Inspiration at its finest

Thank you all for boarding along on my journey to greatness, I am Frendy Lemorin. It is very rare to find another that bears the same name, which in turn describes my unique personality.

After being the face of BAPE NYC for 9 years, I am an independent, Forbes featured Storyteller, Copywriter and Creative Consultant.

Biography

I was Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on September 12th conceived by Ruth Boliere, School Teacher/Government worker and Fred Lemorin, Banker. I could blatantly admit that I had the best 7 years of my life there. Everything from the people to the food were amazing. Family, in my opinion is valued more In Haiti than the US. As you all know, it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and as a result the only valuable commodity that we have is each other. I remember living in a full house with my parents, Uncles, Aunt, Grandma, Grandpas and even distant cousins. It was great because I would never get bored, there was always an activity to take part in. Whether it was playing house with my little cousins or playing soccer with my older uncles. It was such a carefree way of living even if we didn’t have much.

I moved to the U.S on October 26th, 1991. Even though life was simpler in Haiti, the living conditions were pretty harsh to say the least. Furthermore, The government was very unstable which resulted in the crime rate raising to an ultimate high! I first lived in Miami (which is only 2hrs away from Haiti) for a very short amount of time. We then moved to Brooklyn, NYC to live with my Grandfather (my mom’s father) who’s been living here since the late 1970s. Unfortunately, my grandpa didn’t have a place of his own. He was living with a very lovely family who rented him a room. That is where my family and I stayed until we got on our feet.

It was really hard at first for me because I was just a little Island boy who only spoke french living in this big city. I attended a bilingual school located right across the street from where I was staying with my Grandpa. Fortunately, I gained a good amount of friends while my confidence grew in speaking the English language. As for my parents, they had to start from scratch! My mom and dad left great paying jobs to literally nothing. Only with determination and strong faith in God they’ve become what they are today. At first, my mom worked as a nurses aid traveling to the home of hospice patients. She then became an elementary school teacher while attending City University in NYC to eventually obtain her Masters degree! My father graduated from being an NYC bike messenger to become a yellow cab driver. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to go to school like my mother did, but he worked diligently to be what he is now and I am very proud of him. My father deserves so much credit because all the while my mother was working various odd jobs, he was constantly bringing money in to support us.

I didn’t get my first paying job until I was 18-years-old. I worked at Duane Read Pharmacy where I was getting paid the minimum wage of $5.15. I got the job while I was attending Brooklyn College. Honestly, I wasn’t worried about my pay rate at the time. I knew it was just a stepping stone for me to move on to do bigger and better things. In today’s society, young adults tend to not fully realize the value of hard-work. They want money to come in so fast and abundantly that they end up finding themselves participating in illegal activity. I was fortunate enough to have loved ones who instilled in me a strong work ethic which enabled me to turn my wildest dreams into reality.