We were lucky to catch up with Roc Gray recently and have shared our conversation below.

Roc, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The idea of being a business owner first came to me at the age of 16 thanks to my high school strength and conditioning coach’s passion. That along with a few bad experiences as a college athlete working with different trainers/coaches catapulted me into a deep love for strength, conditioning, and performance in the private sector. It was with my own personal experiences that I learned to be a technician and problem solver. For instance I was always a good athlete overall but speed seemed to be my weakest point. As a high school senior I was benching, squatting and deadlifting some very impressive numbers yet my speed never showed up the way everyone claimed it should. The problem was nobody could tell me why, they could only criticize how I had potential but overlooked me. It took 6 professionals and 4 textbooks to learn why and once I figured it out I never looked back. This could have been a difference in getting me on the division 1 level for football. Now imagine how many student-athletes are wondering around with immense talent but couldn’t get the help they need to perform at a high level in their sport? Consider how many athletes have stories of how training raised their play to another level, what if that wasn’t an option? That is what drove me to start Go Hard Performance Systems! This gave me the flexibility to work when I want, how I want and assure that my athletes always knew I had their best interest in mind. It has proven to be one of my greatest buy-in tools to this day.

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

Hello readers! My name is Roc Gray and I am the proud owner of Go Hard Performance Systems, a performance brand focused on helping every individual “Grow in Greatness” through performance training. At GHPS we focus on training everyone as an athlete to best improve their quality of life. This gives everyone a balance of body re-composition, strength, speed, mobility and balance that is needed to dominate life. After a college football career that didn’t go as planned I decided to dedicate myself to improving the quality of life and mentality of individuals through human and sports performance. After earning a paid position from an internship my senior year of college I worked 6 years in different settings such as corporate gyms, training studios and high schools. It was with the experience I earned through this journey that I decided it was time to start my own business and begin making the impact I drastically saw was needed.

I specialize in mentality and movement proficiency; this can stretch into speed, strength properties, positive self-talk, and many other principles of fitness, sports and nutrition. To make it simple I am a problem solver who always assess who I am working with through mind, body, and spirit to see where growth needs to happen, then we get to work! In my now 8 year career I have noticed that no matter the goal whether it is losing body fat, improving speed, bouncing back from an injury or just creating a healthy lifestyle we ALWAYS have to attack the mentality of the “athlete.” It is by changing the mentality that we see a shift from the person who came in on assessment date to the person necessary to achieve and more importantly maintain the goals we reach. My student-athletes have blossomed socially, everyday athletes have grown in confidence and overall everyone has maintained the foundation we built through their training experience. More than any accolade or big name client it is the lasting impact that I hang my hat on. The bond and connection built with my clients to allow me to lead them through the journey of their greatness is one value that can’t be quantified. That is why the trust is so important because the work necessary to grow is not easy so we have to both be committed to the journey ahead.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Even though I knew I wanted to own my own business at the age of 16 it wasn’t until July 2020 that I decided to take that leap of faith. If you remember that is likely when the pandemic was at it’s craziest point with many shut downs, certain businesses unable to operate and there was a great deal of uncertainty across the globe. It was within that chaotic time period that I listened to God who moved me to take the leap of faith. With no money saved up, no gym, and no team I began running my business. I dedicated my time to creating a digital platform to make people comfortable training with the pandemic, utilizing my expertise to gain buy-in and results while navigating a road that was very much less traveled. Not only did I begin my business but I RAN my business. Go Hard Performance Systems thrived through that time period quickly growing to over 30 clients. To this date it has successfully maintained its power of impact while also being a 6-figure business with so much room to grow. Anyone in the industry knows without hard work, resilience and adaptability this would not be possible.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Even though I am in a very personable industry I had to learn to not take things personally. For example very early in my business I would take offense when people either couldn’t afford me, tried to talk down my cost of services, were late or behind on payments. I had to learn very quickly that I am running a business and once I made that mental switch I noticed that people took the business more serious. I made sure that all time spent business wise was accounted for monetarily unless I chose to volunteer my time. I became very fluid with communication whether about money or not (which makes some people uncomfortable but when offering a service it has to be well done) and always assuring that my value was understood. It has proven to be extremely helpful as to this day new clients always have very few questions because I assure that as much clarity as possible is created. This takes the emotion out of the business until both parties have committed to enduring the journey together.

Contact Info:

• Website: GoHardPerformanceSystems.com
• Instagram: Go Hard Performance Systems
• Facebook: Go Hard Performance Systems
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lerone-roc-gray-a00205106
• Youtube: Go Hard Performance Systems

Image Credits
Bmsolocreations by Brittany Powell Oukolov Photography by Nick Oukolov