We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Darren Williams . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Darren below.
Alright, Darren thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
One of, if not the biggest risk, I’ve ever taken in my life was to relocate to Plano, Texas back in 2018. My girlfriend (now my wife) and I packed up all our belongings, and moved down here to Texas all the way from Boston, Massachusetts. We left all our friends and family behind and took a leap of faith. After we moved to Texas we have been blessed beyond measure. We now have a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood in Princeton, TX, and we have two beautiful daughters 11 months apart. There have definitely been some hard times along the way. We had to sleep on the floor for a month because we didn’t have any furniture at the time. Also we have moved from job to job trying to figure out how we can best make our stamp on this world, but throughout it all we have remained consistent in our faith in Jesus and he has blessed us in return.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
So I have been involved in some type of fitness and health related field since I was 5 years old. I played football all my life from youth up to college, and also have served in the US Army for 12 years. Along my journey I have learned many great habits on hard work, discipline, exercise, physical and mental toughness. For the past few years my focus had been on physical fitness training, but as I grew in that field I started to develop a love and passion for mental performance training. It is just as important, some might argue, even more important to train the mind as well as the body. My objective is to help people become the best versions of themselves by helping them acquire mental toughness, physical fitness, and spiritual enlightenment. My brand is built and surrounded with a family mindset that my grandparents instilled in all of us at a young age. Family should always have each other’s backs, should always want their other family members to excel, and should strive to make their family proud.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
This is a perfect question for me and I actually have a personal experience in regards to this question. I received my undergrad from Fitchburg State University with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Criminal Justice, so my original hope was to move to Texas and become a law enforcement officer. I had my whole plan set up to have a great career in law enforcement make good money providing for my family, and retire with some nice benefits. However, God had other plans for my life. Unfortunately I was not able to pursue a career in law enforcement due to some troubles in my past. This was very discouraging for me, and lead to a long period of confusion. I had spent four years investing time and money into a degree I could not practically use in the real world. So basically I had to start over from scratch. I would ask myself ok what do I have the most fun doing in life lets start there. The answer to that question was football. Football has always been a sport of great passion for me, and I’ve always had fun and enjoyed myself while playing it. Although my actual football career had ended a few years before due to a hip injury, I used football as the “root of the tree” to branch out from. From there bloomed the idea of exercise and fitness training. The second most enjoyable place to be for me was the gym. My dad instilled exercise and strength training in my at an early age, and the gym has always been my go to as a stress reliever. Thus the journey I am on now evolved and took place.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
There are numerous resources I reference to continually better myself. I love reading and read a lot. I read books from “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” by Deepak Chopra, to “Mamba Mentality” by Kobe Bryant, to “Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter” by 50 Cent. Also in this time of technology and social media I flood my timelines with inspirational, motivational influencers. Influencers such as Dr. Eric Thomas, and David Goggins have helped mold my mindset into a winning mindset. Also continually educating my self on my craft whether it be watching YouTube videos or reading articles about the fitness industry. It is important to continually educate, the world is a constantly changing, evolving place and we must continue to keep our minds sharp in order to succeed.
Contact Info:
- Website: Battle-tested-Llc.com
- Instagram: @Williamsfamilybusiness