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

Alright, Michael thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

What my parents did right was… Exhibit immeasurable persistence when never giving up while going through the adoption process to find the perfect match from God. There is a saying that the best things in Life take time. And so they did!! Especially for me before I was even conscious enough to know it. My mom and dad remained patient as they navigated the adoption system for 15 grueling years! Then, in September of 1981, that best thing in life finally came to fruition when they adopted baby Michael. Thats me! :)
During those 15 grueling years for my parents, many families eventually said “yes” to them, saying that they would have a baby girl or boy. 5 or 6 families gave them the confirmation of “yes”, but then at the last minute, each of those times, they changed their minds and went another direction. You can imagine the despair my mom and dad went through. Thinking one minute they’re going to have a baby boy or girl, and then literally the next minute, it’s gone! My parents were SO patient to wait all of those years for that special boy to come into their lives. As was I. And everything happens for a reason, I strongly believe, and I was meant to be with them! And I’m SO very grateful for their opportunity because it was my opportunity as well! I can’t even imagine a Life without them as my parents! They raised me and shaped me to the Man I am today. We didn’t have a lot growing up, but that didn’t matter because I was Gifted with so much Love, Happiness and Joy, and that’s what matters most and helped me become the Inspiration to the world as I am, and it all starts with having such a wonderful childhood and the Best parents and little boy could ask for!

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 back background and context?

I grew up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas. Adopted at birth and an only child. I was a big athlete growing up (and still am), baseball primarily, and then I ended up getting hurt in College. I had no idea what I wanted to do in my life, other than pursue a baseball career. Then I found acting. Thought I would pursue that career and see where it could lead me. With my arm injury from baseball, I went to work at a small local gym, did my own rehabilitations for my body, and ended up getting my first (of many) certifications for personal training. From there, I decided to drop school, I had a big opportunity in NYC for acting, left Texas for New York and got a job at an Equinox gym for training. While I could train during the morning at the gym, that left me time to audition during the afternoon and evening for acting. Then I decided for my acting career, I want to be out in Los Angeles where its the mega industry, and see what I can land there! Then in June of 2005 I packed up my things, flew back to Texas to see my parents and say goodbye, and drive out to the West Coast. Once I arrived I was SO green to the industry! I had a tough time getting my feet on the ground for acting, was still working with an Equinox in LA now, lived in my car the first two nights out in LA, was couch hopping for 3 months until I was able to get an apartment with a roommate who wasn’t crazy…at least at first haha. Once I was able to establish a home (literally a roof over my head), it gave me some confidence and peace of mind to be patient and continue working toward my dream. After enough years out here and in the entertainment industry, I really lost a lot of passion for that and really wanted to have a look at my life and where I was going. Then after some deep transformational work on myself, I realized that I was already doing what I loved, and helping many people achieve their goals and better their health…and that was Personal Training. It was like a light switch went off in my head, telling me to focus on health and fitness. Once I did that, I decided to push aside the acting career, and focus on health and fitness as a career. And to this day, its still one of the Best decisions of my life because that’s where I’m supposed to be, helping others with their fitness goals, and encouraging them in their life as my parents did for me!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

To me now, its been very easy. It obviously wasn’t at first, as there’s always hardships in the beginning of anyones journey to find their Path. I actually rely on BEING just ME. No facades, no flakiness….just Being Authentic, Responsible, Courageous, and a man of Integrity. I don’t have a very big social media presence. And I don’t rely on putting ads out to get any new clients. Its all word of mouth. And helping others out always comes back to help out yourself. The training and physical therapy that I do to help out these families that I train is proof in the pudding already. Thats enough for people to see who I am and how I can help out these families that I see. Its truly amazing of the work that I do, and my satisfaction in it is seeing how happy and healthy these people are in their lives, and how far along they have come.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

A long time ago I think I would’ve said no. To change my career and pursue the life of a professional baseball player. But now as I’ve gotten more experience in my field, a little more wiser, and a lot more education on the body, I definitely would choose the same profession as I’m in today! Knowing about the body, breaking it down during training….how much inflammation occurs when working out and how long the recovery process can be, I don’t think I would want to be a professional baseball player because I know how HARD it can be on your body. To play every single day for MONTHS, the stress that it puts on your body and nervous system, I kind of like where I am today and how I can create the time to take care of my body and let it heal! :) And especially living out in Southern California, its nice to be close to the beach, so I can go out and paddle board with friends, lay out on the beach, go for a hike in the mountains and really just Be out in Nature. I definitely take advantage of that living where I live now.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: thejeditrainer