The mission of CivMix has been built on giving community voices and news a platform. From the daily “Rise and Shine” updates to our “CivMix Voices” blog, we want to make sure that you know not only what is happening in the #518 but also meet some of the individuals that are involved and invested in our great community. Contributor Alyssa Lotmore will be highlighting some of those individuals in our new “CivMixer Spotlight” series.
CivMixer Spotlight: Macwood Jean-Marie
Everyone deserves a chance to not only look good but also feel empowered at the same time. That is the belief behind the brand TuffSmart Apparel. The brand’s founder was born in Haiti, relocated to Rockland County at age 10 with his mother and grandmother, and then to Troy, NY in 2005. The transition was not always smooth, including a time of being homeless, but valuable lessons were learned that helped shape this individual into who he is today. Meet Macwood Jean-Marie.
Q: There were a lot of experiences in your past that led you to where you are now. Let’s begin by sharing a little bit about yourself and how those events led you to where you are today.
A: Today I am a father of three beautiful kids. To answer your question in detail, I moved to Albany, NY in pursuit of playing basketball at Hudson Valley Community College after my high school graduation from Ramapo High School in Spring Valley, NY in 2005. Unfortunately after relocating to Troy that year, I ended up homeless for a period of time and was forced to take a different route. It was during those years that I found out what this world truly is to me. I had to first figure out how to survive and then make time to focus on my crafts. Fast forward, the first strategic move that I did was to get back into school. I would end up going through many colleges before ending up at UAlbany. Just want to back track for a second, prior to attending UAlbany, while attending Schenectady County Community College, I was given an opportunity to give a presentation titled, “Faith + Vision = Perseverance,” at a Men Of Color annual conference down in Virginia in December of 2018 and won an award for that presentation. The Troy City Council read about this through the Troy Record and decided to present me with a recognition award.
If you’re wondering how this came to be, I give credit to God for protecting me and He still is. I also want to point out that I went back to doing research on a person I learned about back when I was in fifth grade, Tony Robbins. I mention him because he provides information on personal development that would then lead me to other key mentors. One of the most important pieces of information I learned was through a book he wrote titled, “Money Master The Game,” which was about how to develop an entrepreneurial mind set.
To keep this short and yet informative, I learned that one of the main ways to accomplish a goal is by knowing your “WHYs.” I learned that when times get rough, and they will, knowing your “WHYs” is going to remind you the reasons it is important for anyone to continue pushing through adversities.
Q: You graduated from SUNY Schenectady in 2019 and are attending UAlbany as a Psychology major. Why did you chose to invest in your education, and the area of psychology in particular?
A: I have not yet graduated from UAlbany but I can say that I have learned some valuable information from the time I have been there. I look at education as a tool in which, when applied, can create magnificent changes in one’s life as it has done, and hope to continue to do so, for me.
To answer your question on my reasons for choosing psychology in particular, I must say it has to do a lot with the time I was homeless. During those tough moments I wondered why it is that certain individuals can have such things and prosper while others, such as myself during that era, were at constant struggles. I feel that psychology opens the door to people’s motives in life and why they feel it’s important to behave in certain ways.
Q: From navigating school to creating a business, there is a lot to balance. How does your interest in trying to understand the minds and behaviors of people (that psychology background) tie into your brand, TuffSmart Apparel, and its creation?
A: To be fully honest with you, there is a lot more for me to learn in order for me to fully comprehend reasons people behave in such manners. What I can say is this, people want to be a factor in one form or another, they want to be able to contribute and want to feel validated. With that in mind, I created TuffSmart brand / TuffSmart Apparel to empower those who seeks growth. I want them to understand that in order to persevere through the struggle we must acquire both a ‘Tuff & Smart’ mind set and not just a narrow minded one.
Being that I am an author of three self-published books and currently working on my fourth one, my thoughts were on how to inspire the younger generation through empowering images with life changing concepts. I have also provided information on financial literacy as far as I’ve come to learn about it and to give readers examples of this (i.e. I have a section on ways to go about your retirement plans). You could find this information in my second book titled, “Finding Value,” available on Amazon.
I have a “Bootstrapping Graphic-T “ on my TuffSmart website. The concept behind this is to enlighten people that financial independence is on us. Sometimes achieving success, even when we start with little to nothing, requires us to strap up those boots and keep grinding. You could also learn more about all my graphic-t concepts in my third book titled ‘What Every Entrepreneur Needs To Know.”
Q: You seem to be a change maker, someone who wants to make a different in the community. From your schooling and business, to even writing books, tell us how you are making an impact on the community.
A: I have been blessed to give back in many ways, more so by spreading information about what I stand for and provide. At times, I give back in ways that has nothing to do with books or empowering apparel. I love sports so whenever I play basketball in particular, I like to give players a few pointers on how to improve their game. When I see kids alone on the court, trying to develop their form and skills, I offer advice.
Recently I’ve attend this year’s Juneteenth event down on South Pearl Street in Albany. I was able to make valuable connections with great individuals who reside right here in our community. I plan on being a part of these events whenever the opportunity arises as our community is filled with change makers.
Q: You resided in Troy for a time while growing up and attended college in both Schenectady and Albany. It’s safe to say that you are pretty familiar with the area. What are three things that you love most about the area?
A: I must say, I am fairly aware of the area but of course there is always more to learn and know about. I do love the fact that there are local parks almost everywhere throughout the cities. I love the opportunities that are available for residents, such as community loan fund programs. I love how diverse this area is because I get the chance to experience other cultures, especially the food, LOL.
