The fitness world is among the most difficult to enter let alone succeed in. The fact that there are so many “wrong paths” to fall down, and just as many of the “wrong people” to help guide you down them; makes achieving any sort of success as a fitness model one step closer to impossibility. Regardless of this sad truth, my first shoot with BBPics was the first photo shoot I left, feeling completely satisfied in every possible way.
My name is Nick Wright. I am an INBF, NPC, OCB Natural Teen Bodybuilder. I have been competing since I was 15 years old, and have competed in 5 successful shows over the last 4 and half years, including 3 successful wins in 2009 alone. I started of at a more severe disadvantage, size wise, than many other bodybuilders that I run into.
It is never easy entering your freshmen year in high school weighing less than most of the girls, with arms no larger than the average man’s wrist. Unfortunately, the painful picture I just painted, was the story of my life in HD! At 14 years old, I weight 104lbs at the end of the day, packing 11.5” arms. No typo here, my arms were 2.5” away from the single digits, my first year in high school!
This situation is of course, bad enough for any male adolescent. What made it worse was my obsession for attention, and respect. I had it in my head that I was, or at least, supposed to be the head turning, big guy of the school. I so badly wanted to be “that guy” in life that people looked up to, and strove to be. I was always intrigued, heavily, by all of the “larger than life” figures. I was inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger as a boy, and was literally in awe and obsessed with the immense size he brought to all of his films. Even those I knew personally who took part in the bodybuilding lifestyle impacted me heavily. My uncle, who was a non-competitive bodybuilder, has always been a huge part of my drive in this game.
All throughout my years, I had participated in various sports. From soccer to recreational basketball, I had done it all. I even got into Wrestling and Boxing for a period of time in high school; which, aside from bodybuilding, became my favorite sports. Despite the mild interest I took in all of these sports, I really longed to find ONE specific sport I could be fully passionate about, and excel in. My father had made a name for himself in marathon running. Having placed top-ten in all of the major marathons, his office has always been covered in plaques, trophies, and metals. This is what lit the fire inside me. I wanted that. I yearned for my own accumulation of metals, and trophies, and to have a sincere passion for something, that had been lacking in every other sport.
I remember seeing a show on television involving an amateur bodybuilder, going over his progress. This inspired me to get serious about training. I began by recording my measurements, which is how I know the exact DAY I began bodybuilding, as well as my very first stats. I began researching various bodybuilders, not even knowing the difference between Mr. Universe, and Mr. Olympia at the time. I was blown away to a jaw dropping state of amazement upon seeing the immense size, vascularity, and muscular development of the world’s top bodybuilders. Not even knowing the difference between natural bodybuilders and non-tested, I began posting up photos of my favorite names all along the walls of my home-gym, and became addicted.
I have always believed in shooting for any opportunity as soon as you know you want it. I had my first girlfriend when boys still thought girls were gross, I had my first job at a restaurant at 13 years old, and I entered my first competition at 15 years old. Many would press that I was not ready, and I would agree for the most part. But I wanted to do it, and I had fun with it. I placed 2nd in the Teenage division, and won the “Best Poser” award in my fist show. After that I continued to compete in every organization from the INBF, to the OCB, and even the NPC. I won every show in the Teen Division following my first, and began to take on, and knock out the Men’s divisions in various major shows. This year, in 2009 I won 3 shows in a row, and landed as high as a very close 2nd place in an extremely large Men’s division, in one of the most prestigious shows on the East coast.
This year was also the start of a very successful video series involving entertaining videos on nutrition, training, competing, and a whole lot more! This channel alone led to my signing with “Youtube Partnership”, and “Google Adsense”, leading to revenue being made off of these videos, which are now gaining thousands of views a day. This online publicity then lead to sponsorship, attention from various other fitness websites wanting my participation, photo shoots, and of course becoming an official “RTN Star”, working with Revolutionary Nutrition as a spokes model for their supplement company.
The most amazing feeling is not the euphoria of seeing the jokes made by my friends, transform into respect thanks to hard work and perseverance, but being able to give back to the community. The online “fame” has enabled me to help those who are beginning or looking to improve in the lifestyle, with information that I wish I had when I was beginning. Everything I achieved has been self-learned with no trainer, or coach. This is why being able to help and inspire as many people as I can to pursue their goals, while brining this world to the mainstream, is my favorite part of all!
Unlike many people, who inhabit this lifestyle as just a sport or hobby, and nothing more; it has become THE life style for me. Bodybuilding is becoming a full-on career for me by branching out into modeling and spokes modeling for supplement companies, as well as Youtube. It is because of this, that when people ask what I do for a hobby or downtime outside of this, I don’t have too much of an answer lately, given the 24 hour extent of my life. My most cherished down time I get on the week days before a show, or photo shoot, when dieting is at it’s most intense; is kicking back, and watching some cheesy sitcom on television around mid-night while eating my last meal. It’s times like these, that I love watching simple, somewhat corny shows, that don’t involve much thinking and end up being extremely funny due to my fatigue. My favorites are always Roseanne, Scrubs, and Family Guy, while eating that egg-white omelet with turkey!
When I DO get some time off from shooting, networking and competing; I love installing custom car audio with a friend of mine. It was a hobby we have been able to make some good money off of, and we love to do it. I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend of two years when I can. If ever we are both given a free moment in a day, we generally take advantage of it by going on a Starbucks date, or out to eat somewhere fun. I do go to parties with my friends, and have actually thrown some HUGE parties of my own, but rarely ever take part in any other aspect of partying outside of the social area. I am naturally charismatic, flirty, relaxed, and am able to have fun, and bring life to any situation without getting intoxicated. I am at the point where people now assume I don’t drink just by looking at me. I am extremely intuitive, comprehensive, and alert to my surroundings, and extremely creative, so I love having fun with friends, meeting new people, and am able to do so soberly in order to keep focus on reaching my potential. Having a strong faith in Christianity has helped me tremendously along the way with all of this. I give all of my accomplishments to my lord and savior Jesus Christ. It’s through him I have been able to stay focused, and put in the work needed to keep reaching new levels.
My latest move has been a two-day photo shoot with the one and only BBPics.Com, and it has resulted in the most satisfying way possible. Every angle is covered by BBPics, from the professionalism, to the amazing quality of the photos. Immediately after speaking with John Mitchell, of BBPics, my excitement and hope for the modeling world became re-ignited. I was too used to the false promises, and redundancy of the more notorious names in the game that I had began to develop some resentment towards the fitness-modeling world. This quickly changed with my first conversation with John. He did not waste time trying to butter me up with over exaggerated praise in an attempt to make money off of me, but instead brought friendly realism and honesty to the table. He most importantly presented a sincere passion for the Modeling life style, and showed me how I could expand in this world, as opposed to simply telling me how much of a commodity I could become, and how much I needed him to get there, etc. He was real.
I spent the weekend with John, and left extremely pleased in every way possible. The photos he took blew me away. He was the first photographer to completely capture the image that I saw when I looked in the mirror! So many times, the photos I see after a shoot will generate good attention, but will not satisfy me completely. BBPics is the definition of professional photography. As a hard-critic of myself, and any photos taken of me, I can honestly say I have NEVER seen better photography.
BBPics is also one of the most professional names out there. There is not a hint of dishonesty, perversion, or any sort of inappropriate content. BBPics is completely clean, and captures the true aspect of modeling from all angles. My fitness shots came out just as amazing as my fashion shots did. Color, black and white, BBPics makes it work outstandingly. Through out the whole entire shoot, I felt 100% comfortable, and left with not the slightest feeling of regret, which is very important given the content that is out there. I cannot stress how pleased I am with the work of BBPics. In this case, the photographer is just as great as the photos, and BBPics presents one of the widest ranges of opportunity. I loved my first shoot with BBPics, and look forward to the many more we have planned.
