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Knowing where one's talents lie can feel like a touch of destiny, and with a sizable investment of effort, set a person on a path for a storied career. But Tor'i Brooks, also known as Bionic Brooks, is not like most people. That much was evident from the time he was a kid.
"My mom always told me growing up that I was a triple threat because I could act, I could model, and I do sports," he says. "And as a 10-year-old kid playing sports in my neighborhood and participating in plays and musicals, I had no idea what she meant. But I learned with time, and it's been great."
Tor'i Brooks has one of the most fascinating careers out there. Thanks to his marketing and social media savvy and his many talents as a sportsperson, he's been able to blaze a trail the up-and-coming sports social influencers get to stroll on. It all started in Michigan, and it hasn't always been easy.
When Tor'i Brooks was still young, he had a sense of self that didn't always gel with the people around him. High school was tough for him, with prejudice, occasional racism, and the kind of stuff people who stick out get thrown at them at that age.
None of that stopped him from dominating on the basketball court, however. It was his favorite sport and got him a college scholarship deal that fell through when he was a senior. Forced to pivot, he turned to another sports discipline — track and field — that saw him through to Michigan State University, a Division I institution. Unfortunately, his stay there was short-lived, as a knee injury and the surgery to repair it forced him to pivot once again.
At a new, smaller university, Davenport University, Tor'i Brooks was able to pursue both track and field and basketball. His knee injury healed well. So well that Tor'i Brooks started making moves on the court he didn't know he could do before. His nickname, Bionic, was born around that time.
So were his marketing skills. "One of the biggest goals of transferring to a smaller institution was to be more involved on campus," he says. "At the same time, I was using Instagram and Snapchat to document my life. I got ridiculed for it, but I was one of the first people in my area to do it, and I wasn't going to stop. I worked in sports marketing for the university, too."
The third component that cemented his triple-threat status came a bit later. Having achieved solid results in track and field, competing professionally at the national level, Tor'i Brooks moved to Los Angeles in 2016 to further pursue his basketball career. There, he worked at the local gym, trying to make ends meet. Luck smiled at him when he was called up by a company looking for a high-jumper for acting and modeling jobs. He said yes, was sent on an audition, and was soon on set for his first gig.
"I was working with the Jordan brand. They hired me as the main model in this commercial," he recalls. "Being on the recreation of the iconic playground commercial and being one of the main heroes and basketball players in it was amazing."
From there, Tor'i Brooks' career kept going from one strength to another. He got involved with Los Angeles' local basketball scene, eventually adopting his full nickname Bionic Brooks. He traveled the world competing in dunk contests. He was a part of the Harlem Globetrotters' working class of 2019 and even appeared in the first season of the reality show Ex on the Beach.
Tor'i Brooks started putting his digital marketing and basketball skills together during the pandemic, with gyms closed and everything stopping. He called it "takeovers," where he'd organize events for people to play basketball with the pros. The content he created during these events was getting noticed, and Ballislife eventually approached Tor'i Brooks.
"I create a story with my content, and I create content of substance and value from the basketball court to lifestyle to motivation to either fitness or working out," Tor'i Brooks says. "And that's how I got into the director role with Ballislife. That's how I've been able to be on this platform."
Working at a nexus of marketing and sports is a dream come true for Tor'i Brooks. He takes the lessons he learns in one of his many professions and applies them to others, growing as an entrepreneur, performer, and athlete. Having competed in championships on the national level in two sports, appeared in the movie Unbanned, created a big online presence, and advised others how to do it, he's done more by his thirties than most do in a lifetime. And he's not stopping anytime soon.