Kevin McNee on Resilience, Risk, and Building Guest Player Connect

In part two of our conversation with Kevin McNee, the story gets personal. From pitching at Georgetown and Brookdale to blowing out his arm on a pro day with 30 MLB scouts watching, Kevin's baseball journey was defined as much by setbacks as by talent. Add two more Tommy John surgeries, a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis on the eve of a Red Sox workout, and a torn Achilles while training with his own kid — and you've got a masterclass in refusing to quit.

But Kevin didn't just survive the grind. He took it to Austria, coaching and playing baseball in a cornfield on the side of an Alpine mountain, where he also met his wife. He parlayed that experience into a career in finance, landing one of 30 spots at a European investment bank out of 10,000 applicants — and eventually channeling everything he'd learned into co-building Guest Player Connect.

Rob and Jessica dig into what actually keeps you moving forward when life isn't giving you a Rudy moment, and Kevin shares where Guest Player Connect is headed next — from six states to Florida, Cooperstown, Puerto Rico, and beyond.

To learn more or sign up for an event, visit guestplayerconnect.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

I'm Jessica Curtis, and this is the Progress Report, a show about real people making real change across America.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Progress Report. Along with my co-host Jessica Curtis, I'm Rob Samarano. We have with us today a former Division I baseball player and now a partner in a new concept in the travel baseball and possibly travel sports world called Guest Player Connect. Welcome to the show, Kevin McNee. Thanks for having me, Rob. Now, Kevin, tell us about your college playing career.

SPEAKER_04 0:36

My college playing career started out at Georgetown University. I was there for a couple of seasons, decided to transfer during my sophomore year, wasn't allowed to transfer in conference to Seton Hall. So ended up at Brookdale Community College. Playing for Johnny Johnson was awesome. We got to the college World Series. I got to have my first of many Tommy John surgeries. Was captain of that team. Enjoyed it, you know, very much. Day I hurt my arm. You know, I was considered, you know, a third to fifth round draft pick for most of the organizations that were there. It was on a pro day. I had 30, 30 organizations watching me pitch. Uh the MLB Scouting Bureau was there. I was mowing down, guys. I think I had just come off like a 19 strikeout performance against Rowan. Uh so I was feeling pretty good about myself and yet blew it out for the first time. Um, ended up getting an opportunity down at Florida Atlantic. You know, uh it was a great opportunity with Kevin Cooney. He was one of the, you know, one of the few New Jersey coaches that were were down south at the time. Um, you know, so was blessed to have that. You know, my I would say my abilities really were up and down after my second Tommy John surgery, um, you know, where I was very inconsistent. Sometimes I could still get it back up, you know, into the mid-upper 90s. And in other days I couldn't feel my fingers, couldn't have any touch on pitches, you know, and my velocity would dip 10 miles an hour. I kind of lived with that playing, you know, some some independent ball out at Pensacola for a couple of weeks out there, um, got a phone call, you know, hey, um, you know, you look pretty good in your couple of weeks out there. Do you want to come get a workout with uh the Red Sox going in, you know, to uh spring training of 2007? So of course I become a type one diabetic before that happens. My spring training is ruined. Um, you know, and at that point, needing a third Tommy John, I basically had to look myself in the mirror and say, why did I spend money? Why did I go to Georgetown? You know, and I I've basically passed up all these opportunities. Um, you know, I was really, really close to living my personal dream. Didn't get that opportunity to go there. Um, what was kind of cool though was I got a phone call while I'm working my first job um on Wall Street, and it was from somebody in the Red Sox organization. And they're like, hey, do you want to go coach overseas? And I'm like, Yeah, that sounds fun. You know, I'm not making any money here right now. And I ended up coaching and playing in Austria. And it was um, you know, I gotta tell you from a picture standpoint, imagine like Field of Dreams in a cornfield on the side of a mountain in the Alps. That's where I met my wife. Um and so playing on a team and coaching out there, um, you know, getting to work with their national team. It was it was a lot of fun, it was a great experience. Um, I moved back to the US. We were getting frequent flyer miles, and I just decided to take a chance. I moved over there and somehow lucked into a job in an investment bank. Um, you know, there were 10,000 applicants, 30 kids got uh an offer across Europe, and I was lucky enough to be one of those. English probably helped me. Um, but that was uh it was really cool. Um, and so I I would lived over there for a little bit of time. I stay in touch with you know their local leagues and players, been pretty close. I'm hoping that you know, sometime soon we'll get our first all European Cooperstown team coming out, you know, at some point in the near future.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

That's cool. You're you're um you're you're the epitome of what we try to convey on the progress support, which really is, you know, um taking the challenges that come before you and whatever it is that life throws at you and really being able to bounce back and and thrive. So I what what would you what would you offer to uh and and I I was gonna say young people, but not not even young people, um listeners of the podcast that are struggling with, I mean, you said type one diabetes or or losing a job or uncertainty with you know, you're not what you what you had in your head is so your future is not necessarily what the actuality is. So what do you what do you say to to folks that might be listening and struggling with with overcoming and and leaning into um the unknown?

SPEAKER_04 5:21

We all struggle with that. We're all human beings. Um, you know, it doesn't matter if you're the most successful person in the world or you're the least successful person, everybody's faced failure. Um, it's how you overcome it, what you do, you know, is is really it's just a belief in yourself. There's never a reason you want to give up. And for for both like Eric and I to be very direct, we launched Guest Player Connect when neither of us had full-time jobs anymore. Um, you know, we came from an executive background. Um, you know, I I ended up I was interviewing and I had lost, I basically I was leaving one job. I advised them to close down this new venture. It wasn't working the way that we were structured. I so I stayed on for a little bit of time. I was interviewing with other companies and I'm training our baseball team at the same time. You know, I'm cold throwing in the upper 80s, so I'm like, hey, you know what? I'll get back in shape. I'll go play uh independent ball for a week and I'll show my kid what it's like. And um, of course, I tear my Achilles, I can't move around. I'm then out of a job because as you know, the the sales or business development guy, you're always traveling places and and you know, you're away for stretches of time. So all of a sudden I found myself as an expensive person without a job, and both of us were in that same situation. You know, we've launched this, and Eric really was the guy that did it out of his own savings, um, you know, and and his own credit card and and took those risks. And I would say, look, if if there's something that you truly believe in and it solves a problem for others, you know, that's where you want to lean into. Um, I felt comfortable doing it because of the the startup experience that that I've had over time. And I felt comfortable doing this because I understand how big the problem is and what we're helping to solve for. It's it's both personal and scalable in nature. And I think at the end of the day, because we're parents, because we feel this, you know, we felt like we were compelled to try to solve for this. And, you know, we're we're committed to making sure through hell or high water that this company continues to give kids access and opportunity to play ball when they want, where they want. So again, find something you love that you can get behind. Baseball was just easy for the two of us. Love it.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Kevin, you mentioned about the injuries and about, you know, some of the different trials and tribulations you've had to go through. And I think when, you know, you're having success with something like you are now, you you can talk about all those moments and it almost glamorizes those moments that you go through, the the grind, and you see that in movies a lot. But in the movies and in storytelling, it's a very short blip of the story. Yes. So, but when you're actually going through it, um, you know, it it's tough. It's tough when you're in those moments that you know, it's like, man, what? Three Tommy Johns. Why didn't I I can't believe I tore my arm again?

SPEAKER_03 8:28

This is what I this is uh a month ago, and I was like, it can't be again. It can't be again.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Blowing blown out your Achilles. I mean, that that alone is just physically painful, let alone the you know, the mental side of it or or how it's affecting your job and those types of things. So I'm sure there had to be some moments there where uh you weren't feeling the best, let's say. What what was it that allowed you to still keep plugging away forward? Because I think that's I think that's the part that some people run into is that they don't realize that when you you know you make these decisions a lot of times to to plow ahead when you're not in a good place. It's not as though you get that, you know, Rudy type moment where it's like, well, I'm gonna go do this. It's sometimes you got to just force yourself to do it, and then all of a sudden you start seeing the sun. How did that work for you with with some of the things you've been through?

SPEAKER_04 9:23

You know, on the the baseball side, it was I was a baseball rat, you know, growing up. Um, my next door neighbor was was always that kid that was you know a little bit older, had the mustache, was shaving in third grade, his dad played for the 69 Mets, um, you know, as a call-up. And so he was my competition, right? Like, and he was my best friend. And, you know, right away, it was us playing all day together all of the time. And, you know, we ended up, you know, back in the day there weren't all these real high-powered travel teams, but we played a little bit of travel because we were good. And you know, our town teams never lost games because we were pretty good. Yeah, and you asked me at the age eight, I said I was gonna play pro base. I said first, actually, I always told everybody that I was gonna play college baseball, and that was back before college baseball was this growing sport. Yeah, it was my my father was um going out, their company, he was based in Princeton, and he was the president of the Gallup poll. And so they got bought out, and he was traveling often out to Lincoln, Nebraska, and you know, he ended up going out to Omaha and he was getting me these t-shirts, and I'm watching Miami on TV. And that's I fell in love with it. Like I just remember falling in love with it. And I was the kid that would go into my garage, you know, throw to a Target, you know, in the winter, hit balls, you know, off a soft toss machine that I made myself. Um, you know, things like that, you know, go throw against a wall in my backyard all day long. I was just a baseball rat. And so I think that as I progressed and I started to realize, even when I wasn't taking it serious serious, that I was kind of good, or I threw, or I always threw harder than everybody else. So like I just started to get opportunities and kind of like yourself, I went to one of those you know, tryout camps one day where all of a sudden you're like, you're the you're the hardest brower there, and got some opportunities because of that. And I ran fast and I could hit the ball hard, and and I just and I had all the measurables, you know, the only things that matter really from a recruiting standpoint measurables. Like I was lucky enough to have those. So when I got hurt, I didn't know what else to do with myself. Like I had I'd been in Georgetown, but like I had already kind of given that up, kind of starting to then go the JUCO route. You know, who the heck is dumb enough to give up that education and that opportunity? Um, you know, and on the other side, you know, you're then getting looks from you know, teams that are in the top five, top ten, you know, you're getting to go on these recruiting trips that are really cool, um, you know, to Miami or to UNLV, and you're like, holy crap, I can go play at these places. Um, you know, you just wonder about your Spanish. But, you know, at the end of the day, it was it was just I love the game. So that's what pushed me. And then, you know, as I progressed into my own career, I I kind of took again the the sporting, you know, success, failure, get up, it's a grind thing in into business. And I think that that's always why I ended up on the top 20% of sales teams and got into these leadership roles because sports prepared me for those moments. Yes. I had been around so many good leaders, so many awesome leaders of men, right? Like that you just sit there and and I can talk about all these different guys that have taught me one thing, or or they've all taught me just how to be a man at the at the end of the day. And and you know, at the end of the day, and then you start to think about now, I got a family, and that's the other driver. So you know, in my career, it's it's really been that. Just don't ever give up, fight for your family and keep doing what you love. And and I've been blessed in everything I've ever done that I've had a lot of interest in and I've gotten to work with and meet great people along the ways. And so I'm I'm really, really thankful for this opportunity. Now I can't go to a field in New Jersey where I don't know somebody, and that's awesome. That's cool.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

That's super cool. Good deal.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

So, so what would you say, Kevin? Uh, you know, in kind of closing it out, what would you say in terms of the the mission of the company now, in terms of what you guys are looking to do in the future? Like what's what's ahead for guest player connect and uh any any advice you'd give for people out there listening today that's that's you know really helped you?

SPEAKER_04 13:50

Yeah, from I'll start with the guest player side and I'll do my best to keep that bite-sized. Um, you know, that's probably an easier answer. In terms of us, the goal is to continue to increase access and opportunity, allow kids to play when they want, where they want. We have now moved into six states um from our humble beginnings in in New Jersey. Um, we've you know added a really what I call is a really good partnership with Ripkin Baseball, um, where we're fielding teams at some of their big facilities and and draws in, you know, in Maryland and and down in South Carolina, as well as offering Cooperstown teams. We did just add one more to to our already heavy Cooperstown load. So we've got five 12U Cooperstown teams going this year, plus a six 13U team that's playing on the Hall of Fame field. Um, you know, and we've just launched Florida. Um, Florida is the equivalent of, you know, opening a baseball team there is the equivalent of like an insurance agent walking into the middle of Manhattan and saying, I'm here, come play with me, um, you know, come by for me. So it's a very different market. It's it's one that we're learning um while we're building the plane. Um, but it's been off to an awesome start with six teams across our first two weeks, you know, that had had some success at major tournaments, including the PG Winter Nationals at Boomba in Orlando and uh the old Vero Beef's Jackie Robinson training uh center where the Dodgers used to play. Um, those have been, you know, we're off to a good start there. We've got great coaches and everything. If our model can prove in Florida, um, I would say that the opportunity is national and international over the next couple of years. We've already been invited to do tournaments in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Same thing in Europe with some of my other connections. Um, it really just depends on how fast that the network grows. Um, you know, but again, I see us as being scalable as our audience. We're getting kids writing in and asking when we're gonna be in Hawaii. We're getting kids asking when we're gonna be there in Washington State. And so again, because of the numbers, because of the way that the tech, we've kind of grown like a tech company this year. Um, I think we're gonna go national over the next couple of years. That's my goal is to empower kids and families to play baseball when they want, where they want. The other ad to that, Rob, is we are gonna add in some older ages. Our core today is 10 to 14 you. Um, the high school showcases also solve for that same pain point that kids have. I can't afford to go pay five thousand dollars to get my name out to a college this year. Go pay$200 and do one event with us and go do your best to live your dream. Right. That's kind of the way that we work.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

And Kevin, how how would people, if they wanted to pursue this, how would they uh get in touch with you guys?

SPEAKER_04 16:50

Yeah, look, if if you wanted to sign up for an event, um, best way to, or you had more questions, best way to do so is is go to our website, guestplayerconnect.com. Um, there's uh all of our contact information is there. You can certainly find that. Um, and likewise, if you're interested in joining Guest Player Connect, maybe on the coaching side um or on a business development side, I'm your guy. Um talk to me. Um Kevin at guestplayerconnect.com. Um I'm happy to speak to people that are open-minded, like minded baseball people that want to help empower kids and families to play ball.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

Every week we find the stories worth sharing and remind you that America is still moving forward. Thanks for listening to the progress report.