About Me
I am a 47 year old small business entrepreneur from San Jose, CA. Raised by a family of Marines and God Fearing. I have two wonderful sons by the names of Jordan & Jayden. They are two years apart and each has a nickname...Jordan's is Jordy Boy and Jayden's is Shmeedy...collectively we are known as the Molina Boys as most call us. Raising two boys as a single Father has it's challenges, but I have taken a unique approach and chose to document our lives as we navigate through. It's been interesting to say the least.
In 2008, I started 408INC (408 Media) officially on paper and launched the website. Over the years it's changed quite a bit, and as of now we are strictly a multi-media business that does screen printing, embroidery, printing, some design etc. I have since re-branded the company and it is being relaunched as Molina's Multi-Media. My grandfather was a business owner and always told me, "if you can't put your name on your business then something is wrong or you are doing bad business"...hence the change to our last name.
I also have a background in music and have released music professionally since 1999 and have had the luxury of touring the entire United States and Eastern Canada. My artist name "Playa Rae" was given to me by Eric "Mac Pacino" Gordon from the Bay Area Hip Hop Duo "Mac & AK". I also have a group with my good buddy Trey C and collectively we are known as I.L.A.M. (Independent Like A Mutha). And although I enjoy music (my 1st love), it's something I do less of these days as I have focused on raising my children and building my businesses.
Aside from that, I have mentored at risk kids at an elementary school, I coach both baseball and football for kids 7-14 years old and help teach an after school program called Kids Club at a local elementary school once a week. It's safe to say, I am pretty good at getting the best results from kids; not just in sports but in life as well. I do a lot of outings to help teach kids skills like hiking and physical training too.
In 2017 I went through a divorce which was a life altering event. It's something I have learned to share publicly (ups and downs) to help grow and learn from it. I've also learned that in doing that, I have helped others who are dealing with the same; especially men. At the time of my divorce I was severely out of shape and mentally in a very bad broken place. At 252 lbs and standing only 5'6"...I had dug myself a real hole health wise. I got myself back into the gym, started slowly chipping away. While doing that, I returned to church (non-denominational) and renewed my faith in the Lord. This was an important step for me as it helped me raise my kids with a foundation. Side Note: My ex-wife and I have healed a bit since then and are co-parenting quite well...all praise to the most high.
Since then, I have lost about 62 lbs and documented the entire journey. A big reason for the drastic change in weight was a program called "75HARD" which was created by 1st Phorm CEO and Entrepreneur Andy Frisella. It was life changing for me and I am just about ready to wrap it up for the 2nd time in one year. I did the bulk of the work during 2020's Covid-19 Pandemic and that, is what truly changed my life both physically and mentally. Most went into depression and seclusion...and I went the other way. I turned to physical training (both strength and cardio) and mental training reading 15 books over the course of 9 months.
During that time, I launched The Perfect Mess Podcast which is a podcast about my life and it is growing steadily every month. I was encouraged to start the podcast by my good buddy Steve Shippy (some know him as Prozak of Strange Music). I think it's been a great decision and I owe a lot of that to him. I've also launched a brand during this pandemic and it is called "Beast or Famine". It basically sums up the mentality I took on when Covid hit and I watched people fold and sink into fear/depression. I chose to lace up my boot, put my chest out, hold tight to my faith and work harder than I ever have in my life on getting better at all aspects of my life.
That meant physically, mentally, financially and spiritually. I went hard on all four. Worked out everyday (no days off), read countless books and purchased even more to have me busy for a while. I also, took it upon myself to pay off any and all debt I had a bump my credit score 200+ points. During this time, prayer and staying connected was important; so I made sure to attend my weekly zoom meetings and volunteer at my church pantry giving food to those in need...and yes, that meant even when Covid was at it's peak and people were frightened...I got out on the frontline. So you see, while the world was going crazy I was training, working, reading and building. That is where Beast or Famine came from. The mentality.
And...somewhere in the middle of everything I just mentioned I was a booking agent, a speaker on a few music/business panels, Desmond Howard bought records from me (yea), my kids went viral at a San Francisco Giants game, I released a new album, .....OH! and I went completely broke twice...(yea, TWO TIMES.) Ask me why my podcast is called, "The Perfect Mess".
Anyway, I could go on and tell you so much more about me and what I do, but honestly...you are here on my website and it speaks for itself. I do a lot and it is a lot to take in, I know. If you want the in depth about me, the podcast is where you need to be. Check that out and you will learn everything you need to know about me as I am probably more candid than anyone you've ever met or come across. Oh and btw, hit the store...I've got some great Merch and offer some great services too if you need that as well.
- Ray Molina