Community Highlights: Meet Faith Knight of Ballers Lounge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Faith Knight.

Hi Faith, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey started in Mid-City LA/West LA. From the young age of two years old, my parents enrolled me into the LA School of Gymnastics to start my sports career. By the time I was six years old, I was performing as a level 4 gymnast. It was then that my parents also entered me into my first beauty/talent pageant, the American Co-ed Pageant, where I won the talent and photogenic awards and took first place and became Miss Southern California 2006.

I was then scouted by a TV agent who wanted to put me in kid’s commercials and movies so I started acting and modeling. Not only was I interested in the film industry, I was also very passionate about music and was always encouraged to develop my singing and songwriting abilities. When I was eight years old, I wrote my first song and my love for music blossomed from there.

Circling back to the sports side, I began springboard diving and it became my first love when it came to sports. I began diving for park and recreational competitions and quickly progressed into Junior Olympic Springboard and Platform Diving. I trained with girls who were in high school, college, or training for the Olympics. Due to fast progression, I was then put on a schedule to train for the 2016 Brazil Olympics by the time I was nine, but an unfortunate injury caused me to sit out.

Being an only child who was creative and homeschooled opened a world of possibilities for me to explore my interests because no idea was too small or too big and my parents supported me in everything I wanted to do. One summer, I entered a summer film program, Diamond in the Raw, to learn the ins and outs of filmmaking. As a result of the program, I won the 2012 Action Icon Award and gave a speech in front of stuntmen and actresses across the union.

At the age of 13, I entered my freshman year of HIgh School and became the captain of the basketball team and participated in the engineering program. My high school basketball career continued on to various high schools where I graduated as a member of the National Honors Society, a 4.2 GPA, National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists Award of Excellence, and had various college basketball opportunities. However, I decided that was not the path I wanted to take. I began my college and modeling career, signing with 3 agencies and majoring in Biochemistry.

When COVID pandemic hit in 2020, I had the opportunity to play basketball again but I did not want to give up modeling. I decided to think of a way that I could still do both. It was then that I created my now sports media brand, Ballers Lounge.
We are a Youtube Show and sports media brand that focuses on the intricate stories of athletes from any sport. I interview both professional or college athletes and compete against them in their respective sports. Season 1 has been strictly about basketball and we are now gearing up for Season 2, which opens the platform up to all sports and genders. We are a small but growing brand that wants to expand and showcase the stories of the selected athletes, highlighting who they truly are so they can form their own narrative. In addition to Ballers Lounge, I am still a full-time model and also one of the live show hosts for Samsung, which streams live from all of Samsung’s platforms. Day by day, I am growing and would not be able to do any of this without my family and support system.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been pretty smooth, but obstacles happen. I tore my Achilles the summer of my junior year, which is a very prominent point during your college recruiting time. Recovery was lengthy and my game needed readjusting, and I decided to highlight different aspects of my game instead of previous play styles. I also would not have gotten back so quickly if it weren’t for my 3 core trainers, Coach Dre, Coach Marshann, and Coach J who worked me out and helped me develop the new version of my game.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Ballers Lounge is a sports media brand with a Youtube Show showcasing the lives, interests, and stories of professional and collegiate athletes. Ballers Lounge started in 2020 out of quarantine to create episode-based content surrounding specific athletes’ hobbies and any media narrative they want to rewrite. We give them a chance to tell their own stories and show the public who they are outside of their sports. Each season is guided towards new sports and each episode is guided 100% around the athlete. To bring entertainment, I interview the athletes and then compete against them no matter their sport. We also have clothing merchandise for Ballers Lounge itself and collaborative merchandise with select athletes. These athletes get to co-design their

merchandise with me and then we release it on our website as their very own collection. We are always looking for new college and professional athletes of any sport who want to showcase their story and be featured on the show; whether you are a skateboarder or a soccer player, all are welcome. We would also love the public to subscribe to our Youtube and follow our social media for new updates and episodes. We are also looking for sponsors who would love to be featured in our episodes as we showcase our athletes using their products etc.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I’m always looking to collaborate and work with brands for modeling and any sort of creative space. I also would like to share the nuggets of information listed below. Be yourself, don’t ever let anyone tell you that you aren’t good enough for something because they do not know your potential. Be open-minded and take opportunities that you feel are aligned with your life because you never know where they can lead you. Also, be kind to yourself. No one is perfect and in the world we live in, it is easy to compare lifestyles, so work at your own pace and fulfill your destiny; everyone makes mistakes, but it’s how you let those mistakes define you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theballerslounge.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imfaithknight/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faith-knight-937730244/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1jbjpNv_revRMl_DEimGLA
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/ballersloungetv/

 
Image Credits
Elijah Smith Ryan Robertson Quran Gooch Armani Creighton Nadia Knight Chris Johnson DeLauren Jaughne Odi 10k Nick Lanning