We were lucky to catch up with Zac Shepard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Zac, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.

I actually started by assisting Youth Jiu Jitsu classes in exchange for a cheaper gym membership being at the time my family couldn’t afford for me and my brothers to train there and pay full price.

Zac, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi my name is Zac Shepard, I’m a Martial artist, Coach, and gym owner. I’ve been Training since 2008, coaching since 2010, and running two gyms since 2017.

As a competitor I’ve fought and competed in various martial arts such as Muay Thai, mma, Kickboxing, pankration, Jiu Jitsu, Nogi Jiu Jitsu, and submission wrestling. I’m currently a retired Professional mma fighter, as well as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu brown belt under Baret Yoshida.

As a coach I’ve trained and worked with all types of people with various different goals wether it be fitness, self defense, weight loss, and competition. I specialize in being able to connect with all type of people and bring them up from the ground up. As a fight coach I’ve been fortunate enough to work with athletes on all levels from amateur exhibition Muay Thai fights, and local fights, all the way to Professional fighters competing in The UFC, Glory, Lion fight, PFL, Bellator and various other organizations.

As a gym owner I run Premier Fight and fitness in Spring valley, Premier South Bay in Paradise hills, Premier Oceanside in Oceanside and Premier Hawaii in Hawaii. I started Premier back in 2017 and our mission has always been the same, to change as many peoples lives we can through martial arts while giving them a place they can call home and feel safe.

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

I would say our most effective strategy has been just being honest, caring, understanding human beings. Not sugar coating anything, not lying to members, and just being our 100%complete selves while understanding that we may not always be a good fit for everyone ans they may not be a good fit for us and that’s okay.

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

If I could go back I’d choose this over and over again. Through all the struggles, sacrifices, and hardships I like to think that I’ve changed at least 1 persons life through martial arts and for me that’s more then enough.

Contact Info:

• Website: PremierFightSd.com
• Instagram: PremierSouthBay
• Facebook: Premier fight and fitness
• Yelp: Premier South Bay