2ndwind Academy Podcast
2ndwind Academy Podcast
108: Gage Yesbeck - How College Sport Prepared Me for the IT Sector
How does a college athlete pivot from sports to a successful career in IT and entrepreneurship? Join us for an inspiring conversation with Gage Yesbeck, a former college basketball player whose competitive spirit led him to an unexpected acting role on the Apple TV show "Swagger," produced by Kevin Durant. Gage offers invaluable advice for athletes contemplating life after sports, including the importance of internships, networking, and applying oneself across different fields.
We explore the rigorous balance between athletics and academics, recounting Gage's own hurdles like a significant injury, a gap year, and transferring schools—all while being a first-generation college student. Gage reflects on the profound impact of education and the necessity of having a backup plan, sharing personal milestones such as meeting his future spouse during his collegiate journey. His story is a testament to the resilience needed to navigate both athletic and academic paths.
Transitioning from college to a corporate life comes with its own set of challenges, and Gage dives into the emotional toll of job hunting post-graduation. He stresses the importance of networking and persistence, sharing his path from securing his first IT job to achieving notable career growth. Listen as Gage discusses the broader topic of career transitions for athletes, the support systems available like the 2ND Wind Academy, and the entrepreneurial mindset that continues to fuel his success.
Are you looking for Career Clarity for your next step, for more information, or to book a consultancy, make sure you check out www.2ndwind.io
Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahhim-shillingford
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rahhim.shillingford18/
If you know athletes listening to this are thinking, okay, what can I do to better prepare myself for this life after college or after the professional career? What types of tips would you give them based on your experience?
Speaker 2:The company I work for now. The past three employees we've hired all came through our intern program. So just get your foot in the door with some different companies, maybe choose a different company each summer to internship with. That's how you build those relationships in the corporate world. They see your work ethic and ultimately you just have to apply yourself, have to apply yourself.
Speaker 3:Hi, I'm Ryan Gonsalves and welcome to a Second Wind Academy podcast, a show all about career transition through the lens of elite athletes. Each week, I invite a guest to the show who shares their unique sporting story. Please join me to delve into the thoughts and actions of athletes through a series of conversations. Don't worry, there's plenty to learn from those of you that aren't particularly sporty. Elite athletes are still people after all. Let's be inspired by the stories of others.
Speaker 1:Today I have Gage Jesbeck, a college basketball athlete, on the Second Wind Academy podcast, the show that's going to delve into the decisions athletes make when they transition from professional sport. Now, Gage Jesbeck is a first-generation college athlete who has well, I guess, since leaving, built up a cadre of soft and entrepreneurial skills. So not only has he built a successful career in IT as a senior director, he is now developing two separate software startups. Now these definitely use his competitive spirit and his power of creation. So I'm going to say, Gage, welcome to the show. I am super excited about discussing with you today your transition, your career and, I guess, some of the skills that you brought with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely yeah. Thank you for having me, Ryan.
Speaker 1:That's all good. And look, I know we've been. We've been trying to get together for a while to sort of lock away this conversation and you know there's going to be others who are on the show listening to this, watching this, who don't know who you are. So can you just take a brief moment, give us the that short version, that infomercial about yourself yeah, certainly, yeah.
Speaker 2:So you know, growing up, uh, been a basketball player since about middle school, took that all the way to college, was able to get a full ride athletically on to college for that and then from there, uh, it's even taken me places such as acting I was on a tv show, swagger recently, um, as an assistant basketball head coach and, uh, you know. So, basketball certainly opened a lot of doors in my life. Beyond that, just like you stated, been in the it field now for about five and a half years and I've been working on my entrepreneurial businesses as well, very competitive, very, again, just entrepreneurial minded and leveraging those skills to really grow my career. So I know we'll discuss the transition from being the athlete to the business world can provide a lot of feedback and a lot of just input on ways that athletes can make that smooth transition and maybe some things that I would have done differently in hindsight that could have helped me even further in my career.
Speaker 1:That sounds great. I mean listen, even just as you giving us a breakdown there of the game basketball, but how it opened up doors, the fact it opened up acting, I mean talk to to me about that, how did it get you into acting?
Speaker 2:there was a casting call for the local tv show swagger. It's on apple tv. Executive producer is kevin durant, so it's really kind of uh based around his life in a in a sense um, and just the, some of the hardships that he had to go through and overcome. But yes, and then, uh, an application, some headshots, some of my basketball photos and, sure enough, the director chose me to be a assistant basketball coach. I was more so, thinking I'd be a player, but I am getting closer to 30 now so I guess coach was more fitting. But yeah, and you know, I opened the door for that, which I I never would have even fathomed that I'd be doing, and it was a very neat experience, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that. That is fascinating, and did you get to meet the great man himself?
Speaker 2:I did not. His mother was there, she was acting in the crowd and I was able to meet a lot of other actors as well. So it was very neat. And I'm the type of person and we'll discuss this in many ways throughout this podcast but I'm I'm the type that will ask questions because the worst they can say is no, um, and my character did not have any speaking part and I went up to the director and asked you know, in a certain scene can I say such and such? And that did not go over. Well, but I, I tried. Yeah, no, I shot my shot shot. You know, that was my first time, you know could potentially be my only time acting. So I was like all right, well, let's go for it. And again, that will be a repetitive theme of just how I've gotten to where I am now is being willing to ask those difficult questions, the uncomfortable questions, to kind of propel you in ways that you otherwise wouldn't have been yeah, well, well, listen, well, let's, let's.
Speaker 1:I guess where some of it started. So for you as a young player, when did you start to realize you were good and it might actually take you somewhere?
Speaker 2:We have a youth basketball league around here called Upward. That's where a lot of people will start playing, just at local churches or schools. And even at a young age I could tell I was more advanced than a lot of the other players, not in a cocky way and not to toot my own horn, but I could just tell I was more advanced, I was catching on to plays and just my ability is a lot quicker than other children of my age. I'm 6'7", so I've always been tall for my age. It's not something to where I just randomly hit a growth spurt and got to my height. I've gradually grown from a young age, so I've always been one of the taller athletes on the team. So, yeah, from there I eventually played for my school.
Speaker 2:I made varsity in sixth grade so again, something that is not common. So I was playing on varsity, starting in sixth grade, all the way through my high school career. From there I played AU travel basketball, which I highly recommend for anyone that's looking to play in college, because, again, that's where you get a lot of your exposure. That's where I really got a lot of my exposure. And then at that point I decided to go to a junior college. I went JUCO for a year to try and get more exposure for larger schools, because I did have offers coming out of high school. A lot of them were Division III, some Division II and a couple D1. And so I decided to go junior college for a year, which a lot of people commonly do, to get more exposure for larger schools and hopefully get picked up.
Speaker 1:For those not familiar with that US college system what do you mean? You chose to go to junior school. Talk me through that decision-making process chose to go to junior school.
Speaker 2:Talk me through that decision-making process. Yeah, so a junior college is a two-year school opposed to a four-year university. So a lot of times if you're a regular student, you'll go to a junior college or a community college and that's just a two-year university where you're usually getting an associate's degree opposed to a bachelor's degree. So a lot of times you'll have kids go there for the two years and then transfer to a four-year university from there. But athletes will do it for various reasons. They'll either do it because their grades were not good enough coming out of high school to get accepted into a four-year university, so they go to a two-year where the standard is lower from a grading perspective and they'll work on their GPA to then go to a larger university, or they'll simply go to a junior college because a lot of larger schools will come to the games and try to recruit you from that smaller college. So again, it's just a path that a lot of athletes will take, especially in the United States.
Speaker 2:Here, and it's a path I chose and things did not go like I expected. I had started off the year with a lower back injury, which made it very hard for me to get into the lineup that we had. We were number one in the country so we were a very solid team. So at that point it was very hard to really get into the lineup and get that exposure I was looking for. So from there I took a gap year and then went to a four-year school. From there to finish off my career.
Speaker 1:Right. And so, during this process for you, what were your aspirations?
Speaker 2:Really just take it as far as I could. I mean you put so much time and effort. Really just take it as far as I could. I mean you put so much time and effort into a sport you know, you really focus your life around it, you're traveling all the time, you're practicing all the time, working out for that sport. I mean you just put so much time and effort into it.
Speaker 2:I'd say my number one goal was to get a college education for free, and that's really what I was aiming for through, through the sport. Neither of my parents went to college. In fact they were. They were teenagers when they had me.
Speaker 2:So you know a lot of it was a learning experience for all of us. They, they, didn't have much knowledge to really lead me on and, truth be told, I wasn't even aware that I could get an academic scholarship for college. So I figured sports was my only way and that's what I was really aiming for and thankfully, you know, I was able to do so and I was the first yes-spec to achieve or even graduate from a four-year university. And it's also where I met my wife. She was a softball player, or the pitcher of the softball team in college. I was the center of the basketball team and that's where we met um and got engaged my uh, my junior year of college, and then, after graduation, we got married um, which we can dive into a little bit more uh later in the podcast yeah, you know it's interesting.
Speaker 1:Your aspiration there was was somewhat focused on the academic side, rather than, let's say, reaching the nba and becoming all of that so academically. What sorts of decisions did you have to make?
Speaker 2:I made the decision to apply myself more and I, you know, in hindsight, looking back now, there's a few things I would have done differently. I would have taken more advantage of that free education of probably double major. You get allotted a certain amount of credits that you can take per semester and for free. And I would have, in hindsight, I would have gone back and probably just taken a larger course load and actually double major and taken more advantage of that free education. And secondly, you know, looking back, I would have probably done internships.
Speaker 2:It's something that a lot of athletes do not do, simply because being an athlete is a full-time job.
Speaker 2:So when you're home for the summer, you're once again still working out, still focusing on getting better for the upcoming season, instead of focusing on, you know, academics or working on an internship for a corporation that you could potentially be hired on after graduation.
Speaker 2:So I say, academically, for me I tried to make it more of a focus and because of that I received a lot of accolades through college.
Speaker 2:However, it's not common practice for athletes to take academics seriously, unfortunately, and a lot of times when you are a superstar or a very good athlete, schools will kind of just put you through the system and not so much care about your academics. And you see that a lot. You see where you know coaches will even ask tutors to work with the players in such a way to where they're they're essentially doing their work for them, they're almost making them, you know they're they're improving their grades for them, and it's it's to the detriment of the of the player, because when they graduate, or if they graduate, they're just not prepared and and you see this all the time and we even had athletes that by the time their four years was up at the university, they didn't even have enough credits to graduate. You know the school got what they wanted out of them athletically, but when it came time to graduate they did not have enough credits.
Speaker 1:And again, that falls back on the school, on the university and not focusing enough on the player's education more than their athletic abilities yeah, and that that's going to be quite damning, damaging, like you said, for the, the athlete, they, they get graduation and if they're not drafted or you know, continuing to certainly going into uni, then they have an impact straight away as to well now what exactly and like you said, I mean a lot of aspirations of players is to go to the league, to go to the nba to play professionally.
Speaker 2:but realistically, a very, very, very, very small percentage of athletes will do so. So I have friends now you know, like I said, I'm almost 30 and I still have friends that are trying to chase that dream of being a professional athlete, and we can discuss this more in detail. But I mean, it's just you're setting yourself back, trying to chase that dream for so long to where you really set yourself back from a career perspective once you actually get into the workforce career perspective once you actually get into the workforce.
Speaker 1:So when you look at your career and the perspective you brought into college, did you chase the dream to make it into the leagues or were you very much settled on? I'm using this for academic purposes.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So really, again, I was just trying to take it as far as I could. I knew I probably wasn't an NBA caliber player. A lot of that even comes down to just politics playing for the right schools, knowing the right people Because I've certainly known players that athletically and had the capabilities to go play probably in the NBA, and just simply did not make it because of where they came from or who they were. But at the same end, I'd say my transition really came like I stated my senior year of college after I graduated.
Speaker 2:I married my wife that summer and at that point after graduation I had a few opportunities to go play overseas. I even had gotten my Chinese visa to go play in China. And it comes down to that conversation as to do I chase this and go overseas and potentially make $5,000 to $10,000 a month to go play overseas and enjoy that experience. But at the same time, if I do that for a handful of years, by the time I get back to the United States and it's time for me to start my career, I'm starting over from scratch. I'm starting over from the ground floor and I decided at that point it was more important for me to really start my career, especially now that I was married. We found out we were pregnant about three months later and at that time we were still living at my parents' house, embarrassingly enough. So I said you know what? I'm just going to jump into my career, transition into the professional world and just enjoy what comes with that.
Speaker 2:And to this day I still play semi-professional basketball for the Petersburg Cavaliers here in Virginia. So I'm still able to stay competitive here in Virginia. So I'm still able to stay competitive. I'm still able to continue playing, but at a pace that works with my lifestyle, that works with my family. Now I have three children and my wife, so a lot going on from a professional and a family perspective. So it allows me to continue to play, keep that competitive edge, enjoy the game, but all at the same time still pursuing things professionally.
Speaker 1:Yes, it certainly sounds like you've got a nice balance with life playing and sort of your entrepreneurial spirit. Just taking you back to that moment coming from college, those are some hard. You know you had some. You had options. You had some hard choices to make. You made a decision to stay in the United States. When you look back, what do you think you were perhaps passing up on by not pursuing the basketball career overseas?
Speaker 2:I think I was passing up on just the experience. I always thought if I went to play overseas it'd be neat just to travel, see the world and get paid for just playing the game of basketball. So again, I think more so I passed up on just experience there. But again, it's at what trade off Do I want to go play somewhere for five to 10 years, and that's even if I continue to play for that long and then come back to the States and essentially have to start all over? Or do I bypass those experiences and just jump into the business world and get started career-wise and really grow and get my foot in the door with a company to where I could grow professionally? So yeah, again, I've known several players that went to NBA. I've known several players that went overseas and unfortunately, unless you're a top athlete, it just doesn't sustain itself. You know, I've made me a handful of seasons, like I stated, and then they're back here in the States and don't really know what to do at that point.
Speaker 1:So what was the pull for you to step into the corporate career?
Speaker 2:Personally, I've just always enjoyed business. I've enjoyed not even just the money-making perspective, but just working. I consider myself a workaholic, but, yeah, just really just the business side of everything, just jumping in, trying to take that competitive nature that I had in sports and apply it to the business world, work my way up the ladder corporately, which I've currently done a very good job of, with only being in my career for about five and a half years now. So, yeah, just the desire was to. Again, I was married. We found out we were pregnant three months into it. We were still living with my parents. So the desire was to not only take care of myself but take care of my family, provide for my family and give them a life that I didn't particularly have growing up because, again, my parents were teenagers. We were growing up together essentially and had to overcome that. So I wanted to be in a state to where I could provide for them I mean which I think is great, and you know, the family.
Speaker 1:It certainly helps to shift your focus and, you know, really make you start to value things differently or look at the world in a certainly through a different light. For you, given those changes, what did you do? How did you find out what you wanted to do and where did you go? What did you do to get a job?
Speaker 2:again in hindsight, I would have done internships, uh, probably during the summers and between college. Unfortunately, I did not. So, coming out of college, I applied to many, many, many positions and simply did not. So, coming out of college, I applied to many, many, many positions and simply did not get a single interview from anyone, even with my four-year degree.
Speaker 1:How did you figure out who to apply to?
Speaker 2:I mean, it came down to a point to where I was almost applying anywhere that I could just get my foot in the door. So I even applied for a logistics company that was delivering bread. I applied to IT companies because my major in college was business, with concentration in IT. But I honestly got to a point to where I was. I was very honestly depressed by the fact that I could not get an interview with anybody and essentially what it came down to and something you're seeing a lot is just knowing. It's all about who you know.
Speaker 2:Thankfully, my father has been in the IT field now for almost 30 years and he was able to reach out to a business that he had done prior business with and continuously kept telling them hey, my son's about to graduate from college. Hey, my, my son is now graduated from college. Could you guys just use, you know, an extra set of hands? Can we help? You know, is there anything he can do for you guys? And thankfully, that company, a couple of months later, ended up giving me an interview my very first interview and hired me on the spot. Me an interview, my very first interview and hired me on the spot, and I've been with them ever since. And again, just to kind of go over asking difficult questions because at the end of the day the worst they can say is no right.
Speaker 2:So when I got my foot in the door at Rich Web, which is the IT company I'm at, I was brought on at a $40,000 salary, right, so pretty low entry-level salary. First year into the business I go for my yearly review and I sit down with my CEO and CTO and I ask for essentially a 50% raise, right. So I go from $40,000 to $60,000. But I come to it prepared, I write down, you know, these are the hours I've spent in the company, this is really the areas I've helped grow the company. So I don't just go into it blindly, I go into it prepared and I ask the difficult question, you know, can I get a raise to $60,000 from $40,000? And thankfully they saw how prepared I was and they provided it.
Speaker 3:There are too many stories of bankruptcies, mental health issues and, unfortunately, suicide, and so I think it's time to act. Every year, we see thousands of athletes that reach a point where they need to consider their life after they leave sport. This might be a retirement injury, or they need to juggle dual careers, between sport and a job. As a former English professional footballer, I have somehow managed to transition from sport into banking strategy, innovation and now life coach, career practitioner and founder of the Second Wind Academy. So I want to help those around me find their career second wind. Find me on Insta or through my new Facebook group, second Wind Academy. So I want to help those around me find their career second wind. Find me on Insta or through my new Facebook group, second Wind Academy, where I'd love to know your thoughts and suggestions.
Speaker 1:What did you say? I think you know. I think everyone's about to pick up their pen now and think okay, here's what I'm going to do to get a 50% pay rise. Give us the list and think okay, here's what.
Speaker 2:I'm going to do to get a 50% pay rise. Give us the list, yeah, yeah. So again, I just went into it prepared. I wrote down the amount of hours I cause we we have to log our hours daily and I was logging well over eight hours a day, so I basically broke down here's the amount of hours I've been working. Here's the additional hours I've worked beyond 40 hours a week. Here's the sales that I've been working. Here's the additional hours I've worked beyond 40 hours a week. Here's the sales that I've been able to drive for the company.
Speaker 2:Here's the relationships that I've grown with some of our clients that have helped keep them on board with our company. And just really going through every perspective of how I've been able to help grow their company and just apply myself and and just make it evident that, hey, I'm, you know, I'm trying hard here to to grow this company, to apply myself, to learn as much as possible, and that kind of went from there honestly just went into a prepared though, and that kind of went from there honestly just went into a prepared bill, yeah yeah, but it takes the I guess it takes that confidence to be able to go in and ask for that question, or ask that question so soon into into a career, into a role.
Speaker 1:You know we were joking earlier about you know taking the shot, but you know to what extent do you think your approach to how you played basketball supported you stepping into that kind of negotiation?
Speaker 2:Honestly, just confidence, leadership skills that carry very good over into the workforce, teamwork. And again, to be honest, through my four-year university I had a coach that was very hard on us, very demeaning, very a lot of words you could put into it, almost verbally abusive to an extent. So that really puts a hard coat on you to where you almost feel like there's nothing anyone could say that could tear you down more than that, tear you down more than that. So it hurt at the time, but I think at the end of the day it helps you in a sense to where you've been through it. Right, you got through that and really there's nothing else that could be worse than that, to be honest.
Speaker 2:So again, it's just, I think you're prepared for those hard conversations for multiple reasons, but the biggest thing that I see people do is they're too scared to ask those questions, right, well, what if this, what if that? You know I've been able to accomplish the things I've accomplished because even in scenarios where I did not know or have knowledge about that scenario, I just threw myself into it and I learned as much as I could and I was not afraid to be in uncomfortable situations and grow myself in that way. So many people are too hesitant to ask those questions, to apply themselves in those ways, to try and start a business, to try and buy real estate, all these different things, because it's a lot of unknowns unless you have a mentor that can really walk you through how they did things. I mean, it's all a learning experience and if you want to be successful in life you just have to take that leap you do.
Speaker 1:You do what helped you get through it. You know you spoke about your coach there, um, but you talk about the success that you've had. What do you think helped give you the confidence to go and keep taking that shot?
Speaker 2:I think, just self-confidence. It's hard to, I guess, put words into it, but just believing in yourself. There are several scenarios in my life to where you know people say all the time to live below your means. For instance, as soon as I got a job at RichWeb December of 2018, first job instead of renting a property I went and bought my first house and again, that was living above my means at the time, but I believed in myself.
Speaker 2:I knew this is going to be the least amount of money I'm making salary-wise, and if I believe in myself and I know that I can grow, then living above my means momentarily will really benefit me in such a way to where it did.
Speaker 2:I mean honestly buying that first home, which, again, a lot of people are scared to do but I found a VHDA loan that was able to pay all of my down payment for me, was able to get my first home with my wife and we were able to leverage that two years later to buy our second home during the lowest interest rates our country's ever seen.
Speaker 2:So now I have an even larger house at 2.6% interest rate that, again, I will probably never sell but only rent out because of that great interest rate, and then I was able to leverage this to then buy a vacation property that we rent out through Airbnb and VRBO. So, again, just believing in yourself. Again, in many scenarios I lived above my means simply because I did believe in myself in such a way to where I knew I would grow and make more money and grow salary wise and do more things to even it all out. So again, at the end of the day, you can live below your means and feel comfortable and stay in that role, or you can. If you live above your means, it kind of applies that pressure to to do more yes, yeah, and I guess you are kind of front loading that pressure you're.
Speaker 1:You're, in fact, you're intentionally putting that pressure on yourself in order to push you further. I, I, I have to ask the random in a random way, but you think about the coach that you had through college and almost putting you through that negative experience, that need to push and, you know, work harder perhaps than you, you know you expected to work. Do you think that sort of work ethic, you know, and sort of setting out what you need to do and then going ahead and achieving it, do you think that's something that has carried through from from sport, indeed from the way you you were brought up?
Speaker 2:oh yeah, certainly, you know. I mean, overcoming things is a common um theme throughout my life. And again, you have two options you can either give up or you can overcome and and succeed right, and I always choose the latter. I don't. I I'm not one to just give up, um, no matter how hard it is. Sometimes you just got to fight through it and, and a lot of times you'll come out on the other end a stronger person, you know. Speaking again to my coach in college, only me and one other teammate graduated from that school that came in the same year. I did Right, so everyone else quit. We had multiple players that were great basketball players that simply quit the sport because the coach was just too much.
Speaker 1:I'm curious then for you as you look back at your period coming out of that college environment, that brotherhood where you had to bond. You know, if anything because of the, I guess, the negative approach that your coach was bringing to you what have you found to be the hardest thing about your transition from that athletic college graduate to where you are today balancing semi-professional and you know your career, to be honest.
Speaker 2:I don't think the transition has been difficult. I think it's been one that's worked well within my schedule, within my lifestyle, to the point to where I can still play and be competitive and still have those bonds with my teammates and still enjoy the game to the same extent, if not better, because again we've won two championships as a semi-pro team. We've gotten two rings as a semi-pro team, which is really as a basketball player, you're always chasing that ring right. You're always trying to win a championship, get the jewelry that's a big thing you chase with an athlete and I did not get that until playing semi-professional basketball. So personally I don't think the transition was difficult. It was one to where I was ready to again start my career corporately.
Speaker 2:I don't feel like I gave up a whole lot because again I still get to play and practice and bond with my teammates and coaches and still enjoy the game that I've loved for so long, but also while being a father to three children, to being a husband to my wife, to being a director now in an IT company which I speaking of, which I just had another one of those difficult conversations on Monday with my CTO and CEO where I simply stated I've helped grow this company and the division I'm overseeing.
Speaker 2:I would like to acquire and start my own company, right? So this is a question I'm asking my employer. I'm saying, can I buy out basically half the company that I'm already running? And sure enough, they're going to work out a deal to where I'm going to become an owner of of the division I've already overseen, right. So again, just that comp theme of of asking difficult questions to get you to where you want to be, because, at the end of the day, the worst they could have told me is now and when I will have gone back to my desk and continue on with what I'm doing for those listening and they're going to say, wow, that takes that takes again that confidence to do it, to ask the difficult question.
Speaker 2:How do you find the difficult question? So he's been working for an IT company now for about a decade and he's looking for a new opportunity. And I pitched to him you know the IT company I work for now that I'm, you know the division of it that I'm overseeing what if we just try and buy it and just start our own business? And that conversation was sparked probably three weeks ago. And personally I'm not one to I don't like to just say things and not take action on it. So if I say something it's typically because I'm going to try and take action. So, yeah, a few weeks later.
Speaker 2:So this Monday I sat down with my, I went to my CEO's office and had that conversation and it was very well accepted and surprisingly a lot easier conversation than I anticipated. I certainly I probably went to that conversation about it as nervous as I was when I asked my father-in-law if I could marry his daughter. So I was very nervous. But again, it's one of those things to where you have two choices you can go ask the difficult question or you can continue to do what you're doing and not ask the question and not potentially get what you're looking for. So yeah, I'm just not one to be complacent and just be comfortable with my current position and I you know. Thankfully I was able to go ask that difficult question once more and it certainly seems like things are going to work out for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good. Again, fascinating to hear how that really comes to life. So let's sort of just talk a bit about your current role in the company because I'm interested, like many are, to understand the different types of roles or jobs that exist in the world. So can you just give me a bit of an understanding on your current role and the type of things that your firm does?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, certainly. So. We're an IT company. We do networking, which is routing, switching, firewalls, basically everything that helps a company work from a IT perspective. We do all their endpoint management. So the PCs they work on all their cloud solutions that they're storing files in and whatnot. We oversee all of that right.
Speaker 2:So my position within this IT company is the MSP director. So MSP just stands for managed services provider. So again, like the laptop you're probably on right now, for instance, I would manage that. I would. I would keep it secure, I would put antivirus on it, I would set it up in such a way to where it would be joined to microsoft's cloud and you could store your files in one drive and sharepoint and work within your company and collaborate proficient, you know, efficiently. So my portion, we're simply, we're simply divided. We have network network engineering, we have the MSP side. The MSP side is what I'm the director of and that is the portion of the company that I'm looking to buy out and start my own business from there. But yes, essentially anything IT related is what we do.
Speaker 1:That in itself is quite interesting, as you were coming through college, and certainly as a player, was this a kind of role that you knew existed, or is it something you've kind of graduated towards over time?
Speaker 2:certainly something I graduated towards. Uh, if you would have asked me what an msp is when I graduate college, I won't have even been able to tell you. And going into the it world, there is a lot to learn. Um, so, starting out, coming fresh out college, getting my foot in the door with this company I mean I was completely green, right, I didn't know much of anything about IT, to be honest, even though my major was business communications with a concentration in IT communications with a concentration IT, I just I honestly did not know nearly enough to really get started.
Speaker 2:So, again, it was almost like drinking from a fire hose just all this information coming at me. I would daily keep a notebook with me and every time I heard a term that I was not familiar with, I would write it down and go back to my desk and YouTube it and try to learn more about it and research it and over time, doing that enough, you know, you really start to pick things up. You learn a lot and really wrap your brain around what we're doing. It's a lot in the IT world, constantly to this day. There's things. I learn new every single day. So it's certainly something that I grew into and graduated into this position.
Speaker 1:If you know athletes listening to this are thinking, okay, what can I do to better prepare myself for this life after college or after the professional career? What types of tips would you give them based on your experience?
Speaker 2:In hindsight I would do internships right. I mean, the company I work for now, the past three employees we've hired all came through our intern program. So just get your foot in the door with some different companies, maybe choose a different company each summer to internship with. That's how you build those relationships in the corporate world. They see your work ethic and ultimately you just have to apply yourself. We have many people that will come in, especially the younger generation that just wants to be on their phone nonstop. They're checking social media, they're texting. They're not trying to apply themselves and it's something that we've especially in the United States.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure about where you're at, but it's terrible here. I mean, the younger generations are coming into the workforce. Nobody wants to work. It's difficult. So really it's just applying yourself as an athlete, knowing that your chances of playing professionally are extremely slim. So just have a game plan if that doesn't work out. You know, I mean odds are you're not going to play in the NBA and you may possibly play overseas, but again, that's that's very slim. So just be prepared for that hard, hard decision when it comes to just maybe do something like me, maybe play semi-professional ball to where you can still enjoy the game and the love for it, but you're able to start your career, you're able to to get started in life and and not just chase a dream that, essentially, is just unobtainable yes, I mean really slim chances of finding that, that success, and you mentioned there for you.
Speaker 1:You've got a career in it, you know, certainly looking at buying out businesses. You're playing semi-professional football and building your, your family. How do you find the balance to be able to succeed in all those aspects of life?
Speaker 2:I'd say management. It just boils down to time management and for me that's a struggle, especially once you throw a family into it Early on. It's a little bit easier when you're single or maybe perhaps have a girlfriend or you get married, but once you throw three kids in there, it's difficult to find that balance right. And for me, I have my full-time position of the MSP director, but I do several things on the side as well. Like you stated, I'm overseeing the development of two software companies. I do web design on the side, I own the vacation property that we do with short-term rentals through Airbnb and VRBO just multiple, multiple things I get myself wrapped into. I'm an IT consultant for a company in California.
Speaker 2:So again, it's trying to find that balance of chasing my dreams career-wise but also making sure that I'm there for my children through everything that they do. I'm there for my wife when she needs me, for my children through everything that they do. I'm there for my wife when she needs me. So again, I always try and put family and God first and career comes after all of that and it's certainly hard to balance. A lot of times I'll work my nine to five and then I'll get home to my family and I'll work out for about an hour in our garage because I've put all of our workout equipment in there, and then I spend the rest of the evening with the family until they go to sleep, and then I continue to work after that. So it's trying to find times to where, such as this, podcast right. I mean, they're upstairs sleeping right now. So it's not taking away from my time with my family, but it's still stuff that I can pursue to grow myself. Uh career-wise.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's the hardest thing about finding that balance?
Speaker 2:the hardest thing is finding that balance right. It's, it's uh again, just if my children are involved with sports or anything academically or any. You know my daughter now she's almost five, in July she's getting more involved with gymnastics or or dance, or she wants to search softball and basketball and things of you know. I can't blame her, look at her parents. But but yeah, just just being there for them through that. All you know my, my father unfortunately wasn't able to be there for me and you know, around my college career he was able to start making some games. My mom and my grandfather, they were there at every single game. Even if I was traveling hours and hours away, they were there.
Speaker 2:So I want to be that for my children. I don't want them to feel like, oh, daddy's too caught, too caught up in in working to, you know, be concerned about us. I make it well known that they are a high, high, high priority for me and I try to be there for them through, through it all. If I have to take off a day from work, thankfully in the IT world you can work remotely, um, very easily. So a lot of times I'll I'll just do that. I'll I'll work remotely and then make sure that I'm there for their games or whatever they have going on. But again, in the IT world it's easier to balance simply because of the fact that I can work remotely, I can work from anywhere. So for my trade specifically, it's a little bit easier to balance.
Speaker 1:But again, when you're fighting off multiple endeavors and multiple pursuits career-wise it's it's a lot to juggle, but just make sure to always be there for your family at the same time yeah, and and that was one of the bits you mentioned earlier I find quite interesting, you know, speaking to you about the stroke, the struggle of career transition from athlete to, you know, a more standard career For you. You've said that hasn't been a challenge for you and it just makes me think you have been intentional by going down the route that you're going down at the moment. From a career perspective in the IT world. You know remote means. It gives you a different type of flexibility. You're intentional in playing semi-professional basketball and being able to do that successfully. To what extent have you considered what life will be like when you stop playing basketball at that level and can't perform, and when that disappears, what do you think will happen then?
Speaker 2:it will be a sad day because if once I stop playing, then I know it's because my body will no longer allow me to. So, again, I come home every single day and I work out for an hour in our garage every single day, religiously. I eat healthy, I take care of my body so that, so that I can continue to play, uh, even, you know, hopefully even throughout my thirties and, who knows, maybe early forties, but it will. It will certainly be hard because I'll, that will be the realization that I'm just I'm getting older and and my body may not move or perform in the ways that I wish it would, or, you know, to to a degree to where, you know, I might be playing against kids in their 20s and I just can't guard them or can't compete because I'm just getting older, right? So I think age is something that can be difficult there and just accepting that fact.
Speaker 2:But again it's, I'm very disciplined in my nutrition and my workouts regimen to where, hopefully, I can do this for for quite a while, um, and continue to enjoy the game. Uh. But yeah, you know, when that time comes, I'll I'll probably end up coaching my children, if I had to guess, through whatever sport they're going through and still trying to be involved in some way, passing down any knowledge I have. I have two boys and one girl. Uh, so far we'll see if, if, any more come along. But uh, but yeah, I, I certainly see myself transitioning from that player more so probably to a coach wonderful listen gage.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day, you know, at least kickstarting your day with us to share your story. There's going to be people listening who are going to want to follow you a little bit more. What's the best way to get in contact or follow your journey?
Speaker 2:Really. Just follow me on Facebook, gage Yesbeck. I'm the only Gage Yesbeck in the world, so it's not hard to find. You can follow me on Instagram, gage804. So those two platforms I'm probably the most active on. And then LinkedIn professionally for professional networking Again just Gage yes Beck. So that's G-A-G-E-Y-E-S-B-E-C-K. And if anyone has questions, you know I try and help people all the time, just kind of mentor them in things that I was unable to have a mentor for, and a lot of times again it comes down to a fact where maybe they're too scared to take that leap to dive into. I've done clothing brands, I've done car wrapping no-transcript, I wanted to try and make money doing so and there are just a lot of different side projects that I've worked on and gained knowledge there. So again, I'm always glad to relay any of that knowledge I've learned. Be a mentor, help people with it, whether it's real estate, business, it, I mean really just anything. So, yeah, feel free to reach out to me. I love passing along that knowledge and helping people succeed.
Speaker 1:Wonderful Gage. Thanks very much for sharing your story today.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, no, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Second Wind podcast. We hope you enjoyed hearing insights from today's athlete on transitioning out of competitive careers. If you're looking for career clarity for your next step, make sure you check out secondwindio for more information or to book a consultation with me. I'd like to thank Claire from Betty Brook Design, Nancy from Savvy Podcast Solutions and Cerise from Copying Content by Lola for their help in putting this podcast together. That's all from me. Take it easy Until next time.
.png)