Plant-Based Power: An Olympian's Path to Community Advocacy

Dyslexia doesn't typically feature in Olympic success stories, but for Kendrick J. Ferris, it became a profound teacher. The three-time Olympian (2008, 2012, 2016) reveals how he discovered his unique reading method—starting from the bottom of paragraphs and working backwards—which transformed his relationship with literacy. This unconventional approach mirrors Ferris' life philosophy: finding strength through adaptation and turning challenges into opportunities.

From the streets of Stoner Hill to Olympic weightlifting platforms, Ferris credits his family for exposing him to diverse activities and helping him channel his natural intensity into productive pursuits. "I used to have an attitude, really have a fire about me, still do," he admits with characteristic candor, "but I understand about temperance and self-control and how important that is." This balance of passion and discipline now fuels his community advocacy work, particularly his weightlifting camps that integrate physical training with literacy promotion.

Perhaps most surprising is Ferris' decade-long commitment to plant-based nutrition. Adopting this lifestyle before his third Olympic Games raised eyebrows in strength sports circles, but his decision stemmed from ancestral research rather than athletic performance goals. Today, his holistic approach to health encompasses physical strength, nutritional wisdom, and community uplift. Whether teaching youths to lift weights or helping them overcome reading challenges, Ferris embodies his own philosophy: "Learning doing sports." Connect with his mission through his weightlifting camps at Always 19, on social media @KendrickJFerris, or at BlessTheGymForever.com—where the Olympic spirit of perseverance continues to transform lives beyond the medal podium.

Chapters

• 0:00 Personal Journey With Dyslexia
• 0:52 Introduction to Kendrick Ferris
• 1:46 Mentorship and Youth Advocacy
• 3:58 Plant-Based Olympic Journey
• 5:39 Community Programs and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

When I was growing up, I mean, I was dyslexic. I didn't know it, I never really got diagnosed, but how I learned how to read was starting from the bottom of, like, let's say, all the paragraphs. I would go to the bottom and go backwards and read it, and I picked it up faster, reading like, just keep tailin' on, just keep tailin' on. Thank you for joining us. This is Experiencing Amazing Transformation, and today we have Mr Kendrick J Ferris. Come on Along with Mr Abundance Abundance. So tell us, Mr Ferrisares, what it is that you do. So my background is in health and fitness. I competed at three Olympic Games 2008, 2012, 2016. And now I'm what you would call a community advocate. So I'm a coach, community advocate, and I really focus on mentoring youth. So I have a weightlifting camp that's going on right now. The foundation is weightlifting and movement and nutrition. But what we do is, like you know, we advocate for literacy. That's one of the cornerstones we stand on right, so one that you're going to understand reading, writing and not to be ashamed of. Because when I was growing up, I mean, I was dyslexic. I didn't know it, I never really got diagnosed, but how I learned how to read was starting from the bottom of like, let's say, all the paragraphs. I would go to the bottom and go backwards and read it and I picked it up faster reading like this. I didn't discover that until I was about maybe like 13 or 14. So I used to be kind of ashamed to read out loud. It's not that I didn't know the words, but it's like you can spell a word. You say c-a-t randomly. I'm like I can't even put it together. But you, on the paper, I see it, I know what it is. But hearing the letters to get jumbled up, and then some of the words would get jumbled up, but that's something that was revealed to me. Like reading that way, I picked up on it. I noticed when I read it backwards, I was, it was easy for me to read it down. Yeah, so when I started doing it, it's like I I was in school struggling to read it down. Yeah, so when I started doing it, it's like I was in school struggling to read out loud. Then it's like I came back like the next school year, it's like my eighth grade year and I'm reading and folks just looking at me like, cause, you know how it is. They be like, oh, you about to call home kindergarten. You better be funny, you better mess up. But a nutshell, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 2:43

Work with the youth, just try to use my experiences to elevate them. Right? What? What inspired the mental? Yeah, my family, really. You know, they always wanted to expose us to different things.

Speaker 1: 2:54

In my background, like I grew up in stoner hill and um intercity, just like any other intercity in america. But my auntie, my mother, my grandmother, uncles, they always were trying to let us try different things. Karate, it don't matter what it is softball, basketball, anything, just let us try different things. And me, I used to have an attitude, really have a fire about me, still do, but I understand about temperance and self-control and how important that is. So now, figuring out how to channel that energy and put it into like sport, I figured out how to, just with guidance and mentorship, like I figured out how to channel it and like, just try to put it in different aspects of my life. So what hit my head as a youngster? Learning doing sports, learning doing sports, okay, abundance. All right, man, you done figured out something I'm telling them Learning doing sports. And then taking those lessons and just applying them day to day to life Still figuring it out. Yeah, yeah, yes, yeah, okay, working on it. So we're here at this vegan community event. Yeah, what is your part that you're playing out here today?

Speaker 1: 3:58

So my background I went plant-based in 2014, and it was before I made my third Olympic team and that was like the big deal. It was like I'm in a strength sport, so they, you know, people are like how you gonna be strong? And I'm not thinking nothing about that. Like I did research on my family, I found out like our ancestry, like we got Israelites in our family, right, so I'm under. I looked up the culture and I seen how these people living, how they were eating, and if you read the Bible, you know it talks about the Israelites and stuff in there. So I seen what they were doing and I just thought, apply. And I wasn't thinking athletic performance, but that's how I got introduced to the plant-based way of living and I've been eating this way or living this way for the past 10 years. So when I heard about this being the first vegan community event in Shreveport, oh, that is so adorable.

Speaker 1: 4:50

Our abundance is getting a little flustered Abundance. What you want to do, man? You want to talk? Tell them what's up, man. How old are you man? Tell them how old you are. He just a whole of my 18 months. You know what I'm saying? Young Prince man.

Speaker 1: 5:03

So have you guys, of course, incorporated the vegan to the whole family? So everybody's not plant-based, everybody's not plant-based, everybody's not vegan, but we have introduced it. A lot of people in our family have gotten, they get to try these meals. So what we try to do is we eat kosher, right? So the people that are eating certain types of meat, certain types of food, we try to be clean eating. But in my house everybody knows the plant-based food. I know the meat. You in the house you know the meat, so we still have some meat here. We're trying to teach people moderation and how to get people to grow. We know it's too hard.

Speaker 1: 5:39

Tell us about your community program that you have with the fitness. So we have a weight loss camp that's going on right now. It's on June 3rd. It's going to be at Always 19. If you're interested in signing up right now we've got a weight loss. You can sign up on the Cattle Pris website. On the course of recreation Right now we got about 14 children, so we're looking to spend in between. So go ahead and sign up, get on that wait list. We're going to get some more people with you. If you want to just get in touch with me, you can check me out on social media at Kendra J Ferris. You can check out my website. It's BlessTheGemForevercom. That's also the name of our business. We are a Glamour team. Well, we thank you, mr Kendrick, for just taking your time and abundance. Thank you for coming around and we get to share some time together. Yes, do you want to tell everybody a piece? Our next performance Um, excuse me, excuse me, I heard that. No problem, thank you.