We had the good fortune of connecting with Eric Griffin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The thought process behind starting my own business was two-fold. The first was simple, because I was the one with the vision to provide a unique professional development ecosystem, I needed to be the one to at least spearhead and lead the execution of said vision. The second thought of owning was to have something that I could one day pass on to my daughters that would provide them more flexibility in life than preceding generations have had.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a Cyber Security Professional by trade and a self proclaimed ‘career technologist’ who has supplemented my civilian career with a 20+ year part-time gig in the United States Air Force Reserve. I still serve proudly as a ‘mustang’ (prior enlisted) who started from the bottom and now holds a leadership position as a Cyber Warfare Operations Officer (0-4 Major). In terms of challenges, I certainly took the path less traveled on my professional journey, From joining the military as an enlisted airman AFTER graduating with a BS (Software Engineering) Degree, getting commissioned as an officer 8 years later, and dually working both civilian and military jobs simultaneously. I have had held multiple jobs and titles between then and now, to include Software Engineer, Network Engineer, Program/Project Manager, Cyber Subject Matter Expert, etc. to name a few. One of the main challenges has unfortunately be one that some or most of ‘us’ are all to0 familiar with, Having to go above and beyond just to prove our worth as equals. From degrees to certifications, my professional career has been mostly about proving that I am just as intelligent and capable as my counterparts. As a positive result of this, I have become the life-long learner that I am today. So 4 post high-school degrees and multiple industry certifications later…here I stand, ready to blaze my own trail, instead of asking if I can ride on others.

The “Be Fed” brand stems from and ties directly into my life experiences. None more so than my experiences in 2020. In what I would call a valiant attempt at both trying to help my culture (Trump years) and trying to prove that I was indeed intelligent enough, I had the opportunity and got accepted into law school. As a non-traditional student, I initially struggled. After barely making the cut the first semester, my ex-wife (military) was suddenly deployed overseas, leaving me with my two young daughters (9 and 7 yrs old) and law school to take care of. It was grueling yet bearable at first, but then COVID hit. Between homeschooling and virtual learning, I was burning the candles at both ends trying to make things work. Due to the quarantine, I had little to no options for help and most days would only get 2-3 hours of sleep. I became so mentally and emotionally exhausted that I literally put my address on the refrigerator and told my daughters that ‘if daddy doesn’t wake up, take my phone and call 911 and give them this address.” Still hurts that I put them in that situation at that age. Fortunately I had a friend in Geordoni McKoy who was starting her Life Coaching career and offered to help me work thru that dark period. In working with her, and realizing that there were other disparate resources available, one morning I literally woke up with an epiphany. I needed to Be Fed….mentally, physically, and emotionally. I needed to access all of the resources I could and intentionally feed myself what I needed. Be that a therapist, a personal trainer, a spiritual advisor, a book, a youtube video, or whatever…I needed to be proactive about feeding myself where there was malnourishment. This revelation led to me discovering that even though there are resources available, there is no consolidated place for one to go to seek personal development, so why not create one!

In an effort to truly succeed in life, we must deliberately and intentionally seek the knowledge and experiences that help us grow…we must BE FED…Mind, Body, and Spirit.

Be Fed looks to provide a personal development community tailored to the needs of individuals who want to be proactive and deliberate about increasing their personal development in order to effectively face life’s ever-growing challenges. I envision a place where we can nourish our minds through educational resources, strengthen our bodies through fitness routines that fit into our demanding schedules, and find solace for our spirits through mindfulness practices. All while providing a collaborative platform to share and grow said resources to anyone at anytime.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend were visiting the area and I wanted to show them the best time ever, I would definitely take them to Piedmont Park. At any given time, there is likely to be some sort of festival going on and the park is spaciously beautiful for all to enjoy. I would also take them on a hike up Stone Mountain or a walk on the Beltline (Ponce City Market). That workout itself would preclude any guilt from the plethora of eating establishments I would take them to afterwards. My favorite spots to eat include MCK and Taste (Buckhead), Rock Steady (Midtown?), and Roc South Cuisine (Brookhaven). For nightlife, it’s definitely Whiskey Mistress, Blue Martini, Pasha, or Rock Steady.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Multiple people deserve recognition in my story, I’ll try to name everyone when my tell-all biography hits the bookstores, lol. But the names that quickly come to mind include: Eric Sloan, Shay Grant, Kam Ballard, Geordoni McKoy, Janon Redmond, and Camille Hamilton to name a few. Those, and others, give credence to the phrase “My circle has no squares…”

Website: https://befed.life

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/eric-d-griffin-73451517

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