We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gerald Jefferson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Gerald , thanks for joining us today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

Well that is very simple, the kindest thing anyone has done for me is my wife who trusted in me to be a good husband and friend, believing in someone is one of the most kindest thing you can do, but trusting in someone so strong you are willing to spend the rest of your life with that person, the kindest thing in my life is and will always be my wife giving me the opportunity to be a husband.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I love sports, especially sports that make you use your brain skills, so boxing is something that I learned at an early age, as a young black man growing up you had to have two major components taught or learned and that was respect and being able to protect yourself, having the confidence of knowing you can stand up for yourself is an energy that propels your life, especially as a child. So I started to learn boxing watching Tyson, Jones and Sugar Ray and I didn’t have a heavy bag so I just used a tree in my mom’s back yard to punch and do fundamental drills, I must have went through 100 pair of gloves on that tree. I would be outside until the sun went down perfecting jabs and hooks. Boxing became so much of my life that it taught me how to make better decisions in and out the ring, it creates patience and helps with building mental and physical endurance which is key to everyday life. I didn’t go pro but I did fight for P.A.L., circumstances and bad decisions took me away from the sport and I felt different because when you are not training and keeping your focus you set your sight on more than one thing and that’s when you have the potential for failure. Boxing teaches you to focus on the matter directly in front of you conquer it then move to the next. So, after some time my wife and I started a non-profit boxing program called Men of Loyalty Youth Boxing Training Program that teaches boxing fundamentals to youth ages 6-17 confidence and character. I may be out of range for pro boxing now but teaching our youth how to make wise decisions through boxing is something totally different and important I can definitely stay around for.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I was a teenager I played all the sports and was good at them, but something kept pulling me away. I went to the world of the streets because my home situation was lacking many things. I got knocked down so many times and every time I got back up, so I tried to stop and vacate the street life but I guess my efforts wasn’t moving fast enough for the purpose of my life, which was ready to take over and lead me to being a successful person not financially but with my personal relationships, I wanted to build on those, so my purpose knew the only way to get my attention was to take my physical body away from the streets so I could fortify myself in an atmosphere where you have to make wiser decisions. I soon realized after having lost so much time, I had to change my life and live my purpose, so I teach our children about decisions in life through boxing

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Sometimes there is no strategy there’s just a need. When there’s a need that needs to be met in the community the members will come

Contact Info:

• Website: menofloyalty.org
• Instagram: Men of Loyalty Youth Boxing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/menofloyaltyyouthboxing

Image Credits
MG Productions