In this episode, Michael Dermer speaks to Garnett Strother, an elite personal trainer born and raised in the Lower East Side. Featured by Steve Madden in the #SelfMadeMan campaign, Strother embodies everything it means to be an entrepreneur. Faced with tremendous struggles growing up, he overcame a number of obstacles: health problems, addict parents, and dropping out of school at 17 to have his daughter. Strother is now considered one of the top personal trainers in NYC, but he didn't get there by accident. He is one of the most driven, passionate, and sincere entrepreneurs we have ever met and we were honored to hear his story.

Garnett shares his views on:

• Overcoming the struggle
• Perfecting his craft
• What it takes to succeed

Garnett turned his struggle into success by working hard and thinking differently. In this episode, you will hear Garnett explain how his entrepreneurial spirit helped him achieve success, even when all odds were against him.

Quotes of Note:

• On basketball- "Basketball was everything growing up. I'm a fan of how they were able to influence the game and the culture themselves"
• On differentiating himself- "I wanted my training to be so well rounded that you couldn't deny me that opportunity to train you or facilitate that change in your life, because you see what I can produce in all aspects"
• On commitment- "I would sit in Barnes and Noble for 8 hours a day and read everything and then I would practice everything I learned at the boys and girls club."
• On the loneliness of entrepreneurship- "You start to feel that loneliness because everyone loves karate, but not everyone wants to do karate every day like you do."
• On motivation- "All of my alarm systems were going off at once"