Today we’d like to introduce you to James Huff Sr. .
James, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have been an athlete since I was about four years old when I started playing T-ball, which was my first introduction to health and fitness. I continued playing sports every year from basketball, flag football, baseball to track (which is pretty standard when you are the baby brother of Michael Huff, future University of Texas All-Star and first-round NFL draft pick.) At around 14 years old, I lost my oldest brother Pete to Prader-Willi syndrome, which is a disease thats the main component is that it inhibits the signal from your stomach that tells your brain that you are full once you are done eating. In essence, you are continuously starving all the time, so my brother over ate, became obese, and passed away from a heart attack at the age of 23. Later on, in life, I started working out more regularly in the gym and paying more attention to my eating habits. I then realized that I wanted to take my love for fitness and health and use it to try and save people so that no one would have to feel the way I felt after losing my brother. After joining my fraternity in college, I met my mentor and close friend Jarrod Tubbs, who I referred to as “Pops,” because he was like a father figure in my life, passed away from an infection that turned septic and got into his blood stream. His name in our fraternity was Soul Keeper, which after seeing how many lives he impacted while attending the funeral, I realized the power he had to draw those people closer to God and in essence keep their souls away from the negative things that we come across in life. That is why I named the business Soul Keeper Fit because of the use of fitness. It is my goal to help people battle their inner demons by working on themselves first, both inside and out. Soul Keeper Fit is a lifestyle based on self improvement in all aspects.
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?
It definitely wasn’t a smooth road because of saturation in the industry right now. There’s a lot of people who are personal trainers nowadays or fitness gurus, etc. People are still extremely skeptical of 1.having a personal trainer, 2.feeling that they actually need one, 3.feeling that they need one enough to pay for it, 4.justifying that expense in their mind and not looking at it as an investment. So the hard part would be getting people to understand that this isn’t like buying a pair of shoes, it’s a necessary investment in their life and improvement on the quality thereof. At the end of the day you can’t put a price on your own health. One of the most difficult parts would be finding clientele and finding a way to stand out as a fitness professional when you are surrounded by so many personal trainers. I’ve learned to be myself and stay true to who I am and not follow any trends — remaining focused on my journey of teaching my clients how to be healthy on their own.
Please tell us about Soul Keeper Fit.
My services are in-person training, online coaching, and what I like to call modern nutrition coaching. I essentially show my clients how to eat smart and healthy, while still being realistic that not everyone needs a super restrictive diet to live a healthier life. I’m most proud of the success of my clients and the joy in their faces when they make both small and large accomplishments that they didn’t think were feasible at the time they signed up. I live and breathe by the mantra that my clients needs far out weigh mine and that their success is more important than my monetary gain on any level. I will train for free to save a life.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Being outside in the driveway roller blading with my oldest brother because it was something that he was always scared to do. He thought he couldn’t do it not only because of his size and weight but also due to the fact that her driveway is at a 45 degree angle. Even-though I was smaller than him due to him being eight years my senior. I was able to help him get up the driveway. Despite him falling a couple of times, he never gave up and when he got to the end of the driveway, it was like “we” got to the end of the driveway. This feeling is the same when my clients reach their goals.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 2144187049
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @soulkeeperfit
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