Overcoming Adversity: From Athlete to Fitness Icon with Brandon Floyd

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Brandon Floyd, a fitness entrepreneur and coach who has transformed his life and the lives of countless others through resilience, determination, and a strong belief in the power of self-improvement. In this episode, Brandon shares his journey from a young athlete overcoming adversity to becoming a successful personal trainer and fitness icon. Discover how he built his brand, tackled the challenges of entrepreneurship, and continues to motivate others to believe in themselves and achieve their goals.

Whether you're a fitness enthusiast, a budding entrepreneur, or simply someone looking for inspiration, Brandon’s story will captivate you. From the importance of mental discipline to actionable tips for balancing family, faith, and business, this episode is packed with wisdom and motivation. Tune in to hear how Brandon turned his passion into purpose, and learn how you can take steps to level up your life and career!

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;14;29
Unknown
Where are your hosts, Aaron Backus and Jason Kindler? We like to sit down with our guests to hear their journey, their challenges, and how they impact the local community. So grab a seat. Tune in and let's get inspired by Jacksonville's everyday workforce. Welcome to Hometown Jacks.

00;00;14;29 - 00;00;27;18
Unknown
We're here on the Hometown Jacks podcast, and I'm here with my buddy Brandon Floyd. Brandon, welcome. Thank you, thank you. It's always a pleasure. Anytime I get to sit down with, some of the greats and Mavs, you're one of the greats.

00;00;27;19 - 00;00;54;05
Unknown
Yeah. So, a little bit of, about Brandon. I'm going to let him kind of tell his story, but, I met Brandon, years ago. He's the owner of Level Up Fitness. Level up fitness jacks. And, if you're watching, you see Brandon, he is a beast. But if you can't see Brandon and you're just listening to an audio, I'm telling you, Brandon is one of the most jacked dudes I know.

00;00;54;08 - 00;01;11;08
Unknown
So if you're going to if you're going to, if you're going to be, you know, in the personal training space, you got to walk the walk. So, but tell us a little bit about who you are and, you know, what your business is, and, and we'll go from there. Yeah. I mean, thank you for that introduction by the way, Jason.

00;01;11;08 - 00;01;27;24
Unknown
But, yeah, I mean, obviously my name is Brandon Floyd, and I've been in the fitness business now probably over probably about 20 years. You know, I grew up as an athlete. I played college football, you know, just like, you know, a lot of the typical athletes that are out there and, we're playing sports and things of that nature.

00;01;28;00 - 00;01;53;17
Unknown
In my mind, I always knew that I had to have a second coming, meaning that I knew that sports would probably not last forever. And considering the journey that I took to get there, I've always been the type of person that always had one, 2 or 3 options type of deal. And so once I ended my football career and, ended up, trying to find that next step, I kind of knew and I always knew that personal fitness was something that I would probably end up doing.

00;01;53;17 - 00;02;11;28
Unknown
And owning a gym. I started my first job as a trainer when I was 16 years old. I was a fitness instructor at family YMCA, and throughout the course of my collegiate career, I constantly helped change lives and help teammates and things of that nature. Even at East Carolina, I did a lot of, transformations. And that's pretty much one of the things that I'm known for.

00;02;12;16 - 00;02;34;04
Unknown
I try to do an array of things now at the age that I'm at is more so about legacy. And so not only with fitness. I also dabble in dabble in a couple of things. For example, I'm also a director of workforce integration for TMS Academy, and we we help service members. I do a lot of mentoring, and I'm also working on some programs for some real estate, companies, and things of that nature as well.

00;02;34;04 - 00;02;54;09
Unknown
So awesome. I'm out there. You're out there now. So as far as the, as far as the the let's let's go back. So you, how long you been in Jacksonville? I've been in Jacksonville, probably about almost 17 years. 17 years. Tell me about, growing up. Where are you from? Well, I'm from North Carolina, small inlet town.

00;02;54;18 - 00;03;01;08
Unknown
It's called Fairmont, North Carolina. Okay. And I grew up in a very, very small town. I was raised by my grandparents.

00;03;01;08 - 00;03;13;15
Unknown
We had about 10 or 12 of us that lived in a house, when I was a kid. And, and through that journey, you know, it was a tough journey growing up. You know, I grew up with a very unique background, that conceived of a lot of violence.

00;03;14;19 - 00;03;36;19
Unknown
You know, just a lot of history that most kids in an ideal situation wouldn't want to actually choose or prefer. But through the grace of God and through my journey, I was able to over overcome a lot of these hurdles. For example, I overcame sexual abuse, physical abuse, mental abuse. I've watched, a lot of different things that plague my memory over the years.

00;03;36;19 - 00;03;54;17
Unknown
That, in turn, also sent me in here spaces, throughout the course of my career. But again, with that journey, I think those things kind of paved the way for who I am as a coach, at different levels. Considering my biggest thing is more so that mind at mental, that mental, that mindset, I think is very important.

00;03;54;17 - 00;03;58;22
Unknown
And I, I believe in the mind, body and soul, component side of things.

00;03;58;22 - 00;04;17;03
Unknown
So that's tough. So you grew up, with some of the, some of the things you talked about there. I mean, that's, that's tough to overcome. What, what as you, as you got older, what what kind of things helped you, overcome those? Well, I guess you don't really ever overcome.

00;04;17;11 - 00;04;31;08
Unknown
But. Yeah. So, you know, I'm actually writing a book called Believe in Conquer, and I kind of touch based on a lot of those things. And, for example, you know, when I was a kid, you know, when I was in, when I was in middle school, you know, I dealt with a lot of struggles.

00;04;31;08 - 00;04;48;21
Unknown
And in turn, I would, you know, I would go see my guidance counselor, you know, and I would share a lot of those pain points and, things that I was dealing with with my guidance counselor. And then from there, he kind of became my mentor, but which in turn also, became, you know, an individual that also, you know, sexually molested me.

00;04;49;06 - 00;05;15;25
Unknown
And so when you establish those type of relationships at, as a kid, at a young age, you didn't start develop trust issues and identity issues. And so as I got older and I got into the high school sector, you know, I then started to figure out myself and, and anytime you deal with, someone at a very that's a that's very highly intellectual, just like, you know, the counselor that I had to overcome.

00;05;15;28 - 00;05;35;23
Unknown
You also, when you're a determined and driven individual, you then start to study that individual and then you start to kind of understand them in a sense, to where you didn't have to understand what it takes to become a fighter, what it takes to, overcome things. It it ain't always, you know, with fist, you know, sometimes it's more so that mindset.

00;05;35;26 - 00;05;53;18
Unknown
And so when I, when I got into high school and I started, you know, really getting into my football career, I was always an athlete at a high level. And I remember my first day, you know, in the weight room. And I asked my, my coach, he was an old school guy. Coach Jernigan and I, and I walked in the weight room.

00;05;53;18 - 00;06;11;06
Unknown
I was probably 130 pounds soaking wet. It was about five, six. And I said, coach, you know, I want I said, I want to play college linebacker. I said, you know, that's what I want to do. I said, what do I need to do to get there? Because back, back then it's not like it was now. You'd you'd have these magazines of great high school athletes.

00;06;11;09 - 00;06;29;13
Unknown
And in those magazines you see bench clean and squat, you know. And those were three like basic core main exercise. If you want to be great, you got to do this. And I remember my coach say he started laughing. He say, well for one you need to be at least 200 pounds. You need a bench 500 pounds, you need to squat about 600 pounds.

00;06;29;13 - 00;06;46;23
Unknown
And you need and you need that hand clean about 315 pounds, he said. And you need to do it pretty soon if you want to have any chance at being a linebacker. And you were in high school and I was in high school and I was in night grade. And so and I don't think he realized that when he was giving me those numbers, I was programing them into my psych.

00;06;46;25 - 00;06;53;18
Unknown
And so from that day forth, as I started to set those goals in those components, I never missed a day in the weight room.

00;06;53;18 - 00;07;03;28
Unknown
what I found in the weight room that day was more and during that time was more than just reps and says, I didn't started figuring out, oh man, this is not just a workout.

00;07;04;00 - 00;07;23;23
Unknown
Now I'm starting to really let go. Now I'm starting to understand ways. All that anger and that frustration and that and that and those things that I had to overcome, I found a way to just let it out. And so as I let that out, you know, I really, really became very, very in tune with who I, who I was as a person and what and what my vision was.

00;07;23;25 - 00;07;41;28
Unknown
So what did that what did that vision look like? So, so in high school you got to you got to to about what? Wait. What way did you get? I ended up my senior year. I end up getting to about 190 pounds. And I was, by my senior year, I was bench press and probably about 40 or 50, you know, I was 190 pounds and I was running at 4 or 5.

00;07;41;28 - 00;07;52;18
Unknown
I was squatting about 600, and now I was power cleaning, hand cleaning, about 360. They, so you got you got close to those numbers? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I got close to those numbers.

00;07;52;18 - 00;08;05;25
Unknown
the summer of my, of my senior year, I ended up getting recruited by, Catawba. And that's where I wanted to go, because when I went to that school, that was the best that I went to during that time. And I was like, man, you know, these guys are champions. I want to be here.

00;08;05;25 - 00;08;23;06
Unknown
And I remember like it was yesterday they sent out. They sent this workout booklet home and that workout booklet that probably has 60 or 70 pages. And it was, it was composed by a guy by the name of Dennis Love, who was who was also the strength coach, for a long time, I think he was at Clemson for quite some time.

00;08;23;08 - 00;08;44;11
Unknown
And so D love is quote unquote that was his name. So he composed this workout. And so I did the whole workout that summer front and back. And each day you not only had to do the lifting, you also had to do your running. You'd have about ten, 100 80s, 2060s, eight 40s. I mean, it was just you name it, it was as balls to the wall every day.

00;08;44;19 - 00;09;01;20
Unknown
And so during that day, I would never miss a beat in that book. I feel that book out from the front to the back. And if I didn't finish my training or my sprints that day at 12:00 at night, my mother would go out through the track when it finally cooled off, and she sat on the headlights on the track, and I would just sit out there and run relentlessly.

00;09;01;25 - 00;09;13;25
Unknown
but the one thing that I noticed, when I went to Catawba and I actually started playing, that's when that first time I knew when I didn't recognize it at that time. But that's when I suffer from immense anxiety and ADHD that I could not.

00;09;13;28 - 00;09;29;13
Unknown
I had a lot of nervous energy. So my freshman year that they were sitting and playing at linebacker and I remember it. So I go to the sideline. Coach was to play. By the time I got back in front of the coach, I wouldn't know where to go. I would just forget and I'm thinking that at that time, like, man, I just can't remember.

00;09;29;13 - 00;09;48;03
Unknown
You know, I never got taught is never got taught this. And so I just I'm like, man, you know, what the hell, you know? So my but it started my, freshman year gym Tom Shula, he was our defensive coordinator who at one time was also the head coach for the 40 Niners. And Jim also, yeah, he also coached in, NFL Europe in the off season.

00;09;48;05 - 00;10;04;10
Unknown
And my freshman year, they had me as a backup linebacker as a to my first game of the season. They had me on kickoff punt, punt return, you name it. And I remember going out there and I didn't know no one assignment. All I knew was just to go. And every time we learned to go to camp, it went out the window.

00;10;04;10 - 00;10;10;15
Unknown
So today we played Wingate University I was playing really good football and Mario wasn't getting it done against Wingate.

00;10;10;15 - 00;10;25;03
Unknown
And coach pulled him out and he put me in a game. And I mean, I knew every assignment about it. Every by then I knew where I was going, what I was doing and the first play of the game. I popped my hamstring bad. That's where we had four games of the season left to where I wasn't able to finish.

00;10;25;06 - 00;10;42;16
Unknown
And so then I ended up, you know, having to sit. And I came back in the spring and I. And I had to get surgery on my knee. I just got bit surgery on my leg. So I then got, I just got bit surgery on my leg. And I came back in the spring game and I was a little rusty, but I still had about 12 or 13 tackles.

00;10;42;18 - 00;10;57;04
Unknown
And so I remember after that game, we went into the meeting room and and I was like, okay, cool. You know, coach, you know, you know, where are we at? They tell you where where they see you at the following year, blah, blah, blah. And so he's like, okay, Floyd, we're going to bring you back in as a to, you know what I mean?

00;10;57;04 - 00;11;10;22
Unknown
You know, and then come next year you work your way up, blah, blah, blah. But in my mind I was like, that's not good enough as I'm not, and I and I called my high school coach, I said, I'm not going back, to Catawba. And it was nothing against Catawba at that time. But I knew you.

00;11;10;24 - 00;11;16;24
Unknown
You knew you knew you had more. By then. I knew who I was. Yeah. And that's where then I ended up going to East Carolina University

00;11;16;24 - 00;11;35;07
Unknown
Yeah. So what happened? What happened? What happened from there? Okay. So you want to hear more. Yeah okay. All right. So so while at East Carolina University I had to sit my freshman year. And so I'm not my freshman year but my, my redshirt year quote unquote. So I said throughout the whole spring and I and coach Rock, coach Rock was our linebacker coach.

00;11;35;07 - 00;11;51;20
Unknown
And I remember the first day in the meetings, he was going over, during the season, and I had to go in and play scout team. And so we were watching D'Angelo Williams on film, and D'Angelo was just running through people. And he was, you know, he was he was throwing out all the linebackers for not being able to blow him up.

00;11;51;20 - 00;12;04;29
Unknown
And I started laughing. He's like, do you think there's something funny? You think he's like, you think you can do a better job? Catawba. And he called you. That's what he called me. And I was like, I was like, yeah, I was, I blew I, I, I was like, I know I can't and you know, and and from there he hated me.

00;12;04;29 - 00;12;21;11
Unknown
So, and that was like I was like, oh, man, this coach hates me. So now during conditioning, I remember we didn't go into the spring where we went to winter. We went through winter conditioning and we went through our spring conditioning. And he was one of the stations in every station and enduring conditioning. I was determined, I'm not losing no station.

00;12;21;13 - 00;12;31;27
Unknown
I'm not, I'm not. I'm going to be the strongest on the team. I'm not losing no conditioning drills. And he would go there. He put me in his station. He was just drill relentlessly, relentlessly and everybody will break. But I would not break

00;12;31;27 - 00;12;40;03
Unknown
we go into the spring game and I just, I ball the spring game. And at the end of the spring game, the next Monday meeting, we had that meeting and the linebackers graded like shit.

00;12;40;03 - 00;12;57;01
Unknown
But my he gave me like my grade was like an 83. I graded out 83. Everyone else was like 50 and 40% of not getting it done. So then I got go into, into the into the office, for the meeting with coach Skip Holtz. And I met with coach Rock and I at that time, it was,

00;12;57;03 - 00;13;12;21
Unknown
Yeah, I forgot the other I forgot the other coaches name, but he was a defensive coordinator, coach Hudson and, coach us. And also, you know, all these guys coach at high level programs. But like coach Skip Holtz, he's done a lot of great things. And, and they said, well, next year he's like, we're going to bring you in camp.

00;13;12;24 - 00;13;26;20
Unknown
He's like, we're going to bring you in as a as a, we're going to bring you in as a three and then you and you're going to play all the special teams, blah, blah, blah. And then that time I left in three, I was like, I was like, and I'm like, am I freaking? I know I'm out playing all these guys in front of me.

00;13;26;25 - 00;13;46;23
Unknown
Number one, they're they're wheat. They're not fast. I'm not like, you know, I check out across the board. But I didn't understand the political aspect of when you have players on scholarship and you recruited them versus having Walton. Yeah. You know what I mean. And and so. Okay. Cool. You know, that was great. No problem. So then over the summer, all of a sudden the NCAA changed rules.

00;13;46;25 - 00;14;04;24
Unknown
They said, well, by the time you hit your senior year, you have to have 95% hours toward your major to graduate. So I didn't have all those hours toward my major because when I came in from Catawba, they that I was transferred in as late as Grant, I had A35 GPA. But guess what? They declared me ineligible. Yeah.

00;14;04;26 - 00;14;15;10
Unknown
And so then I had to give that. I had decided I'm like, now I'm stuck. So then I was 13 hours, behind from being eligible to play football

00;14;15;10 - 00;14;29;05
Unknown
And so I was looking up other programs and trying to play football and and so at that time, they had no idea. And, and I was different in an NCAA. So the rules were different. And I and I remember finding Eric Waters college. I never looked at it. I didn't know what it looked like.

00;14;29;05 - 00;14;43;28
Unknown
I just know they had it in I program. And you were like, I gotta go, I gotta go. And I went and I. And I went down to Everett Waters. I met with Coach Clark at the time and he's like, okay, well, I want you here. You know, you come in here and play right away. You know, we need a linebacker, you can get your film, blah, blah, blah.

00;14;43;28 - 00;14;58;12
Unknown
So I went to Everett Waters College my first day of camp. I'm like, okay, where's the locker room? We don't have a locker room. You know? I'm like, we don't have a locker room. And then. And then the program was just so disorganized. I got frustrated and I knew that I was I can't get no film here.

00;14;58;15 - 00;15;20;26
Unknown
So I stopped playing, and I was like, that's when it said I was. I got I got to start my new journey. And at that time I having a history of training and things of that nature. That's when I started personal training. Yeah. In the first day when I, when, when I did. You're still in North Carolina. No, no, this is when I came, when he came to Jack, when I came to Jack's and I remember I was like, at first I got to get the job and I walked in the Bailey's Powerhouse, and there was a guy named Roger that was there.

00;15;20;26 - 00;15;34;15
Unknown
And there was a guy named, Chris, I think her name was Chris, and she was a big bodybuilder. She was actually on a, TV show or something like that. And so I walked in and I said, hey, I want to train for you guys. And it was like, well, what? Well, it was okay. Well, you have a server for case.

00;15;34;17 - 00;15;48;09
Unknown
I don't need one. I was like, I could train them myself. And I was like, and I, and I, and I was like, I know I'm better than any trainer in here. And Roger was like, okay, all right. Well, I'll tell you what. If you sell the next guy that comes in here on personal training and then I'll let you come over and we'll hire you.

00;15;48;17 - 00;16;02;20
Unknown
How's that? All right. No problem. So I'm like, okay, I wonder who's going to come in next or the next person. And his guy walked in. His name was Jamal. He had on construction clothes, work boots, and he had dreads down past his back. And I was like, holy. I was like, man, that's why I gotta figure out.

00;16;02;20 - 00;16;14;14
Unknown
I gotta convince this guy to train. And so he walked in, had goals in his mouth, and I was like, hey, how are you doing? Blah blah blah, oh, hey, what's up man? I'm trying to eat. I'm getting in shape for the new year. Yeah. How's it? Well, shoot. I was like, well, I'm training. I said, let me take you to a complimentary workout.

00;16;14;17 - 00;16;26;02
Unknown
That's cool. And so I go on the floor with his guy, and I was like, all right, this guy's got it. He's got to commit. So I remember I beat him to a pole for like 20 minutes, and I was like, yeah, I need you at least one day a week. You think you do one day a week.

00;16;26;02 - 00;16;40;05
Unknown
He's like, man, I do whatever it takes us. Let's just clip the workout today. And I brought him back to the dance he was past where he's like, where do I sign up? I got it. Oh that's cool. And that's where I then started training. Yeah. They then said, okay, we're we're opening up a gym down on Atlantic, a Bally's.

00;16;40;05 - 00;16;57;09
Unknown
We're coming there. What are we putting a party there now? And we want you over there. So then from there, they put me over there. So then, during that time, I went over there with no clients. So I started training there. And the girl, Chris, she was really nice to me. She she, you know, she was I was like, man, I got a cool manager.

00;16;57;16 - 00;17;10;29
Unknown
So I started signing all these people up. I mean, left and right, they're coming in. I'm taking them to workouts. That signing up with me is that, is that how on your in your business is that, is that how it works now too. Like is it

00;17;10;29 - 00;17;17;02
Unknown
are you doing a complimentary workout to show them what you initially? That's like the tradition, a way of doing things, you know what I mean?

00;17;17;05 - 00;17;32;29
Unknown
And so I didn't take them through the complimentary workout, you know, and and so once we go through that complimentary workout, we sign them up, blah, blah, blah. So I'm signing up all these people. And so then I got my first paycheck and it was like $200. And I was like, I was like, dude, I'm in training day and night.

00;17;33;00 - 00;17;45;08
Unknown
I'm like, what the hell? You know, like, this is not right, right? And she's like, oh, well, we'll fix it. And I was like, well, don't you know, I was in my mother. Now you I'll fix it. I'm out of here. So then that's when I was I can, I can, I can train on my own and make this.

00;17;45;11 - 00;17;55;19
Unknown
And so I didn't a lot of my clients, I had about 2 or 3 guys that didn't came with me. And I started training them at my apartment. Yeah. You know, and then from there, that's where I really started becoming, independent.

00;17;55;19 - 00;17;59;25
Unknown
Yeah. And there's so much more to the story if you want to hear it. So here's what here's what I want to go with it.

00;17;59;25 - 00;18;24;16
Unknown
So your story obviously with the yeah, some of the stuff you grew up with. And then you've had, you know, some tough breaks in, in college and, and so on and so forth. So it when you get into you're in Jacksonville and what are some of the, the things that you feel like have made you successful from your, from your childhood?

00;18;25;09 - 00;18;45;18
Unknown
All right. There's a lot of key components to that. Okay. Number one, my grandmother, when I was a kid, I had seizures really bad, and they didn't know what was causing the seizures. Right. And so my grandmother was really spiritual with God. She was holiness. And so I remember my grandmother threw my medicine away, and she's like, I'm you're not we're not taking medicine anymore.

00;18;45;18 - 00;19;09;05
Unknown
God is going to heal you. And I'm like, I'm, I'm, I'm a kid. I'm like, oh, all are okay, you know? And so I remember vividly one, I mean, this deep seizure like I go to when my seizures happen, I go to sleep, I wake up with her and I thought they were fibro seizures, but they weren't. But I wake up and I try to get to my grandmother before it starts, and she just put her hands on me and I'm in the middle of a seizure and she starts praying, and the only person I could hear was her voice.

00;19;09;08 - 00;19;36;25
Unknown
And all of a sudden I came out of the seizure. So she started praying those seizures off of me to where I didn't have them anymore. It was the most unreal thing that you could ever sing. So right there, that then inspired my my, my soul in God. And knowing that God is real, you know? And so then you think, then I think about the tragedy of having to deal with the counselor and that counselor, you know, it was so manipulative, very intelligent that I had to mentally get out of that.

00;19;36;28 - 00;20;01;09
Unknown
So from there, that established that platform for the mind. Right. And then from there, I think about what I had to go through physically just to get to where I needed to be. So that's the that was the body of me. So now I got the foundation of the mind body. So holistic approach and that's what started that foundation for me of having those three components, along with all the other things that I went through that really gave me that drive to never give up.

00;20;01;16 - 00;20;17;02
Unknown
Because at that age, when you're at that age and you've went through everything, there's nothing that. Nope. I'm used to people saying, no, you can't. I'm used to people screwing me over. So it was just another day, the apart. But I'm also used to the to never stopping. I'm used to keep the keep going. I'm used to never giving up.

00;20;17;08 - 00;20;41;09
Unknown
I'm used to having that drive and keeping that dogging me no matter what. Your inspirational brother. Yeah, so. But that is, so, with your, with your business now, on the, on the fitness side, who do you who do you mostly train? I train women, men, athletes. I build a company to where is tailored to each individual.

00;20;41;10 - 00;21;06;09
Unknown
Okay. And that's very important in fitness with me having my background in fitness and being very knowledgeable over the years and all the education that I've gained in that industry, I understand that each person is different. So you want to make not only workouts, but also your reinforcement developmentally appropriate for each individual. And so with my company, we kind of cover a bases of at least the everyday people to people that want to get in shape, to older people that really just want to mold and moving again.

00;21;06;09 - 00;21;27;26
Unknown
Yeah, and that's how I started school. That's why when I met, you know, Josh and I, which is my business partner, and I transformed him and he ended up, you know, going into the business with me that's that really established that that basis for me, for sitting there. So can you imagine this is this is something I always think about because I didn't, you know, played high school football or, not until anything like you did.

00;21;27;28 - 00;21;45;15
Unknown
But at high school football. Like like the weight room was a joke, right? It was. It was a joke. There was no trainers there. It was just kind of like, you know, it was no drive. No. So I think about, like now, like these, these kids, the, the facilities that they have, you know, you're talking about like you train high school athletes as well.

00;21;45;15 - 00;22;00;13
Unknown
Right. So if I'm a high school athlete and I have you as my trainer, like my chances of success is high. Yeah. Right. Right. And that's very important. So have you had kids. You've had you had kids going to college and all that.

00;22;00;13 - 00;22;09;05
Unknown
So currently, over the years, from when I started the program at Level Up, I've probably had about 50 or 60 kids that have gotten scholarships.

00;22;09;05 - 00;22;31;22
Unknown
And a lot of those kids come back to this day and they they've never even in college, they haven't never experienced, you know, a coach fully coach Floyd, coach Floyd's no joke. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, and and and that's the journey, you know, of setting that foundation for people you know, taking them do things that they never thought was possible so that they can achieve that greatness.

00;22;31;22 - 00;22;53;22
Unknown
And and I never knew how great I was personally, because I've never been big on myself. And but to this day, I've never met me in the weight room when I was that age. I've never met it. And I've trained over a thousand people, and I've transformed thousands of people in my life. And I've done it at a larger scale to where I would run companies where, each year I train from about 50 to 100 people.

00;22;53;22 - 00;23;13;06
Unknown
So let's talk about the transformation part, okay. Because I obviously follow you on, on social media. You've got a guy right now I just saw I saw your post, right. And Jesse Greenwald okay. So you and I see these pictures and so tell me a little bit about, you know, when you're talking about transforming, you're transforming the body, the mind, everything.

00;23;13;06 - 00;23;30;10
Unknown
Right. Tell me a little bit about his story because it's unbelievable. You got if you got to check out Brandon on on Social and check out what he's done. Right. Well, well, Jesse's a he's a Jesse. When I met Jesse, I was, working out in beachwalk about 530 in the morning. I'd go in there, and it was the beginning of the year last year.

00;23;30;17 - 00;23;50;05
Unknown
And I. And so each year I had to take myself through a mini transformation just to get my year going. And I was in there about 530 in the morning. There was this big fat kid in there, but he was loud and obnoxious. You know, you know, and I'd be in there, lived in and working out and, you know, he, you know, he'd be lifting, but he wasn't lifting, you know, and, and so that's how I end up meeting Jesse.

00;23;50;05 - 00;24;08;28
Unknown
And Jesse's also a he's a sugar, sugar. He's a sugar, you know, and he and he makes. And Jesse, sells shoes and clothes to all the athletes all over the country from, you know, you name it. I've never met anyone that had that much knowledge of of that industry. And so, and so I thought that was cool talking to him about that.

00;24;08;28 - 00;24;22;11
Unknown
He's like, man, you know, I want to. Yeah, man. I'm, I'm, I'm in the process of getting in shape. I need to transform. And so that's why I said, okay, well, cool. I'll see you today 2 or 3 days a week. I was like, but I was like, If I'm going to commit my downtime to that, then it's going to come in at cost.

00;24;22;11 - 00;24;34;26
Unknown
I'm like, I'm not, let's not play around here. I was like, let's not take it as a joke. I was like, it's going to take every single day of you not only seeing me, but also doing the things I asked you to do, along with also checking in your foods at a high level, following your diet to the T.

00;24;35;02 - 00;24;52;28
Unknown
As I said, there's no days off, no excuses unless I give you a day off or if I tell you to cheat on a meal. You know what I'm thinking? I was like, well, let's see if he's got serious, you know? And so, obviously I set Jesse up for that program. And throughout that time, you know, he also was a he was he was he was addicted to drugs when he was younger.

00;24;52;28 - 00;25;12;09
Unknown
And so he's also a recovering addict at some capacity. And so I was able to then kind of tap into all the components of who he was. And because once you go into these type of programs and you commit yourself as a coach to people, the people that are serious, it comes it comes with more so a connection that you develop with those individuals.

00;25;12;16 - 00;25;36;06
Unknown
And that connection is important because without that coach developing that connection and that in that respect, level of respect amongst each other, you and that coach, it's hard to really get the crazy transformation because you have to go places and you have to put your mind and headspace that you never thought that you could do, and also be willing to do as I've asked, with the mindset that I'm just going to do it and not think about what that entails.

00;25;36;09 - 00;25;54;04
Unknown
And so throughout that journey, you know, we went from training to 2 to 3, four days a week, you know, following my plans. He didn't cheat. You know, throughout the whole year, we dropped about 120, 530 pounds, hundred and 25 pounds. Yeah. About 125 pounds. He was over 300 pounds. And now you know, I've got him at a very high level.

00;25;54;04 - 00;26;13;00
Unknown
I mean you saw the, the, I mean he looks like a bodybuilder now right. I mean like literally right. And it was all natural. You know I'm not really I've never been a steroid guy. I really don't know a lot about supplements to be honest. But I know what I know what I'm doing. And I think that's been a, a real game changer for people that have in the past that have transformed underneath me.

00;26;13;07 - 00;26;27;15
Unknown
They know that based on what you thought you knew about working out food diets, what you believe in your whole life, they kind of throw it out the window for a while and just kind of like, let this coach just coach me for a little bit. That's so you're you're the guy that does it at a high level.

00;26;27;15 - 00;26;49;17
Unknown
So if I'm, if I'm thinking about, hey, I want to go, I'm thinking about getting in shape. When you walk into Brandon Floyd's gym, you better throw everything out. You gotta throw everything out, and you better just surrender, right? You know? And and again, that comes with a level of respect, right? So the first day in the gym, depending on your your personality type, some people have to kind of wing into it, you know.

00;26;49;17 - 00;27;16;13
Unknown
But once you start to believe that this is what I want, then based on the way I am, based on what you deal with me within those first 48 hours or 72 hours or three hours of working out with me, you already know that if I'm going to do this with this guy personally guiding me, that I know I need to be focused because I know that he's very sincere and passionate and he doesn't take a day off with, with the push that he's going to give you along with the workouts and knowledge.

00;27;16;16 - 00;27;36;12
Unknown
So I believe in, in, in business. And this is part of, you know, working out why I love I do I love working out in the morning, getting my mind right. I do believe that there's a component to business, that you will be better if you are pushed in the gym, correct. So I definitely believe in it.

00;27;36;12 - 00;27;54;12
Unknown
And, and you definitely take it to another level. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And and again, you know, and that's it. You know, in businesses now that I've gotten older, you know, I'm always looking to go into different things like I've actually, you know, you know, a couple years ago I'm like, hey, Jason, I want to do more because, like, what does it take?

00;27;54;14 - 00;27;58;06
Unknown
Because I understand, like in business, no matter what it is,

00;27;58;06 - 00;28;26;00
Unknown
when you think about pushing yourself, when you think about the business of sales and being your own boss and having to build something, it takes discipline. And so that in the end, what Jason I think is touching on is the gym is a big component to establishing that discipline, because if you can then dedicate to something like that, something that hurt, something that, that you don't feel like doing, then as you as you do that you also in turn intrinsically become more disciplined and strong.

00;28;26;00 - 00;28;42;27
Unknown
And so I think a lot of the guys that have been successful in the industry, whether it has been real estate, whether it has been mortgage, whether it has been sales or anything of a capacity of a capacity that requires you to put the drive into it and it not just being autopilot or pushing a button, and it just goes.

00;28;42;29 - 00;28;47;25
Unknown
I think that those components are highly, highly important. And I'm a believer in it.

00;28;47;25 - 00;28;58;15
Unknown
You know, with my business, it gets slow at times. And I have to go. I got to figure it out. But without having a foundation of and having a background and having that dedication and that motivation, I wouldn't be able to do it.

00;28;58;17 - 00;29;24;04
Unknown
You know, I wouldn't be able to even sit here today with you in a coherent headspace and discuss things that I've been through without cracking a tear. Know, you know, it makes you mentally tougher and stronger and, it also with with being an entrepreneur. I think that helped. And I think you just kicking it off, right, for the new year and bringing me on here because Jason knows and he understands based on what he's done in his life that that building, that fitness in that gym is a very huge component to start in your journey.

00;29;24;06 - 00;29;42;13
Unknown
Yeah, I agree, and it is it is that is that time of the year where we get a lot a lot of people get in and then they don't have somebody like you pushing them and they'll be out quick. So it's a perfect time. Tell me a little bit about, family. What's family life look like? Well, my my grandmother had 16 kids.

00;29;42;27 - 00;30;00;06
Unknown
By my grandfather. Wow. My grandfather was a beast, you know? And my grandfather, you know, when you talk about genetics, he worked at Lowe's for over 40 years, and he would go on sheetrock runs by himself and take two and three sheet wrap pallets and drop them off at loads and loads. And so he kind of established that background.

00;30;00;06 - 00;30;18;22
Unknown
But as far as family, you know, I have three, three kids, you know, four, including my daughter in North Carolina. And, you know, I've been married for quite some time now. And so I'm very big on the nucleus of my children. I have a connection with my father. You know, he's been a huge presence in my life.

00;30;19;08 - 00;30;39;28
Unknown
But. And but with my my mother that adopted me and my kids, that really centers my drive each day. And I'm very, very sensitive in that area because of the things that I've had to overcome. It's also been a platform for me having to constantly fight to keep my head space in the right direction, to constantly push, to be, to be successful.

00;30;39;28 - 00;30;59;02
Unknown
So my family and, you know, it has really been centered around, you know, and I mean, I'm not talking unselfishly because we talk about different things and our pride and our, you know, things like that. But I really because of what I went through as a kid, I know that adults can figure it out at no matter what level that is.

00;30;59;02 - 00;31;16;14
Unknown
And I say figure it out. But and I don't say figure it out where they're going to be successful. They can overcome this and overcome that. But I really think that establishing foundations of growth within my kids is very important. And that's something that, you know, I take a lot of pride in, especially with my son. And, you know, you've watched my son's journey.

00;31;16;20 - 00;31;35;07
Unknown
My son was, almost handicapped, you know, when he was, you know, when he was young and I had to, you know, rehabilitate his body. And then from there, get him at a high level. So he's a he's how old now? 14. 14. Yeah. And I've, I've seen you're working on him. Yeah. Yeah yeah. So what's his his what's, what's he into football.

00;31;35;08 - 00;31;48;08
Unknown
Basketball. Basketball. Basketball. He's a basketball guy I mean he loves it. And that's his journey. You know, I mean, when I was little, I, you know, I, I remember I try to put him in football and he was, and this is when he did. And, you know, he had a lot of action. His leg wasn't he couldn't run.

00;31;48;08 - 00;32;04;11
Unknown
And, he was on the field one day, and he started drizzling, and he was lying about defensive back. And he was in front of this kid who's like, five years old and and he looked at me. He's like, it's raining out here. He's like, what am I doing? What are we doing? He's like, and he looked is I'm not going to guard you because it's raining out and I don't want to guard you.

00;32;04;11 - 00;32;23;22
Unknown
I'm not playing with you today. And right then, I know this is not really. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this is we're we're we're you know, you're one of the you're you're one of the premier, guys the trainers in Jacksonville. What what do you like about Jacksonville. What are some what are some things that I like it I like the diversity of Jacksonville.

00;32;23;22 - 00;32;49;28
Unknown
Yeah. I like you know, in Jacksonville when you think about Jacksonville, you think about an area to where you can literally live in whatever walk of life that you kind of put yourself in geographically. This is the biggest place in the United States. And the one thing I like about Jacksonville is that no matter what that sector looks like and no matter what, you get into it as far as from a competitive standpoint, whether it's business, whether it's athletic, Jacksonville is highly competitive.

00;32;50;00 - 00;33;09;18
Unknown
There's a lot of pride when they say Duval, when you say Duval, I'm from Florida, there's a lot of pride is something that comes with that. Yeah. And that's what I've always liked about that because it, I feel like I belong here because I can relate, you know? And if you know anything about Jacksonville, you know, you have to no matter what, you have to stay in the game.

00;33;09;18 - 00;33;26;24
Unknown
You have to grind. You got to commit things are going to happen. You're going to face adversity. You're going to see a lot of stuff. You're going to be affiliated with a lot of people in businesses that in business that are not good business people, but they're very intelligent and enough to take you to through the ringer, enough to then for you to kind of get drugged and then kind of realize with that one it.

00;33;26;26 - 00;33;55;04
Unknown
But the thing is, what Jacksonville does is it in having an array of different backgrounds, it educates you at a high level. And I mean, the guy that really established my foundation in business, the first guy that I met, you know, that that, you know, he ended up committing suicide and he actually helped me get my first, business as far as having my own business was a fence guy, and he opened a company called Forever Fence during the time of when Jacksonville Jaguars first came to town.

00;33;55;07 - 00;34;12;00
Unknown
And he came very successful. But in 2008, when the market crashed, he lost it all. And in turn, he also lost a lot of mental capacity. I was just fortunate enough to get about 30 to 40% of that when I met him, you know, and he any, any and what he did, he educated me on business and sales at a very high level.

00;34;12;00 - 00;34;36;16
Unknown
I mean, we met every day and just go to lunch and he'd just take a pen and paper and he would just people just quiz me and trigger me and train me every day. He put me on timers to talk to him and stop talking. Talk, don't talk real and and so would that being said, I think Jacksonville, if you really open up your mind to meeting people and networking at a high level, I think you can be very successful if you have a drive and you also have a vision along with a platform.

00;34;36;19 - 00;35;03;16
Unknown
That's awesome. Anything else you want talk about? I mean, no, I mean, that's I mean, you know, I'm here for you. Yeah. I mean, and, you know, I, I, you, I, I've known, I've known you for several years. You've always been very, very motivating. And I know you're you're you're the top guy when it when it comes to fitness, if somebody wants to reach out to you, what's the best place to, they can just, contact me on my cell phone.

00;35;03;16 - 00;35;24;03
Unknown
You know, it's, (904) 738-0034, but if you can't remember that just down on a for fitness, it goes straight to my for fitness. How did you get that? From the fat guy. Oh, really? So what we did, Oh, man. When I met kids, he said, well, first we got to have a number for a business. And so he started then putting together all these words and researching to see if those numbers were available.

00;35;24;17 - 00;35;41;28
Unknown
And that's so good. And that's. I mean, you've had that for forever. Yeah. Since, since I started, on my own. Well, yeah. Definitely. Yep, yep. I had it ever since then. And so, but as far as just, who I am, you know, my, one thing I learned is that fitness is my is my platform.

00;35;43;06 - 00;36;15;27
Unknown
But, I'm so versatile in so many areas of business. And I learn at a very high level. And I'm able to kind of plug and play into a lot of different things and situations and also consult a lot of different in a lot of different areas in business, too, where, you know, now I'm at a stage in my life to where I'm expanding who I am, not just as a, as a health coach, but also as that that person that can that can come into your life at some capacity or come into a business at some capacity and, and elevate, whether it be you, the business or just what you're trying

00;36;15;27 - 00;36;33;15
Unknown
to do at a very high level. Awesome. Very cool. Yeah. Well, man, thanks for being here. Yeah, always. I always enjoy it. Oh, man. It's, Brandon Floyd level up fitness. But more importantly, just a you're a great dude. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I, I look forward to it. I'm. I'm writing a book. Right now. Call. Yeah. Tell me about it.

00;36;33;23 - 00;36;54;02
Unknown
Believe in conquer believe. You know, and it talks about my, it talks about my journey, whatnot. And I, and that book is very powerful. Is very explicit in a way. It tells it like it is in a way, but it also gives you that sense of belief and belonging or whatnot. And I actually when when we first got on a podcast, I was looking up a little paragraph that I was going to read to.

00;36;54;03 - 00;37;13;11
Unknown
Yeah. Oh, well, I but it's I mean, you've definitely you've definitely taken that believe in conquer mindset. In your life. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, and that's what I think I encourage people to do for the new Year, believe in what you're trying to do and conquer it by all means necessary, especially in this market of, of mortgage, mortgage funding.

00;37;13;11 - 00;37;31;13
Unknown
You know, this is the guy to go to. No reason why this. The guy to go to is not because of his knowledge. But, Jason didn't mention it, but I had an opportunity to be affiliated with also be and be his coach at some present time in his life. And, but the one thing that I saw in Jason, I saw greatness because he never quits and he never stops in.

00;37;31;13 - 00;37;45;20
Unknown
And no matter what I gave him or gave it or gave him during a workout, he would always show up and get it done at a high level. But by him doing that, that lets me know the pride that he takes in his self and also dedicating to people. So I know that no matter what that looks like.

00;37;45;26 - 00;38;01;25
Unknown
Jason will dedicate himself. And no matter who's around him, they know that you better dedicate at a high level. And that's why, you know, when I reach a place in my life where I need that, I know he's my guy. Well, man, I appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you. Definitely, definitely. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Yep.

00;38;01;25 - 00;38;16;01
Unknown
The Hometown Jack's podcast is recorded and produced by First Coast Mortgage Funding. Located in the heart of Jacksonville. Do you want to be our next guest? Visit our website at Hometown Jack's podcast.com. We can't wait to hear your story.