We were lucky to catch up with Jamar Root recently and have shared our conversation below.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

If I had one mission to describe what I do, or who I am, it would be to inspire the world to do what they are passionate about and find success within it.

In college, I majored in Sport And Recreation management. I have worked for countless professional sports teams within different types of roles. But I started to learn that I really only enjoyed talking about what I did, but not the actual process of it. It was a nice conversation starter when somebody asked what I majored in or what my job was because it was a cool thing to say. But when I woke up every single day, and I was doing said job, I wasn’t enjoying the entire process.

During my sophomore year, I had an idea of starting my own podcast, and when Covid hit. So I had no choice but to try out the idea because I had nothing else to do.

While I wasn’t good at speaking on camera when I first started, it has now turned into my life.

That podcast has turned into multiple seasons with episodes with tons of guests and the beginning of my inspirational speaking career.

In the podcast, and my speaking career, I focus on the same thing, and that is to inspire the world to do what they love to do and find success within it. I could literally talk forever on the topic, and I just love helping other people find what I have found. And that’s an endless motivation to grow because I’m doing something that I love to do and not just something I have to do.

I now, travel the country speaking at different high schools, middle schools, elementary schools, and colleges with the story of how I found my passion and how they can do the same. I also continue this message within my social media platforms, and on my personal YouTube channel, which goes more in-depth with different things that go into my topic.

My goal, whether it’s on stage at a school or on YouTube or a social media platform is to first relieve the world of the pressure to have to know what they wanna be when they grow up or what career to pursue. It’s important for everyone to know that we’re all figuring out life and it’s unreasonable to put a timetable on figuring out what you want to do with your life. Once that is clear, the next step is to give people actionable steps to finding their passion that stems from my actual experience.

I think what sets me apart from other people who may speak on a similar topic is my age and the fact that I am very relatable. I tend to be able to resonate with the youth with more than most not just because of my age but because I am very vulnerable about the highs and the lows within my story.

I truly am most proud of the impact I learned I’ve made after every time I speak. Usually, after I get done speaking, there’s a line of people waiting to talk to me afterward. I hear things like I change their life or they’re making a decision to go after their dreams because of me or countless other monumental comments. It truly moves me to know that I’m making that type of impact. And what makes it even more special is the fact that I’m solving the problem for people that I know I needed to solve when I was younger. So it’s almost like I’m helping my younger self.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to learn that “failure” or mistakes aren’t a bad thing or something worth being afraid of. It is actually a needed step on the way to wherever we are meant to go.

I used to fear messing up or the negative effects of trying something. But I realized that regret is a far harder pill to swallow.

I look back on the decision I made to go for my dreams, and sometimes I put myself in the shoes of what my life would be if I didn’t go for this.

Just the thought of knowing I settled and didn’t tap into my fullest potential puts me into a deep depression, even though it isn’t even the reality I am in right now.

I often compare it to the moment when you see an attractive person on the street. You see them and you contemplate maybe going up to them. And if you let them go by and don’t say anything, you usually get home and have this weird feeling in your gut. You regret not going for it and ask yourself what really was the worst that could’ve happened.

Because at the end of the day, even if you failed, at least you had the relief of knowing what could’ve been and you can move on from that scenario. But when you don’t do something there is a forever wonder of what could’ve been.

So failure and regret, both hurt, but one last forever and one you can learn from.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I first decided to start practicing for my podcast, I was beyond horrible at it. I look back on some of the videos that I made and it’s beyond cringy.

I remember I used to set up my camera and mic almost every single day during the pandemic and try to get better at speaking on camera. For the longest time, it felt impossible. It felt like I couldn’t do it, and I had every reason to quit.

Sometimes I would get into maybe two minutes of filming and I couldn’t go anymore so much to the point that I would go to my room and just cry in my pillow because I felt like such a failure. My parents had bought me my camera and I felt like I was just wasting their money.

But for some reason, even though I was horrible at speaking on the camera something in the back of my head just said keep going there and there is a reason what I was doing. And little by little after continued practice I got better and better. Eventually, I dropped the first season of my podcast and to this day even that is hard for me to watch because I am so much better now.

But even though that season wasn’t my best work, I still got texts, DMs, and calls from people telling me how inspired they were by the episodes that I dropped in that first season.

It showed me that there was a purpose for me to keep going, even when my success seemed so slim. And threw that I built momentum that has now led me to stages that I could’ve never imagined being on and an impact that is bigger than I could’ve ever imagined. All from simply deciding not to give up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rootofjamar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rootofjamar/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamar-root/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@rootofjamar
• Other: Podcast Youtube Link: www.youtube.com/@rootofeverythingpodcast Podcast Instagram: www.instagram.com/rootofeverything

Image Credits
All of the photos by: Cirr Nicholas Bohannon