Before any of this…

before the gym…

before the responsibility…

I was just a kid from Eastside Long Beach trying to figure life out.

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My name is Ti Phan.

Both of my parents were immigrants.

They came to America chasing an opportunity they didn’t fully understand…

but believed in anyway.

Growing up, we lived off government assistance and moved constantly.

Six times before I even reached 11th grade.

Every time rent went up…

we had to figure something else out.

New schools.

New people.

New environments.

Over and over again.

At the time, I didn’t realize it…

but constantly having to adapt taught me how to survive.

How to figure things out while life was moving underneath me.

And without realizing it…

That mindset followed me into every chapter after that.

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In 2007 after high school, I hit a crossroad.

I never really felt like I fit in, so I wanted a fresh start somewhere far away from everything I knew.

San Diego was the plan.

But life had other plans.

My dad suffered a stroke when I was 10

and nothing was the same after that.

My mom was forced to take whatever work she could get.

Working in the back of a restaurant.

Taking the bus across the East Side of Long Beach before the sun came up.

12-hour days for barely $50.

I still remember her coming home exhausted…

hands burned, cracked, and destroyed from the work.

But she kept going anyway.

Because she had no other choice.

And I felt it…

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It was on me to stay.

So I did.