We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful LaBronze Garrett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with LaBronze below.

LaBronze, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. Other times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed?

About two years ago, my girlfriend was in a horrible car accident on my daughter’s birthday. I called my daughter to let her know what happened. Now, my daughter’s sweet sixteen birthday party was that same weekend. Also, during the same time my car was in the shop, so my girlfriend and I were sharing a car.  My girlfriend’s car was totaled from the accident. I was actually on the phone with my girlfriend when the accident happened. Imagine being on the phone talking to your girlfriend at the time a tragic accident occurs. I heard the entire thing; her screaming, tires squealing, glass breaking, then everything on the other end went silent. I had no idea where she was, if she okay, or what direction to go to find her. The accident happened on a Wednesday in Atlanta. My daughter’s party was on Saturday in Charlotte. I was also recovering from mouth surgery at the time. My girlfriend was in bad shape from the accident and could barely walk. I had a tough decision to make. Do I stay and take care of my lady, or go to my daughter’s party? I chose to stay with my girl since she couldn’t move to even cook for herself. If I had it to do again, I’d go to my daughter’s party. So that’s my failure, or better yet my disappointment. I never like to use the word failure. But my daughter and I haven’t had the same relationship since.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I got into the fitness industry because of my mom. She was in a very abusive relationship with my siblings’ father before I was born. When she got enough courage to leave, it nearly cost her life. He shot my mom in the head at point blank range which left her paralyzed and in a coma. Doctors told my grandma it wasn’t likely she’d survive the shooting. Or if she were to pull through, they thought she’d be wheelchair bound for the rest of her life. But through prayer and faith, my mom learned how to walk and rehabilitated herself back to a somewhat normal life. She was left paralyzed on her right side and the bullet was never taken out. Despite that she gained the courage to date again. I mean how do you date again after being shot in the head? When she became pregnant with me the doctors pleaded with her to get an abortion. They told her it would be a difficult pregnancy and I would be born with all types of birth defects. They didn’t think I’d even be able to walk. Well, none of that happened and I came out perfectly healthy. Doctors called me a miracle baby. My mom not only took care of herself and me, but also my five siblings as well. My mom raised six children while being paralyzed and we never went hungry or homeless. That alone showed me first-hand what real strength and adversity looks like. I always knew I wanted to help people change their lives and do things they never imagined they’d be capable of. I got into fitness so I can directly impact people’s lives everyday through personal training. I’m now the owner of Power Elite Performance where we provide personal training for individuals and create and run corporate wellness programs for companies. We also have athletic development for athletes in all sports, and we train celebrities in preparation for film and television. We work with clients on not only the mechanics and techniques of fitness, but we also train them how to speak on camera. Our philosophy is to never repeat a workout. This means our clients will always be challenged by every workout. I trained cast members of Oprah’s “Greenleaf ”, NBC’s “Game of silence”, and “The Walking Dead”  on AMC. As a professional track athlete and 2004 Olympic Team alternate, I implement a lot of cardio, core, and mobility into my training. I’m also certified in pre and post rehabilitation, so if my clients were to ever get injured, I can help them physically recover. Additionally, Power Elite Performance has an athletic apparel line I created.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

This story actually goes back to my upbringing. I don’t want to drag this out because a lot of this will be in my book, but my mom reconnected with the same guy who shot her. They not only reconnected; they got married. Now as a 7 or 8 year old kid, I had been told the story about what happened to my mom, but I never thought I would ever see this guy ever in life. I mean, imagine growing up under/in the same house with the man who tried to kill your mom. The whole family was furious. Hell as a kid, I was furious. I thought to myself, what the hell just happened? I asked God how could this be real? It was that moment that began one of the worst periods of my life. Oh, this guy was on his best behavior for about the first two months. Then all hell broke loose. He was the absolute most evil person I thought ever existed. He started abusing me and beating me. He said it would make me tough because I was too soft. He shocked me with cattle prongs; yes, the ones that you shock real livestock with. He locked me in basements and tornado shelters and once left me on the roof during a hot Texas summer day and kicked away the ladder. During this time I was also being molested by a family member so surviving my childhood became my resilience. I really didn’t have a relationship with my dad because he was on drugs. Then in my adult life, when we finally reconnected and began a relationship he was murdered by his own brother, who was also on drugs. Because of this I make sure I’m involved in both of my kids’ lives. I vowed that I would try to make every event I could for both of my kids. My story is way deeper, but I feel like I’ve already gotten long winded. Stay tuned for the book, and hopefully the movie. My upbringing wasn’t normal by no means, but I believe sharing my story with the world will help many people.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe by me being a professional athlete, it helped my business tremendously. Because pretty much all of the athletes I train really come to me because I’ve experienced what they are going through. I know what it takes to get to the next level, the hard work, dedication, and determination. Plus I pride myself on doing every workout myself, before introducing it to my clients. When they can go on social media and see me do these workouts, they know I’m bout that life lol. In closing, my mom is my hero and she is the main reason why I go so hard in everything I do. Love you Elmer Jean Garrett “Momma Jean”!!!! I am LaBronze Garrett and I want to thank you for letting me share my story. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” — Gandhi. “Live for what’s worth dying for, and leverage technology to create the world you wish to see 💯.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://labronzeg.onuniverse.com/
• Instagram: @labronzeg
• Facebook: LaBronze Ken Garrett
• Linkedin: LaBronze Garrett
• Yelp: Power Elite Performance
• Other: TikTok @labronzegarrett

Image Credits
Elmer Jean Garrett Credit to my mom