Meet Johnny Urra | Entrepreneur & Activist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Johnny Urra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Johnny, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
“Hay mas tiempo que vida”, is a quote I heard in Costa Rica in 2017 while we sipped on local drip coffee and eating fresh fruits that our host treated us to. The meaning was understood, but I didn’t fully grasp what it meant until doctors told me in January of 2020 that the large lesion in my brain stem might cause my heart and lungs to fail. Six months after getting engaged to the love of my life at a healthy and active 28 years of age, I ended up in the hospital with 24/7 numbness and tingling running throughout my body. I couldn’t balance on my left leg, my left hand foot and random areas of my body going numb and tingling, my head was spinning, I couldn’t be in a warm shower for more than 2 minutes without feeling like fainting, electric shocks running down my spine when I’d look down, and so many other inexplicable sensations that came about over the course of first two quick weeks of 2020. It felt like my body’s nerves were disconnecting me from this reality and the doctors didn’t know what was causing more than 30+ lesions throughout my brain and spinal cord.

It was 11PM on the fourth night of me laying on the hospital bed with my fiancé laying by my side and news was just breaking that a virus was spreading across china and eventually the world. There was a brain surgery scheduled for the next morning at 8AM and I couldn’t sleep most of the night. It felt as though time stopped and I spent most of the night reflecting on my entire life. All the good, the bad, and ugly parts of my life. The people I hurt, the people I made smile, and everything in-between. I was grateful for the moments I did what brought me joy and sad about the moments that took away my joy and peace. The doctors had just warned me that I might die from whatever the mysterious disease was and I was taking in each breath like my last.

The idea of having brain surgery and not knowing if I’d wake up, or if I did wake up, would I be the same person? Would I have deficits? What if the disease ended my life days, months, or years later even if I did comeback 100% myself? All I could do was keep my eyes closed that night while the medical equipment beeped and flashed throughout the night. After zoning out with eyes closed, there was no light in my mind, no sound, just darkness with my imaginary self standing on the ledge of what seemed like the end of this beautiful life. Behind me was the life that no longer existed, the past, while in front of me was the darkness of a future I may never experience. 8am was the next step in my life into the unknown and all I could do was be grateful for having the opportunity of being privileged enough to exist in this life.

That’s the night I grasped what the quote meant. There truly is more time than there is life itself. The past doesn’t exist and neither does the future – they’re just ideas of what was and what may never come. I love this quote because it reminds me that the present moment is the only version of time and life that we experience and not a second of it should be wasted doing something we don’t love or care about. Within 6 months of my brain surgery I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and in during these months my uncle, grandma (aka my best friend), and dad passed away. The lesson I learned was to always be kind, compassionate, patient, and loving towards others, while also being true to yourself and setting boundaries to protect your energy and time, because it’s all we have.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
How did you get to where you are today business-wise? Health and wellness was top of my mind since high school and I ended up getting my bachelors in chemistry aiming to go into medicine. My plans changed after meeting a funny, smart, and cute girl during a study abroad my last year of university, which just so happened to be a fitness trainer on YouTube that I started dating named, Vicky Justiz. I became interested in what she was doing my last semester and I learned how to use a camera to help her film her at-home workouts and take pictures for her socials. She thought I was CRAZY because I’d be studying for my nuclear chem exams with the book opened next to my laptop, which I was simultaneously using to watch videos on YouTube in order to learn how to work a camera for photos and videos. I was anti-social media throughout university, so this was a new world for me. She sparked the interest with her creativity and within the first two years of dating we went all in and became fully dedicated to growing her social media accounts that were focused on helping women around the world with their health and wellness. We worked with some managers during this time, but found it more beneficial for us to keep everything in-house because we didn’t have to pay anyone else a 20% fee for managing our deals.

Through trial and error, I learned more about social media and marketing, along with becoming her manager for sponsorships and just about everything else. I learned how to read legal documents and became our unofficial legal department in order to review contracts between brands and agencies. We eventually realized that social media was a constantly changing algorithm that our livelihood was totally reliant and we had no control over. Our business grew over those first 5 years of working together. A few months after my Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis in 2020, we finally took the leap of creating our own health and wellness app, Daily Thrive, where we could upload our workouts and share valuable information that wasn’t tied to any algorithm. Here we share relatable workout videos where we set together and don’t cutout the struggle Vicky or I experience during the workouts.

Aside from our business, I’m also an advocate for the Multiple Sclerosis community. Using my voice for those that don’t have one and helping anyway I can. I consider myself an advocate of hope for those that have none, because this invisible disease is good at taking away anyone’s hope of a brighter future .I’m currently on the Board of Trustees for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Mid-South Florida Chapter, where I help the society in terms of raising funds, speaking at events, guiding their social media strategy within my capabilities, and overall spreading awareness for MS. Since being diagnosed with MS I’ve had the privilege of sharing my story at medical schools, Miami Beach City Hall, MS Society’s Annual Gala, and even meeting with congressional leaders in DC to advocate for MS and healthcare policies.

Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?
No, especially because my mom hated the fact that I went through university just to trade the degree and future of grad school, for a camera to take “silly” pictures and videos of my new girlfriend for her social media accounts (lol). Most people didn’t believe in us and probably laughed at us the first few years. These specific challenges were overcome by our absolute grit and grind of accomplishing anything we set our minds to. People not believing in us fueled our goals more than anything else because neither she or I enjoy the idea of quitting. Having someone as confident as Vicky as a life and business partner helped keep our dreams afloat, even when things got difficult, or when others tried to shoot it down with their pessimism and disbelief. The other challenges were mostly the learning curves of doing something we’d never done before. Ironically nobody else had done this before as earning money on social media wasn’t absolutely mainstream yet.

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way?
There will be people that don’t believe in you and that’s okay – it tends to be a projection of their own limiting beliefs. When you mind your own business, it grows, so ignore the noise and focus on you and your dreams no matter how ridiculous they may seem. There’s certain things you shouldn’t try to do on your own, especially taxes or legal work unless you’re a professional in those fields. We did it a bit backwards as we dealt with the legal contracts ourselves, but in hindsight, it’s best to hire a legal professional to at least help create a base contract for the work you do to plug any potential pitfalls you may encounter along the way. Cover your bases as best as you can from liability. We learned how important it is to hire a CPA to manage our books and taxes so we’re always doing things legitimately and avoid the consequences of not doing them as they should be done. 
Maintaining healthy relationships with others is important, no matter who or what they do in life. Sending a quick thank you is enough just to show you respect their time. A lesson I’m still working on is staying true to my word, which is doing what I say I will do. It’s better to underpromise and overdeliver. My personal pitfall here is that I tend to bite on more than I can chew and it tends to hurt relationships, so take on work you know you can accomplish within the timeframe you give.

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
Our app Daily Thrive was born after our lives’ were turned upside down and we got through it by taking life one day at a time. “This too shall pass”, so whether it is in life that seems like the end of the world, just focus on taking things slowly and one step in front of the other while being grateful along the way. Dreams are achieved by the small daily successes and navigating struggles as they come. 

What sets us apart from most is that we’re authentically raw to the struggles of working out and achieving the dreams we have. We sweat together and don’t shy away from showing the struggles that we experience ourselves, whether in our public or private lives. Most people are intimidated by working out and trying to keep up with someone that does hundreds of squats and burpees without breaking a sweat seems inhuman. Most of us just want to be healthy and don’t necessarily crave to become fitness fiends. Daily Thrive was built from our ultimate life struggles into the beautiful community it is today. 

Side note – Thank you for your time in reading this and lets always try spread love and kindness whenever possible. Text and call the people you love because you just never know. Peace and love <3

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’d keep it simple and take them to South Beach! We’d go to the local coffee shop, Umbria, on West Ave and 10th to grab the best iced honey oat latte they’ve ever had. We’d sip on it while walking to Under the Mango Tree on 5th for a delicious acai bowl – my personal favorite is the Super food acai which I have yet to find one better in the world. We’d then head down the south point and just chill on the sand reading books if they like that, or play paddleball, or whatever it is they enjoy doing! If we get hungry we can visit crab shack for a lobster roll, but if they’re vegan or vegetarian, we’d head back to Under the Mango tree.

Running down the boardwalk on Ocean is an awesome time. People watching the incredible diversity in South Beach is also beautiful, where your sexuality and gender is mostly safe compared to some other parts of the world. Drag brunch is also fun haha. I’d introduce them to my local friends at Barry bootcamp incase they wanna break a serious sweat too. At night time we can visit Mini Bar for awesome drinks and music and even Swizzler’s for a cool and low-key speakeasy that most don’t know about.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My partner in business and life, my wife, Vicky Justiz! We have been together for nine years and she’s been by my side through the best and worst times. We created a business together after meeting almost a decade ago and haven’t looked back since. She’s the head coach and CEO of our main business, DAILY THRIVE, which is a health and wellness app focused on live workouts for everyone. She’s confident, funny, smart, tenacious, and just about everything good there is to be found in a person. I owe her my life because don’t know where I’d be if it weren’t for her keeping me up during the days that I wanted to quit.

Website: https://www.dailythrive.app

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-urra

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

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

Image Credits
Johnny Urra