Motivational speaker and basketball trainer AJ Rompza joins Coline Witt on Eating While Broke for a real conversation about mindset, gratitude, discipline, and overcoming setbacks—all while cooking Velveeta mac and cheese in a hot studio with the AC out.

AJ opens up about growing up in a divorced household in Chicago, being told he was “too small,” and how that doubt became fuel. He shares the role his brother and mentors played in shaping his work ethic, then walks through earning a Division I scholarship at UCF and the shock of losing half his senior season due to an NCAA compliance case tied to $900 he received years earlier.

From there, AJ talks about the identity struggle after basketball: breaking his foot at a pro workout, working in his father’s bar, rebuilding through training, and moving to Los Angeles in 2019. He explains how COVID unexpectedly accelerated his client network and why boundaries, vulnerability, and choosing positivity matter when life gets heavy.

If you’re navigating a setback, trying to rebuild your confidence, or looking for motivation that’s actually practical, this episode is for you!

Motivational speaker and basketball trainer AJ Rompza joins Coline Witt on Eating While Broke for a real conversation about mindset, gratitude, discipline, and overcoming setbacks&mdash;all while cooking Velveeta mac and cheese in a hot studio with the AC out.
AJ opens up about growing up in a divorced household in Chicago, being told he was &ldquo;too small,&rdquo; and how that doubt became fuel. He shares the role his brother and mentors played in shaping his work ethic, then walks through earning a Division I scholarship at UCF and the shock of losing half his senior season due to an NCAA compliance case tied to $900 he received years earlier.
From there, AJ talks about the identity struggle after basketball: breaking his foot at a pro workout, working in his father&rsquo;s bar, rebuilding through training, and moving to Los Angeles in 2019. He explains how COVID unexpectedly accelerated his client network and why boundaries, vulnerability, and choosing positivity matter when life gets heavy.
If you&rsquo;re navigating a setback, trying to rebuild your confidence, or looking for motivation that&rsquo;s actually practical, this episode is for you!

Hosted by media maven Coline Witt, ‘Eating While Broke’ podcast is a new interview series centered around self-made celebrities, influencers, disruptors and entrepreneurs eating meals they once ate when they were broke. Episodes will also feature guest who are in the mood to recreate some of their favorite low cost meals. EWB guest will introduce the dish, as the dish is revealed to the host, before the chow down begins, while discussing life, some of the their most pivotal moments and more. In this intimate setting the interview begins with a journey of tales from the trenches not matter if you're Eating While Broke or Eating While on a Budget.

Eating While Broke

AJ ROMPZA - Mac & Grit

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/aeb4cd58-ea90-4d4a-b1cf-b4ff00f160a6/transcript