Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jeremy Kellem. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jeremy , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Taking a risk is more about a mentality than it is an action. Many risks that I have taken in my early adulthood had to deal with my professional football career and the creation of my business. As I exited college I began looking at my options to play pro football. My agent at the time told me about a workout for a Professional league that he set up for me. I was informed that my agent was not going to pay for me to travel from Florida to Nebraska for the tryout even though most agents pay for their clients, if they truly believe in them. I was fresh out of college and could not afford a round trip. So I decided to bet on myself and make a wager with my agent. I sacrificed and bought a one way trip. The deal was if I get invited to mini camp after my workout, then the agent would purchase my return flight. I boarded my flight with no plans of returning the next day and with no money to pay for a return flight. I believed in myself and trusted that I would get offered to mini camp and that is exactly what happened. I made it to mini camp and my agent had to pay for my return flight.
I then bet on myself in my football career when I chose to walk away from my Pro Football team after having the most successful season of my career, to pursue a NFL career. I chose to do my Pro Day again, but this time at the age of 26. The Pro Day is typically for players that have just finished their final season of college and here I was 6 years removed from college giving it another shot. I believed that this was the best chance that I was going to have to make it to the NFL, especially after just being named Arena Football League Defensive Back of the Year . I bet on myself again, but this time I wasn’t as successful in accomplishing my goal. I was not contacted by any NFL team after the workout. I was heartbroken but not defeated.
These two experiences set the tone for my Risk Taking mentality and betting on myself when it made sense to. Fast forward a few years after I retired. I was presented with opportunities that were similar with the vision I had for my own company We Impact Now (W.I.N.),LLC. I could have joined with others and put my goals and dreams aside, but I tapped into that mentality that had been produced early in my adulthood and I chose to bet on me again and stick with my belief and vision for myself. Taking a risk doesn’t mean you won’t lose, as I have shared but taking a risk his having a winner mentality and understanding that I will never win if I’m scared to lose, but it’s when I take a risk and a leap of faith that I now give myself the opportunity to accomplish what I desire to have.
Jeremy , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am the CEO and founder of We Impact Now (W.I.N.), LLC. I am a former professional athlete turned educational specialist and strategist for colleges, high schools, and middle schools. A highly sought-after national youth motivational speaker, author, and educational consultant. I help students cultivate and establish a vision for themselves through the utilization of my self-curated formula, research-based strategies, the Five Core Competencies of SEL, and life experiences that have been statistically proven to yield phenomenal results such as academic success, emotional growth, improved relationships, and a personalized vision for students. Through my coaching of educators, I inspire them to reimagine their purpose as an educator, to reimagine their students as people, and to reimagine what a successful future looks like for their students. My purpose in life is to make a life-enriching IMPACT in the lives of youth all around the world that results in each of them tapping into their unrealized potential and going on to WIN in every facet of their life. I am known to my friends and to those I work with in the community as JK. I have a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication from Middle Tennessee State University and a master’s degree in Curriculum & Instruction from Tennessee State University. These accomplishments made me the first male in my family to graduate from college. I have spent the past 10 years traveling from school to school presenting for students, athletes, educators, and staff across the nation. Providing in-person or virtual presentations, professional development workshops, and life tutoring for students. My goal is to plant seeds in a person’s “Right Now”, believing that it will yield a great harvest for them as they advance in life. I remind those I have the opportunity to work with of my favorite quote that says: “Your Life Should be a Run-On Sentence of Wins and Accomplishments.”
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 2018 I had to make a pivot in my business. The acronym for my business W.I.N. did not always stand for We Impact Now. In 2013 I developed the first acronym for W.I.N. I was supposed to create an LLC and lock in the name of my business. I procrastinated for 5 years. I was using the acronym for WIN when I spoke, when I created content, and I even had business cards made with the original name. I kept telling myself that one day I will go ahead and make it official. Then one day I received a video from someone. The person sent a message along with the video. It was a congratulatory message that stated that I should keep up the great work because my business was was doing great things in the community. I read the message prior to watching the video, so I was in total agreement because I believed we were out impacting the community in a great way. However, once I watched the video I realized that this was not a video of my company, but it was about a program that was not only named WIN, but it used the same acronym as me and did similar work as well. I thought it was the end for the vision I had for W.I.N. I was so hurt when I seen that. After wallowing in my disappointment and frustration I realized that I couldn’t be mad at anyone else but myself. I had years to turn W.I.N. into a company. I learned from this that I’m not the only one in the world that have ideas and a vision, therefore once I receive an idea or vision, I must move expeditiously to execute. The great thing that came out of this is that now I had the opportunity to reset my business and set the foundation properly. I pivoted from having a narrow minded approach to a much broader one for the new and improved acronym for my business. This time I made sure to research available names. W.I.N. now stood for We Impact Now (W.I.N.), LLC and with a more defined vision and intentional approach to make a greater impact in as many people lives as possible.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I believe that society can best support artists, creatives, and a thriving creative ecosystem by first accepting that there are different ways to be successful in 2023 and one of those ways is as an artist or content creator. Many people discredit this as a profession because it may not be a traditional corporate job. Society struggles to understand what this new profession is and consequently they may not support it as much. What people don’t understand they usually don’t support. Therefore, to increase the support of the creative ecosystem, there must be an intentional effort to increase society’s understanding of it.
Traditionally, when people have expressed the desire to receive support from others, most people immediately think of financial support. Contrary to what most believe, supporting an artist or content creator can be as simple a like or re-share on a post. Many artists and creators are receiving brand deals from companies to post products or promote said brand. So when you like a post, comment, or share a person’s content it improves their analytics and increases their chances of receiving larger deals in the future. You can always support an artist or content creator in a traditional manner by giving a financial contribution or the purchase of products, but support in 2023 now includes a double tap on a picture, which only takes a second to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jeremykellem.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jk_impacts/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-kellem-m-ed-a38a8761/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JK_Impacts
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC559Q0cZhHJ-94MGMvUqQ2A
- Other: https://anchor.fm/jeremy-kellem. This is my podcast titled Tackle Thursday With JK.
Image Credits
Family picture taken by: Moments By Mama Bear Photography.