African Americans embody a blend of diverse cultures, backgrounds and skills. The 2024 Black History Month theme, “African Americans and the Arts,” commemorates the ingenuity, perseverance and originality of African Americans across various artistic domains. These include music, dance, theater, visual arts and literature. It delves into the profound ways in which African American culture has provided solace and inspiration throughout history, while also emphasizing the significant contributions Black Americans have made to cultural shifts and beyond.
Demetrius Baker, a man of varied talents, is the son of Lanell Harris Baker (RHS ’83) and the late Tony Baker (RHS ’80).
Born in Maine during his father’s Air Force career, Demetrius classifi es himself as a “military brat” who learned to evolve in different places and situations. The family lived in Las Vegas and Japan among other places, before returning to their hometown of Rockdale.
Demetrius graduated from Rockdale High School in 2008.
According to Demetrius, his contributions to society in the areas of martial arts, physical fitness and visual arts were developed because of the lifestyle and upbringing provided by his parents. He admits that he was “not always the best kid” growing up.
As a veteran, his father Tony provided structure and discipline to Demetrius and his sibling.
“Dad was a very strong father figure. He was very strict and disciplined, although I did have a lot of freedom,” Demetrius said.
This provided not only a strong foundation, but also the ability to participate in a lot of things. There was balance.
As a result, Demetrius recognized that being successful required discipline and focus. He says that his father always got up and went to work regardless of how he felt.
“He never complained. He just bit the bullet to do what had to be done,” Demetrius said. “He got the job done by any means necessary.”
This attitude of perseverance served, Demetrius well as he entered college at UTSA, pursuing a degree in criminal justice. With his “can do” attitude, Demetrius walked on to the UTSA football team in his junior year of college and completed his Bachelor of Arts in 2012.
After college, Demetrius worked with the juvenile center in Williamson County, before moving on to a career at Travis County in adult corrections for five years.
In the fourth year, Demetrius was on the CTAC tactical team to conduct high risk transports of prisoners, cell extractions of inmates and riot control. It was here that Demetrius began to follow his passion for physical fitness. As a result, Demetrius was the combat fitness champion at Travis County for the entire agency, including the SWAT team, SRT and all other specialized units, totaling approximately 400-500 people.
To become combat champion, one has to workout for three rounds (five minutes of fighting) and overcome all opponents. Demetrius says that as this happened, he came to a crossroads in life where he asked God what his next move would be. With his answer, Demetrius believed that personal training, physical fitness and modeling was his next path.
As a personal trainer, Demetrius started slowly, training primarily females, boot camp style. From there, his passion has grown to a multi-media business hosting one-on-one clients, online workouts and social media posts to Instagram.
In fact, Demetrius has an online presence which has grown to over eight million views on workout posts over the past year plus. Today, Demetrius is a full-time trainer.
In discussing the contributions of African Americans to the various arts, Demetrius indicates that anywhere he can express himself fully is a passion.
Aside from his online physical fitness ventures, Demetrius is an actor and model. He directs, partners and performs in short films. His most recent short film is a collaboration project called HANDS. He anticipates that it will be shown in the Austin Film Festival in October 2024.
Demetrius says that he likes being able to embody other characters in his short film work and discovering new ways to express himself.
As for other ventures, Demetrius has performed as a body-double for Dak Prescott in an Oxfit commercial, an extra in a shoot-out scene in “Walker Texas Ranger” (2022) and attends casting calls when they are available.
Demetrius is also in the process of writing a short drama film.
Today, his focus is on expanding his online presence through social media and maximizing the services provided to his clients.
Overall, Demetrius indicates that all of the success he has had in life is due to his faith and personal development. His philosophy is that one’s level of success will not supersede their level of personal development. As such, he continuously strives to improve by reading books, listening to audio books, investing in mentors, investing in his health and priming his body with healthy nutrition. Education is key to having large goals.
The key to success, for him, is minding his own business. Demetrius says that this is the most important key. He indicates that “not focusing on other people and on our reactions to other people, but focusing on the why behind why you do what you do” is important for self-development and peace.
People see success but don’t think about the work that goes into being successful, according to Demetrius. It is easy to see the end result of the contribution, but not the actions that lead one there.
As an employee of Travis County, Demetrius worked hard, but as an entrepreneur, he says he has doubled that effort to grow mentally.
At the beginning of his journey, Demetrius admits there was fear, and he didn’t know what he would do; however, it was both scary and fun. He says he felt free. Similar to jumping out of an airplane, but not knowing if the parachute would open.
Today, as he looks back, his parachute did open and he coasted to a safe area for landing. Jumping out and betting on himself was a beautiful thing to do, and Demetrius had just the right amount of self-confidence to do that.
When asked what authors helped him to grow, Demetrius cites Earl Nightingale, Brian Tracey, Ed Mylette and Napoleon Hill, to name a few.
He advocates for doing your research and clearly identifying personal goals.
Continuing his film and physical fitness careers are future goals as well as raising his son, Taylon, 10.
Demetrius sees himself as a tough father, much like his own, but says he owes his son a great upbringing and is upping the game from all that his father taught him. He is implementing self-discipline, martial arts, patience and self-sufficiency.
“I let Taylon know he can do things, but it is always an evolving dynamic that you never get in front of,” he said.
Demetrius feels that he gets to experience life with his son in a different way because he stays in shape.
For example, he laughs and says recently he was able to jog four miles with his son and a friend. They had trouble keeping up on their bikes. He says he always wanted to be a dad that could play with his child and to do big things. He lost his own beloved father in 2021.
As for the next big thing in the arts? Demetrius says he is not telling. He will just admit that he always wants to stay focused and strive for bigger and better.
Find Demetrius on Instagram: Demetrius Baker athletic aesthetics or linktr.ee/Dbaker8i? utm_source=qr_code.
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