The company and then we're going to talk a little about being an author which every time I talk to people like you gotta be an author you got to write a book so you know you'll go into that a little bit yeah definitely you got to do it Rob yeah that's what I hear I somebody had to hit me up like hey just even if you do a chapter now one thing I will say though my son is a journalist he's a you know he he does um uh manage he's managing error writer so I said if I'm ever going to write a book He's My Ghost Writer.
No you should have him have him help but it's uh it's funny I've had so many people come to me in the since I've written my book and say I've always wanted to write a book you know I vote I mean I'd say probably three out of ten people say that and then they followed up and say something to the effect of you know if you can do it I could do it and I I don't know if that's a compliment or not but um I'll take it as a compliment you know and um I think what they mean is I got a pretty busy schedule and was able to get it in and once it gets done.
It's pretty rewarding yeah I'm sure it is and uh you'll tell us how we could find it uh afterwards so let's talk about um playing sports growing up how did that shape you we'll say playing sports leading up to college how did that shape your life I would say I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area uh in a town called Burlingame and I was really fortunate my dad played college baseball at Santa Clara University he was a relief pitcher but growing up I was.
Really fortunate to have a group of friends who are still kind of like my best friend since kindergarten and whatever season it was we played baseball football basketball and life kind of revolved around the San Francisco sports teams you know uh Joe Montana and the 49ers and you know the San Francisco Giants and and the Golden State Warriors and so everything kind of revolved around Sports growing up through High School even yeah no it's uh I was kind of the same.
Of these it's hard because you're watching as a fan on TV and you don't really know are they a good guy not a good guy so that's good to know about Joe so let's um let's you know we'll go into fast forward down to college so one of the things that we talk about a lot uh and obviously the the athletes transition out of sports when you were at Arizona State uh were there programs there to kind of help um the athletes um you know with life after Sports as far as talking about you know some of the areas like financial.
Literacy Mental Health not to my knowledge I mean again this was a long time ago and when I was in college I was really you know focused on baseball and um I wasn't uh I wasn't aware at the time but I with that being said I have heard that um Arizona State and uh even U of A both have programs for for they're pretty good for uh student athletes now but not not that I'm aware of back then and and I and that's it I.
Should have prefaced that because you're right I mean I think back then like when I went to college too I don't think it really existed I think schools are doing a better job now but I still like one of my podcast guests he played football and he talked about he really would have it would have been great if there was maybe like a let's even if it's a four-week workshop or a semester that athletes had to be forced to take and I guess you kind of hit it on the head too though is I think as an athlete and especially like yourself an elite athlete um You probably in a sense have tunnel.
Vision and even if you had it put out there too you might not necessarily utilize it right and I mean I would even take it a step back I think that two things two topics that should be taught in college more uh even in high school and and not even just for athletes but everybody is financial literacy you know how do you keep track of your personal finances and the other thing is sales I think I think that there should be courses and maybe there are now maybe I'm outdated but courses that just teach you how to do sales because in some aspect everybody.
That sales to some degree but um no I think that financial literacy and and other things like that would be critical for for athletes yeah and that's you know that's something that we're trying to do and put together you know different types of resources to potentially go into these athletic departments and from what I've heard too and talking to some other folks at Arizona state is very Progressive which is great I mean and hopefully there's schools that become the models out there so that other schools start doing the same things to help make an impact here.
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Yeah I think it would be I've heard through my friends and this is not not anything really to do with uh athletes - ID Card Make
In general but it but overall the Arizona state has been a really Progressive and and forward thinking when it comes to education in in this 21st century yeah that that that's awesome and I'm sure it's great to be Associated as an alumni from that so let's talk about um you know kind of leads me into alumni connection so I always ask and again.This is a while back when you went to school same thing for me but um was there much interaction and whether it's baseball or other sports where alumni were coming back alumni athletes and working with or the athletes talk whether it was mentoring or Career Services not just coming back for like the baseball games alumni games and stuff like that Oh I thought you're going to refer to the baseball games because uh the opening story in my my book is about Barry Bonds calling me over when I was on deck and give me a read on the.
Picture um but outside of that no I don't I don't recall any situation of uh of you know having you know ex-athletes from ASU Help Mentor I think it's a great idea great idea and it so are you seeing any of it like now today do um um do they reach out to you or do you know any other like you know former athletes that are their schools are reaching out to them to kind of come back in that mode no I I don't I I don't know of anything like that happening I do see quite a few.
Athletes that I know and former athletes I know who reach out to me on behalf of other athletes so I feel like athletes are pretty good Rob of doing that directly where they're looking out for their their and it's not even necessarily just their own sport you know it's not always baseball players reach out for baseball players but it's like hey there's this woman who played volleyball at Pepperdine I really think you should talk to her and I think she'd be a great in this role or that role and so but um I see more of that than from.
The school itself yeah and I you know I think it's just um you know I highly encourage you know we're talking obviously alumni direct but of alumni trying to tap back in and I think you hear different stories I had one I talked to an agent and one of her uh one of her guys is a former NFL player and he wanted to go back to his school to you know kind of help the athletes out and he was almost like shunned uh which is a shame but I think part of it too um which has come across some of these different conversations I guess it.
Depends on also the culture within the athletic department and also the coaching staff because it might be that when that athlete played those coaches aren't there anymore because uh and so with new coaches maybe there's not that same thought process of bringing alumni back yeah no I mean I I I'd be curious as to why that the athlete would be shunned to come back and help in that capacity I think things like that can only benefit everybody really um but uh yeah I don't know why they would be shunning and I I mean I played.
Quite a while ago so uh the coaches that I have are pretty much all retired or gone so uh it's a different group out there now but now you know now you're fired up to go back to Arizona State and uh you know talk to some of the football players and baseball players as a landline right yeah no I'd love to I mean actually uh the I played for the uh I was fortunate I played for my history is I actually started off at Pepperdine University and played for um Andy Lopez uh who is in the Hall of Fame and won a.
World Series at both uh Arizona and um Pepperdine and then I also played for uh Jim Brock the legendary Jim Brock um who died of uh my final year he was battling cancer um but his uh his his widow hat was kind enough to who I might still keep in touch with uh send my book along to uh Willie Bloom quest uh who's the head coach at Arizona State and she she sees me on the email so I thought that was.
Very very sweet of her to do that oh absolutely no that that's great so um let's talk a little bit about um nil so name image likeness today and obviously when you and I were in school it didn't exist I mean I guess people joke around I guess there was other forms of nil maybe a little sponsors or things to that Niche but putting that aside um give me your thoughts uh both positive and negative well I think it's great you know overall I think there's a lot more positives and negatives I think it's a it's a great.
Opportunity for athletes to have to gain their own personal brand
Um I know a lot of athletes as well who don't move on to um you know a career after Sports uh it gives them an opportunity to earn some income you know I think the schools and everything are earning a ton of money especially in sports like basketball or football I I think and with that being said so I think that's a positive to me I think the negative could be if the the brand that.They're creating is uh you know is not you know sports related you know if it's it you know because you they I think it should be focused on the sports and and not on their uh life outside of sports so I think that that that could be a negative as far as the the athletes should focus on Sports and you know the right type of brand especially with how social medias these days yeah no I I agree and that did um and what's I guess related to that what's your thoughts on like team chemistry you think that's affecting athletes when you have some of.
These athletes who are enjoying that and then maybe other teammates not so much I think that's a great question and you know honestly I I didn't even think about it but it has to right I mean if you're playing with somebody and you know they're making X thousands of dollars and and you're you know you got nothing and it definitely adds probably to the conversation in the locker room you know I mean like I said we didn't have we didn't have that back then and um but yeah I bet you there's some resentment and there's some inter uh.
Competitiveness that might um you know cause some Rift amongst the the players I think that's very interesting um I think another positive is and you and I discussed this it's going to give some schools an opportunity to compete at a level that they haven't been able to compete before you know where uh let's take uh USF basketball you know they're a good team but they may be able to through nil recruit some great talent to come in and that I think that that.
Can you know for a city like San Francisco which is kind of going through a hard time right now having uh having a fantastic basketball team could drive people back into the city uh to a great City so I think that that could add a lot of value yeah no for sure and I and I I think uh you know from a negative aspect I mean that there's not a lot of negatives I think it's just more I think the biggest thing that people talk about is just more of a need for education and you know we've kind of touched on that before but just I think understanding.
From a financial perspective and this is the you know some of the athletes have said yeah I would have loved it but just making sure that they know like if you've got a a big payday coming like there's one story here which was kind of sad there was a uh an athlete that they did some type of nil thing and let's say it was around 30 or 40 000 that they they got on the deal um the problem was because of that it took their their threshold the income Threshold at to a higher level to where the person the athlete lost the.
Scholarship and then the athlete also him and his friends you know blew the money which is understandable because again you think oh wow we got this money let's spend on this this and this and that's where yeah I guess some of the downfall is and where there needs to be that more help in the education side of it yeah I mean I think that right now and you know this better than I do but uh nil is kind of in its infant stages and it's and it's kind of the the Wild Wild West out there and in the conversations I've had and correct me if I'm wrong but.
Isn't it different state by state even what's allowed and what's not allowed yeah it's interesting I I we were talking about that this morning with a couple people I didn't realize that I think I I think at a college level it might not be uh no I could be wrong but I know for sure at a high school level yeah there's there's certain states where you can other states you can't and it's like the way the money comes out it's got to be you if you're in the states where it's kind of illegal then you just can't it comes across a different way so yeah that's something that they definitely have to look at as.
Well I I mean thinking back about it I guess I'm kind of you know not exactly sure if I think it's fantastic for high school level um you know I think that maybe that's too early on but um I was I was referring more when you asked me about positive negatives for college I think I think for high school I think it's important to put you know some pretty hard constraints on it and and definitely some guidelines on what what.
Can and can't like the story you just said about somebody have a kid having 30 40 000 bucks going out and spending it all losing his college education not not losing his college education but not being able to get a scholarship um I think they probably have to tighten that up a little bit yeah no I I definitely think so so let's shift over uh yeah something that we're uh at alumni directive we're really working on is is to making those connections and I think it's so important for people to.
Network and connect and and even starting at that younger age starting in high school and all that and different things so talk a little about your thoughts on networking connecting as an athlete uh while you're you know playing and even after that I think networking and connecting is is really important and it's a it's a skill that I think uh happens inherently to athletes when they're playing uh in the sense of uh.
Being an athlete I think you connect with other athletes and you kind of you know there's kind of like a bond out there right where you just you can tell if I'm in a group of 10 people and seven of them are ex-athletes and three aren't you could tell who are and who aren't so I think I think athletes know how to do that now when it comes to connecting and networking outside of their their own community and whether it's the business world or whatever um I think there is a gap that needs to be.
Um you know kind of kind of work on help close because you know I think that it's a tremendous opportunity for athletes to uh evolve and develop those skills and then be able to help carry them on um you know while they're playing sports but also while they're you know when they're not when they're done um I think that that that it's one thing to send your resume out uh to get a job it's another thing to to get a warm introduction from somebody um maybe maybe you're somebody who went.
To University of Alabama and um you're looking to get a job somewhere and somebody else is like hey this guy played basketball for Alabama you know something like that right so I think that that opens a lot more doors through uh networking yeah no no doubt and I think the I guess the challenges is uh you know I was talking to one agent and uh he said that the best time to network and connect is when you are still playing because what what he's seen is that a lot of players they're just so focused on their game which is understandable but they're not taking.
The time to to to do that to network and connect and then all of a sudden when they're done they're like okay they're just expecting that they're just gonna drop into maybe these big jobs and all that realizing that no I mean unless you're that star athlete that people recognize probably not so much the case that you'll be in those positions so it it's critical for them to do that I you know I think you hit on a good point when you're when you're an athlete and you're you're caught in college or you're in the in the midst of a professional career you may not be thinking that far ahead.
You know you may you know you're you're focused on your task at hand which is you know being as competitive and as great as you can be and what you're doing and maybe that you won't need that and you may also be like you just said naive to the fact that you know you're you're the IT person right now but you know when you're 15 minutes or whatever it is a Fame is over with um it's it's it's important to have those connections moving into the next phase of your life so yeah I think that that's probably an area that's you know.
Well underserved as far as what athletes should be doing yeah and and hopefully and that's you know kind of like what we're trying to do you know with with this podcast the show is to to give them tips and hopefully Inspire them to start doing these type of things just make make more of an awareness about the importance of it and hopefully that will have that positive impact on them let me ask you this question what do you think uh alumni direct can do to help under athletes understand that they.
Should make it more have more of a sense of urgency to do it now instead of waiting until after their their careers over with I think it just comes down to uh like I keep saying what like from the education perspective and you know those are some of the things we're trying to implement uh within the site itself and then just even parallel to it is to develop these programs with with resources uh where we come in and we talk to the athletes and talk about the importance of this and I think um having other athletes that have gone through in a positive.
Um understanding I think would help as well so you know we always talk about going into an athletic department you know someone like yourself we're going into like say in Arizona State where you know your your alumni athlete that had success there and for other athletes to kind of look up to what you're doing not just baseball players but all across and then having people um you know obviously it's something you're good at something that that you know comes naturally to me but helping them out there I mean that's what we're looking to do I think it's important to to teach and if they see it and just open up their their mind to it I think.
Uh it will it will do well no I I think you're right I think it I think it's it's critical it's important to have all the resources and the site and everything available for them to go to it it's also great for them to hear from athletes I believe positive and negative you know athletes who uh could come in and say Hey you know you may not think you need it I'm in your position too I didn't need it at the time but man if I could go back to where you're at now I would start doing this and and here's you know and give them kind of a.
Launching pad of where they can do it you know maybe even say maybe these athletes like my well like myself or others who could come in and say let's get some practice of it let me introduce you to a couple individuals uh you know and so give them the first step into learning how to network and start setting up those relationships for the future I think would be helpful yeah no I absolutely I think that that would be great and uh yeah hopefully you know more and more programs can be developed that way and we hope to be kind of on the The Cutting Edge of that uh so let's.
Talk about uh transitioning out of sports so yeah the main topic of the show and I think um even what you just said there's there's a road mapping there's been a lot of people uh that have had different stories I mean some get hurt in college some have the wherewithal to kind of think about other things once they're done but then there's other ones that are so zoned in that they don't so it gives some of your advice on like in your case what happened in your transition and then some advice to other athletes sure well my story starts with I uh I.
Actually start off at Pepperdine University I got a full ride there after I uh decided not to make the journey playing minor leagues uh my first year at Pepperdine I I got hurt um and I left they ended up winning the World Series so I was like that's great you know and then uh back at the time we didn't have the the portal or whatever so I had to go to a junior college um called San Mateo uh and I got to play for a guy named John Noche he was a phenomenal Hall of Fame baseball coach then I ended up at um Arizona State I had a great couple of years there I was.
I think I was number two in the league in hitting and all my eggs at this time Robert for baseball right you know it's like okay not even you know not really planning on anything else I figured that I had an opportunity to play into Mario leagues I did realize that getting to the big leagues was tough but I'm like hey I can figure that out later you know I'm gonna just focus you know put all my energy on this so I played I had a really good year my junior year I uh figured I was you know I was waiting for that call remember this is you know 1995 so it was you know.
No internet really and uh 94. and so I just unfortunately didn't get drafted I was kind of bummed out came back my senior year had a good solid year uh was ready to make to get I would have taken being drafted in any round and play the call never came that was pretty pretty bummed you know really depressed and but I said hey you know what I'm not going to go the independent route um I want to get I want to you know start my my the rest of my life the next.
Phase I'm really fortunate that uh that I came from a family that uh had several uh businesses and a large real estate firm hotels all this stuff and um but I wasn't sure that I had any transferable skills you know I and and I was you know nervous but um my dad was starting this new computer training company called learn it uh it was very small and I just took a job there I asked for a job there I was a receptionist I wanted to start you know at the ground floor and.
Um just kind of went in there really humble and and wanted to prove to everybody there that you know it wasn't just my dad giving me a job you know at the head and I worked my way up I think to the date I still answered more phones than anybody else and um thought classes did did sales you know you know kind of got out of my comfort zone did all that and you know here we are fast forward 28 years I've uh I've I've been the CEO for 20 plus years of this corporate training company never.
In my wildest dreams did I think I'd be an education you know in learning and um and so yeah and so I kind of share that in the book I wrote to learn it all later or I just kind of share my personal stories and uh and how I develop my leadership and it's really I've always been there to help athletes you know if you look at my team right now I would say 20 well I know 20 of our team members are ex division one.
Athletes um in all sports baseball I got a bunch of swimmers and again the swimmers aren't from the same school it's just networking through their friends like hey this person would be great uh one was an Olympian for for a year before we went back to doing swimming stuff you know this person would be great fit in really well with the culture that you have here and so the reason why you know I decided I wanted to get involved with with helping athletes even more on a larger scale was because I really believe that athletes uh have the.
