After 22 Years, Fit 4 Life Personal Training & Physical Therapy Is Still Thriving

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: I have not only known Travis Monday (a fellow University of Florida alum) for as long as he has been in business here in Tampa — which is 17 years (this month) of the 22 years he has owned and operated Fit 4 Life Personal Training & Physical Therapy — I’ve been working out at his New Tampa studio. In other words, if you think I’m out of shape, feel free to blame him.

Just kidding, Travis. Imagine instead what I would look like if I hadn’t been visiting Fit 4 Life at least two days a week most every week since 2001.

But, let’s start with a little history.

Travis, a former UPS driver who is certified as a personal trainer by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), as well as in SuperSlow training, first opened Fit 4 Life in Wausau, WI, in 1996, at the tender age of 22. After five successful years of operating his personal training studio in his home state, Travis sold that practice and opened Fit 4 Life in Tampa Palms in 2001, although that was at a different location than where he has been for at least the last dozen or so years, in the Tampa Palms Professional Center, just south of the Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. exit (#270) off I-75. He started adding licensed Physical Therapists (PTs) shortly after opening that first, 2,500-sq.-ft. Tampa Palms studio.

He moved from that location to the former Model & Visitor Center in front of Hunter’s Green off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa before opening the current studio.

In fact, Travis met his wife Fiona when he first hired her as a PT for Fit 4 Life. Today, they have two young daughters, Molly and Madison, and continue to be the driving personal training and PT forces behind this dynamic, 4,500-sq.-ft. studio.

MedX Equipment

When Travis first opened in Wisconsin, he had only six pieces of circuit training equipment, all of which were MedX machines, which Travis says are the best out there for using the SuperSlow training method. Because Fit 4 Life is a personal training studio and not a “gym” or “health club,” every training client works one-on-one with one of Travis’ outstanding trainers every time he or she visits the studio. Instead of throwing up as much weight as you can using momentum to get through reps, your trainer will force you to move the weight in each rep of each exercise as slowly as possible, ten seconds in each direction of the exercise.

Today, Fit 4 Life not only has 18 pieces of MedX equipment (you usually only use 5 or 6 of the machines each visit), one of them is a computer-driven neck and one is a lower back (lumbar extension) PT machine; both allow Fiona and her fellow licensed PTs to track your progress. If you have neck or low back pain (or both) and haven’t gotten the relief you hoped for from your previous PTs, you owe it to yourself to give these machines a try at Fit 4 Life.

“There’s no doubt that since the economic downturn in our area in 2008, we’ve seen much faster growth of our physical therapy clients than we have personal training,” Travis says. “Even so, we have helped more than 6,000 training clients lose tens of thousands of pounds of fat. We’re up to 3,000 people we’ve helped with their low back and neck pain and have a 95-percent success rate, and an 88-percent success rate with surgical candidates.”

He adds, “We are the only clinic in the area that truly does one-on-one physical therapy. We don’t just get you out of pain, we are 100-percent committed to finding the underlying problem and solving it and we have expanded to help all PT needs, from shoulders, necks, hips, knees, etc. because of our high success rate. And, more than 350 doctors have sent us PT clients, but you don’t need a prescription to come here for therapy.”

For more information, to set a personal training or physical therapy appointment, or to RSVP for the Client Appreciation Martini Party, call (813) 907-7879. You also can stop in anytime the studio (located at 17419 Bridge Hill Ct.) is open and sign up for the party at the front desk. See the ad on pg. 29 of this issue for two complimentary personal training sessions, or visit Fit4LifeTampa.com to find out more.

Tendercare Pediatrics Keeps Adding Convenience And Comfort For Children

At Tendercare Pediatrics, owner Lalitha Raguthu, M.D., above, takes pride if being accessible to parents and children, while offering a multitude of services that include physicals, allergy testing, urgent care, weekend appointments and even ear piercing.

Lalitha Raguthu, M.D., is in the business of making young people feel better, and she says her job makes her feel better, too.

The owner of Tendercare Pediatrics (in the Summergate Professional Park behind Sam’s Club off S.R. 56) says she is proud of the relationships she has built in a short time at the practice she bought two years ago. She posts smiling pictures of children on her Instagram page, and takes great pleasure in providing a wealth of services in a convenient manner.

“I am really happy when I am able to connect with a young kid’s outlook on health,” Dr. Raguthu says. “And, since we have been here, we have been very warmly received. It has been very nice.”

Dr. Raguthu and her husband, Durga Chintakayala, M.D., or “Dr. Chinta” for short, own the practice together. The pair also own Blossom Pediatric Care on E. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Tampa, where Dr. Chinta has been in solo practice for the last five years, with Dr. Raguthu occasionally covering for him. Now, she is the primary doctor at Tendercare, and he covers for her at the Wesley Chapel location as needed. “One of us is always here,” Dr. Chinta says.

Dr. Chinta and Dr. Raguthu have been married for 24 years and have two children.

Both doctors have long and varied resumes. The couple moved to New Tampa in 2013, when Dr. Chinta accepted a position in the spinal cord unit at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa. At the same time, they opened Blossom Pediatric Care, and Dr. Raguthu began working at Night Owl Pediatrics on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa.

Prior to that, the couple lived in New York City, where Dr. Raguthu spent three years working in the emergency room at the Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn and one year in Urgent Care at Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx, NY.

She had previously earned her MBBS degree (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery; equivalent to the M.D. degree in the U.S.) from the Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College in Gulbarga, India. She did her residency at Brookdale University Hospital & Medical Center in Brooklyn and served a one-year fellowship in Neurology at New York University in Manhattan, NY.

During their time in New York, Dr. Chinta worked at the VA New York Harbor Health Care System and also worked as an emergency room physician and urgent care doctor at Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx.

Dr. Raguthu has worked to transform the Wesley Chapel office into a comfortable space that can fill a variety of patient needs.

It begins with accessibility. Dr. Raguthu, who also is trained in urgent care, has expanded her services to include any urgent care needs — like emergency issues such as acute asthma or lacerations — and she accepts walk-ins and same-day appointments, and even Saturday appointments, which she says the parents love.

The rare instances when she is not available to talk on the phone, she says she will always return calls the same day.

“I love that we can get ahold of her anytime we need her,” Christina Bettin says. “It is very convenient to have walk-in or same-day appointments. I really appreciate that there is a nursing room. We highly recommend Tendercare Pediatrics.”

Traditional & Holistic Medicine
Although she is a highly trained M.D., Dr. Raguthu says she does take a holistic approach to medicine, and that she is empathetic to parents who have concerns, for example, about vaccines. She says she tries to accommodate and work with them when other pediatricians won’t.

“Dr. Raguthu is the pediatrician you want to have for your child,” writes Tasnouva Habib. “She is very respectful of how I want my child to be treated and does not (prescribe) medication unless absolutely required. I extremely appreciate the holistic approach she has towards care, which shows me that she cares about the well being of my child in the long run and not just a quick fix. I wish I found her sooner.”
Tendercare Pediatrics also offers school and sports physicals, and Dr. Raguthu can administer allergy testing as well.

“A lot of pediatricians don’t do allergy testing in their own office,” Dr. Raguthu says. “You will have to wait and schedule something at a specialist’s office. This makes it more convenient.”

She is proud to show off the new play area she created in the waiting room, so little ones don’t get antsy if they have to wait a few minutes to see the doctor. She also is thrilled with the great response she gets from parents when they visit her new room for nursing mothers.

“A lot of mothers are breastfeeding, and that’s very important,” says Dr. Raguthu. “We want to give them privacy and encourage breastfeeding, so we created a nursing room just for them.”

Dr. Raguthu is always thinking of more ways to accommodate her patients, even when they ask something as simple as where they should get their child’s ears pierced. It’s a question a lot of parents ask, and the answer is usually the mall.

“One of the mothers asked me, and I said I don’t know…but let me go ahead and start doing it,” Dr. Raguthu says of ear piercing.

Now, she offers the service in her office. Where better to take a child for a procedure that requires a needle, some blood, a little pain and that can be momentarily traumatic for a younger child? And yes, she says she uses a numbing medication to make the procedure as painless as it can be.

Tendercare Pediatrics has grown since Dr. Raguthu took over, and continues to do so. She is accepting new patients, and accepts many insurance plans, including Medicaid and Staywell, which provides managed care services to Medicaid-eligible beneficiaries.

“(Dr. Raguthu) is one of the greatest (pediatricians) I’ve been to,” says Illeana, another satisfied parent who brings her children to Tendercare Pediatrics. “She shows so much compassion when she’s checking our babies. We love her and her office as well. I’m so happy we found her.”

While Tendercare Pediatrics accepts patients from birth to age 21, it may also be expanding those services with Dr. Chinta as a family doctor.

“We are looking into accepting adult patients, too,” Dr. Raguthu says.

Dr. Raguthu also says that she believes that her own personal journey has helped her to be a more empathetic practitioner. She has battled back from a stroke, and has suffered through heartbreak.

“I love kids,” she says. “My husband and I were in medical school when we lost our infant baby, who was three months old. That’s where my interest in pediatrics really started. I can feel the pain of every mother who calls with a concern. I never brush them off.”

Tendercare Pediatrics is located at 27432 Cashford Cir., Suite 102, in the Summergate Professional Park. The office is open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information about the practice, call (813) 973-9900, visit MyTendercare.com or see the ad on page 42 of this issue.

MOD and Blaze Pizza Bringing Different Styles

MOD Pizza is opening soon on S.R. 56.

Wesley Chapel Already Has Plenty Of Great Pizza Places. So, Why Are So Many New Ones Still Popping Up?

Pizza may not be the world’s most-perfect food — although some who feel otherwise might fight you over that statement — but it probably is the most popular.

So, as Wesley Chapel grows, and more and more families move in, so do more businesses that sell pizza.
There’s locally-owned traditional pizzerias like 900 Degrees Woodfired, La Prima, Best New York, New York, Bosco’s and Amici Pizza, that sell more traditional NY-style pizzas, to name a few. Mellow Mushroom and Noble Crust (which have both opened in the last year) sell more eclectic pizzas. And, the mega-chains like Domino’s, Little Caesars, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut deal in mostly speedy, high-volume delivery.

“I would say there’s a lot more pizza available in Wesley Chapel than normal on average in other cities (of its size),” says Steve Falabella, the owner of the popular 900 Degrees Woodfired Pizza, which has been at the Shops at Wiregrass mall since 2011. “I think the growth in Wesley Chapel was so fast, the rise of families happened so fast, that there was a rush to capture that. And, one of the most common type of restaurants that go up in new neighborhoods sell pizza.”

Soon, you will be able to add a quickly expanding niche in pizza making to the list of local options: “Fast-Casual.”

On each side of S.R. 56, near the Tampa Premium Outlets, the two fastest-growing fast-casual restaurants in the country will be planting their flags in Wesley Chapel, as MOD Pizza and Blaze Pizza are both entering the market.

The Allure Of New…

On a typical muggy Wednesday afternoon, sitting at an aluminum table shaded by an umbrella, Mike Lightsey is finishing off a slice of pepperoni pizza from 900 Degrees Woodfired. He is passing through on business, and says he eats a lot of pizza. He thinks Falabella makes the best around.

Lightsey says he has tried Blaze, once in Atlanta, and enjoyed that as well. He has never heard of MOD, but is familiar with the trendy fast-casual model, having also eaten at Pieology in Seminole.
“It’s a good change of pace, and definitely something that seems to be taking off,” he says. “I’m surprised Wesley Chapel or even Tampa doesn’t have one yet.”

MOD Pizza, which will be located just west of the Starbucks on the south side of S.R. 56 in front of Costco, is scheduled to open in early-to-mid-September. Blaze Pizza will be located on the other (north) side of 56, but has just started construction. Both specialize in smaller, personal pizzas, where customers choose the toppings and don’t have to wait long for them to cook.

At MOD Pizza, there are more than 30 non-GMO toppings to choose from when constructing your own 11-inch pizza. MOD has its own dough recipe, and the tomato sauce is made in-house daily. No matter how many you choose, the price doesn’t change. The pizzas take only three minutes to cook and can be ordered online for pick-up or enjoyed inside the store.

“We were and are the first super fast-casual chain in the United States,” says Brick Kerge, VP of Operations for Food for Thought Restaurant Group, which owns the local MOD franchise.

Employees are part of the “MOD Squad,” and an emphasis is placed on training a friendly staff that makes the all-around experience and environment something patrons will want to try again.

“This is not just another pizza place,” says Kerge.

Founded in Seattle in 2008, MOD is likely not a familiar name to locals. But nationally, it is the country’s No. 1 fastest-growing chain, according to Nation’s Restaurant News’ list of the Top 10 Fastest-Growing Chains, thanks to 80-percent sales growth in 2016.

When it opens here in September, it will be MOD Pizza’s first entry into the Tampa Bay market, although there currently are four other locations in Florida, with five more — including the Wesley Chapel location — scheduled to open soon.

While MOD is the fastest-growing chain, Blaze Pizza is the second-fastest-growing and has been massively successful since being launched in 2011 by the founders of Wetzel’s Pretzels.

It has quickly grown to include more than 250 locations in 40 states and should be open sometime early next year in Cypress Creek Town Center North.

Driving a lot of the buzz around Blaze Pizza, which also features three-minute pizzas boasting freshly made dough and artisanal toppings, is NBA superstar Lebron James’ involvement as an investor.

Like MOD, Blaze also offers a fast-casual experience where customers select their crust style and then move down the line while adding toppings, at the end of which the pizza is quickly cooked.

These newest entries to the Wesley Chapel “piescape” are hip, trendy and fill a desire for custom-built pizzas with a wide variety of toppings that are not always available at traditional pizza spots. They will be stiff competition for each other, but family-owned pizzerias, and even smaller chains like Westshore and pizza places that deliver, still offer a distinctly different flavor and will likely continue to be popular here.

But Wait, There’s More!
MOD and Blaze aren’t the only local newcomers. In the last few months alone, Amici’s has reopened to rave reviews after moving locations on Wesley Chapel Blvd. in Lutz, and Jake’s Pizza has opened its second location, on County Line Rd. in Meadow Pointe, featuring our area’s first thin-crust St. Louis-style pizza. And, Pomodoro Pizza could be open on S.R. 56, in the same plaza as Wolf’s Den, by the time this issue reaches your mailbox, and will offer New Jersey-style pizza. And, never one to rest on his laurels, Falabella has created a local sensation, especially on Facebook, with his recent addition of no-crust “keto diet” pizzas.

“Which pizza is the best is all subjective,” Falabella says. “I can find 10 people to tell you they like Domino’s the best. I can find 10 who would tell you Pizza Mania is the best. And I can find 10 to tell you that we are the best. There’s no such thing as the best pizza.
“(In Wesley Chapel), Everyone can find something they like.”

The New Owners Of Budget Blinds Still Promise Affordable Luxury!

Mike Wonderlin has been an employee of Budget Blinds for 10 years. When the previous local franchise owners retired, Mike and his wife, Adriane, jumped at the chance to take over the successful franchise they already knew so well and the showrooms in Brandon and on W. Fletcher Ave. in Tampa.

Mike and Adriane Wonderlin are the new owners of Budget Blinds of North Tampa, Land O’Lakes and Brandon.

After working for Budget Blinds for almost a decade, Mike and his wife purchased the three Tampa-area franchises from the previous owner.

The Budget Blinds showroom that serves New Tampa, Wesley Chapel and surrounding areas is located on W. Fletcher Ave. near I-275, two exits south of Wesley Chapel’s S.R. 56 exit. The Wonderlins have a second showroom in Riverview, serving the Brandon area.

Mike moved to Florida to work for Budget Blinds about 10 years ago. At the time, he had already been in the window treatment industry for eight years and was looking to get out of the cold winters in Illinois. While he was interested in purchasing a franchise, the economy was bad. Instead, he took a job as a design consultant in warm, sunny Tampa.

“I thought I would do it for a year or two and learn the business, so I could hit the ground running,” says Mike. “But, the business kept growing and they treated me well.”

“They” are Jim and Elaine Trotter, who owned the franchises at the time.

Mike was the second employee the Trotters hired. As the business grew and more design consultants were needed, Mike remained a top design consultant and also trained new hires.

“Now we have 27 employees and I’ve trained most of them,” Mike says.

The first employee hired by the Trotters was administrative assistant Derenda Burdette, who is still with the business. “She is a huge asset to our team,” Adriane says.

And this year, when the Trotters became grandparents and retired, they approached Mike about buying the business.

“They’ve mentored me to prepare me for ownership,” he says. “By selling their franchises to us, they’ve kept it in the family.”

A Little Budget Blinds History
Founded in 1992 in Orange County, CA, Budget Blinds today has more than 1,100 franchises in the U.S. and Canada and has served Tampa Bay-area residents for more than 20 years. The Trotters moved the showroom to its current location about 6 years ago, from an original location in Land O’Lakes.

Mike has learned the business inside and out, and is thrilled to be the new owner. “It’s a well-run franchise,” he says.

In fact, Adriane adds, “The Trotters won Budget Blinds’ Franchise of the Year in 2016 and 2017, and we are on track this year for a three-peat.” Adriane, who comes from a background in retail, also says that she most recently she worked for Vans as a district manager. Her experience meshes well with Mike’s.

“(We) have a good partnership because he knows the product and I know human resources and operations from the corporate end,” she says.

Adriane adds that she also is excited that her new job keeps her local, so she no longer has to travel out of the area.

Mike and Adriane live in Lexington Oaks in Wesley Chapel with their daughter, Harper, who will be 5 in August.

A Variety That Won’t Break The Bank!
“The most important thing is that we have a style and service for every budget,” Adriane says.

While customers are always welcome to visit either Budget Blinds showroom, Mike says that many clients never set foot in the door. A design consultant will come to your home with many samples for a complimentary design consultation to help you choose the perfect products for your needs.

Budget Blinds offers a complete line of window coverings. Blinds come in vinyl, wood, fabric, faux wood and aluminum. Shutter options range from modern wood styles, plantation shutters for the inside and outside, composite shutters for bathrooms that prevent warping, and many more.

If you prefer shades, you can choose from roller, pleated, Roman, cellular, woven wood, bamboo, sheer, solar and graphic, not to mention a variety of panels, valances and drapes.

“Our niche in the market is somewhere between a big box store and calling a decorator,” explains Adriane. “Our design consultants don’t just go out and give a quote; they actually help design.”

Mike says a big advantage of using Budget Blinds instead of one of those big box stores is that the buying power of Budget Blinds within the industry allows the company to negotiate better warranties on the same products.

“You can buy the same exact line at Home Depot, but you won’t get the same warranty,” he explains, noting that many of Budget Blinds’ warranties are both lifetime and “no questions asked” — meaning that whether the dog eats it, the kids damage it — for any reason, the product will be replaced.

Mike and Adriane say their number one focus is customer service.

Mat and Karie Jones are happy to attest to the level of customer service provided by Budget Blinds. When it was time to update their home in Lexington Oaks, the couple called Budget Blinds to schedule a design consultant to come out to their home. While they thought they would be shopping for vertical blinds, Mat says, “The salesman was very knowledgeable and showed us options we didn’t even know existed.”

They ended up purchasing a cellular shade, a popular and versatile option.

“We have younger kids and a dog, and they couldn’t mess it up, so it seemed like a no-brainer,” says Mat.
The Jones’ positive experience led to them purchasing a vertical panel to provide shade to their pool area, too. “We’re very happy,” he adds.

Mat says he wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Budget Blinds. Why? “Because of the service that you get, and the product they offer, before, during and after the installation,” he says. “They’re very customer-service focused, and not just there to make the sale and get out.”

Smart Products For Your Home
The Wonderlins say many of their customers are looking for “smart” products these days, and that Budget Blinds is a leader in this area, which is a huge trend in the market.

“Especially in neighborhoods such as Estancia and The Ridge (both in Wiregrass Ranch), where they have nice conservation views, people don’t want to have to go behind the couch to pull the cord on their window treatments,” Mike says.

Budget Blinds offers many products that are automated, set on timers and interact with your smart phone or even Alexa.

So, you can be awakened in the morning by natural sunlight as your blackout shades gradually rise, or change the ambiance of your whole home after the sun has set, all at the press of a button.

In 2016, Budget Blinds began offering a “Smart Homes by Budget Blinds” partnership with the smart home company Lutron. The Tampa-area franchise was one of just 15 franchises to pioneer the concept, introducing smart shades, lighting and thermostat controls for its customers.

Lutron is a company based in Coopersburg, PA, that specializes in lighting technologies, with more than 2,700 patents, including innovations in window shade technology that integrates daylight and electric light.

Budget Blinds also offers solutions for commercial clients, ranging from schools to hotels to small businesses, and these window coverings also cut down on energy costs by helping to blunt Florida’s heat and glare.

Budget Blinds of Greater Tampa is located at 1208 W. Fletcher Ave. The showroom hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday. To schedule a complimentary in-home consultation, call (813) 968-5050. For more info, visit BudgetBlinds.com/NorthTampa.

Music Changes Local Resident Tyler Sinckler’s Life

On a recent Sunday afternoon, the sweet sounds of a young man playing a beautiful baby grand piano fill the air in the lobby of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC).

Behind the keyboard sits Tyler Sinckler, a 15-year-old student who will enter Wesley Chapel High this fall as a freshman.

His mom, Crystal Jenkins, and stepdad, Acie Jenkins, watch as Tyler plays, bursting with pride and marveling at how far their son has come.

Before middle school, Tyler says he was only interested in video games. His parents say he was struggling academically.

Then one day — he and his mom agree that it was out of boredom — he sat down at the piano his older brother, Chad, used to play before he left for college at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Tyler started plunking the keys and listening to the notes, and managed to figure out the melody of the music from one of his favorite video games. He kept at it, and played more video game melodies.

He says he taught himself to play the theme from Super Smash Bros.

Shortly thereafter, Crystal signed her son up for piano lessons.

One thing led to another, and Tyler began playing percussion in the middle school band at John Long Middle School. He went to a camp to learn how to play electric guitar and bass.

Now, he composes original pieces for the piano. He competed in the talent show at his school — one when he was in the seventh grade at John Long, and another as an eighth grader at Weightman, after his home was rezoned from one school boundary area to the other. In both shows, he played an original composition and, in both shows, he took home second-place awards.

Acie and Crystal Jenkins are proud of their son Tyler Sinckler, who has improved his grades through his dedication to learning and playing music. He recently got to perform on the grand piano in the lobby at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel.

He says he discovered something new about himself.

“I liked being in front of an audience,” Tyler says. “I created my own songs and it went well. It was fun.”
Crystal says she’s impressed with Tyler’s innate skill. While both of her boys have a talent for music, she’s not a musician.

“I’m not sure where they get it from,” she laughs.

Tyler says becoming a musician has taught him many things.

“I’ve learned patience,” he says. “When I mess up in practice, I slow down and take my time.”
He also says he’s overcome being nervous and become more self-confident when he’s not playing an instrument.

He uses what he’s learned to encourage others to try new things, too, like when his friends wanted to enter the talent show competition, but didn’t because they were too nervous. “The more you do it, the less nervous you are,” he tried to convince them.

Crystal says Tyler’s love for music has led to improvements at school, and he is doing better in reading, writing and math.

“I think it’s because of his improved focus,” she says.

While Tyler had previously struggled with academics, he’s going into honors classes in high school.
That self-confidence he mentioned? It is now his shoulder to lean on as he takes on more difficult classes.

“I think I’m up for it,” he says.

When marching band starts this fall, he’ll play percussion. Tyler says he’s earned the role of “first vibraphone,” which means he’ll play the solos and leads, while other vibraphone players play rhythm.

Donald Scott, the band director at Weightman, says Tyler is a dedicated, hard working and perseverant student.

“He has a real deep love for music,” Donald says.
Tyler has developed skills in a variety of band formats. He excelled in the marching band (which performed at parades and middle school football games), concert band and even a little jazz band in middle school.

“He plays all the percussion and does it well,” says Donald. “He was one of my leaders.”

Donald says Tyler often showed the younger students how to play their parts. “He’s like a little percussion prodigy back there,” Donald says. “He knows his stuff.”

While he’s been a standout as a middle school percussionist, Tyler says that his real love is playing the piano.

He’s played in a nursing home, and even played an original composition at his mom and stepdad’s wedding.

Acie explains that Tyler has been looking for more opportunities to both perform and to give back to the community. So, Acie approached Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel requesting that his stepson volunteer his time and talents by playing the grand piano in the hospital’s lobby.

The family is hopeful that Tyler will be able to continue to volunteer in that way.

When asked if he still plays video games, Tyler says, “Not that much. I sold my video game consoles to make time for music.”

In the future, Donald says he can see Tyler continuing to pursue music with a passion.

“I can see him being a steady performer, doing all the percussion parts, and he would definitely be a great piano player,” Donald says. “If he wants to, he could become a music teacher. I really do see that in him.”