Today we’d like to introduce you to Chijioke Akujuobi.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I played 3 years at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina. I transferred to the University of the Incarnate Word and graduated in December of 2014. After graduation, I decided to continue playing soccer. I had a contact in Europe, so I spent all of December and January to get prepared to move to Denmark. At the time, I wasn’t making a lot of money and I just graduated from college. I had a friend who worked in the Woodlands at a sports facility called, Legends and ended up working there for the remainder of my time in America. I would train with a couple of friends at Houston Baptist University which was a 30-40 drive to get ready for Denmark. Then, I would go home rest and drive all the way to the Woodlands to work at Legends. Besides refereeing games, I had never really worked a job like this because soccer consumed almost 99% of my time either playing or training. It was all I did and cared to do. I was mopping floors, cleaning up after kids parties and also playing soccer with the young ones. As tired as I was, because I worked from 6 am to 5 pm, I was happy to be earning my own money to chase my dream. All the money from working and every cent of graduation money I had, I bought my flight to Aalborg, Denmark.
Going to Europe and playing with players that were unknown to my eyes but were world class was an experience I can’t speak of. You don’t really know who your around or the environment you’re around until you leave. Living in Europe and seeing other cultures and people who in a million years, I would not have met without soccer, there is no price to that. Living with people who have different ideas than you do, eat different food than you do is something I hope everyone in the world can experience. Being at a professional club like Aalborg and competing day in and out with the team was very special to me. It was never easy and sometimes difficult but I think it built a lot of resolve out of me. Being away from home was hard sometimes but I just enjoyed playing so much that the States was the last place I was worried about. It was a life-changing experience. For better and for worse.
When I came back to America, I was on a Kobe (Bryant)-like search to find a club anywhere in the world that could offer me a contract. That was my goal, to either get back to Europe or find a team in America. I was probably at my lowest and very discouraged but my brother decided to take me out to a nightclub. Though I wasn’t in the mood, I didn’t want to be at home and continue to worry about what I was going to do with my career. My brother Obi, took me to Cle nightclub which is one of the best clubs in Houston. I was literally minding my own business until I saw a guy dancing but at the same time on his cell phone. I just saw a group of guys and didn’t know who they were at all. I looked over and said, “hey, I know that guy, I think his name is Chabala”. That’s when I ran into Mike Chabala, yes former Houston Dynamo Mike Chabala. He looked at me and I just walked over and said what’s up. He asked me, how I was doing and if I wanted to come into his section. I declined but then I saw some familiar faces. Former US Men’s National Team player Mike Magee was there, former FC Barcelona player and current LA Galaxy Giovanni Dos Santos were there, too. I’m younger than Mike so all those guys I grew up watching, it was pretty cool.
Again, Mike asked if I wanted to join the section and I said “No”. Before I left, he handed me a card that said Sphere on it with the logo. He said, to call him if I wanted to come workout. I had no intention of working out but I was at home and wasn’t really doing much, so I gave him a call. Tried to meet Mike the next week but missed him and then it took me another Month because my car was flooded. Around April 2016, I attended Sphere for the first time. If anyone knows me I never really have worked out before till I started doing a sphere. The energy, the people and just the positivity at the time blew me away. I had never done anything like that. Completely changed the way I thought about fitness. My body was getting fitter and I was getting stronger. I had never felt like this in all my years and all the training I’ve done my whole life.
Over time I would continue to go to class and after class mike and I would talk about life and soccer. He definitely understood what I was going through and he shared a lot of his experiences playing in the MLS. We had a lot of mutual friends as well so it kind of helped the relationship work. I kept coming, I kept working out and kept meeting people. Next to soccer there is only one thing I treasure as much or maybe even more which is making new relationships. It was becoming a very positive environment for my life. After doing Sphere for 3 months straight, Mike asked me to help him, coach. If anyone knows me, I had no clue how to do anything in fitness, but over time I learned. I watched, I practiced with mike at the four seasons and I opened my horizons to something completely different than what I was used, too.
But ultimately, you have to give credit to Mike and our relationship to my success and the success of the company. Coaching at Sphere opened up opportunities to people and avenues I would never have had if I was doing any other concept or anything else. Being around people and trying to make them better was already apart of me, that was how I played the game(soccer). I have helped build Sphere since I arrived and helped bring together a great group of people that we have now. It was only Mike and me, to begin with but now we have a team a people that we are proud of and want to push to be the best they can be. They push us just as much as well. I’ve met so many athletes, people and important figures in Houston and I have to give all the credit to the company. I’m from Cypress, Texas not everyone gets these opportunities. Though I’ve helped push Sphere to where it is along with Mike, I could never take credit for what the people and experiences have done for me. I’m really lucky to have met Mike at a time when I think we both needed each other and could push each other to be better. He’s going to be a brother for life and deserves all the credit. Soon our location will be finished and we’ll be able to bring the whole entire city together just as we have envisioned. Bringing people together. That is What we do.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I am a firm believer in if there is something worth it, you have to struggle. If you don’t struggle than it won’t last very long. It hasn’t been the smoothest road and that all has to do with the fact that we are the first. Sphere is the first soccer-inspired fitness concept. There is nothing on the market like it so it’s only natural that we have bumps on what we think works and what doesn’t. We also have a team of new people who have been here and are still learning and trying to help grow this whole entire company. When we first started it was just Mike and I. Doing classes with no support was very difficult. At times, he would have to be away on business and that would mean I would have to do a class on my own. Or, I would have to be out of town and he would have to run classes by himself. Having a group of coaches has helped a lot. But also having a group of people you like to around make it that much better.
Changing locations has also been a difficult task as well. As we build out a location, we do our best to find new places to create that energy and that environment that I have been speaking of. When we go to a new location we make sure we have the right music and vibe that continues the consistency that we’ve been having. That is just apart of going anywhere new. Once we have our location, I think will show how far we have come and also how much more we can do as a team. It’s a good feeling to know that there is more to be done and working hard every day to attain it.
Sphere – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The company is called Sphere and it was started by my close Friend Mike Chabala. He played for the Houston Dynamo and when I returned from Europe after playing we ran into each randomly at a nightclub. Though we met years before, I think we reconnected at the perfect time. It went from working out together, becoming friends, running the classes together, to ultimately being apart of the business. I feel there are both sides to Sphere that someone from a different background can love about it. Sphere is soccer-inspired fitness which is a mix of working out and playing soccer. Those two things pale in comparison to what Sphere really is. The community, bringing people together and the team atmosphere is really what we shoot for. If you can leave one of our classes and have had a positively different experience, that’s what really matters to us. You’ll definitely feel it in your heart what I am speaking about after one class.
As for me, I run a lot of the classes during the week and the weekend along with the rest of my team. I have been running the classes for a majority of the existence so I have a good understanding of what we like our classes to be like. We have a great group of people who do just as good or even better job than I do and we are just happy to have them.
I do a wide variety of training along with running classes. What I hope our great group of people that We work with see in me, is being positive as much as possible. I am the guy who comes in every day and makes sure everyone has the right attitude and is giving out that energy as much as possible. Every day is not perfect for anybody, but being in fitness people come to you so they can get that extra motivation. When the people who are giving the motivation need a little bit extra, I guess, I’m the guy who is always there. My mentality is to always think about how lucky I am, to be where I am and being around so many amazing people on a consistent basis. I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet.
I feel every company thinks they are the best and to them maybe they are right. I feel Sphere has turned into a movement. Meaning that it’s not just a concept you go to, it’s something that really changes the way you feel about the workout environment. When you come to our classes, there are so many different people from different cultures and different backgrounds and I think that’s what makes us special. We have doctors, teachers, lawyers, athletes, professional athletes, high school, college students and I could go on. We allow people to connect with each other not only with passes during the game but also outside of the game to really build that community that makes people want to always come back. Even if you’re not a workout person, not a soccer person or you’re new to the city. Coming to Sphere you’ll find someone who that will have something in common with you and you can automatically become friends with.
As a company, I’m most proud of the people that come and have helped us get to this point. I think it’s always difficult to do anything that is different and expects to succeed in a short amount of time. When you have a great group of people around you that are willing to work so hard and give up there time and energy for something they believe in is truly special. I think as an athlete that’s what a teammate does. They pick you up any chance they get and that’s what our team does and especially all the great people that attend our classes. I am also proud of Mike and how he has come full circle from athlete to a businessman. Playing for the Houston Dynamo to building his own company is not easy. He’s come such a long way and works hard, it’s special to see your friend continue to keep pushing past his limits.
It’s great to see day in and day out what sets us apart from any other fitness concept. It’s one thing to workout, it’s one thing to play soccer. But it’s a completely fresh and exhilarating experience to do those things with people that you like and that give off that positive energy. It’s just a special place to be. And I couldn’t see me doing anything but continuing to see Sphere reach where it is going to go, which is the TOP.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
That’s a great question and I think everybody has a different opinion. For me, success isn’t necessarily how much money you make or how nice your house and car is. Success to me is how much are you impacting the lives of the people around you and even People that you do not know that well. As a kid, I learned to include everybody and try my best to not leave anybody out. To be lucky enough to do the things that you love and get paid for it, there’s nothing like that. You can’t put a price on that. But what’s more important isn’t just getting to the top and becoming successful. It’s the people that you take along with you and that you elevate along the way. You’re not truly successful till you have really gone out there and helped as many people as you can. One day, we all won’t be here and all that money that we made won’t really matter so it’s always important to keep things in perspective. Success is always doing the right thing as much as you can and helping others achieve their dreams in the smallest or biggest way possible as best as you can. You never know who you will inspire to do that for the next person.
If you truly want to be successful and this comes from my personal opinion because I don’t know it all, it’s important to have these 5 things. One, I believe you need to be as approachable a possible. Always be willing to stick your hand out first to shake someone else’s, it means a lot. Two, be willing to do things voluntarily. I think people feel they need to get paid for everything. Not always true because sometimes doing things because you want to sometimes lead to your next job or to your next opportunity. Do things in good faith. Three, be open to doing things out of your comfort zone. I think this could be the most important one. Doing things your not comfortable with makes you more comfortable long term. Opening up to people with different ideas, talking to someone who practices another religion, someone who is of a different background as you. Those things are just learning experiences and can only add to making your life better and understanding people more which in return can help you run a business more efficiently. Four, enjoy building relationships.
It’s 2018, people can see through what’s real and what’s not so it’s always important to show people you care about them and their concerns. It takes a lot of energy but it makes for a good leader current and future. It feels good that people can come to you about something going on in their life. You never know whose life you are making better by just being there. And finally, being around great people who will lift you up. Everybody has a friend they have known forever whose doing all the same things. Nothing wrong with that. But being around people who have similar interests and similar goals as you can only help you become better. If that friend who is doing “all the same things” see you doing well, your only giving them the power to go do well for themselves. You have to try and be the influence you want to see in the world.
Honestly, Nobody is perfect and this isn’t the only way to go about your life every single second of every single day. Everyone’s situation is different and not everybody has the same lifestyle as the other. I just believe that if you can look at things in a positive fashion and do your best to keep going forward, it helps a lot. Sometimes, being a part of someone else’s success makes you want to push more. Everyone has their moment. I know that for sure. True Success is not a sprint, its a marathon.
Pricing:
- Sphere $15
- POWA(Four Seasons Houston) $20
- Mini $15
Contact Info:
- Website: Sphere.Club
- Phone: 832-495-5184
- Email: Chijioke.akujuobi@sphere.club
- Instagram: @sphere.club
- Facebook: Sphere
- Twitter: Sphereclubllc
Image Credit:
Kevin Suarez, Nazario Monzon, Traci Ling
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