By: Nelson Harrison

To be a black man in America is truly a gift and I am extremely proud of the opportunity to represent that in a way that is both inspiring and motivating to those around me. I never viewed myself as biracial until the 9th grade. I was very fortunate to graduate from a humanities magnet program with an unabashed approach to teaching us topics not covered in traditional educational models. It was there that I learned about race/racial identity and the atrocities committed across Earth; such as the Holocaust, Apartheid, and the Mid-Atlantic Slave trade, to name a few. 

That is why being biracial (actually multiracial), my perspective has not and will not change. I am a part of the black community through and through, and will forever be an ally to those looking to upend inequality. 

After studying people like Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr., I began to see a trend. They defined the path of their lives and that is what I chose to do for myself. I graduated from Cal State East Bay with a BS in Kinesiology and an emphasis in exercise, wellness, and nutrition. I have multiple certifications in fitness instruction, nutrition, and culinary. It was in my freshman year of college though, when I found myself in the lowest point of my life. 

I was homeless, addicted to heavy drugs, overconsuming alcohol, and was ready to end my life in the hope of something better to come in the next. 
I was sitting on a bench in San Leandro, California, watching the sunset on what I had chosen to be my last day. Tears were running down my face. I felt helpless. But I made a choice to endure and create. 

I’m now in a place of limitless capability and I have absolutely no regrets. I can look back on my life from a place of gratitude because without those moments I wouldn’t be who I am today.

In 2012, I completed a personal training certification and started my first business, Limitless Potential Training. I had no idea that it would become what it is today because all I originally set out to do was help people become more physically fit. 

Fast forward to 2018, I decided to travel the world and needed to generate greater income. I fully committed to transforming my business into a full-time profession. The struggles I faced before that were wrapped around my fear of rejection and failure. In other words, I was playing small and holding myself back from the potential that I ultimately wanted to unlock in others. 

For 6 years, I wrapped myself around the idea that I did not deserve abundance or to earn an income greater than my parent’s earnings. Teaching others to unlock their potential would not work unless I first learned how to unlock mine. 

COVID has definitely changed things for a lot of us in the training space. For me, protocols like cleaning and sanitizing equipment and wearing masks when necessary have been put in place. Being a freelance coach is great because I have the ability to be mobile and stay safe while training outdoors. 

Now when it comes to the online space, I was originally very hesitant. I love training in person. The intimacy, the queuing of movements and form, the specificity I can create from observing, there’s just something that aligns so perfectly with me. But due to the current situation, I once again had to overcome something I resisted and that gave me the opportunity to learn new skills and techniques to further serve others.

Over the years, I’ve worked incredibly hard to rebuild my life from top to bottom. During that time, I picked up tools from coaches, clients, seminars, and experiences that were then added to my personal toolbox. Those tools have allowed me to create programs individually tailored to get people from where they are to where they want to be. 

As a coach, I’ve diversified myself by taking a multi-disciplinary approach to ensure the people who work with me accomplish more than they originally sought out to, be it physically, mentally, emotionally, or financially. 

My ultimate goal is and has forever been to use my brand to empower others to be the best they can be. Whether that’s from working with people directly or supporting non-profits that reflect my values. 

The Black Lives Matter movement is simply an extension of all that I work and strive for not just as a black man, but as a human being. If anything, BLM further motivated and inspired me to push harder and dig deeper into myself so that I can really maximize my output. 

Equality in America looks like a complete dismantling of the systems that oppress not just black and brown people, but also women, indigenous folks, people with different needs, the elderly, the homeless, and any other groups of people that have been marginalized. The traction and support has not changed, but now people can no longer escape the reality of racism in America. The fact that this country was built on racism, colonization, and imperialism, speaks volumes to just how ingrained it is within our everyday lives.

Change is very achievable. It is in fact one of the few inevitable truths to our existence. It just comes down to how far we as a people are willing to go to achieve that change. I said it once and I’ll say it again, there are the oppressed and there are the oppressors. With which do you stand?