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1:11

In my environment, we weren't allowed

1:13

to be vulnerable because I have

1:15

to be macho. I have to be tough.

1:19

I can't be vulnerable, right?

1:21

And then when you talk about the pitfalls of

1:23

the streets, you definitely can't

1:25

be vulnerable because... Welcome

1:28

to the school of greatness.

1:31

My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete

1:33

turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And

1:35

each week we bring you an inspiring person

1:37

or message to help you discover how

1:40

to unlock your inner greatness.

1:43

Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let

1:45

the class begin.

1:51

Welcome back everyone at the school of greatness. Very

1:53

excited about our guests. We have the inspiring Rich

1:56

Paul in the house. My man, so great

1:58

to see you. Great to see you as well.

1:59

Ohio and I love this. Yeah,

2:02

I just want to do a quick little bio about you for

2:04

people that don't know who you are But rich

2:06

Paul you

2:07

you started clutch sports group one of the most

2:09

influential sports representation companies

2:13

in the world

2:14

Represent some of the biggest pro athletes

2:16

and you've done billions in negotiated

2:18

deals Obviously you work with LeBron

2:20

James You are UTAs

2:23

head of sports from what I read you

2:25

were also on the cover of Sports Illustrated They called

2:27

you the kingmaker GQ

2:30

called you the power broker of the year and

2:32

time

2:34

Called your company 100 of the most

2:36

influential companies and it's

2:38

amazing to watch your journey from Behind

2:41

the scenes of the fellow Ohioan watching

2:44

these things of the last 10 plus years

2:46

when I started to be aware of you and

2:48

I'm really

2:50

Grateful for how

2:52

I've heard about your reputation. This is our first

2:54

time meeting But the way I've heard about

2:56

you the things I've seen about you and how you respect

2:58

people and how you do business Definitely

3:01

in the sports world, which is not about I've

3:03

heard you say this multiple times. It's not

3:05

about the money It's about the

3:08

meaning behind the relationships. It's about

3:10

the connections you create with people and the

3:13

valuing Relationships first

3:16

and I really respect and appreciate that about you

3:19

and you know the story The

3:22

the mythology goes and LeBron James wrote

3:24

the forward to your book that you guys met in an airport

3:27

Yes, and he talked about if I'm

3:29

paraphrasing what he mentioned in your book But

3:32

he talked about how you gave him

3:34

and you give people things

3:37

that most people in your community Don't

3:40

do which is giving people vulnerability the

3:42

ability to be vulnerable and that's

3:44

something I talk a lot about on the school of greatness

3:47

And I think it's really the essence of connection

3:50

allowing for space for vulnerability

3:52

and I'm curious How

3:56

did you learn about vulnerability early on

3:58

or did you not? What were you not a

4:01

vulnerable child? Where

4:03

did you learn that lesson and

4:05

have you always kept it consistent?

4:08

You hit it round the head. I think

4:12

in my environment, we weren't allowed

4:14

to be vulnerable.

4:16

And so

4:19

I had to learn that

4:24

through

4:26

emotion.

4:27

And so

4:30

it's kind of like wavelengths

4:35

of humans, right? I can stand next

4:37

to you and I can feel that

4:40

wavelength and I can feel that

4:42

emotion through that wavelength and I can look

4:44

in your eyes and understand that you

4:46

and I, we share some of the same issues,

4:50

we share some of the same interests,

4:52

we share and oftentimes

4:57

young, especially men, all men.

5:00

And then when you break it down to young

5:02

men in the black community, communication

5:05

is one of the hardest things there

5:08

is to do, right? Because

5:11

I have to be macho. I have to be

5:13

tough. I can't be vulnerable,

5:16

right? And then when you talk about the pitfalls

5:19

of the streets, you definitely can't

5:21

be vulnerable because the

5:23

mindset has to forget,

5:29

but not really ever forgive. It's

5:31

a difference. Most people say forgive and forget,

5:34

but when you're in the streets, it's a different mentality.

5:38

You have to forget in terms

5:41

of not in

5:44

existence, but for that moment

5:46

to get through, but

5:48

you don't never really forgive, right?

5:51

And so when I started

5:53

to

5:56

interact with people and be around people

5:58

just in my community. I

6:01

started to see a consistent behavior

6:03

across the board of belittling

6:06

people, you know, just

6:08

being mean to someone just

6:10

because that's what made

6:13

people laugh, right? Being cool

6:15

or funny. Yeah. That's just so you

6:17

thought that, right? And what

6:20

it was, I started to realize

6:23

is these people are deflecting

6:25

pain, right?

6:27

They're deflecting that pain. Their

6:30

body's a mirror. And

6:32

when they look at themselves, they're looking in

6:34

the mirror of themselves, all

6:37

they see and all they feel is pain.

6:41

And so their behavior

6:44

causes them to deflect that. That's

6:46

not who they really are. But

6:48

they also don't know who they really are. And

6:50

the person that they think they are, they're

6:52

not happy with that person. But there's

6:54

no therapist to talk to. There's

6:57

no parental structure

7:01

in place that I can, you

7:03

know, bounce things off the wall with.

7:08

And so my mom was

7:10

struggling with her addiction and

7:12

I decided to take a different approach at a very

7:15

young age. And over

7:17

time, that consistent behavior

7:22

allowed people to gravitate towards

7:25

me, right? And

7:27

what was that change that you had early on then? I

7:29

think the change was in

7:33

conversation or in that playful,

7:37

we call it ranking. In St. Louis,

7:39

they called it zoning. In other places, they call it

7:41

different places. Playing the dozens back in the day, the

7:43

older things. It got to

7:45

a level to where people would start to say a hurtful

7:48

thing or what they thought was

7:51

hurtful to you. And it was

7:53

hurtful in some aspects, but

7:56

I processed it different. And so

7:58

at a very young age, we... read inside

8:00

the book and look at me, I talk about

8:03

I had to bottle this

8:05

up and then I had to decide

8:08

okay how am I going to react

8:11

and if more people in the world did this

8:14

there would be less people dead there'd

8:16

be less people in jail there would be less you

8:18

know it's just and so as

8:20

a young man I'm sitting there I'm laying on

8:22

the floor I'm saying okay the next time this person

8:25

says this I'm gonna have to

8:27

do one of two things either I'm gonna

8:29

have to fight or

8:31

one of three things fight walk

8:34

away

8:35

or

8:37

figure out a way to where I don't

8:40

exude violence but

8:43

I'm killing them with kindness and

8:46

then ultimately having

8:49

the ability to to befriend

8:51

that person because I understand and

8:54

help them understand that you and I are one in the same

8:57

right and so that's what I did that you know when the

8:59

guy said to me that's why your mom

9:01

smokes crack my

9:04

comment back to him was yeah

9:07

but who looks as if their mom smoked

9:09

crack me or you and

9:11

so that got out the crowd to

9:14

now have a different response so very yeah

9:16

right Wow there's no fighting words

9:19

there's no you know no physicality

9:21

it's just a simple thing but

9:23

then that caused me to also you know

9:26

because everyone has observer pair observers

9:28

paradox social media

9:30

today is observers

9:33

paradox at its highest form right

9:36

kids are reacting based upon

9:39

a social media response and feel

9:41

as if I have to kill

9:43

this person now because they embarrassed

9:45

me and everybody seen it but it

9:47

means you get into altercation and

9:50

we the only one that know about the altercation you

9:52

have your story I have mine

9:55

no one else seen seen it it's

9:57

only based upon the the crowd

10:00

around to where you

10:02

and there's been so many instances like

10:04

that growing up and this inside

10:06

this book of Lucky Me

10:08

that I had to navigate through

10:11

to get to the point that I am today

10:13

so this was a learned behavior. I

10:15

mean emotional intelligence I feel like is one of the most powerful

10:18

things that any leader or entrepreneur

10:20

or agent could have to truly be

10:23

successful for the long term. You've

10:25

seen I've seen a lot of people you know

10:28

make money or build a business or become successful

10:30

in something but fall

10:32

quickly without emotional intelligence. What

10:35

do you feel like is the biggest skill you've learned in

10:37

the last decade plus

10:39

it's 11 years of clutch sports group

10:41

now I think it's 11. In the last

10:44

decade what have you the biggest skill

10:46

you've learned to take

10:48

your leadership skills to the next level

10:50

to take your connection to the next level to

10:52

take that has allowed your business to grow

10:54

so much. I think it starts with not sitting

10:57

your success. You can't sit there.

11:00

I think the next thing I would say would be be

11:04

a willing listener because

11:08

it's important to listen to

11:12

the people that's helping you get there. Also

11:15

third would be know what you don't

11:17

know. One of the first things I did

11:21

was I went

11:22

and I got a

11:24

guy who was very helpful to me

11:26

named Mark Termini

11:28

and Mark Termini was an agent prior to

11:31

never had the success that I had as

11:33

an agent but also focus

11:37

on something specific very specific

11:40

and the one thing I knew that people

11:42

would say about me was that I lacked

11:45

I lacked a negotiation experience

11:47

really right and

11:50

because they would just need something to say and

11:53

so that was one of the first

11:55

things I did and

11:57

and then

11:59

I would say so know what you don't know and then

12:01

the fourth thing I

12:03

would say is being willing to invest

12:05

in others.

12:06

What does that look like for

12:08

you?

12:10

I have people that's in my company that

12:12

came off the street pretty much.

12:15

You know they didn't need

12:18

a resume prior to.

12:20

I believe in our platform, I believe

12:23

in our infrastructure, I believe

12:25

in our brand, I believe in our culture.

12:27

So

12:28

anyone coming in, the

12:31

first thing you need to be willing to be is

12:34

a teammate, a

12:36

good teammate. You can start

12:38

there. Everything else you

12:41

can be developed just

12:43

like a basketball player, just like a football player.

12:45

You know if you're a receiver, understanding

12:47

how to run routes, if you're a basketball

12:49

player, understanding what you need to work

12:52

on, coming off a pick and roll, coming off a screen,

12:54

reading the pick and roll, throwing the you know the

12:56

pocket pass or seeing the man in the corner, those

12:59

different reads, it's the same thing in

13:01

our business.

13:02

But

13:03

if you fall in love with the headlines,

13:05

if you fall in love with what's in it for

13:07

me and this is what most athletes

13:10

do and then most people around

13:12

the athlete, they're not helping them

13:14

make the best decisions because it's on

13:16

the basis of what's in it for them. So

13:19

now in the sports business you

13:22

get this this pyramid

13:24

of entitlement or this infrastructure

13:26

of entitlement around the athlete and

13:29

it stunts their growth.

13:31

I'm curious about this because I want to make sure I get the story

13:33

right. So correct me if I'm wrong but

13:36

you met LeBron early on at an airport in

13:39

Akron and then but

13:42

you didn't start your agency until 2012.

13:45

You know when was

13:47

that a decade later or 12 years later? 10 years

13:49

later. 10 years later right? Yeah. So you

13:52

became friends with LeBron 10 years

13:54

before you launched your business but

13:57

you decide not to launch a business sooner

13:59

than that. that you wait a decade

14:02

even though you're potentially could

14:04

have launched something with him or around

14:06

him or in connection to him sooner if

14:09

I'm correct me if I'm wrong.

14:11

Probably not. Okay. I

14:14

think if I would have tried to do that, then it would it would have failed.

14:17

Got it. And I think that's what people have to understand.

14:20

I wasn't I wasn't able to

14:22

feel that entitlement because I was next

14:24

to him.

14:26

Nor

14:27

did I want to. Right. You

14:30

have to allow things to evolve. Yes.

14:33

And people count the years,

14:36

but don't count the years. You have

14:38

to count the minutes within the hour,

14:40

the hour within the day, the

14:42

day within the week and the weeks

14:45

within the months and then the months within the year

14:47

and then the years and get what I'm

14:49

saying. And so for

14:51

me, I was already

14:54

somebody when we met. I

14:58

was what

15:00

people would deem to be the LeBron

15:03

of my neighborhood. Really already.

15:06

Why is that?

15:07

You know, because I was the I was I

15:09

was the chosen one. No pun intended, you

15:12

know,

15:14

and through all my journeys, you

15:16

know, all my my ups and downs, the

15:18

roller coaster of life, everything I did,

15:20

the good, bad and the ugly,

15:22

I did it best in class. Interesting.

15:25

Right. You were the go to guy in your neighborhood.

15:28

Yeah, for sure.

15:31

And everyone knew that right. It was like a secret

15:33

thing, but everyone knew that. But I was also

15:35

the first when I say to go to God, not

15:37

just for bad things I'm talking about for like,

15:40

right. I help kids with their homework.

15:42

If I see them doing math, you

15:45

know, just

15:46

my friend has a child early and

15:49

don't really know how to handle it. So we talk about

15:51

it, right? I

15:54

was the young man coming home from school

15:56

and I'm seeing my brother,

15:58

his older sibling.

15:59

with older

16:01

friends and his

16:03

friends are doing something. I'm talking to me,

16:06

my brother and I just had this conversation the other day. And

16:09

my brother is somebody that I really

16:11

respect wholeheartedly and I appreciate

16:14

him because he sacrificed a

16:16

lot for me. A whole lot and

16:18

was willing to do anything to

16:23

make sure that I was successful. Wow, right?

16:26

And so that's

16:29

why the title was Lucky Me. There's so

16:31

many different components to the

16:33

look. The average person

16:35

in America would think, oh, of

16:37

course you're lucky. You met LeBron and you went

16:39

on to do this and you wouldn't be able to get in

16:41

these rooms if it wasn't for LeBron, blah, blah, blah.

16:45

And they're partly

16:47

correct as it pertains to,

16:49

yes,

16:51

I did meet LeBron prior to him becoming

16:53

LeBron.

16:56

But I also had the

16:57

ability to understand my position

17:01

and my role at that time. Roles

17:05

change. There's a chapter in the book, there's

17:07

a rule in the book that's

17:10

called Starring Your Role. Starring

17:13

Your Role. And there's a rule in the book, right?

17:17

And when you think about the evolution of

17:19

a person and you think about the evolution

17:22

of positioning, allow

17:25

yourself to be a part of

17:27

that evolution by managing the transitions

17:30

within. Like you said,

17:33

when we first started, LeBron

17:35

didn't need. What does he need?

17:38

He's a rookie. His exact

17:40

words to me when I was hired is

17:43

I have nothing for you to do. I

17:45

don't have a title, I don't have anything

17:47

for you to do. And at that time, I

17:49

wasn't looking to be an agent. You

17:52

weren't? Well, not at that time. So

17:54

you're what, 22, 22, 22? 22, yeah.

17:57

At that time, you know, I'm

18:00

looking to make it out of the ghetto. I'm

18:04

looking to be on the side of the mountain

18:06

that there are no sirens. There

18:08

are no deaths at

18:11

young ages. There are no, every

18:13

time I get in my car, I have to look in my

18:15

rearview mirror to see if it's the police,

18:18

if it's the Jackers and Robbers, whoever

18:20

it may be, if it's a rival crew, whatever

18:22

the case may be. People don't

18:25

understand

18:26

how much pressure you grow up

18:28

under

18:29

in the black community. And

18:31

I say black community predominantly, but

18:34

today it's in these minority,

18:36

poverty-stricken communities.

18:40

There was no such thing as planning

18:46

ahead. Survival mode. Yeah,

18:49

and people, and I think sometimes

18:52

people get it misconstrued because it's like, well,

18:54

you have a choice.

18:56

Well,

18:58

this is the school of greatness,

19:01

right? But

19:06

you take this young kid growing up in

19:08

Cleveland, Ohio, who has the

19:11

same capabilities

19:14

of any student at

19:17

the Stanford Business

19:19

School,

19:20

at the Harvard

19:21

Business School. Now I said

19:23

capabilities. But

19:27

the opportunities aren't there. And

19:30

that's the difference. My

19:32

brain works just as good as anybody's

19:35

in the world.

19:37

But

19:39

if I'm sitting in sanitation,

19:43

then how do you expect me to evolve?

19:48

Because I'm dealing with two things. I'm dealing

19:50

with the lack thereof opportunity and

19:53

the lack thereof discovery to

19:55

even obtain an opportunity. So

19:58

this is some deep stuff. you want to get into

20:00

it. And so when you read the

20:02

book, these are all the things

20:05

I'm explaining to you. Despite

20:08

all of this, I've been

20:10

able to land across

20:12

from Lewis, right?

20:14

And we're having this conversation.

20:19

But

20:21

when we when when when

20:23

LeBron was first drafted, I'm

20:26

a part of the crew.

20:29

Right?

20:31

At that moment, I

20:34

could be totally satisfied. I

20:36

get to hang and go on here we go

20:38

on there. It's this is that

20:41

it's bright lights things is popping so on

20:43

and so forth. But you got to remember, that's

20:46

not who I am. Right. And

20:49

you'll see from the first chapter.

20:52

I'm a natural born hustler, right? You

20:54

weren't just trying to latch on or just hang

20:57

out and just get nowhere.

20:59

Yeah, you were trying to you're chosen one in your

21:01

own right.

21:02

I'm trying to live.

21:05

I'm trying to survive. Like

21:08

you said, you sold your company,

21:10

you had enough money to last you a couple years. Well,

21:13

I also had enough money to last me a couple years.

21:16

And then some based

21:20

upon my lifestyle at that moment.

21:23

The thing I was able to give him was,

21:27

like he said, we would have

21:29

these conversations. And

21:32

through my dialogue, he

21:34

understood that

21:36

I understood him. And

21:39

there was no judgment. Wow. Yeah,

21:41

at the time, I mean, growing up in Ohio, you

21:44

know, LeBron was well

21:46

known in Ohio, I think at 14 or 15. But then it was

21:48

like 16 was like, okay, Exactly.

21:54

Now he's starting who's this high school kid or people to show

21:56

up to this game now? Yeah, it's on TV. Yeah.

21:58

So I remember growing up being like, Oh, the Because it was Maurice

22:01

Claret, you know, well that and

22:03

then the blonde right? Well, if you really

22:05

think about it, and if you talk to Marie

22:08

Marie's Claret, I

22:09

Used to talk to Marie's correct. Well, I'm incarcerated.

22:12

Uh-huh. I

22:13

Was sitting where he's correct

22:15

money to his girl that he had Incarcinate

22:18

Marie's Claret was a great guy.

22:20

I went down to the relief correct Mom's

22:22

house in a townhouse down in Columbus when

22:25

that happened to Reese it was just upsetting

22:29

But you got to remember think about the pressure He

22:32

is trying to line himself

22:34

with LeBron because LeBron go right

22:36

of high school. Why can I do? Why do

22:39

I have to play now? You understand

22:41

what I'm saying? And in

22:43

a lot of ways he was not

22:45

wrong In a lot

22:47

of ways he was not wrong but

22:50

at the same time here's

22:52

where that Understanding

22:55

and With

22:57

no social media back right

22:59

it was very little player empowerment. No, I

23:01

know that no in I know back

23:04

then everyone's Monochizing off of him except

23:06

for him exactly. And so now you have

23:08

this frustrated young man and

23:11

Rightfully so

23:13

now we understand why

23:17

The limit is what it is. I actually

23:19

think it should be a year less, but we understand

23:21

it Because the physicality

23:24

of the game and things like that But

23:26

that's not the only reason now there's

23:28

nil so you can you know you To

23:31

develop more make money. I think college a little more.

23:33

Yeah, but but we have to fix that too. Yeah, cuz

23:35

nil is broken Right. It's

23:38

it's it's it's fixed on the

23:40

front end,

23:41

but it's broken on the back end right, right?

23:43

And so um, but it was only LeBron

23:45

and I mean they were both from Ohio I mean it was

23:48

it was unbelievable unbelievable time in sports

23:50

was unreal Yeah, I remember being so proud

23:52

of being from Ohio and unbelievable

23:54

time go house a fan and just like this Yeah,

23:57

they're huge. I'll stay there. She was huge. It's

23:59

like I was at the Michigan Ohio State

24:01

game last year was so sad to watch the news but But

24:05

seeing Maurice and then LeBron

24:07

like take over the country was so

24:09

inspiring to watch And I can only

24:11

imagine that matter of social media. Oh

24:14

my gosh I can only imagine the pressure

24:16

both those guys had a time pressure 16 17 19 a ton of pressure

24:18

and Trying

24:22

to break all these rules and I mean in

24:24

a good way breaking the different rules of Sports

24:27

and business and all these things trying to do new

24:29

things trying to put and build their brands in certain ways

24:31

But just the pressure of everyone

24:34

wanting something from them and everyone trying

24:36

to put them in a box at the same time All

24:38

these different things

24:40

but you were able to be there for the brawn and

24:42

it sounds like Maurice I didn't know this as well

24:45

in ways that others weren't you were able

24:47

to give

24:48

You know Console you're

24:50

able to be vulnerable with them is what it sounds

24:53

like to me Yeah, and and again, I think

24:55

that

24:56

when you look at the dynamic

24:59

We all were pretty Mild

25:03

manner, right we were all

25:06

Raised a certain way whether

25:09

it didn't matter what we didn't have we

25:11

were raised a certain way. So that

25:13

foundation As

25:17

a human being and its character

25:20

matter, yeah, so when

25:23

the push when we started

25:25

to push forward, I

25:27

think the one thing that he knew was I Don't

25:31

have anybody around me that's gonna make a decision

25:33

for them. I Mean

25:35

seen it

25:36

very clear

25:38

And the one thing that I

25:40

knew was this isn't my brother

25:44

This isn't my you know, it's just like when

25:46

I was In

25:48

my neighborhood you get you know, whether you're

25:50

in the streets doing what you do Whether

25:52

you're running with people that yeah

25:55

that can cost you your life or freedom, etc

25:58

Get one time

26:00

And for me,

26:02

it was the same thing. I had zero

26:04

entitlement. And so I also

26:06

had zero ego

26:08

because I know who I am. And

26:10

I know my capabilities are. So

26:12

I don't mind doing the,

26:15

the, the, the, the

26:18

grunt work. What people would think would be the grunt work.

26:21

It's not really grunt work though. It's

26:23

what shapes you and mold you. I worked in

26:25

my dad's store from 6 a.m. Starting

26:28

at 6 a.m.

26:30

My dad never took

26:32

a holiday. There was no such

26:34

thing as Thanksgiving and Christmas and the stores

26:36

clothes and all that. It's like, you know. We're

26:38

open 24 seven, 365, rain, sleet, hell or snow. Schools

26:45

out, we're open,

26:47

you know? Sublizard, we're open, you

26:49

know? It's like all those things. And so watching,

26:51

I had the best example in front of me. Hence

26:54

why I'm so lucky. I

26:56

learned

26:58

math and marketing from

27:01

cash register

27:02

and products within

27:04

the store and how people bought it. I

27:06

learned customer service, dealing with people.

27:09

I'm dealing with all types of

27:11

people. Older men and women,

27:13

younger men and women, drunks, you

27:16

know, drug addicts to, you know, people

27:18

who work in jobs, teachers, mechanics,

27:21

everything. And so I had

27:24

this world around me and I'm this

27:26

young kid that my dad has thrown

27:28

into the fire with

27:31

an expectation of, you know

27:33

what to do and what not to do.

27:35

And that's how we live. And

27:38

so it wasn't, I didn't grow up

27:40

in a world where my dad had to say

27:43

something more than once.

27:46

You heard it? You did it. You

27:48

heard it and you did it. Yeah. Being back here at such

27:50

time. There was no iPhone. There

27:54

was no FaceTime. Yeah, but

27:56

you're on top. Yeah, you're there. But

27:59

the thing is, you know, I would think that most 21

28:01

22 year olds today If

28:05

they met some Up-and-coming

28:08

influencer on social media or some

28:10

superstar or whatever

28:12

And they became friends with them. I would

28:14

think that most of them would be thinking how do I

28:16

get the most from this person? Maybe

28:19

i'm wrong. Maybe people aren't thinking that way, but I would think

28:21

okay. I'm in the friend group I'm in a

28:23

circle. I'm I'm getting a building relationship Mm-hmm.

28:26

What can I do to build with this person

28:29

and monetize or financially grow as well?

28:32

But it sounds like you just said

28:34

I just want to be here as a friend and

28:36

contribute and add value I got

28:38

my own thing and

28:39

i'm not trying to Monetize

28:42

anything right now. That wasn't something that was on your

28:44

mind. Well, the thing was is

28:46

my own thing

28:48

Came on the back of dead

28:51

or in jail. So that I

28:53

don't even want that But

28:56

what I have is what's the opportunity

28:58

cost of me? not

29:01

staying in the fray and

29:04

You know

29:06

We're boys. We're friends. We're enjoying

29:08

it, you know, um Sometimes

29:11

people just need support just

29:14

without you gouging to try to

29:16

get something all right time, right? Sometimes

29:18

it's okay for the athlete

29:21

to be able to

29:24

Just do for themselves and not have

29:26

to do for everybody else and not feel entitled

29:29

to have to support everybody else See

29:31

there's only in the black community where that

29:34

i'm gonna say only majority

29:37

Of this transpires transpires

29:39

within the black community because if one person make

29:42

it Then nobody

29:44

else is really doing anything. Right? And so

29:46

now your mentality becomes

29:48

what? Oh, i'm good. I'm

29:50

good Well,

29:54

no, no, no,

29:55

he's good, right

29:59

We have have the ability to be okay

30:02

given that we

30:06

value

30:07

him to the point to where we're

30:10

not going to do anything detrimental

30:13

to his career right and

30:15

while doing so hopefully

30:18

we make relationships that

30:20

allows us to then detach

30:23

ourselves from this

30:25

person and know I'm not

30:27

going to get rich but what I am going to do

30:30

is get in position and

30:33

if I can get in position and I value

30:35

that position then

30:37

I can manage the transition

30:40

while and if I manage that transition

30:43

and I'm able to evolve then

30:46

I can do what become reposition

30:50

interesting and that's how my

30:52

mind worked my

30:54

mind didn't work let me jump in front and let

30:56

me show my song and dance that's not

30:58

what I'm into and the

31:01

only reason why I was able to think that way

31:04

is because of this silly line that

31:07

I was raised

31:09

up on

31:11

the average person can't get here and think

31:13

that way

31:14

it just doesn't work like that right and

31:16

even today right now today

31:20

I talked to young men and women all the time

31:22

I talked to young people trying to start

31:25

companies and next to athletes and

31:27

you know what this thing consistently the

31:30

bag the bag the

31:32

bag it's all about the bag the bag

31:36

well

31:39

there's a lot of bags with

31:41

a hole in the bottle of it mmm

31:44

right

31:46

and your guidance

31:49

you're standing next to it's

31:51

only going to be able to do what they do for the next 10

31:53

to 12 years max you gotta

31:55

hope they last that long very few is

31:57

gonna get to 2 year 21 you can forget that

31:59

Right.

32:01

And so

32:02

very few make it past two or three years. This

32:05

is my point.

32:06

And so what I try to

32:08

explain to them is, no,

32:10

you're looking at this all wrong. Don't

32:14

use your position next

32:16

to the player to

32:19

gouge and get the most for you.

32:23

Use your position next to the player to

32:25

evaluate and understand

32:28

where you can fit in. And

32:30

when you get to that, when you get there,

32:33

then try to continue

32:35

to add value so that you can stay

32:37

there. Man,

32:39

this is the most important thing I

32:41

think people need to hear right now. And it's about starring

32:43

in your role. Have to starring in it. And your

32:45

role may evolve over time and whatever. It will evolve. It

32:48

will. And it, yeah. But if you,

32:50

but if I'm a role player

32:52

and I jump out and I try to, to coach

32:55

and call to play, you come out to huddle

32:57

and you doing your thing. That's not what

33:00

the coach drew up. Right. Right. And you have

33:02

to understand the importance of

33:04

executing out of a timeout.

33:08

That is what separate

33:10

great coaches from good coaches from

33:12

bad coaches. It's not

33:14

the full 48 minutes of the game because

33:16

half the time they're not even coaching. Right. We have

33:19

the top talent. But

33:21

what do you do after a

33:24

timeout? It's the same

33:26

way in life. If I see

33:28

something transpire.

33:32

Right.

33:33

Let me go in, readjust,

33:36

drop a different play.

33:38

And then I come out of that timeout.

33:40

It's important for me to execute. Right. That's

33:43

in the relationship. That's in a personal

33:45

business. That's in planning.

33:49

That's in anything you do in life.

33:51

But these young people today, between

33:54

social media

33:56

and the bag,

33:58

they're called no man's land. You

34:00

know what happened when you called no man's land what

34:02

happened?

34:03

It's a back door cut

34:04

and layup. Yeah You

34:07

know you'd be you'd be you'd be

34:09

when you play the game This is fascinating though though

34:11

because I mean I remember watching the I think it was the

34:13

documentary or was a series more than an athlete

34:16

Yeah with you and maverick You

34:18

know and it was one

34:20

other guy in that right Randy Randy. Yes but

34:24

it just seems like you guys had a level of

34:26

wisdom and Forward

34:29

thinking that most don't in

34:31

that type of dynamics in relationship

34:33

when you have a friend family member Whoever

34:36

that you're close to who is making it

34:39

when I think about You know Mike

34:41

Vick and this you know his friends

34:44

kind of taking from him and what happened

34:46

there I didn't think about someone like Tyson who had to learn

34:48

his lessons from giving money to

34:50

people that weren't adding value and certain things

34:52

like that Most

34:54

people seems like they're trying to get

34:57

without adding value or knowing their

34:59

role. Yes But you

35:01

and maverick you guys were like no

35:03

We're just gonna be friends and help

35:05

our friend make it and know our

35:07

role You know why because

35:09

we also would challenge each other really?

35:12

Oh, yeah,

35:13

and that's the thing. I think that Made

35:19

it become what it has become today

35:21

because There was no such thing

35:24

as us being in a room and happened

35:26

to be and just shut up

35:28

Mmm, that didn't exist

35:31

Right that didn't I mean We

35:35

had challenging times amongst each

35:37

other

35:38

for the right reason

35:41

we We

35:45

Inspired and motivating each other

35:48

for the right reason we

35:50

listen to each other

35:53

for the right reason and When

35:56

you think about all these things, I remember

35:58

playing this day When

36:00

we first started LRMR,

36:02

there was a conversation, well, who's gonna lead it? There

36:06

was no certain qualifications from nobody

36:08

to be able to lead it, but

36:11

this decision made the most sense. And

36:14

so that's what we're going with. And

36:16

at that time, the decision was for Maverick

36:19

to lead it, which is fine. That

36:21

made the most sense. Great.

36:24

Did that hurt your ego? Or were you trying to push

36:26

and say, I should lead this? No, not

36:28

at all.

36:30

Because you don't push,

36:32

you support.

36:35

So now it was my time, because

36:38

again, the only one that ever had a real

36:40

opportunity was, I mean, not a real

36:42

opportunity, out the gate was

36:45

LeBron. LeBron, and then Randy,

36:47

who was, you know. So Randy had

36:50

a job to do 24-7, 365. Right.

36:54

And then- You guys didn't have jobs from LeBron. He

36:56

was like, you're my boys. Yeah. Well,

36:58

hey. I want you guys to hang out with me. But that

37:00

also didn't feel good for us either. Because

37:02

you're like, we don't want to just hang out, and not contribute. Right,

37:05

we wanted to make sure that

37:07

we came up with things to where LeBron

37:11

supported, but

37:13

we didn't necessarily

37:17

want to be totally dependent. Right.

37:19

You understand what I'm saying? And it's a different time now.

37:21

And the problem is, and I

37:24

used to not say this, but today

37:26

everyone wants to duplicate that, and you can't

37:28

do it.

37:29

What is it? Tell me why. Duplicate.

37:32

Because

37:32

number one, timing.

37:35

Timing is so important.

37:37

Timing is so important.

37:40

Number two, the stars

37:42

have to align.

37:45

They just do.

37:47

Number three,

37:49

those people, if

37:52

you come with the entitlement,

37:54

then you better come with the capabilities.

37:57

You better back it up.

37:58

You have to come with the capabilities.

38:01

and

38:02

it has to be a two-way street.

38:04

The athlete

38:07

and the supporting cast

38:09

have to be aligned. That

38:12

athlete

38:13

has to be able to become

38:15

a business.

38:17

Most athletes aren't businesses.

38:19

They're just talent.

38:20

They're getting talent fee. Right. Very few athletes

38:24

actually become

38:25

businesses.

38:26

But

38:27

to most people around the athlete,

38:31

what do you mean? He's not, that is, he makes a lot of money. Yes,

38:33

he makes a lot of money,

38:38

but that doesn't make him a business

38:41

to where you can make a lot of money.

38:43

Yes, his contract, his marketing

38:46

deal is in the LLC.

38:48

He's a walking corporation. He

38:50

is.

38:51

But for that walking corporation to have an infrastructure

38:54

to where the CEO and the CMO

38:57

and the CFO and this and that can

38:59

actually make money,

39:01

that don't exist. Yeah, and if he gets injured

39:03

or gets cut or doesn't perform, there's

39:05

no more money coming in. Right, but it just doesn't exist.

39:08

And the problem is

39:09

everyone thinks that because this person

39:12

makes a lot of money,

39:14

that they should be making a lot of money without

39:16

a business to support. Right. You

39:19

making a lot of money. And without contributing or adding

39:21

value, just being someone's friend doesn't mean

39:23

they should pay you. No, but

39:25

again, if they chose to do that,

39:28

great

39:30

for the moment,

39:31

not forever. Right.

39:33

Because we talk about evolution.

39:35

This person has to evolve too. Today

39:37

they can hang out with

39:38

the boys and play the video game all day and it's all

39:40

good. What happens when they get a girl? Now

39:43

you upset. What happens when you

39:45

get a family? What happens when you get married?

39:48

You know, these are all things that myself

39:50

and Maverick were thinking about this while

39:53

in our apartment that we shared that

39:55

we flipped a coin for who got the master bedroom

39:58

or not. Right. And I I

40:00

was a homeowner when I did this. Really?

40:02

What city was this in? Cleveland. Cleveland, yeah.

40:04

But

40:06

it was important to be there and to be present

40:08

and have these conversations

40:10

because, again,

40:13

nobody thought we would be in the position

40:15

that we're in today.

40:16

Nobody thought that I would be standing

40:18

here in front of you today.

40:20

You read off that list. Nobody thought

40:22

that. Wow.

40:23

Right?

40:24

The NBA world didn't think it.

40:26

The Asian world definitely didn't think it. That

40:29

is the NBA world. Right. Society

40:31

didn't think that.

40:32

Yeah, who are you? You're just a 20-year-old. And

40:36

that's why some of the articles that came forth, what

40:38

they were, but I didn't use that to

40:41

exude the hate back. Those articles

40:44

is just like the kids saying

40:45

that your mom smoked crack. Interesting.

40:48

Okay, great.

40:50

I'll digest that and

40:53

we move on. I'll use

40:55

that for fuel to keep driving

40:57

my journey. Gotta keep driving

40:59

your journey. Wow, man, this is fascinating.

41:02

But I mean, again, for you

41:04

to know timing and

41:06

to be living in Cleveland during that time,

41:09

just to be close and

41:11

to be available in essentially

41:14

a supporting role at that time. A

41:17

supporting role, but not

41:20

scared

41:22

to speak the truth. Wow.

41:25

See. Did you ever get pushback? Yeah.

41:27

But there was no such thing as

41:30

being late to something. Or there was

41:32

no such thing as, oh, we're

41:34

going to do this just for the sake of doing it. There

41:36

was no such thing as we're going to close the club

41:39

down. There was no such thing. We had

41:41

things within our inner

41:43

circle to where this is

41:45

what it was and this is non-negotiate. Really.

41:48

And we respected each other to know

41:51

that. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. So

41:53

you guys really thought about this like

41:55

a business, even though it wasn't at that time,

41:58

it sounds like we got to show up on time. sure

42:00

we're being I mean we yeah and everybody

42:04

followed the lead you think about it

42:06

when you when you think about the impact

42:09

and influence that not

42:11

just us that LeBron but also

42:14

us have had has had on

42:16

that's the entire ecosystem

42:19

of sport you

42:21

know there's a

42:25

there's a famous there's a line

42:28

in a Jay-Z record called I did it

42:30

my way mmm it's a Frank Sinatra song

42:33

yeah from song yeah it was a sample

42:37

but he says

42:39

we came in this game you

42:42

know demanding

42:45

our respect you know like

42:48

that's what it was and people seen that

42:51

as our

42:53

peers seen that as who

42:56

they think they are type of thing and you know

42:59

it's all the chitter chatter and

43:01

etc

43:02

and society

43:05

seen it as the

43:07

entourage that's gonna fail hmm

43:11

right and so you hearing all

43:13

this

43:14

but the reality of it was

43:18

we just really wanted to support somebody

43:20

and also being dependent independent

43:24

enough to where we

43:26

maintain a relationship from a place

43:29

of truth

43:30

and never put

43:32

anybody in harm's way well

43:35

to benefit for yourself that's fast

43:37

because that's what takes down the family it does

43:40

in most cases right that's fascinating that's

43:42

why Michael got so mad at Fredo right

43:46

it wasn't it wasn't that he made

43:48

the mistake talking to Johnny Ola and

43:51

Johnny Ola gave the information to to Hyman

43:54

Roth it wasn't just that

43:56

it was that that thing

43:58

you thinking about yourself

44:00

is gonna take down everything that

44:03

our father built

44:05

and then some goofball

44:08

and this is what transpires all

44:11

the time. So now today,

44:12

Louis, around the athlete,

44:15

you got the guy next to the athlete.

44:17

That guy is

44:18

not looking

44:19

to do anything but make the

44:22

best deal for himself. Right,

44:24

that's not good. No, when

44:27

I lost a player, I'm

44:29

not gonna say our company,

44:32

we separated from a player

44:34

this year but it wasn't because of

44:37

anything that we'd done wrong or anything. It was

44:39

strictly because there was a guy

44:41

next to him that wanted to make

44:44

the best decision for him, not

44:46

the player, because it wasn't the best decision for

44:48

the player. But for him, in

44:51

disguise of,

44:53

this is what's best for you. Right.

44:56

And this is gonna be our thing

44:58

and they gonna do this for you and blah, blah, blah,

45:00

blah, blah. And they did the

45:03

same thing they did for them, they gonna do it for you but

45:05

what they don't know is they haven't really done anything for

45:07

us.

45:08

Right, despite

45:11

being on the client list but they ain't really

45:12

done nothing for us.

45:15

And so they were able to sell that.

45:18

And quite naturally,

45:20

I can't

45:22

sit here and say there was this great relationship

45:24

because it was

45:26

kinda inherited

45:28

but that's the mentality. Versus

45:30

that person coming and saying, hey,

45:35

we want,

45:36

this is how we envision things. We're

45:39

willing to listen and hear

45:41

the truth because coming from somebody who built

45:43

it and done it

45:45

and if there's a shortfall,

45:47

where do we fall short at, right?

45:50

And it's just a conversation to have but

45:55

that never works

45:57

when that person wants to be you.

45:59

See, that's a whole another element

46:02

that people don't understand

46:04

that lies

46:06

other than belly of the beast. People

46:09

understand that. So when you talk about

46:13

just business and

46:14

the school of greatness and

46:17

all these different things,

46:20

you cannot have that

46:22

without collaboration and without

46:24

communication.

46:26

You cannot have that without a willingness

46:29

to check your ego at the door,

46:31

whether you the talent or

46:33

the person entitled to the talent or

46:35

next to the talent. That's very important.

46:38

And

46:39

this whole, you know what we deal with?

46:41

We deal with the, there's a masters

46:45

or there's a course called

46:48

outdoing. I

46:51

can guarantee you

46:52

there's more people taking the course of

46:54

outdoing

46:55

than there is of macroeconomics. Because

46:59

they don't want to understand that part. They just want

47:01

to outdo.

47:02

How do I outdo the next person? How

47:05

do I outdo him?

47:07

And you know who's teaching it?

47:10

Nobody. You

47:12

in class. Right. Just

47:14

no professor.

47:17

So

47:19

in your mind, this is just

47:21

how you think it's supposed to go. And

47:25

you also don't get no credit for that. You don't get credit for that,

47:27

man. When you, so

47:29

you're around 29, I think 29 or 30 when you launch clutch,

47:31

I believe. 2012, September,

47:36

I'm 31. Okay.

47:39

Yeah. So what was the biggest lesson in your whole,

47:41

the decade of your thirties then as you're

47:44

now launching this sports agency

47:47

and no one really wants you to do it in

47:49

the industry. They're kind of against you. They're

47:51

like, Oh, not kind of against me. They

47:53

were really against you. They're against you. They're

47:55

creating rules and all this stuff. That came later,

47:58

right? The rule actually came after. after I've

48:00

had a little bit of success. Previously,

48:04

and still currently, but previously even more

48:06

so then, the

48:08

agency I left from, those people

48:11

were just putting out all

48:13

type of nonsense. So

48:16

when you had, it's hard to launch a business.

48:19

Even if you have success and opportunities,

48:22

it's still hard to launch a business. I believed,

48:25

I believed, super

48:27

thankful for the guys that believed in me. Tristan

48:30

Thompson, Corey Joseph, Eric

48:32

Bledsoe, and LeBron. But

48:34

it's because those guys, I started the company with

48:37

firsts. Those were your first four athletes? Those were my first

48:39

four athletes. And I made no

48:41

money. Because

48:42

all those contracts were at a previous

48:45

age. Now, the good thing is,

48:47

wow,

48:49

three of those guys were a rookie deal, so it didn't

48:51

matter anyway. Right. And

48:53

their next deals were coming up, right? Their next deals were coming

48:56

up. And their next deals were coming up and

48:58

they

48:58

would come to me. And I didn't have

49:00

it planned. This wasn't a plan in mind, really.

49:03

No.

49:04

They would say, oh,

49:06

he had this all planned out to save face

49:08

for themselves, of

49:10

my previous agency that I had left.

49:13

But I didn't have it planned at all.

49:16

I had a falling out with somebody.

49:19

At the previous place.

49:21

Yeah. And I'm like, you know what?

49:24

I'm already, I know, like, I'm

49:26

being an ultimate team player

49:28

while there because I know what my capabilities

49:31

are. And I'm doing it despite all

49:33

the BS that's going on.

49:36

I'm like,

49:39

okay. If that's how it's

49:41

gonna be,

49:43

great.

49:44

Ali. Wow. So you weren't

49:46

even thinking about launching your own thing. No. There

49:48

was no thought. But I'm an impulsive guy. Like,

49:51

there was no, there was no thought

49:54

of like, this is all gonna be planned

49:56

out. I'm gonna do just like this. No. I

49:58

was actually recruiting at that time. I

50:00

was recruiting Kevin Durant to where I

50:02

was at come down at ages. Yeah. Wow.

50:05

Yeah So you were so you were there thinking

50:07

hey I'm gonna go learn this business work in this agency

50:10

and and build with this agency and I was

50:12

doing

50:12

all this without even Being a registered agent Wow.

50:14

I

50:15

Was getting all this talent

50:17

without even being a written. I didn't have the

50:19

I didn't care about the business card I didn't have the

50:21

office.

50:22

I barely had meetings

50:25

Right. It was

50:28

My only lano right they believed in

50:30

me and they said another guy who

50:33

really believed in me was a guy named Johnny Flynn

50:35

and

50:35

Johnny Flynn he was a six. He was a six picking

50:38

the draft today. He's known for going

50:40

ahead of Steph But when

50:43

Johnny Flynn came out

50:45

You know, I think all of his at

50:47

that time was a great guard class. It was

50:49

a true holiday

50:52

Johnny Brandon Jennings

50:56

I Staff

51:00

And I want to say

51:02

Ricky Rubio was in that class Tyreke Evans

51:04

was in that class and it was just a

51:07

great

51:08

Ty Lawson was in that class too. It's a great

51:10

group of guards great group of ours and

51:14

You know, I I Was

51:16

able to recruit Johnny in

51:19

and bring it home So but you were never thinking I'm gonna

51:21

recruit these guys and go watch my own thing. Never

51:23

you were just trying to support I never thought that so it was

51:25

more of an impulsive thing because you had a full

51:27

because that because going back to the lucky

51:30

me

51:31

Respect matters more than anything.

51:34

I don't give a about your Hollywood

51:36

agency. I care about respect

51:39

and When

51:42

I felt disrespected

51:44

it was time for me to go, right

51:46

Right, and that should be any situation

51:49

if you're in a relationship male or female

51:52

At the point you feel disrespected. It's

51:54

time to go It don't matter what the guy has

51:56

or what he's purchasing you I tell my daughter it

51:59

doesn't matter

52:01

And I would tell my son the same thing. My

52:04

son's the same thing.

52:06

And

52:07

it's the same way for me.

52:09

That's why I give people the ultimate

52:12

respect. There's nobody in my business

52:15

that can never say,

52:17

oh, Rich is disrespectful to me. There's no

52:19

one in this business

52:21

that can ever say,

52:23

Rich is disrespectful to me. That's

52:26

never going to be that. And when I had the

52:29

point I was trying to make, when I made the point

52:31

on

52:32

Gil's podcast, when

52:34

they was asking me about the situation with Stephen

52:36

A. The point

52:39

I was trying to explain to them,

52:41

and I should explain it

52:43

this way in addition to how I explained it, because I

52:45

was truthful with that, that's

52:47

all a cap. But what I'm saying

52:49

is, it's cap because

52:52

of when you read Lucky Me, the

52:55

one thing you're going to take away from it is I

52:58

dealt with an environment that

53:01

every day, this energy

53:05

that existed,

53:07

man, that's a different

53:09

type of energy. And if

53:11

I, the kid on the cover of that book,

53:14

can navigate through that to

53:17

get to this point, you

53:19

think I'm getting here

53:20

with that energy from there?

53:22

So I'm never going to put myself in

53:25

a position for

53:26

you to ever tell me to get the **** out

53:28

your face. That's never going to happen.

53:30

I'm for peace.

53:32

I'm for profit. That's

53:34

never going to happen. And so that's

53:37

what my point was. It's not

53:39

about playing the tough role, it's

53:42

about understanding my role,

53:45

starring in my role, knowing my

53:47

position, and knowing that

53:49

I'm not getting to this place that I'm at

53:51

today with that energy. When

53:54

I was in that environment, I had to carry

53:56

that energy with me because it was on site.

54:00

Right? And so, but today I don't

54:02

live that life today. So I'm never going

54:04

to have that. I come with

54:06

respectful, hey, how you doing? Nice

54:08

to see you, blah, blah, blah. Could

54:10

my enemies.

54:12

The same way I did

54:13

when I was running the streets of Cleveland. And

54:16

I'm in a neighborhood that no may

54:18

not like us or like somebody around

54:20

me. And, you know, in that situation,

54:22

you

54:23

know, you're guilty

54:25

as charged. You know, that's how it comes. You

54:27

with them, then you

54:30

ain't with us. That's how it works. And so

54:32

that's just always been my, my mentality.

54:35

And so that's what really,

54:37

it wasn't, that's what made me leave. And

54:40

I've,

54:41

I've always been a confident person. So

54:43

it wasn't a matter of if it

54:45

was a matter of when, right? But when

54:47

you left and you weren't, you knew you

54:50

had four guys, but you weren't making any money for it. Sounds

54:52

like a year or two. Yes. So

54:55

how did you have the faith that, Hey, this is going to work

54:58

out, even though I'm not bringing in a lot right now.

55:00

And

55:01

because I was able to, I made something

55:03

out of nothing. The same

55:05

faith you have when you haven't seen your mother

55:08

in six months, that face,

55:10

that faith is built within the

55:12

same faith you have when

55:14

you have to, it's dark outside and you

55:16

don't know who's coming down the street in that black hoodie

55:19

and you have to know someone silhouette.

55:22

That's the difference between you being here today and

55:24

going tomorrow,

55:25

how I grew up

55:27

or that's the worst case scenario. The

55:30

best case scenario is your pocket

55:32

has rabbit ears. And

55:34

so that, but that's, that's, that's

55:37

why I'm so lucky. Yeah. You

55:39

know, and, and most people would think I'm

55:41

talking about,

55:42

you have to read it to understand

55:45

it. And when you read this book, cause I know

55:47

you're going to read it. When you do read it, you're

55:49

going to call me and you're going to say, rich, I get

55:51

it. Now. And so everything I've

55:53

ever done in life

55:55

is based upon principle. And

55:57

that's why when I was able to get around.

55:59

LeBron.

56:02

Everything was about principle for me. I didn't need

56:04

nothing per se, but what he gave me

56:06

and that was an opportunity which going

56:09

back to how we started this conversation when

56:11

you're sitting in sanitation you don't

56:13

get that. It just so happened that

56:18

he was also in sanitation too and

56:20

he understood that

56:23

it's okay you know to give

56:25

this personal opportunity because

56:27

he felt that emotional connection the

56:30

ability to trust me and

56:32

to know look at my eyes and to know oh

56:34

this guy has built off something different.

56:37

So this is more of me putting

56:40

this wall around myself of protection

56:42

between these guys I got around. I mean think

56:44

about it I mean how talk

56:46

about a lucky guy I mean

56:49

I mean obviously he created his own luck but

56:52

how do you pick

56:55

Rich and Maverick? Yeah.

56:58

I mean and Randy doesn't

57:03

get the accolades

57:07

but

57:10

it don't happen without him.

57:12

He holds it all together. He can't be us without him.

57:14

Exactly. And so our

57:16

ability to be one and

57:19

to be separate. I have my own separate

57:21

business. Maverick has his own separate business. LeBron

57:24

is a player. Randy works

57:26

LeBron every day on his stuff and we collaborate

57:29

on things that we can and things that we can't.

57:31

We don't

57:32

and I'm not always in something that they

57:34

do and they're not always in something that I do but

57:37

that's the maturity amongst us all. We've

57:39

grown to that place in our

57:41

lives to where it's

57:44

okay

57:45

and we understand business

57:47

more now than ever before.

57:49

Yeah and so clutch was a thing in

57:51

which it was very impulsive.

57:54

I believed in it. You got you know Jay-Z

57:57

left an amazing review on the on the back.

57:59

What do you say? He said, one

58:02

of the greatest stories of growing up

58:04

in America's ghettos and overcoming adversity is what

58:06

Jay-Z said in the back of your book, Lucky Me. I'm

58:09

curious, you've built a relationship with Jay-Z.

58:11

What's the biggest lesson he's taught you?

58:15

Jay, I mean, again,

58:17

I think he's

58:20

one of the better examples

58:23

of someone who continued to

58:26

evolve and managed

58:28

to transition and reposition himself,

58:30

right? And

58:32

Jay's birthday is December 4th, mine is December

58:34

16th, you know,

58:36

we're both sages and we both

58:38

come from similar backgrounds. And

58:41

similar to LeBron and I, Jay

58:43

and I have a different relationship, but

58:46

where we share the same journeys,

58:50

different times, same journey,

58:54

we align, same principles,

58:56

same morals,

58:58

we call it a G-code. It's just certain

59:00

things that despite

59:02

what you've got to stand on that business,

59:05

you have to stand on that decision, you have to hold

59:07

yourself accountable. And I think

59:09

it's important

59:12

that

59:13

we continue to collaborate

59:16

with each other, unite with each other. Like I didn't have

59:18

to do this book with Rock Lit. I was

59:20

actually down the road

59:22

with a totally different company. I didn't

59:24

know that Jay was launching this arm.

59:27

I happened to see it on

59:30

Twitter

59:31

and I called him

59:34

and I said, yo, I just saw

59:36

something as that. He's like, yeah.

59:38

I was like, well, you know, I'm doing the book. He's like, no, I didn't know he was

59:40

doing the book. And I said to him,

59:42

I said, well,

59:44

look,

59:44

the book is called Lucky Me, you

59:46

know,

59:47

hits my favorite Jay Z song too as

59:50

well.

59:52

I said,

59:54

because of

59:55

it's my favorite Jay Z song, because it's something

59:57

that hit home to me. From

1:00:00

the beginning to end if you listen to that song

1:00:02

you understand the hook is powerful in

1:00:05

the third verses forget about it

1:00:07

but

1:00:08

What I said to him was

1:00:10

But I'm down the road this deal. Here's

1:00:13

where the deal is that I'm more than

1:00:15

willing to do to deal with you But

1:00:17

you have to be able to match the deal right

1:00:20

now

1:00:20

think about that. We're friends We're

1:00:23

brothers

1:00:26

He said let me call you right let me call

1:00:28

you right back

1:00:30

Call me back

1:00:32

Done. There you go. All

1:00:34

right,

1:00:34

but that respect

1:00:37

for each other

1:00:38

Simple my respect for him

1:00:41

cuz I don't want my book to come out

1:00:43

on a publishing company It's not

1:00:45

like we have one if we had one Then

1:00:49

great, I'll do it on our publishing, but

1:00:51

we don't have that. So who does? Oh

1:00:53

my man has it. Okay, great I'll do

1:00:55

it on yours. I have no problem with that and

1:00:58

so it's been great

1:01:01

and and and the book is

1:01:05

It's a lot of emotion man, I haven't been able to

1:01:07

make it to the forward hmm

1:01:09

For it's powerful man forwards

1:01:11

extremely powerful. Well LeBron says about you

1:01:14

It's extremely powerful and when I when I and when I

1:01:16

was reading took me four times I had to stop

1:01:19

and it's not just what he's saying about me Cuz

1:01:22

well as he's talking I'm thinking

1:01:24

about Us and when I

1:01:26

say us I'm thinking about That young

1:01:30

kid in the community that

1:01:36

You know, it's just take a lot to

1:01:38

get here bro, like it does, you know, I

1:01:40

don't have I didn't have a I My

1:01:42

uncles were my heroes as well. But

1:01:44

for different reasons, they taught me how to box take

1:01:47

taekwondo tumble, you know Gave

1:01:50

me $30 if I was $30 short

1:01:52

on a new shoe or whatever the case may be and taught

1:01:54

me how to hustle and so on so for but

1:01:58

Imagine if they were

1:01:59

you

1:02:00

know the COO of this

1:02:03

company how easier

1:02:06

your path

1:02:07

becomes

1:02:09

right that don't

1:02:11

exist in our world I know and

1:02:13

not just in my world yeah nowhere

1:02:15

right I love what he says about you

1:02:17

in

1:02:18

the Ford and I want people to get the book called

1:02:20

lucky me a memoir of

1:02:22

changing the odds extremely powerful LeBron

1:02:25

says about Rich he didn't

1:02:28

care whether I was a future pro or the kid

1:02:30

across the street he just

1:02:32

knew I needed help and he gave me what I needed

1:02:34

the most the space to be vulnerable

1:02:37

and that is a beautiful thing I'm curious

1:02:40

what is the thing you you've

1:02:42

spent a lot of time with LeBron from

1:02:45

before he was pro to where he's at now and everything

1:02:47

between what's the thing you love

1:02:49

and appreciate the most about him that maybe

1:02:52

a lot of people don't know about

1:02:54

I think the thing I love and appreciate most

1:02:56

about about LeBron is

1:02:59

his willingness and his ability

1:03:03

to empower him you

1:03:05

know because let's be frank like he'll

1:03:08

have to you know everyone was telling

1:03:10

him yeah why would you why would you do that

1:03:14

even the people that we put in position

1:03:16

that never would have been in that position if it wasn't

1:03:18

for us we allowed them to play a role

1:03:21

they wasn't gonna be his agent we gave

1:03:23

him we gave them that right

1:03:26

you understand I'm saying and so then for you to

1:03:28

turn around

1:03:29

and have the audacity to ask

1:03:31

him why would he after being

1:03:34

giving something yourself

1:03:36

that just shows you about

1:03:38

us as

1:03:40

a whole

1:03:41

America like this is crazy right

1:03:44

right and despite

1:03:47

all of that and again it's

1:03:48

so hard right

1:03:51

and they were just hoping that we failed

1:03:54

because if we fail then forget

1:03:56

anybody else trying to do it if

1:03:58

we fail

1:03:59

It's not even a thought for the other athletes.

1:04:02

The only reason why today other

1:04:04

athletes even consider it's

1:04:06

because of us. Right.

1:04:08

Which is great. Oh,

1:04:12

the likeliness is very unlikely

1:04:14

due to all these

1:04:17

different things. But that doesn't mean you

1:04:19

don't have to duplicate it, but you

1:04:21

can take a page out of the book and

1:04:24

do it. Maybe you collaborate with somebody

1:04:27

and do it. You know, like there's more than one

1:04:29

way to skin a cat is what I've been trying to explain

1:04:32

to everyone. You know, right? You

1:04:34

don't necessarily. I

1:04:37

wish I can make the next Instagram. Right.

1:04:40

I probably won't. But

1:04:43

you know, like when you talk about duplicating things,

1:04:45

you don't think I want to duplicate

1:04:46

the model that

1:04:49

Coca-Cola had. How about Microsoft

1:04:51

Windows? You want to duplicate that? We can duplicate

1:04:53

that. You know, it's all these different things that

1:04:56

I wish we could I could duplicate. And

1:04:58

it's OK that I can't.

1:05:00

But at the same time, it's

1:05:02

OK to take a page. And

1:05:05

for me, and we'll end it here.

1:05:08

If people can just take a page

1:05:11

out of this book and apply it to

1:05:13

their everyday life and that that

1:05:15

helps them not not take

1:05:17

a step forward, take

1:05:19

an inch of a step forward in

1:05:21

life. Yeah, man.

1:05:23

I'll be I'll be so happy. Man, I've got

1:05:26

I've got two final questions. I want to

1:05:28

get the book. It's called Lucky Me. Make

1:05:30

sure you guys get this a lot of wisdom, a lot of lessons

1:05:32

and incredible stories about how you've overcome

1:05:34

so much into

1:05:36

into getting inside the mind of one of the

1:05:38

most powerful business leaders

1:05:40

in sports today to learn about the

1:05:42

lessons is extremely valuable. So

1:05:44

I want people to get this book.

1:05:47

Before I ask the two final questions, I

1:05:50

want to acknowledge you, Rich, for everything

1:05:52

you've done, everything you've overcome and

1:05:55

the value system that you've

1:05:57

had your entire life.

1:05:59

and how you continue to show up for people in

1:06:02

a relationship to serve them. Not

1:06:04

always thinking about you and what you can get

1:06:06

from the relationship.

1:06:07

So I really want to acknowledge you for that because I just

1:06:10

think so many people try to get quickly

1:06:13

and you really did everything you talk about

1:06:15

in this book and you talked about today which is I was

1:06:18

a star in my role that I learned that

1:06:20

I repositioned and I set myself

1:06:22

up for the next thing and it's really cool what you've

1:06:24

done. So I acknowledge you. Appreciate that. I've

1:06:27

seen people you know from Ohio crushing

1:06:29

it and making a big impact. Oh, hey baby. I

1:06:31

love this. So I want to acknowledge you for that. These

1:06:34

two questions I'll keep them quick. This is a

1:06:36

question I ask everyone at the end of my conversations.

1:06:39

It's a hypothetical scenario. Okay.

1:06:42

So imagine you get to live as long as you want to live but it's

1:06:44

your last day on earth and you get to accomplish

1:06:46

and create everything you want to create in your life. But

1:06:50

for whatever reason on this last day you've

1:06:53

got to take all of your content with you. So

1:06:55

this book is gone. This interview is gone. No

1:06:57

one has access to the words you've said

1:06:59

or written ever.

1:07:00

It's gone for whatever reason.

1:07:03

But on this last day you get to leave behind

1:07:05

three truths to the world.

1:07:08

Three lessons that you've learned and this

1:07:10

is all we would have to remember you by. What

1:07:13

would be those three truths for

1:07:15

you that you would leave behind?

1:07:18

Oh man, this is a tough one. I

1:07:20

know. Sorry. Especially on

1:07:22

the spot. You know, I don't know if it's three.

1:07:26

But what I will say is I would

1:07:29

just value, I think, value

1:07:31

family.

1:07:33

You know,

1:07:35

throughout life as you become older

1:07:37

you start to understand how important

1:07:40

that is, right? I

1:07:42

would say, you know,

1:07:49

just

1:07:50

pouring out and really, really,

1:07:52

really making a huge investment

1:07:55

in others. Well,

1:07:58

really making a huge investment in others.

1:08:01

and I

1:08:03

would probably say it's not

1:08:05

my last thing but another thing for me

1:08:09

just

1:08:11

really

1:08:14

having a better understanding

1:08:17

of the value of time.

1:08:20

Good truth man. Final question

1:08:23

what is your definition of greatness?

1:08:25

Wow I think my definition

1:08:28

of greatness honestly is

1:08:33

consistency and

1:08:39

consistency and

1:08:42

development of habits

1:08:49

that allows you to better

1:08:53

position yourself and others

1:08:57

because I just think it's hard

1:09:00

to be great

1:09:02

without having consistent habits

1:09:04

and I think people put you

1:09:06

know I'm great because I did these

1:09:09

things and because I got this acolyne

1:09:12

but they never talk about what allowed

1:09:14

them to be great at its core and

1:09:17

when you go back to every great person

1:09:19

whether it was

1:09:20

an inventor, an athlete,

1:09:23

you

1:09:24

know I

1:09:25

think it starts with their you

1:09:28

know just that consistency

1:09:30

of habits. Yes. Very important

1:09:33

right and I don't know I don't know anyone

1:09:36

great at doing anything

1:09:37

that doesn't have a consistency of habits.

1:09:39

Amen man. Lucky me. Lucky

1:09:43

me baby. I

1:09:45

hope today's episode inspired you on your

1:09:48

journey towards greatness. Make sure to check

1:09:50

out the show notes in the description for a rundown

1:09:52

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1:09:54

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1:10:13

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1:10:16

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1:10:18

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1:10:34

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1:10:37

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1:10:39

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1:10:41

there and do something great.