Surviving the Side Hustle

From Tech to Champion: The Ngo Okafor Journey of Resilience

• Coach Rob • Season 1 • Episode 96

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Ever wonder what it takes to completely transform your life? In this riveting conversation, Rob sits down with Ngo Okafor, a two-time Golden Gloves boxing champion who pivoted from IT professional to renowned fitness entrepreneur after being laid off in New York City.

Ngo shares the remarkable story of how he entered the boxing world at 31 years old with zero experience, facing humiliating defeat in his first match only to return and claim championship titles through sheer determination. His mantra—"my 65% will beat your 100%"—encapsulates the work ethic that propelled him from novice to champion in a sport where most competitors had been training since childhood.

The conversation reveals powerful insights about persistence through rejection. Before his boxing career, Ngo faced multiple dismissals from modeling agencies, yet continued refining his physique until he succeeded. This same resilience powered his transition to creating Iconoclast Fitness and his transformative 28 Days Greater program, which helps clients reset their relationships with sugar, carbs, and alcohol through consistent, focused effort.

Perhaps most valuable is Ngo's philosophy of "baby steps"—the consistent small actions that prevent overwhelm and accumulate into extraordinary achievement. He offers a refreshingly honest take on entrepreneurship, challenging listeners to thoroughly research and study their field before committing: "If you're not ready to put in the work, then don't do it. Don't disrespect the work that other people are doing."

Whether you're considering a career change, building a side hustle, or simply seeking motivation to pursue your dreams, Ngo's journey demonstrates that with belief, hard work, and consistency, transformation is possible at any age. Follow him on Instagram @CatchNgo or visit ingookafor.com to connect and learn more about his approach to physical and mental transformation.

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Speaker 1:

What's going on, guys, and welcome back to another episode of Surviving the Side Hustle. On this week's episode, I've got Ingo. Ingo and I connected recently at a speaker's event in I think it was Westchester area not too long ago. So we connected on a couple of different things and I was like, hey, I'm really interested in having you on the podcast. Let's get this squared up. So, ingo, welcome to the show man, how are you doing? Good, I'm good Rob.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to chat and get going.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'd love to just dive right in and kind of hear a little bit about your story, who you are, who do you help, kind of thing. Could you mind sharing a little bit with the audience?

Speaker 2:

My name is Ingo Okafor. I am a two-time Golden Glove boxing champion, founder and creator of Iconoclast Fitness in New York City. It's a gym. We're right here on Fifth Avenue. It's a private one-on-one training gym. I also created 28 Days Greater, which is a 28-day transformation program. It's a mind and body transformation program program.

Speaker 2:

So I work with people that want to reset their lives. Some people have a wedding, getting married, or a reunion or life event happening, or some people that just want to wean themselves off of basically being addicted to sugar and carbs. So 28 days is the length of time it takes to really crystallize a habit. So with the training and the nutrition program you start to wean yourself off of sugar and after 28 days when the clients go back to have a dessert or eat more carbs, they can only eat a little bit, because then the sugar is so sweet and the carbs are so heavy they can only handle a little bit of it. So that right there cuts the amount of calories that they consume in their daily life.

Speaker 2:

And there's also no drinking during the program. So after 28 days of not having any alcohol, just a little bit of alcohol will get you buzzed and that's all you need. So clients lose up to 25 pounds on the program and you still get to eat regular food. There's no shakes, no gimmicks, no side or any kind of additives, just regular food and grit and hard work. That's it, yes.

Speaker 1:

Well, so what do you say? What if someone comes to you and they're like hey, I'm all about working hard and putting in the tough work, but I don't want to work too hard. Can I still get results and kind of coast through it?

Speaker 2:

Well, you get what you put in with everything in this life. You know, you have this podcast. If you just coast and just do the minimum amount of work, you're not going to have the success that you had. And it's the same thing with training. You work hard, you get. You know, the more the harder you work, the better the results that you get. We have clients that come to us and I'm like this is the program and they're like well, you know, I feel like I can do excellent try to, you know, trick the system and at the end of 28 days I know who put in the work completely even before that. So you get what you put in in life. So if you want to get maximum results, you have to put the work in and you're not going to die from it. That's the most important thing. You're not going to die from it. Instead, you're going to get stronger, you're going to get better for doing it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, I'm a big fan of putting the work in and challenging yourself and doing the hard things, so I love that. But I want to bring it back and kind of take it a step away from your coaching and your programs and such, and I want to dive a little bit more into you as an individual. So you said you're a two-time Golden Glove champion, correct? Yeah?

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

So where did that come into play? Were you involved with fitness and boxing previously, or did boxing lead to the fitness coaching and the nutrition?

Speaker 2:

Or explain to me a little bit about how you got started in this industry. I was when I came to New York. I was an IT guy actually, so it was like a whole different life. But about six to six, between six and eight months after moving to New York with that company, I got laid off and I just decided that I wanted to experience everything. I'm in New York City, I want to do the arts, I want to try things. I don't want to be stuck doing a corporate job and modeling was always in the back of my mind. So I was here in the big city this is the mecca of modeling and I decided I was going to try. So I met with a photographer in the gym and he told me to work to get leaner and we'd take pictures together and took the pictures to agencies. Everybody said no, went back to work, trained a little bit more, got leaner, got in better shape, went back out. They said no again, went back to the gym, tried again, got even you know fine-tuned things. And then I went back out again and only one agency said yes, but that's all I needed and started with that agency and just my career over time just took off and had a pretty successful career. But over time, with just any business, especially modeling, things start to dip a bit.

Speaker 2:

And I grew up in Nigeria. I'm an immigrant and I wanted to own real estate. I wanted to do big things and being broke doesn't work, you know. So a girlfriend of mine suggested becoming a personal trainer and I didn't want to be a personal trainer because the gym was like my sanctuary. I did not want that to become work. But she's like listen, if you don't like it, you can quit. That was all I needed to hear. So I went in and started working at Equinox, making $8 an hour and yeah, it's crazy, that's what minimum wage was back then $8 an hour. Minimum wage was back then $8 an hour.

Speaker 2:

And around the same time I started boxing, just as cardio, because I usually would run, bike, elliptical, do the elliptical machine for my cardio and I needed to do something. I wanted to do something different, I want to mix it up. So I started boxing for cardio and I just fell in love with it and just continue to get better. It's a longer story, but people would come and see me and they would say, wow, you're getting. You know, you're good at this, how long have you been boxing and I hadn't been boxing very long but I was improving so fast and people started asking me to spar with them.

Speaker 2:

And when I was younger, I was a sick kid so I didn't get a chance to play sports like the other kids did. So now, when I saw myself getting really good at boxing, I felt like this is my opportunity to play sports at a high level. I knew I was athletic, but I just didn't have the opportunity. So I felt like boxing would give me the opportunity. And I met this guy who was boxing and he looked amazing, like you know, just technique wise, and I wanted to do what he did. So I asked him what he was training for and he said he was training for the Golden Gloves. I didn't know what the Golden Glo, golden gloves, were, but it sounded really cool. So I was like listen, can I, can you help me? Can you introduce me to someone? So he's like sure. So he introduced me to his trainer, took me to the boxing gym, introduced me to his trainer, who became my trainer, and that's how it started.

Speaker 2:

I was 31 years old, never boxed before. You know, my friends laughed at me and they said that you know, like I'm old and I was never going to be able to do it. I was going to be sparring and fighting kids, I was going to get knocked out and but I believed that I could do it. And um, that's my first fight was six months after I started boxing and, just like they said, I got knocked out and um, and I just was like, fuck, boxing, I'm done.

Speaker 2:

And then I just really focused on my training and after a year I built it up to where it was really thriving and I just was like I don't want being the loser to be my legacy. I don't want anyone to talk about boxing. I'm like, oh yeah, I did the go to gloves but I got knocked out. So I decided, okay, I'm going to go back in. So I decided, okay, I'm going to go back in and I'm going to train. And I'm going to use the frustration and anger from what happened in my first fight to drive me to train. And I just did that and I just worked my ass off.

Speaker 2:

My motto was my 65% will beat your 100%, so I'm going to outwork you. I know that these guys are going to have they're not going to be better skilled than me because they've been boxing their whole lives. So but I'm going to grind them into the ground with my grit and my work ethic and that's what I did. And when I entered the, the, my second golden gloves at at 33. First fight knockout. Second fight, knockout, third fight. It just kind of went. I was just beating up these guys and first Golden Gloves fight was at. The finals were at Madison Square Garden.

Speaker 1:

It sold out amazing.

Speaker 2:

All of my friends, all of my coworkers, all of those people that laughed at me, you know all were in the audience, people I hadn't seen in so many years, were there to support and cheer. And I won and it was the biggest dream come true. A lot of my demons kind of fell off and fell to the side and like a big weight was off my shoulders and, um, I won and I, um, and I thought I thought I was done. But, um, I would tell people that I wanted to go to gloves and they would say, did you win the novice or open? And I would say I won the novice division. And they would all say, well, you know, that's cute, you know, and I'm like I can't fucking win with these people. And I was like, okay, you know what, I'm going to win the open division and I'm going to show you guys that I'm the real deal, it's not a fluke, it's not an accident, like I truly did this, because the open division is basically pro level, you know. So I created my own training program that I call death. My thing is like I'm either going to die or I'm going to be the absolute best, be a monster.

Speaker 2:

And I trained my ass off, worked so hard and when the golden gloves came it was hard. And when the Golden Gloves came it was the same scenario as the first one Win, win, win, win, win. And then I got to the finals and I fought a really great, great fighter. He is actually a professional fighter in France. I came here to do the Golden Gloves and go to go to go to televised. It's a big deal. A lot of people when they win the golden gloves they turn, when they win the open division they turn pro. So he wanted to come here get the shine and then turn pro, but he forgot that, that he had to go through me first.

Speaker 2:

And we battled and you know, I gave him I think it was two or three standing eight counts and my thing is, if you're not ready to die, you can't beat me, because I'm ready to die for it, you know. So you can hit me with everything you have, if it doesn't kill me, you're in trouble. So we battled and and I won, and I won my second golden gloves and I was 34 and, um, my business just kept growing and just, I learned so much from doing from, from, from putting myself through that, um, I learned that I can do things. I can do do great things. I can work hard and start something difficult and finish it, and just baby steps, you know, and consistency, and I learned all these things by fighting.

Speaker 2:

You know, and you're never going to be more alive than when you're in the ring, because all of your senses have to be sharp, because you could die in there. You know your vision, your hearing, just your, your, your, your, your anticipation, just everything has to be sharp, thing has to be sharp, and I was. It was like you. I was alive every single one of those fights.

Speaker 1:

So I got to ask you so where does this resilience and this motivation come from? Because you just said that you learned a lot of that through fighting. But if we spin it back a little bit before fighting, when you were going through the modeling and you were getting rejection after rejection after rejection from all these different agencies, where was that motivation and that resilience coming from? Because most people they get one rejection and then they just kind of give up and shift gears, but you got multiple ones. So where was the drive coming from back then?

Speaker 2:

You know, growing up I was never one of the cool kids. You know, I was the weakling when I was always sick, and I wanted so desperately to be like everybody else. I wanted to be one of the cool kids. I was never invited to the parties. I was never, you know, the one that had the flashy and the nice things. And I wanted so badly to be normal. I wanted so badly to be like every other kid and I just never got the chance.

Speaker 2:

And I felt like after I got laid off from that, from that IT job, I felt like this is my chance, this is my opportunity to live and experience all these things that I wanted to experience as a child and I just. For me, it was life or death. It was either live fully and experience all of these things or just not be here at all. So anything that I felt in my soul that I wanted, I want, is either that or death. You know so, when modeling was, you know what I wanted to do. It was what I wanted to do.

Speaker 2:

There was nothing else I wanted to do. So I got to look at myself in the mirror and if I can't look at myself in the mirror and say that I gave it my all. What's the point, you know, and that's how I am. What's the point, you know, and that's how I am? And life is short and we have to do the things that our soul tells us, like we truly believe. Not something that you're like yeah, you know, I wonder, no, like something that, at your core, you know you want to do.

Speaker 1:

You know, that's it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I feel that's a very powerful message because I think a lot of people getting into business and entrepreneurship or even people who are ready or considering to take their hobbies and turn it into a side hustle and start making money I think a lot of times people too often think like, oh, this will be a quick and easy way for me to make some extra money, and I think a lot of individuals really lack that passion that you were talking about there, because I hear you saying that you're ready to die for the boxing, for the modeling, for your business now, and I know a lot of people who have their side hustles and they have their businesses, but they might not be ready enough to die.

Speaker 1:

They might not even be ready enough to just take a weekend off or to put in more work like that. So what would be your advice to somebody who is in this entrepreneurial world or in the side hustle stage and they're not quite yet ready to die for their side hustle? They're still like on the fence, but what would you teach them or tell them? To kind of get to that Like, hey, you got to step up your mindset, kind of thing.

Speaker 2:

Well, in all honesty, sometimes people do things because somebody told them or somebody you know. They saw somebody doing it. I guarantee you there are a lot of people that see you doing this, maybe friends of yours or people you've met along the way that see you doing a podcast. And how many episodes have you done? Wow, that's amazing. I want to do a podcast. I'm like no, you fucking don't. You know, like you don't understand what goes into doing it, you know. So if you truly want to do something, then you'll study it. What I tell anybody that wants to do anything study it.

Speaker 2:

The art and act of studying and researching will let you know if you want to do it or not. If you're not ready to put in the work, then don't fucking do it. Don't disrespect the work that other people are doing because you just think, oh, I'm smart, I can do it. No, that's disrespectful. If you really want to do something, put in the work, research it, study it and understand the nuances, the little bits and pieces that you need to have in order to be successful. When you do that and when you love doing that, and when you have a passion for doing the work and doing the research, that's when you know that you really want to do something. Work and doing the research, that's when you know that you really want to do something. All the back-end work that no one sees, all the stuff that's done in the dark, that no one sees. All the books you've read that no one sees. All the tests you've done that no one sees. That's what will let you know whether you want to do something or not.

Speaker 1:

Hmm, yeah, that's powerful. You got to be able to put that work in to learn and get as much mastery as you can. And then, even when you feel like you know enough or you have enough knowledge of the task skill, whatever it is, there's still the experience aspect of it. So then that's really getting in the gym, getting in the reps, getting on the podcast, whatever it may be, because then that's how you continue to get better. And I want to ask you about your rules and your routines or your habits and your schedules as you were making the shift from the IT world into the modeling and then into the IT world, into the modeling, and then into boxing and fighting and then into personal training and now as a successful business owner. What are some of those skills that have carried with you through those different phases of your life?

Speaker 2:

You know, the through line with all of that is believing in myself. You know, I believe in myself so strongly that if I want to do something and I truly want to do something like I'm connected to myself, I'm connected to my soul, like I know what's real and what's really not like if I want to do it, I'm willing to take baby steps. Okay, this is what I need to do to get there. So when I first wanted to start modeling, the agents or the photographers were like okay, you got to get leaner. Okay, what does that mean? So I studied okay, nutrition, got to eat this, you can't eat that. You got to do thiser. Okay, what do I need? What does that mean? So I studied okay, nutrition, got to eat this, you can't eat that. You got to do this type of training, you got to do this amount of cardio. And then I started testing things and getting a little bit better. You tried it. This didn't work. Okay, you let that go, you try this. And then this worked for you and everybody and every body is different. So somebody said try this. I tried it. It worked for them. It didn't work for me, let that go, try this. It didn't work for that person, but it worked for me. Keep that. And then you just keep collecting and as you collect, you're taking baby steps and you're getting closer and closer and closer. And then you do keep doing it every day, every day, baby steps. You know, I'm the baby steps guy because that is the only way to get there without getting overwhelmed. Baby steps ultimately lead to giant steps and giant distances. If you just continue to go, continue to take those steps and be consistent, that's really everything.

Speaker 2:

And then I got into personal training. Like when I got personal training it's the same thing like I'm like okay, I'm gonna study and I'm gonna watch the industry, the business. Where is the money? You know, there there are so many sets in this game, in this fitness business. Most, the biggest number of people in the business want to lose weight, build lean muscle mass. So if I can create a program that can give them both in record time, I get everybody and I win.

Speaker 2:

So I started creating. So I studied the general business and then I had to dial it down because I need to and every, you know, being a control freak, I have to have my own way, my own style. So I got to put my spin on it, you know. So I create. I was like, okay, take all these little pieces and create a program that'll get people to build muscle, lose weight, get lean in the shortest amount of time possible and make it my own, create my own brand and get work in it and trying things and testing things.

Speaker 2:

And it took years and it's like I said baby steps, baby steps, baby steps. I try it on myself first, push myself, put myself through hell, and then I test it on my clients and then keep taking those baby steps. And then same thing with boxing baby steps, showing up every single day doing the work. My trainer would have me on the bag throwing jabs for 10 rounds. 10 rounds, that's 30 minutes plus. That's kind of crazy action, you know. Like, thinking back, you know, that's damn near an hour just throwing jab round after round after round after round after round. Most people would have quit, but I was determined to show him listen, you're not, you're not going to get rid of me, I'm here, you know. And then after a while he's like, okay, we'll do more than that, but it's just being being willing to just show up and just day after day after day, do the mundane, boring work. That's the key.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that concept of that baby steps kind of building up to bigger, bigger leaps and bounds eventually. So that leads me to want to ask you what are the baby steps that you're working on currently with your business? What are these new baby steps that you might be introducing to get your business to that next level?

Speaker 2:

For me, online training has always I've always had a disconnect with online training. Um, I love people, I love being with people. I love, you know, contact and seeing them and talking to them and seeing being able to help them from day to day, being able to advise them and really change their lives one-on-one. So I'm learning how to embrace not being there with people one-on-one, but still reaching a greater number of people, being able to influence and impact a greater number of people. So every day, I read up on like, okay, what are the strategies? How do I, how do I, you know, use social media or, you know, being on the podcast or talking to people? How do I get the word out about me, my brand, my program, so that I can reach a wider audience? So every day, I work on learning and connecting with people and that's what I'm doing every day to eventually get to where I have this polished product that I can put forth and have that be my online training program. I have it, but I just got to keep getting it better.

Speaker 1:

And we first connected at a speakers event. Where does that kind of fall into your business model with the speaking and the one-to-many kind of communication?

Speaker 2:

That's also another thing that I'm working on, because I feel like with my story, my experience in life and all the things that I've been through and achieved, I feel that I believe that I can help people. I can help people be the best version of themselves, chase their dreams, achieve their dreams and live their dreams. That's what I feel that I can, the value that I can add. So speaking will help me reach out and impact a lot of people. So it's kind of like both like online training and speaking I'm doing together because they're very similar. You know the marketing is different, but it's similar process.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's, that's an interesting way to go about it and that's pretty cool. And as you continue to kind of improve and increase your influence in connecting and communicating with more and more people, I got to ask you so what if someone's listening to this right now and they're like, yeah, I want to reach out and I want to start getting a little bit stronger, build some lean mass and also lose a little bit of body fat? Do they have to come to your facility down in the city? Or is the online um coaching? Is that something where it's at a stage where you're ready and able to be bringing on new people or currently are bringing people in for the online coaching?

Speaker 2:

yeah, so. So I am currently bringing like the program is ready. I'm just, you know, being the perfectionist, like you just keep tweaking it and making it better. So the program is ready. I have clients on it doing the online program already. I also do virtual sessions. So I do sessions on WhatsApp video FaceTime Zoom. So I do sessions on WhatsApp video FaceTime Zoom. So that's another option they can reach. People can reach out to me on Instagram and I have multiple ways that they can connect with me and work with me.

Speaker 1:

Now, do they have to have some sort of a boxing or some kind of athletic background to themselves in order to work with you?

Speaker 2:

So clients don't have to have any kind of athletic background, they don't even have to have worked out. In the past I've taken people who've never worked out before, people who are afraid of working out, afraid of lifting weights. I've taken them from being a pure, pure, pure beginner to expert level. So, um, like I love, I love teaching, I love fitness, and being in the fitness business has allowed me to marry both. So it's it's a huge passion of mine. And, um, just getting people to get you know they don't have to love it as much as I do, but just to get a little bit more love for it is life changing. So just to get the opportunity to help someone, or help people, is what I live for.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I could definitely tell the energy and passion that you bring to everything that you do when I first got to connect with you. And I could definitely tell the energy and passion that you bring to everything that you do. When I first got to connect with you I could just feel that energy and vibe there. So I only imagine working with you as a coach has got to be some pretty transformative and energizing experiences. So I appreciate that. And just so people know where do they go to find you on social media.

Speaker 2:

So they can, if you need to. You want to find me, and I encourage you to find me, because it truly will be a great transformation for your mind and your body. You can't have one without the other. N-g-o-o-k-a-f-o-rcom, or on Instagram. Catch C-A-T-C-H. Ingo. Catch Ingo on Instagram. Or just email me through my website and let's get ready to work.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, there you go, guys.

Speaker 1:

If you're interested in working or checking out some of his content, go follow him on social media and hop over to his website, too, to check out what he's got posted on over there.

Speaker 1:

And, dude, I appreciate you taking the time hopping on and sharing a bit about you. I know we talked a lot about different things, like your habits and really just taking those baby steps and the resilience and the mindset behind everything and what it really takes to become great. So I appreciate you sharing your experience and your insights and even taking the time today to kind of hop on, put your busy schedule on hold for a second and talk with me for a bit and my audience here. So I really appreciate that. And before we let you go, though, I got to ask you if you were to boil everything that you've learned down in life and business and fitness, everything you know and you were to package it up as one simple piece of advice for a younger version of yourself who's out there grinding and getting ready for the real world. What would that one piece of advice be?

Speaker 2:

real world. What would that one piece of advice be? The one piece of advice that I would give to myself, for anyone young, old is as long as you believe and as long as you're willing to put in the work, take baby steps and not allow yourself to get overwhelmed. Taking the baby steps will guarantee that you don't get overwhelmed. You will achieve your goal. You can. We truly we're magical, like truly. I mean I know it sounds like you know dreamy and all that, but we truly are magical, like our minds are limitless. So if you're willing and believe in that dream that you have and you're willing to work hard, you can achieve it. Just take baby steps, stay consistent. That's how I achieved everything that I achieved in my life. Believe that you can do it.

Speaker 1:

Work hard, baby steps that you can do it Work hard, baby steps, consistency That'll get you there. Boom, I love it, appreciate you, thank you so much, and we'll have to have you back on sometime in the future, so thank you again so much.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, Rob. I appreciate you making space for me to come and share. Thank you.

Speaker 1:

Of course, all right, guys. That's all we've got today for this week's episode of Surviving the Side Hustle. Make sure you go follow him on social and check out his website as well. Until next time, guys. Peace, peace, peace, peace.