174: Jabari Smith - How He Thought Sport Was the Destination, It Turned Out to Be the Launchpad.

Jabari K. Smith grew up believing sport would be his ticket out. He had the talent, the drive, and the stats to back it up. But when the NFL didn’t come calling, he was forced to reckon with something much harder: the silence after the final game.

In this episode, Jabari shares his extraordinary journey from gang-affected childhood, to a life-changing boarding school, to a college football career at Texas Tech, and eventually, to arena football and entrepreneurship. But the real story begins after the sport ended, when he drove 26 hours home in silence, wondering what it was all for.

What followed was a powerful reinvention. Jabari returned to education, earned a master’s degree, launched multiple businesses, wrote two books, and founded Athlete Mindset Reset, a platform helping student-athletes build a future beyond the field.

This is an unfiltered look at identity, purpose, and how athletes can learn to own their story, not just their stats.

What You’ll Hear:

• How sport helped Jabari break free from gang life and academic setbacks
• Why his first real taste of belonging came through basketball at 13
• The reality of junior college football and the pressure to adapt fast
• His honest reckoning with falling short of the NFL dream
• What it felt like to drive 26 hours in silence after playing his final game
• Why getting his master’s degree became a spiritual turning point
• How he turned his pain into purpose with Athlete Mindset Reset
• The biggest mistake athletes make and what he wishes he knew in college
• How he’s using board games, books, and mentorship to prepare the next generation

Golden Nugget

“The biggest mistake I made in college? Not calling up a CEO and saying, ‘I’m Jabari Smith, number 34 for Texas Tech. Can I take you to lunch?’ You’d be surprised how many would have said yes. But I waited, and by the time I was ready, they had moved on to the next guy.”

This episode is for every athlete who’s wondering what happens after. It’s for the ones still grinding, still hoping, still tied to the dream, and for the ones who’ve already walked away and are trying to figure out what’s next.

Jabari’s story is a reminder that your value doesn’t end when the jersey comes off. And your platform doesn’t disappear unless you waste it.

Want to go deeper?

If you are navigating what is next in sport or beyond, visit www.2ndwind.io
to learn more or book a consult.

Chapters

• 0:00 Compete To Elevate, Not Dominate
• 0:57 Welcome And Guest Introduction
• 2:11 Jabari’s Early Path And Boarding School
• 5:21 Records, Mentors, And Athletic Identity
• 10:03 Junior College Culture Shock
• 18:48 Switching Positions And Adapting
• 24:06 Recruiting Reality And Choosing Texas Tech
• 31:56 Brotherhood Versus Corporate Culture
• 38:10 Senior Year Setbacks And Arena Ball
• 45:12 The Long Drive Home And Letting Go
• 51:10 Jobs, Entrepreneurship, And A T-Shirt Startup
• 57:05 Returning To School And Finding Purpose
• 1:04:20 Building Programs For Student Athletes
• 1:10:12 Leveraging The Platform While Playing
• 1:18:24 Coaching Athletes Beyond Information

Transcript

SPEAKER_03: 0:00

The difference between the culture of athleticism and let's say regular corporate world is we compete to make each other better. And they compete to dominate and to be better, you know, and to be like number one. And I know it may look like that outside looking in in sports when saying when someone says, hey, he's the best, or, you know, he's number one, but that same person will build anybody on their team to be as good as them and they'll make that sacrifice. And I don't think people understand that outside looking in. You know, our biggest goal is for all of us as a collective to be the best version of ourselves on and off the field, and we're willing to sacrifice to help our brother or sister to be able to achieve that. And that's not happening anywhere else. You know what I mean? Probably the military, you know, they probably have a similar brotherhood, but it's not happening in corporate America.

SPEAKER_01: 0:57

Hi, I'm Ryan Gonçalves and welcome to the 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 afterwards. Let's be inspired by the stories of others. Hey Jabari, thanks for joining me on the Second Wind Academy podcast. Happy to have you here today.

SPEAKER_03: 1:39

Man, thanks for having me, man. I'm I'm excited. I like the conversation that we had previously, so I would love to continue. So, man, thanks.

SPEAKER_01: 1:46

Absolutely. Gotta say the same thing. I love being on your show. You are asking me the questions, and it only feels right for us now to just to flip the table and for me to hear more about you. This is good.

SPEAKER_03: 1:58

Exactly. So yeah, man, let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01: 2:01

All right. Well, let's let's kick in. I'm I'm keen to even explore the things that are behind you, your books, these games, everything that's there. You're quite a fascinating character. But you know what? Let's kick off and give if you just give us that that quick overview of yourself and what you're up to nowadays.

SPEAKER_03: 2:19

Yeah, absolutely. So from one athlete to another, Jabari Smith. I go by Jabari K. Smith or Coach J Bo for short. California native. Growing up, I was just an athlete. I played all the different sports, but you know, as you get older, you got to select one. So football was, I guess, the sport that I chose or the sport that chose me, wherever we can go from there. But uh got an opportunity to play on the collegiate level. And after that, um, I played at Texas Tech University. Then after that, I did four seasons in the arena league. And just like most athletes that struggle transitioning for life after sports, I was one of them and went through my journey. But through my process, I realized that I wasn't going to be the only athlete that was going to go through this. So I wanted to be a solution to a problem that not only that I had to face, but that others. And so that's how I birthed athlete mindset reset, where I have tools and platforms to help these athletes transition. But most importantly, I'm not even focused on the transition anymore, is really getting the athlete to leverage their platform no matter what level they're on. I think that's the biggest mistake athletes make is uh whether they're playing amateur, high school, even professional, is taking full advantage of that platform to set themselves up. So that's where I'm at with it. Love that.

SPEAKER_01: 3:41

That is great. And what's so interesting is the way your journey has taken you along there. And, you know, I'm keen to just delve into some of those transition points, some of the thoughts that you took, but then step into how you are providing back today. And so if we just go back to that beginning, you you speak there of um, you know, getting into collegiate football. Um, and by football, in this instance, we're talking American football. We're talking gridiron, NFL, we're moving it down that path, right? So as you grew up, you're playing every sport. As American football found you, what were those dreams? What were the aspirations that you had?

SPEAKER_03: 4:19

The journey started early. So I had a unique experience growing up in my childhood and adolescence. So although I'm from California, I got an opportunity of a lifetime to attend a boarding school in a small, small town called Mayor, Arizona. The name of the school was called the Arms School. And from there is when I really kind of dove into sports. When I was back at home, I played, you know, little league and stuff like that. But it wasn't until I went to the school I got the opportunity to attend in the seventh grade, actually. So I was there from seventh grade all the way to graduating high school. And at the time, that school was a powerhouse. Although it was a small school, they were always in the playoffs, always in the championship. And so I got to see what it was like to just take on that athletic mentality. I was fortunate enough to have a guy that I looked up to. He was a senior when I was a seventh grader. His name is Bernard Rock, and he was all world, all universe to me. Amazing basketball player, track star, football player. And I was like, oh, this is what it's like to be an athlete. And now that I'm older, I didn't realize how much of an impact that made on me. Because here's this guy who normally a seventh grader don't have access to a senior, right? And so I get to sit at the table, eat with him. And he literally took me under his wing. And so by me witnessing all the awesome things that he did on the field and on the court, I just automatically thought that I was next. You know what I mean? I didn't realize what he was doing was so remarkable in that state. I just thought that, you know, that's just what you do. So when it was my turn, I played all the sports and I gravitated to it and I ended becoming very good, not only at that school, but just in that state. By the time I left, I graduated, I had owned maybe six state records that some are still standing. I think a couple just got broken over the past two years. And that's, I mean, that's a 20-year, you know, record. So it was, it started off fun, and I was just like, this is exciting. But then as you get better, you kind of realize, like, hey, this might be, I might have a future in this. You know, people pull you to the side and be like, hey, if you can get focused, you know, if you take this thing serious, you know, there can be a future in it. And so I was like, all right, well, I accept the journey. Let's go. Let's see where it takes me.

SPEAKER_01: 6:39

So many interesting things. I think you're the first American that I've spoken to who went to boarding school in the U.S. That for me is already a I'm like, all right, okay.

SPEAKER_03: 6:50

So, okay, so boarding schools, they're very big on the East Coast. There's a few on the West Coast. I believe California may have like four or five. At the time, Arizona may have like two or three. So it wasn't big. And my boarding school wasn't a traditional boarding school either. It was on a big 30,000-acre ranch in the middle of nowhere. So not only did I was, you know, educated with your math and English, but I also learned ranching. You know what I mean? Like, I actually have a blue ribbon. I took a kid, uh, a pig. I raised a pig and cows. I know to ride horse. Yeah, man. I had a unique experience, man.

SPEAKER_01: 7:32

This is new news. That is quite amazing. So it seems like we're coming back to chat about this, even this little bit now. Um, never mind um the sport. We'll save that. I'm interested now in the farming um aspect. So, you as a sport, you are a multi-athlete, and you know, what you're saying as a as a junior here, you're holding all of these uh these different records across these different sports. That's kind of impressive. So I get an understanding of what you saw. You saw this, you know, that mentor, that the the older guy who was doing all of these sports, and you thought, okay, that was natural for you. A clear goal, right? To try and emulate that in its simplest form. So going beyond high school, getting into college then, was that the natural was that did that feel like a natural next step for you?

SPEAKER_03: 8:23

Yeah. And and it's interesting, you know, now that I'm around, you know, these student athletes and how they look at college as it's like it's this big experience and it's almost intimidating. Maybe because of him following his footsteps and just maybe my confidence, I was just like, I'm going. The only thing that I was nervous about, I struggled academically. You know, when I got to that school, I was behind and reading and a few other things. So I was like, you know, I got to really focus on, you know, making sure that I'm eligible to be accepted by these schools. As a matter of fact, although out of high school I signed with a college in Arizona, I ended up having to actually go to a community college because I tested low for my standardized testing. So I still struggled with that. But as far as in the ability to play at the next level, uh to be honest, I thought it was automatic. And I thought I can choose one of the two sports, either football, basketball, and track. So I wasn't intimidated by playing. I was more intimidated by the academics that comes with the sport and playing at the collegiate level, honestly.

SPEAKER_01: 9:25

Was the academic side important to you as an individual? Was that something that you did try to work hard on but just didn't quite achieve the results you wanted? Or was it something where you were, yeah, man, it doesn't matter?

SPEAKER_03: 9:36

You know what? I never wanted to be a dummy, right? And I understood that academics was important. But I'm gonna be honest with you. I just wanted to get good enough grades so I can get into a school. I didn't start really appreciating being a seeker of knowledge until I got into my master's program and I was in my mid-20s, going on 30. You know, I was like, hey, this is a mean ends to means or means to an end. There's certain classes that I was fascinated about, but I was like, yo, when can I get this over with so I can get on the field or on the court to be, I'm being honest with you.

SPEAKER_01: 10:09

You know. That's what happens, isn't it, right? Um when we when we study, you you've got to be to enjoy it, you've got to be ready for it. You've got to actually feel, hey, this is I'm I'm here to learn this. And then suddenly it becomes uh not necessarily, well, it becomes easier to show up, okay? And then you're prepared to concentrate and listen. But when we're not ready to study, it's it's just hard. It's just like, oh, I don't want to be here. And it gets it's hard. It's hard.

SPEAKER_03: 10:37

And I didn't realize how bad young adolescents' attention span is until I became an adult and I observed some of these young teens. It's impossible to get somebody to focus for three, four hours at a time on one certain thing unless you're passionate about it. And so I I as I'm older, I give myself some grace. Although there were, I had, you know, people at that school were borderline geniuses. So that was also what was weird. We had athletes there and geniuses. And so I was probably more intimidated by them and how they were just, they were just fascinating people, just being, you know, remarkable students at at this school. And so I was probably comparing myself to them versus just, you know, where I'm at now.

SPEAKER_01: 11:21

As a student athlete, for you, what was that experience like as you um, well, I guess as you you you went through junior college and started working through? How much did you enjoy being a student athlete?

SPEAKER_03: 11:34

Let me take you back again. I'm sorry. So this is how my experience was. Let me tell you why I had to go to the boarding school. So living in Los Angeles, got in trouble with gangs very early. Although I had my father in my life, it was there, but I didn't live with my dad growing up until I actually turned 10. So, and we moved around a lot with my mom. And so, because of that, my academics just fell behind. So, by the time I was in seventh grade, I actually was reading on a third grade level, right? And that's bad. And then you're getting in trouble having behavior issues. So I really had identity issues because now my grades weren't even good enough to play uh sports when I was out here in Los Angeles because I was always, you know, in an under disciplinary, you know, states. And then so I wasn't making friends because I moved a lot. So I'm dealing with all of those things. So I get to this school in the middle of nowhere where most kids will probably want to go home because a lot of kids, as soon as they were there, they were only there for a couple weeks and they're like, I can't handle it. I want to go home. I fell into it. Like, wow, what is this new world? And then who is this guy here that I can look up to, you know, that had a similar background, but he was making things happen. And then that's when I had access to sports because they were like, hey, we want you to play sports. I'll never forget. He let me, Bernard and all the older kids, they let me play a pickup game of basketball with them, right? And I'm like, wow, this is awesome. And the game is moving fast. And somehow a ball got tipped and it was on the other side of the court. I pick up the ball, I take my couple dribbles, and I slam dunk the ball. Now, I'm 13 years old. I'm about five, seven, five, eight. And the reaction of the people that was in the gym at the school, it was it was priceless. Cause I didn't realize what I did was incredible. I just thought this is what you do. He did it, the other guy did it, you just do it, right? And they're like, they're just looking at me like, bro, do you know what you just did? And like that's how I caught the butt. And then, like I said, all the older kids, they they took me under their wing. So I felt like I was a part of something special. And that that's when the journey really uh began.

SPEAKER_01: 13:47

Yeah. There's so many points in there, but that that moment that the sense doing the dunk, I guess you remember the feeling, uh, the looks people were giving you, and you think, okay, well, this is this is fun. And but the identity shifts that you had growing up as a kid, well, you you you had to re literally you had to reset your mindset every time that you went into these places. Right. Yeah, for example, either what you thought of yourself or what you thought was possible. In fact, that shifted quite significantly from the growth from the upbringing that you've just described. Correct, correct.

SPEAKER_03: 14:25

It it was literally a like that day was the shift. And because I was like, wow, there's people that are accepting me. So when you're young, you want acceptance. I don't care what anyone says. And that's why young teams sometimes they join, you know, bad groups, because they want to be accepted by others outside of their family. I know a lot of times parents like, we're family, I'm all you need. That's just not how it works. Kids want to, they want to be accepted by whatever social group they decide to select. And the fact that there was an older social group that took me in, it gave me the confidence that saying, like, hey, I can do anything that I put my mind to. And although while I was at that school, I still got in trouble for the first two to three years. Like I almost got kicked out of the school twice. Well, more than that. So it took me a while to just get redisciplined. But mentally wise, I was like, I want to be great at something. And although I struggled in school because I came with such a deficit, I didn't think it was gonna be academics. You know, at that young age, you gravitate for the first thing that works for you. So that might be why I put kind of academics on the back burner a little bit, because I'm like, I'm gonna push what I'm good at. And if you know the education comes, it comes. But you know, you gravitate to to the first thing where you kind of get acknowledgement and acceptance. You know, that's just natural.

SPEAKER_01: 15:43

Yeah, I think it is. And, you know, look, there were there were loads of studies that that will take us through that. But also we know from an acceptance, as you're saying, from an acceptance perspective, and with sport, you get this acceptance by being part of that team. And with that comes a, I guess, a friendship circle, a circle where you have seniors that you look up to, those who you then consider your peers. But then also through that, you get roles, you get opportunities of leadership, you know, opportunities of success by you know, simply I shouldn't say simply, but by working with the team, by becoming taking those roles of captaincy or roles within that leadership team, which sets us up for life. Did so as you were coming through the sport, these are bits that you had.

SPEAKER_03: 16:30

Yeah, and and you're absolutely right. Because by the time I graduated that school, although I tested low and standardized testing, I graduated with a 3.0 GPA, and I was actually the student body president of that school. So that shows you if you stick with something, you can, you know, mature and be someone. Now, here's where I had another growth moment. So look, it takes me six years to get rid of all the bad habits, right? And get polished up to be this, you know, ideal student. Then I go to this junior college, right? And this junior college, once again, in the middle of nowhere in Arizona, I went to Arizona Western, and talk about a culture shock because now I'm playing on a football team where football players are from all over the U.S. They did an amazing job of recruiting top-tier uh people. I mean, I was playing with a dude who was Mr. Florida at the time. The only reason why he didn't go to Miami, because his grades were bad, right? So junior college is almost like a mix of students who are amazing that can play at any level, but just couldn't get their act together. And it and then it's also people that may not have been good enough or kind of got lost in the shuffle when they're playing. But like I'm playing with people from Florida, from uh the Midwest, from Texas, and all these aggressive personalities are coming in. And if you know anything about American football, it's predominantly African American. So here I am. I'm now all polished up. I got the ghetto-ness out of me a little bit, the hood out of me. And now I'm faced with all of these aggressive dudes that's coming from the hood. And so now I got a guy. That's like, and now it's a new battle because now you got to make a decision. You know, do you go backwards from what you worked on to blend in and to fit in, or do you stay strong and disciplined on who you are? So there was times that I had to fight my teammates, you know, just a clash of culture, you know, and and there's there's a lot of temptations to, you know, party more or to get into certain things. That probably was the hardest transition that I had to face because I had to do that right away. I had some time at the previous school because there were people that supported me and in my corner. But, you know, now I'm an adult pretty much. I'm 18, 19, and it's like, listen, if you don't get your act together, we got another bus of athletes coming in to replace you. You know what I mean? So it's kind of like, all right, you got you got to get it up, you know, real fast and start to produce so that you can go to the next level, which is division one. That was the goal.

SPEAKER_01: 19:00

So, how important was that goal for you? How did you manage to find the balance?

SPEAKER_03: 19:06

Yeah. So I get to this school, that was intimidating because I'm playing against, I remember I was always the fastest on my team. I can always jump the highest. You know, I was the most elusive. This school recruited me as a running back. All right. So just to kind of give you where I was at, if you know anything about that position. So out of high school, most of my games were over by halftime, but I still was able to rush for like 2,500. I had 46 touchdowns my senior year. So you're thinking, like, all right, I'm gonna go to college and be the premier back, right? I get on campus, I see a back that's I'm not making this up, but he was like 6'3, 250, run like a 4'4. Then I see another guy who's like 5'7, runs like a 4'2. Then it's another guy. Then they had a guy who played at the major university. His grades was bad, so he had to come down. So I'm I'm facing with like five or six running backs, and I'm just like, oh, these boys can go. And so I made a business decision and was like, you know what, I need to play defensive back. So I get on the defensive side and I'm with all of these guys that's about to sign with these big powerhouse, you know, division ones. And as this was when I was like, yo, you're either gonna sink or swim. It was very intimidating from an athletic standpoint. But I knew I had one advantage because of the boarding school. I knew how to kind of isolate and focus. You know, I was like, hey, I know how to blend in, I know how to adapt and adjust. That was the number one goal that I learned was being able to step outside your comfort zone and be comfortably uncomfortable because of that boarding school and seeing how people couldn't cut the mustard and they quit. So I was like, this is my opportunity. Just stay focused, do what you're probably gonna do or it's supposed to do, and then just let everything kind of you know play itself out. And that was my strength. That's what kept me going on. Like adapting and adjusting, you know. Me being able to play defense. Like I said, I've never played it before. I mean, in high school, we played like free safety, but I never played corner as a real position. If I wanted to get on that field, I had to adapt and adjust. And so I ended up playing my freshman year as a starter, beat out some guys that was supposed to be, that was a little bit older than me. And then my my sophomore year, that was my breakout year, ended up being uh all conference, second team, all American, and was highly recruited. As a matter of fact, I was recruited so high that I didn't end up going to the college that had recruited me out of high school because a bigger college wanted me. So it worked out.

SPEAKER_01: 21:28

Amazing story. Again, that focus that you have to have on the goal and the sacrifice you were prepared to make to shift position from offensive to defensive, despite coming in with the stats you did, but also I guess a maturity to look around you and recognize these guys are amazing. Maybe I'm not gonna compete at that level, and then you had do you know what? I guess a bit of a bravery to be able to play a different, to move into a different position and again to remodel yourself to shift that perspective to say, actually, if I want to play, playing's more important, this is what I'm going to do. And then you had to make that shift, and as you say, it it paid dividends, probably better than you thought.

SPEAKER_03: 22:12

Correct. What I what I had learned also during that time was this game was more mental than physical, and how you respond to setbacks was going to determine how your future were going to be. Because I saw people, I have to honestly say that, were probably better athletes than me, but I seen how they respond when things didn't go their way, whether it be with school, whether it be with their relationships, whether it be on the field. And I was like, oh, that's my advantage. Not saying I wasn't good. I was good. But like I said, when you had that many athletes that were stacked, and I'm telling you, they kept bringing athletes in. It was the weirdest thing. You'd be like, man, another one? It was like, oh, the focus is gonna allow me to stay disciplined and to stay in this race.

SPEAKER_01: 22:55

Yeah. So the move then to, I've forgotten the name, to the your bigger to the next college. What was that shift like?

SPEAKER_03: 23:02

So that happened so fast, man. I'm just now being able to kind of reminisce on that whole transaction. Like, and I meant that whole transition. So I finished my sophomore season at the community college. So how it usually works, depending on your grades, you got to go to the community college for at least two years so you can get your associate so you can transfer to a major uh university and finish out for the next two years. So I do my thing for the two years there, and I'm I'm in my last semester, and I'll never forget. I get a phone call. Like I was already getting stuff in the mail, letters, I was doing like the newspaper stuff. This is way before social media, so we had newspapers. So I knew that I was gonna get recruited, but it was weird how it happened. So I came in, I and I'm not gonna say the school because I don't know if they'll get in trouble for it, but I remember being in class in the middle of the day, getting a phone call on the intercom that I needed to go to the office. And I was like, what did I do? Am I in trouble? My coach goes, Hey man, go pack your stuff. You're about to go on a recruiting visit. And I'm just like, it's in the middle of the week. We I thought we go on recruiting visits later. So I'm packing my stuff. I get on a flight and I'm on a private jet by myself. And I'm like, oh, this is real. This is how it goes. And I and I fly there in the middle of the night when I land, it's like a hundred people out there, the marching band, cheerleaders, the board. I'm like, oh wow. Okay, this is this is this is real, this is happening. So I do the visit. I remember my coach said, Listen, take your visits, do not commit to anyone. They are going to offer you on the spot. They already told me. So it was just interesting to see how you go on these visits and you're the most important person. I think I was their number one recruit at the time. And so that following day is when all the rest of the recruits came. So we're going as a group, and I just remember as we're walking, certain people pull you out of the group, they pull you to side, they're talking to you, you know, they're picking your brain, trying to get you to go here. They really maximize that experience. I had a great time. I go on another recruit and visit, and I'm just part of the recruit. So just seeing those two different things was like, okay, I see what it is like when you're their top recruit, and I see what it's like when when they just, you know, want you to be a part of there. And what's interesting, I end up picking the school that they didn't do all the extras for me, to be honest with you. I was like, oh, this just feels more like home. I got to it's I got to see it for what it was versus all the shiny stuff. I think I was mature enough to not, you know, fall into the to the shiny stuff, even though it was fun during the time. But I'm like, I want to be somewhere where it seems more realistic. And so that's the reason why I ended up choosing Texas Tech uh as a as a school. And I think honestly, it was probably the best decision that I could have made.

SPEAKER_01: 25:49

Well, you it you look, you said it there, it felt like home. I can't help but think they're putting you on a private jet to drive you over in the middle of the day. Wow. College football, wow.

SPEAKER_03: 26:01

Yeah, college football, something different. Like growing up, you hear these stories, but you'd be like, nah, yeah, man. And I can only imagine what they would probably do for someone that was even a way bigger talent than me.

SPEAKER_01: 26:15

That's quite impressive. Even, but listen, just charting your journey from the upbringing as you described, um, from the grades from boarding school to the Duco to them being by yourself on a private jet. It's like, where are they taking me? I'm just trying to put myself on that plane. I'm just thinking, but those are again just this quite quite a big shift, right? Quite a big shift. Yeah. None of the the I guess the super shiny stuff, but it's still bringing you in, still making you feel good. What is it that, and I know it's difficult looking back, but what is it that made it feel like home or made it feel more homely for you?

SPEAKER_03: 26:56

So I met three people on that trip that I was like is gonna be my friend for life. So one of them, um my host, his name was Micah Sweatz. He was awesome, man. He showed me love. We don't keep in touch anymore, but he he really was just a genuine dude. But then I met who was actually now my roommate and is like my best friend, Johnny Matt. And he kind of pulled me to the side and just like just gamey game, it was like, man, this is what's going on here. We're building something special, what we're doing on the offense. All we need is some key people on our defense to make things go. And it was just those conversations. We we had some similarities, him being a Florida guy, but he went to a junior college in uh San Francisco. So he was just familiar with the different cultures. He kind of took me under, and he was the he was kind of the man when he was there as well. So he kind of took me under his wing as well and showed me the ropes. I think what made it is just I linked up with some great guys. On defense, I linked up with a guy named Vincent Meeks. We're good friends to this day. I think I just linked up with the right people that made it feel like no matter how this journey is gonna be, I want to do the journey with those guys. And it's still to this day, like I said, I think I made the right decision on school and the right decision on picking uh my friends. And I know I'm leaving out a few people, you know, those are the ones that came to mind. But yeah, I met I met about a handful of dudes that I was just like, man, they solid. I give you a perfect story. So coming on campus, I came in the summer because I couldn't come early because I didn't finish everything to graduate on time. I still had to take a summer school. I had to take a math. So I took a math back at home in Los Angeles, and I actually got injured working out. So I had to recover and take this math. So I get there in July. So in July, there's no money because your scholarship doesn't kick in until August, till everybody gets on, right? So all I had was money from like my summer job that I had. I was a good saver. And there was a um guy, uh Patrice Mowamba. He was actually from Belgium, but he was African. And uh him and his cousin, they let me live at their house all summer, no charge. They fed me, they got me linked up with the right people. Like I said, they just take, they took care of me, man. So I didn't have to worry about, you know, the basic needs why I can just recover and focus on just getting everything through. It was those type of things, man. That's priceless, you know? That's that brotherhood, man. You gotta love football, man.

SPEAKER_01: 29:21

That's right.

SPEAKER_03: 29:22

You know, it's one thing I learned about sports, particularly football. That's the only thing that I've seen so far where you can meet someone for the first time and then instantly just let that person in your house and be like me, Casa Sukasa. You know what I mean? And just, you know, I'm gonna take care of you. You're on the team, you're my brother, no matter what. You know, they don't judge you. You know, you got expectations to deliver and to and to give as much as they're giving, you know, to the to the total cause. But it's just even the ones that you don't get along with still take care of you. Like there was guys I fought on the team, but if we was out in public and we got in a bar fight, oh, they was gonna lay it on the line for me. You know. I mean it's just you miss that man. It's you can't get that in the real world. I'm sorry, I missed that.

SPEAKER_01: 30:07

You're right. There is something about being in that team, and I I'm gonna say it's the same in well, the same in soccer. Uh and I see it in many other sports where when you have this team spirit, that team spirit transcends everything, it beats in anything. And it is, hey, well, we play on the same team, then yeah, you can stay. We'll we'll free, we'll eat. You know, no one's going to go hungry when we're all together as as this team. And and that is, well, uh you you even said it. How much do you miss that in the real world? How do you how much do you miss that when we don't have sport to just naturally pull us in together?

SPEAKER_03: 30:42

Listen, one of the biggest things that was hard for me to to deal with when I had to transition for life after sport was culture. Because what happens is you move into corporate America and they use those phrases. They use things like teamwork, they use words like sacrifice. You get what I'm saying? But then when you get into the thick of things, that's not what it is. And you're like, hold on, wait a minute. You discombobulate it. Because then somebody that works right on the side of you will do some shady stuff that will compromise, you know, you being employed at this place. And you're like, wait a, my teammate would never do that, even if I had to go against that person for the spot. So it was that was the hardest adjustment, just learning that, okay, the culture is different. They're gonna use our terminology and our phrases because it sounds good, but they're not really practicing what they preach, like how it is. And I missed, I still missed that. I still haven't seen it, be honest with you. And it's what's funny is every once in a while you can work somewhere with another ex-athlete, and immediately y'all click and y'all get it. You know what I mean? It's it's it's like magic. It's like, and you can tell when they walk in, you know, athlete, even if that athlete didn't, I guarantee if I worked where you work, I would know you as an athlete. Is it something about us, man? It's the way we carry ourselves. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 31:58

That's right. There is. There's this athlete egg, and it's something that I I look for in individuals, but then in everything I do as I deliver it, I'm like, no, as an as an athlete, you you go that bit further. Whilst you may compete, there's a sharpness that you need to have. There's a togetherness that you need to find. You're sort of always looking for people to say, hey, come and join me. We we're gonna do this. And it's not the pushing people away, but it's more pulling people together towards this shared goal. And you you you just know how to commit to towards that, right? Correct.

SPEAKER_03: 32:30

I think what the difference between the culture of athleticism and let's say regular corporate world is we compete to make each other better, and they compete to dominate and to be better, you know, and to be like number one. And I know it may look like that outside looking in in sports when saying when someone says, hey, he's the best, or you know, he's number one, but that same person will build anybody on their team to be as good as them and they'll make that sacrifice. And I don't think people understand that outside looking in. You know, our biggest goal is for all of us as a collective to be the best version of ourselves on and off the field, and we're willing to sacrifice to help our brother or sister to be able to achieve that. And that's not happening anywhere else. You know what I mean? Probably the military, you know, they they probably have a similar brotherhood, but it's not happening in corporate America. That's right.

SPEAKER_01: 33:24

That's it. You know, I I agree with you, and it's so looking for individuals who recognize that, which is a lot of, you know, I guess what we do when we as we speak with athletes who are making those shifts and thinking about what's next is we often say, no, what what you have intrinsically inside you is it is already a game changer in the tr in the more traditional workforce. So but coming to you then and thinking about your time now at Texas Tech and shifting through there, um, what was your what was the goal that you had for Texas Tech and then indeed what would come after?

SPEAKER_03: 33:59

Yeah, so like anyone that plays any sport at a at a high level, you want to take it as far as you can. So of course I wanted to play on Sundays, I wanted to, you know, play professional, but I understood this the statistics, you know, and how hard it was. But you know, it's interesting, and one thing I love about being an athlete, although we know how hard something is, it doesn't deter us from trying to go and pursue it, right? And the first thing I wanted to do was, all right, well, let me get a starting position, right? And I was able to do that my junior year. I believe I started after the second game and I finished out that season as a starter. So that was my junior year. My senior year is when, you know, things started getting funny. I I got on the field, uh, but I wasn't a starter. Um, I was a backup. And then I came in, I started at certain packages, but I got some film, but not enough film to get evaluated by the NFL. And that's when um the frustration, the bitterness, and all of that started to come. If you would have asked me how I felt 10, 15 years ago, I probably would have been very negative on the experience. Now that you're older and you're mature, you you tend to put a lot of more responsibility on self and things that I've could have done to be better prepared for those moments, you know what I mean? And I could have handled certain things differently. However, at the end of the day, man, I was able to play in two major bowl games. I graduated on time, you know what I mean? I made some great relationships and I and I made, you know, one of my ultimate goals, which is playing at a Division I level. And although I didn't get to play for the NFL, I still played professionally in other leagues for four years to come. So, you know, looking back hindstein, I can't complain. Was it my ultimate goal? No, but any, that's the problem with us high competitive athletes. If we don't hit our ultimate goal, we feel like it's a failure instead of like, dude, look at everything you achieve, getting, you know, getting to where you were trying to go. Like it takes time for you to, you know, to do that. Because I see my son making the same mistake. I'm like, he gets on that one mistake that he made, and I'm like, bro, you did five great things before you make the one mistake. It's okay. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01: 36:08

Yeah, you're right. That perspective comes, that it comes with time. And but also, you know, you you talk about the discipline and the resilience, and perhaps you recognized more of that as you as you as you got older, you recognized more of, well, actually, this is what you did, or this is what I did as an individual. Well, maybe I could have done more there, and you see some of that responsibility. How do you think that has shaped your view as you hit through corporate America and you see others coming through? How how did your experience, discipline, resilience, how did that change your perspective today? There are too many stories of bankruptcies, mental health issues, and unfortunately suicide. And so I think it's time for it. Every year, we see thousands of athletes that reach a point where they need to consider their life activity sport. It might be a retirement, injury, or they need to juggle your 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 secondwind. Find me on Insta or through my new Facebook group, Second Wind Academy, where I'd love to know your thoughts and suggestions.

SPEAKER_03: 37:30

You know what's interesting? When I first entered, I was like, this is gonna be my competitive advantage, right? And this might be controversial, but then I realized that not everybody that is at the top or that is in certain positions, one, have the same mentality I have, or two, even have the discipline to do it, but they're there. But you got to accept the fact that they're there and they might be above you. And that's the toughest pill to swallow. And they're gonna use, like I said, you're the language of an athlete to justify why they're there, you know. But at the same time, it's like, all right, well, that's that, that's that person's story and what they're doing. You got to focus on what you're doing and figure out how to navigate. So I learned that not just working hard and putting your head down and working is gonna get you where you need to go. There's there's other rules to this game, and you better learn them fast, or you're gonna be on the sideline watching from afar. That was the toughest pill to swallow. And I had to figure that out quick. You're still figuring it out. I'm gonna be honest with you.

SPEAKER_01: 38:29

I think what I'm hearing from you there is when so I I I use swimming as an example, because swimming, swimming or athletic track is a wonderful example. You run the hundred meters, you swim the the hundred meters. If you're first, you win. And you move up, you go from school, hey, still the fastest, college still the fastest, regional, state, the fastest, you just keep going. But that's the essence of sport, right? And so when we look at as athletes, when we look at those on the field, those above us, those teams ahead of us, you think, yeah, yeah, they're better. Oh yeah, they're faster, they caught it more, they did this. Out of a thousand, they never dropped it. Out of a thousand, I dropped it once, that makes a difference, but that's the difference. We can we can see it. In the tradition traditional workforce in corporate, it doesn't work like that. It isn't just the best, because that best is there are no rules in the same way. And that, as you're saying, is often a quite a difficult thing to step in and think, yeah, but you you didn't do that better than me. You're there because of XYZ, but not just on performance.

SPEAKER_03: 39:34

Bingo. Bingo. That's tough. That that's that's tough. And I still haven't, you know, we you and I we talk to athletes and mentors, we still haven't cracked that code on how to deal with that because we're already hardwired to be like, there's only one way to beat you. I have to beat you, right? I have to show that my numbers are better, you know. And it's like, no, it doesn't work that way. There's an element of relationships, there's an element of timing, you know, there's an element of longevity, like there's a bunch of other stuff that's kind of not in your control, you know, that's gonna get you there. But then at the same time, you still got to tell this athlete, but you still stay hardwired how you are. You still gotta work hard, you still gotta be disciplined, you still gotta show up every day. And then wherever the chips may lie, they may lie. And that's hard to get these athletes to understand that. It's easier said than done.

SPEAKER_01: 40:23

Absolutely. So for you, when did you realize, okay, not the NFL route? I can go pro and play professionally. When did that, when did that sort of hit you? And what did you, what did you do differently?

SPEAKER_03: 40:37

Listen, I was delusional um my senior year. So it's crazy. I did real good in my pro day, but I didn't go to the combine, right? And I remember um working out for some teams, worked out for San Francisco, uh Dallas, and Philadelphia. And I remember the scouts just like, look, man, I like what I see, but I can't go and sell this to the office, to the front office. I don't have enough film. You know, everything's based off of film. I need I need film. So my whole thing was like, all right, well, I'm still good. I'm gonna go play at this lower level. I'm gonna get some film and y'all gonna come back and get me. That's how we're thinking. Not knowing that the moment you don't get accepted in that league at that window, the more that that window closes and the faster it does. I didn't realize that until later. So here I am, I'm playing and I'm like, I'm gonna get some film and I'm gonna go just move up. Like it's just gonna be like how junior college was. I'm gonna play here for a season or two, and it's not how it is. Because while you're working on that, they're looking at the other guy that's coming out of college. You know what I mean? So that's like, well, why I'm gonna go with you. You're getting older. Let me go get a younger guy that's ready. And so it took me years to realize that this guy, so it wasn't until my fourth year of playing arena, and I'll never forget I'm playing, although we getting paid, but I had a job. And I'll never forget we had a game the same day that I had to go to work. Let me off early. You know what I mean? And I was just like, yo, I gotta pick. What are we doing here? That was rough. That that was very, very rough. It was easy for me to walk away, like physically, like, like, all right, I'm gone. But emotionally, psychologically, dude. I saw my last season, I was playing in St. Louis. I was done. My last game was July 28th. It was a Saturday, 2008. I went home, I kept my lease, I went home two days after that. I drove like 26 hours from St. Louis to Los Angeles in my car without the radio on, just in my thoughts. Just replaying everything from the moment I went to the boarding school all the way to that day. And man, that was the that was the hardest drive. Man, I was so damn sad I couldn't even cry. I was trying to, because I understood, like, you gotta heal. So I was like, let me start my healing process. Couldn't even cry, man. I didn't, I didn't want to hear no music. And I was just like, man, what am I gonna do? Because I remember when I left my house at 13 to go to that boarding school. I promised myself, I said, I'm never coming back to this house in this room. And if I do it, I'll be in a whole different spot. I'll be a different person. Like that, I was wise enough when I was that young to make that conscious decision. Like, if I have to come back, I'm coming back in a whole different, you know. And here I was, I'm like, I'm about to go back to the same house in the same room, in the same situation with the same amount of money in my pocket. What the hell did I just do for the past decade? That hit hard.

SPEAKER_01: 43:43

Yeah, yeah, man. That was rough. Yeah, that is that is rough. And I guess the the poignancy, that journey, you know, the having to switch off, never mind having to work at that time. You talk about that emotional and mental challenge. I'm interested, what did you then do? When you then got back to LA, what what was the plan?

SPEAKER_03: 44:06

Here I am, although I graduated from college, so I have a regular bachelor's degree. I didn't even feel that I was marketable for a decent career. Like I said, I had jobs while I was playing, but I don't like to call jobs dead end jobs, but I knew I wasn't gonna move up no ladder or anything like the jobs that I had. My first thing was like, well, I need to be an entrepreneur. I gotta put this hustle to work. And so when I came home, I did have a job waiting for me because I was always working with children. Because, like I said, I started off as a mentor and stuff like that. So I was like, okay, I can get a job to at least, you know, put gas in my car and, you know, help out around the house. But I'm like, I don't know what I want to do as a career. So I got with my cousin, who actually was going through a similar experience. He played collegiate basketball. He's just a year younger than me. And we both kind of came home around the same time, feeling the same way. So we both, oh whoa, towards me. So our first, before we decided to become entrepreneurs, we were like, you know what? We were chasing the excitement of being an athlete. So we tried to become firefighters, actually. So we took the physical test, we took the written test, and then we didn't pass the uh the written test. And this is during 2008 when the economy started crashing. So that was the last test that we can take before they put a freeze. So I couldn't take it again to get it. So now it's like, look, we can't be firefighters until another, you know, four to five years or whenever this economy, you know. So it's like, all right, now what are we gonna do? So that's when we're like, well, let's, you know, let's look at entrepreneurship, let's see what we can do with that. And so our first business venture, we we had a t-shirt company, man. We actually had a silk screen company, um, did pretty well. We ran it for about five years. We made a brand under it and all those things. But during that time that we were on that journey of trying to be entrepreneurs, we both him and I were still trying to self-reflect because we knew like this was fun and it was cool, but we was like, yo, there's got to be something bigger, right? So I'll never forget I was at work and they had a college fair at the job that I was working. And at the time I was working uh with at-risk youth. So students that was just getting released from juvenile hall, that was trying to get their act together. I was a counselor. And so they were, it was a college that was looking for opportunities. And I was just chauffeuring one of the kids there, and the guy pulled me to so to the side and was like, hey man, you need to uh maybe think about, you know, getting your education. And at first I kind of was like, I got education, what you talking about? He was like, You thinking about going back to school? Like, going back to school, the way he said yeah, kind of like made the light bulb. He was like, Yeah, like that's what you do. You know what I mean? And that's when something internal was like, you didn't take school seriously when you had the opportunity to, and that's why you're in this situation. You might want to take heed. And so that's when, you know, I continued the conversation with the with the gentleman. He's like, Yeah, man, why don't you come and get your master's degree and you know, you can do some some things. And so I was like, all right, let me think about it. So I went to my cousin, it was like, hey man, I just got approached by this dude to get my master's. My cousin didn't even let me finish. He was like, Come on, I'll go, I'll do it with you. What? So then we went to our other cousin, said the same thing. So three of my cousins, we went to the same school and got our master's together and was like, yo, we're just gonna be on this journey together, we'll hold each other uh accountable. So it was during our master's program, uh, organizational management, leadership development.

SPEAKER_01: 47:28

And what did you hope you would get from doing that?

SPEAKER_03: 47:31

This was my restart button. I knew that, like I said, remember what I was telling you earlier, like I went through the education system to get by, to get the grades, to get to college, to, you know, to stay eligible. But I never went to school to be a seeker of knowledge. And now that I'm a little bit older, like I said, I'm 20, 26, 27, something like that, a little bit more mature. I'm starting to question things, you know, and I'm starting to be like, why am I in this situation? You start to self-reflect and you start picking up books randomly. Like, why am I reading for hours at a time? I'm like, I never read. It's a weirdest thing. I'm like, I'm I'm I'm chilling in Barnes and Noble on a Friday? Like, what are we doing? Where's this coming from? Who is this guy? And I'm enjoying what I'm reading. And so I was like, hey, okay, I got a thirst for knowledge right now. Let me put it to use. And the timing was just right, you know, and then your peers want to go too. So I'm like, oh, my two cousins who are also my best friends, they want to go to college. I'm like, let's make it happen. So I'm there the first week, and we're going through our orientation and everything for our classes. And I'll never forget the professor was like, Hey, you guys are gonna be working on a project, your thesis for the next two years. So it better be something that you're passionate about, and it's better be something that you can actually turn into a career. And I'm like, okay, that's that's interesting. I was I was in a class and I was going over just my my past and some of the things that I was going through. And somebody was like, Yeah, that's a great story. You should put that to use. And that's when the light bulb hit both me and my cousin. We were in the same class and was like, yo, we're gonna start a program. And so that's how our first program started, which was um, we were more than an athlete before LeBron and James. This is way back in 2009. He got the name now, it's his. But we had that first. But we started uh we started um a program called More Than an Athlete, and it was an after-school program for student athletes, and it was just mentorship, and we were teaching life skills. That was our first nonprofit. So we had the t-shirt company and then the nonprofit, and then we're also going through our master's program. But while I'm going through my master's program, I'm studying um athletes, the history of athletes, the psychology of athletes, how we're hardwired, how we still end up, how most athletes end up broke, you know, when they're when they're done. And it was just mind-blown. And I just dove into it. And that's when I was like, all right, no matter what I do vocational-wise, as far as in the job to keep the lights on, my life's calling is gonna be dealing with these athletes and preparing them. And I'm like, I don't know where this journey is gonna take me because I don't have all the answers. And at the time when I was doing it, it wasn't popular. It's popular now. Everybody, like you said, everybody got something going on now. But I think I was a little bit too early, you know, starting it. But I was like, this is what I want to do. It was the only thing that made me come alive again. Being able to interact with an athlete, kind of pick their brain and hear their goals and kind of help them navigate to all the things. And, you know, that's been the journey ever since. So I haven't put that down. Although life sometimes takes you on different turns where you kind of gotta, you know, push time out or put it to the side a little bit. But it's always been my my life's calling is to is to work with these athletes.

SPEAKER_01: 50:52

Yeah. Yeah, isn't it amazing? It took someone else just asking you, hey, do you want to go back to school? And for you, that was no. Why would why on earth would I do that? It was it was only ever a means to an end. Who wants to go to school? But that shift in you enabled you to reset once more, enabled you that was what helped unlock for you a new purpose. It helped unlock a new drive for you to move forward, which was whilst it's a traditional thing, going to school, for you at the time, it was actually complete, it was not at all the way you thought you were going to find that next path, which was through building a business, being an entrepreneur with the family with the cousins to sort of move you forward. When you and and athletes, it it you know, I feel it the same. There's a natural affinity, it's something that where we've we've had this lived experience that goes through. Now, I'm guessing some of this all linked into you know life's playbook, and you know, that you you were then inspired to actually put that down in in paper, um, pen and paper. When you think of one, your inspiration to actually do that, but then also perhaps some of the cornerstone plays in that uh in the story, what does that look like?

SPEAKER_03: 52:02

Yeah, so it's interesting, like you have to experience life in order to be able to have the privilege to reflect. And then once you reflect, you're like, all right, how do I put these life lessons to use? And so how life's playbook, 11 Places of Success, that was the first book that that came out. I was, we had the athlete, excuse me, we had more than an athlete, and I'm in there lecturing a kid. Literally, I'm I'm just giving it to him. Like, listen, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm telling you things that you can't see, and I'm just going in. And the kid just nonchalantly laughed and was like, Well, since you got all this information, why don't you put it in a book? Gotta love kids, man. They can be so honest.

SPEAKER_01: 52:50

Yeah, love that.

SPEAKER_03: 52:53

Oh my gosh. Oh man. Shout out to Omani, man. Omani told me that. He was like, Yeah, once you got all that information, put it into a book. And I was like, you know what? I am. And so I remember I went back into all of the stuff that I had learned from my master's program. And this was the first challenge. Because remember, Jabari's not the intellect at this time. You know what I mean? I'm just now starting to appreciate school and learning new things. And because, like I said, I had struggled with my grammar reading. This is intimidating for me. Like, bro, you're about to write a book. You don't even like reading them. Or you just started liking to read books, you know, at the time. This was all during that time. But you're about to write one? I guess you could say the negativity going through my head, like you can't do it. And that's what made me be like, you know what? You've been running from this all your life. This is an opportunity to face your challenges. If you want to be the better version of yourself, this is where you do it. And so I'll never forget, man. I sat down and I wrote every night. Now imagine a young single man spending his weekends writing books, working on his nonprofit, having a day job. Man, I'll never forget. I was writing my book on my birthday, on my 30th birthday. My cousins were so mad at me they wanted to go out and party because a lot of times my birthday falls around on Memorial Weekend holidays. It's a big weekend out here. They're like, man, we parting it. I'm like, man, I'm writing my book, man. I'm writing my book. And so that's when I sat down. That's when I knew I was like, yo, I'm gonna be all right. I'm gonna be okay. Just stick with it, stick with it. You got something internally that's gonna make it hard for people to compete with you. And what I learned about myself is I don't know how to quit. And if I can get on the right track, it's gonna take me in the right place. Like I know how to buckle down. And my biggest issues in life or my setbacks was when I ever got in environments to where it was a distraction. And I can't blame the people that were distractions. I can only blame me because I still made the decision to facilitate the distraction. So I'm like, if I could just buckle down, get lasered, I will be all right. And because I've seen it, whenever I do that, I'm always birthed something. Something bro, I built something. Whenever I buckle down, something gets built.

SPEAKER_01: 55:03

Yeah. Uh do you know? I I'm listening to you and I'm I'm thinking we talk about mentors and we talk about the tools that help move you forward. And what I'm getting from you is this sense that education education has been your fuel. It it was initially a means to an end to get to you know, I'll say to get you to a better place, to get you to a better environment. And it enabled you to achieve sport. It it actually it unlocked your sport in prowess by um by giving you then the keys to go through college and and move forward, give you then that degree, then that challenge to go back to school unlocked um more than an athlete, um, part one, and then um and then getting into the books and and then someone sitting down and just saying to you, um, put it in a book then. And it's like that side of you, while hadn't been that focused throughout your life. That's the bit that has been your change. This this love of that, I guess it was a a I'll say a love of learning as a value, um, has helped propel you, has helped you accelerate and move forward, which is quite amazing.

SPEAKER_03: 56:17

Yeah. I didn't think of it that way. You know, now that I now that you brought that up, I was reflecting when you were saying that. You know what was funny about life? It's like the things you run from is typically gonna be the things that grant you the biggest fulfillment and success once you are able to kind of face it. It's like you gotta face your bullies in some some capacity. And all through my life, I I kind of was running from it. Like I would deal with it because, like I said, it was a mean to an end. But it wasn't until I got older and it was like, if you really want to accomplish something, you might want to dive into this and take it serious. And then once I did, I dove in feet first. I love it. I I love learning, man. I can't put down a book, I can't put down information. I love learning. And I just scratched my head and I'm like, why wasn't I like this at school? You know what I mean? Like, I mean, like I said, I showed up for class, I did what I needed to do, I participated, but like I said, man, I'm a nerd, man. I love it. Like, it's the it's the weirdest thing, man. It's it's the weirdest thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 57:16

Why don't you think it worked as a as a kid growing up?

SPEAKER_03: 57:19

Maybe, like you said, it's it takes time to mature. You know, when you're a kid, you're attracted to the things that that validate you. So friends, being cool, you know, being funny, being a good athlete. You know, that kind of are the things that put you on a on a higher platform when you're young. So you're like, well, I'm not gonna get my cool points for being the smartest kid in school. I'm getting my cool points for being the best athlete and being funny and charismatic. And so you kind of play into that. But then when you become an adult, you know, the game, there's more players in the game. So it's like, now I gotta pick a new way to stand out because you're not an athlete. You can't leverage that no more. What am I gonna do? So it's like, hey, man, you you better smarten up. You better learn something, you better learn a skill set, you better have, you know, hone in. And I think it just wakes you up, maturity wakes you up and say, hey, man, you better start taking. Here's the other thing. Most of the people that I truly admire and I respect in the world of business or education, they're highly educated. You know what I mean? And so you start to just look at people model after people they admire. I don't care what anyone says. You look at someone, you might not want to be exactly like them, but you're like, I'm gonna take this attribute from you and I'm gonna make it mine. And so I just love the way that intellects position themselves, the poise that they have, the confidence that they have, the discipline to work on something, especially if you're trying out something new and you you don't have uh results yet. You know how brave you gotta be to try something that no one else has done, and you're the only one that believes in it? You know, whether you'd be an entrepreneur or whether you want to do some research on something. I got started respecting these people, if if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01: 59:05

It does. So you're looking at those people who you admire who who do the things that you would love to be able to do, and you can't help but take some of those traits on board them and think, well, if they do that, maybe can I emulate them by studying in the same way, learning in the same way, training, working, doing some of these different things. To me personally, that makes absolute sense. So for you now, when we think about you writing the book and the impact the book is going to have, so that when a youth is sitting down and says to you, write it in a book, at least you can say, Oh, here it is. I've got a book I can show you now. Which is yeah, is truly backed up. Now, today you say that your positioning has shifted away from just looking at that life after sport, but now starting to get them to really look at themselves, I guess, during sport and how do they leverage and build that brand. Talk to me about sort of the emerged. Of that and and what's changed in order to help you see that as a key pillar for athletes to own.

SPEAKER_03: 1:00:07

Yeah. Parents love the book, right? But I was like, I gotta get the no, right? I'm like, man, this was me, right? You know what I mean? When I was young, I'm like, I gotta get the information out. One of my other ventures I had a while back was we were helping solopreneurs build their brand. So people that had a business on their own, we were helping them with that. And through building that, I started realizing like, and this is right at the cusp of these athletes being able to get NIL deals, right? So this was right before COVID when we kind of got some win, like, hey, it's about to be a shift. And so I was like, you know what? Maybe if I can position some of these students to be able to do that. So what I did, I had partnered up with a company out in Florida. They allowed us to build their brand as an athlete. And it was one of the best experiences that I had during that period, sitting down with an athlete and asking them what you want to do for the rest of your life, but who do you want to become? What type of person do you want to be? And picking them brain and just watching them just process that information. And then asking them questions, especially my African-American athletes that may come from a lower socioeconomic background, and be like, let me see your phone book. Who can you call right now? You get what I'm saying? Who's your mentor? And then realizing, like, although this athlete might even be playing at the highest level in Division I, they still don't have the tangibles they need to sustain success. And that's when I started getting urgent. Because I'm like, now is money involved because y'all can get paid as an amateur. We got to do something. So I made book number two, which was early this year, and once again made the same mistake. Oh, y'all not reading? Okay, cool. I'm gonna go ahead and add fun to this. Y'all gonna get this message. You know what I mean? You're gonna get this message. And so that's how the game came about, and some of the other stuff in the podcast came about. Like, you have to get the message because when it's too late, it's too late. I'm not saying you can't recover from falling from grace, but why do you need to fall from grace? So to answer your question, because I remember, you talked about them leveraging their platform. One of the biggest mistakes that I made as a collegiate athlete, and it took me years to process it. It wasn't the nights that I went out to go party, because I actually still turned in on my homework on time and I still showed up for practice. So it wasn't like, you know, I partied and didn't get stuff done. The biggest mistake that I made while I was on campus is I didn't call a CEO or someone in the C-suite to say, hey, I'm Jabari Smith, number 34 for Texas Tech. Can I take you out to lunch and pick your brain? That I guarantee that person would have picked up that phone and said, yes, what time? It's the biggest mistake. The second biggest mistake was although I love my friends to death, they were no different from the friends that I had in my neighborhood. You get what I'm saying? So even stepping outside my comfort zone culturally, you get what I'm saying? I'm like, you're here on this big old campus where everyone knows who you are. Why aren't you leveraging that? They know you. But now you want to graduate and wait a couple of years to now pick up the phone and ask for a hookup. It's too damn late, man. They're like Jabari Who? We're looking at the other cornerback that's playing right now. You know what I mean? You should have done that when you were on the field. And that's what shifted my purpose. It's like, okay, we got the resource for people to help after sports, but I'm like, who is guiding them why they're there? Maximize your platform now. Um, and so that's how, you know, we are where we are today.

SPEAKER_01: 1:03:37

Brilliant. You know, we don't know it, right? We don't know that when we're playing, we don't know that when a certain when we're young, stepping out of your comfort zone, we'll do it on the field. So in play, in practice, those types of things. But off the field, you know, we've just spoken about the strength of the brotherhood or sisterhood being part of that team, that team unit is so important. So, how do athletes break out of that team bond that they've got, you know, whilst being a player and step in and speak to those supporters, those fans, those other people on campus in this example, and just say, hey, or you know, I mean, that's opening themselves up to something wholly new again. How do you help people to recognize? How do you help those athletes to recognize, hey, it's it's okay to do that?

SPEAKER_03: 1:04:27

Yeah, so this is gonna be a very challenging battle because you're dealing with culture, right? And the culture is strong with these athletes because they're playing at such a high level and the ultimate goal is to make it to the top. So I don't want to deter any athlete that has those goals because that used to annoy me when they would try to deter me. But it's like getting them to understand you got to figure out how to do both. The landscape has changed. But the other thing that I also realized is there's a lot of platforms that just gives information. Like, hey, here's what you need to do. But then it's like these the way that these athletes are hardwired is by coaching and training. So it's like, I'm gonna give you the tools too and show you how to use these tools. I think that's what's missing. A lot of times, platforms is like, hey, here's information, but I got to run a business. You know what I mean? So I can't give you the one-on-one. I was having a conversation with another gentleman who has something similar to what we have, and he keeps his right now, keeps his um his client base very small so that he can nurture more and give more and and to get and to produce more out of the athlete. And I was like, man, I think that's something that I'm gonna take a page out of his book because you and I know the significance of having an actual mentor that'd be like, listen, man, we're gonna get on this call and I'm gonna go through this is how you do it. And I'm gonna hold you accountable. And when you make, and when you mess up, I'm gonna show you where you messed up and I'm gonna walk you through it, just like how we would do on a football field or a soccer field. And I'm gonna do it for years on end. Like I got to really pour into these students, similar to how I did with the first after school program. And that's what it is, because they're gonna be fighting another battle with the culture because their culture is gonna be like, man, you need to focus on the sport you plan. I don't care what no one says. Coaches out in public are gonna say, you know, you need to get your education and do school, but it's it's sports first. That that's how it is in in America. So cool. I'm not gonna battle them. You know what I mean? So it's like whenever I can steal a little bit of your time, we're just gonna help you kind of leverage both of them. So that that's where I'm at with it.

SPEAKER_01: 1:06:30

Yeah, I think that is so good because it's important for it's important to recognize in fact, well, ourselves, um, about the balance and about that focus. Yeah. And it isn't easy as from owning a business, never mind being an athlete, who then has to see themselves as a business, right? Which is kind of what we're saying is seeing yourself as a business whilst you're an athlete, because then you will recognize what your family is in that regard, is you know, your your audience, it is that fan base, it is other students on campus, and certainly the alumni. Um, but then for us, then as you know, and sorry, but that's quite important for them to just be able to see that and see how that that gradually breaks out. Um listen, do you know, Jabari? I've just realized the time. I've just I've just realized I've been I've been taking up all of your time on this conversation. I I still want to keep chatting for a little bit. Hopefully you don't have to dash.

SPEAKER_02: 1:07:27

You're good, you're good, you're good. You're good, man. No, we're good, we're rolling. We're in.

SPEAKER_01: 1:07:34

So, but coming into to you then and look, your first hand experience of your upbringing, collegiate sport, um playing pro, having to realize when dreams aren't quite gonna pan out as they are, moving them into business and studying again. When you think about the impact you're having on athletes, what's that goal for you now? Where do you want to take your business, your your ventures, and your impact?

SPEAKER_03: 1:08:01

Great question. So, where I'm at and just observing everything, the mistake that I made in the beginning was it was information overload and not meeting the athlete where they were because I'm the older guy that feels that he knows better because I experience what I experienced. You're never gonna relate to the student that way. So it's like, all right, I have to kind of reposition this. And there has to be some element of entertainment. You gotta get like these kids are getting their attention drawn from so many different ways, right? So I I need to I need to educate you, I need to entertain you, right? And then I need to teach you the execution. So it's my triple E's uh strategy, right? And so what I want to do with Athlete Mindset Reset, not only is it my goal for to be a global academy, but I really want it to be a mentorship to where people like you and I, I can be talking to a young fella and be like, I got the perfect person for you to link up with. You get what I'm saying? And to into foster a relationship, but at the same time, have imagery, games, as you can see, mixers, a bunch of things. Like I need to create a culture within the culture so that these student athletes know, like, all right, I got the resources. You know what I mean? And I know I'm not gonna monopolize their time because they're still focused on what they're doing. But if I can give you a few nuggets on the way and also let you know that, hey, you have a not only a launch pad here with my platform, but you also have something to fall back on once it goes. So it's like, it's almost like a boomerang. Like, hey, go ahead. I'm gonna shoot you out as far as you can, go as far as you can. But when you come back, you can come back where you're gonna be back accepted again, loved, nurtured, and understood. And we're gonna give you these tools on how to keep keep moving forward. But at the same time, we're gonna give you the tools you need for every step that you go, you can maximize your experience. That's where I'm at with athlete mindset reset.

SPEAKER_01: 1:09:58

And you know, the bit you mentioned in there, which I find really interesting, is uh entertain. Another theme that I'm hearing, you can write the book, but your average 21-year-old isn't gonna read it. We can do all of these different things, but on average they're not going to sit down for long enough to absorb it. There's a maturity thing, a focus thing, how many plates are they trying to spin, and you know, there's all of that that that keeps them going on. But the resource is there for when they're ready. It is there, and you know that as they get older, then they'll sit down and read it. And and it's not too late to then act on it. But then I also like this entertainment piece, which is recognizing we need to be on we need to be on socials, you need to have uh an engaging, interesting podcast show, you need to be out there with games, books, or sorry, games and it things that interact that where they can interact with you. There's as much as a hey, come and interact, this is fun, and then we can try and drop those nuggets. Just dropping the nuggets as they go along, it becomes quite important as well.

SPEAKER_03: 1:10:58

You hit it right on the nail. That's the only way to do it. Like, man, we can't compete against PlayStation, man. You know what I mean? Like they they get their attention drawn from so many different ways. We can't compete against the coach. So it's like, man, wherever I can fit in, I I can I be impactful for that 20 minutes or 30 minutes. And like you said, the book, man. I'm gonna be honest with you. The book is probably something that I'm gonna get my flowers once I'm like in my 80s or 90s, once that student is our age and they read it like, man, I didn't realize how dope this book was. But man, I was trying to tell you when you were 16. You didn't want to read it then.

SPEAKER_01: 1:11:32

But I'm glad you get it now. I'm loving the balance that you've got, the way, like you say, you you're keeping your foot in sport through, you know, when when it's coaching, through the job as well, but then also the mindset reset is is really your platform to accelerate and sort of live live the impact or live how you want to give impact to to others, but also for others to follow you on there. And listen, Jabari, I've got to say big thanks for joining me today and bringing your journey onto this platform, letting more people hear about it. I think that's so important and and the impacts that you're having. Um the question I ask everyone just as they you know come through, as someone approaches you now and talks, you know, for you about okay, how do I leverage my brand as an athlete? What advice or guidance would you give to them?

SPEAKER_03: 1:12:25

Yeah, I'm glad you asked that question. So you're an a- and I'm gonna paint a picture, if you don't mind. I'm gonna articulate it this way. Imagine yourself being an athlete and you're on someone's campus, whether it be collegiate or even high school, and you may have on, you know, your typical collegiate apparel, maybe a t-shirt with the, you know, the logo on it and your number on the back, whatever the new apparel is. And people know your name, but you don't know their name. And you're not even a starter, but they know who you are, right? Imagine being able to have that level of visibility if you weren't an athlete and you were like in a business world or corporate world. Just shift. Can you imagine if we, you and I, we just walked into the office and people was like, Ryan, I know him. You'd be like, okay, I can cook, I can make some things happen, right? So it's the same way as an athlete. You never know who knows you. You don't know if that person is the next billionaire, if that person's gonna be your next business partner, because it's not gonna always be your brothers. And that's just a hard, you know, fact about it. So make yourself open and receptive to everybody where you're at. Pick your head up when you walk on those campuses, because I see them athletes head down on their phone, pick your head up, make eye contact, be receptive to make those relationships. I get it. It might get annoying at some times because some people might just be true fans, but you are building your brand right now, and people are gonna remember the type of guy or gal that you were when you were in their presence. And it goes a long way. I'm telling you, I've been blessed by people that I didn't even know knew me. Now, can you imagine if it was multiple people like that? They have to make that shift. I get it. We get we get in our bubble, we go to the facility, to our houses, you know what I mean, and that's it. Man, open up, try to be as charismatic as you can as an athlete. Like it's just, it's literally we kind of have to shift the culture. And as an athlete, it is totally okay to be smart. They respect you when you're smart because a lot of us, a lot of people outside think the athletes are dumb, but we're actually geniuses, but that's a whole nother conversation. You know, we just focus our attention on other things. But that's my biggest advice for an athlete coming up right now. Lift your head up, be aware, be receptive to building new relationships and think outside your bubble. I got one challenge for an athlete. You already got your athlete friends and you already got friends from your culture. Cool, they keep you grounded. So now what I want you to do is try to find five to ten friends outside of your culture. These are people that don't look like you, talk like you, people that aren't from your background, etc. And get to know them. Start to expand that. That is the advice that I want to get uh for the student athletes. And if you ever get some time and you're bored and you're on a plane, hey man, go on to Amazon and either get Life's Playbook 11 Place of Success or get Life's Playbook Athlete Mindset Reset. And it'll explain exactly how you can go and do those things.

SPEAKER_01: 1:15:39

That is awesome. Thanks for the tip bits as well. That was really uh good. I really like that. Thank you. Um, people are gonna want to reach out. So you've just you've just um given us your books. We can definitely find those on Amazon. If people want to get in touch and follow your journey, where else can they find you?

SPEAKER_03: 1:15:56

Yeah, so I'm I'm on platforms like Instagram, so you can follow me at jabari underscore k underscore smith, or you can follow me on uh athlete mindset reset. Um they're both intertwined. And then can I make one last plug if you don't mind? Um, I know you see this thing in the back. I'm working on something special. Okay, perfect. I know you see this in the back. I got something for these athletes, man. Right, you see right now it's called Bagger Broke, NIL Money Moves. And so it's teaching financial literacy through an actual board game. So it's a traditional board game style where you move around the board and you land on certain things and you get an opportunity to invest, or you get an opportunity to spend your money on luxury. Wherever it is, it's gonna take you somewhere. And there's also some spots on there too where you can have some hardships like injuries and um transfer portal chaos. But it's also ran through an actual digital app as well, so you don't have to tally all your points. So whenever you land, you put it in the digital tracking act, and then at the end of the game, it actually gives you a profile and it displays your strategy on the decisions that you made. So that's again talking about the education, entertainment, and execution. That's the game for it. So you can play it with three or more players or you can play it by yourself. Um, that is going to be uh getting released in the next month. So I'm very excited about that. So I did want to give that shout out.

SPEAKER_01: 1:17:23

Awesome. Hey, what's it called? The bag or broke. Is that its uh current title?

SPEAKER_03: 1:17:28

The bag or broke, yes. And that's the current title. Bagger Broke NIL Money Moves. Yep.

SPEAKER_01: 1:17:35

Love that. Okay, man. Well, I think as we get this show out, um, that's probably gonna be just about released. So we've got to make sure we link those things in as well. Do you know what I mean? So listen, Jabari, awesome having you on the show. Thanks a lot for sharing your story and uh, like I say, bringing a great perspective um for athletes around the world. Thank you, Bet. Thank you for listening to the Second Win 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 secondwin.io for more information or to book a consultation with me. I'd like to thank Claire from Betty Book 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.