WHO IS GRAHAM?
And why is he on the team?
Graham and I met about about 8 years ago through mutual friends. We’re not only partners in Wake the Wolves™, but also in life. We’ve been kicking around this idea to create a new project combining both of our backgrounds of design/health and design/streetwear for a while now. We saw there was a need after experiencing pretty major transformations ourselves, and said heck…let’s do this! So — Wake the Wolves™ was born.Graham brings years of experience in the areas of design, streetwear, lifestyle branding and more. He’s a true testament of how being a “conscious-eater” can really change your life.
To give you some background, Graham’s life shifted when he saw a photo of himself from a trip to visit my family in Hawaii. “Damn babe. Am I really that big?” he asked me. “Steph..can you help me eat like you?”
Yes, really. That is how it all started for him. And if he’d let me share that photo, I would. Here’s one that he would let me share.
For a few years, I was doing my own thing, trying to change my healthy eating and exercise routine. In fact, he refused to run and eat my “healthy rabit food”… until the photo incident. He asked me how to lose weight, and we decided to go for it. First, cutting out processed foods, sodas, and his morning creamer. The hazelnut kind. Second, running hills. I cooked. He ate it. And if you know me well, I don’t stand for dudes sitting and waiting for a meal to be served to them. We grew up in a household, where we all had to help out — boys included. So…he learned how to cook and now he almost cooks more than I do.
It’s not all peaches and roses, but G-funk is WAY happier now, runs farther than he ever has and his health improved. No more asthma. No more sleep apnea. And he still keeps up with the young bucks on the basketball court. That’s what keeps him motivated and active.
Graham would often get asked by dudes in the streetwear industry, “hey G, how’d you lose weight?” It’s like a hush-hush situation, that we wanted to address. We want to make healthy living cool!
Graham is our official “Life + Style Creative Director” — leading up our apparel, social media, and co-designing upcoming books and textiles with the team and I. More to come. Stay tuned!
THE INTERVIEW
What’s your name?
Graham Jeong
No, we mean the name that all your close folks call you?
Homies call me G, G-Money, KillaGraham, and a few selected family members call me Graham-ie.
What else do you love? We obviously wear multiple passion hats over here at Wake the Wolves™ and hate the “you must live in one bucket” perspective on life, so tell us some of your other hidden passions/hobbies/obsessions?
I love to hoop. I still play in weekly leagues in J-town and UCSF, and on the weekends I play at USF. It’s my reset button. If I can still keep up with young bucks then I’m going to be out there. Changing the way I eat has shown great strides for me.
An obsession of mine is to hand-letter. It’s my meditation and keeps me motivated in my other design works. Letterforms are fascinating. I still get the itch to dj still. It was a huge passion of mine growing up.
What fuels you on the daily? What gives you the juice to wake up and do the “damn thang” every day? Any foods? Particular daily rituals.
There are 3 things that fuel me:
- First, my babe. She helped me get to where I’m at today in health and in life.
- Second, our dog Angel (the husky / wolf). When she jumps up on me in bed to take her for a walk, I’m alive!
- Lastly, living in SF fuels me. The energy — the people. It’s a very fun time to be here, not that I ever left. Just to witness the growth is cool to see.
Oh and food wise — pretty much an egg and a heaping of kale starts my day. I eat it with rye toast, butter and a cup of coffee. Yeah, I still drink coffee.
Top 3 favorite restaurants/cafes (anywhere in the World). Go!
Oooo! Man well there’s a few good ones that we frequent. They are in no particular order.
- Roam Burger – Pretty much the best burger for me (and they have great shakes).
- Helena’s- Was introduced to this spot in Oahu. Super good.
- Ariyake – Steph and I used to go there every Friday, it’s a great little sushi spot.
We are all perfectly imperfect, so can you reveal to us any challenges/struggles you have in living healthy? I mean, I’m sure we can relate.
I think having no exercise is what gets to me. I gotta either play basketball, run, bike or walk the city. Gotta remember that we only have one life and body to maintain. It’s our job to keep us accountable. Whether it’s a deadline or just everyday obligations, there is time for it all.
What’d you eat for breakfast today?
I have the usual. Sautéed kale, a sunny side egg, a quarter of avocado, some rye sourdough toast with goat butter, a big ol’ jar of water, and a cup of coffee. I’m the primary breakfast maker. Proud of it..because I wasn’t always this way.
We LOVE us some music. Ok so any thing on replay that your dying to share
- New Ghostface – 36 Seasons
- D’Angelo – Black Messiah
- Majid Jordan – Forever
- Ta-ku
- Dipset
- HBK Gang
Wrapping it up. If you had a chance to school a younger Graham on living healthy, what would you tell him?
- “Gotta read the labels, gotta read the labels” (LABELS by GZA, quote by RZAI)
- Practice…in everything and you’ll sharpen those skills.
- Put down the Cup O’ Noodles.
