nutrition and Dietetics ’15) and Chloe Chamberlain (BS Organizational Leadership ’20). The sisters and fellow Boilermakers always wanted to launch a business together.

“We didn’t know what it would be at first, but we knew we wanted to start one as sisters and as a family,” says Chamberlain, chief strategy officer of activewear company Balance Athletica, which they created with Dilks’ husband, Steve (BS Biochemistry ’15). 

Taylor and husband Steve

The first Chamberlains to attend college, the sisters come from a family who prizes fitness. Their mother had been a Denver Broncos cheerleader, and their father was a bodybuilder.

Wanting to follow in their fitness footsteps, Taylor eventually chose a health-related major. “Fitness was engrained into our lifestyle ever since I can remember. Seeing my parents compete in bodybuilding sparked my own passion to pursue that,” says Dilk, Balance Athletica’s chief executive officer. “I enjoyed learning about nutrition and thought, why not become a dietitian?”

While in college, Dilk launched a social media channel to inspire others through her own fitness journey, sharing recipes and training clients. She ultimately earned her personal training license, becoming a trainer at Purdue’s CoRec. And in time, she and Chamberlain made the giant leap to building a health-related style business.

Taylor and sister Chloe

“After we both graduated, I started to become a fitness influencer on Instagram and knew I had a passion to create some sort of business that could make an impact on countless people,” Dilk says. “Chloe and I saw a gap in the athletics industry for high-quality, reasonably priced athleticwear that would fit all shapes, sizes and backgrounds.”

They evaluated other athleticwear companies and knew they could make the industry more inclusive. Thus, with Steve they developed Balance Athletica as a workout brand appealing to all body types. And as Chamberlain creates designs for their product line, she finds inspiration both in nature and high-end designers. 

“We came up with the mission to unite men and women of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds to form a culture of inclusivity and help people find their own balance in life — whatever that may be for them,” she says. 

As the sisters build a family-focused enterprise, almost all advertising centers on organic growth through other Instagram influencers, showing how anyone can become a valuable member of the Balance Athletica family. And now, as the business expands one customer at a time, operations that started in Chamberlain’s Colorado 400 sq ft garage just two years ago, will be moved into a 30,000-square-foot facility within the next few days.

“Purdue helped us become balanced people. We became communicators, leaders and entrepreneurs with the help of our educations,” Chamberlain says. “We want to continue to impact others’ lives and the community we’ve created. We always are working to be better versions of ourselves and to find our own balance in work, business and life. We hope others can find the same.”