Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeffery Johnson.
Hi Jeffery, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Growing up in the Southwind area of Hacks Cross and Shelby Drive, we didn’t have many options for sports. You either played for your school team, or you played outside in the neighborhood. Spots were limited and those with enough skill could represent their school. After getting cut from the tryouts in my seventh-grade year at Germantown Middle, I knew I needed to improve my skills, confidence, and conditioning if I wanted to make the team the next year.
So, I began running. I ran outside until my lungs collapsed. I did push-ups, sit-ups, and anything else I could to improve my conditioning. There was still a problem with my lack of skill. I didn’t know moves, how to shoot the ball, or how to dribble. I only knew how to play defense. Over time, I understood that if I could shoot the ball well, I may have a chance at playing for Germantown High. It was then that my desire to learn and teach myself the game sparked my desire to teach and coach basketball to others.
I retired from playing basketball and decided to focus on my education and teaching career. After my third year of not playing, I remember watching my former teammates and rivals playing the game we love on television. It pained me to see them enjoying the dream we all shared without me. After that moment, I started emailing Mississippi State University to let them know I was on the way. I tried out for the team, didn’t initially make it, but received a callback months later to play for my senior year.
After the season ended, I wanted to stay around the sport in some capacity in preparation for going pro. I started working as the Unit Director for a Boys & Girls Club in Starkville, MS. There I began teaching young athletes many of the lessons, drills, and strategies I’d just learned playing on the team. Coupled with my teaching and coaching degree, I found a great way to combine many of my goals into one project–Training. I worked out with the kids, made a few extra dollars on the side, and built enough confidence to make training my number one thing.
Moving back to Memphis was challenging. Though I’m from Memphis, I’ve built my network in Mississippi so I was starting over from scratch. On top of that, I decided to increase the fee it cost me to train kids. No one booked with me. I joined a training platform called Coach Up and built an online profile so parents could find me. When I received my first client, I was terrified of losing them so I did everything I could to make sure their experience went well. They only trained a few times before they stopped coming.
After that moment, I experienced seventeen different rejections from clients not interested in my service. Can you imagine hearing seventeen consecutive people telling you “no”? Nonetheless, I kept selling and pitching until I grew more confident in my ability to communicate my value. After that seventeenth attempt, I finally booked my second client. Everything changed from there because I knew the secret to fulfilling anything meaningful in life—faith & resiliency.
Similar to getting cut after my seventh-grade year and retiring from basketball after my senior year of high school, I’ve grown to know the true power of chasing your goals, dreams, and aspirations with a resiliency that resembles obsession. Today, I’ve had the privilege of training over five-hundred families from four different states, five thousand completed personal training sessions, wrote two books, hired a team of contractors, and I’m currently working on opening my first basketball training facility in Northeast Memphis.
When I teach my athletes about life, I use Biblical wisdom to encourage them on more than just an emotional level. One of my favorite passages comes from the book of James chapter one verse twelve and which states, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” Training by nature is an act of endurance development.
If we learn to endure the hard things, the things that are built to strengthen us, and even the things meant to destroy us, will we be pushed toward receiving our crown? We may not win every game, nor get every award, but something will be built within us that can conquer anything thrown our way. As a trainer, that’s all I can hope to pass on to my athletes.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In March of 2021, ten weeks before I was set to play in a professional summer league in Valencia, Spain, I tore the patellar tendon in my right knee.
In addition to not being able to walk or play, I wasn’t able to train my athletes. My business nearly died as I fought to regain the ability to walk again. To this day, I am still in physical therapy to recover from that initial injury.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I grew up in two worlds loving both sports and art. I did art all four years in high school and choose art education as my major in college. I wanted to be an art teacher and coach basketball for my old high school. Now, I’ve found that both art and sports have similar foundational qualities. When I teach athletes about the game, I weave into the lessons basic principles of art and design so they can expand their field of vision.
For example, movement is a fundamental component of basketball. Certain movement patterns make up certain skills. If you can master the movement pattern, you can master the game. Very similar to art. Whether it’s a painting, sculpture, or drawing, our eyes follow a natural movement and pattern associated with the work. We guide the viewers on a journey by using the natural rhythm of the piece.
When athletes can see the rhythm and movement in basketball, they can create a masterpiece with their bodies.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
We all desire to be a “pro”, be seen, reach a certain status, or be known in some capacity.
However, when faced with the realities of failure, only the courageous among us will have the audacity to think beyond the impossibility of their situation. I believe that even if you never achieve what you are chasing, the process of progressing towards a worthy ideal indeed makes you a pro.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.trainmemphis.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/membballtrainers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jjandteam
Image Credits
Alex Philips
