Today we’d like to introduce you to Leonard Sowell.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Leonard. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
God made a way by moving mountains and making walls fall. My journey started when I was in 8th grade probably sooner than that honestly but for the readers’ sake 8th grade lol. Two things happened the year I was getting ready to graduate from middle school and transition to high school the first thing was I got into a fight in the locker room at school which made one of my mentors from church put me into a MMA Program or mixed martial arts program to learn how to defend myself. The second thing was I received a letter from the Desoto High School Athletic Training Program from a man (who would become a role model for me) by the name of Scott Galloway. In the letter he had invited me and a few others to join the athletic training program because of our scholastic grades and he felt as though we could be a good fit for the program (For those that don’t know what athletic training is we are the sports medical team behind athletic teams when athletes get hurt, an athletic trainer is trained to prevent, treat, and rehab medical injuries both on and off the field).
Now I know these are two different sides of a spectrum but coincidentally they made me who I am today. On the MMA side of things, I really enjoyed punching and kicking bags and flipping people it made me be very disciplined, competitive, athletic, and love sports (What young boy doesn’t enjoy that stuff right lol). On the athletic training side of things at first, I said to my mom and dad, “no I think I’m good I just want to play football, basketball and run track with my friends and be like dad was in high school” but my dad the next day had other ideas. Literally, after he picked me up, he drove me straight to the high school to meet Doc Galloway in person. The letter said “mail” the letter in for an interview; instead, he made me go put it in the man’s hand. Shortly after Doc Galloway did a quick interview and made a deal with me he understood that I wanted to be an athlete but he also knew that I had great potential to be an athletic trainer so he said, “I can run track when that was in season, and be an Athletic Trainer the rest of the time” I agreed to it and it honestly has been the best thing that could have happened to me.
It led me to be one of the first athlete/athletic trainer hybrids at the school; I won several awards in athletics through track as well as cultivated my craft in athletic training, it made me the first person in my family to deal with anything in the medical field, it created leadership qualities inside me to lead a team but yet to still have respect for my peers, and ultimately it gave me a vision to one day have my own athletic performance center that incorporates both my athletic side as well as my knowledge and skill of athletic training. I graduated from Desoto High School in 2010 and found myself heading to Texas A&M University-Commerce where I eventually studied Athletic Training.
Throughout college, I learned more in depth what athletic training was, learned many life lessons and traits about me that I had to combat against two lessons, in particular, were procrastination and I’m not a morning person lol. I joined the Eta Phi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated which emphasized about taking care of my business first then have fun. I learned how to host programs, market to people, talk to people in other ethnic backgrounds, handle business finances, how to train and lead others and many more things. Eventually, I graduated from Texas A&M University-Commerce in Spring 2015 moved back home and wanted to ultimately start my business, but life has a way of still humbling you some more and says you’re not ready yet.
Which then God said I’m going to put you in more training, I started working at two different jobs one dealt with teaching kids inside a STEM Program (science technology, engineering, and math) the other was at a medical clinic. From both jobs, I learned skills that I use in my business today because both jobs were from entrepreneurs. While working those two jobs, I met a networking group known as TNT which from the moment I was there I knew this was the key and it’s going to take me to the next level. They taught me SO MUCH about business in general, finances, to create a game plan, how to properly network and take anybody from any background and make their careers work together.
After three years of training, I stepped out again and found a partner we created XLR8 Performance a brand that works toward accelerating the progress of youth sports teams and leagues to championship levels through our 3 step program that involves sports performance training, sports medicine, and sports nutrition. We also partner with several sports medicine programs, clinics, schools, massage therapists, chiropractors, gyms, personal trainers, and culinary chefs so the youth can be mentored no matter what part of town they are in and be impacted for their future.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As I like to say diamonds are created from heat and a lot of pressure being put on them. My life has had its struggles I am an only child with older parents my mom is 37 years older than me and my dad is 40 years older I was the angel baby as I’d like to put it. So there were times I had to grow up faster & learn how to take care of things. We weren’t rich either so of course had to deal with the financial side of things going wrong some days (lights cut off, car taken away, etc.) that had its effect on me growing up as well, and most people don’t want to admit it but the way you think of money is inherited as well, we often had to move a lot, so I couldn’t really make too many neighborhood friends.
Ultimately it was harder because as I got older, I felt like the black sheep of the family at times I would see things a certain way and others would see them another. Family is quite important to me but I made sacrifices daily with both family and friends even to this day I still do, and some struggles come from me internally which is why I tell people to honestly go through the process of finding yourself and fighting off those mental demons especially if you want to run a business because those personal beliefs you create when you fight back defeats all of the outside voices and doubts from other people.
During those three years of training with TNT I had to fight several personal development battles, for instance, I’m originally a loner I would rather do things by myself many times, I would want people to try to conform to my lifestyle etc but in order to be successful you have to fight those things off and once I started to change my mindset and view on things my income started to change. One lesson I always teach people is something I made up called the A.O.L. Method (Attitude + Opportunity = Legacy) your attitude on any give opportunity ultimately determines your legacy.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about XLR8 Performance – what should we know?
XLR8 Performance an athletic and physical fitness company that specializes in helping people in the sports & fitness industry get results on ans off the field. Through our 3 step program that involves performance training, sports medicine, and sports nutrition we aid in accelerating the progress of your individual or teams physical fitness needs and goals. An ideal client for us is any of the following:
– Organizations that revolve around youth sports
– Youth Sports Leagues or Tournament Owners needing medical coverage
– Parents with youth athletes looking to increase there athleticism & skills
– Individuals looking to gain or lose weight
– Individuals needing any form of physical rehabilitation
– Individuals looking to have a healthier lifestyle
We also love to partner with both small and corporate businesses by providing various new forms of clientele for your individual services whether you are a sports medicine program, clinic, school, massage therapists, chiropractor, gym owner, personal trainer, or culinary chefs our partnership programs are designed to accelerate your business to a new level. Our team is made of certified athletic trainers, culinary chefs. Certified personal trainers, certified massage therapists, coaches, athletic directors, social workers and more.
Our team personally takes pride in being apart of XLR8 Performance because time and time again we have proved that we aren’t just a company that does “fitness programs” we take people in as family, we take liabilities off companies, we provide immediate medical coverage for individuals that are normally overlooked, we instill a full health and wellness program for individuals, and we are changing the game on how our youth sees the world with our mentoring programs. So to us, XLR8 is more than a company; it is a new safe haven for individuals.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I feel as though my personal best characteristic to much of my success is in my mindset and my attitude about life. Like I said my personal motto is attitude + opportunity = legacy. Every time an opportunity comes I don’t know if it will work out but do I try it if I see the potential in it of course! You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. You have to be willing to sit down and be humble at times of course but other times you have to go get it if you want it. When I get into a slump, I go workout, hang with friends, go watch a movie, etc. then get back to work. One of my favorite quotes is from Eric Thomas and it goes, “Your daddy might own a company, he may be able to get you a job but you will not outwork me and what you have to decide is that nobody in your position will outwork you” If I get beat it’s because they are merely just more talented than me but not because I ever defeated myself.
Pricing:
- Athletic Tournament/League Coverage 1Day – 3Day ($375 – $900)
- Individual Performance Training + Meal Plans (8 sessions month – $125)
- Massage Therapy (1 Hour Sessions – $50)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.xlr8performance.net
- Phone: 469-567*0429
- Email: xler8performance@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_xlr8_performance/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/xlr8performanceDFW/
Image Credit:
KB Johnson
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