A Personal Story of Redemption
Abe Cruz
A Child of God and the Founder & CEO of Forever Faith
From Dreams to Desperation
Abe grew up in a single-mother household in the hustle-and-grind city of East Los Angeles. He had a successful journey in multiple sports and dreamt of becoming a Professional Athlete. He got the opportunity to play high school and college football and basketball, even winning a few state championships. However, as a college dropout chasing quick money over education, Abe got involved with the wrong crowd and fell into a downward spiral that landed him in a prison cell.
When It Gets Started
Started Business in Prison
Ankle Monitor & Not Giving Up
Building Relationship with Dollar Store Samples
A Mentor & Father Figure
The Millionaire Matchmaker & the Book
Outlook to the Future
A Personal Story of Redemption
Abe Cruz
A Child of God and the Founder & CEO of Forever Faith
From Dreams to Desperation
Abe grew up in a single-mother household in the hustle-and-grind city of East Los Angeles. He had a successful journey in multiple sports and dreamt of becoming a Professional Athlete. He got the opportunity to play high school and college football and basketball, even winning a few state championships. However, as a college dropout chasing quick money over education, Abe got involved with the wrong crowd and fell into a downward spiral that landed him in a prison cell.
When It Gets Started
Started Business in Prison
Ankle Monitor & Not Giving Up
Building Relationship with Dollar Store Samples
A Mentor & Father Figure
The Millionaire Matchmaker & the Book
Outlook to the Future
When It Gets Started
During a 40-day fast in prison in 2008, Abraham “Abe” Cruz had a vision to share the message of hope and to never lose faith.
FOREVER FAITH: MINDSET OF CHAMPIONS,
the Abe Cruz Story. BUY NOW!
Started Business in Prison
Abe started designing the Forever Faith and Mindset of Champions business plan on napkins and prison paperwork with pencils, markers, and crayons. To further expand his ideas, he traded his rations with another inmate, who’s also a tattoo artist, to pencil in the original version of the Forever Faith logo design and the to-do list that he faithfully carried out after his time in prison.
Ankle Monitor & Not Giving Up
In late 2010, after being turned down 16 times and 48 hours away from being sent back to prison, Abe finally landed a job in a gym as a trainer in east Tulsa, Oklahoma, just in the nick of time and a prayer answered.
Two hours later, Abe obtained a second job in a local nutritional store through a walk-in. He began searching the internet on how to start a clothing line and build a business.
Spending 6 hours each day on a bus to commute between his two jobs and the Christian Sober Living home he was living in; Abe’s physical and emotional well-being were being heavily taxed. But he did not give up.
Building Relationship with Dollar Store Samples
Despite multiple people saying that he was crazy, Abe drew his logo on a Dollar Store t-shirt and started to talk to everyone he came across about Forever Faith and sharing his vision from prison and testimony. With the help of a co-worker, Abe was able to print 20 shirts with his design from prison and sell them in the gym under consignment conditions. And that’s the dawn of the Forever Faith apparel business.
Although Abe has great passion and the willingness to work very hard, without a vehicle, Abe couldn’t canvas the city to fulfill his business dream. After months of hard work, Abe finally had enough money to purchase his first car for $700. Abe was no more bus-bound and able to ramp up his effort in connecting with people and more businesses.
Abe & Fred
The photo was taken on the red carpet of the Las Vegas Black Film Festival.
A Mentor & Father Figure
Fred Bassett, a retired professional with a hobby in photography, met Abe in the gym. He realized Abe didn’t have a website nor any photographs to show his apparel. After being touched by Abe’s story, he volunteered to photograph his apparel for the website as well as mentor him with sound business advice.
Shortly after, Fred felt led to support Abe in his business venture financially. Fred also invited him with open arms to live with his family and to leave his 2 jobs and focus solely on Forever Faith.
The Millionaire Matchmaker & the Book
Abe’s fascinating story grabbed the attention of Hollywood. In 2011, he received an invitation to appear on “The Millionaire Matchmaker,” and his fame has since soared. Thanks to Abe’s perseverance and effort, “Forever Faith” achieved considerable success and garnered several multi-million dollar buyout offers. However, the company politely rejected these offers due to differences in philosophy, which led to a 5-year-long lawsuit. As a result, the company’s business operations were halted during this period. Finally, Forever Faith emerged victorious in the lawsuit and was able to continue its operations officially.
During the pandemic, Abe was able to complete his award-winning book:
“Forever Faith: Mindset of Champions, the Abe Cruz Story.”
Outlook to the Future
In 2024, Abe will focus on relaunching Forever Faith. He is being invited as the guest fitness celebrity to represent the United States in ExpoFitness. This event is the largest Expo in Latin America for health, sports, and wellness, and Forever Faith is proud to be the official apparel partner.
