May 19, 2022 • 27 mins
In this episode of the PlayBooked Podcast, Chloe touches on Derrian’s experience as being a peer to an olympian, her personal journey as a driven gymnast, her development of her gymnast leotard brand, and her work as an athlete-preneur who is developing her own NFT.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is a presentation of the College Athletes Network.
Hey everybody, this is Chloe V. Mitchell and you are
listening to the Playbooked podcast on the College Athletes Network.
Please subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a
(00:22):
new episode, and this can be easily done on the
I Heart Radio app. Now, if you're wondering what this
podcast is about, let me give you a run down.
Me Chloe Mitchell was the first ever athlete in college
history to be paid off of my name, image, and likeness.
I went viral on TikTok before my freshman year playing
collegiate volleyball at a quaintance college, and I got paid
three thousand dollars for a simple golf ad on my Instagram.
(00:45):
Now I've made far more than three thousand dollars, and
I enjoy helping my fellow collegiate athletes monetize their name,
image and likeness and navigate this new territory. As Athlete Premiers,
each week, I interview a fantastic athlete anywhere in the nation,
at any level and learn about their no successes, there
are no failures, and their overall story as an athlete.
(01:09):
This week's guest is an amazing gymnast from Auburn. She
is a national champion as well as very accomplished athlete preneur.
Let's go get to know where. Okay, guys, I'm here
with dry On and I'm going to be asking her
a bunch of questions. But just to clue our listeners
in on who you are, darry On, tell me a
little bit about yourself and your sport. My name is
(01:31):
Darien go Burn. I am from Sara Soota, Florida. UM.
I am a senior in Auburn University. Um, I'm a
student athlete, so I did gymnastics here. I've been doing
gymnastics for like seventeen years, so really long time. I'm
majoring in a grand merchandizing and level minor in sports coaching.
(01:53):
And yeah, that's pretty much. That's awesome. Do you want
to be a coach post college? I was like thinking
about it a little bit, but probably like maybe in
the future, but one t I'm like done with gymnastics.
I kind of want to branch out and do other things. Yeah,
to take a break after seventeen years of great grinding. Well,
(02:15):
I see you're doing a lot in the nil space.
And before we get into that and all the amazing
things that you're partaking in. How has this past season
been for you something about that? So this past season
has been um crazy, I especially with Sunny Lee being here.
Obviously she's the Olympic Champion all around champions, so it's
(02:39):
been so cool. There's been so much attention on Aupern
gymnastics and it's like kind of scary, but it's also
really cool. So I've I've been having the time in
my life. This has literally been this season um so far.
So I'm super excited. I can't see where we take this. Yeah,
that's awesome. And and your team, you have a bunch
of accomplished players, Sony and did do you guys as
(03:02):
a whole feel pressure that the program is getting so
much tension nowadays. A little bit like, um, it's kind
of hard. Like the other day, I was just at
Taco Mama, and I wanted like a Margart readers something,
but there was you know, there's so many people, so
many eyes. You know, there's a lot of people coming
up to me saying like, I recognize you at TV.
So I kind of just feel like I have to
(03:23):
watch what I do more, even if it's just being
simple like that, Like I'm of a M twenty two,
so it's fine. I just wanna you know, I have
a clean image for Abum Gymnastics, of course, and not
only for Abum Gymnastics, I mean your own personalized leotars
have been putting out and Black Girl Magic and all
of that. I understand the pressure, and I understand what
(03:48):
it's like to, you know, be recognized in public, although
I'm nowhere near as an accomplished athlete as you are.
I remember being in the mall the first time I
ever got recognized from TikTok, and I wasn't doing anything bad.
I was just shopping with my mom. But when somebody
came up to me and was like, hey, are you
Chloe Mitchell, Immediately you start thinking, oh my goodness, did
(04:10):
I say any square words? Are there any children around? Am? I? Am? I?
You know, walking and talking the right way? Um. So
I can't imagine how that is for you. Speaking of
Black Girl Magic and the n f T collection with
Legacy League, what is that we clue our listeners in
onto what you're doing. So basically, I'm coming out with
(04:30):
the n f T um called Black Girl Magic, and
it's basically just a piece of art. That's so that's
why I like tell the piece of art with just
a bunch of um women of color in the gymnastics world,
um in NT double A. I know when I was
growing up, I didn't have a lot of um black
gymnast to look up to. So I just feel like,
(04:51):
you know, putting this out would be so important. Two
little girls looking up to me or you know other
NT double A parts, yeahs gymnastics athletes. So um, it's
really really special to me because, like I said, when
I was a little girl, I wish I had someone
to look up to that looked like me. You know,
we all it's just a different struggle in gymnastics and
anywhere when you look different, you know what I'm saying.
(05:13):
So yeah, that's pretty much what it is. That's incredible.
Tell me why you decided to tap into the n
f T realm and where that came from. Um, I
don't well, my mom kind of brought it up to me,
like I didn't really know what n f T was.
One of my teammates, Um, she she came up with
(05:34):
an n f T and I was like, oh, that's
pretty cool that I didn't really know what it was,
but she explained it to me a little bit, and
so that's when I kind of had the idea of,
you know, the black magic one, because I just didn't
want it to be you know this to me, like
I just felt like I wanted to make it bigger
than that. So that's how it came about. Uh, we
explained to our listeners the super dumb down version of
(05:56):
what an n f T is, because it can be
confused when people explain it certain ways. You know, I'm
still having in this coach. I asked my coach the
other day because I was just like, what really is it?
And he pretty much said it was something like I
can't remember he said, like trading. I can't remember what
(06:16):
he said, but I'm still pretty new to it, so
for sure. But that's the gist of it too. And
I was, you know, looking up what you were doing.
And I love Christie Doosh who just interviewed you, um
and reading her article was incredible, and I was like,
how could we explain to our listeners what an n
f T is. It's pretty much just like, correct me
if I'm among like a digital piece of art kind
(06:38):
of like what you just said yeah, and instead of
it being like a material, it's a digital piece of art,
which how perfect is that in today's day and age.
I think what you're doing is so different. I haven't
seen I haven't seen a lot of this, and I'm
really excited for you. Have you found any struggles with
being an athlete preneur and having to balance being a
(07:00):
very accomplished gymnast. Yes, it's just it's chaotic. Um, it's
my schedule is already crazy being a student athlete. But then,
like you know, you have a lot of people that
want to work with you, and I want to work
with a lot of people too, but I also have
to be smart also have to manage my time. So
I think like that has been the biggest struggle for me,
because I do want to get I want to build
(07:22):
my brand, I want to work with so many people.
But also I'm like, and do I have time to study?
Do I have time to rest? You have time to eat?
So I think that's just kind of the biggest thing.
Did you expect freshman year when you started, you know,
your journey as a collegiate athlete to be in your
senior year of college as this role model not only
(07:45):
role model champion and female entrepreneur. Did you expect all
of this to happen? Like did you set yourself doing
all this? Because it's crazy. Um, it's crazy because I
always tell people is it happen? So asked, like how
anything kind of just happened? Like I was just even
(08:05):
just the path of being like the gymnast, Like I
just I would have never thought, like a lot of
people when they started gymnastics, they start they know, like
people know they want their children to do gymnastics. They
started like too, Like I didn't know I wanted to
do this. My mom just kind of put me in.
I was like seven years old, which is really datic plastics.
And I just tell people how everything kind of just
fell life crazy and I um laid all this out
(08:32):
for me and it's it's super exciting and I can't
wait to see you know how far it's like this?
Of course it's it's really impressive. What's something you wish
you could tell your younger self, whether it's seven year
old Darian who just started or your freshman year of college.
What's what's something What's a piece of advice you wish
you would have known? Um to just trust in the process.
(08:56):
I'm in to college. It was hard because I'm from Florida,
so this out of state and everything. It's hard. Being
a student athlete is just so much different people, friends,
you know, just a lot going on, and um, I
kind of just wish that I had known like it
was gonna work out. Everything is gonna work out. You know,
it's a process and just trusting it. It's gonna get
(09:18):
me where I need to be. That's such fantastic advice.
That's something that you know, I wish I could still
tell myself nowadays, like slow down, it's gonna be okay.
We're going to actually head in to our first break.
For our listeners who are listening to the Playbook podcast.
I am Chloe Mitchell and this is the College Athletes Network.
(09:59):
Welcome back to the Playbooks podcast on the College Athletes Network.
This is Colorie Mitchell and make sure to subscribe to
my podcast so you don't miss a show. We are
talking with Auburn gymnast, Darian Gobern, who is not only
one of the top cleaned chymnasts in the country, but
is blowing up off the mat in the world of name,
image and likeness. My next question to you, Darrin, would
(10:23):
be how hard was it for you to decide on
a design for your Leo's. Well, the first one wasn't
hard at all because I knew I wanted to clean
the I was disych. Well that's that's what I'm known for,
So why not just do that one? So that wasn't
hard at all. Peking, the color purple is my favorite
color as well, so I was like, I want to
purple Leo. The clowns in it and I love it.
(10:44):
That was yeah. And then the other ones, um, I
had to do a little bit more thinking. But um,
the most recent one I just came out with is
a cancer LEO and um, that one is dedicated to
my grandmother because she just passed away, Yeah, from cancer.
So and I promised her, I thought I would give
her I would do LEO for her. So what a
(11:04):
beautiful tribute. Oh my goodness. Wow. When you had this
opportunity presented to you, was it something that your agent found,
was something that you were interested in and reached out for?
How did the process go? Well, it's kind of funny.
The so the lady that UM owns are is the
(11:26):
company salute LYO. I did gymnastics with her daughters, like
in the college. Yeah. So um, when we were able
to make money off of our name, image and likeness,
she was the first one that contacted me. She's like,
I'm gonna do a lead tide with you, and I
was like, now let's go. It was really exciting. That
was that was my first and I'll do that's so cool.
(11:48):
And so you launched the first day that the un
double A passed and I out right, yes, that's genius,
a genius business move. Did you have any other deals
lined up, you know, along with salute leos? Did you
have any other deals that you were planning on doing
in the following weeks after it was passed? Um, no,
(12:09):
because I was kind of like scared honestly because the rules.
There was just so much that went into it, and
you know, going through compliance, it was just it was
kind of a lot, and I feel like everyone kind
of didn't know what was going on. It was just
so new to everyone. So I didn't want, Yeah, I
step on any toes, So I kind of just stayed
with that and then that's kind of just how that went.
(12:30):
I was like, once I learned and figured this out
with this deal and then I'll start doing any more
for sure. How is it nowadays? Um, it's a lot easier. Um,
now that I have an agent. So when I first
had the salute Lyos, I didn't have an agent, so
I was kind of trying to do everything by myself.
I was trying to find this, try to find that,
(12:51):
and um, so it's a lot easier now, especially the agent, um,
who knows the rules. We know what to do and
what not to do. So it's it's a blessing. And
how did you get in contact with him, your agent? Um? Well,
he knew my mother. We're both we're all from Siriceta,
so he knew my mother and he reached out and
(13:12):
he was like, hey, I really would love to work
with theory on. So that's kind of how that went.
And you know, yeah, it's kind of like putting a
lot of trust into someone because you know it's this
is a lot. So um, yeah, that's kind of how
that went. Now, I think that there's a lot of
weight in the word trust and the word didn't Because
(13:33):
now that the mail spaces opened, I've seen a bunch
of my teammates and a bunch of fellow college athletes
who you know play at the D three D two
level um and don't have as big of a platform.
And there are people in their d m s who
are trying to reach out and represent them and take
more than what an agent should take. So I like
(13:55):
that you found a family friend and somebody who you
can trust to Navy, I mean Navy get your finances
in your future. It is, it's a it's a crazy job.
Can I ask how much he takes out of your deals? Um,
I'm not sure that Yeah, yeah, that's okay. I I
my past agent took twenty and when I first heard
(14:18):
that statistic, I was like, oh, that's that's a lot.
That's a big chunk. But having an agent versus not
having an agent is like the equivalent to having a
tornado and a hurricane happening in your emails versus you know,
having was able to you know, perfectly navigated and make
(14:38):
my life so much easier. Exactly. So tell me about
other deals or dream brands that you want to work
with going forward in your final year of being a
gymnast auburn Um. So, like I said, my major, it
is apparent merchandizings that would really love to work with
(14:59):
like like big clothing brands. That's like one of like
the biggest goals is you know, it's kind of you
stay in sports, but also I want to work with
like bigger like fashion brands. Yeah, really cool stuff like
that kind of get into that kind of we're on
the social media, but um, other work I can't really
remember off the top of my head right now, but um,
(15:21):
that's kind of my goal is just to start working
with like bigger brands, clothing. We want luxury clothing brands,
athletic clothing brands. Tell me about that, um, all all
of it. Yeah, I want to do it all. I
can tell you a wicked style. When I was on
(15:42):
your Instagram, I was just sitting there like, oh my gosh,
my is so basic compared to hers. Like do you
enjoy having a social media presence and posting frequently? Yes?
I love. I love taking pictures. I love style of thing.
I just love the aesthetic of it. Yeah. You were
(16:02):
just you were made to be an influencer. Yeah yeah yeah.
Do your teammates feel strongly about what you're doing with
Black Girl Magic and Salute Leo's. Have they been supportive?
What's that like? Um? I haven't really talked to my
teammates about the n f T collection yet, but I'm
(16:23):
sure there would be, um super supportive of what I'm doing.
And yeah, so it's not like fully out yet, but
I'm sure when I launch it, um, they'll be super
proud of me. Of course. That's awesome. And the locker
room talks surrounding NIL has that been really positive on
the home front. Um, Yeah, it's just it's kind of
(16:47):
kind of like split because we have some people that
really want to do it, and there's some people that
just want to focus on school, and there's some people
that just want to focus on gymnastics because not everyone
can balance you know, all of this. Yeah, that's kind
of that's how it kind of goes lack room. Yeah,
I get that. I mean there's a lot of people too,
and from the other interviews that I've done with very
accomplished athletes like yourself, I find them having to defend
(17:13):
themselves and constantly say like, it's not a distraction, it's
just adding to my hobbies. And it's like, you know,
my coaches won't get mad at me about this because
I'm focusing on gymnastics or football or volleyball, whatever sport
they're talking about, and it's not a distraction. And I
think that the whole argument that every athlete can make
(17:36):
money off of n I L and not be distracted.
I think that that plays into the fact that like,
not everybody can be on social media and can be
successful because not everybody is meant to be in front
of the camera. Now everybody wants to be in front
of the camera, you know, So that balance and figuring
out how to not make it a distraction and still
(17:58):
on your scholarship and still make sure you have priority straight.
It's definitely a hard balance, but I think it's worth it.
I don't know, I mean, but I think it's really
worth it. My next question to you would be, if
you could collaborate with any other athlete, gymnist or not
at the collegiate level, who would it be and why
(18:22):
could collaborate? Um? Oh man, I'd say, well, Trinity Thomas.
She doesn't go here, but she she's at UF gymnast
and she's so she's so good, but she's just her presence.
It is so amazing that she's so beautiful and she
just I just love her so much. So probably probably
(18:45):
Trinity how did you mirror? Um? I met her in college.
She was a elite athlete for a long time, but
I UM I met her in college. We were um
she was my we're both seniors this year, and I
remember they always used to like kind of like compare
as our freshman year and stuff like that. But she's
(19:06):
just so sweet and I just if anybody I would,
I feel like I would pick her. Oh. I love
how you talk about her. I can tell you really
admire her. Yeah, that's awesome. I'm sure she would feel
the same about you. Your name and you know, your
celebration with the crown in your hands. I just I
think that's so cool. And I think that the term
(19:27):
being a queen like I didn't. I didn't expect you
to be so humble and so kind. Not that the
word queen means you're not going to be humble and kind,
but you just have a really great demeanor about you,
and you're easy to talk to. You're gonna go really far.
You're over far and live girl. Okay, we're heading into
our next break. Everybody, you're listening to the Playbooks podcast.
(19:48):
I am your host, Clie Mitchell, and you're on the
College Athletes Network. Yeah, welcome back to the Playbook podcast
(20:16):
on the College Athletes Network. I am your host, Cheloe Mitchell,
and again make sure to subscribe to my podcast so
you don't miss a show. My wonderful guest is Darian Goburn,
and I've been interviewing her about what's it like to
be one of the most amazing collegiate gymnasts in the
country who was also blowing up off the match in
the world of name, image and likeness. Now, let's talk
(20:40):
about some of the struggles that you may or may
not have had with n I l mm hmm, yeah,
what would those be? Well, I feel like at first,
I felt like I wasn't like getting any work. I
felt like I was kind of just rushing everything and
I was just trying to do too much, and so
(21:00):
I kind of just felt like I was kind of
like down on myself when everything first started. But when
I just kind of focused on what need to be
focused on and kind of allowed you know, things to
come to me, um, things started work out. But when
everything first started, it was just so chaotic and I
didn't even need to do and I felt like, should
I reach out to this person that they're going to
reach out to me. So that was kind of like
(21:22):
the biggest struggle with it. I am for sure not
not really knowing how to navigate it. I mean, it's
such a new territory. So how did you how did
you start to figure it out? Was it? Uh sorry,
go ahead? Um? Well, well when we first well when
we've learned like how to navigate it and like what
we were allowed to do and what lines not to cross.
(21:44):
And then obviously getting an agent, I've been getting like
so much more work because you know he's helping, he's
reaching out to Forbes, just reaching out to Lulu so
and he just knows. He just knows people that knows.
So yeah, have those connections is super important. Do you
get a lot of business inquiries in your d M
(22:05):
s or is it mainly in your email? Ummm yeah?
And how important is being active on Instagram for you know,
getting those deals and securing secaring the bag. It's super
important I know for me, Like sometimes I like miss
(22:27):
it because a lot of them are in my request.
Um yeah, yeah, so like sometimes I'll miss it and
I'll be like I'm I know, or like oh my god,
I'm so sorry, like exactly, like I won't see it
for weeks or sometimes I like don't want to go
into my requested because there are some creepy people in there,
you know. Yeah, but okay, okay, cool. I'm just trying
(22:51):
to give our listeners as much advice as they possibly
could get. So when you started out before, n I
l how many followers did you approximately have before? And yeah, um,
like seven thousand. Wow you've grown a lot. Yeah, Like
(23:13):
it's it's been crazy, like like every meet I'll get
like a hundred followers or or more. It's just like crazy,
Like I don't I've never had like like build as much. So,
and how do you plan to sustain your audience and
keep them around? Um? Just being active and being trying
(23:35):
to engage with them a lot? Yea for sure. And
I think it's really important to note that there are
people on social media who use their platform for good
and use their platform for bad. And obviously you're doing
some amazing things, so I I wouldn't worry about your
following going anywhere. You're a very geful person and that's
(23:56):
hard to find in this space. Um, when it comes
to you and gymnastics and this phase of life ending
for you, what are your feelings about that? Oh, I
don't know. It's kind of bitter sweet. I'm a person
that I'm really not defined by gymnastics, which I'm so
(24:18):
grateful for I was. I'm so grateful for how my mom,
you know, brought me up. She always just like, this
is not who you are. So so, I mean, I'll
be fine when I'm done with it. It's just been
such a big part of my life. But I'm really
grateful that it's given me a platform and it's given
me a space to you know, grow and go beyond
(24:39):
you know, just gymnastics area on. So of course that's incredible.
Do you when you look at the following that you
have now and the potential that you have and how
far you're going to go, do you get excited? Do
you get nervous? How do you feel about that? Um?
I get really I died. Sometimes I get ahead of myself,
(25:03):
so I mean, I can like kind of pick myself
out kind of there. But I'm just really excited to
just see where, you know, I could take everything, and
I just know that I have to take everything one
step at a time because I like to kind of
jump ahead, you know, Like that was like the biggest thing,
you know. I was talking to my coach UM, and
I was like, I just want to have a really
good senior season, and he was kind of just like, well,
(25:26):
you kind of have to just be here. He was like,
I know you want to be there. I know you
want to do really cool things. But and he was like,
especially with n I L I just really need to
be focused on, you know, your senior year and just
being present. Yeah. And when you heard that, did any
part of you be like, I am focused, but I
also want to make money? Like how how is your
head space when your coach told you that? Um, I
(25:47):
kind of I kinda was like, take it back because
I was like, like he was like totally right, because
my head was just like over here. I was like, Okay,
I'm ready to graduate and do this and work with
this person and this person, and I was I was
it is already here and I need to take the steps.
So UM, that really stuck with me. And I'm so
grateful you know that we had that talk, because it
(26:07):
definitely put me in a different light headspace. Now I'm
just making different decisions in my life. Just what's your
overall advice for the end of this podcast. Um, kind
of just trusting that you're exactly where you need to be.
I love it. I love it well, sad, short and sweet. Okay, Well,
(26:31):
I appreciate your time more than anything. Everybody you just
listened to the Playbooks podcast. I'm Chloe Mitchell, your host,
and I'm here with Darian Gobern, and we appreciate your time.
Let's head into the outro. Wow, what an incredible interview.
I love hearing that even an accomplished do you want
an athlete who is doing all of these incredible business ventures,
(26:54):
is still learning how to navigate n I L. And
that's important to keep in mind, folks. Even me myself,
a female business owner who's been in this space for
the past two and a half years, is still learning
how to navigate this territory. And we do that simply
by talking about our experiences, talking about our brand deals,
and just pulling back the curtain of what N I
(27:16):
L truly is. And that's what the Playbook podcast is
here to do. So, as always, guys, thank you for
listening to the Playbook Podcast on the College Athletes Network.
Please subscribe so you don't miss an episode on I
Heart Radio app I am Chloe van Mitchell and we'll
talk soon. Also, be sure to follow me on all
of my socials at Chloe v Mitchell, on I G
(27:37):
and TikTok in YouTube to stay up to date with
what we're doing on the Playbook podcast by Guys. This
has been a presentation of the College Athletes Network.
The following is a presentation of the College Athletes Network.
Hey everybody, this is Chloe V. Mitchell and you are
listening to the Playbooked podcast on the College Athletes Network.
Please subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a
(00:22):
new episode, and this can be easily done on the
I Heart Radio app. Now, if you're wondering what this
podcast is about, let me give you a run down.
Me Chloe Mitchell was the first ever athlete in college
history to be paid off of my name, image, and likeness.
I went viral on TikTok before my freshman year playing
collegiate volleyball at a quaintance college, and I got paid
three thousand dollars for a simple golf ad on my Instagram.
(00:45):
Now I've made far more than three thousand dollars, and
I enjoy helping my fellow collegiate athletes monetize their name,
image and likeness and navigate this new territory. As Athlete Premiers,
each week, I interview a fantastic athlete anywhere in the nation,
at any level and learn about their no successes, there
are no failures, and their overall story as an athlete.
(01:09):
This week's guest is an amazing gymnast from Auburn. She
is a national champion as well as very accomplished athlete preneur.
Let's go get to know where. Okay, guys, I'm here
with dry On and I'm going to be asking her
a bunch of questions. But just to clue our listeners
in on who you are, darry On, tell me a
little bit about yourself and your sport. My name is
(01:31):
Darien go Burn. I am from Sara Soota, Florida. UM.
I am a senior in Auburn University. Um, I'm a
student athlete, so I did gymnastics here. I've been doing
gymnastics for like seventeen years, so really long time. I'm
majoring in a grand merchandizing and level minor in sports coaching.
(01:53):
And yeah, that's pretty much. That's awesome. Do you want
to be a coach post college? I was like thinking
about it a little bit, but probably like maybe in
the future, but one t I'm like done with gymnastics.
I kind of want to branch out and do other things. Yeah,
to take a break after seventeen years of great grinding. Well,
(02:15):
I see you're doing a lot in the nil space.
And before we get into that and all the amazing
things that you're partaking in. How has this past season
been for you something about that? So this past season
has been um crazy, I especially with Sunny Lee being here.
Obviously she's the Olympic Champion all around champions, so it's
(02:39):
been so cool. There's been so much attention on Aupern
gymnastics and it's like kind of scary, but it's also
really cool. So I've I've been having the time in
my life. This has literally been this season um so far.
So I'm super excited. I can't see where we take this. Yeah,
that's awesome. And and your team, you have a bunch
of accomplished players, Sony and did do you guys as
(03:02):
a whole feel pressure that the program is getting so
much tension nowadays. A little bit like, um, it's kind
of hard. Like the other day, I was just at
Taco Mama, and I wanted like a Margart readers something,
but there was you know, there's so many people, so
many eyes. You know, there's a lot of people coming
up to me saying like, I recognize you at TV.
So I kind of just feel like I have to
(03:23):
watch what I do more, even if it's just being
simple like that, Like I'm of a M twenty two,
so it's fine. I just wanna you know, I have
a clean image for Abum Gymnastics, of course, and not
only for Abum Gymnastics, I mean your own personalized leotars
have been putting out and Black Girl Magic and all
of that. I understand the pressure, and I understand what
(03:48):
it's like to, you know, be recognized in public, although
I'm nowhere near as an accomplished athlete as you are.
I remember being in the mall the first time I
ever got recognized from TikTok, and I wasn't doing anything bad.
I was just shopping with my mom. But when somebody
came up to me and was like, hey, are you
Chloe Mitchell, Immediately you start thinking, oh my goodness, did
(04:10):
I say any square words? Are there any children around? Am? I? Am? I?
You know, walking and talking the right way? Um. So
I can't imagine how that is for you. Speaking of
Black Girl Magic and the n f T collection with
Legacy League, what is that we clue our listeners in
onto what you're doing. So basically, I'm coming out with
(04:30):
the n f T um called Black Girl Magic, and
it's basically just a piece of art. That's so that's
why I like tell the piece of art with just
a bunch of um women of color in the gymnastics world,
um in NT double A. I know when I was
growing up, I didn't have a lot of um black
gymnast to look up to. So I just feel like,
(04:51):
you know, putting this out would be so important. Two
little girls looking up to me or you know other
NT double A parts, yeahs gymnastics athletes. So um, it's
really really special to me because, like I said, when
I was a little girl, I wish I had someone
to look up to that looked like me. You know,
we all it's just a different struggle in gymnastics and
anywhere when you look different, you know what I'm saying.
(05:13):
So yeah, that's pretty much what it is. That's incredible.
Tell me why you decided to tap into the n
f T realm and where that came from. Um, I
don't well, my mom kind of brought it up to me,
like I didn't really know what n f T was.
One of my teammates, Um, she she came up with
(05:34):
an n f T and I was like, oh, that's
pretty cool that I didn't really know what it was,
but she explained it to me a little bit, and
so that's when I kind of had the idea of,
you know, the black magic one, because I just didn't
want it to be you know this to me, like
I just felt like I wanted to make it bigger
than that. So that's how it came about. Uh, we
explained to our listeners the super dumb down version of
(05:56):
what an n f T is, because it can be
confused when people explain it certain ways. You know, I'm
still having in this coach. I asked my coach the
other day because I was just like, what really is it?
And he pretty much said it was something like I
can't remember he said, like trading. I can't remember what
(06:16):
he said, but I'm still pretty new to it, so
for sure. But that's the gist of it too. And
I was, you know, looking up what you were doing.
And I love Christie Doosh who just interviewed you, um
and reading her article was incredible, and I was like,
how could we explain to our listeners what an n
f T is. It's pretty much just like, correct me
if I'm among like a digital piece of art kind
(06:38):
of like what you just said yeah, and instead of
it being like a material, it's a digital piece of art,
which how perfect is that in today's day and age.
I think what you're doing is so different. I haven't
seen I haven't seen a lot of this, and I'm
really excited for you. Have you found any struggles with
being an athlete preneur and having to balance being a
(07:00):
very accomplished gymnast. Yes, it's just it's chaotic. Um, it's
my schedule is already crazy being a student athlete. But then,
like you know, you have a lot of people that
want to work with you, and I want to work
with a lot of people too, but I also have
to be smart also have to manage my time. So
I think like that has been the biggest struggle for me,
because I do want to get I want to build
(07:22):
my brand, I want to work with so many people.
But also I'm like, and do I have time to study?
Do I have time to rest? You have time to eat?
So I think that's just kind of the biggest thing.
Did you expect freshman year when you started, you know,
your journey as a collegiate athlete to be in your
senior year of college as this role model not only
(07:45):
role model champion and female entrepreneur. Did you expect all
of this to happen? Like did you set yourself doing
all this? Because it's crazy. Um, it's crazy because I
always tell people is it happen? So asked, like how
anything kind of just happened? Like I was just even
(08:05):
just the path of being like the gymnast, Like I
just I would have never thought, like a lot of
people when they started gymnastics, they start they know, like
people know they want their children to do gymnastics. They
started like too, Like I didn't know I wanted to
do this. My mom just kind of put me in.
I was like seven years old, which is really datic plastics.
And I just tell people how everything kind of just
fell life crazy and I um laid all this out
(08:32):
for me and it's it's super exciting and I can't
wait to see you know how far it's like this?
Of course it's it's really impressive. What's something you wish
you could tell your younger self, whether it's seven year
old Darian who just started or your freshman year of college.
What's what's something What's a piece of advice you wish
you would have known? Um to just trust in the process.
(08:56):
I'm in to college. It was hard because I'm from Florida,
so this out of state and everything. It's hard. Being
a student athlete is just so much different people, friends,
you know, just a lot going on, and um, I
kind of just wish that I had known like it
was gonna work out. Everything is gonna work out. You know,
it's a process and just trusting it. It's gonna get
(09:18):
me where I need to be. That's such fantastic advice.
That's something that you know, I wish I could still
tell myself nowadays, like slow down, it's gonna be okay.
We're going to actually head in to our first break.
For our listeners who are listening to the Playbook podcast.
I am Chloe Mitchell and this is the College Athletes Network.
(09:59):
Welcome back to the Playbooks podcast on the College Athletes Network.
This is Colorie Mitchell and make sure to subscribe to
my podcast so you don't miss a show. We are
talking with Auburn gymnast, Darian Gobern, who is not only
one of the top cleaned chymnasts in the country, but
is blowing up off the mat in the world of name,
image and likeness. My next question to you, Darrin, would
(10:23):
be how hard was it for you to decide on
a design for your Leo's. Well, the first one wasn't
hard at all because I knew I wanted to clean
the I was disych. Well that's that's what I'm known for,
So why not just do that one? So that wasn't
hard at all. Peking, the color purple is my favorite
color as well, so I was like, I want to
purple Leo. The clowns in it and I love it.
(10:44):
That was yeah. And then the other ones, um, I
had to do a little bit more thinking. But um,
the most recent one I just came out with is
a cancer LEO and um, that one is dedicated to
my grandmother because she just passed away, Yeah, from cancer.
So and I promised her, I thought I would give
her I would do LEO for her. So what a
(11:04):
beautiful tribute. Oh my goodness. Wow. When you had this
opportunity presented to you, was it something that your agent found,
was something that you were interested in and reached out for?
How did the process go? Well, it's kind of funny.
The so the lady that UM owns are is the
(11:26):
company salute LYO. I did gymnastics with her daughters, like
in the college. Yeah. So um, when we were able
to make money off of our name, image and likeness,
she was the first one that contacted me. She's like,
I'm gonna do a lead tide with you, and I
was like, now let's go. It was really exciting. That
was that was my first and I'll do that's so cool.
(11:48):
And so you launched the first day that the un
double A passed and I out right, yes, that's genius,
a genius business move. Did you have any other deals
lined up, you know, along with salute leos? Did you
have any other deals that you were planning on doing
in the following weeks after it was passed? Um, no,
(12:09):
because I was kind of like scared honestly because the rules.
There was just so much that went into it, and
you know, going through compliance, it was just it was
kind of a lot, and I feel like everyone kind
of didn't know what was going on. It was just
so new to everyone. So I didn't want, Yeah, I
step on any toes, So I kind of just stayed
with that and then that's kind of just how that went.
(12:30):
I was like, once I learned and figured this out
with this deal and then I'll start doing any more
for sure. How is it nowadays? Um, it's a lot easier. Um,
now that I have an agent. So when I first
had the salute Lyos, I didn't have an agent, so
I was kind of trying to do everything by myself.
I was trying to find this, try to find that,
(12:51):
and um, so it's a lot easier now, especially the agent, um,
who knows the rules. We know what to do and
what not to do. So it's it's a blessing. And
how did you get in contact with him, your agent? Um? Well,
he knew my mother. We're both we're all from Siriceta,
so he knew my mother and he reached out and
(13:12):
he was like, hey, I really would love to work
with theory on. So that's kind of how that went.
And you know, yeah, it's kind of like putting a
lot of trust into someone because you know it's this
is a lot. So um, yeah, that's kind of how
that went. Now, I think that there's a lot of
weight in the word trust and the word didn't Because
(13:33):
now that the mail spaces opened, I've seen a bunch
of my teammates and a bunch of fellow college athletes
who you know play at the D three D two
level um and don't have as big of a platform.
And there are people in their d m s who
are trying to reach out and represent them and take
more than what an agent should take. So I like
(13:55):
that you found a family friend and somebody who you
can trust to Navy, I mean Navy get your finances
in your future. It is, it's a it's a crazy job.
Can I ask how much he takes out of your deals? Um,
I'm not sure that Yeah, yeah, that's okay. I I
my past agent took twenty and when I first heard
(14:18):
that statistic, I was like, oh, that's that's a lot.
That's a big chunk. But having an agent versus not
having an agent is like the equivalent to having a
tornado and a hurricane happening in your emails versus you know,
having was able to you know, perfectly navigated and make
(14:38):
my life so much easier. Exactly. So tell me about
other deals or dream brands that you want to work
with going forward in your final year of being a
gymnast auburn Um. So, like I said, my major, it
is apparent merchandizings that would really love to work with
(14:59):
like like big clothing brands. That's like one of like
the biggest goals is you know, it's kind of you
stay in sports, but also I want to work with
like bigger like fashion brands. Yeah, really cool stuff like
that kind of get into that kind of we're on
the social media, but um, other work I can't really
remember off the top of my head right now, but um,
(15:21):
that's kind of my goal is just to start working
with like bigger brands, clothing. We want luxury clothing brands,
athletic clothing brands. Tell me about that, um, all all
of it. Yeah, I want to do it all. I
can tell you a wicked style. When I was on
(15:42):
your Instagram, I was just sitting there like, oh my gosh,
my is so basic compared to hers. Like do you
enjoy having a social media presence and posting frequently? Yes?
I love. I love taking pictures. I love style of thing.
I just love the aesthetic of it. Yeah. You were
(16:02):
just you were made to be an influencer. Yeah yeah yeah.
Do your teammates feel strongly about what you're doing with
Black Girl Magic and Salute Leo's. Have they been supportive?
What's that like? Um? I haven't really talked to my
teammates about the n f T collection yet, but I'm
(16:23):
sure there would be, um super supportive of what I'm doing.
And yeah, so it's not like fully out yet, but
I'm sure when I launch it, um, they'll be super
proud of me. Of course. That's awesome. And the locker
room talks surrounding NIL has that been really positive on
the home front. Um, Yeah, it's just it's kind of
(16:47):
kind of like split because we have some people that
really want to do it, and there's some people that
just want to focus on school, and there's some people
that just want to focus on gymnastics because not everyone
can balance you know, all of this. Yeah, that's kind
of that's how it kind of goes lack room. Yeah,
I get that. I mean there's a lot of people too,
and from the other interviews that I've done with very
accomplished athletes like yourself, I find them having to defend
(17:13):
themselves and constantly say like, it's not a distraction, it's
just adding to my hobbies. And it's like, you know,
my coaches won't get mad at me about this because
I'm focusing on gymnastics or football or volleyball, whatever sport
they're talking about, and it's not a distraction. And I
think that the whole argument that every athlete can make
(17:36):
money off of n I L and not be distracted.
I think that that plays into the fact that like,
not everybody can be on social media and can be
successful because not everybody is meant to be in front
of the camera. Now everybody wants to be in front
of the camera, you know, So that balance and figuring
out how to not make it a distraction and still
(17:58):
on your scholarship and still make sure you have priority straight.
It's definitely a hard balance, but I think it's worth it.
I don't know, I mean, but I think it's really
worth it. My next question to you would be, if
you could collaborate with any other athlete, gymnist or not
at the collegiate level, who would it be and why
(18:22):
could collaborate? Um? Oh man, I'd say, well, Trinity Thomas.
She doesn't go here, but she she's at UF gymnast
and she's so she's so good, but she's just her presence.
It is so amazing that she's so beautiful and she
just I just love her so much. So probably probably
(18:45):
Trinity how did you mirror? Um? I met her in college.
She was a elite athlete for a long time, but
I UM I met her in college. We were um
she was my we're both seniors this year, and I
remember they always used to like kind of like compare
as our freshman year and stuff like that. But she's
(19:06):
just so sweet and I just if anybody I would,
I feel like I would pick her. Oh. I love
how you talk about her. I can tell you really
admire her. Yeah, that's awesome. I'm sure she would feel
the same about you. Your name and you know, your
celebration with the crown in your hands. I just I
think that's so cool. And I think that the term
(19:27):
being a queen like I didn't. I didn't expect you
to be so humble and so kind. Not that the
word queen means you're not going to be humble and kind,
but you just have a really great demeanor about you,
and you're easy to talk to. You're gonna go really far.
You're over far and live girl. Okay, we're heading into
our next break. Everybody, you're listening to the Playbooks podcast.
(19:48):
I am your host, Clie Mitchell, and you're on the
College Athletes Network. Yeah, welcome back to the Playbook podcast
(20:16):
on the College Athletes Network. I am your host, Cheloe Mitchell,
and again make sure to subscribe to my podcast so
you don't miss a show. My wonderful guest is Darian Goburn,
and I've been interviewing her about what's it like to
be one of the most amazing collegiate gymnasts in the
country who was also blowing up off the match in
the world of name, image and likeness. Now, let's talk
(20:40):
about some of the struggles that you may or may
not have had with n I l mm hmm, yeah,
what would those be? Well, I feel like at first,
I felt like I wasn't like getting any work. I
felt like I was kind of just rushing everything and
I was just trying to do too much, and so
(21:00):
I kind of just felt like I was kind of
like down on myself when everything first started. But when
I just kind of focused on what need to be
focused on and kind of allowed you know, things to
come to me, um, things started work out. But when
everything first started, it was just so chaotic and I
didn't even need to do and I felt like, should
I reach out to this person that they're going to
reach out to me. So that was kind of like
(21:22):
the biggest struggle with it. I am for sure not
not really knowing how to navigate it. I mean, it's
such a new territory. So how did you how did
you start to figure it out? Was it? Uh sorry,
go ahead? Um? Well, well when we first well when
we've learned like how to navigate it and like what
we were allowed to do and what lines not to cross.
(21:44):
And then obviously getting an agent, I've been getting like
so much more work because you know he's helping, he's
reaching out to Forbes, just reaching out to Lulu so
and he just knows. He just knows people that knows.
So yeah, have those connections is super important. Do you
get a lot of business inquiries in your d M
(22:05):
s or is it mainly in your email? Ummm yeah?
And how important is being active on Instagram for you know,
getting those deals and securing secaring the bag. It's super
important I know for me, Like sometimes I like miss
(22:27):
it because a lot of them are in my request.
Um yeah, yeah, so like sometimes I'll miss it and
I'll be like I'm I know, or like oh my god,
I'm so sorry, like exactly, like I won't see it
for weeks or sometimes I like don't want to go
into my requested because there are some creepy people in there,
you know. Yeah, but okay, okay, cool. I'm just trying
(22:51):
to give our listeners as much advice as they possibly
could get. So when you started out before, n I
l how many followers did you approximately have before? And yeah, um,
like seven thousand. Wow you've grown a lot. Yeah, Like
(23:13):
it's it's been crazy, like like every meet I'll get
like a hundred followers or or more. It's just like crazy,
Like I don't I've never had like like build as much. So,
and how do you plan to sustain your audience and
keep them around? Um? Just being active and being trying
(23:35):
to engage with them a lot? Yea for sure. And
I think it's really important to note that there are
people on social media who use their platform for good
and use their platform for bad. And obviously you're doing
some amazing things, so I I wouldn't worry about your
following going anywhere. You're a very geful person and that's
(23:56):
hard to find in this space. Um, when it comes
to you and gymnastics and this phase of life ending
for you, what are your feelings about that? Oh, I
don't know. It's kind of bitter sweet. I'm a person
that I'm really not defined by gymnastics, which I'm so
(24:18):
grateful for I was. I'm so grateful for how my mom,
you know, brought me up. She always just like, this
is not who you are. So so, I mean, I'll
be fine when I'm done with it. It's just been
such a big part of my life. But I'm really
grateful that it's given me a platform and it's given
me a space to you know, grow and go beyond
(24:39):
you know, just gymnastics area on. So of course that's incredible.
Do you when you look at the following that you
have now and the potential that you have and how
far you're going to go, do you get excited? Do
you get nervous? How do you feel about that? Um?
I get really I died. Sometimes I get ahead of myself,
(25:03):
so I mean, I can like kind of pick myself
out kind of there. But I'm just really excited to
just see where, you know, I could take everything, and
I just know that I have to take everything one
step at a time because I like to kind of
jump ahead, you know, Like that was like the biggest thing,
you know. I was talking to my coach UM, and
I was like, I just want to have a really
good senior season, and he was kind of just like, well,
(25:26):
you kind of have to just be here. He was like,
I know you want to be there. I know you
want to do really cool things. But and he was like,
especially with n I L I just really need to
be focused on, you know, your senior year and just
being present. Yeah. And when you heard that, did any
part of you be like, I am focused, but I
also want to make money? Like how how is your
head space when your coach told you that? Um, I
(25:47):
kind of I kinda was like, take it back because
I was like, like he was like totally right, because
my head was just like over here. I was like, Okay,
I'm ready to graduate and do this and work with
this person and this person, and I was I was
it is already here and I need to take the steps.
So UM, that really stuck with me. And I'm so
grateful you know that we had that talk, because it
(26:07):
definitely put me in a different light headspace. Now I'm
just making different decisions in my life. Just what's your
overall advice for the end of this podcast. Um, kind
of just trusting that you're exactly where you need to be.
I love it. I love it well, sad, short and sweet. Okay, Well,
(26:31):
I appreciate your time more than anything. Everybody you just
listened to the Playbooks podcast. I'm Chloe Mitchell, your host,
and I'm here with Darian Gobern, and we appreciate your time.
Let's head into the outro. Wow, what an incredible interview.
I love hearing that even an accomplished do you want
an athlete who is doing all of these incredible business ventures,
(26:54):
is still learning how to navigate n I L. And
that's important to keep in mind, folks. Even me myself,
a female business owner who's been in this space for
the past two and a half years, is still learning
how to navigate this territory. And we do that simply
by talking about our experiences, talking about our brand deals,
and just pulling back the curtain of what N I
(27:16):
L truly is. And that's what the Playbook podcast is
here to do. So, as always, guys, thank you for
listening to the Playbook Podcast on the College Athletes Network.
Please subscribe so you don't miss an episode on I
Heart Radio app I am Chloe van Mitchell and we'll
talk soon. Also, be sure to follow me on all
of my socials at Chloe v Mitchell, on I G
(27:37):
and TikTok in YouTube to stay up to date with
what we're doing on the Playbook podcast by Guys. This
has been a presentation of the College Athletes Network.
Host
Chloe V. Mitchell
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