Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Jason Branch.
Hi Dr. Jason, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
FROM SALAMANDER TO GATOR
A professor, therapist, and podcast host walks away from the ivory tower to bet on himself
I am a Black male therapist who has a therapist. I am a college professor, a licensed professional counselor, a licensed mixologist, and a podcast host. I’m rare and unique like a unicorn, except I’m Black with a Gold horn.
For more than 20 years in the helping profession, I did exactly what I was taught to do: go to school, get a good job. I climbed the ladder of the ivory tower, and I climbed it well. I earned the degrees and the titles. I was months away from a promotion to Distinguished Professor. By every measure I had been handed, I had done the work and checked every box, and then some. And still, I was one paycheck away from losing it all.
That truth sat with me. What I had been taught and told by the culture had set me up for a comfortable life, but comfortable was no longer what I wanted. I wanted to become comfortable being uncomfortable, because that is where I become the best version of myself. So I decided to bet on myself. That decision forced me to take a hard look at the system I had invested so much of myself in. I began to see that academia was not so different from corporate America, or from capitalism itself. Free labor could become normalized. Talented people could be taken advantage of. And sometimes we keep climbing a ladder simply because we have already invested so much in it. So I asked myself the question that changed everything: what happens when you realize the ladder is taking you somewhere you no longer want to go? I decided to get off.
I want to be clear about this part. I am not leaving academia because I failed. I am planning my exit because I have outgrown the version of success I had been chasing all these years. There is a difference. For a long time I believed success meant climbing higher: the next degree, the next title, the next promotion, the next accomplishment. What I have learned is that success, for me, means learning, growing, and becoming exactly who I was designed to be.
I often describe my transformation as going from a salamander to a gator. The salamander represents survival. The gator represents thriving. I had learned how to survive. I knew how to navigate systems, achieve goals, collect credentials, and climb ladders. But I had been living in survival mode, and I wanted more than that. I wanted to thrive. So I built something of my own. I built Gator University. I didn’t build it because I have arrived, or because I have it all figured out. I built it because I know what it feels like to be in the middle of becoming.
Today, I am an executive wellness coach, consultant, speaker, trainer, author, and podcast host, and the Founder and President of Gator University. It is a community, a culture, and a collective of high-performing helping professionals and others who are willing to do the work to become the best versions of themselves. It is a place where people can connect organically and grow intentionally. At the center of that work is a framework I call The 3 Parallels: Who We Were, Who We Are, and Who We’re Becoming. Some people know them better as HIM. HER. THEM. Those three versions of ourselves are always present. Who we were informs us. Who we are challenges us. Who we are becoming calls us forward.
For more than two decades, I have helped people see that they are not limited to who they have been. We can acknowledge who we were, be honest about who we are, and still have the courage to become a better, healthier version of ourselves. Today I am doing that work for myself as much as I am doing it for others. Moving from professor to entrepreneur is not about walking away from everything I built. It is about taking everything I learned and giving myself permission to build something new. I am diving deep to find the shining, guiding light of who I AM and who I have been called to become, and I am using my knowledge, experience, and expertise to help other people see themselves so they can begin helping themselves. The ladder was never the point. The becoming was.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not a smooth road at all, it was a struggle throughout my experience.As a Black male, I was usually one of one. Being the only one comes with levels and layers of limiting beliefs, about myself and about my impact on the profession and beyond. You carry the weight of representing more than just yourself.
Navigating academia felt like playing a game where you never get access to the rule book. I was figuring it out as I went, often alone, with limited support and mentorship. I wrestled with imposter syndrome and the belief that I had to be perfect, that I needed to have all the answers and get it right no matter what.
And then there was the human side: managing personalities, navigating systems, and facing racism. I also encountered unhealthy helping professionals who placed their own unresolved stuff on me instead of helping me along the way. That one stung, because those were the very people who were supposed to know better.
It was hard. But I found me in the process of it all. Every obstacle forced me to look inward, and what I found there is what I now bring to the people I serve.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
One of my proudest accomplishments is hosting my own podcast, The 3 Parallels, a show where we rediscover who we were, embrace who we are, and make room for who we are becoming. It is the heart of everything I’m building. I took all the years of my life and career and poured them into the show, interviewing guests from all walks of life who share their story of their past self, current self, and future self. At its core, the show is about healing and wellness, and it’s an easy investment that only requires your time and attention.
What sets me apart, and what listeners and guests tell me stands out most, is my personality, humor and ability to break down complex topics and problems into easy-to-understand concepts and frameworks. I use analogies and metaphors to help people dive into themselves and create opportunities for healing and wellness.
Beyond the podcast, I serve as an executive wellness coach, consultant, and speaker. I’ve found creative and innovative ways to help people overcome limiting beliefs and begin living life on their own terms. Many of us live by rules someone else created, rules we have long outgrown. My work is to help people become the best version of themselves so they no longer have to chase anyone or anything. When you become a healthier version of yourself, you begin attracting the people, places, and things you are supposed to have.
As a therapist, I help people uncover what’s deep in their basement, unpack it, and remove what no longer serves them, while adding what helps them grow into their best selves.
As an executive wellness coach, I work with high-performing helping professionals who are exceptional at taking care of everyone else but have forgotten how to take care of themselves. Through the Gator vs. Salamander Model, I help you build the emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental capacity to protect your peace, sustain your success, and become the healthiest version of yourself without sacrificing your purpose.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Hanging out with my cousins. Growing up as an only child, I had cousins who were like brothers to me. We didn’t have much, but we made the best of what we had. We were all close in age and grade level, so we were in everything together: the park, video games, sports, movies. And we were surrounded by family, primarily women: aunties, mothers, grandmothers.
We didn’t know what we didn’t have, because what we had was more than enough.
All these years later, we are still connected. We support and encourage each other, learning and growing personally and professionally as we build our own lives and families, and we keep creating time and opportunities to stay close. We’re still doing the best we can with what we have.
Pricing:
- Call for Quotes
- Book a Consultation
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.DrJbranch.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/3parallelspodcast?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jason.branch06?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfr
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-branch-phd-lpc-acs-2b318621/?trk=public-profile-join-page
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/@3ParallelsPodcast
