Today we’d like to introduce you to Asa Williams
Hi Asa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story began back in my senior year of college, at Reinhardt University, when I suffered a knee injury that I thought was going to end my playing career. During my rehab, I fell in love with passing knowledge of the game of baseball to my younger teammates and also the journey of sports rehabilitation. Upon graduating with a Sports Administration degree in 2016, I went back to school and obtained a two-year degree in Biology while simultaneously starting as the Pitching and Catching coach at Cartersville High School. In my first year coaching, I immediately got the coaching bug and dove into an obsession that I didn’t see coming. I spent practically all day and all night during the Spring, developing scouting reports, game-planning, crunching numbers, breaking down concepts and strategies that would ultimately help my athletes become the best version of themselves. My coaching strategy, to this day, is based strictly around mentality and arm health – because at the end of the day, those are the two most important aspects when it comes to pitching. For mentality, confidence is the foundation to success and for arm health, I tell my pitchers: “You’ve only got one arm and one career, taking care of one will prolong the other.”
Those same two strategies are what I’ve brought to my business model. I love educating athletes on the health and recovery side of sports all while building their physical and mental foundation. Our head Physical Therapist, Sean Macko, is our leading force behind assessing athletes, determining their strengths and weaknesses, and then creating a plan based on science-backed medical journals and statistics of similar and high-level athletes. Our collaboration and years of experience is why athletes find success and become the best versions of themselves on the field or on the court.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s very cliche but it has been quite the opposite of a smooth road. The concept for BFD Performance & Recovery has been roughly almost 3 years in the making. Around that same time, I started looking at different buildings and spaces to try to make my vision come to fruition. But I was turned away, ignored, told no, or found a location and then it fell through countless times. I’ve been outbid, told my concept wouldn’t make enough money, fought legal battles and visited my local city council office more times than I thought I would ever have to. I’ve experienced low lows and high highs and have had my mental, emotional and spiritual limitations all challenged.
And again, extremely cliche, but it’s all happened for a specific reason and has brought me to where I am today. On the flip side, I’ve been so extremely blessed with an incredible wife, friend and family circle and business mentors that I can lean on for support, encouragement and advice. Without these people, there is no way BFD would be where it is today.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The idea of BFD is to be a one-stop-shop performance and recovery haven for all athletes, fitness enthusiasts and weekend warriors. Though we specialize in baseball, we don’t want to limit ourselves or our category of customers to receiving the help and care that they need.
On the performance side, we have three 70-foot cages and two throwing lanes that can be used by members and non-members for rentals or for lessons from our instructors. Also, we have a fully equipped gym for individualized sport-specific training or for private and group strength training. With that, we also provide everyone who is interested with health and nutrition guidelines – arguably the most important part of training. We offer both in-house and remote performance packages for athletes who would be interested in arm care, pitching or hitting instructions, that can be bundled with strength training and our recovery services.
On the recovery side, we have several different recovery options and services to choose from, for both members and non-members. We have Normatec Compression therapy, our men’s and women’s “Dopamine Rooms”, which house a multi-person sauna and individual cold tubs, physical therapy, arm care recovery packages and a handful of modalities. Our head PT, Sean Macko, provides physical therapy, evaluations and return-to-play programs, which can all be done in-house or virtually, and he offers different modalities such as dry needling, cupping, electrical stimulation (e-stim) and Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) therapy.
I’m most proud of the collaboration between Sean and myself. Sean has 7+ years of experience in physical therapy and spends a lot of his time looking at research and adjusting his approach to training and assessing each and every athlete and person that walks in our door. Every patient that he sees, he provides strict one-on-one service to them for the entirety of their session. For athletes, he assesses their strengths and weaknesses, develops a plan based on research and what he believes they need to work on and then he sends the program to me, to add a sports specific touch. We don’t hesitate to ask questions or provide feedback to each other, nor do we act like we know all there is to know about sports or physical therapy. Because of our genuine interest into constantly wanting to learn more, better ourselves, and in turn help our customer, is why we are, and will continue to be, so successful.
What sets us apart are two things:
The first being that BFD is designed to be a one-stop-shop with everything an athlete or fitness enthusiast needs to keep them playing and healthy. We have a performance space, a strength space and a recovery space. I can remember when I was growing up in high school and college, I had to go to the fields or a random batting cage to hit and throw. Then I’d have to drive to the gym to work out, then I’d have to go to physical therapy or partake in the newest recovery trend on my own. Instead of any of our customers having to visit multiple locations or pay for multiple memberships or services, they can now simply walk into our front door and have everything at their fingertips.
Secondly, is our physical therapy model. Sean provides personalized, one-on-one therapy for our customers. Their first visit is a full comprehensive evaluation where Sean will determine the root cause of the symptoms or injury and then recommend a therapy model for the customer. Every customer that Sean interacts with, gets his full, undivided attention for a complete hour. We block his time in a manner to where his focus is solely on the patient. In comparison, unlike your typical physical therapy chain, the therapists are forced to have multiple patients at a time, and no fault of their own, which can lead to negative or unresolved patient outcomes. We are breaking that mold.
What matters most to you?
Choosing to do what I love while simultaneously making an impact on people is what matters the most to me. First off, having a positive impact on young men and athletes every day is so incredibly fulfilling. I’ve been blessed to cross paths with some of the most talented athletes in the state of Georgia, and even in the country, and having a hand in molding them is what keeps pushing me to continue this journey. Going back to my mentality focus as a coach – knowing that I helped an athlete wholeheartedly believe in themself, push themself and turn into an incredible player and person is a feeling that I just cannot describe. Secondly, choosing to start a business, choosing to keep going even when I thought I was going to fail, choosing to continue to make an impact, matters because I know my son will one day understand it and appreciate it. Not appreciate me and what I’ve done or to give me a pat on the back, but so that he can apply the same principles and lessons to do anything that he wants to do, no matter what it is. So that he can understand what it takes to be successful and add his own touch to it and become twice as successful as I’ll ever be. He is my why.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bfdpandr.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bfd_pandr/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555604163371
Image Credits
Niblet Photography
