We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Armond Willis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Armond, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I actually believe that, like a rock that slowly gets sculpted by the flowing water of a river, resilience is developed through experience, with a combination of environment.
My father left home when he was barely 17 years old, put himself through college, and through many trials, became an extremely successful, and innovative entrepreneur. Sink or swim. His drive and relentless determination was big reason for his ascension. This is what we grew up everyday seeing. The were many impromptu moments where my father would pull myself and siblings aside, and with resolute conviction and say Never Give Up. It stuck with me through all of my athletic and business endeavors.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
In short, I help the dedicated athletes reach their maximum mental and physical potential. I help adults in their 40’s and up reshape their perspective of strength as a form of medicine. I provide high school and club coaches result driven training programs for their athletes.
Every client that I work with is a privilege. It’s an opportunity to help them discover a new way of getting to where they need to go. More deeply, strength training and the gym really is a platform of ministry. It is there you can really connect with someone, discover who they are, guide them, and cultivate growth.
Because we can work with clients both in person, Virtually through our very own mobile app, we are able to reach people literally worldwide.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
This starts with my personal core values: Integrity, Consistency, Innovative, Inspirational, Dedication to Education. This is more than three but share equal value.
These things are essential in guiding decisions and steering the directions both of personal and business endeavors. They set a precedent and are constantly referred to ensure congruency of movement and values.
I wholeheartedly advise emerging professionals in training to establish their personal core values. These values serve as a steadfast anchor, guiding both personal and business growth. While these principles may evolve over time, it’s crucial to have them firmly established from the outset.”
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
The biggest challenge currently is adjusting to living in Hungary while remotely trying to manage people and operations in Atlanta, and while expanding operations here.
We currently train and consult in the U.S, Hungary, and Austria.
As a small business owner, there are some times where you as the owner have to be on the ground floor to get certain things moving in the right direction. When separated from that, it becomes more challenging.
Admittedly, the adjustment has taken significantly longer than I originally estimated it would, however it is slowly improving.
The most important things I have found is establishing a consistent, predictable routine to center production around. Once this happens, then that flow state is possible. in addition, learning the culture and understanding how to develop relationships, learn the language, the time zone, and the “sales” process has many more layers.
One of the biggest, if not THE biggest challenge is remaining grounded and trusting the process in an environment where the mindset is completely different.
The resolution is to always refer to my established core values, revisit and adjust the business plan as needed, and to practice patience.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.willisperformance.com
- Instagram: @willisperformancetraining
- Facebook: willisperformancetraining
- Other: www.willisperformancelabs.com
