5 Lessons I Learned From Rich Paul
I spent the last week traveling for work. I had the fortunate pleasure of sharing my story at the Black Student Athlete Summit, listen to super agent Rich Paul’s keynote closing speech, visit Linkedin’s New York headquarters, and attend the PAADS conference for top athlete development experts in their space. Here’s my recap of what transpired.
Rich Paul
Rich Paul, CEO + Founder of Klutch Sports & Klutch Athletics, has been making the rounds recently giving back and marketing his new memoir, Lucky Me, a book about his upbringing and the principles he’s learned to help him thus far.
He spoke at the Black Student Athlete Summit and it was great to hear him speak candidly and open about various topics that can apply to anyone in life.
Experiences > Gifts
Gifts have a short term lifetime value, rather than use your money to buy gifts, find ways to enjoy experiences. He emphasized that he tells his athletes to go on experiences that will open their horizons rather than parties in Miami and Houston. I love this advice because I truly believe in the concept excellence through exposure, and one of the ways you do that is through experiences. To add to that, shared experiences with loved ones. If you are going to pay for most things anyway why not pay for an experience that you and your loved ones or friends can share and all take away from.
Survivors Remorse / Guilt …
According to Rich Paul, there is no such thing as survivors remorse/guilt if you set clear expectations, transparent in your communication, and set boundaries. In a lot of circumstances, people feel bad for making it out the hood per say, but that shouldn’t be a hinderance to you for doing what you needed to do to change your environment. Rich Paul explained his situation and how his friends/ family keep him humble rather than give him emotional blackmail for becoming successful.
Stay At Your Level
Eagles don’t soar with pigeons. When you are doing business or competing don’t stoop down to the level of inferior competition. Rich Paul spoke about his dealings with agents the bad mouth him in the toxic sports agency culture. It’d be easy for him to follow along and retaliate but that wouldn’t be beneficial for someone at his level that’s only planning on continuing to grow
Purpose
How are you fulfilling yourself? What are you doing to fill your cup? The sooner you find that out, the better off you will be.
Concrete Foundation
If you don’t set up your foundation /structure solid, you will have to break it down and eventually fix it later. Rich Paul mentions this when dealing with young athletes how important it is to set solid concrete so you can build. Many times, athletes want to skip steps and will pay for it in the long run. Don’t skip steps, Don’t cut corners.
I was able to take a quick visit to LinkedIn’s New York office and meet with my friend that ‘s leading creator partnerships. It’s always great to catch up with friends but also get a sense of where the trends are going. I’m a firm believer that every athlete should be on LinkedIn. If you get a chance to visit LinkedIn, don’t hesitate, breakfast + lunches are fire!
Take advantage of the new trends, the latest one being their newsletter feature. LinkedIn creators are growing large followings using the newsletter to attract audiences
Ask for what you want/need, LinkedIn is the perfect platform to be vulnerable and transparent about what you are looking for to enhance your career
Deep dive content is better than general updates but I figured you knew that already.
PAADS CONFERENCE
The PAADS conference is a conference geared for top athlete development specialist looking to help athletes with their career development, transition, and wellness. I’ve always been an advocate for athlete development because without them and their specific services, I wouldn’t have been as proactive with my off the field endeavors so early. This was my first conference but it was great to meet so many different individuals doing wonderful things to help shift the narrative for athletes.
Helping Athletes Grow Through Culture
USE GPS to find your True North Star
G=Goals
P=Purpose/Passion
S=Service
Take off the mask
When you are vulnerable, you are able to connect more
Tell stories
Stories will help tell your journey
Using Brand For Opportunities
3 Step Criteria for potential brand partnerships
Sport - highlight your endeavors on the field/court, use your sport as a vehicle
Service/Sectors - what services/sectors are you passionate about; it could be cooking, animals, etc
Story - Talk about things that speak to your story
Brand Negotiation tips
Factor in budget cuts into brand opportunities
Factor in fiscal schedule when they have money
Use unique platforms to help increase audience
The 5 Pillars That Serve The Holistic Athlete Development Experience
Career Development
Financial Literacy
Wellness
Physical Health
Alumni [Locker Room Engagement]
