Our Story
Why I Founded Wealth & Wellness Academy
My name is Adebayo Aregbe, but most people call me Bayo. I am a first-generation immigrant, born to Nigerian parents, and raised in Oakland, California. I attended Oakland public schools and grew up in a household where hard work was a given—but financial ease was not. From a young age, I noticed a difference between my family’s reality and the lives of others around me. We worked just as hard, if not harder, yet the outcomes were very different. I carried a quiet but persistent question with me: Why?
That question ultimately pushed me toward football. I didn’t start playing until my sophomore year of high school, but I saw the game as a vehicle, an opportunity to reach spaces where knowledge, access, and answers lived. Playing at Skyline High School under legendary Coach John Beam and a staff of strong, principled men deeply shaped me. Football opened a door I never imagined possible: a scholarship to Columbia University in New York.
At Columbia, I didn’t experience racism, but I experienced classism for the first time. I was welcomed, supported, and respected, yet there were moments when I knew I didn’t fully belong. Not because of how I looked or how I spoke, but because I didn’t come from the same financial world as many of my peers. That realization sharpened my mission: find out what they know.
My dreams of playing in the NFL eventually came to an end. I had torn my ACL and meniscus in high school and never had it repaired. I managed the injury for years, but by my junior year of college, the pain became unbearable. Football had taken me as far as it could—but the mission stayed with me.
My dreams of playing in the NFL eventually came to an end. I had torn my ACL and meniscus in high school and never had it repaired. I managed the injury for years, but by my junior year of college, the pain became unbearable. Football had taken me as far as it could, but the mission stayed with me.
Around that time, I fully leaned into another world I had been exposed to earlier: real estate. I earned my real estate license at 18 and developed a solid foundation. But it wasn’t until I committed to learning the investor side that everything clicked. I realized that this was the knowledge gap. The upper-middle class and above understand how to invest and reinvest money into assets, limit liabilities, and build passive income—most often through real estate and stocks.
Because traditional real estate requires capital and leverage, knowledge of stocks became mandatory. Later came business ownership and alternative assets. Through my education at Columbia University and later at Santa Clara Law School, I was fortunate to be exposed to the systems and strategies that many people are simply never taught. Now, in my role as a certified teacher, I embrace the responsibility of passing the torch of knowledge to the next generation of leaders.
Wealth & Wellness Academy was founded to change that.
My goal is to expose as many young adults as possible to this knowledge. I want them to understand how employment and entrepreneurship can fund investing, how assets compound, and how real estate, stocks, and even alternative assets can work together to create long-term stability and freedom. This academy exists because I believe financial literacy is not about greed; it’s about dignity, options, and wellness. When people understand money, they reduce stress, expand opportunity, and gain the ability to give back. Wealth and wellness are not separate. They are deeply connected, and everyone deserves access to both.
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Your support helps empower the next generation with the knowledge and tools they need to build healthy, financially secure, and purpose driven lives. At Wealth & Wellness Academy, we provide students with access to financial literacy education, fitness programming, and mentorship opportunities that are often missing in underserved communities. Every contribution directly supports program materials, student experiences, and expanded access for youth across our community. By investing in Wealth & Wellness Academy, you are not just donating, you are helping create pathways to ownership, opportunity, and long-term success for the students we serve.