Curtis Walls’ Versatility Sets Him Apart as a Modern-Day Renaissance Man
Curtis Walls ‘08 is a man of many talents who has achieved many successes through sports, leadership coaching, philanthropy, art and entrepreneurship.
Walls, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, came to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with aspirations of becoming a top student-athlete, excelling in academics and on the football field. He was the team captain and played as a wide receiver from 2003-07. In addition, in 2006 he became a member of the Beta Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.
In 2008, Walls received a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture and was hired immediately as a project landscape architect at Design Workshop based in Aspen, Colorado. However, because of the economic downturn of 2008, he was laid off after only seven months.
“When the recession hit in 2008, I had to make a hard decision to return home to Charlotte with no job opportunities,” said Walls. “I spent a lot of time looking for a new job but eventually I had to bet on myself, and I went back to something I was good at and that was professional sports.”
From 2008-12, Walls played professional football for the Canadian Football League and played for one year with the Arena Football League in Pittsburgh. During this same time period, he co-founded a nonprofit called the T.I.M.E. (Taking Initiative Moving Efficiently) Foundation in 2008 that mentored seventh through 12th graders in the Charlotte area. It was one of the largest mentoring programs in the city, and the City of Charlotte presented the organization with a proclamation for its “Youth EmpowHERment Summit Day” in 2012.
“Working in the community with the T.I.M.E. Foundation gave me an opportunity to make an impact in the lives of children who needed to see what mentorship, empowerment and investment looked like in their city,” said Walls. “The organization partnered with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system and Communities In Schools, and we hosted mentoring sessions and several empowerment conferences for students and single mothers, and provided resources to their parents.”
In 2014, Walls added another career venture to his résumé and went full throttle into the world of NASCAR as a pit crew member and performance coach. For seven years, he worked tirelessly to train the best of the best in NASCAR.
“By 2020, I had to make a decision if I wanted to continue working for other people or did I want to build something from the ground up,” said Walls. “During the pandemic, it was a time for me to sit still and re-evaluate what I really wanted to do. I was already doing personal training with professional athletes on the side, but this was an opportunity to turn it into a business.”
In 2020, Walls started You vs. Yourself, an elite gymnasium and training center for professional athletes and community members. The gym offers wrap-around services in nutrition, Pilates, massage therapy, and yoga. In 2023, The Charlotte Observer named You vs. Yourself the No. 1 gym in Charlotte.
“After launching, You vs. Yourself, it took off immediately because it was something people needed, especially during a time of uncertainty in the pandemic,” Walls said. “Within one year, I was able to start a second location to meet the needs of my clientele.”
Walls is the architect of his own life who took a chance to bet on himself. He is always on the go with his other ventures including NxLevel Queen City, a lifestyle and entertainment group; Become. Inspire. Empower., a leadership coaching and consulting agency; and his latest opportunity as a brand ambassador with Roc Nation, a national multi-disciplinary entertainment company in lifestyle, art and culture. Lastly, he serves on several nonprofit boards and consults with Opera Carolina.
To learn more information about Walls, visit www.curtiswalls.com.
