Renaldo Gairy is the 2007
WBFF World Champion, and the 2007 FAME National Champion and more. You can read his full list of awards
here. He is also my cousin. His mom and my mom are sisters and it is crazy for me to look at what he has become. Renaldo, or Ren as I've always called him (I didn't know his name was Renaldo until a couple of years ago when I googled him) and his brother Wayne grew up in Toronto under my aunt and uncles roof. My brother and I grew up in Michigan so they were always within a days drive. We would drive or take the train to visit during the American Thanksgiving holiday.
I always looked forward to going up to their house to have some roti, patties, and my favorite bun and cheese (We are of Jamaican decent). Ren and Wayne always had the best supply of imported video games, and movies. I always got an education when I went. Also Ren could always draw and his room always had posters of his crazy lifelike sketches.
They also had weights down in their basement which I never really payed much attention to when we were kids and when I was in high school. I remember when I came to visit when I was in college and I was met by tall gold trophies next to their staircase. He showed me scribbled notebooks filled with dozens of different diets that he used before competitions, showed me some of the techniques that his posing coach had taught him, and told of the many days that he would go without drinking water before a show. He also never eats processed sugar...except to reward himself for a competition. When I started my brand I remember thinking back and looking at all he had accomplished and the extreme dedication in chasing his dream and thinking, "If Ren can do it, so can I." It is extremely inspiring to have someone else chasing their dream, and even more so when they are within your own family. Ren is a champion body builder, and causing quite a stir. You can tell from his video above that not only does he take extreme care of his body, but he is a bit of a showman as well. He goes beyond the realm of traditional body building by using dance moves and poses to set him apart from the competition and also make his routines more entertaining for the crowd. He is also a trainer and has trained other champions. However when I saw him after he had entered the circuit he was exactly same as he has always been, and that is the most impressive thing to me about him. The "Razor" is very much still just my same old import loving, cartoon sketching, McDonald's hotcake eating cousin Ren.
http://www.renaldogairy.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RazorRenaldoGairy
twitter.com/renaldogairy
