A Living Reflection from Past Sacrifices
Born October 29th, 1991 in Dallas, TX, the youngest of 3 (older brother Micah and eldest sister Thuli) to two fired up, loving, committed Christian evangelist parents. Just prior to my birth, my parents spent around 5 years in the Apartheid stricken Johannesburg, South Africa where they planted and led a prosperous multi-racial Christian Church. My siblings were both born in Joburg, and without expounding too much on the experience, my parent’s extremely devout time concluded and they moved back to the states, Dallas, Texas where I was born. While they had to press the reset button on their lives in some major ways, life did not stop. After a few short years, my parents packed us up and we moved to San Antonio where I grew up and consider home. Again, to fast forward much more, my adolescent through teen years were a divine blessing of sheltering. I can confidently say that I didn’t face much of the struggling times that so many children growing up in the world face. This had nothing to do with what I did but had everything to do with how many parents sacrificed on a daily basis for me and my siblings.
What I saw was their support at and the time they spent taking me to my many sports practices, tournaments, and games, cello private lessons, orchestra concerts, school trips, school award ceremonies, church events, summer camps, and a host of other activities that I got myself in. My understanding of their constant and unwavering outpouring of love was pivotal in the decisions and life I chose to live.
My response to the sacrifices that my parents have made for me is what set me up to do the things that I have done. Upon graduating high school in 2010, I accepted a full athletic scholarship from Rice University among several other Division 1 programs. I spent 4 1/2 abundant years at Rice University, where I gratefully completed a degree in environmental engineering, was captain of the football team (3 bowl appearances, 1 conference championship), led an on campus Christian ministry, and found additional leadership roles to galvanize my beautiful undergraduate experience.
Upon graduation up to present day, my life continued to expand and flourish in ways that I could not foresee.
Moving from a prospective professional NFL career to competing on the national TV athletic platforms of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior” and Netflix’s “The Ultimate Beastmaster,” forging a professional working career in civil engineering and more recently to advising government policy for the Mayor of Harris County (Houston, TX), a brooding music career as a cellist and singer-songwriter, and continuing my spiritual formation journey with Christ through a Christian seminary graduate degree, church leadership roles, and leading community service projects; to say the least, I am an adventurer.
The most dynamic season of my life occurred between 2017 to present day. At the beginning of 2017, my mom began a very ambiguous battle with a rare form of pancreatic and liver cancer and my older brother also began a difficult journey with his mental health. On December 2nd, 2020, a few months after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, my beautiful mother passed away. Alongside, my brothers health worsened which took him to packing up and leaving unannounced; he has been out-of-touch since my mom’s passing. We remain hopeful and faithful that God will heal and bring him home.
A powerful season of grief and growth that continues on…
In the spring of 2020, I entered another special experience and was a cast member on season one of the Bachelor music spin-off show “Listen to Your Heart (LTYH).” While the show aired just as the COVID/quarantine months were newly in force, this opportunity still provided me a unique experience that surrounded me with a household full of loving, musicians & artists and inspired the drive to fully give my all to a career in music.
Since the shooting and airing of LTYH, I have transitioned my career focus to growing as a singer-songwriter and cellist. On July 11th, 2020, I made the move from Houston to Nashville, TN to follow the calling that God put on my heart to build my music career and grow in a new city. Since my move to the Music City, I immersed myself city’s creative community:
Performing musically at several hundred shows and have been part of countless songwriting sessions & cello recording sessions (check out MUSIC page for more details), diving into the acting and modeling scene featuring in TV/Film and commercial/shoot gigs, building and leading in the community in various faith and education roles, and staying competitive and active athletically as a fitness leader and featured athlete on American Ninja Warrior (back at it on Season 14!!)
I am always growing and always learning, and through this page you will find an expression of my life’s passions and a variety of ways in which we can journey together.
Sincere thanks for being here.
-GB