The Athletes Mindset
The Athletes Mindset
Episode 9: Brian Davison
Ben Hall sits down with Brian Daivson, Founder & CEO of Sports Business Ventures, former Vice President of Player Development of the Milwaukee Bucks, and a 2021 NBA Champion.
This episode was full of lessons I wish every young professional and every athlete could hear.
What I appreciated most was Brian's honesty about the process, the sacrifices, the long-term discipline, and the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people.
And y'all, welcome back to the athlete's mindset. I have a special guest here, Brian Davidson, who's seen every side of the game. You know, he's coached, he's built, he's won an NBA championship with Nike, and now as a creator of sports business ventures. How are you doing today?
SPEAKER_00:I'm doing I'm doing well, Ben. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, thank you for coming on the podcast, you know, just to share some of your experiences and what you do now. And I'm just really excited for this episode. See, you know, what what how you gotten to where you are now, the players you've been with, and you know, your coaching journey. So just to start off, I want to talk about just your background a little bit growing up, talk about that a little bit.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. So I grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. Um, my father was in the military in the U.S. Navy, went to the Naval Academy. And so we grew up right down the street from the U.S. Naval Academy. My mom was a school teacher. Uh, fell in love with uh sports at a really, really early age. Um, I had a tough time in school with my learning disability and my speech impediment and dyslexia and word processing issues. And so school was hard, but sports came pretty easily and natural to me. So um I found a lot of my friends and found out who I could become as just an individual through sports. And so had this uh immense love for the game of sports and just the competition. And that led to me playing three sports in high school. I played soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. And then got recruited, ironically, for all three of them uh to play in college. Uh, got uh my biggest offer is from basketball and lacrosse. Um, so I ended up picking UNC Asheville, a small Division I in the Big South. Now they're in the SOCON. Um, but went down there to uh UNC Asheville, about eight hours away from where I grew up in Annapolis and started my college basketball career there. Um, and then went off and played and finished my career at a Division II school called Brevard College, um, who's now Division III. Um, but that's a little bit about me growing up and where I where I started uh my career.
SPEAKER_02:Nice. Uh I've heard of Bravard. I used to play tennis and um I went up there for a visit um tennis um facility. But that's very nice. I didn't know very much about like the dyslexia and the speech impediment. Is that was that like a big drive for you growing up?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it was it was part of my my life to be honest with you in a lot of ways, because um, you know, I was I was really at the very early stages of my education, was put into lower level classes and uh and I had a twin sister. So I had to balance knowing that she was in higher level classes, getting things really easily and naturally for her. And those things for me were really hard. So um, you know, uh the the learning disability that I had, you know, was a challenge. But I think it defined me to find unique ways to learn, to communicate those challenges, to the put in the work ethic to be able to overcome those. And so uh, and I have to give a lot of credit to my parents. They drove me to tutoring every single Wednesday from first grade through 12th grade. Every single Wednesday I had a tutor. And uh, and so after school, instead of like hanging out with my friends or playing a sport, like I had to go to practices and stuff, but I also had to spend another hour to hour and a half with a tutor. You know, that's hard for a young person to know that they're gonna allocate even more time to that and then go do homework, right? And so um my work that what it did define my work ethic and the the price I had to pay to be able to go to where I wanted to. And by, you know, my senior year of high school, I was in AP classes. I was taking uh classes with my sister and uh getting a grade GPA at a like 3.6 or something like that in high school. And I had to put a lot of hours in to get that grade and get that GPA, but it uh it defined who I was gonna be become, I think, in a lot of ways.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's great. That's a great story. I've never even would imagine that, you know, someone that's been well on the business side. But before your NBA and business success, talk about a little bit of your coaching. Um, you coach basketball, I believe. And what made what made you step into that role?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so uh, you know, for me, like sports was my my it is my lifeblood. It is, you know, what I wake up every day thinking about. I was doing that when I was five, and I'm still doing that into my 40s now. And uh, and so um when I got done playing college basketball, it was the natural progression for me and my passion to be on the court, to be with young people, to help mold them as young individuals, to become adults, um, uh, to help them through that journey on and off the court. And coaching was, you know, in my DNA, I believe. And so I ended up going to Brevard College after graduating, staying there in a sense, and coaching for two seasons under Coach Mike Jones, who was my coach when I was there. Um, and so I was an assistant coach immediately. Um, and that was an incredible experience in itself. Um, you know, we had such a great recruiting class those two years. We had a first team All-American in the Division II uh rankings, Jonathan Woodston. We had a great couple of transfers come in, and we ended up going to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history um in that second season, um, which was a great, great experience to really, you know, not only be part of it from a playing perspective, but then go in as a coach and see the progression of the program in the athletic department. Um, it was a pretty special thing. And so I really enjoyed my time as a coach and I felt like it was a pretty natural place for me to be. And I could still see myself there if I really wanted to be there, but I had other things that I wanted to tackle and take on in my career. And so I spent two seasons with Prevar before switching over to the business side of sports.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I was going to ask um if like a team called you up or, you know, wanted to interview you for a coaching position, is that something like you would still do?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, probably not anymore. Um, reason being, uh, you know, there's different seasons of my life, and now with three kids uh in the balance of trying to be a very present father and husband uh coaching coaches do it all the time. They're great at it, but probably not up my alley at this time in my career. Um, but I do get recruited to become my uh little kid soccer coach now. So I I still find ways of coaching a five-year-old soccer team, which is probably more challenging than a college team because I keep them on the field, keep their uniforms on, and not sit down in the middle of the game. So um, that's really what I'm challenged with these days in coaching.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, most definitely. But I I assume there has to be a lot more fun, you know, a lot of great moments happening there. Yes. So when you were coaching, um, how important was mindset with player like growth?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah, you know, I think uh to be an athlete at any level, but really a high level, and of course in college, you have to have that growth mindset. Um I think people hear this all the time is when they're the number one player on the team in high school, they get to the college side and they go, Well, uh everyone on my team was the number one player on their team, right? And so, and then in the conference, and then you got guys that are three or four or five years older than you. And so um the maturity there and the strength and conditioning is definitely apparent. And so, you know, the growth mindset has to be there from an athlete perspective and a coaching perspective too, because you have to learn, you have to evolve, you have to innovate, you have to push yourself to new challenges. And um you're always competing. You're competing for a spot on the roster, you're competing to be in the starting lineup, you're competing to be uh a winning team in the conference, you're competing to get to the tournament, you're competing to be all conference or all American, right? Like, so there's always competition happening. And it comes down to, from a growth perspective, like what is the price you're willing to pay for that growth? Right. And the the athletes and the coaches that are putting time in extra past the practice, past shoot around, past the weight training sessions, past the PT sessions, and getting extra shots up and getting extra weightlifting up and eating right and sleeping right, those extra things, that price you're paying, would typically help in the competition to grow and and to succeed. And so um I think you know, I look back on my time now, and um, a lot of that athlete mindset I still use in my business experience today, and I have throughout my whole 20 years in the sports industry. Um, and so the athlete mindset and growth mindset is is is pivotal and essential to be a high caliber athlete or coach.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I feel like you can teach skill all day, but you know, your mindset is what you know makes or break people nowadays. But I want to transition into I want to transition into your your days at Nike, the great business side. You was there for 12, 13 years. Um just talk about that and your experience there.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so when I left uh Bravard and coaching there, you know, I think I was on a quick a pretty quick path to get to, you know, uh Division III, division two head coaching position, you know, in my late 20s, early, early 30s, and um, and I really enjoyed being around the players and being around the game and and all that, but there was something that that I was trying to define and this fulfillment of what I wanted to really the fulfillment of challenge. And uh and I heard about Nike from a random conversation, um, had this audacious dream to go work there, had no one at Nike I knew. I didn't know anybody. Grew up in Annapolis, 3,000 miles away from Beaverton, Oregon, didn't have any connections, but I ironically went on the Nike Biz, you know, career website and saw there was a brand new store opening up in Baltimore, Maryland. So about 45 minutes or so away from where I grew up. And so I applied online, got an interview, went into the interview, was the only person in the interview that actually wore a suit because all the other candidates for the associate jobs were coming in in t-shirts and shorts and all that. They offered me a lead manager position, which was the lowest level manager position in the store. I made$11 an hour to start. Um, and I had a Nike email and it changed my life. So I went from um the coaching into uh the retail store. My coach said, I think you're crazy. I I trust you and support you 100%. But if you ever want to come back, you always got a seat on the bench with me. Um, but good luck and uh excited to see what you do. And ended up going to Baltimore and moving back in with my parents, working in Baltimore at a Rundle Mills uh factory store and was there for about two and a half years. And in that time, I got to meet a lot of people. And there was a gentleman that kept coming into the store. His name was Jeff Tapkis. And uh I finally said, Jeff, like, what are you always doing in the store? Because I would ring him up on his employee discount. And he said, Oh, I work right down the street. There's a Nike showroom about 10 minutes from here. I said, Well, what's a showroom? He said, Oh, they show all the shoes to the retailers in the region six months in advance of it hitting the store at the stores. You should come check it out. I said, Can I come tomorrow? And that led to a year and a half to almost two years of me working for free for coach. That's his nickname, Jeff Tapia is his nickname's coach, and worked for him for a year and a half to two years for free. Met the local Eekans, which is Nike spelt backwards. They're a local uh Nike reps that do like technology training and footwear training for all the retail stores and go to all the events across the country and sometimes globe for Nike. And it's a very illustrious group, and that's the job I wanted. And so I started working with them, got to meet their bosses, ended up, you know, two and a half years in, getting the ECAN uh uh position in Washington, DC. And that was my first corporate position at Nike. And then to fast forward through the rest of those years, uh, those 13 years at Nike, crushed that job, got Eekan of the Year in 2012, turned it around, got a team sports sales role in Houston, Texas. So moved to Houston, Texas, crushed that role, moved it to Beaverton, Oregon in product creation on the Jordan brand footwear side, crushed that role, got into Nike basketball sports marketing, signing NBA athletes to the brand and doing the team deal. So all the signage around the stadiums and arenas of the jump man and the swoosh. And that led to a lot of recruitment to me on the sports agency side as well as the front office side of basketball. And so the 13 years at Nike took me across the country, took me across the globe, all over Asia, all over Europe, um, working with Giannis Andy DeCumpo with his signature business, and got to work with some of the best athletes in the world, with some of the biggest agencies in the world, with some of the ownership groups across the NBA and the GMs, of course, that were, you know, leading and building those rosters of those teams. And it opened up my aperture of my network and my exposure to the industry at another whole level that I could have never imagined, starting in that retail store in 2008. And so it was an incredible journey for those 13 years there and a lot of friendships and a lot of life memories along the way.
SPEAKER_02:Nice. I feel like it's very similar because I used to work at a retail Nike retail store a couple of years ago, and I put up in the suit as well. And they told me to go back home and they told me to put on my best Nike outfit. So it was very, you know, it was a it was an eye-opener that, you know, that's what you know what they wanted. But um, speaking with like Giannis Ajankoubu, I know like I read that you like changed his, like, I know he was about to sign like another shoe deal, and like you were the one like they kind of changed his opinion or like got him to transfer over to Nike. Talk about that a little bit.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so he signed with Nike when he was in Europe uh at the Division uh two Greece level of professional basketball over there. And uh he was on a lower-level deal as a you know, a lower-level professional athlete over there in Europe. And when he got drafted into the NBA, he kind of um made a name for himself right right away with his ability to you know get down the court in in really uh amazing ways with like two or three dribbles and being able to you know extend so far because of his length and his you know his his soon-to-be strength that he built up. And uh, and so as he you know progressed in in the NBA, my career was progressing in Nike. And we met in 2015-16 NBA season. And at that time, the Bucs were still, you know, uh below you know average team. They were trying to build the building blocks, they were in one of the oldest stadiums in the NBA. They were in Milwaukee, so not a major market. And uh and Giannis was still just kind of like known as this Greek freak that you know could do some really unique things, but that was you know at the extent of what people knew. And so when I met him, he was at a pretty uh interesting place. The Nike wasn't given giving him a lot of love. Um, there wasn't uh uh incredible customer service, you know, client service on on the Nike end with him. And so he was in a pretty bad place with Nike and did not see himself staying with the swoosh. And so I walked into a pretty volatile situation and saying, like, hey, when the deal's up, I'm probably not coming back to you guys. And uh and I asked for one thing. I said, let me prove myself to you. I'm not gonna promise anything. I just gotta prove my work, prove my value, prove that I can be a good partner. And I did. And over those two years or so, um, we were able to identify that his footwear was actually the wrong size. He was wearing a 16 when he should have been wearing a 17 and a half. We found out that he was wearing shoes that were well too worn and not uh a safe for him to wear for the longevity of his career, plus the demand that he at seven foot, 250 something pounds, puts on, you know, the shoes each and every night. And so we started, you know, helping him with the product and the equipment, and then we helped him get more integrated into the brand strategy of Nike, and he started to accelerate at the same time. So his performance on the core was growing, the team was getting better. Uh, they had a new GM, John Horse, they had a new coach come in. Um, and all this was happening in real time. And uh in 2017, his deal was up. And so in November of 17, we renewed his deal to a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal. And in that deal, he had his own signature shoe created. And we created it from scratch with him every bit of the way. And a lot of that was done through authenticity on my end, um, deliberate um communication and expectations set on my end as well that uh this is what we can do, this is what we can't do, this is what I see the path for you. And he believed in that. And I believed in him. Um, he's a family forward guy first, and so am I. Um, he's authentically him, and uh, and I really appreciated getting to work with him at that level. We created a very close bond and a working relationship as well. And his agency, we we were able to connect with them and build with them as in addition. And so, you know, as I look back on that, I think the walking away thing there is the same, same thing, that growth mindset. I had to walk into a situation, identify the problem, grow my own skill sets and communication streams to get the job done. And I was able to. And it was not just me, it was my great team at Nike behind me, my teammates, and I was a point person running it in day in and day out. But at the end of the day, we were able to get it done, and he's done the rest, right? Two MVPs, MBA champion, and the and MBA finals, MVP, like the rest is history, and he's got a great family now, and still leading you know, the Bucks to hopefully another championship. Um, but it it was an incredible journey working together. Yeah, you got to ring yourself, don't you? Uh yes, sir. Yes, sir. Got got in the safe right now. But uh 1-1 in 2021 when I went over to the Bucs uh as the VP of player development. We had a title called Basketball Development Affairs, but it was pretty much player development, and um, it was an incredible journey to really, you know, go through those almost 10 years together with John Force, the GM, and Mike Boonholzer, the head coach, and Chris Middleton and Bobby Portis and Pat Cuntington and the Lopez twins and and you know, Rashawn Vaughn was there, you know, he didn't he didn't win the championship with us, but he was there at the very beginning of my time there, and and all the other players with Giannis and Eric Bletso, who didn't win a championship with us, but was part of that. That Nike crew was pretty thick uh and thin through that uh that time together when I was you know helping the the Bucks out and trying to you know get the team deal done and get the guys wearing Nike and it was an integrated partnership with the with the front office of the Bucks, with Giannis, with his agency, with the rest of the team. And you know, I felt like I was a Bucks employee well before I was even there. Um, they brought me in as family, and that was one of the things that John Horse has always done really, really well is bring people in to his ecosystem that he believes in and has trust in and knows has good intentions. And um, and so then when I went over there, it just felt like it was a natural progression. I felt like I never had even transitioned jobs. I felt like I was doing the same thing, right, with the same people, which was a pretty cool experience. That's amazing. Do you like the city of uh Milwaukee? It's a great city, it's really cool. It's a little bit probably undervalued or un unexpected because it's you know, it's in the colder weather city, it's up north, it's above Chicago. People typically go typically head the Chicago, but the food, the of course, you know, there's a lot of drinking options there if you want it in the in the Bruce City. Um, but uh we lived on the outskirts of the city, but the downtown area is revitalized with the Deer District and everything Peter Fagin and the ownership group has done there, from retail to restaurants to um hotels and office spaces and the practice facilities right across the street from Pfizer Forum. It's completely revitalized and it's created this really destination point uh for Milwaukee and uh in the in the Midwest. And so, of course, winning a championship and having someone like Giannis there definitely helps with that. Um, but it's a great city filled with great people. And you know, my dad actually grew up in Wisconsin, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, so just north of Milwaukee, a couple hours north. And so it was almost in a sense like going like having some family lineage to this, to this, to the state of Milwaukee, uh Wisconsin. So it was a pretty cool thing to be able to live there for a little bit and and to experience what it was like in Milwaukee after we lived in Chicago for a while.
SPEAKER_02:That's amazing. Now I know you got to like observe other players like Carlton Penny Towns, DeMar DeRozan. Um, how was that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, it's it's it was amazing. Um, you know, I had about 50 athletes per season that were under my portfolio in managing. So, you know, at any given day, 50 plus players plus their agents or their, you know, manager or their spouse or partner or you know, manager could be reaching out about something. So I always equated it to like 100 plus people on any given day, externally from Nike, could be reaching out to me. And uh everyone has their own personalities and own agenda and own experience and own perspectives. And you know, working with Carl was incredible, you know, charismatic guy, super caring, amazing family. I got to really get to know his mom and his dad really, really well. Um, and just like really great people. Damar coming from LA, like different background than most of others, and just super authentic and truly knows who he is. And, you know, once you're in, you're in with them. And he's got a great group of people with the Goodwin Brothers and Nate Jones and that group. And, you know, what I found it for the most part, the players were super amazing individuals that really cared for others. And I can say most of my players cared for me just as much as they did for the brand. And there was really like authentic and real relationships there, but the people around them really helped them uh become who they were and then also keep them grounded and be there for them through the good and bad times. And so um, I think one thing, a lesson for an athlete that's listening to this or a coach or someone in the industry is you know, really understand and appreciate the people around the athlete. Um, they're a pivotal part of their success and sometimes their challenges. And so uh really respect, you know, the journeys that they're on as well. And so I not only got to work with some of the best athletes like DeMar and Carl and others, um, but also got to work with some of the best people outside of their inside of their ecosystem, right? Whether family members, partners, agents, and all that. And so it was a really fun time for me to see the inner workings of what I call the athlete ecosystem. And uh the best athletes have really strong ecosystems around them.
SPEAKER_02:That's great. You've you've helped a lot of like professionals like find their lane within sports, is really good to learn. And Damar, I know he's he's a big, very big Nike guy. I remember when I was a kid, I used to like watch like his sneaker collections and all that, and just very big with Nike.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, he's true and through.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So now I know you created your own business, sports business, uh ventures. How did how did that come together? And like, what's your mission behind that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thanks, Ben, for asking. Uh, we've been in business for two and a half years now. My wife and I started it based on upon the vision and mission to help people that want to work in sports. And, you know, as we talked through my career, Ben, a lot of it was, you know, blood, sweat, and tears, and sacrifice and and and testing and trialing and failing to get to where I wanted to go. And everyone will inevitably have to do that to upon their success track to get to where they want to go. But how could we create something that could help a community of very educated, determined, smart, uh uh hardworking individuals that want to work in an industry that's really competitive and really, really hard. And uh, and so we created SBV to become the sports career platform for people that are starting their careers or people that are C-level suite executives. And we have executive search firm now that we run to help people find the best CO CMOs and CEOs and GMs and head coaches and vice presidents of marketing and partnerships and operations through our executive search. But we also have programs and funnels for uh students that are currently in school or recently graduated that are trying to get mentorship or career coaching or just get insights to how they should navigate this really complex space of sports. And so SBV was really built upon my own experience as well as my wife. My wife was a high-level Division I soccer player, played at the University of Portland, got drafted to the Seattle Rain, played in the NWSL and overseas in Europe, and then came the Nike, and that's where we met. So she has her own sports story as well. And so we're really passionate about helping people and serving people, especially in the sports industry. And our sports career platform does just that through multiple different verticals and sources and opportunities to really find your way at all levels. And so it's really giving back to the community, like it's given so much to us.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I would say it's amazing. I've joined myself just recently, and yeah, you know, you're my mentor and that type of thing. Really helped me, giving great insight, especially with your type of experience. I feel like it's really great what you and your wife have started.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, you know, Ben, I think the point that I would want to make to that, and I appreciate the the kind, you know, gesture there. You know, as me being your mentor and you being my uh my mentee is um, you know, you are putting in the extra hours, right? We talked about that on the growth mindset side of an athlete, getting extra shots up, getting extra training in, doing the extra things of sleep and eating and taking care of your body as an athlete, putting in that extra time. You're in school, you're trying to build your career, you're trying to build your network, you're trying to navigate the next chapters of your journey, you're putting in that work, you're putting in that time. And so you're in an exact example of what it's gonna take for someone to succeed because you're investing into yourself and you're taking you're very you're being very per uh purposeful with your journey. And every athlete does the same thing, right? If you are going to be a high-level athlete like Jan is, for example, he is very purposeful with the time that he puts into his craft, the the food that he puts into his body, the sleep that he gets, right? The training that he does, the rehab and recovery that he does. It's very purposeful. And that same methodology goes to what your career should look like. And you putting in those what I call extra shots, you know, getting extra shots up when no one else is around, that's what you're doing with me on those calls. And so we want to work with people like that. We want to help people that want to help themselves and we want to give them an access point to find their way. And it's one of the most fulfilling things my wife and I have ever done in our careers and in our lives because we believe we're actually changing people's lives each and every day. Um, when I think of the necessities of life, right? You think of food, you think of sleep, you think of family, you think of shelter, and you have to be able to provide by that by what you would do for work. And so we're we're trying to help an essential piece of your life that's gonna, you're gonna spend a lot of time being a part of and helping your career navigating that. And to us, it's a really fulfilling uh mission and vision that we're getting to do every single day.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, thank you so much for the kind words. It definitely means a lot, um, especially with me taking my two-year break from my podcast. Uh, you're a very big part of like my motivation and getting back started and you know, my method of reaching, reaching out to people the right ways, getting my resume right. So for the people out there listening, it's definitely a great way to start your you know, career path in sports, you know, just getting connected to people, building that network. It's definitely a great thing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you're doing the work and starting the podcast back up after two years. You're you're in the action, you're in the proximity of decision makers. Someone's gonna listen to this to one of these podcasts, it could change your life. And so good for you to do that. And you're doing all the work. I'm just I'm just the coach on the sideline, giving you some plays to hopefully uh run successfully.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you. I appreciate that. So now we're gonna move into the fun part of the show. I'm gonna give you I have 10 questions for you. You have 45 seconds to answer it. How did how do you feel about it? All right, I'm ready to go. Okay, let me get the timer set up. Alright, are you ready? Yes, sir. Game winning shot at home or away? Uh home. Fried Chicken Wednesday or Fried Fish Fridays?
SPEAKER_00:Fried Chicken Wednesday for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Well, if you've been playing right now the top pregame song. Ooh.
SPEAKER_00:Man, I'm gonna go back to my Rocky Balboa Island Tiger. I'm gonna stay with what I had 20 years ago. Your favorite food. Uh pizza. Your favorite basketball shoe. Oh man. Gotta go with the freak ones. Uh help dunno Lavionis, so I'm gonna stick with that.
SPEAKER_02:LeBron or Jordan.
SPEAKER_00:Uh Jordan all day. Caller text. Uh text.
SPEAKER_02:Singing or dancing?
SPEAKER_00:Definitely singing, and I'm bad at both.
SPEAKER_02:Instagram or TikTok? Uh Instagram. And then three three words to describe your coaching.
SPEAKER_00:Uh authentic, um passionate, and connected. Gotcha. You beat it by just a second.
SPEAKER_02:That's it's pretty good. I was trying.
SPEAKER_00:I was trying. Those are good questions. That was fun.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So for the people out there that, you know, hopefully want to get into your space, um, just give them some words of advice and some ways that help him out.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so words of advice is it starts today. You know, if you want to go do something, don't wait till tomorrow. Don't wait a week from now. It starts today. And it's little wins over and over again, and it's little uh it's small, minor uh progressions. And so you don't have to figure it out all in the next 24 hours, but you gotta get moving. You gotta get the momentum and inertia started. And then once you do that, get to a place where you can be in the proximity of action. We just talked about that with Ben and his podcast. Get in the action, be where the decision makers are, find a way in. Don't let anything stop you from doing that. There's gonna be a ton of people along the way that are gonna say, you can't do it, it's too big of a dream, it's not, it's not real. There's such a small percentage of people that do it. You don't look the part, you're not the right background, you don't have the right education. Don't listen to that. Use that as fuel to prove them wrong and do that for yourself first. And uh and look for people along the way that want to help you. There's people like myself, there's people like my wife, Ellen, there's a lot of people out there that want to help others. Our company does that within the sports industry, but there's a lot more out there in other industries and other professions and other walks of life. And so look for those people. People can't help you if they don't know how they can help you. So tell them how you need help, right? Be open about that, be vulnerable, be have a growth mindset. And if you do some of those things, you'll be along the path where you need to go, and you'll find a lot of success along the way.
SPEAKER_02:That's powerful. I want to say thank you for your message, you know, sharing insight, you know, starting, you know, with the speech impediment and dyslexia, and you know, get into now being a great uh business owner, helping players, you know, build their brand. I want to say thank you for your strong advice, your strong message, and also helping me out. So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00:Well, thanks, Ben, and it's an amazing platform that you have and your change in lives as well. And the impact that we make and the legacy that we make here, we only get to do it once. So we might as well help as many people as we can. And and it's such a privilege and blessing to be on this with you and be part of your journey. And so thanks for having me today. And look forward to connecting with anyone that hears this or or watches it and and wants to be part of what we're doing and excited to connect. And thanks so much again, Ben. Yes, always. We will talk soon. Yes.