Meet Jeremy Kellem | Professional Speaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeremy Kellem and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeremy, how does your business help the community?
As a company we go in local schools and work directly with the scholars. Our goal when working with students within the community is to plant seeds in a student’s “Right Now”, believing that it will yield a great harvest for them as they enter adulthood. We help students discover their Gifts, Passions, and Purpose so they can navigate through life with Clarity & Intentionality. We have successfully accomplished this with hundreds of students that we serve, by implementing our self-curated formula, research-based strategies, the Five Core Competencies of SEL, and life experiences. Our approach has been statistically proven to yield academic success and personal life success for the students in the community that we have had the opportunity to work with.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am the owner of the company called We Impact Now (W.I.N.), LLC. We offer the services of keynote speaking, professional development trainings, mentorship, and coaching.

I specialize in helping youth and young adults cultivate a self-tailored vision and find purpose en route to academic and life success. I am known for giving passionate and energy-laden keynote presentations. I am also known as the voice of the “Impact WITH JK” radio segment, which airs every Wednesday on 790amTheGospel.

I am most proud of helping a specific high school student that earned a 0.8 GPA in the first 9 weeks of school, earn a 3.75 GPA in the third 9 weeks of school after he went through my WIN program as I worked alongside him as his life tutor/mentor.

What sets me apart from others are my diverse and unique experiences. I played collegiate and professional sports at some of the highest levels. I achieved academic excellence by earning Academic All-American Honors during undergrad and earning a 4.0 GPA throughout each semester of Graduate school.

I worked in leadership as a Director of a Boys & Girls Club Unit and I have served as an educator. I will connect with any audience in the Educational or Athletic realms due to my diverse experiences.

To get where I am today was not easy. I’ve had to make some difficult transitions. The first difficult transition for me was when I graduated college, and I was looking to go play in the NFL. My childhood and lifelong dream at that time was to get drafted and play in the NFL. In 2011 I did not get drafted, which was heartbreaking to experience. I felt embarrassed. I was ashamed and disappointed.

However, I had to then make the decision to take a different route. I tried out for another professional football league, but I was cut by the organization. I then spent the next year out of football. I didn’t know if I ever was going to play again. After that year I chose to go play in the Arena Football League for 5 years. In my first few years in the Arena Football League I rejected being there. I didn’t truly appreciate being there because I was still stuck on the idea of wanting to go play in the NFL. The more I focused on wanting to go to the NFL, the more I focused on the disappointment of not making it, and the less I appreciated playing in the Arena Football League. In my third season, I made a mindset shift and committed myself to being great on that level of football.

While playing professional football I knew that one day my career was gonna come to an end. I wasn’t going to play forever, consequently, while I was playing I was always thinking about what I was gonna do next. As a result, while playing I worked on my professional speaking skills. I traveled around speaking to different colleges in Arizona and in Tennessee. I was going to schools and speaking to the students. I was going to churches and youth groups, speaking to them while I was still playing. I was preparing myself for that transition to becoming a professional speaker. I also created my business W.I.N. while I was still playing because I knew that I had a passion for impacting the youth and I wanted to make sure that I was prepared for that transition.

The transition from playing football and entering the real world as an employee and business owner finally came and it was not an easy one emotionally. Though I prepared myself for it, it still doesn’t make it easy when you have to separate from something you have done your entire life. Growing up as a kid, I grappled with my identity as a person and as an athlete. I realize that for athletes, as you grow up and are figuring yourself out as a person the more interconnected your identity as a person becomes with what you are doing, which for me was playing sports.

So when it came to the point where I was no longer going to play football, I had to make a decision to disassociate my identity as a person from what I did, which was playing football. This was a difficult thing to do because sometimes you can believe you are what you do and I always remember what my parents told me when they said that there was more to me than football.

I still miss the game of football, but I realize that life is about change and transitions. I have transitioned to being a Business Owner, Professional Speaker, Tv Analyst/Color Commentator, and Educator, which allows me to live in purpose. I realize that I was in purpose playing football, but when football ended I just had to switch vehicles and continue with my purpose.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For anyone visiting Nashville I think they should go eat at Monell’s at the Manor. Very good Soul Food Cuisine. For all the Pizza lovers out there, you need to visit Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria. If you are a seafood lover like me then I suggest Krustaceans Seafood restaurant.

Places I suggest a person visit for entertainment or a nice outing is Fifth & Broadway. This place has shopping, good dining, and a great ambience. The National Museum of African American Music is also a great attraction to visit. It is located at Fifth & Broadway.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate my shout out to my wife Brittany Kellem. She has been and continues to be an inspiration and support system for me . I watched her go back to school to advance her education by earning a MBA. This inspired me to get another degree as well . I went on and earned my M.Ed. Brittany has also supported me from the beginning, regardless of the career I would have at the time. When I played professional football in Nebraska, New Orleans, and Arizona she supported me. She would take long flights by herself from Nashville to where I was playing and root for me. Even when I transitioned from playing football, she supported me in my endeavors to start my company We Impact Now (W.I.N.), LLC. When there were times I couldn’t afford a videographer or photographer for a speaking engagement, she would be right there recording, making sure I had great footage or nice photos to post from the event. She encourages me on rough days or when I face professional disappointments. Her love and support for me is unconditional and I know that the man I have evolved into is greatly because of my wife.

We recently published our book titled “It Worked for Us” and I am super excited about this accomplishment. In our book we shared our story , and the things we chose to do and not to do as we established the foundations of our relationship, while dating and courting each other. What my wife and I chose to do, worked for us and we believe that it can work for others and those that read our book. Our book can be purchased at our website kellemfamilymoments.com, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.

Website: https://kellemfamilymoments.com/product/it-worked-for-us/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jk_impacts/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-kellem-m-ed-a38a8761/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC559Q0cZhHJ-94MGMvUqQ2A

Image Credits
Brandan Tucker/Errantry Studios