Service Array:
Individual Skill Development and Enhancement
I grew up on the northwest side of Milwaukee Wisconsin. The sixth of nine children, all with the same mother and father. We lived in the lower economic districts of the city, so we were accustomed to the criminality and trauma that inundates those areas. Although my parents were very religious and tried to shield us from the violence, drug and alcohol abuse in the community, we were daily exposed to the dangers and hardships that poverty and hopelessness cause.
Although I managed to graduate high school and get accepted into college, because of PTSD and manic depression I was subliminally battling; I dropped out of college and turned to a life of gang affiliation and violence. I began to self soothe by using drugs to deal with the PTSD, anxiety and manic-depressive moods I was accustomed to feeling. Violence became a normal part of my life, and criminal acts led to prison for the first time, at the age of 21.
After doing a short stint in prison, I returned to society with more PTSD, anxiety and depression. I tried to, “do the right thing” by getting a job, got married and started a family. But because I didn’t know how to deal with PTSD, anxiety and depression, the responsibilities of being a husband and father became overwhelming. I only knew how to self-soothe through substances. Within 2 1/2 years, I was back incarcerated, this time with a sentence of over 30 years, doing 21 years of confinement time.
I’ve always been a physically active individual who loves to play sports, mostly basketball. But I never gravitated toward working out or weightlifting, until a friend of mine suggested that I go with him to lift weights, and I reluctantly obliged. I needed to do something that would boost my self-esteem and give me the confidence I needed to believe in myself. Lo and behold, I discovered the emotional and mental effects that exercise has on one’s psychological and physical make up; and as they say, the rest is history. Since then, I’ve trained my mind and body, and put together workout programs to help others to achieve their specific fitness and health goals.
I’m a National Exercise Training Association (NETA) certified personal trainer with over 20 years of fitness training. My motto in life is, “Health is Wealth, and the best investment is in yourself.” Today, I live my life with the sole intent of helping others to become the best versions of themselves they can possibly be. For a healthier me, it helps to make you wealthier; and together we make a richer society.