Empowering the youth and inspiring others to reach their highest potential has been at the core of Mylan Murphy's endeavors from day one. For this Akron, Ohio native, his passion for basketball and commitment to creating a positive change has led him to global success as a social media influencer, content creator, motivational speaker, and entrepreneur. Grounding his brand—Motivated by Mylan—on the pillars of creativity, inspiration, and motivation, Mylan has continued to give back to others through the curation of different DIY projects, motivational videos, and community initiatives. Focusing on the importance of embracing one's personal journey and unique experiences, Mylan hopes to continue encouraging others to dream big, think outside the box, and always go after their dreams through his innovative content and love for the game. Truly inspiring!
Let’s start with your journey early on! You played basketball at Northern Michigan University. Could you share more with us about your time playing in college?
Yes! Honestly, I ended up there just by crazy chance. I was a Division I recruit coming out of high school. I broke my leg one week before my official visit to Baylor, which was my dream school at the time, and I remember telling the coach in the hospital bed: “Hey, I can't make my visit. I just broke my leg.” It was the most crushing thing. The coach at Northern Michigan at the time, he had heard about me—I had a clothing line that I had started when I was 13 and just other ventures and he had heard about me. He gave me a call and just said, “Hey, we still want to take a chance on you.” I remember him flying me out there. I flew out there on my crunches and committed on the spot. It was the greatest thing that happened to me. Obviously, my goal of going to the NBA didn’t happen or even playing overseas—the overseas thing was more so a personal decision—and I just decided to leave the game. I had more injuries come up, but being a college athlete was great. Those were some of the best days of my life. Definitely helped mold and shape me into who I am; just basketball in general, I've used it as a vehicle in life.
Reflecting back on your time in college, what are some key takeaways or lessons that you learned during your time as a student-athlete that you have applied as you've embarked on your professional career in this space?
That's a great question. Some key takeaways...as a student-athlete, I was always thinking outside of basketball. Yes my life was school and basketball—that was literally it—, but I was always thinking outside of that. Because of that, I was able to obtain a couple of different internships at the United States Olympic Committee; which then led to me working the London 2012 Summer Olympics and then also the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. I say that to say, some of those key points were: although I was a student-athlete, I still knew at some point in time there was going to be life outside of basketball. I didn't know if I would be involved in basketball or not, but I just knew that there was going to be life outside of it so it was never too early to start networking and trying to position myself properly. Obviously full circle now with what I'm doing, (which) is back to basketball; but those internships set me up with connections, different opportunities, and relationships that I have established for a lifetime.
You mentioned that you immersed yourself in the world of entrepreneurship when you were 13 years old. Diving more into the area of branding and entrepreneurship, how did you get started building your personal brand in this space?