Conversations with Chris Leatherman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Leatherman.

Hi Chris, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
For some background information on who I am.

I am the oldest of 12 children (blended family) and I claim home to be Huntsville, Alabama. I was a “military brat” for the first 10 years of my life so I moved around quite a bit. I am passionate about building physical and mental health and of course my puppy! I have a two-year-old Goldendoodle named “Kenai” after the movie, Brother Bear.

Another distinctive feature is that he was only born with one eye! So, [keen-eye]… big pun guy. I wrestled, cheered, and played volleyball in my days as a college athlete. Another thing I love is traveling/exploring! My favorite trip was a two-week excursion in Bali, Indonesia. I have a million stories about that trip and many more from all the other beautiful places I have traveled to!

Now for the good stuff.

I have always been the type of person that cannot “settle down” and do just one thing at a time. Even as a sophomore in college I was a two-sport athlete (Wrestling and Cheer) while attending classes full time alongside starting my first business with a friend. This experience of starting a full-service digital marketing agency is what has led me to my current career.

With that business, I taught myself various skills such as graphic design, video production, web design, social media management, and personal skills such as sales and time/life management. We had much success for a student-owned and operated company in hiring 3 additional students.

After some time doing this, I felt my life being called to move from Bismarck, North Dakota to Auburn, Alabama to finish my undergraduate marketing degree at Auburn University. I continued to develop myself as I began freelancing with my marketing talents to prepare for my career post-graduation.

Fast-forwarding to today, I live in Nashville, Tennessee where I am living my best life working for Nashville Lifestyles Magazine as our marketing and circulation specialist. Additionally, I am the coach for a local Wrestling Club. Here, I have the honor of serving Kindergarten-8th grade students to help develop athletic ability and personal development in so many of these young boys and girls.

Having the privilege of working with some of the most talented and special people in the city with the magazine, I have been inspired to “reach for the stars,” myself! I am developing my personal brand on social media, mainly Instagram and TikTok currently.

This work has opened many opportunities; I have been offered several deals to work with different brands across multiple industries to create content on their channels and/or use the product in my own content, and I have connected with countless influential people not only in Nashville but across the world!

So why am I doing this? Why now?

In summary, one of the main reasons is I want to be a champion for my generation and the next to come to be comfortable functioning on their own. As we all know, the pandemic hit HARD. For me, the pandemic resulted in me being completely on my own. I fell into some dark areas that I still struggle with today at times.

Starting out in the “adult world” during these times has been a difficult endeavor and I know there are many people out there that were affected by the pandemic in terms of physical and mental health. So, I aim to inspire others that we can navigate this crazy world with our own strength.

My motto every day is to “Do Better than Yesterday,” so I want to help motivate people to get in shape, take care of their mental health, take themselves on “dates,” and in general… Choose Happiness!

As a side note, the more popular content on my channels is having to deal with the difficulties of dating in 2022. I bring a comical take on issues that everyone is ignoring in the dating world it seems. I am hoping that continuing to bring this to light will inspire those around me to stop making the same common mistakes when it comes to dating.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I spoke on some of the issues I endured in the last question, but here it is:

It was all fun and games as a college student… Until the pandemic began. I know for a lot of us this turned our world upside-down. I am very thankful that this pandemic has not affected my family in the ways it has for others. For myself, this was the turning point where I changed from this super social creature that had an unlimited social battery, to someone I hardly recognized.

I succumbed to depression and anxiety and did not have any healthy ways to deal with that. I lived alone and seldom left the house. After months and months, I decided I would start bartending to force myself to “get out there” and make some cash while I’m at it.

I did this all throughout my final year of college which resulted in an even worse time dealing with depression and anxiety as I was staying up until 6 am every other night working. My academics fluttered on the edge of not passing, and my unhealthy habits remained strong.

My move after I finally graduated in May of 2021 to Nashville for me was my chance to start fresh.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
For my career… I serve as the marketing and circulation specialist for Nashville Lifestyles Magazine.

This is a unique position as I have the privilege of being involved in almost all aspects of the magazine, except editorial (I am not a very talented writer). Working here with this team is a dream come true; it is everything I could have ever asked for in a career path.

The team that I work and collaborate with are such amazing and inspiring people. There is some saying about the people you surround yourself with as a direct impact on your success, and I attribute a lot of the growth I have seen this past year in my personal life because of these amazing individuals.

I particularly appreciate my role in that every day is different for me. Some days I am handling the distribution of our magazine throughout the country, helping with our social media accounts, assisting with the next big signature event we are organizing, talking business strategy, or going out into the city to meet new people and try new places!

I would say my “specialization,” is being very versatile. My boss likes to call me our “Swiss-Army Knife,” as I have proven myself a great resource for anything and everything. That has really stuck with me and motivated me to continue to develop and take on new projects!

Through this experience of being a part of this great city of Nashville, I have been inspired to pursue my own endeavors in my spare time, similar to so many of those I have had the blessing to learn from. I do not know the “end-game” from which this is leading me, yet, I know there are big plans for me in the future!

For now, I am building my personal brand’s resume with brand collaborations, serving as a content artist/creator, and pursuing new leads on establishing myself as a resource for lifestyle, health, motivation, dating, and the beautiful Music City!

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I spoke on this a bit earlier, but the biggest lesson I learned from the pandemic is the importance of taking care of yourself.

I know a lot of people like myself have suffered mental and physical health issues as a result of the various impacts Covid-19 has brought. For me, I really lost myself during the pandemic.

This is a battle I fight every day to some level, but at the same time, it has been the biggest lesson in self-care, body and mind preservation, and personal growth that I have endured to date.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/Its_Chris06
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@chrisleatherman06