Last month, I gave you my ten steps to successfully starting a business. This week, I’m highlighting business owners in the metropolitan area who have taken the necessary steps and are living their dream of being their own boss.

Meet Cedrick A. Dickens and Kelvin King, Jr., business partners in the metropolitan area who own and operate a successful business.

Interview with Cedrick A. Dickens and Kelvin N. King, Jr.

PW: What is the name of your business?

KK: The name of our business is The Complete Athlete, LLC.

PW: What does the business do?

CD: WOW, the business does so much; however, we concentrate on serving as a Sports Performance Training business that doubles as a mentoring outreach for athletes who have the desire to go through a serious multifunctional speed, strength and conditioning program that will develop athletes from the inside out. The program also challenges athletes to be a competitor for Christ in sports and in life.

In addition, we incorporate Biblical Discipleship, which helps stimulate growth, leadership, character development, and accountability. More so, Academic and Life Skill Developments are incorporated to enhance leadership skills and provide referral services, classes and/or workshops in the areas of FCA huddle leader training, Tutoring Services, Time Management and Financial Planning.

We also develop the athlete’s ability to perform at a high level in all physical tasks conducive to their respective sport. Our athletes are trained to perform successfully at multiple, diverse, and randomized physical challenges. This type of training is required in all your contact sports such as football, wrestling, and lacrosse. It is even required for those individuals serving in the military, police personnel, and firefighters, just to name a few careers, where this training style can be transferred. For the non-contact sports, such as tennis, and aesthetic sports, such as dance and cheer leading, this style of training is still effective because it will develop fine and gross motor movement patterns that will allow the athlete to react quicker and move in a more efficient manner, while building lean muscle mass and explosive fast twitch muscle fibers, which the majority of sports rely heavy upon.

PW: When did you start the business?

KK: We started our business in March of 2007.

PW: What did it take to get the business started?

KK: In getting the business started it took a lot of praying and seeking God’s face to make sure this is what he wanted Cedrick and I to do! In addition, it took a lot of meetings and planning to get our ideas on paper and to really market ourselves. One thing we wanted to do was differentiate ourselves from some of the Strength and Conditioning, Sports Performance Training, Personal Training coaches out there. We wanted to offer something that was real, conducive to the athlete’s sports and life. We also had to make sure The Complete Athlete, LLC was official, and therefore, we made sure we obtained our LLC, made sure our logos were copyrighted. It also took support from family members and friends.

PW: How long did it take to make profits and why?

CD: To be honest, it really did not take us that long to make profits because many clients that we train, we trained them in high school. Therefore, when it was time for them to get ready for their respective sports in college, they came to us. On the flip side, we started the business during these rough times in our economy; we did not make that much of a profit the first year. We started working on our short-term plan of setting up our website (www.thecompleteathlete-llc.org), finding a place to train, setting up partnerships with companies that would benefit our program, and getting some more specialized certifications.

PW: Why did you choose to start your own business?

KK: We chose to start our own business because we needed more space and the ability to implement our vision for the program. Training athletes at Riverdale Baptist and other area high schools were so awesome; however, Cedrick and I had the vision to provide a holistic approach to training, stepping outside the box so the athlete can be trained in every dimension. We were also challenged by God to step out on Faith and the see what he would do with the business. We wanted to be the first Christian Sports Performance Training Company that not just spoke about Christ, however implemented in our walk and talk as well as applying those tactics to Sports Performance Training.

PW: What are your responsibilities?

KK: Our responsibilities include but are not limited to; planning and designing workout plans and templates for our clients, developing the Bible devotions before each training session, keeping contact with our clients as mentors by email, text or making personal phone calls if there is a serious issue going on in their lives, going to see some of our athletes play in their respective sport, doing volunteer work for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes as Area Associate Representatives, doing all the weekly maintenance of the training room and equipment, networking, and administrative paperwork.

PW: What are some of the problem/risks with running your
business?

CD: With anything in life, there will be problems; however, the risk for reward drives us to persevere through the difficulties. Some of the problems/risk we encounter being in business, especially a faith based business, is, but not limited to; lack of space because we do not own our own facility we work out of a small back room at Washington Bible College in Lanham, Maryland, and will soon be doing work out of the Prince George’s Sport and Learning Complex, Lord willing. Sometimes people want us to just train and they do not want the spiritual side. Those clients we have to turn down which means we are turning down money but that is okay because we stand firm on our commitment that we will incorporate the principles from the Bible and the leadership lessons to be learned from Jesus Christ. We are The Complete Athlete, the word ‘complete’ for us means that we will focus on the mental, spiritual, and physical aspect of the clients we train. Anything less than that we become incomplete and not fulfilling our divine purpose for the business and mentoring ministry. Furthermore, there are scheduling problems Kelvin and I encounter because we both work full times jobs, have family obligations, and church ministry commitments as well. That makes it hard sometimes for us to sit down as a staff and work on things such as updating the web-site every week, doing administrative paper work like filing forms, analyzing the athletes together as a team, organizing weekly training logs etc. Through it all we maintain to push forward until we can both be full time in training and ministry. The race is not to the swift or the strong but those who persevere will receive the crown!

PW: What are some benefits of owning your own business and
running it?

KK: There are many benefits to owning our own business. As partners we can do double the work we would be able to do on our own. Things can be written off on our taxes, especially when you are using personal items such as your car, phone and things like that for business. We can write off a percentage of that. We get to set up our own programs and run it as God leads us without anybody telling us what we can and cannot do. We get the opportunity to speak at workshops, clinics, and symposiums because of what we do and our professional degrees and certifications that we have obtained. We meet new people, some of whom become good friends and colleagues. One day in the near future we want to travel and develop other programs to replicate what we do at The Complete Athlete LLC.

PW: Do you enjoy your job and why?

KK: We enjoy what we do and are working to make this a career for us because a career is more than a job. A job is something you wake-up and go to because you have to go. A career is something you wake up and would go to even if you did not have to go. Even though we get tired sometimes because we are still working our full time jobs, have family and personal things to take care of but through it all we know that we are doing what the Lord has called us to do. When you are in the Lord’s will then everything is good no matter the situation. It is a mind set. We look forward to the day when we can be doing T.C.A. full time and enjoying every minute of it!

PW: Are there certain qualities you are looking in an employee?

CD: Yes, there are certain qualities we are looking for when we hire or allow someone to intern with us. We value integrity and Christian character. We will first seek out employees or interns who are of like faith and are believers in Christ Jesus because we expect them to be role models and able to help someone from a Biblical perspective in order to mentor and train them. Therefore, as affiliates of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) anyone who wants to be a part of our organization must fill out an MLA (Ministry Leader Application) form. This form basically asks general questions about faith and character and legal ability to work with clients under the age of 18. We prefer our employees/interns to have an interest or be working toward a degree in the area of Exercise Science, Kinesiology, Health Science or Physical Education as well as getting an advanced strength and conditioning certification from a highly accredited organization. Furthermore, we look for people who are committed, dedicated and have the ability to bring creative ideas that will enhance what we do.

PW: If someone wanted to own a business like yours what are some
recommendations for the person?

CD: Some recommendations we would give to those interested in doing a faith based sports performance training business would be, if they were a student, to seek degrees in the field of Exercise Science, Kinesiology, Health Science or Physical Education, take classes in Business or Public Administration and Christian Counseling or Leadership. It would also be helpful to pursue a Masters degree in any of these particular fields. Also, to be a member of a local Bible believing, Bible teaching, God fearing Church and actively involved in a ministry or ministries there. Do some volunteer outreach with some Christian organizations such as FCA, do some sport coaching and or get a job/intern as a strength and conditioning coach at a college, sports performance facility, high school, recreational center, etc. Most importantly, I would tell them to be a true follower and believer in Christ, walk the talk, be humble, have positive character traits, be available, be willing to work hard, make some personal sacrifices, and be genuine. Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul. People will follow you and believe in you when they see that you truly care about them.

Gentlemen, this has been a pleasure. Thank you both for your time and sharing your story! I wish you two much continued success.