The Foundation Podcast

Peace Family and Welcome to Episode 21 of The Foundation Podcast! Do you know what your purpose in life is? If you don't, this episode will help you on the path to answering that question! This week we have a very special conversation with CEO of Playmaker Athletics, Darvin Henderson. Playmaker Athletics operates out of Ewing, New Jersey and specializes in personal training, weight loss training, sport specific training, and even SAT prep and educational programs as well. Playmaker Athletics have been in operation for over 5 years and Henderson takes us on the journey from the very beginning. Henderson walks viewers through how the process of determining and finding out what his purpose in life due to a gruesome injury would catapulted him into a successful career today.

Henderson tells us a little about growing up in the rough neighborhood of Trenton, NJ, and how his grandmother changed his life by getting him enrolled in school in the neighboring town of Ewing where he would get a better education. Henderson points out that not only the education, but the exposure to new ways of life and classes of people gave him hope that he could achieve something that he was not presently seeing achieved in the streets of Trenton. He then talked about the struggle he went through in finding his purpose which included him suffering a career ending injury just as his professional career was set to begin.

Henderson then goes on to share that at that moment he knew his purpose would be to inspire others with his story so he did it with creating an incredible outlet for young men in his community both on and off the field. Henderson provides not only motivational, and spiritual insight, but also PRACTICAL knowledge that everyone can put into affect today. He mentions how he got business cards, created a logo, developed merchandise, and other practical steps he took so that viewers know how to get started building in the training arena.

In a world where we are all continuously trying to find out the meaning of life and the reason why we are here, there is no better time than now to work on finding your purpose! Henderson does a superb job of illustrating how the finding our purpose is the key to getting started on the road to success in life. See if there is anything you yourself could extract and utilize on your journey to success. As always, Keep Building Family. Peace!

Welcome back to the Foundation Podcast! This week, we have the first episode of a two part series that will cover the life of Red Bank, New Jersey native, and International Basketball star, Taqwa Pinero (Formely known as Taquan Dean. Pinero played over 13 years overseas, enjoying an incredibly successful career following his legendary career at the University of Louisville where he led his team to the NCAA Tournament Final Four in 2003 and finished as the school's all time three point scoring champion. This interview was conducted in May, but due to this being one of the most overwhemingly powerful story of perseverance I have personally heard.  With the current pandemic and the explosion of depresssion and desperation due to Co-Vid and the extreme unpredictability of 2020, this story couldn't have been released at a better time as Pinero lays out a roadmap on how to overcome some of the most traumatic experiences we could only imagine. 

Pinero's journey starts off with the story of how his mother died in his arms when he was 6. This was followed by his grandmother, who then died of cancer a year after his mother when he was 7.  Then  his grandfather died a year after that when he was 8. Which left him with his sister who ran away from home when he was 9 years old. This left a young Pinero with a ton of emotions to process without any guidance or assistance on how to do it. Pinero then goes on to chronicle the challenges he had growing up young in Red Bank which included his aunt refusing to support his career aspirations, even going as far as to hinder his progress by refusing to let him play sports, or transfer schools in order to play.  

Pinero then talks about the challenges he had in high school, including pretty much being benched his freshman year even though he was ranked as one of the top 5 players in his class in the nation. This actually caused him to transfer to another high school where he was not accepted despite his talent and character. Pinero then goes in to the experiences he had playing ball in high school which includes becoming good friends with NBA greats such as Carmelo at basketball camps, and challenging veterans like JJ Redick.  P Pinero also emphasizes the role other people such as mentors and prinicpals helped him along the way. He always periodically reminds listeners of how his childhood affected everything throughout his life. This interview is perfect for anyone feeling depressed or unsure of there life's purpose or how to overcome in credibly painful loss. This is only part one as the next part will cover his career at louisville, experiencing a entire different world overseas, and finding out two HUGE SECRETS that had been kept from him his entire life. Stay tuned for part two and see if there are any tools you can take from part 1 of Taqwa's journey to help build to your foundation. Until next time, keep building family! Peace!