Today, we’d like to introduce you to Michael Martinez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have always wanted to play basketball in college and do social media. I worked very hard and accomplished the playing Basketball in college part. But I couldn’t figure out the social media part. I saw a video on my TkTok for You page about someone asking his Hispanic friends how to pronounce things.
Even though I was born in the States I am fully Colombian and all my family is from Colombia and I am very proud of it. So I got the idea one day to ask my dad how to pronounce stores. Within a couple of hours it was my most viewed video on my account by far and now it is close to 800,000 views! So we continued to do them!
We recorded pronouncing social media, which is currently at over 2.1 Million Views! Then we recorded the first NBA players which on my account is at over 1.7 Million but ESPN, Overtime, Sportcenter, Hoops, along with many others posted across all their platforms (Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter)! We kept recording them and kept getting a lot of views.
I am at college so it is difficult to see my dad and record these videos so I started documenting my off-season being a Colombian College Hooper. I record these videos in Spanish as well as English! It has been around a week since I posted the first one and I have gained over 3,000 followers on Instagram and over 5,000 on TikTok.
Now I use my platforms to be an inspiration to any young athlete specifically any young Hispanic athlete to keep going and never give up on their dreams. There are many plans for the future but can’t mention those yet!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been smooth at all. Coming out of high school I faced many injuries and did not play as much as I should’ve but I never gave up and accomplished my dream of playing in college. As far as social media I have been trying to grow since Musically but I never could. Even after I had some Viral Videos and some followers there are times that the views aren’t what they used to be or what I think they could be.
This is just something that we have to deal with but you can never give up. Also, there are a lot of good comments and supporters but you won’t make everyone happy so there are also hateful people especially when you are doing something not many people are doing. These are minor struggles but I have been strong and told myself, “If it was easy everyone would be doing it and not everyone is doing it!”
Also last year I broke my ankle and got full ankle reconstruction surgery and that was very rough to deal with but it made me so much better. Also right before my sophomore year of college started I was benching and I racked the weight wrong and I dropped 185 LBS on my head and almost died. It landed right next to my right eye and almost at my temple. I had a severe concussion and it has affected me a lot but I don’t let it stop me from reaching my dreams!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Colombian College Basketball Player as well as a Social Media Influencer. I am probably most known for the pronunciation videos with my dad because I currently have over 5 videos with more than a Million views and many videos that went viral and have been posted on big accounts. But currently, I am growing insanely fast by documenting my workouts and days of my off-season being a Colombian College Basketball Player.
I am most proud of my hard work and determination and never giving up no matter how difficult anything gets. What sets me apart from others is that when I say I won’t give up I mean it. There hasn’t been a thing I don’t give my 100% and always try to be better than I was yesterday. As well as being an inspiration for anyone around the world specifically my Hispanic culture and Colombian Family!
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
When Covid started I was a sophomore in high school and my whole Basketball season was canceled. I did not know if I would ever have a season again but I was not going to give up on my dream of playing college Basketball.
So entire Covid all I did was run, work, and train basketball every single day all day long from sun up to sun down. I also got very strong mentally and emotionally. All this time alone and with my parents made me grow very close to them but also really taught me to love myself because before that I never really did.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @michaelmartinez__
- TikTok: @michaelmartinez__
Image Credits
@sos.mixes
