Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Byron.
Hi Michael, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It all started back when I was in Middle school and high school. I have always had an entrepreneurial mindset. There was a family friend that worked at a candy factory back when I was in the sixth grade. His company would give the employees all of the extra candy if it could not be sold due packaging errors. He had access to just any kind of candy you could think of and would bring it home every day after work. One day I built up enough courage to ask him if could start taking the candy and start selling it at school to all my friends. At first, he didn’t want me to get in any trouble and I assured him that I would ask my teachers if it was ok. They only allowed me to sell the candy after the school day was over. Every day when the bell rung, I would have the entire school at my locker wanting to buy this candy. The plan was genius because every middle schooler loved eating candy during class or lunch. It was a huge success and I continued to sell it until I graduated middle school.
Fast-forwarding to high school, I never lost my mindset to be a successful entrepreneurial. I just became a lot busier and to focus more on my schoolwork playing sports. I was a really good baseball player in high school, and I had been playing this amazing sport ever since the age of five in a small city called Cordele, GA located south of Atlanta, GA and the biggest thing that I struggled with was having to play and practice during the winter times around December and January. If you know anything about baseball it’s not fun playing in temperatures below fifty degrees. Hitting and catching a baseball in low temperatures is probably more painful than playing a really rough sport like football. Being from such a small town, I never had the luxury to be provided with an indoor facility to keep me warm as I trained during the winter months. That it is when it all came to life, my dream of one day owning and operating my own indoor facility in my hometown so that young athletes like myself could have an opportunity to get better during the long winter months.
After finishing up high school baseball in Crisp County, I went on to play college baseball at Albany State University. GO Rams! Here is where I would spend the next four years of my life learning and growing as an induvial. I made sure that my time here wasn’t wasted because I knew that once I graduated, I had this dream manifested back when I was in high school that I wanted to bring to life. I would write every night in a journal mapping out my plan and route that I needed to take to make all of this possible. Little did I know what I was getting myself into because I thought that if I wrote out my plan, it would just magically appear. Man was I wrong.
After I graduated college, I started reaching out to people trying to find someone would saw my vision and would be interested in partnering or bring investors to help me get it off the ground. I guess the saying that says you will be told “NO” one-hundred times before you get your one yes is true. The one yes that I finally received came from God. I remember vividly one night I just got down on my knees and asked him to just give me one opportunity and I would make the most of it. After that night ended, my life would never be the same. My dreams didn’t happen right away, but I could know to see my journey and what needed to be done so that I could make one day make my dreams come true. But to do this, I would have to leave the only place I had security and comfort and that was my hometown. I knew in order for me to grow I had to spread my wings, so I packed my car and moved here to Atlanta, GA. This city is the place where all Entrepreneurial’s should be because the opportunities here are endless. Once I arrived, I hit the ground running and I haven’t looked back since 2017. The past three years, I have been working every day so that I can be able to purchase a facility and with a little help and support along the way. That prayer I sent to God in 2016 was answered on September 1st, 2021. The doors to my new business will be opening the end of March or the very first of April.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
This road I have traveled has been very rocky with a lot of twists and turns. The biggest struggle I had starting out was finding a place where I could train my clients. Because I didn’t have a facility or a home park, I was bouncing around from park to park not really knowing where I would be training my client’s kids that day. My second hardest task was when it rained, I would have to cancel all of my lessons for that day and being that I was a full-time trainer on the days I had to cancel, I would make money to be able to make sure I could afford rent at the end of the month. So, I had to find other sources that would support me on the days I was able to train because of bad weather. I had a friend that had a security gig at the Tabernacle on downtown Atlanta, Ga. He put in a word for me and got me the job. For the first two years of my entrepreneurial journey, I would go security after a long day of training. This gig was a blast. I got a chance to meet so many different song artists and celebrities, but I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to do it for a long time because I wasn’t getting much rest at night, and I would sometimes affect my coaching abilities when it was time for me to coach my athletes. Once I parted ways with my security gig, I got into ubering because I could make my own hours and it worked perfectly, I would drive very early in the morning and stop around 1pm get lunch and head right over to my lessons for that day. The last challenging option I was faced with was having to train during the winter months. Because I did not have my own building to train out of. I would always struggle with finding way to try to keep the kids warm as they trained with me. Its hard to perform at a high level when you are focusing on how to keep your fingers and toes from freezing. But with God on my side, he always seemed to give me the strength to make it through no matter the situation or circumstances.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a professional baseball and softball instructor. I help kids learn the fundamentals of the sport so that they can go out and perform what they learned in their games. I specialize in hitting when clients want to work with me it’s to help their athletes become better hitters. I have hundreds of testimonials and stories of athletes that have become not only better baseball/softball players but better individuals away from the playing field. My proudest moment is when I signed the paperwork to this brand-new facility so that we can have a home location to train at. Because it’s very challenging bouncing around from park to park especially with this Atlanta, GA traffic. And what makes me different from other coached/instructors is I find ways to connect with my players away from the game of baseball or softball because for me, it is more to it than just teaching them how to throw or hit a ball. I use baseball and softball as a tool to help improves others’ lives off the field.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like most about Atlanta, GA is all of the tall skyscrapers downtown. As a child, I used to visit my family here and I always wanted my mom to leave at nighttime so that we could pass downtown and I could see all of the lights lighting up the buildings. And even though we would pass through it very quickly, it was always inspiring to me. Fun fact Kanye West song (All of the lights) is one of my favorite songs because it makes me think of downtown Atlanta.
My least favorite part about Atlanta, GA is all of the TRAFFIC my God, it’s terrible here. In my hometown, I can drive over the entire city in fifteen minutes.
Pricing:
- Cage Rentals – $35
- Private Lessons – $85
- Team Rentals – $60
Contact Info:
- Email: 25eightsport@gmail.com
- Website: 25eightsports.com
- Instagram: 25.8sport
- Facebook: Michael Byron
- Twitter: 258_sport
Image Credits
Shequesha Goss Rayyaan Jameel
