ORLANDO, Fla. – If you’re fighting to achieve your dream, even if it feels like you’re about to be chased down by a football team, keep your eye on the ball.
This week on “Black Men Sundays,” host Corie Murray interviews Corey Lewis, a former offensive lineman for the University of Illinois who went on to co-found and serve as CEO for 1AND1, a mental health and wellness platform that strives to help its users “Become 1% Better Each Day.”
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“So, we break our view of wellness into seven dimensions of wellness, one of those dimensions being financial wellness, because obviously, as we all know, if you’re not where you need to be financially, it can creep into the other areas of our lives, our mental health, etc., etc.,” Lewis said. “...I’m obviously by no means a financial advisor, I rely on the experts to provide me with tips and tricks of the trade that I regurgitate and try to help other people out, so I speak from a place of experience and also just a place of hearing what I hear from the people who have helped me succeed financially in my life.”
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Lewis’ football career was short-lived but memorable, with three notches for years spent as part of the Big Ten Conference, also a recipient of the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award. He went on to play professional football for a while, what led to four ACL surgeries and seven knee surgeries that Lewis said strengthened his resolve.
As he recuperated from the injuries, Lewis transitioned away from professional sports to a career in physical training, during which he noticed how well his clients would respond to his wellness advice rather than just the exercise.
“Unfortunately, we see a lot of a lot of brothers and men and women taking their lives because they’re just no longer happy with the life that they’re living, right? Like, you just wish that they would have spoke up or had the resources to help them be in a better place mentally so they can continue to move forward with life,” Lewis said. “That’s not a place I would want anybody to ever get to. So in the same way that like, if we break our arm or we rupture our Achilles or we tear our knees up, like, we go to the hospital, you know? Mental health needs to be seen as the same thing as physical health.”
As the CEO of a Black-owned media company, Lewis said that some of the best ideas one could have before going all in on their own business are likely going to be the most daunting.
“The best opportunities are the ones that scare you the most, and that’s kind of my take on a lot of things. Man, if I have a really good idea and I feel really passionate about it and I know that it’s something that I really want to do but it’s scaring the heck out of me? I’ll go for it because, shoot, I know going up against some of the best players in the world when it came to football, you know, I was nervous as hell. I’d get embarrassed out there but I knew that those were going to be the best opportunities for me to really prove myself,” Lewis said. “...You just gotta go for it. Entrepreneurship is about being comfortable when you’re uncomfortable.”
Hear the full interview and more in Season 2, Episode 21 of “Black Men Sundays.”
Black Men Sundays talks about building generational wealth. Check out every episode in the media player below.