I AM A SPONSORED ATHLETE

I’m sitting here trying to write this blog post about a really cool thing that happened to me recently, and I just keep re-reading that title: I AM A SPONSORED ATHLETE.    

Two weeks ago, I was approached by the national supplement company Metabolic Nutrition to sign a brand ambassador sponsorship contract to be part of their new Hall of Heroes campaign. The campaign is about inspirational real life heroes from all walks of life who live a fit lifestyle.  As you can see, I now have a featured page on their website, and they will be promoting my fitness journey, my story, and me on their social media, in exchange for promotion of their company and products on my social media. It comes with a great compensation package, and I am totally stoked about it.

Metabolic Nutrition has been around over 25 years, and they have some of the highest quality, great-tasting, healthy, nutritional supplements designed for the health-minded consumer or the professional athlete. It’s available in Vitamin Shoppe, other supplement chains, online through many different websites, and through the Metabolic Nutrition site. If that sounds like a pitch from a sponsored salesman, please know I’ve been a fan for years, but here’s the best part: they found and approached me with this deal. That in itself is an amazing story.  

Part of the story started when I recently began to consider going back to college online to get my master’s degree in Communications, with a specialization in social media.  I have been using social media a lot for my school television and film program, and recently Instagram has been our primary means to reach our student population for brand engagement with our school television show. So, I started studying online how to build a successful Instagram account. Some common threads I discovered:

1. Focus your page on a personal passion, as well as something that a lot of other people are passionate about.
2. Tell a story through your photos and captions.
3. Produce regular and creative content.
4. Build community around your page.

So late one night, a little over three months ago, as basically a test-case, study project, my new Instagram account @california_thor was born, featuring my passions of fitness, superheroes, tattoos, and even sharing my faith along the way. The photo to the right was my first post, and it was reposted on many pages.  As was the before and after fitness progress photo I posted.  I started with no followers -- I did not have a single person who I know offline following me for almost a month.  Most of my friends and family did not even know about the page.  Slowly but surely, my page was a hit.  As of this blog post, I have more than 11,000 followers in just over three months, and I now feature other fitness-focused followers on my page for daily shoutouts. The details of my overall online experience in this social media realm will be fit for a master’s thesis, many blog posts, an epic book or speech and beyond. What started as just posting gym selfies that I used to send to a few select fitness-oriented friends has become a real online motivational experience for myself and others. I have had the truly blessed opportunity to encourage others through my journey and be incredibly inspired by them as well.  

I have been buying fitness magazines, working out, and trying various protein and workout supplements since I was in high school when I was a 105-pound, often sick, struggling to maintain and gain weight teenager. My fitness journey went to another level of dedication when I tested a local fitness program in a three-month long television series in my mid-20’s. I have worked out regularly ever since. When my life took a dramatic turn and a neurological speech problem led to a solution through energy-draining Parkinson’s medication, the gym became one of the biggest factors in my mental, physical, and emotional well-being. I began going to the gym early in the morning every day, as I realized the energy boost I got from that early morning workout helped me fight back against the drowsiness-causing drugs. I have worked out almost every day since the summer of 2012.  That is the story I have been sharing on Instagram.

A marketing representative from Michigan for the Florida-based Metabolic Nutrition supplement company, discovered my @california_thor page amongst the 300 million active Instagram pages in her search through fitness-based hashtags for their Hall of Heroes campaign.  She and her firm liked my page and my story, and they contacted me through email and after an hour-long conference call, I signed the exclusive brand ambassador sponsorship Hall of Heroes deal with Metabolic Nutrition. And, now I am a sponsored athlete.

A lot of people who know I am a Christian and know my story of developing a mysterious neurological speech problem, now controlled by Parkinson’s medication, have asked me: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? That question in itself can lead to theological debates of epic proportions. But, here’s my basic answer: God loved us so much that He created a world that allowed us to have free will (free choice). Humans’ choices brought sin into this world, and many of the problems of this world have been caused by that sin. I also believe sometimes God allows bad things to happen because he can see the greater picture, and ultimately his good and perfect plan will be accomplished. I personally find comfort in knowing God grieves with us in those hard times.  But, I also believe God is a God of redemption, and He loves a good redemption story. Often redemption happens without our knowledge, years or centuries later one bad circumstance can be redeemed in big or small ways. Then, sometimes, we have the good fortune to experience redemption first hand in our own lives.  

The 105-pound, 17-year-old Mark who struggled to gain weight and experienced ridicule for being underweight, sick, and unathletic is beyond himself with excitement over this supplement contract. The world-weary, former television reporter and anchor, 15-year-teacher veteran, adult Mark, who fought through a crazy illness through faith, family, friends, and fitness thinks this latest development is a really cool chapter in an awesome redemption story.  

Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;  his mercies never come to an end; they are new  every morning; great is your faithfulness.