Jeffrey Gum
Jeff Gum is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former Navy SEAL.[1] He is the founder of Sunga Life, the first American Brazilian Sunga Swimwear company in the United States and a co-founder of Train Club – a private member shooting range in West Palm. He is a Scientific Master Diver with the Force Blue Team, which repurposes Combat Divers to do Marine Conservation and also serves as a board member with the Adaptive Training Foundation which trains amputee and spinal cord injury veterans and civilians for nine weeks in Dallas, Texas and then redeploys them on surf and ski trips.[2] He recently starred on Korea's number 1 military TV show Iron Squad 3 which aired in September 2023.[3]
Early life
Gum grew up in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania and attended Pen Argyl High School where he was a multi-sport athlete.[citation needed] After graduation he moved to Orlando and attended the University of Central Florida majoring in Business Management/Entrepreneurship.[citation needed] Here he began training and competing in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Mixed Martial Arts at Gracie Barra Orlando.[4]
Military career
In July 2007 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy to attend Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUDS) training in Coronado, California.[citation needed] After two years of SEAL training he graduated from Class 272 and checked into SEAL Team Five where he served as a machine gunner and Intelligence Rep. His second deployment took him to the United Arab Emirates with the Crisis Response Element and served as a Fire Team Leader and Lead Breacher.[citation needed] Upon returning home he was assigned to Advanced Training Command for instructor duty and began teaching Combatives and Prisoner Handling to SEAL trainees.
UCLA Anderson School of Management
Gum brought Sunga Life through the entrepreneurship pipeline at UCLA Anderson and was selected for the Business Creation Option Master’s Thesis and won demo day for Start Up UCLA’s 12-week summer accelerator. Sunga Life then was selected for the Anderson Venture Accelerator and for Rob Dyrdek’s show "The Dyrdek Machine".[5]
Gum completed his MBA with a focus on Entrepreneurship and Marketing at UCLA in 2021 after Sunga Life was his Master’s Thesis through the Business Creation Option.[6]
Business Career
Gum founded Sunga Life in 2016 while an active duty Navy SEAL teaching Combatives. He had traveled to Brazil many times with the Gracie family and discovered sungas while there. He wore them all over the world and everyone loved them so he decided to make it his first company. As the brand grew he wanted to make more products and it grew from a swimwear brand into a gym and athleisure brand with a large product line. Many celebrities, UFC fighters, and pro athletes now wear the apparel including Nick Diaz, Jon Fitch, Clay Harbor, Mario Lopez, Nick Santanastasso, Artemus Dolgin.[7]
Gum and Sunga Life have been featured numerous times on Fox and Friends, Fox Business with Stuart Varney, and also on Newsmax. In 2022 Sunga Life was featured in Miami Swim Week with the Supermodels & Superheroes theme where Gum and other Navy SEALs walked the runway with Supermodels.[8]
Gum is a co-founder and co-owner of Train Club, an exclusive private member shooting range in West Palm where he is business partners with many notable special operations veterans including Rob O’Neill, Drew Plateis, and Kaj Larsen.[9]
Veteran services and philanthropy
Gum serves as a board member with the Adaptive Training Foundation, which trains amputee and spinal cord injury veterans and civilians. Adaptive athletes are brought in and go through 9 weeks of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual training and then they redeploy to the mountains for a military to the mountains ski trip.[10] He also serves as a Master Scientific Diver on the Force Blue Team where he works with scientists to save Coral Reef and Sea Turtles around the state of Florida.[11] Gum has been an avid supporter and participant of the Hudson SEAL swim and seen many times on Fox and Friends with Pete Hegseth, Kaj Larsen, Jason Redman, and the founder of the swim Bill Brown. Everyone who participates in the swim wears Sunga Life to show a message of unity and honor fallen SEAL Brothers, 9/11 victims, and raise money for the Navy SEAL Foundation which provides critical support to current and former SEALs and Gold Star Families.[12]
References
- ↑ "5 Life Tips From a Former Navy SEAL". Men's Health. 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "Navy SEAL Veteran on inspiration behind swimwear company". Fox Business. 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "Jeff Gum on Iron Squad 3, Top Netflix Korea TV Show". Sunga Life. 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "Jeff Gum". Sibec Americas. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ Go to college or start a company? (UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator Edition) | Build With Rob EP23, retrieved 2023-11-03
- ↑ Schmitt, Jeff (2021-12-06). "2021 Most Disruptive MBA Startups: Sunga Life, UCLA (Anderson)". Poets&Quants. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "About Sunga Life, Founded by Navy SEAL Jeff Gum". Sunga Life. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "Sunga Life Brings Supermodels and Superheroes at Miami Swim Week". Miami Living. 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "Members Info – Train Club". Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "About Us | Adaptive Training Foundation". www.adaptivetrainingfoundation.org. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "Veterans". Force Blue. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "Navy SEALs swim across Hudson River to support veterans and their families". News 12 - Westchester. August 3, 2019. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
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