MATLOCK

(Photo: Memphis sprinter Kyndia Matlock prepares for her final collegiate race in the east regional round of the 200 meters in 2024.)

Kyndia Matlock is an ongoing success story. She attended Youngstown State from 2019-2023, where she won four Horizon League championships as a sprinter, including the 100 meters conference crown in 2022. Her contributions to the program helped continue the dominance that it established well before she arrived. Youngstown State won all nine outdoor Horizon League outdoor championships from 2014-2023. The program also won seven straight Horizon League indoor championships from 2017-2023.

(Photo: Kyndia Matlock at the 2022 Tennessee Relays, while competing for Youngstown State.)

All seemed well on the surface for the Warren, Ohio native, but like every other human, she'd have real life tests to overcome. Growing up as a young woman in college can guide you down paths that were not intended. Matlock lost a bit of her spiritual discipline that she arrived with in Youngstown. Acknowledging where she was personally, she decided to do something about it.

Matlock continued to excel in sports, eventually moving on to the University of Memphis where she closed her career in 2024 as a grad student. These days she is building a social media brand with a combined 40,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok.

While so many people appear to be vain and self-absorbed with their own beauty, interests and hangups, Matlock uses her social media accounts to share fitness tips and spiritual motivation. She uses a blend of fun and hard work to share experiences that show people that they can endure hard times and growth through the consistent pursuit of reaching for being a better version of themselves.

Winners Only: Did you do a lot of interviews as a collegiate athlete?

Kyndia Matlock: I've done a couple.

The question comes up because you were a collegiate conference champion. If you'd done that in football or basketball, you would've answered more than a couple. Do you feel the visibility of collegiate track and field is less than it should be at the moment.

I think it has improved but there's definitely more room to grow, for sure.

Do you feel the contributions from you and your teammates at Youngstown State are appreciated by the institution? You all were dominant over so many years.

As for anything in life, there's a time for everything. A time to be appreciated and celebrated and a time to work and focus on the new athletes that come in. I believe our contributions plays a role in recruitment and the furthering of the program.

You are consistently doing some powerful things these days online and we're going to get there, but let's start with how you got here. Tell us about the young woman that showed up on the campus at Youngstown State, preparing to start her collegiate career in 2019.

Truthfully, I'm a byproduct of a great community. I have hard working parents who loved and pushed me to be the best me, ever since I can remember. My junior year of high school, I made a resolve that I was going to get my college paid for [through athletics]. My parents invested their time and money and there was no way I could let it all be for nothing, so I worked. I worked really hard. I missed out on a lot of things but I had a goal.

So you're committed to being a successful student athlete in and out of the classroom. Where did you have to grow the most as a human being during those years of college?

Freshman and sophomore year [of college] I'd say I lost my way. I didn't recognize myself when I looked in the mirror. To the outside world, sure, I was a great student athlete, but as Kyndia the person, she was lost. God called me back himself and directed me to start a fast over the summer. I deleted all of my social media and rededicated my life back to God and that was the start of where I am today.

This is so much about sharing the success story. We all have something to overcome. While the world saw this woman who was winning in life, did you have to work extra hard to make sure people only saw that person and not the actual person that you didn't recognize?

I wouldn't say so. As I stated, I grew up with a great family. I've always been respectful. I grew up in the church and so Sundays I would go to church because that's what we did, but that's the dangerous thing. I was just going through the motions. My dad could always see through it all.

Did you and your dad have talks about what he saw?

We did.

How did they go?

He always reminded me who I was and who I represent. That it was bigger than me. Looking back on it, he wasn't angry. He was disappointed at times but it always came from a place of love.

So you went on your fast. What did you fast from? What was the process like? Did you struggle? Did anyone grow confused about the sudden changes that you decided to make after they'd gotten to know you?

[The fast was from] Social media and secular music. It was a struggle at first but I turned out loving not having Instagram. A lot of people thought I blocked them [personally] and the new people I met mainly respected it. Now, as for old habits, things I used to do — the friends I used to be around, they were confused.

And as you said earlier, the fast is the most pivotal event that led to where you are today, correct?

One hundred percent.

Today, you're consistently positive in a world where it seems to be in fashion to bombard people with negativity. What was the genesis to what you're currently doing online.

I've been this way, way before I picked up my phone and started recording. After the fast I made a TikTok and would just post what I was doing. Last April, I decided to make this account. "Kalon" started off as a jewelry business. I used to make and sell waist beads, bracelets and anklets. But the name means beauty is more than skin deep.

I made the account originally for women. The more I posted, I saw that not only women were inspired, encouraged and motivated — everyone was. Fitness has always been my safe space and peace. I genuinely love making content. A lot of times my posts are for me, but people seem to relate. Faith is who I am, so naturally the lifestyle part comes into my three niches. I am a Christian girl, who loves fitness and sharing my life.

What you just said about inspiring everyone, seems to be lost amongst society. Some people just lean into focusing on people that are just like them. Women think that they can only inspire women or black people think they can only inspire other blacks. When did you recognize you had the ability to help anyone looking for help? I can even admit as a male that doesn't go to church, you are inspiring to me, so yes, what you do does work.

Since I was a little girl, I've ran from it for most of my life. I used to have conversations with my dad when I was younger. I told him that I didn't like the idea of people looking up to me, watching me or being in the spotlight, because I knew in my head that I wasn't perfect. I was scared of failing. That type of pressure kept me from accepting [the ability to inspire others]. It wasn't until recently that I've accepted it and started walking in it boldly.

Well, thanks for that. You learned a valuable lesson that many people in society don't want to accept. There are no perfect heroes and it's okay to fail, be wrong, swing and miss. You can still be a light to somebody who needs it.

Absolutely! Every fail, every wrong and every missed swing, I can now help the person that's going through what I went through. Nothing is wasted in God's hands.

As we wrap this up, let's take a quick trip back to your collegiate days. What was the highest high that you felt as an athlete?

I would say it was last year. My last year of running, I made a resolve to just have fun. I spent my whole collegiate career super hard on myself and in my head. Just having fun, led to great results and I found the love for the sport again.