The B.N. Shape Vision

B.N. Shape is clothing, but it is much more. We represent a community of people who share a unique passion for attaining and maintaining a healthy lifestyle through proper nutrition and active living. Our community is disciplined, willing to fight the daily temptations of unhealthy living in order to meet our goals and maintain our well-being. We are focused, breaking through every roadblock and tackling every challenge toward the pursuit of our fitness goals and athletic dreams. We are mavericks, unwilling to settle for anything average and normal, because we strive for excellence in all that we do. We are the hardest workers, pushing ourselves to the extreme limit every day, because anything less is unacceptable. We climb mountains. We embrace what others fear. We do the impossible. We are professional athletes, students, bodybuilders, fitness models, and full-time employees. We are mothers and fathers. We are sons and daughters. Our attitude not only applies to fitness, athletics, and our bodies, but it applies to our lives. No matter the background, ethnicity, or job description, we are all the same. B.N Shape is not just clothing. It is an attitude. It is a mindset. It is a lifestyle. In mind, body, and soul, there is no greater feeling than to B.N. Shape.

How did B.N. Shape start?

Dr. Dozie Onunkwo, Founder

Left: Me at age 19; Right: 10 years later

B.N. Shape began with my own transformation. For the first 20 years of my life, I was overweight. I was very content with that life too. One of my mother’s favorite stories about my childhood is our visits to IHOP when I refused to eat off the kids’ menu. I was eating Pancake Platter at around 7 years old. McDonalds, Popeyes, Chinese Carry-Out, Pizza Hut, Honey Buns, you name it and I was eating it. As I grew older, I never thought about what my eating habits were doing to my body. I was content with being overweight, mostly because that was the only life I knew. I just figured that I’d make up for it by dressing well and smelling good haha…and it worked pretty well in high school.

But at 20 years old, I finally got to the point where I was tired of having a gut. I was tired of being ashamed of my body, so I did something about it…NO MORE FAST FOOD. It’s amazing how that one thing changed my life. I also spent a summer in Boulder, CO (a very beautiful and health-conscious city) for a summer internship. After work, I had nothing to do but workout, so I worked out everyday. I began doing ab exercises for the first time ever. Following that internship, I came back to school and received so many compliments about my weight loss. That was all of the motivation I needed…At this point, I was no longer eating ridiculous amounts of fast food, but still hadn’t learned how to properly work out or eat to build a healthy, muscular, and lean body. Then it happened…

I went to see the movie, 300, and I haven’t been the same since! All I could think was, “Damn, I need to look like Leonidas!” So I contacted my good friend Daniel Silva, who is also a personal trainer in Bowie, MD. He was kind enough to let me come workout with him (a.k.a. kill me) for 3 weeks in Dec. 2007. With his knowledge about proper weight training technique and nutrition, I was given the tools to continue learning about different training methods and nutritional information.

After about a year of intense training and improved eating habits, I was LOVING the results and my new fit lifestyle! I loved it so much that “I Love Being In Shape” became my personal slogan. But, it wasn’t until June 2011 that I decided to get this slogan printed on a shirt for personal expression. I also printed extra shirts and brought them with me to a bodybuilding competition I participated in. The response I received was overwhelming. Many other competitors and attendees not only loved the shirt, but wanted to know how they could get their own. At that moment, BN Shape Clothing was born.

Since then, the BN Shape has grown exponentially! In a short time frame, BN Shape Clothing has established a rapidly growing community in the US and around the world. I am happy to share my love for a healthy, fit lifestyle with so many people. Thank you for becoming a part of the BN Shape community!