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BY PENNY FLETCHER
penny@observernews.net
RUSKIN — Dondre Williams of Ruskin found his true calling through a series of events he knows were more than coincidence.
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| Penny Fletcher Photo
Ruskin resident Dondre Williams has a degree in criminal justice and has played professional basketball, but his life has taken on a whole new direction and given him a new look on life now that he’s a personal strength and conditioning coach. |
For everything to have fallen into place the way it did during the last few years, Dondre says he knows he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be, doing exactly what he’s supposed to do with his life.
As a personal strength and conditioning coach, he says he gets to help people with both their body and mind. But he’s getting something back from every client he works with.
“It’s amazing the wisdom and knowledge the people in this area have,” he said one day while being interviewed at the Sun City Center Fitness Center where he works with some of his clients. “I get to meet people who have done things I’ve dreamed about doing and seen things I’ve wanted to see and I learn something from each of them.”
Besides taking on clients in Sun City Center, Dondre does individual sessions, works with groups at their homes or gyms; and is a personal trainer and strength coach for the University of South Florida where he recently learned the skills he needed for his new vocation. He also gives “Boot Camps.”
But Dondre wasn’t always in this line of work. His university degree is in criminal justice, and for awhile, he worked with children’s programs in Georgia.
His job as a family practitioner with the justice system entailed going into homes where children and teens had become involved with the juvenile system and working with the families.
Sometimes it was depressing, but mostly Dondre said he was able to help.
Then the 6-foot-5-inch amateur basketball player was offered a chance to play professionally: a lifelong dream come true, which he did in both Europe and Canada for about two years.
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| DONDRE WILLIAMS
Photo credit www.ironbod.com |
“I was devastated when I tore the meniscus in my knee and I was told I needed to stop playing (ball) altogether,” he said. The meniscus is a joint in the spot where three bones meet to form the kneecap and its injury is common to athletes, he explained. But his was especially bad, and his build and height made it very painful just to walk.
“For months I sat at home, depressed. That’s why I understand the people who come into the gym needing help to regain their strength. I get to work on their mental attitude too, not just their physical state, because I’ve been there and I understand. It all begins in the mind,” he said.
His wife, Brittney, an accountant, received the opportunity to transfer to Tampa from Savannah and since he wasn’t working, he and their children, now ages 3 and 4, accompanied her without question; never dreaming of the opportunity Dondre would soon discover.
“I knew I had to get up and start moving again. So eventually I made an appointment to see about maybe coaching basketball at USF. Somehow I ended up in the wrong department and the woman at the desk said she wanted to see her supervisor about something. I had gone into the strength and conditioning program by mistake and I ended up getting an internship there where I learned all these new skills I could use to help not only myself, but others too,” he said.
He says he knows this was no accident. As it turned out, the supervisor had not mentioned the opening in the Sun City Center Fitness Center to the trainers she knew because the drive would be too far, but there was Dondre, who lived not five minutes away.
“There’s a gym where you can work with private clients,” the supervisor told him after he had completed his training. “But it’s probably way too far for you from your home.”
He knows it was just meant to be.
His position in the Sun City Center Fitness Center is not a paid one. He makes his own appointments and arranges where to meet his clients. Since he is just in his 14th month as a trainer, he is still taking on new ones.
“He’s been working with me and I’ve found his skills are only matched by his great attitude,” said Bill Hodges, a nationally-recognized speaker and life coach. “His attitude is so upbeat, and he really has me moving right along. He does wonderful things for people.”
In fact, it was Bill who called to tell me about Dondre or I wouldn’t have known about him. He hasn’t advertised. He’s just been gaining clients by word-of-mouth.
Another client comment can be found on Dondre’s Web site by Professor Richard Kelso at USF. He says that “Dondre is a phenomenal trainer, always prepared with a workout plan, consistently supportive and a true professional.” Professor Kelso adds that Dondre’s training as both a counselor and professional basketball player give him a unique coaching style second to none.
“I enjoy helping the client toward mental improvement as well as the physical,” Dondre told me. “What I’m really big on is getting people to see there’s greatness in them and at any age their dreams can be resurrected. Age is not a factor. They can start anywhere.”
Maybe you can barely walk from one exercise machine to another but certain torso muscles can be exercised. Maybe you’re paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair but have use of your arms. There’s something that can be strengthened, even if it’s as simple as mentally affirming you will gradually learn to take steps again.
Dondre says his job is a “double-edged sword.”
In a good way, that is.
“I get to be around wisdom. I used to sit and listen to my grandfather and wonder how he knew and had experienced so many things. I’m around people who have lived a life like I’m aspiring to live that are as much an inspiration to me as I hope I can be to them,” he said. “I’ve learned how very special time is. What a great gift each day is. I value time. I drive slower. I look both ways now — into both the past and the future.”
At 33, Dondre talks with the wisdom of someone much older. And somehow, his manner just makes you feel good.
To reach him or set up an appointment, call (813) 642-8900 or (912) 655-6641; email him at dondre.williams@gmail.com or log onto his Web site, www.ironbod.com.
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