2021
men of influence
The inspiration
of greatness
Mens
Empowerment Male leaders advice for the next generation
Adrian Davis
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CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2021 Adrian Ceja Terry Quintero David P Stevens Griff Galexxzee Adrian Davis Melvin Pillay Dub J Dwayne Morgan Hazel Roche Avrell Stokes Cliff Atkinson's Anthony Barrett Robert Mcrae Joe Jennings Jr Deon Robertson Steven Cleveland Xavier Keyz Joel Michaely Eric Darius Mardy Price Christian Johnston Cortney Woodruff Joey Oscar
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31 Founder – Cece Hymes
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W.I.B (Where It Begins) is an Independent agency with the aim to always be innovated in each approach taken to projects and making sure excellence is given in a projects execution when it comes to media marketing, branding, networking and management. Founded by the well experienced and ever growing force; D.C native - Cece Hymes, the most important and integral aspect of W.I.B is that branding for both Creatives and Businesses is taken to the next level with each and every project undertaken.
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We’ve continued to represent a very diverse and well acclaimed roster of emerging talents in the entertainment, and businesses!
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With a determined persistence for continued excellence, our Founder – Cece Hymes, with a college Degree in Business Management, has also worked within radio and with many companies such as: RDE Entertainment, H.I.G.H Entertainment and Caribbean Gospel Records Ltd.,
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Iva " i believe my life's
work is truly helping people live their
best lives through
health, fitness, and
helping them see a transformation "
"I'm an advocate for listening to one's authentic voice and living to one's full potential."
adrian ceja
Q. Thanks for interviewing with us. Please give us your backstory. What led you on the path to Fitness & Nutrition? A. Sometimes I feel like I’m still unraveling that today. In over ten years there are still things now that remind me of why my conviction is so strong. Fitness was introduced to me in my late teens, and soon realized it needed to be combined with nutrition for a more well-rounded approach. I think all this kept my 4
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interest in the beginning because there was always something I was challenged with and needed to figure out. It was sort of a thrill for me. But if I can go a bit deeper, when I was in high school my grandmother passed away from diabetes and other complications. I was devastated, and things shifted for me then.
Later, health and exercise science became my main focus of study and that was when I realized that many lifestyle diseases can be
prevented and even reversed. I learned that our eating and how we took care of ourselves played a major role in the trajectory of our lives.
The more I coach people the more I realize how susceptible we are to be outsourcing our health, and even it being hijacked by our poor eating and lifestyle habits. I believe my life’s work is truly helping people live their best lives through health, fitness, and helping them see a transformation.
and I’m so grateful. I like seeing it in parts or seasons because every part prepares us for the next. I am doing much more speaking on health and fitness these days and that is something I’ve always dreamed of before.
Q. Who inspired you to be the man you are today? A. Before I started my coaching business, I worked at a family owned gym called True Fitness. The owner, Josh, was my immediate overseer and I believe he played a major part in my development. He saw traits and characteristics in me I didn’t see in myself. He believed in my abilities more than I did, and that stretched me out of my comfort zone. But I also believe a major part of my growth into the man I am today comes from the strengthening my own faith. It was by faith that led me into what I am doing today. And it’s been a blessed and fun ride. Q. Let’s talk about your 10-week workout program and the motivation behind it. A. Yes, let’s go there. It was really birthed out of a need I discovered for people who needed fitness and nutrition to be simplified. We implement nutrition in a way that’s simple and removes the frustration and complexity, and key exercises that maximize muscle growth, and boosts fat loss for busy professionals who don’t have a lot of time.
Q. What do you feel are the most important attributes of successful leaders? A. I lead a health and fitness program today called Operation Healthy Lives. And I think a key attribute is being people oriented. Leadership speaker John C. Maxwell says, “leadership is influence” and that’s something I believe to be true because people don’t just follow you by your title, but by how you live your life. The first person we lead is ourselves and that will possess an influence where people are inspired to follow you or not. Q. Can you give us some tips on eating healthy and being fit? A. Start small and progress from there. Look at your life and decide where you’re ready, willing, and able to make changes. I believe healthy eating habits start with paying attention to your food cues and impulses; stress and emotional eating, eating out of boredom, cravings, etc. Start there and work at tackling them one at a time. Here’s also something more practical: - Start swapping overly processed foods as your main food source, and slowly start adding in proteins and leafy
green veggies. - Drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water. If you're fairly active day-to-day I would aim for more.
- Stay consistent and write your goals down. Aim for progress, not perfection.
Q. Where do you see yourself in the next five years? A. I think there’s still much to be done in the wellness space for me, so I’ll be around for a while. But I also think much more will be added. In these next five years I see myself speaking more, having mini conferences, and teaching on transformation. Oh, and building a more solidified team to make all this a reality. Q. How would you describe your future in 3 words? A. Helping people succeed. Q. Are you working on any new events or upcoming projects? A. Actually yes! I am currently preparing for a nutrition seminar held at a local church. The focus is how to have people move forward or take the next action step to living a healthier lifestyle. So, I’m preparing ways to give them solid takeaways in simple and digestible ways. You know, kind of like removing all the complexities. Q. Where can the readers follow you? A. They can find me anywhere using @officialadrianceja or visit my website at officialadrianceja.com
Q. Are you living the life of your dreams? A. I think we live our dream in parts. And I believe I am definitely living a part of mine, WIB Magazine
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Q. Out of all the Movies you have been in which one is your favorite? A. That’s like picking a favorite child: totally easy to do... in private. But this being public, I would say I love many of my movies for many different reasons, but the three movies I’m known for the most are probably my favorites: But I’m a Cheerleader, Can’t Hardly Wait, and The Rules of Attraction. I’m hoping that my new run of films resonates with audience’s half as much as those movies do, in which case I’ll be a very happy camper. Q. What are the most important attributes of successful leaders today? A. I think a successful leader really has to listen and accept the fact that they are flawed, and that they need to communicate with others to truly lead in a formidable fashion. Q. As a male leader what has been the most significant barrier in your career? A. I feel like from the beginning of my career because of my physicality they did not know where to put me. Am I an Orson Welles type? Am I just a comedic joke? Am I a sight gag? It was very difficult to have people not want to see me for different roles because of my physicality and the way I come across. It’s been an uphill battle from day one to be considered as more than surface level and an ability to take on more
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interesting roles, but it’s a fight I will continue to fight and hope that I can overcome it. Still, particularly in television, they do not cast actors that are more real looking or weird looking. They tend to focus on a particular aesthetic that they like to put in the television universe. For example, I could never play a role on any show on the CW network. They wouldn't even have a normal looking person play a waiter on the network. Land of the unrealistic pretty people only. I’d like to break that down one day and lead a wave of more realistic people being represented in front of the cameras. Q. What is your most memorable achievement or accomplishment you’ve received?
A. My most memorable achievement is getting to entertain people, tell stories, and hopefully impact them in a great way. My favorite thing is when people come up to me and tell me something positive about how a movie influenced them or made them happy or just say “right on, man.” That stuff is very fulfilling. Q. Are you working on any projects or upcoming events? A. I’m working on a few things I can’t speak about, but I am getting ready to direct my first movie soon and that is going be a very exciting new chapter and endeavor. Q. Where can the readers follow you? A. I would love for everyone to follow me on Instagram @JoelMichaely4real. I promise fun times!
Eric Darius WIB Magazine
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"Ask yourself if what you are working to achieve in this moment will push society forward. Will it make the life of your kids and grandkids better? If the answer is yes, then the work will probably be hard but will always be worth it."
Cortney
Woodruff
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Q. Thanks for interviewing with us. Tell everyone who you are and what you do? A. My name is Cortney Woodruff and I’m the Co-Founder and CEO of Assemble. Q. Tell us about “Assemble” and the motivation behind it? A. Assemble is our solution to the age old saying: “It’s hard to become that which you have never seen.” We’re updating the curriculum. We want to start with a visual and a dialogue and leave our viewers with a vision. Assemble is the lens into a broader perspective of what the world has to offer traditionally underserved people in professional spaces; Starting with a video platform that highlights brilliant individuals of diverse backgrounds sharing their learned knowledge and personal experience. There are thousands of careers and hundreds of business industries that have traditionally excluded minorities from participating at a meaningful level and they have also been presented in an unflattering manner. Assemble sheds a new light on the unknown for so many curious and driven people.
will push society forward. Will it make the life of your kids and grandkids better? If the answer is yes, then the work will probably be hard but will always be worth it! Last and certainly not least, treat everyone with dignity and respect because life is like a doorknob and everyone gets a turn eventually.
Q. How do you balance work and life responsibilities? A. I enjoy being on the move — handling business from my laptop or phone, honestly, almost feels like second nature. When I make time to stay active and mindful, you’ll usually find me in the gym, on the golf course, meditating or having a southern cookout at my home with family and friends (with a little Johnnie Taylor, old school R&B and OVO Radio playing in the background). As someone whose role is to stay a few steps ahead, I hold on close to the moments that keep me present in the now.
Q. Tell us a time in your career you felt like you wanted to give up? A. In 2013 I moved to San Francisco on my own to launch my first tech venture. I was a recent business school dropout, broke with nothing other than eight months of hard lessons to my name and two weeks’ worth of rent in my bank account, searching daily for something to keep me motivated and other minorities that I could hopefully connect and resonate with. Nevertheless, I got word of a meetup happening in the city that featured a prominent African American Venture Capitalist that I’d admired for years and wanted more than anything to meet this person. So after I snuck into the event and waited over an hour to meet and gathering up enough courage to introduce myself, he told me that I had 60 seconds to introduce myself, make an impression and pitch him on my idea as he waited for his car at the valet line. After doing what I thought was a decent job, he got in his car, let down his window, instructed to me to email his assistant to follow up and I simply asked “what’s her email address”; to my surprise he looked me in the eyes as he revved up the engine on his $200k sports car, and said “figure it out” then peeled off. The valet chuckled and I stood in awe. In that moment, I realized how brutal the world was and felt sorry for myself. But that only lasted for a split second as it lit a fire in me that’s still burning.
Q. What advice can you give to the next generation of Male leaders? A. Ask yourself if what you are working to achieve in this moment
Q. How does your work help others? A. I believe my teams’ work provides hope and tangible to-do’s that many people lack in order to tap
into their desired potential. My hope is that we share insight in order to educate not just those who have been overlooked for so long, but those who have been privileged enough to have a more directed path to knowing what it truly takes to break through glass ceilings. Q. What is your number one goal you want to accomplish in the next five years? A. I would love to see 1 million people watching content on Assemble and saying that we’ve had a positive impact on their respective lives. Q. How would you describe your future in 3 words? A. Humbly Displaying Success. Q. Are you working on any new events or upcoming projects? A. Right now I’m knee-deep in Assemble affairs and our company’s nonprofit BeGreat Together which is being led by our Co-Founder, Avrell Stokes. Q. Where can the readers follow you? A. @TvCort via Instagram, @Assemble.BeGreat via Instagram or www.Assemble. fyi
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