We recently connected with Taquan Shaheed and have shared our conversation below.

Taquan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Many individuals in my field of business only focuses on the fitness aspect of it… very few focus on the proper nutrition aspect of it…. but nobody combines the fitness, nutrition and the mentality aspect all together! Through my training I offer a lot of different mental exercises that will challenge a person. When you challenge a person’s mentality you force them to actually think about what they are doing. The problem all of us have is, we all want results but a lot of us don’t know where to start. This is because the most important component is the Mindset. If we are going to achieve a physical body better than our current physique, then we have to develop the attitude and the discipline to get there. No transformation starts without the power of the mind. You may never win 6 rings like Michael Jordan, but you can apply his winning mentality by working on yourself. With the power of the mind, you achieve the best version of you.

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 am from Harlem, New York… I come from a poverty-stricken background. My parents did everything for my sister and I to have a better lifestyle than they did. They decided that we should move to North Carolina (Durham). They taught us values, principles, morals, self-preservation, and how to earn and work for everything you want out of life.

I offer mentorship as well as a multitude of certified custom services from workouts, such as Pilates, Yoga, and HITT. I am also a certified nutritionist

When it comes to discipline there are a multitude of things I do. I write down my goals.
Writing things down enables a higher level of thinking, and therefore, more focused action

Daily affirmations are small, positive mantras that you repeatedly say to goals and aspirations into existence. This is going to help with your beliefs that help you visualize your success.

Another thing I do on the daily basis is remind myself are my WHY! What do you want to give to the world? What gets you out of bed in the morning? What keeps you up at night? My Why is I will make a positive impact on the world and I’m doing it through fitness!
One of my most celebrated accomplishments is the fact that regardless the age/gender/race/nationality, I am able to resonate with that person and build rapport to allow that person to accomplish a breakthrough!

Each and every individual I train has breakthrough ability (being able to set out a goal and be consistent enough to reap the benefits. My goal is to deliver measurable progress in a reasonable amount of time! Now of course every client is different, but I guarantee results as long as you give me 100% effort to my trainings!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Before I official became an entrepreneur, I had 20 clients ready to go, by my last day of work. About 3 months later my 20 clients was down to 5 clients! What a drop off right? I had to regroup and figure out what was I doing wrong.
(As an entrepreneur you can do everything right and still end up wrong ha-ha, I just want to emphasis that) after a conversation
With my mother, she asked me “who’s your target audience” and I didn’t have an answer for her. So, I went over the 20 clients (who was down to 5 currently)
And they all had 1 thing in common, they all were college students!
Most college students are either relying on their parents for money/school or barely have money to begin with, let alone spend it on a trainer.
So, I started marketing to career orientated people, clients with children and young professionals! I started dressing different (more business casual) I took up
Speech and motivational classes and I also revamped my social media. The reason I did this was because I had to become the clientele I wanted to attract!
The law of attraction states “positive thoughts bring positive results into a person’s life, while negative thoughts bring negative outcomes. thoughts are a form of energy, and that positive energy attracts success in all areas of life, including health, finances, and relationships.”

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

For the last 4 years, I’ve been intentional about reading. My goal is to read at least 1 book per month. Half of U.S. adults can’t read a book written at the 8th-grade level! How could this be? When I was in school, my mother made me read at home to help sharpen my cognitive skills and speech. in school I was required to read a certain number of books. Not including college for this example but each time I was required to do it because someone else told me to do it. Reading was ok, but it wasn’t “fun” to me. I understand that if I want my business to grow and become a brand that rival the likes of NIKE, Under Armour, Puma, and Addidas…. then I have to work harder on my personal development. Reading is important on all levels of business. It helps strengthen our brain power, increases our intelligence and helps fight Alzheimer’s Disease! Books like Tiny Habits, Think and grow rich, self-discipline is freedom… helps me stay focus on hitting my goals, and continues to educate me. There is always room for growth and no matter what we can learn MORE!

Contact Info:

• Website: MytripleMMM.com
• Instagram: @_MMMuscles
• Facebook: ShaheedTripleM
• Youtube: Triple M