Meet Isaiah Thomas | Author • Skills Coach • Entrepreneur

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

Hi Isaiah, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I started my own business in the name of freedom. There is something special to see a goal being fulfilled doing what you love. In my circles, I would consistently see people become burnt out, attempting an unachievable goal to find happiness in a 9-5 framework that they didn’t like. It paid them enough to get by. However, I desired to live a life balanced where I could work in a field that I am passionate about, but also spend quality time with my now wife. Thats been the vision for the past 4 years. I want to break the stereotype, to be known for more than a man who goes to work, returns, and doesn’t clean, cook, or take his wife out on dates. I am investing in a legacy that’s deeper than a multimillion dollar business, but a legacy that is holistic and intentional, which will bring diverse, wholesome outcomes.

You could say that’s why I started my skills coaching business zaychrisbasketball or ZC basketball. ZC basketball takes on a holistic approach to basketball skills training. We provide a safe, positive, and uplifting environment for athletes. In the athletic world, coaches, parents, and even trainers emphasize “mindset,” but what if you can’t change your mindset?

The truth is that each athlete needs the help of the Holy Spirit to have a strong mind. A big component to an athlete’s success is their ability to give themselves grace when they make a mistake. That’s our why and that’s a focal point we focus on.

It can be confusing to those on the outside that athletes can perform and produce results in practice, but not during the game. A contributing component of this is due to the athlete not being truly prepared for the environment they have to endure in order to play at a high level.

The missing component is the sourced help from the Holy Spirit to play level-headed. At zaychrisbasketball we aren’t a religious group or a church community, we are dedicated, skills coaches who answered the call that athletes need more than just will-power to play this game, they need loving support and a sound mind.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
There weren’t too many challenges in terms of determination because I fell in love with the vision of my dream. The biggest challenge I have had is finding like-minded people to pursue this kind of career with; as very few people I know are doing the same thing. This affects the area or the awareness of the field as well. Community helps launch into growth and creative entrepreneurship truly feeds off of the company and environment one keeps. In the beginning and presently, it was easy to be a visionary, but there are challenges to following through logistically on a dream. What I learned about myself from this particular challenge was that I’m seeking something a lot of people are after but don’t know how to achieve. I have been able to thrive in the mind space now of entrepreneurship and don’t feel intimidated by other’s success. To live a life that results in impact with peace, one has to be good at the art of forgiveness. I have had my fair share of naysayers, that will say the life you’re living or want to live will not be financially prosperous, but in 2 Corinthians 1:20 it says “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him, the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” I have moved forward in forgiveness towards those who were caught up in religion to the point that they couldn’t recognize what I was doing was from above. Yes, I desire a life full of peace, love, joy, and riches, but I will keep going ahead biblically and without compromise— one step at a time. I have a set goal that ZC will be known as a place where truth resides. A place where athletes can be open about their relationship with Jesus Christ or questions of faith and leave filled with hope, and love, and can walk out in confident power. One way that ZC represents a distinct difference from other trainers is that I, as the founder, choose to be intentionally available and transparent about my own experience to empower others and so that I may speak into others’ lives. about relationships, biblical topics, what it means to have true confidence or just to be a friend. I am happy to be my own boss who has built-in protection, which allows me the flexibility to go forward or stay put in any business opportunity that may come my way. It is a blessing for sure.

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.
Since my wife is my best friend I can tell the story of our first date. Me and my wife Carley Thomas met online. She was in Kentucky and I was in California. Long story short we would fly back and forth on dates and one of our first dates was about a couple of days to a week long in California. I took her to this beautiful mountain view restaurant in Orange County California. It was very fancy, we ate dinner there then one of the other things we did was drive down around the restaurant as an activity after dinner because there were tons of things to do there. Orange County California has some of the most fun, interesting places and people I’ve ever met. There is amazing outlet malls, amazing taco trucks, sports complexes, and beaches. One of my favorite beaches in the OC is Huntington Beach because you can do just about anything there. You can go longboarding, or get a quick bite. The people are really nice there. You can meet like-minded people. There are car shows year-round, there are festivals, and there is PCH which is the historical Pacific Coast highway that has been in existence forever.

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 would like to personally shoutout God, my wife, my family, my in- laws, my church community.

Website: https://zaychrisbasketball.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/__isaiahthomas/ https://www.instagram.com/isaiahcthomas/?next=%2F

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaiah-thomas-5b5b73234?trk=contact-info

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isaiah.thomas.1884787/ Handle: __isaiahthomas

Other: https://zccollections.com/collections/all https://www.amazon.com/Athletes-Most-Pressing-Need/dp/B0C5B1TGBY

Image Credits
IG: tayannephoto