June 3, 2025 • 42 mins
Jaylon Smith, NFL linebacker and visionary entrepreneur, founded the Minority Entrepreneurship Institute to fund and uplift minority-owned businesses.
Michael Edo is a veteran in the business of sports and entertainment, founder of RISE, and a driving force behind transforming athletes into legacy builders.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Black, Tach Green Money, Will Lucas here back with another
really exciting episode. We've got a Jaylen Smith, NFL linebacker
and visionary entrepreneur founded the Minority in the Entrepreneurship Institute
to fund and uplift minority owned businesses and beyond football,
He's focused on building generational wealth and democratizing access to
(00:21):
capital for underrepresented founders and alongside Michael Edo, he's a
veteran in the business of sports and entertainment, founder of
Rise and the driving force behind transforming athletes into legacy builders.
With two decades in the game, he's managing athlete enterprises
and advancing equity through his work with MII Capital and
(00:42):
the Collective. So super guy to have you both here today.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Thankful to be here with.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
You, man, absolutely absolutely so. I want to start with you, Jalen.
There is a lot of athletes who start with just
thinking about sports, but when you make it to your level,
you're making money from the sports, and there's a mindset
shift that needs to happen. And I'm going to ask
(01:08):
both of you guys if I want to start with you, Like,
what is that mindset shift that an athlete needs to
make to get serious about their finances, serious about growing
their finances.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Off the field, I think the biggest thing is education.
A lot of us and my peers, we go into
this thing where we make it to the professional level,
and we step and walk into a mass amount of
money in our eyes. Because most of us don't come
(01:38):
from money, we don't understand the knowledge of it.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
We don't understand the value of money.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
So being able to preserve it, being able to make
it is one thing, but being able to preserve it
is another. And I think that's the biggest thing where
we can really learn from having experts around us to
help us accomplish what we want to accomplish, not only
on the.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Field, but off the field. Think about Jerry Jones.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
He drafted me in the second round of the twenty
sixteen draft, right, and he drafted me because I'm an
expert at playing the linebacker position.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Now you flip.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
If you flip that, you think about us us entrepreneurs
as a business owner, us players as a business as
business owners.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
We don't have the proper experts on our.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Business team taking care of our and managing our full
scope of our enterprise.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
And that's the most lacking thing.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
A lot of my guys, a lot of my peers,
they hire a financial advisor and they give them the
money and a ask the fininancial advisor to tell us
exactly what we want, you know, exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
What should we do with the money.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
But we don't know what we don't know, So we
got to have experts, you know, guys like Michael Lido
and Risely Office to help us accomplish what we want
to off the off the field.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, I want to bring in Michael on this and
add a little bit of a different perspective on it is.
You know, Jalen talked about, you know, the guys who
are getting the money and then you know, asking the questions.
But there's a difference between that and people who like
want to be involved and want to really be educated
so that they're not just taking cues from somebody else.
Can you talk about what the difference is between and
(03:28):
how we make more of us have that, you know,
that shift.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
I think a lot of it is. I think at
the origin of it, I think, and especially for young
black men, young black athletes, I think it's an identity thing,
right like your whole life, you grew up and you
see Muhammad Ali you see Walter Payton, you see Michael Jordan,
Lebron James, and you identify and you believe when you
(03:56):
look at identification of I can be a great athlete,
and people tell you you can, people affirm you when
you become that. But when it comes to can I
be a multimillionaire that I have nothing to do with sports?
Can I be an entrepreneur? Can I be an investor?
Most of the time when you look at that, it's
(04:17):
not men that look like you, and you don't really
identify with that. So fundamentally, when I come into this money,
what I'm confident in is my ability to earn money
from playing this game right, earn money from leveraging my brand.
But when it comes for me to be able to
lead people make investment decisions, do due diligence, analyze investments myself,
(04:42):
I don't even really know if I believe that I'm
qualified or capable of doing that. So what's easier for
me to do is to just passively be involved and
defer it off of somebody else. And I think fundamentally
we have to change that identity. You first, no, I'm capable,
I'm capable, I'm able, and I just need someone that's
(05:06):
willing to educate me and put me on game so
that I can do that and become that.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
So why do so many athletes end up broke a
year or two after retiring, Jalen, I'll start with you.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
A lot of it is because we focus so much
on earning myself, my peers.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Being a professional athlete.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
You focus so much on earning that you don't understand
the value. Like you're we all understand that the windows short, right,
phenomenal career.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Let's say you have a ten year career.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
You're earning this high power capital each in cash flow,
each and every year, right, Well, the day that you retire,
the day that the NFL or NBA, someone's a team
you know, deems you as not qualified. They don't want
you in the league anymore. Were right, and you have
to hang up those shoes. Well, if you've the ten
(06:05):
years that you've played, you've established a lifestyle, an annual
living expense budget, and the minute you stopped playing, that
cash flow is no longer coming in. So now you
have to divvy up how much how much cash flow
have I actually earned and saved and I have in
this bucket? So say I got five million dollars of
(06:31):
earning money after taxes, living expenses, family, eb.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Everything is.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Let's say i got five million dollars to my name,
but I'm still living on a five hundred thousand to
a million dollar annual living expenses. Right, So each year
I'm cutting into that living but I don't have that
NFL money coming in no more. So now that five year,
that five million goes down to four million, goes down
(06:58):
to three million.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Now I'm sitting at two million and one million.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And then that's that's how a lot of our peers
go broke because post playing ball, you you have the
same lifestyle, but you're not have you don't have the
cash flow or financial plan to help you withstain and
continue to grow your bottom line.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yeah, I want you to go a step further because
I think we see these humongous contracts and we really
we think, you know, hey, you know JAYLN got this
X number deal, so and so Russell Russell Wilson got
this X number deal. And we ignorantly and not not
not just you know, downplaying, but like we sometimes confuse
that to be to assume that they take that home
(07:41):
and so and that and that's not true obviously, And
I just I just I realized this a couple of
years ago. Like, when you play in a different state,
that state wants to tax you while you're there, and
so can you talk about how the money gets broken
down and you can use simple math. Do let's just
say it's you know, your salaries a million dollars? Can
you talk about all the things that get taken out
before you see any of that.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
So you you get paid a million dollars on a salary,
you immediately.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Got to cut that. It has just off of pure taxes.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
And then in the National Football League meet playing in
Dallas for a long time, that was a guarantee eight
games that were taxed exempt. When it comes to no state,
no state income taxes. So based on the teams that
you play for, the city, the states that you play in,
like if you play in Nevada, or if you play
(08:33):
at Tennessee, you play in Florida.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Of all these teams have professional teams.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Well, if you play in those states during that specific week,
there's no state income tax.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Now you got games where you play in Los Angeles
and New York. I played in New York for two
years with the Giants, and you.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Know those are a lot those that percentage in that
taxes is increased tremendously, so.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
It's unique with how they do it.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
But you just gotta understand that whatever you make, you
pretty much gotta cut that in half. And then you
have to make sure that your c PAS and your
account and your financial plan is set up correctly because
a lot of guys get hit on the back end
because they didn't pay their taxes properly. And now you're
old even more money. So it can create It's either
(09:21):
you're gonna pay for it now. Mike talks about it
a lot. You're gonna pay for it now, or you're
gonna pay for it later. It's just about how you
want to go about it. Then you know, we encourage
going about it the right way.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Can you talk about this?
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Might?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
I want you to just chiming anything that you want
to add to.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Yeah, I think the number one reason why athletes go
broke is because of because of the fear of money.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Same say more about that.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Well, I think it's the same reason that I think
it's the same reason why police police kill black people.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
You fear what you don't understand, and so I think
that we feel. I talk to my clients all the time.
I present opportunities to my guys that it could be
a five x multiple over a four year old, it
could be whatever, and I give it to one of
my clients and they so damn fearful of it and
(10:17):
afraid of it because they don't understand it. It goes
back to what Jalen said about education. The only way
you're gonna get police to stop killing black people is
to help them understand black people, and educating it's the
same thing with money. You gotta be able to educate
them so they understand it, so they no longer fear it.
So when you fear it, it's like, well, damn, I
fear it. I don't understand it. I'm just gonna go
(10:39):
spend it. I'm just gonna go waste it and go
do this because I'm fearful. I'm a I'm a stasher
over here. I'm a spend it because I don't know
how to multiply it. I don't know how to invest it.
I don't know. This stuff is so foreign to me.
I don't understand the language. I don't understand any of it.
I've never been taught on it. It's so foreign. So
(11:01):
I'm just going to do the adverse effect of just
go spend it. Know how to do that?
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, I want you to because you bring up an
interesting a lot a lot of times.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Good. Oh sorry, Well I wanted to add one thing.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
So a lot of us have been playing the game
of football or whatever sport that we're in that we're
that we're in that make it, we make it to
the professional level.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
We've been playing since we were seven years old.
Speaker 6 (11:28):
So that's a minimum of thirteen year experience in diting
myself into learning about this sport and perfecting my craft
in this sport.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Now become now be I acquire.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Some money at twenty years old, twenty one years old
with zero knowledge on how to manage, grow and preserve it.
I didn't grow up in my household with the budget,
you know. So that's another It's another layer of dynamic
that we have to think about as well. And why
you know how my peers are growing are going broke.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
And I want to add more on, more on because
you just made me think of something. You got a
community people waiting for you to make it, so that
because you're the hope.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
But but, but The thing about it is in that situation,
this is what wealthy people who are successful investors and
entrepreneurs master formulas and systems, and they know how to
repeat what they do. They know how to repeat it.
(12:37):
So you're earning money, you're off of playing a game
that has an expiration date on it. So when you
got those people waiting on it, it'd be different if
I earned the twenty million, ten million after taxes, after
my living expenses, and after I paid my professional fees,
that ten million that got cut in half by taxes
(12:59):
is now eight million or seven million. And now how
do I get that money to compound and grow and
multiply so that I just can't take care of my
family for a short bit of time, but I can
take care of them forever. A lot of athletes treat
(13:20):
their career earnings in their career days like a long vacation.
It's like a really really good long vacation. But that
vacation gonna come to an end because they haven't learned
how to repeat it and formulate it to where it
just keeps on going.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
And Michael, I want you to take this one first.
You know, because I hear stories and you know I'm
sure you guys may have heard similar stories where there's
as soon as you get that first check, Jayln, you
get that first check in people, you know, your community
has been waiting on you to get it. Everybody's got
a business idea around you. Everybody wants you to become
their investor. Now everybody wants, you know, a piece of
(13:59):
that check that you got. How do you, Michael, as
an advisor, both help them vet those opportunities and protect
them from those opportunities because sometimes they may be in
such a relationship with this person who's bringing this idea
that it's hard for them to say no.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
Yeah, it's a challenge. It's not easy because the reprogramming
and the reprogramming and the education takes a long time,
and it varies based on the individual, you know, based
on where they are and what they come from. And
so we don't try to control brothers. We just try
(14:37):
to educate them. We try to protect them, and we
try to help them profit. But we're going to try
to challenge them, explain things to them. I think when
you're investing in people, fifty percent of your investment is
not the idea for the product, it's the individual that's
leading it. It's the jockey, not the horse. So if
(14:59):
you have a job that you are your day one
and you want to support them, I wouldn't recommend supporting
them by helping them start a business out the gate
the thing and train for. When you hear the stories
of you know Lebron James and Maverick Carter, the first
part of that is that you heard that Maverick Carter
want to go get educated and did an internship. When
(15:21):
you hear about David Muger letter as a great agent
and you know his boys wanted him to go be
an agent, he wouldn't get an internship with a one
you got. You got to require for the people that
you want to support that they get qualified and what
they want to do, don't invest in And at what
I would say is this, those kind of plays are
(15:42):
passion players. That's about passion. Is this move about passion
or is this move about proper and if it's about profit,
we need to take a different angle. One of the
things that Jalen did so intelligently when he launch his MBI,
his Minority Entrepreneurship Institute, he did that from an impacting
standpoint where he was able to invest in people for impact,
(16:05):
but he did it through his non for profit, so
those were charitable dollars that he was getting a tax
right off that can still produce a profit, but to
his charitable contribution. You got to understand, am I doing
this for charity or profit? And if you're doing it
solely for profit, you got to look at it straight
like that. It's business and a lot of the time
(16:28):
for the athletes to have this community waiting on them,
it's an emotional tie. I I got to be solid,
I gotta be loyal. I got to help people out,
which I'm all about. I'm all about elevating the community
and group economics for our people. But we got to
put a system in place to do that appropriately. That's off.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, I'm gonna get it to you Jaylin too, But
I want to again put another spend on this is
how do you decide who's a part of your business
circle versus you got to be in You can be
in my personal circle, but you're not touching the business circle.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
I think.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
You have to.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
You got to look in the mirror. You got to
be real with yourself, especially with loved ones. You can
identify those A lot of a lot of US athletes
suffer from saviors complex, which is rooted in I do
not want to I do not like being the only
(17:29):
one that made it out of my situation of where
I'm from from my hood, you know, and I had
an older brother. I have an older brother who we
played in Dallas for three years together. Same mom, same dad,
so a little different dynamic. But still that savior's complex
complex exists where I don't like being the only one
out of my out of my friend group that has
(17:51):
a mass over a million.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Dollars, you know, and.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
A lot of my a lot of my driving for
of trying to help different individuals that I love succeed
and excel. It's just about finding, Okay, what's the what's
this person's talent, what is this person's passion, and how
can I help support them.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
In growing to that.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Now, some of some of your loved ones just may
not be ready, some of them may not have the desire,
and you just kind of kind of gotta kind of
love them for who they are and where they are.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
And keep them in this box.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
But for those very few of your loved ones who
does desire to be great in the entrepreneurial space or
whatever may have it. You gotta surround them around people
who can educate them. That that grows their mind, grows
their mental gives them the knowledge to where then they
can they may be able to add value in your enterprise.
(18:58):
But you gotta Lebron James. His whole thing with Rich
Paul was I just want you around me. You can
We're gonna find what the space is. We're gonna find
what the lane is for you. It's about having the
right people in the right seat, uh, And that's what matter.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
But when it comes to family, you gotta have somebody.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
You gotta have somebody in your corner who can who
can say no if you don't, if you aren't comfortable
saying no yet, which you'll grow out of that and
you'll you'll learn how to how to say no through time.
But people that you love, you're naturally gonna want to
see them do great things. You just don't want to
jeopardize yourself or your financial freedom or the relationship for
(19:43):
that possible gain until someone has notified you were showed
or proven that okay, they're ready to.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Add value that.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I love this question because I'll ask almost all my
guests now this question, like what is in what's in
your EBC? Your everyday carry? And we'll start with you
to tell him, like what are the things that you
got to have with you, you know, before you leave
the house, before you lead the department. This is always
with you and you can't just say your phone.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
A lot of times. It's my dog. I'm a big
dog lover.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
His name is Achilles.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
He's with me right now. He's a service dog. He
travels everywhere I go with me.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
A lot of it is He's a pit mixed with
a Border Collie and German Shepherd oh.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Okay, rescue dog.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I got him when he was two months old and
he's eight years old now.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Mike knows him.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
He's he's the best dog in the world.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
What else you carry with you.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Outside outside of that whatever book that I'm reading, A
nice pen. I value a pen that I'm My handwriting
is terrible. I write super small, so I value pen
that and that helped me be legible or whatever. But
outside of that, you know, I keep my locks.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Uh, you know, and we're good to go.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
I love I love Michael. What's your in your e
d C? Your every day carry?
Speaker 5 (21:17):
My everyday Carrie would be a book whatever, whatever book
I'm I'm I'm moving with my iPad so I can
do work wherever I'm at or whatever i'm doing. You know,
mobile cigars.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, right here actually right.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
Right right right exactly, So I'm have some cigars. I'mna
have my iPad, I have a book. That's that's primarily here.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
What's your cigar choice? I'm just I'm curious, uh me, I'm.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
A I'm a I'm kind of a medium. I'm a medium, guys.
So I like I like Adabay's. I like Adabays. I
like this new I'm smoking this new Bandelero, which is
is uh it's it's just the same makers Ada Bay
(22:17):
and I'll smoked dab it off sometimes late late hour,
late hour, dab it off.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
You you two?
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Jaalen, Yeah, I'm so.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
My favorite cigar is the same palette as Mike. My
favorite cigar is Alvo Syncro Box Press. It's a Nicol
wager and smoker, Tata Scan.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I like the Bend.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
I like the Bendeleiro to Toledo Torpedo at nighttime.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
But yeah, that's that's that's kind of my my flavorite.
What's how you do it?
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Well, oh man, So my favorite cigar period is the
Amazon Basin, but you can only get it once every
three because they make them in the Amazon so that
you only get them every three years. But like a
daily smoke is like olav of v Orva Milania box press,
that's like a regular, like any day of the week,
you can do that Ashton Cabinet if I feel in,
(23:10):
you know, fancy something like that.
Speaker 5 (23:11):
So, yeah, are you boys like the box press?
Speaker 1 (23:15):
I like, I'm a.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Are you one of them guys? Will? That's like there's
this thing going around that, like the V cuts aren't
in anymore. But I love cut.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
I'm a straight I like straight cuts, so I'm cutting
a little dime off the end. I'm a straight cut.
All the guys around me are doing punch up, so
I'm like, y'all don't know what you're doing. I'm not
with the punch.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Yeah. I used to be on the B cut too,
and now the dudes kind of looked at me like
I was crazy when I was doing.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Yeah, I'm not. I tried to be. It's not my thing.
Just give me a straight I'm a regular straight cut.
But what you both mentioned books? What are you reading right?
Now it's.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
I'm reading. It's called how to Speak. It's my lady
actually actually got it, actually got it to me. It's
how husbands speak. I'm not married currently. We're doing some
some personal growth within our relationship of how to communicate
(24:23):
with each other.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
We have a newborn.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
But I just finished a book called The Infinite Way, uh,
spiritual book by.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
M Something Goldsmith. I forget Michael, Michael.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
I've seen that cover.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Wonderful. Yeah, wonderful book. Though, wonderful book.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
What are you reading, Michael.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
I'm currently reading, Uh, you Deserve to Be Rich.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
I'm audible, I got the audible on that, yeah, yeah,
on your Leisure.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
And then.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
I'm also reading this book I think it's called, uh,
it's like repeat, what is it called. It's uh, it's
called repeat, scale, repeat, scale, exit or something like that.
It's like a forgot, I don't know, break the breakdown.
(25:23):
But I'm reading that book too. I really enjoyed. It's
about how to how to build businesses.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Start, scale, repeat, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
Start, That's what I'm reading right now. Start scale actually repeat,
And I'm reading and Earn your Leisure book. And then
I'm also reading, uh, doctor Boyce his his book on
Black Wealth. I'm reading that too.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
I love it, Jail. What kind of businesses do you
like to invest in? You know, historically we all heard
like the cliche of you know, the car, wi the restaurant,
et cetera. Like what draws your interest?
Speaker 2 (26:08):
I like to invest in things that.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
I like to I like to invest in things that
not only I can add value in, but I have
a natural interest. I care more about the jockey versus
the horse. I care about who I'm partnering with. There's
a fifty to fifty chance when you're investing in your
you're doing, and you're getting the business with somebody with somebody,
(26:33):
it's a fifty to fifty chance on whether it's gonna
work or not. But as you're doing the vetting process,
being able to identify a partner or someone that has
are core values aligned that that matters the most to me.
I've wanted to be a restaurant tour since I was
(26:57):
about eighteen years old and learning a lot of about
junior Bridgemen and my first job prior to going to
Notre Dame was at Burger King, so I got to
learn a little bit about the customer service space been
able to partner with some great individuals on my endeavors
(27:18):
of becoming a restaurant tour Maulti family. Real estate is
is always great when you're in the right space and
with the right people. So I invest a lot in
that area, but actually started my own life insurance agency
called the Cycle Management Group, partner with Globe Life. Global
(27:40):
Life is the number one life insurance agency and all
of North America, and they're headquartered out of Waco, Texas
and McKinney, Texas, which is one of their headquarter locations,
is twenty minutes from my home in Frisco, Texas. So
got a chance to build a relationship with the CEO
(28:02):
and president and learn exactly how they built their wealth
through life insurance. And then just thinking about the the
impact you know that I can make as far as
stepping into this endeavor.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I like fixing problems. I like Mike, my business manager.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
He talks about it a lot as we're doing a
lot of developing and growthing. And you know, it's only
twenty four hours in a day, right and currently I'm
in twenty one different alternative deals. But where do where
could I How can I allocate these twenty four hours
(28:44):
in a day to best maximize my core focuses. So
we focus a lot on, you know, making sure that
it makes sense, making sure that I can add value.
And then also so from a return profile standpoint, what
does that look like from a cash flow?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
What does that look like from exit? Long?
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Yeah, yeah, that was really it was really good. I
got two more questions. I'll give them to both of
you guys, And so one is, you know, when people
start making a little bit of money, they they do
want to enjoy some of that. They don't want it
all to be you know, tied up into some you know, yeah, yeah,
you know what I mean. They want to enjoy some
of it. How do you, as an athlete today, as
(29:29):
a president athlete, advise how to do that smartly? So
if I want to go by the chain, you know,
you got the Ojo sinkos, like I'll buy a Kuba
Zaconia all day. You know you got that.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
But then you got people who.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Want the real thing, how do you advise them to
do that? And so we'll start with you, Jalen. Then
I'm gonna get us to youth Michael too. How How
can I still enjoy some of it? Responsible?
Speaker 3 (29:50):
It all comes It all comes down to understanding the
value over cost. You know, what's the value that I'm
getting out of it versus the cost. And then you
have to budget for your fund. You have to budget
for your fun. So if I'm budgeting for this, for
(30:10):
this chain that I want to purchase, I may not
be able to go buy this or go party, or
go buy this this house that I may want or this,
you know what I mean. It's about it's about give
and take. It's about push or pull. Each year, you know,
I have an allocated amount for everything, and by the month,
(30:31):
you know, I get reports on how what was budgeted
and then what was expended.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Yeah, what was the actual? It's called budget versus actual.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
So I'm I'm whenever we and we've all go through
these moments where Okay, if you're spending a lot of money,
you can feel it, you can, but you may not
want to go look at your account, you know. But
I have I have a team that helps hold me
accountable and see you know.
Speaker 5 (30:56):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
But that's that's what.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
I would say for for all the all the youngins
coming up, is you just have to budget what your
fun looks like.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
You can't take it with you. We understand that. But
also a lot of us are the first in our family.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
To accumulate an extreme amount of cash. So if you
really care about your legacy, which I care about passing,
passing down Jender, creating and passing down generational wealth, I
am the individual in my family that has to do
(31:33):
that or that has chose to do that. So with
that comes from sacrificers. I can't go out and buy
everything I want, you know, Yeah, yeah, that's my answer
to that.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Yeah, And I'm gonna get another spin for you, same question, Michael.
But a spind is you know, if I'm making I'm
making a little bit of money now and now I'm
on the same team with Jalen. You know, I ain't
making as much as Jalen. But you know, so when
we walk to dinner, I can't compete with him. He
won't he getting a six hundred dollars of tomahawk. You know,
I'm getting to the four hundred hours, you know, the
(32:06):
over soul, and I can't compete. But the every guy
I'm around or mostly is doing way better. How can
I still maintain that sense of confidence or my position
when I'm I'm around Jalen every day, and Jalen's doing
it at a different level.
Speaker 5 (32:25):
Yeah, I think a lot of it comes down to
identity and being able to manage your ego. You know,
really like it's easier setting down it's not anything to
do at all. But when you are around a whole
bunch of brothers, you know, driving a certain amount of cars,
they got certain chains, they got a great deal of cloud,
(32:48):
and you sitting there right next to him work. I mean,
I haven't experienced it. I've seen it up quotes and personal,
but I ain't did it myself. So I speak humbly
when I say it. But I think if you can
manage your ego, and if you can, I think it's
a lot easier for brothers. When when you value your
(33:09):
last name more than you do your first name, you know,
when you value your last name more than your first name,
you'll think differently. Right, So when you when you think
about honoring the last name Smith, and you think about
honoring for your people that was before you, When you
think about building that name up for your daughter more
(33:32):
than you do think about the name Jalen, I think
that you'll make some different decisions. But when you're constantly
thinking about the first name. I think you make first
name decisions.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Either you want to ask that Jalen like that twist,
you know, because that's you know, you're in the locker room.
There's somebody ain't making as much as you, somebody making
more to you, Like you got to balance that. How
How do you have you seen that play out?
Speaker 2 (33:54):
I was once that guy as well.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
The managing the ego matters a lot of Most of
the time, when you go out with the ogs or
the big homies, nine times out of ten, they're going
to pay for the meal.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Let them pay for the meal. It's okay, it's love.
Like it's love, you know.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
You know me me being a rookie and some of
my OG's would take me shopping, you know, to where
I didn't have to I didn't have to cut into
my my rookie salary that I was getting paid because
the Ogs was taking care of me. It's a it's
a It's definitely a lot of pay it forward that
(34:38):
goes on in the league and in the community. You
just got to know where you fit in and then
also understand, you know, it's going to come a time
where you're the OG and you have the the the obligation,
the opportunity to pay it forward and then and by
that time, you know you used to have your budgets down.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
And in place to where it doesn't affect much.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
I love it. Lastly, I want you both to leave
the audience with something. We'll start with you, Michael, like,
what do you want after having heard this conversation? If
they can only leave with one thing that you have,
you know imparted to this audience. This audience is full
of black entrepreneur, small business owners, technologies, founders, venture capitalists,
agent investors who are trying to build wealth. What would
(35:23):
you leave them with?
Speaker 5 (35:25):
Oh Man, I would say, understand your DNA. Understand your
DNA as an individual right, so know what to desire
and your passion is, know what the need and the
marketplace is, and know what your ability is. Right, identify
your personal DNA. Once you know that DNA, I think
(35:49):
you go after what it is that you want to
and go after mastering something. Don't do things and learn things,
do things to master things. And I would say, then,
don't look at your current ecosystem is a limiture to
what you want to do. Build the ecosystem that you
need to support what you want to do. I thinks
so many times we look at the ecosystem that we
(36:10):
were born into, raised around, and it's like, now, I
don't let that limit the vision that God has given
you for you. If you have the ability, just build
the ecosystem that you need to support you and have
the resources to support that, then and go get it.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
JAIU, I would say, sorry, it's all good.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
The biggest thing that.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
I would say for the viewers is community matters. Network matters.
Me becoming a professional athlete. I understood the value of access,
(36:57):
the value of network, the value of platform. I made
a decision. How old was I MI seventeen years old
when I made the decision that, Okay, I am going
to maximize this platform, in this network and building relationships
(37:17):
being the humans that we are. And then from there
it's okay to think like you have to think about
exactly what you want, where and how to get there.
If you don't know how to get there, find some
get somebody in your circle and in your network that
can help you.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Accomplish what you want to accomplish.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
You never want to be the smartest person in your room.
I get uncomfortable a lot of times when I'm if
I'm consistently in a room where I'm the smartest guy,
I'm comfortable with getting uncomfortable and I know that I
don't know it all. And my my humbleness and my
(38:01):
stewardness and the ability to be a sponge and like
soak everything in is how I've learned so much beyond
the sport, even in the in the business space and
being you know, now, there was a time where I
could not add value to boardrooms or you know, having
(38:22):
the opportunity to be on a board seat, or be
a general partner in a real estate firm and all
of these different endeavors, Like I had to learn from
the best, and it took me asking questions, it took
me allocating time, but it's it's so worth it.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Like this, there's a wide range of.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
Opportunity to be successful in the United States of America,
especially within the black culture as well. I'm a firm
believer in together is better, but it has to be
done the right way, and you have to have the
right people write seats without Without that, you're putting yourself
at risk for destruction, you know. So I my purpose
(39:10):
beyond athletics is to help close the economic and educational
gap that exists in this world today.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
So everything that I do is rooted.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Around that, in my for profit companies and my nonprofit
companies and my company investments that I'm just an LPN
that I'm a general partner in. Like I not only
do I understand the ROI, but it's all about, Okay,
what is your big hairy audation's goal, Like what do
(39:40):
you want to accomplish? And you gotta go from go
from ten years and walk it down to a five
year picture, three year picture, one year picture, ninety day picture. Mike,
can you talk to them a little bit about uh,
eos and rocks and how have helped uh not only
(40:02):
you yourself and your business your businesses and helping mentor
myself and in the and all the other athletes that
you help manage. Talk about the value of that. I
think I think that could add some value.
Speaker 5 (40:18):
Please, yeah, I think that. I think a lot of times,
you know, for us is you know, black entrepreneurs. Man,
we're the most creative, most dynamic people on earth, but
a lot of the time we don't we don't have
the training or the systems. And one of the companies
that Jalen invested in early on in his career was
a company called EOS Worldwide based out of Detroit, Michigan.
(40:40):
That is the largest entrepreneurial operating system in the United
States right now. I think uh to upper mid sized
companies and as we we operate all of our companies
on that. So I operate my company on EOS that
he's invested in its international now and then we we
(41:01):
operate all of our clients companies on it. Because it's
a simple, simplistic system and it just it allows for
compassion and accountability if it clearly understands who's responsible for what.
It allows you to strategize, clarify and execute. And I
think that's really what it comes down to. Like it's
good to have a good vision, and it's good to
(41:22):
have talent, but what's the strategy. Is there clarity amongst
the organization so that we can make sure that we
can execute and like you said earlier, are the right
people on the right seats on the bus. So definitely
something that we operate on. And I think it's a
It's a great book out called Traction, like you know
with me that was the founder of the book and
(41:42):
that that book. Traction is based on the system of
the US.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Congratulations on making you know a good deal there.
Speaker 5 (41:50):
Yeah, for sure, that's gonna be a tenction.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
It's gonna be sometimes you only need one. Black Tech
Green Money is a production of Blavity Afro Tech on
the Black Effect podcast network in Nighthart Media. It's produced
by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas, with the additional
production support by Kate McDonald, Sarah Ergan, and Jada McGee.
Special thank you to Michael Davis and Lovebeach. Learn more
(42:15):
about my guessing of detectives. Ruff is an innovators at
afrotech dot Com. Video version of this episode will drop
to Black Tech Green Money on YouTube, so tap in
enjoy your Black Tech Green Money. Share up to somebody
go get your money. Peace in Love,
Black, Tach Green Money, Will Lucas here back with another
really exciting episode. We've got a Jaylen Smith, NFL linebacker
and visionary entrepreneur founded the Minority in the Entrepreneurship Institute
to fund and uplift minority owned businesses and beyond football,
He's focused on building generational wealth and democratizing access to
(00:21):
capital for underrepresented founders and alongside Michael Edo, he's a
veteran in the business of sports and entertainment, founder of
Rise and the driving force behind transforming athletes into legacy builders.
With two decades in the game, he's managing athlete enterprises
and advancing equity through his work with MII Capital and
(00:42):
the Collective. So super guy to have you both here today.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Thankful to be here with.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
You, man, absolutely absolutely so. I want to start with you, Jalen.
There is a lot of athletes who start with just
thinking about sports, but when you make it to your level,
you're making money from the sports, and there's a mindset
shift that needs to happen. And I'm going to ask
(01:08):
both of you guys if I want to start with you, Like,
what is that mindset shift that an athlete needs to
make to get serious about their finances, serious about growing
their finances.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Off the field, I think the biggest thing is education.
A lot of us and my peers, we go into
this thing where we make it to the professional level,
and we step and walk into a mass amount of
money in our eyes. Because most of us don't come
(01:38):
from money, we don't understand the knowledge of it.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
We don't understand the value of money.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
So being able to preserve it, being able to make
it is one thing, but being able to preserve it
is another. And I think that's the biggest thing where
we can really learn from having experts around us to
help us accomplish what we want to accomplish, not only
on the.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Field, but off the field. Think about Jerry Jones.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
He drafted me in the second round of the twenty
sixteen draft, right, and he drafted me because I'm an
expert at playing the linebacker position.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Now you flip.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
If you flip that, you think about us us entrepreneurs
as a business owner, us players as a business as
business owners.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
We don't have the proper experts on our.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Business team taking care of our and managing our full
scope of our enterprise.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
And that's the most lacking thing.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
A lot of my guys, a lot of my peers,
they hire a financial advisor and they give them the
money and a ask the fininancial advisor to tell us
exactly what we want, you know, exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
What should we do with the money.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
But we don't know what we don't know, So we
got to have experts, you know, guys like Michael Lido
and Risely Office to help us accomplish what we want
to off the off the field.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, I want to bring in Michael on this and
add a little bit of a different perspective on it is.
You know, Jalen talked about, you know, the guys who
are getting the money and then you know, asking the questions.
But there's a difference between that and people who like
want to be involved and want to really be educated
so that they're not just taking cues from somebody else.
Can you talk about what the difference is between and
(03:28):
how we make more of us have that, you know,
that shift.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
I think a lot of it is. I think at
the origin of it, I think, and especially for young
black men, young black athletes, I think it's an identity thing,
right like your whole life, you grew up and you
see Muhammad Ali you see Walter Payton, you see Michael Jordan,
Lebron James, and you identify and you believe when you
(03:56):
look at identification of I can be a great athlete,
and people tell you you can, people affirm you when
you become that. But when it comes to can I
be a multimillionaire that I have nothing to do with sports?
Can I be an entrepreneur? Can I be an investor?
Most of the time when you look at that, it's
(04:17):
not men that look like you, and you don't really
identify with that. So fundamentally, when I come into this money,
what I'm confident in is my ability to earn money
from playing this game right, earn money from leveraging my brand.
But when it comes for me to be able to
lead people make investment decisions, do due diligence, analyze investments myself,
(04:42):
I don't even really know if I believe that I'm
qualified or capable of doing that. So what's easier for
me to do is to just passively be involved and
defer it off of somebody else. And I think fundamentally
we have to change that identity. You first, no, I'm capable,
I'm capable, I'm able, and I just need someone that's
(05:06):
willing to educate me and put me on game so
that I can do that and become that.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
So why do so many athletes end up broke a
year or two after retiring, Jalen, I'll start with you.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
A lot of it is because we focus so much
on earning myself, my peers.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Being a professional athlete.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
You focus so much on earning that you don't understand
the value. Like you're we all understand that the windows short, right,
phenomenal career.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Let's say you have a ten year career.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
You're earning this high power capital each in cash flow,
each and every year, right, Well, the day that you retire,
the day that the NFL or NBA, someone's a team
you know, deems you as not qualified. They don't want
you in the league anymore. Were right, and you have
to hang up those shoes. Well, if you've the ten
(06:05):
years that you've played, you've established a lifestyle, an annual
living expense budget, and the minute you stopped playing, that
cash flow is no longer coming in. So now you
have to divvy up how much how much cash flow
have I actually earned and saved and I have in
this bucket? So say I got five million dollars of
(06:31):
earning money after taxes, living expenses, family, eb.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Everything is.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Let's say i got five million dollars to my name,
but I'm still living on a five hundred thousand to
a million dollar annual living expenses. Right, So each year
I'm cutting into that living but I don't have that
NFL money coming in no more. So now that five year,
that five million goes down to four million, goes down
(06:58):
to three million.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Now I'm sitting at two million and one million.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And then that's that's how a lot of our peers
go broke because post playing ball, you you have the
same lifestyle, but you're not have you don't have the
cash flow or financial plan to help you withstain and
continue to grow your bottom line.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yeah, I want you to go a step further because
I think we see these humongous contracts and we really
we think, you know, hey, you know JAYLN got this
X number deal, so and so Russell Russell Wilson got
this X number deal. And we ignorantly and not not
not just you know, downplaying, but like we sometimes confuse
that to be to assume that they take that home
(07:41):
and so and that and that's not true obviously, And
I just I just I realized this a couple of
years ago. Like, when you play in a different state,
that state wants to tax you while you're there, and
so can you talk about how the money gets broken
down and you can use simple math. Do let's just
say it's you know, your salaries a million dollars? Can
you talk about all the things that get taken out
before you see any of that.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
So you you get paid a million dollars on a salary,
you immediately.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Got to cut that. It has just off of pure taxes.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
And then in the National Football League meet playing in
Dallas for a long time, that was a guarantee eight
games that were taxed exempt. When it comes to no state,
no state income taxes. So based on the teams that
you play for, the city, the states that you play in,
like if you play in Nevada, or if you play
(08:33):
at Tennessee, you play in Florida.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Of all these teams have professional teams.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Well, if you play in those states during that specific week,
there's no state income tax.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Now you got games where you play in Los Angeles
and New York. I played in New York for two
years with the Giants, and you.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Know those are a lot those that percentage in that
taxes is increased tremendously, so.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
It's unique with how they do it.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
But you just gotta understand that whatever you make, you
pretty much gotta cut that in half. And then you
have to make sure that your c PAS and your
account and your financial plan is set up correctly because
a lot of guys get hit on the back end
because they didn't pay their taxes properly. And now you're
old even more money. So it can create It's either
(09:21):
you're gonna pay for it now. Mike talks about it
a lot. You're gonna pay for it now, or you're
gonna pay for it later. It's just about how you
want to go about it. Then you know, we encourage
going about it the right way.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Can you talk about this?
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Might?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
I want you to just chiming anything that you want
to add to.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Yeah, I think the number one reason why athletes go
broke is because of because of the fear of money.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Same say more about that.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Well, I think it's the same reason that I think
it's the same reason why police police kill black people.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
You fear what you don't understand, and so I think
that we feel. I talk to my clients all the time.
I present opportunities to my guys that it could be
a five x multiple over a four year old, it
could be whatever, and I give it to one of
my clients and they so damn fearful of it and
(10:17):
afraid of it because they don't understand it. It goes
back to what Jalen said about education. The only way
you're gonna get police to stop killing black people is
to help them understand black people, and educating it's the
same thing with money. You gotta be able to educate
them so they understand it, so they no longer fear it.
So when you fear it, it's like, well, damn, I
fear it. I don't understand it. I'm just gonna go
(10:39):
spend it. I'm just gonna go waste it and go
do this because I'm fearful. I'm a I'm a stasher
over here. I'm a spend it because I don't know
how to multiply it. I don't know how to invest it.
I don't know. This stuff is so foreign to me.
I don't understand the language. I don't understand any of it.
I've never been taught on it. It's so foreign. So
(11:01):
I'm just going to do the adverse effect of just
go spend it. Know how to do that?
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, I want you to because you bring up an
interesting a lot a lot of times.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Good. Oh sorry, Well I wanted to add one thing.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
So a lot of us have been playing the game
of football or whatever sport that we're in that we're
that we're in that make it, we make it to
the professional level.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
We've been playing since we were seven years old.
Speaker 6 (11:28):
So that's a minimum of thirteen year experience in diting
myself into learning about this sport and perfecting my craft
in this sport.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Now become now be I acquire.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Some money at twenty years old, twenty one years old
with zero knowledge on how to manage, grow and preserve it.
I didn't grow up in my household with the budget,
you know. So that's another It's another layer of dynamic
that we have to think about as well. And why
you know how my peers are growing are going broke.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
And I want to add more on, more on because
you just made me think of something. You got a
community people waiting for you to make it, so that
because you're the hope.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
But but, but The thing about it is in that situation,
this is what wealthy people who are successful investors and
entrepreneurs master formulas and systems, and they know how to
repeat what they do. They know how to repeat it.
(12:37):
So you're earning money, you're off of playing a game
that has an expiration date on it. So when you
got those people waiting on it, it'd be different if
I earned the twenty million, ten million after taxes, after
my living expenses, and after I paid my professional fees,
that ten million that got cut in half by taxes
(12:59):
is now eight million or seven million. And now how
do I get that money to compound and grow and
multiply so that I just can't take care of my
family for a short bit of time, but I can
take care of them forever. A lot of athletes treat
(13:20):
their career earnings in their career days like a long vacation.
It's like a really really good long vacation. But that
vacation gonna come to an end because they haven't learned
how to repeat it and formulate it to where it
just keeps on going.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
And Michael, I want you to take this one first.
You know, because I hear stories and you know I'm
sure you guys may have heard similar stories where there's
as soon as you get that first check, Jayln, you
get that first check in people, you know, your community
has been waiting on you to get it. Everybody's got
a business idea around you. Everybody wants you to become
their investor. Now everybody wants, you know, a piece of
(13:59):
that check that you got. How do you, Michael, as
an advisor, both help them vet those opportunities and protect
them from those opportunities because sometimes they may be in
such a relationship with this person who's bringing this idea
that it's hard for them to say no.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
Yeah, it's a challenge. It's not easy because the reprogramming
and the reprogramming and the education takes a long time,
and it varies based on the individual, you know, based
on where they are and what they come from. And
so we don't try to control brothers. We just try
(14:37):
to educate them. We try to protect them, and we
try to help them profit. But we're going to try
to challenge them, explain things to them. I think when
you're investing in people, fifty percent of your investment is
not the idea for the product, it's the individual that's
leading it. It's the jockey, not the horse. So if
(14:59):
you have a job that you are your day one
and you want to support them, I wouldn't recommend supporting
them by helping them start a business out the gate
the thing and train for. When you hear the stories
of you know Lebron James and Maverick Carter, the first
part of that is that you heard that Maverick Carter
want to go get educated and did an internship. When
(15:21):
you hear about David Muger letter as a great agent
and you know his boys wanted him to go be
an agent, he wouldn't get an internship with a one
you got. You got to require for the people that
you want to support that they get qualified and what
they want to do, don't invest in And at what
I would say is this, those kind of plays are
(15:42):
passion players. That's about passion. Is this move about passion
or is this move about proper and if it's about profit,
we need to take a different angle. One of the
things that Jalen did so intelligently when he launch his MBI,
his Minority Entrepreneurship Institute, he did that from an impacting
standpoint where he was able to invest in people for impact,
(16:05):
but he did it through his non for profit, so
those were charitable dollars that he was getting a tax
right off that can still produce a profit, but to
his charitable contribution. You got to understand, am I doing
this for charity or profit? And if you're doing it
solely for profit, you got to look at it straight
like that. It's business and a lot of the time
(16:28):
for the athletes to have this community waiting on them,
it's an emotional tie. I I got to be solid,
I gotta be loyal. I got to help people out,
which I'm all about. I'm all about elevating the community
and group economics for our people. But we got to
put a system in place to do that appropriately. That's off.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, I'm gonna get it to you Jaylin too, But
I want to again put another spend on this is
how do you decide who's a part of your business
circle versus you got to be in You can be
in my personal circle, but you're not touching the business circle.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
I think.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
You have to.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
You got to look in the mirror. You got to
be real with yourself, especially with loved ones. You can
identify those A lot of a lot of US athletes
suffer from saviors complex, which is rooted in I do
not want to I do not like being the only
(17:29):
one that made it out of my situation of where
I'm from from my hood, you know, and I had
an older brother. I have an older brother who we
played in Dallas for three years together. Same mom, same dad,
so a little different dynamic. But still that savior's complex
complex exists where I don't like being the only one
out of my out of my friend group that has
(17:51):
a mass over a million.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Dollars, you know, and.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
A lot of my a lot of my driving for
of trying to help different individuals that I love succeed
and excel. It's just about finding, Okay, what's the what's
this person's talent, what is this person's passion, and how
can I help support them.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
In growing to that.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Now, some of some of your loved ones just may
not be ready, some of them may not have the desire,
and you just kind of kind of gotta kind of
love them for who they are and where they are.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
And keep them in this box.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
But for those very few of your loved ones who
does desire to be great in the entrepreneurial space or
whatever may have it. You gotta surround them around people
who can educate them. That that grows their mind, grows
their mental gives them the knowledge to where then they
can they may be able to add value in your enterprise.
(18:58):
But you gotta Lebron James. His whole thing with Rich
Paul was I just want you around me. You can
We're gonna find what the space is. We're gonna find
what the lane is for you. It's about having the
right people in the right seat, uh, And that's what matter.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
But when it comes to family, you gotta have somebody.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
You gotta have somebody in your corner who can who
can say no if you don't, if you aren't comfortable
saying no yet, which you'll grow out of that and
you'll you'll learn how to how to say no through time.
But people that you love, you're naturally gonna want to
see them do great things. You just don't want to
jeopardize yourself or your financial freedom or the relationship for
(19:43):
that possible gain until someone has notified you were showed
or proven that okay, they're ready to.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Add value that.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I love this question because I'll ask almost all my
guests now this question, like what is in what's in
your EBC? Your everyday carry? And we'll start with you
to tell him, like what are the things that you
got to have with you, you know, before you leave
the house, before you lead the department. This is always
with you and you can't just say your phone.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
A lot of times. It's my dog. I'm a big
dog lover.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
His name is Achilles.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
He's with me right now. He's a service dog. He
travels everywhere I go with me.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
A lot of it is He's a pit mixed with
a Border Collie and German Shepherd oh.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Okay, rescue dog.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I got him when he was two months old and
he's eight years old now.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Mike knows him.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
He's he's the best dog in the world.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
What else you carry with you.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Outside outside of that whatever book that I'm reading, A
nice pen. I value a pen that I'm My handwriting
is terrible. I write super small, so I value pen
that and that helped me be legible or whatever. But
outside of that, you know, I keep my locks.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Uh, you know, and we're good to go.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
I love I love Michael. What's your in your e
d C? Your every day carry?
Speaker 5 (21:17):
My everyday Carrie would be a book whatever, whatever book
I'm I'm I'm moving with my iPad so I can
do work wherever I'm at or whatever i'm doing. You know,
mobile cigars.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, right here actually right.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
Right right right exactly, So I'm have some cigars. I'mna
have my iPad, I have a book. That's that's primarily here.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
What's your cigar choice? I'm just I'm curious, uh me, I'm.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
A I'm a I'm kind of a medium. I'm a medium, guys.
So I like I like Adabay's. I like Adabays. I
like this new I'm smoking this new Bandelero, which is
is uh it's it's just the same makers Ada Bay
(22:17):
and I'll smoked dab it off sometimes late late hour,
late hour, dab it off.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
You you two?
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Jaalen, Yeah, I'm so.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
My favorite cigar is the same palette as Mike. My
favorite cigar is Alvo Syncro Box Press. It's a Nicol
wager and smoker, Tata Scan.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I like the Bend.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
I like the Bendeleiro to Toledo Torpedo at nighttime.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
But yeah, that's that's that's kind of my my flavorite.
What's how you do it?
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Well, oh man, So my favorite cigar period is the
Amazon Basin, but you can only get it once every
three because they make them in the Amazon so that
you only get them every three years. But like a
daily smoke is like olav of v Orva Milania box press,
that's like a regular, like any day of the week,
you can do that Ashton Cabinet if I feel in,
(23:10):
you know, fancy something like that.
Speaker 5 (23:11):
So, yeah, are you boys like the box press?
Speaker 1 (23:15):
I like, I'm a.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Are you one of them guys? Will? That's like there's
this thing going around that, like the V cuts aren't
in anymore. But I love cut.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
I'm a straight I like straight cuts, so I'm cutting
a little dime off the end. I'm a straight cut.
All the guys around me are doing punch up, so
I'm like, y'all don't know what you're doing. I'm not
with the punch.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Yeah. I used to be on the B cut too,
and now the dudes kind of looked at me like
I was crazy when I was doing.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Yeah, I'm not. I tried to be. It's not my thing.
Just give me a straight I'm a regular straight cut.
But what you both mentioned books? What are you reading right?
Now it's.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
I'm reading. It's called how to Speak. It's my lady
actually actually got it, actually got it to me. It's
how husbands speak. I'm not married currently. We're doing some
some personal growth within our relationship of how to communicate
(24:23):
with each other.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
We have a newborn.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
But I just finished a book called The Infinite Way, uh,
spiritual book by.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
M Something Goldsmith. I forget Michael, Michael.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
I've seen that cover.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Wonderful. Yeah, wonderful book. Though, wonderful book.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
What are you reading, Michael.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
I'm currently reading, Uh, you Deserve to Be Rich.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
I'm audible, I got the audible on that, yeah, yeah,
on your Leisure.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
And then.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
I'm also reading this book I think it's called, uh,
it's like repeat, what is it called. It's uh, it's
called repeat, scale, repeat, scale, exit or something like that.
It's like a forgot, I don't know, break the breakdown.
(25:23):
But I'm reading that book too. I really enjoyed. It's
about how to how to build businesses.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Start, scale, repeat, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
Start, That's what I'm reading right now. Start scale actually repeat,
And I'm reading and Earn your Leisure book. And then
I'm also reading, uh, doctor Boyce his his book on
Black Wealth. I'm reading that too.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
I love it, Jail. What kind of businesses do you
like to invest in? You know, historically we all heard
like the cliche of you know, the car, wi the restaurant,
et cetera. Like what draws your interest?
Speaker 2 (26:08):
I like to invest in things that.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
I like to I like to invest in things that
not only I can add value in, but I have
a natural interest. I care more about the jockey versus
the horse. I care about who I'm partnering with. There's
a fifty to fifty chance when you're investing in your
you're doing, and you're getting the business with somebody with somebody,
(26:33):
it's a fifty to fifty chance on whether it's gonna
work or not. But as you're doing the vetting process,
being able to identify a partner or someone that has
are core values aligned that that matters the most to me.
I've wanted to be a restaurant tour since I was
(26:57):
about eighteen years old and learning a lot of about
junior Bridgemen and my first job prior to going to
Notre Dame was at Burger King, so I got to
learn a little bit about the customer service space been
able to partner with some great individuals on my endeavors
(27:18):
of becoming a restaurant tour Maulti family. Real estate is
is always great when you're in the right space and
with the right people. So I invest a lot in
that area, but actually started my own life insurance agency
called the Cycle Management Group, partner with Globe Life. Global
(27:40):
Life is the number one life insurance agency and all
of North America, and they're headquartered out of Waco, Texas
and McKinney, Texas, which is one of their headquarter locations,
is twenty minutes from my home in Frisco, Texas. So
got a chance to build a relationship with the CEO
(28:02):
and president and learn exactly how they built their wealth
through life insurance. And then just thinking about the the
impact you know that I can make as far as
stepping into this endeavor.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I like fixing problems. I like Mike, my business manager.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
He talks about it a lot as we're doing a
lot of developing and growthing. And you know, it's only
twenty four hours in a day, right and currently I'm
in twenty one different alternative deals. But where do where
could I How can I allocate these twenty four hours
(28:44):
in a day to best maximize my core focuses. So
we focus a lot on, you know, making sure that
it makes sense, making sure that I can add value.
And then also so from a return profile standpoint, what
does that look like from a cash flow?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
What does that look like from exit? Long?
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Yeah, yeah, that was really it was really good. I
got two more questions. I'll give them to both of
you guys, And so one is, you know, when people
start making a little bit of money, they they do
want to enjoy some of that. They don't want it
all to be you know, tied up into some you know, yeah, yeah,
you know what I mean. They want to enjoy some
of it. How do you, as an athlete today, as
(29:29):
a president athlete, advise how to do that smartly? So
if I want to go by the chain, you know,
you got the Ojo sinkos, like I'll buy a Kuba
Zaconia all day. You know you got that.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
But then you got people who.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Want the real thing, how do you advise them to
do that? And so we'll start with you, Jalen. Then
I'm gonna get us to youth Michael too. How How
can I still enjoy some of it? Responsible?
Speaker 3 (29:50):
It all comes It all comes down to understanding the
value over cost. You know, what's the value that I'm
getting out of it versus the cost. And then you
have to budget for your fund. You have to budget
for your fun. So if I'm budgeting for this, for
(30:10):
this chain that I want to purchase, I may not
be able to go buy this or go party, or
go buy this this house that I may want or this,
you know what I mean. It's about it's about give
and take. It's about push or pull. Each year, you know,
I have an allocated amount for everything, and by the month,
(30:31):
you know, I get reports on how what was budgeted
and then what was expended.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Yeah, what was the actual? It's called budget versus actual.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
So I'm I'm whenever we and we've all go through
these moments where Okay, if you're spending a lot of money,
you can feel it, you can, but you may not
want to go look at your account, you know. But
I have I have a team that helps hold me
accountable and see you know.
Speaker 5 (30:56):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
But that's that's what.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
I would say for for all the all the youngins
coming up, is you just have to budget what your
fun looks like.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
You can't take it with you. We understand that. But
also a lot of us are the first in our family.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
To accumulate an extreme amount of cash. So if you
really care about your legacy, which I care about passing,
passing down Jender, creating and passing down generational wealth, I
am the individual in my family that has to do
(31:33):
that or that has chose to do that. So with
that comes from sacrificers. I can't go out and buy
everything I want, you know, Yeah, yeah, that's my answer
to that.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Yeah, And I'm gonna get another spin for you, same question, Michael.
But a spind is you know, if I'm making I'm
making a little bit of money now and now I'm
on the same team with Jalen. You know, I ain't
making as much as Jalen. But you know, so when
we walk to dinner, I can't compete with him. He
won't he getting a six hundred dollars of tomahawk. You know,
I'm getting to the four hundred hours, you know, the
(32:06):
over soul, and I can't compete. But the every guy
I'm around or mostly is doing way better. How can
I still maintain that sense of confidence or my position
when I'm I'm around Jalen every day, and Jalen's doing
it at a different level.
Speaker 5 (32:25):
Yeah, I think a lot of it comes down to
identity and being able to manage your ego. You know,
really like it's easier setting down it's not anything to
do at all. But when you are around a whole
bunch of brothers, you know, driving a certain amount of cars,
they got certain chains, they got a great deal of cloud,
(32:48):
and you sitting there right next to him work. I mean,
I haven't experienced it. I've seen it up quotes and personal,
but I ain't did it myself. So I speak humbly
when I say it. But I think if you can
manage your ego, and if you can, I think it's
a lot easier for brothers. When when you value your
(33:09):
last name more than you do your first name, you know,
when you value your last name more than your first name,
you'll think differently. Right, So when you when you think
about honoring the last name Smith, and you think about
honoring for your people that was before you, When you
think about building that name up for your daughter more
(33:32):
than you do think about the name Jalen, I think
that you'll make some different decisions. But when you're constantly
thinking about the first name. I think you make first
name decisions.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Either you want to ask that Jalen like that twist,
you know, because that's you know, you're in the locker room.
There's somebody ain't making as much as you, somebody making
more to you, Like you got to balance that. How
How do you have you seen that play out?
Speaker 2 (33:54):
I was once that guy as well.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
The managing the ego matters a lot of Most of
the time, when you go out with the ogs or
the big homies, nine times out of ten, they're going
to pay for the meal.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Let them pay for the meal. It's okay, it's love.
Like it's love, you know.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
You know me me being a rookie and some of
my OG's would take me shopping, you know, to where
I didn't have to I didn't have to cut into
my my rookie salary that I was getting paid because
the Ogs was taking care of me. It's a it's
a It's definitely a lot of pay it forward that
(34:38):
goes on in the league and in the community. You
just got to know where you fit in and then
also understand, you know, it's going to come a time
where you're the OG and you have the the the obligation,
the opportunity to pay it forward and then and by
that time, you know you used to have your budgets down.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
And in place to where it doesn't affect much.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
I love it. Lastly, I want you both to leave
the audience with something. We'll start with you, Michael, like,
what do you want after having heard this conversation? If
they can only leave with one thing that you have,
you know imparted to this audience. This audience is full
of black entrepreneur, small business owners, technologies, founders, venture capitalists,
agent investors who are trying to build wealth. What would
(35:23):
you leave them with?
Speaker 5 (35:25):
Oh Man, I would say, understand your DNA. Understand your
DNA as an individual right, so know what to desire
and your passion is, know what the need and the
marketplace is, and know what your ability is. Right, identify
your personal DNA. Once you know that DNA, I think
(35:49):
you go after what it is that you want to
and go after mastering something. Don't do things and learn things,
do things to master things. And I would say, then,
don't look at your current ecosystem is a limiture to
what you want to do. Build the ecosystem that you
need to support what you want to do. I thinks
so many times we look at the ecosystem that we
(36:10):
were born into, raised around, and it's like, now, I
don't let that limit the vision that God has given
you for you. If you have the ability, just build
the ecosystem that you need to support you and have
the resources to support that, then and go get it.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
JAIU, I would say, sorry, it's all good.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
The biggest thing that.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
I would say for the viewers is community matters. Network matters.
Me becoming a professional athlete. I understood the value of access,
(36:57):
the value of network, the value of platform. I made
a decision. How old was I MI seventeen years old
when I made the decision that, Okay, I am going
to maximize this platform, in this network and building relationships
(37:17):
being the humans that we are. And then from there
it's okay to think like you have to think about
exactly what you want, where and how to get there.
If you don't know how to get there, find some
get somebody in your circle and in your network that
can help you.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Accomplish what you want to accomplish.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
You never want to be the smartest person in your room.
I get uncomfortable a lot of times when I'm if
I'm consistently in a room where I'm the smartest guy,
I'm comfortable with getting uncomfortable and I know that I
don't know it all. And my my humbleness and my
(38:01):
stewardness and the ability to be a sponge and like
soak everything in is how I've learned so much beyond
the sport, even in the in the business space and
being you know, now, there was a time where I
could not add value to boardrooms or you know, having
(38:22):
the opportunity to be on a board seat, or be
a general partner in a real estate firm and all
of these different endeavors, Like I had to learn from
the best, and it took me asking questions, it took
me allocating time, but it's it's so worth it.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Like this, there's a wide range of.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
Opportunity to be successful in the United States of America,
especially within the black culture as well. I'm a firm
believer in together is better, but it has to be
done the right way, and you have to have the
right people write seats without Without that, you're putting yourself
at risk for destruction, you know. So I my purpose
(39:10):
beyond athletics is to help close the economic and educational
gap that exists in this world today.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
So everything that I do is rooted.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Around that, in my for profit companies and my nonprofit
companies and my company investments that I'm just an LPN
that I'm a general partner in. Like I not only
do I understand the ROI, but it's all about, Okay,
what is your big hairy audation's goal, Like what do
(39:40):
you want to accomplish? And you gotta go from go
from ten years and walk it down to a five
year picture, three year picture, one year picture, ninety day picture. Mike,
can you talk to them a little bit about uh,
eos and rocks and how have helped uh not only
(40:02):
you yourself and your business your businesses and helping mentor
myself and in the and all the other athletes that
you help manage. Talk about the value of that. I
think I think that could add some value.
Speaker 5 (40:18):
Please, yeah, I think that. I think a lot of times,
you know, for us is you know, black entrepreneurs. Man,
we're the most creative, most dynamic people on earth, but
a lot of the time we don't we don't have
the training or the systems. And one of the companies
that Jalen invested in early on in his career was
a company called EOS Worldwide based out of Detroit, Michigan.
(40:40):
That is the largest entrepreneurial operating system in the United
States right now. I think uh to upper mid sized
companies and as we we operate all of our companies
on that. So I operate my company on EOS that
he's invested in its international now and then we we
(41:01):
operate all of our clients companies on it. Because it's
a simple, simplistic system and it just it allows for
compassion and accountability if it clearly understands who's responsible for what.
It allows you to strategize, clarify and execute. And I
think that's really what it comes down to. Like it's
good to have a good vision, and it's good to
(41:22):
have talent, but what's the strategy. Is there clarity amongst
the organization so that we can make sure that we
can execute and like you said earlier, are the right
people on the right seats on the bus. So definitely
something that we operate on. And I think it's a
It's a great book out called Traction, like you know
with me that was the founder of the book and
(41:42):
that that book. Traction is based on the system of
the US.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Congratulations on making you know a good deal there.
Speaker 5 (41:50):
Yeah, for sure, that's gonna be a tenction.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
It's gonna be sometimes you only need one. Black Tech
Green Money is a production of Blavity Afro Tech on
the Black Effect podcast network in Nighthart Media. It's produced
by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas, with the additional
production support by Kate McDonald, Sarah Ergan, and Jada McGee.
Special thank you to Michael Davis and Lovebeach. Learn more
(42:15):
about my guessing of detectives. Ruff is an innovators at
afrotech dot Com. Video version of this episode will drop
to Black Tech Green Money on YouTube, so tap in
enjoy your Black Tech Green Money. Share up to somebody
go get your money. Peace in Love,
Host
Will Lucas
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