Meet Gerald Raphael

Today we’re excited to be connecting with Gerald Raphael again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.

Gerald, always such a pleasure connecting with you and thank you for sharing your stories, insights and inspiring messages with our community. We’re looking forward to getting the download and what you have been up to since our last interview, but first can you briefly introduce yourself to folks who might have missed the prior conversation.
My name is Gerald. I am a south Florida native in Broward County. My brand focuses on gaming and gamers, as we get to hear their story on our podcast platform. I’m also a Content Creator and Gaming Tournament Organizer for a local business. Veteran of the United States Army.

What sets me a part from most people is my unwavering work ethic, my ability to connect to people via gaming by having 1-on-1 conversations and getting people out of their comfort zone as a gamer. Making people explore more of themselves by virtue of just having a chit chat. You can learn a lot from people when you’re able to find something they are comfortable talking about and have them explore more of themselves.

Throughout my years I have met all kinds of people from different walks of life and on my podcast that I share the mic with two other hosts, we bring on new and returning faces to talk about gaming and show the world on there are people out there who are just like us, that either work a 9-5, goes to school full-time, part-time, retired, owns a business, and the list goes on. You’ve all picked up a controller and played a game on a viewing screen, I’m curious to know what is your back story on how that came to be and where do you go with that now.

Now there are days in my journey where I came across difficult challenges that slowed down my progress. Life has its way with people sometimes but despite the hard times, I knew eventually, it’ll be temporary and that I’ll be back stronger than ever. I want to use my story and my experience for those who have yet come out of their own shell and help motivate them to pursue their own challenges and face them head one. The Army has taught me what it means to be a leader and how the people who help elevate you up, who follow your lead, you need to take care of them and push them to become better versions of themselves.

I’ve done over 100+ interviews with many unique gamers and I don’t have a destination or a end goal in mind because the journey it self, is the rewarding part and I don’t want that to stop.

Alright, so our main goal today is to give our audience an update on what you have been up to since our last conversation. We’d love to hear how things are going and what you are most looking forward to or excited about these days.
Well, in 2023, I organized and ran an fighting game tournament event called Fighter Fest 5. An event that oversaw 200+ attendees and I received an standing ovation from my community by being presented a jersey that had all the signatures of the players within my region.

In March of 2024, I conducted a numerous amount of interviews at an event called Tampa Never Sleeps 9 in Orlando, Florida where I asked a string of questions to all of the attendees at the event and getting their thoughts on how well they played in bracket, why does their character in their favorite fighting game deserves a buff, and more silly questions. It was a unique way of creating content and connecting with people.

In May of 2024, I organized another gaming tournament event at a event called Otakufest and had well over 130+ players. It was a successful event and people really enjoyed the experience and that is what matters to me the most is people enjoying the experience at any event that I organize. It’s such a rewarding feeling.

We have now arrived at one of our favorite parts of the interview – the lightning round. We’ll ask you a few quick questions to give us all some fun insights about you.

Favorite Movie: V For Vendetta

Favorite TV Show: WWE

Favorite Band or Artist: Cosmograph

Sweet or Savory: Savory

Mountains or Beach: Beach

Favorite Sport (to watch): UFC

Favorite Sport (to play): Football

Did you play sports growing up (if so which ones): Football, Basketball, Tennis, Golf, Soccer, Hockey,

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up: Train Conductor

French Fries or Onion Rings: French Fries

Chuck Rhodes or Bobby Axelrod: Neither

Favorite Cartoon growing up: G Gundam

Favorite Childhood movie: Power Rangers The Movie

Favorite Breakfast Food: Eggs and Sausage

Life is often about tough choices – can you talk to us about your thought process, strategy or philosophy when it comes to making difficult choices or tradeoffs.
Understand that hard times are temporary and that you will have bad days. Tomorrow can always be a better day. Look forward in seeing the next day to see what direction life can take you. Your peace is extremely valuable as you grow older. So you will have to get rid of bad habits, bad environments, bad people who do not compliment your peace that you deserve and desire.

Website: https://solo.to/silverbacksenpai

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silverbacksenpai/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SilvrbackSenpai

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesilverbacksenpai

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheSilverbackSenpai

Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GMFFCPhuuJi0AujSlMlTf?si=gbMVC2WAQoC0BmLfCDaKxA

Image Credits
ThatOnePhotos
Mr DarkIce
Blaze187Ace