Below are a few special bullet points that always excite me and make me extremely proud of what we were able to accomplish last year as a company. The circumstances did not change much from the previous year, COVID seemed to be ever present, even more competitors entered into the world of fashion and apparel, we are still a young brand in an over saturated market and yet we feel even more resolved, called, and purposed to continue our journey and grow our brand.
We hope the following items will encourage, inspire, and motivate you and for you to know as a small business, we fully believe in doing our part to make the world a better place!
None of the above would have been possible without YOU!
Words will never express how much we appreciate your belief and trust in Lion Heart Unlimited and what we’re trying to accomplish and build as a Brand!
We are forever humbled that you would spend your hard-earned money with us! THANK YOU!
Always remember that Your Story is different from everyone else’s in the world and we are determined to help encourage and inspire you to always… BE A LION!
Much Love Lion Heart Unlimited Family & God Bless!
Grateful,
-Brian
]]>Like I see it, I have a Vision for it, however it's in God's timing and not my own. This is where the rubber meets the road and I have to Trust the Process that God desires me to go through. Keeping it 100% with you all, we're still learning how to market and scale LHU, so there are things God wants and needs me to learn and experience before He allows me to move forward on to anything else.
So let me share something extremely interesting that I liken to how God desires us to Trust the Process. Did you know the Chinese bamboo tree takes five years to grow? The seed is sown into the ground and has to be watered and fertilized in the ground where it has been planted every day. This is the most interesting part and the part that many of us, myself included, get frustrated with. The tree doesn't break through the ground for five years! That's right, you have no clue that the tree is alive, dead, or even growing for five years and you still have to water and fertilize it everyday! After five years, once the bamboo tree breaks through the ground, it will grow 90 feet tall in five weeks!
You see, God has planted some special Gift in each of us and we have to Trust the Process to allow that Gift to grow into something that impacts the world or our world in a special way!
I'll summarize with a quote provided by author & speaker, Tony Gaskins...
"Trust the process. Your time is coming. Just do the work and the results will handle themselves."
And that's what we have to do... Trust God's Process. There is a reason for every season we go through in our lives. Trusting the Process and having patience while you are in the Process are keys to you reaching your breakthrough potential with your Gift. Endure Till The End!
God Bless,
& Always Remember To... BE A LION!
-Brian
]]>2020 Year in Review
I pray that you and your family had a Merry Christmas. Know that my family and I are praying for you and your family to have a Blessed, Safe, & Prosperous New Year!
What can I say that hasn’t already been said? This year, 2020, has been a very unconventional year for all of us. Despite the loss of loved ones, obstacles, challenges, and opposition you’re still here, moving forward on your life’s journey working to become all that God has created you to be with the Heart of a Lion!
I wanted to end this year with a special message from us to let you know how your love and support of Lion Heart Unlimited has made a difference in the lives of others. Below are a few bullet points that I’m extremely proud of that we were able to accomplish in this unprecedented year facing COVID-19, fierce and Godly competition in our industry, a social media hiatus (to focus on new product development), shipping delays, along with us being such a very young brand in what at times seems to be a very saturated market. However, as all Lions do, we persevere and keep moving forward. We hope the following items will provide you with a sense of joy and give you a small glimpse into what Lion Heart Unlimited truly believes in.
None of that would have been accomplished without YOU! Words don’t express how much I appreciate your belief and trust in Lion Heart Unlimited and what we’re trying to accomplish and build with our Brand! My family and I are truly humbled and grateful that you would spend your hard-earned money on a fledgling startup apparel brand that desires to Inspire the world and Serve the community at the same time! THANK YOU!
We promise to continue to work on improving our products and apparel line for you as well as continue to serve the community. Thank You for being a part of our LION’s PRIDE! 😎
I have a small favor to ask, please continue to share Lion Heart Unlimited with all your family, friends & colleagues. Let's build our PRIDE! Tag us on social media (#lionheartunlimited) wearing your LHU gear and we may have something special for you!
Your Story is different from everyone else’s in the world, Own It and always remember to… BE A LION!
Truly Humbled & Grateful!
Much Love LHU Family, Happy New Year & God Bless!
-Brian
]]>This year alone has caused me to search deep within myself and get 100% real with God. The challenges that we all face in life are real and sometimes I stay in my routine versus having a real conversation with God. This year that changed completely. When you’re building something from the ground up, you have to know that there are going to be bumps, bruises, and plenty of disappointment. As I mentioned in my previous blog post BEASTMODE, the last week of February 2020 was one of the hardest of my life. Little did I know that two weeks later I would lose my beloved Grandmother to natural causes and two weeks after that I would lose one of my favorite Aunts to COVID-19. I lost two family members in the same month, the month after I suffered one of the hardest few days of my life.
As I sit here writing this, I’m still extremely grateful and humbled for all that God has done for me and my family. The loss of any loved one is tough, but to lose two very much-loved matriarchs of our family was extremely hard. I still miss them very much; however, I am grateful to know that as a Believer that one day I will see them again. So, I push forward with Lion Heart Unlimited knowing that they believed in what I’m building and with a deep desire to make both of them proud. Along with knowing that this is what being a Lion is all about, persevering through adversity, pain, & frustration. Learning from your mistakes, improving, and living in the moment, in the here and now.
I know it’s cliché, however whenever we go through tough times, we should look to God spiritually and look to serve mentally & physically. Talking to God and serving your fellow human being can work wonders and change your perspective in an instant. This is what Lion Heart Unlimited truly believes in and has done from day one. Although the pain of losing a love one hurts, being of service through the pain can have a healing affect.
So, as we closeout the year 2020, my advice to you is to keep it 100 with God, persevere through the adversity, pain, & frustration, and look to serve your fellow human being. Always remember, it may not be as bad as it seems and there is always someone in the world that has it worst than you. Try to keep everything in perspective!
I’ll summarize with a quote provided by Dr. Wayne Dyer…
“If you Change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
And that’s what we have to do… change our perspective during the adversity. God is not wasteful and there is always a reason why something occurs. Your perspective is the key to you continuing on your path to becoming all that God has created you to be. Keep Going!
God Bless!
-B. Holley]]>BEASTMODE...
The last week of February 2020 was one of the hardest weeks of my life. I had been working on something for me and my family and in a few hours everything went wrong. Not only that, I was recovering from an illness as well. Its hard to watch something you worked so hard for and had great expectations in accomplishing go down the drain in the matter of a few hours. Its hard to stay calm and pray when you feel like your world is crumbling around you. Its hard to think that a decision you've made will cause your family to suffer...
And then it hit me... a Peace that I can't explain... a feeling like everything is going to be alright... an inner knowing that I had to go through this pain to get on the other side of it and see that the Creator (God) is going to use it for a greater Purpose... to help me fulfill the potential He's given me.
BEASTMODE...
There are times in our lives when we have to stir up ourselves and our gifts and talents to help us get to the other side of the pain we're going through. This requires Drive, Focus, Energy, Passion, Purpose & Hard-Work...
BEASTMODE...
I'm not saying its going to be easy...it can and will be difficult, however we have to Know that the Creator is with us and everything happens for a reason... a purpose.
During one of our mentoring sessions with our little guys in February, I shared this story with one of the third graders after our normal session who was having a rough day too. I asked him, should I quit? I told him that sometimes it feels as if we're not making a difference... he looked at me with a puzzled look and said no Mr. B, I can't explain to you why but no you shouldn't quit!
And I'm saying that to YOU! I can't explain to you why but NO, You Shouldn't Quit!
BEASTMODE...
I’ll summarize with a quote provided by the African American Scholar, Booker T. Washington...
“Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.”
And that’s what we have to do… push past the pain, push past the hurt, know that God is with you, keep your head up and work! Your potential is depending on you, your family is depending on you, your community is depending on you… you must not quit….BEASTMODE!
God Bless!
-B. Holley
]]>
I have to credit my work ethic to my Mom. As a single parent I watched her work two and three jobs trying to take care of us. She would leave work at the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown, Birmingham, AL at 4 pm and come home to fix us something to eat and then she would head off to Rich's department store (now Macy's) in Brookwood Mall at 5:15 pm to start her second job at 6 pm. On weekends she worked with my aunt cleaning business buildings, vacuuming floors and taking out trash normally from 5 pm to 10 pm. Sometimes they were allowed to come in a little earlier and of course they took advantage of that.
As I sit here writing this blog, I have such a grand vision for Lion Heart Unlimited and what I want us to be able to accomplish. Making a big impact in the lives of our mentees, the community, & building a brand that sparks positive inspiration, encouragement & motivation to all, despite the circumstances. In sharing with my wife, Taneeka (pronounced "Ta - KNEE - ka"), I'm always telling her my vision and she's one of my biggest cheerleaders as well as the one who keeps me focused when other distractions impede my path.
Case in point, I was recently made aware that some of the folks I considered friends seemed to be speaking rather negatively about my vision/dream for LHU. Taneeka and I discussed it and her words to me were, "run your race at your pace and don't even let that distract you from your vision, their path is not your path"! I'm so thankful to God for such a wonderful wife. I said all that to say this. When you're working on your vision, dream, & goals, there will always be people who see what you're doing and will either support you, act like they're supporting you, or just flat out won't support you and in most cases hate on you, your vision, dream, or goal. Work is required in making sure you stay focused on what you know you've been called to do.
We hear it so much that it almost sounds like a cliche but I'm here to tell you as many before me have said, when you're building something WORK is required. The key is realizing that nothing worth building happens overnight and as one of my favorite motivational speakers, Inky Johnson says, focus on the process, not the results. The process for me is that as we're building LHU, I'm focusing on the person I want to become. A person who adds immense value to my family, our community, our youth, and to every person who purchases an LHU product.
I'll summarize with a quote from another one of my favorite motivational speakers, Eric Thomas (etthehiphoppreacher)....
"All roads that lead to success have to pass through hard work boulevard at some point."
Hard work is required to fulfill the potential that was given to each of us by our Creator!
God Bless!In this day and time utility is good, heck utility is great, however a brand that provides utility does not necessarily mean that that particular brand will provide a positive message, motivation, inspiration, or encouragement to the individual. This is one of the main reasons that the Lion Heart Unlimited Brand was created. Inspired by those then 4th graders in the mentoring program who all had and still have big dreams and goals for their lives. Some dreams as humble as becoming a Policeman when he grows up and some as big as becoming a YouTube Superstar and moving his family to Calabasas, California.
You see Lion Heart Unlimited is meant to encourage, inspire, and motivate not only those young men in the program but also all of us as human beings and individuals through positivity and support! The message is simple yet valid, to accomplish anything you desire in life requires that you have a Lion Heart to go after it. It requires you to know and believe that the possibilities are Unlimited if you follow your path and run your race.
So your question is, why start a brand, and my answer is because we all need to be encouraged, inspired, and motivated to run our own race. The race that allows us to learn, grow, and fulfill our potential as human beings and individuals through service to our Creator, our ideas, our dreams, our goals, our community & our neighbor.
I’ll summarize with a quote provided by inspirational author, Orison Swett Marden….
“There are powers inside of you which if you could discover and use, would make of you everything you ever dreamed or imagined you could become.”
And that is what we all should be doing, constantly searching for the powers inside of us to fulfill the potential that was given to each of us by our Creator to run our own race!
God Bless!
-B. Holley]]>Mentoring to me is about helping someone that may not have the same experiences, education, relationships, opportunities, knowledge, understanding, or skill set as you do. As a mentor it's your duty, and hopefully your passion, to provide guidance, assistance, inspiration, motivation, & advice to help progress your mentee's lives down a positive path in an effort to help them learn, grow, and hopefully avoid or swiftly conquer some of the challenges that make up life's experience.
.....Read the entire post on the Lion Heart Unlimited Blog Page
]]>Mentoring to me is about helping someone that may not have the same experiences, education, relationships, opportunities, knowledge, understanding, or skill set as you do. As a mentor it's your duty, and hopefully your passion, to provide guidance, assistance, inspiration, motivation, & advice to help progress your mentee's lives down a positive path in an effort to help them learn, grow, and hopefully avoid or swiftly conquer some of the challenges that make up life's experience.
Roughly 25% or 20 million children live in single parented households in the US. I was one of those children. My mother worked two or three jobs to take care of me, my sister, and my foster brother. As a youngster growing up, she put me in several mentoring programs, A.G. Gaston Boy's Club, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and Cub Scouts. She was determine for me to be around positive role models and she understood that because I was a young man, my experiences would differ from hers and she wanted me to obtain a positive male's perspective and influence.
Fast forward to today. I've been blessed by God to become that positive male role model from several of those positive influences from my childhood along with some of the gentlemen I follow today. My mentors help me to expand the vision for my life and in some cases provided guidance and experiences that help shape the man I am today.
My ultimate goal for all the young men that have and will come into the Lion Heart Unlimited Mentoring Program is to help them realize how truly special they are, to help build their self-esteem and self-confidence to fulfill the potential that is inside each of them. To help them understand that's is okay not to follow the crowd or give in to peer pressure and that being smart, intelligent, articulate, and having vision and goals is cool!
I'll summarize with one of my favorite quotes taken from the movie Red Tails, the story about the Tuskegee Airmen....
"Nothing's difficult, Everything's a challenge, Through Adversity to the Stars, From the last plane to the last bullet, to the last minute, to the last man, We Fight, We Fight, We Fight, We Fight!
And that is what we all should be doing, fighting for and to fulfill the potential that was given to each of us by our creator!
God Bless!
-B. Holley
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