Jeff was born into challenging circumstances. He was one of 18 children in a blended family, survived abuse and attempted to take his life by age 13. But despite his early hardships and pressure to do the wrong thing, he sought sports as a way out. He became the firs boy in his family to graduate high school and the first child to graduate college, a feat possible with a football scholarship.
After transitioning from college into the real world, no longer an athlete, Jeff found CrossFit which filled his need for athletics and competition. Just two years after engulfing himself in this new sport, he made it on the big stage, The CrossFit Games, while also opening and managing his own CrossFit gym.
After the CrossFit Games, Jeff found himself in a tough situation wanting to become a legit business owner but he couldn’t stop competing because of the financial gains. In 2016 he left CrossFit and lost all his sponsors which put him in a tough position financially, moved to Melbourne, FL for a new opportunity and sold his stake in the gym he opened. In 2019, as the company he worked for was about to close, he had just discovered he would be a father. With $1600 to his name and no job for six weeks, he found work in the roofing and security spaces to provide for his soon-to-be family. Jeff’s mindset was one of “I refuse to let my daughter feel or see what I grew up in.” Reaching out to people he knew that were financially stable, he found someone who took a chance on him and advised of the route he eventually took. That same day, he went on LinkedIn and saw that Enterprise Rental Car had an opening and ended up getting the job. While at Enterprise, he still worked his other two jobs. On three to four hours of sleep per day, eating canned chili for lunch and living off energy drinks to stay locked in, he never gave up and one day a recruiter called and told him he had an opportunity in the medical sales space. After a few weeks and five interviews, Jeff got a call and the job was his.
But Jeff wasn’t content there.
At the height of the pandemic, Jeff got a random call from an old buddy who was associated with the supplement sponsor he had during his CrossFit days. That conversation sparked the idea of creating his own supplement company. Jeff started researching natural ingredients and how they could support his performance and health. He was disappointed with the current supplement space, which is full of chemical and stimulant-laden products.
He became consumed with researching natural compounds and nootropics, mixing and testing his blends.
He was most obsessed with creating a natural pre-workout. As a former collegiate football player, CrossFit Games veteran, and record-setting Olympic lifting competitor, Jeff was known as “the strong guy,” but longer, more arduous workouts were always challenging. He needed an edge for endurance.
After extensive experimentation, Jeff discovered a unique herbal blend that revolutionized his workouts. This blend enhanced his endurance and improved his breathing, allowing him to push harder. This breakthrough was unlike anything else on the market.
Jeff recruited friends, including Wendy Shafranski and his coach Rob DelaCruz, to test his new pre-workout to give him feedback. Dozens of athletes were blown away by how they felt during their training sessions. Rob and Wendy saw how impressed their members at Vero Strength + Conditioning were with the product so they asked Jeff to form a partnership to bring this revolutionary new blend to market.
Cerus Performance, a certified Black-owned business, and its first product, Flow, were born.
Flow quickly became a favorite for high-intensity athletes in CrossFit, endurance, and MMA, so it was natural to expand the line with other impactful, natural products for people who care about performance AND what they put in their bodies.
With a mission to bridge the gap between health and performance, we started formulating additional natural products that would allow users to sleep harder, perform better, recover faster and tap into their brain power.
Our story is one of resilience, hard work, and bucking the status quo. We are committed to impacting health and shaking up the supplement industry, and we won’t give up until we do.
You can watch Jeff tell his story, in his words HERE.
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