January 19, 2023 • 34 mins
John Ruiz, the owner of LifeWallet and Cigarette Racing, joins Hanna and Haley on Twin Talk. The huge Miami Hurricanes booster was named the most impactful person in NIL for 2022 and on this podcast you learn why. Ruiz explains how he navigated NIL, which benefited student athletes and his companies.
John, Hanna and Haley also get into:
- Johns' advice for all student athletes
- What John thinks has to change with NIL
- Johns' prediction on where NIL is headed
- Why he fights back on Twitter
- Who influenced John the most growing up
- Johns' greatest success
Plus they get into his favorite Miami hot spot, where you must vacation and the quote you must live by .. all that & more on this episode of Twin Talk
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
The following is a presentation of the College Athletes Network.
What's up, guys, this is twin Talk. I'm Haley and
I'm Hannah and we are the kaving are twins on
College Athletes Network. Okay, so I feel like this was
(00:25):
big news shocker that we went to Miami for basketball.
Oh yeah, let's talk about that. Let's talk about that.
Why are we transferred, Why we came to Miami the
Nile space? Did we just come here? And this is
going to be touching on the UM. The person who
is coming on this week's episode, Mr John Ruise, one
(00:46):
of the best lawyers out there, one of the greatest
males I've ever seen with advice knowledge and just how
he lives his life and raises his family and my
family and I have been blessed to be able to
even see it. So I'm so only to have him
on our podcast. I know I cannot wait for you
guys to hear that. But before then, and let's talk
about why we transferred. So let's talk about last year, Haley.
(01:10):
Last year we If you guys didn't know hand and
I played college basketball, there's any people that are tuned
in that aren't aware of UM US. But we played
basketball at Fresno State for three years and we loved it.
I had the best relationship with our coaches. I met
two of my best friends there to me and Sid
And then we just didn't have a good mute year
last year. Yes, Um, we were losing a lot of games. Um,
(01:34):
we weren't performing at the at the level of competition
of the Mountain West Conference and we got to the tournament.
But previous before last year, we made it to the
championship game, which in mid major basketball you have to
win the championship game to get to the March Mountess Tournament. Um,
but we lost the first round verse a lower opponent
(01:55):
than us, so they were literally ranked Utah State, And yeah,
I was kind of just a little bit of a
moment where were like, Okay, what is going to be
the next step for us? Like what we have to
kind of acknowledge that the state that we're in and
what do we want to do for ourselves? And you
have to be selfish no matter how many good people
are in that town. So yeah, after we went home
(02:16):
and took a little bit break off because we weren't
making a postseason um hand and I decided after talking
to our family, we wanted to enter the transfer portal. Honestly,
it was really scary, just because we play basketball together
with the same position. Um, you never know if the
grass is greener. And also there's so many people on
the outside talking about why are you transferring? What if
you are, what are the reasons behind it? All the naysayers. Um,
(02:40):
So we put our long story short. We put our
name into the transfer portal in March, and then um,
we started getting a bunch like right away, we started
getting looks together from the Power of Five schools, and
I was like, okay, Like we worked our whole life,
like I want to play um at the biggest stage
of the highest level, and when like I love to
(03:00):
win hand and I grew up with like such a
competitive family, a basketball family, Like all I want to
do is win, and that's where I wanted. We wanted
to go somewhere to win, and we wanted to go
somewhere to get to the March Motters tournament because we've
never been there. Um, like Hayley said, you work your
whole life at a sport. You sacrifice so much and
you want to give yourself and put yourself in the
best position to get to a place. UM like any
(03:22):
any person would UM in life, you want to be
the most successful as you can. You want to take
the next step and get um and put yourself in
the best decision. So that was why we decided to transfer. UM.
We were looking at schools in Florida because we have
family here. My sister lives here and my grandparents lived here.
And then California and Arizona. UM so our top three
(03:45):
we're USC, the University of Miami and Arizona State. Yes,
so we took visits to all those. We had also
other schools too and like the Pact twelve and other
big conferences, but we just decided to narrow those down
due to location too. We wanted to go to a
school where we could um see ourselves being happy without
basketball as well. UM. So after taking our official visits
(04:08):
and stuff, we we came to Miami, gone, gone onto
the campus. Loved the players, love the university, and the
University of Miami's like beautiful and just the area around it.
And then obviously everything that coached Meyer brings to her
program that we got to see, like this isn't stuff
you just like make up either, like We're just basketball
players wanting to go to a school to get to
(04:28):
the March Madness Tournament. So it's like really funny when
everyone came out and was like, oh, you're just going
there because of n I L And yeah, so it did.
I remember we tweeted it and it like broke ESPN,
like it was on, Like I was like, why are
we on ESPN? Like I literally was watching It was
a counter Twins transferred to Miami. We were like we
were like literally eating utter favorite Mexican restaurant Arizona. This
(04:51):
popped up. But yeah, no, it was just really cool
to see. And I think it was definitely a step
to Haley and I wanted to take together and like uh,
like Haley said, Um, obviously going to Miami isn't a
negative for and I, but it wasn't the reason why
we transferred. And that's why, um, people didn't understand, like,
obviously it is beneficial to be in a city on
Miami's amazing, the weather is amazing, Like there's so many
(05:13):
bonuses that came for it, but the real reason was
for basketball and all the you know ads onto that
was just bonuses. Like I said, so, um, yeah, I'm
so happy that we did. It's kind of crazy how
how time has flown. Like we were talking about this
the other day, right, I think so too, and I
think that like we were doing fine. I just wanted
to put this out. We were doing like really, we
(05:34):
were doing fine more than fine with n I l
in Fresno. So it wasn't as if, oh, my gosh,
we need to go to Miami to make a move
for you know, our success with name, image and likeness.
It was more I love Florida, my families here, I
love coach, I love the players. So everything was like
why not, why not Miami? And then it just so
(05:55):
after we committed and stuff, it's like, oh, the twins
are going there for n I l Oh, They're going
to Miami. Of course there And I was like, really,
like what exactly? So annoying and then it's like, sorry, hand,
just cut you off. It's gonna look. And then it's
like then we get onto campus and we get to
our teammates and stuff, and it's always like I felt
like I had top prove like, oh, I'm not here
(06:15):
for TikTok, like all the questions from the media, it's TikTok.
It's this or like coach has to say like, oh,
they're not here for TikTok, like we're basketball players first,
like let us just like let us just like hoop.
And I think it was kind of, you know, a
little not like stressful, but like it definitely was something
that was in the back of our mind, like you know,
we have to show people that we work hard, Like no,
I wake up and work hard and put my my
(06:37):
hunter percent in anything I do, like I'm not gonna,
you know, like try to prove it to people, like
this is just what we do. Like you don't need
to tell people that you're a gym right, like you
just love to like work out and play basketball and
get shots up like you don't. I don't know. I
just feel like we constantly have to I don't come
from a family where we have to talk about what
you do, like you just do it and show up.
And I think that, like it's funny too, because it's
(06:57):
also like it puts out It's put our teammates in
positions to answer on comfortable situations, and like I think
I made our coaches have to come out and be like, oh, yeah,
they work hard, Like yeah, every college athlete works hard, Like,
you know, we're all trying to win. We're trying to
win a championship here, Like why would they not? Why
would they not? So it's just it was such a
weird position to be in. Honestly, it's made me learn
(07:18):
to It's made me learn to observe and just like
put your head down and like learn and grow in
a situation and not trying to prove other people wrong
just because like we love basketball. So it's funny how
it all worked out, right, But I mean, who got
the last laugh? Honestly. But let's get in to our
actual guest. Um, like we said before, we have Mr
(07:39):
John Rerees coming on to the podcast. We cannot wait
for you guys to hear and learn from him. Um,
he's an incredible person. He was just named one of
the most impactful and I help people in this space.
So we are so honored to have him on our podcast.
Let's welcome in, Mr John Rerees. We'll be right back
on twin Talk on the College Athletes Network. You were
(08:13):
listening to twin Talk on the College Athletes Network. I'm
Hannah and I'm Haley. You can find us on TikTok
as a Kabiner Twins or Instagram as a Cabinet Twins
reach out give us some feedback on the show. We
want your opinion. But right now, let's welcome in one
of the best lawyers out there in the CEO of
MSP Recovery, Mr John Arees. He wants us to call him.
(08:34):
John has been super active in the n I L space,
so we are so excited to pick his brain about that,
growing his business and more. Let's get right into it.
So are you doing John mysteries? Everything is good. But
before we do that, let me congratulate you girls. This
is an incredible endeavor that you've embarked upon. I wish
you all the success in the world. You've already had
(08:56):
a lot of success, but success comes with hard work
and continuing every day to do the same thing and
always staying humble, which I know you girls do, so
that's incredibly important. Thank you so much. Let's really appreciate that.
Thank you. We first kind of want to talk on
I know you're a huge family person, like when we
first met. I know, I love your kids, um, and
(09:17):
I think just like touching on that kind of growing
up as like a family, Like what were the most
important values like you embedded in your children. So I
come from you know, Cuban heritage. My parents instill that
and it's at a very young age. So we were
always very united on they which we celebrate what they
(09:38):
call which is the night before Christmas, and then on
the thirty feet. I was always with my parents. We
always stayed together as a group, as a unit. I
myself and the youngest of three. I have two older sisters,
and ironically I have three kids of my own, and uh,
the mom also comes from you know, three siblings, and
(10:00):
I think that that kind of paired things off well.
Uh Johnny, which is my oldest, Christie which is the
middle child, the female of the group and the smartest
of the three, and then we have Alex, which is
the entrepreneur. Uh. Their mom has been spectacular as a
mother with them, just completely phenomenal. I've always worked a lot,
(10:25):
but I always put time with my kids. Johnny was
a very very talented baseball player that actually got drafted
to the major leagues and or through a major league team,
and he really had a shot to make it to
the big leagues, but he injured his elbow and I
traveled with him everywhere since he was four years old.
(10:46):
And then my my daughter also danced in the Sensation
at the University of Miami. And then Alex, my youngest,
was also a baseball player at the University of Miami.
He played throughout. So there's always had all those activities
with my kids, and I always instilled in them, you know,
hard work. Nothing was free, Uh, they humble. Uh, you know,
(11:07):
money isn't everything. Money is great. People think of money,
but you can use money in very different, many different ways,
some of which could be toxic. So you've got to
kind of stay away from that. And I've always said
the worst thing that a human being has is free time.
When you couple free time with money, you've got a
very bad formula that a lot of people cannot stay
(11:29):
away from it. And uh, you know, for me, when
I was growing up, it was a different environment that
the environment that you girls grew up. And uh, there
were a lot more drugs and now different drugs and
people are sort of just getting into it. Uh, there
was a lot more ability sort of to stray away
because now there's a lot more knowledge about it, and
I think people are more cognizant about it. And so
(11:51):
you got to try to stay away from the drinking
and the drugs, and you know, luckily I was able
to do that, and I finished you Am at a
really young age. I was nineteen, and then I went
to law school and I graduated from the or you know,
I was just about to turn twenty three when I graduated. So, UM,
I try to instill that into my kids still today.
I think I'm extremely fortunate with my kids and you
(12:13):
you girls know, all three of them, more my daughter,
I guess than the others. But they're really hard workers.
Um and I and I make them work every day,
and I thought I had to make them, but they
do it on their own. So we have a very
good unit. Uh you know, in terms of everyone has
their own sort of space that they manage. So it's
very good. Yeah. I mean you've been so successful and
(12:36):
so is your kids, your family. So when we first
got to Miami here everyone you know, hearing about the
Reese family. It's just awesome to be even having this
conversation with you, So thank you for getting on here.
If you want to say that. UM, So, after hearing
about that, what would you say one of your biggest
successes in your life has have been. I would say
that my biggest success are my kids, because you know,
(13:01):
everything else sort of comes and goes. And if you've
been in business and you've done things for a long
long time, you're gonna have ups and downs. Right. I
know that your dad is a businessman as well, and
you know that the economy goes up, it goes down,
so you have to be able to manage that. But
you've got to keep a strong core. As long as
you keep a strong core, then I think you can,
(13:24):
you know, manage your way through a lot of different things.
I've been super fortunate to have a very stable family.
I've never had an issue with any of my kids.
I've never had an issue with my parents with my siblings,
and I think that that goes a long long way.
I know you girls come from a very united family
as well, and we can't, uh, you know, we we
(13:46):
can't take that for granted. Uh And one of the
reasons why I do the n I L is because
of that. Right. So I met both of you girls,
I got to meet your parents. You've got an incredible family.
You have to be uh, you know, aware of the
fact that you are very unique in terms of having
the fortune of being in that kind of an environment.
(14:06):
A lot of people don't have that that sort of
chance or opportunity because we don't get to pick, you know,
who our parents are. We don't get to pick the
environment that we're growing. So I think it's important you
know that from my vantage point, and i'd say this
because I know both of you are young and you've
got your whole life ahead of you, is to always
(14:27):
give back and I always make sure that you understand
that the situation that you're in is very, very unique.
And I every day that I wake up, I thank
God and I thank you know what, what I've been
able to do, not monetarily because money comes and goes.
People get stuck with the money part um. You know,
I've been fortunate and lucky because I've been in the
(14:47):
right place at the right time, working hard. So have
you girls, right, you guys landed in a very unique
situation and being able to do what you've done. You
are an anomaly of what you've been able to do
with n I L. You have a very unique set
of circumstances. You're twins, you're both pretty, you play basketball, war,
You're very personable and at the end you gotta have
(15:07):
a good heart, and that carried a long way because
you know, people like you. Thank you so much. UM.
I kind of just going into more of the business side.
Obviously you're an incredible businessman, so I was just curious, UM,
what would your advice be for young entrepreneurs or some
challenges that you faced, um, that you know that could
help people that are obviously looking to get into the
(15:29):
business space. I think you always gotta believe in yourself, right.
What's happened to me, at least my story is every
time I do something, people think it's impossible, it's not
gonna happen. That's not the way you do things, including
n I L. So I started an I L you know,
about a year and change ago, and everyone said, no,
that's not the way it's done, you can't do it
(15:50):
that way. But I became what I call it disruptor.
I did it differently. I did it by looking at
all the rules, looking at what was permissible, looking at
what wasn't permissible. And I think the misconception, and you
girls know because you dealt with it firsthand, it's a
misconception that everybody wants to kind of drag you into Oh,
(16:11):
that guy is crooked. He does it the wrong way.
He does everything to bend the rules. And you girls know,
and I know because we did it together, that that's
clearly the opposite of what we do. And that's something
that's very important for people to truly, truly understand, because
there's just a lot of haters out there in the
world and they think that because you do something and
(16:32):
it's working, that you must be doing something wrong. And
that just isn't the case, right, And you know, you
girls know it because you dealt with me directly when
we were talking, and you know, I was very very strict.
I'm very strict about everything to the extent that the
compliance departments of school say, like by why are you
doing that? And it's your protection too, because you girls
(16:55):
are athletes the other athletes that I deal with. If
I do something, you girls can get hurt more or
the other players can get hurt more than I can.
And I need to be aware of what I'm doing
to make sure that I go over and above you know,
what's demanded or are mandated to make sure that everybody
stays within the lights exactly. And I think that people
(17:17):
fail to recognize, like your love for the University of
Miami and um, how passionate you are about just Miami
in general. So um, and you would never jeopardize like
a student's eligibility to you know, for an I O
for anything. So it's going off of that too. I
think also it's you're not doing this for yourself. You
don't receive any benefits from this. You're doing this to
(17:38):
help people, young kids, young athletes, to put them in
a better position. So I always like to recognize that
as well. Um, you kind of touched on obviously haters
and your Twitter. There's a lot of people that come
for you. So my question for you is how do
you deal with it and why do you respond to it?
Just because on Twitter you do receive a lot of hate,
(17:59):
but then you also I always see that you're responding
to it, so is active. I have nothing to hide,
and I think that's sometimes silence. People may interpret that
as always got something to hide. I have nothing to hide.
I can be completely transparent about everything I do. I'm
not perfect, I'm human. I will make mistakes, but I
(18:23):
have a lot of experience, so it's gonna be very
difficult for me to make a mistake. Just because I
have that much experience and I'm very careful about what
I do and how I do it. And you girls
are a perfect example if you've seen it first and
how how it happens. Um. But you see, you know
lawyers like Darren Heightner, which is a great lawyer, he's
(18:44):
your lawyer, and people start hating on him too. I
think it's normal for people to hate success. Uh, you're
gonna experience it too at some point of them. You're
gonna get people that are gonna hate on you just because,
Uh it's not warranted. You don't ask for it. Uh. Look,
I I feel that I'm a very very compassionate per
gonna have a very good heart. But by the same token,
(19:06):
I'm a warrior. If you get in my path and
you're doing it in the wrong way, I'm not a
violent person, but I will press the law upon you.
And if you don't understand that, stay away, because I'm
not gonna stay quiet. Uh. I don't like And if
I get attacked because I did something, I'll be the
first one to confess, like, hey, I made a mistake.
(19:29):
I'm not gonna let people attack me because just because
because I know what I do and what I don't do. Uh,
And therefore there's no reason why I'm not going to
protect In a lot of times, I'm not just protecting myself.
I gotta protect my business. I gotta protect my people,
the people that work with us, which are amazing people.
And I gotta protect my kids, and I gotta protect
my family. So I'm that guy who has to confront
(19:51):
all that. But I'm a big boy. I know how
to handle myself. And you know, I've remember I started
with eight hundred dollars that my dad known me with
his credit card. So if I was able to get
through all of that, this is nothing. And when you
respond and they don't know what to say, that's what's funny.
Because I talked with talked with facts, right, So I'm
you're gonna say something. Show me the evidence, Tommy, where
(20:11):
it is? Where's the law? Like, give me facts. Don't
just go off of hairsay or a rumor, because that's
not fair to do to anybody, right, I would never
do that, do that to somebody, just go off of
a rumor. But unfortunately that's a society we live and
and you know, you gotta deal with it exactly exactly.
Um moving on to some more positive feedback. I saw
(20:33):
on an article that you were one of the most
impactful people and I N I L. Congratulations on that. Um,
So this is one of the questions I was kind
of just wanting to touch on as well, UM Like,
how do you see uh, the implanation of an ill
affecting college sports like for us to come obviously this
(20:54):
year you just got into it. But I'm saying, look,
I definitely think there needs to be some regulations because
I think it's getting out of hand. Uh. I think
it's not good for the universities, it's not good for
the players, it's not good for the sport, and it's
not good for anybody just generally because people being able
(21:15):
to jump into the portal and just changing universities and
looking for who's gonna pay the biggest N I L deal.
And then I stand think we start losing what NIL
is really supposed to be. Right, So you you both
know also because of the platform that we have, we
make our people work for the pay. It's not gonna
(21:35):
free of charge. You know, you girls have been involved
in commercials. You know how it works. And at the
end of the day, as good as I love to
be with kids. I got a business to run on
the CEO of a publicly credit company, and I gotta
get a return on investment. So when I get all
these n I L deals, I have to be creative
and getting a bang for the buck for what it
(21:56):
is that we're paying the players. That's actually a good
thing for the players too, because you both understand that
you're not gonna get money just because you're the Cammendar twins.
I'm an attorney. I have a degree behind my desk
in my office. Nobody ever comes in and says, here's
five thousand dollars because you have a diploma. It doesn't
work that way we think about it. You gotta work
(22:17):
for what you do. And you two girls are working
every day. You're doing this podcast. You're just getting get
bigger and bigger. And those are the things that people
have to understand that it's an everyday grind. My dad
taught me that when I was a really, really young kid.
He said, anybody can make money one year, but it's
hard to make money every year. And it's also hard
to maintain things once you have them. It's generally even
(22:39):
more expensive to maintain things than to buy them. Right,
So anybody can buy a house, but then you've got
to maintain it with you know, paying the water bill
and the electric bill and if there are repairs, and
the mortgage and so on and so forth. So that's
what makes it you know, challenging and and you gotta
do it every day. It's a grind. I think that's
such a good way to look at the Nile space too,
(23:01):
because like you said, it's kind of getting out of
hand where anyone wants to enter into the transfer portal,
especially with football football players, that's where the money is.
So entering into the portal and not having to do
anything and just look at the school for a paycheck
rather than you know, I want to go there and
win a championship. Um. I'd like to see some type
of change in that as well. And I think in
(23:22):
order to get there, those that are behind collectives and
behind the push of raising the money, they have to
establish a very good protocol platform because if not, you
end up hurting the kids. You don't want to give
kids money and not make them learn through the process, right,
(23:42):
That's what I think is so special about life whilet
the way they kids. Absolutely, but we're gonna teach you
you know how commercials got piece together. You're gonna have
to show up, you know how the editing is, the
post production, and the instruction. I feel that because of
my experience in life, I can be very instrumental to
(24:03):
all of the players, uh some more than others. Right.
So you guys, you know, your dad's a very smart guy,
he's a business guy. Your mom's very close family. So
I'm gonna be able to give you two girls less
instruction than some of the other players that don't have
the experience that you have. You know, other players haven't
been to New York and done the things that you
(24:25):
girls have. You have a special experience that you have
with you that the others don't have, and that's invaluable
in life for me. You're gonna be able to use
that for the rest of your life. And you're just starting.
You you you you both are blessed. So that's something
that we have to to understand. And you know, I
was blessed from the point of view that my parents
(24:46):
were not very wealthy at all. They were, you know,
probably less than middle class, but they always instilled in
me one thing that was very important. And my dad
told me this because he came from Cuba and he
had to leave his country with nothing. He said, whatever
you have in your brain, that can never take away
from me, everything away from you except your brain, which
(25:07):
is a very good lesson. That is great advice. Moving on,
I have another question about the n I L space
and just set your opinion on if do you think
and I will lead to more of a professionalization of
college sports just because of you know, the past year
and what you've seen. So I do think that that's
going to happen. Right, So everything, if you really follow
(25:31):
the history of the United States of America, UM, everything
that starts shorter from scratch, that's a new enterprise, a
new way of doing things, has to go through an evolution.
We've seen it with the seller phones. We've seen it
with private schools versus public schools. We've seen it with
(25:53):
you know, electric cars. We see it all the time.
There is an evolution process, there's a learning curve, there's
sort of a trial and error. So there's gonna be
an evolution. It's gonna take some time, and during that
time frame, you as a person that's running these sort
(26:13):
of platforms have to be innovative, stay within the lines
trying to be a visionary of war. It's going to
get to and then you're able to kind of put
it together in a way that's gonna work for everybody.
But there's still gonna be a lot of change. So
my answer to your question is, boy, I think we're,
you know, five to seven eight years away from seeing
(26:35):
this really stabilize. But there is gonna be a lot
of learning. Look, I think players learn now and the
parents learn, uh, and it's new, and I think schools
are starting to teach families players and the evolution of
everything is very important. And the smarter the families become,
the smarter the players become, the better the agents and
(26:55):
the lawyers that understand that everybody knows how to navigate
through the system, then it's gonna be less sort of
like what I call out the wah wah wa, right exactly.
Um No, that makes sense, just kind of surrounding yourself
with better people, getting more knowledge on and I think
that just comes with experience, Like you said so, but
it was awesome talking to you. We end the podcast
(27:17):
with rapid fire questions, So we came up with some
rapid fire questions. We're gonna ask you to finish this
off basketball or football. Favorite vacation destination Disney World. We haven't.
We need to go. We need to go. Best restaurant
in Miami zzs really over Carbone. See I'm still a
(27:40):
Carbone girl. Okay, yeah, we went one time when did
what's your What do you get there? Just I like
sushi and Japanese food sort of like that's my preference. Okay,
not really. I don't really love Italian food, so I
can see how you like Carbone more. Yeah, but easy,
in my opinion, is the best quality food in the
best restaurant I've ever been to. Okay, you heard it?
(28:03):
Your people check out easies if you're okay, we have
two more. What is your most inspirational quote? And it
can be your own? Never leave your wingman, I love it. Okay,
it's a top gun. It's a top gun phrase. And
I run it. Give My boat's name is Maverick. That
(28:25):
is I run before Never leave a wing, which is
kind of goes with it is trust the process. So
you stick with something, you go with it and don't
deviate from it. If you believe in it, it's gonna work. Okay.
Last one, you kind of touched on a lot of
advice throughout this whole podcast, But what is the best
(28:45):
piece of advice you've ever been given? I would say
that it is to keep your friends close and your
enemies closer. Okay, that's a good one. That's amazing. Yeah,
for sure, that's been a quote I've heard like our
whole lives. But something to live by, for sure, I'll
tell you this. Obviously, there has been an evolution of
(29:06):
me as a as a person. My dad's about to
turn ninety three years old. But I would say that
ninety nine nine percent of what I know and what
I call my wisdom of life comes from my dad,
who ironically lost his parents at the age of thirteen,
was homeless and had to make it on his own.
(29:28):
So he, in my opinion, is the smartest person I've
ever seen. He self taught himself and he's extremely, extremely
wide with with life lessons. So he's taught me a
lot of that and I take that to heart. That's amazing. Well,
thank you so much for coming on It's Me Talk.
We know you're a busy, busy man, so we're honored
seriously to have you on your mysteries. No, thank you,
(29:49):
Thank you appreciate you guys are gals inviting me welcome
back to twin Talk once again. That was Mr Johnnrees
(30:09):
And honestly, the Russ family is one of the most giving, caring,
most knowledgeable people I've can encounter with. So just having
him on our podcast and getting to know their whole family,
his kids, UM, we became cool with. So it's just
awesome to you know, to have people like that and
just to learn from him, right, just like hearing his
words and you know, like, UM trying to give take
(30:31):
advice when he's talking, Like I'm just trying to learn
as well. So having on our podcast was definitely definitely, yeah,
it was for sure. But UM, something that we wanted
to talk about is that we just came off to
top five wins and we'd just be UM North Carolina
and Virginia Tech. So it's been a great, great week
for Kane Nation. Our team is so excited. Honestly, it
(30:53):
was one of the best weeks of basketball I played.
It was so fun, right, I think that, Um, this
is why we came to Miami is to um be
one play teams like that, playing the best conference, UM
and then just being able to share that win with
our teammates was definitely something special and um, we've never
even played vers like like top twenty five teams, so
it was just really cool to you know, experience that
(31:15):
and just be where our feet are. Yeah, I think
also to just it's so weird to think how quick
time has flown by. I'm like, okay, we're starting season.
I'm so nervous, like are we gonna give men? That's
are we gonna play? Then it's like preseason, and it's
a different because you never know how preseason is going
to look to the a c C. And just like
now we're in the midst of the a c C.
And it's like, okay, we're playing the top ten teams
(31:35):
in the country. Like what's just And it's just fun
because it's you know, understanding and like being a part
of a team and just a culture that's you know,
you can win and compete at the highest level. It's
like I love it, like I love it. So it's
been a great week. It definitely hasn't just being able
to share that with our teammates, Like I just love
my team, Like I tell Hailey this a lot of time,
Like we had the most funny goofiest girls on our team, Like,
(31:57):
I wish you guys could hear um our everyday conversations,
like I literally can't stop laughing at the time. But
we will have a team team talk on twin Talk
or like something on the YouTube channel. But um, yeah,
we hope you guys are having an amazing three. Also,
Haley and I have been creating new habits that we've
been trying to implement. Obviously it's been only a couple
(32:18):
of weeks into January, but we're excited about that. So, yes,
we have been trying to create more healthier goals. I
Canna and I said, Obviously, I think resolutions, like a
New Year's resolution. I feel like it's either like you
like them or you don't like them. Like we were
talking to our family about this during Christis. I'm like,
are you guys doing a New Year's resolution? Are you
guys having goals? And other people are like, no, we are,
(32:42):
and others are like yeah, but um, Hannah and I
definitely have a few. Okay, So Hannah, what's your number one? Well,
like just going off that I feel like you don't
need to have like unrealistic, unattainable, like I just personally
have to write them down, and then as long as
I go back and look at them, like, no, I
write this down, like this means something to you, right, Like,
as long as it's just like something that means something
to you, I feel like it doesn't need to be
(33:03):
a goal because is at the end of the day,
it's not gonna you know what I mean, Like, it's
it's just about creating the best version of myself. It's
my it's my goal, and like what are those things
that are going to get me there? Is what I
want to do in create the best Hannah And then
look back at the end of the time and be
like did you did you do these things? Because you
wrote them down? Like you're just gonna let yourself down
if you don't do them. So that's what I boot preach,
(33:24):
it says. I think that's one of them too. I
think we're we're very similar and like, okay, like I
want to become better in my fitness, my fitness, lifestyle,
my basketball, just relationships, maintaining them and just yeah, spiritually,
so all those things I don't have like a specifical
but all those things I want to improve on in
like specific areas of them, So I'm really excited about
(33:46):
this new year. So we hope you guys are having
a safe, happy, relaxing January. UM, make sure you guys
are listening to the other podcast episodes. We have a
couple more coming out. But thank you guys again for
tuning into twin Talk. Thank you again, mysteries for coming
on here. This is Haley and Hannah where the Kavner
Twins on College Athletes Network and we will see you
(34:08):
guys next time. This has been a presentation of the
College Athletes Network.
The following is a presentation of the College Athletes Network.
What's up, guys, this is twin Talk. I'm Haley and
I'm Hannah and we are the kaving are twins on
College Athletes Network. Okay, so I feel like this was
(00:25):
big news shocker that we went to Miami for basketball.
Oh yeah, let's talk about that. Let's talk about that.
Why are we transferred, Why we came to Miami the
Nile space? Did we just come here? And this is
going to be touching on the UM. The person who
is coming on this week's episode, Mr John Ruise, one
(00:46):
of the best lawyers out there, one of the greatest
males I've ever seen with advice knowledge and just how
he lives his life and raises his family and my
family and I have been blessed to be able to
even see it. So I'm so only to have him
on our podcast. I know I cannot wait for you
guys to hear that. But before then, and let's talk
about why we transferred. So let's talk about last year, Haley.
(01:10):
Last year we If you guys didn't know hand and
I played college basketball, there's any people that are tuned
in that aren't aware of UM US. But we played
basketball at Fresno State for three years and we loved it.
I had the best relationship with our coaches. I met
two of my best friends there to me and Sid
And then we just didn't have a good mute year
last year. Yes, Um, we were losing a lot of games. Um,
(01:34):
we weren't performing at the at the level of competition
of the Mountain West Conference and we got to the tournament.
But previous before last year, we made it to the
championship game, which in mid major basketball you have to
win the championship game to get to the March Mountess Tournament. Um,
but we lost the first round verse a lower opponent
(01:55):
than us, so they were literally ranked Utah State, And yeah,
I was kind of just a little bit of a
moment where were like, Okay, what is going to be
the next step for us? Like what we have to
kind of acknowledge that the state that we're in and
what do we want to do for ourselves? And you
have to be selfish no matter how many good people
are in that town. So yeah, after we went home
(02:16):
and took a little bit break off because we weren't
making a postseason um hand and I decided after talking
to our family, we wanted to enter the transfer portal. Honestly,
it was really scary, just because we play basketball together
with the same position. Um, you never know if the
grass is greener. And also there's so many people on
the outside talking about why are you transferring? What if
you are, what are the reasons behind it? All the naysayers. Um,
(02:40):
So we put our long story short. We put our
name into the transfer portal in March, and then um,
we started getting a bunch like right away, we started
getting looks together from the Power of Five schools, and
I was like, okay, Like we worked our whole life,
like I want to play um at the biggest stage
of the highest level, and when like I love to
(03:00):
win hand and I grew up with like such a
competitive family, a basketball family, Like all I want to
do is win, and that's where I wanted. We wanted
to go somewhere to win, and we wanted to go
somewhere to get to the March Motters tournament because we've
never been there. Um, like Hayley said, you work your
whole life at a sport. You sacrifice so much and
you want to give yourself and put yourself in the
best position to get to a place. UM like any
(03:22):
any person would UM in life, you want to be
the most successful as you can. You want to take
the next step and get um and put yourself in
the best decision. So that was why we decided to transfer. UM.
We were looking at schools in Florida because we have
family here. My sister lives here and my grandparents lived here.
And then California and Arizona. UM so our top three
(03:45):
we're USC, the University of Miami and Arizona State. Yes,
so we took visits to all those. We had also
other schools too and like the Pact twelve and other
big conferences, but we just decided to narrow those down
due to location too. We wanted to go to a
school where we could um see ourselves being happy without
basketball as well. UM. So after taking our official visits
(04:08):
and stuff, we we came to Miami, gone, gone onto
the campus. Loved the players, love the university, and the
University of Miami's like beautiful and just the area around it.
And then obviously everything that coached Meyer brings to her
program that we got to see, like this isn't stuff
you just like make up either, like We're just basketball
players wanting to go to a school to get to
(04:28):
the March Madness Tournament. So it's like really funny when
everyone came out and was like, oh, you're just going
there because of n I L And yeah, so it did.
I remember we tweeted it and it like broke ESPN,
like it was on, Like I was like, why are
we on ESPN? Like I literally was watching It was
a counter Twins transferred to Miami. We were like we
were like literally eating utter favorite Mexican restaurant Arizona. This
(04:51):
popped up. But yeah, no, it was just really cool
to see. And I think it was definitely a step
to Haley and I wanted to take together and like uh,
like Haley said, Um, obviously going to Miami isn't a
negative for and I, but it wasn't the reason why
we transferred. And that's why, um, people didn't understand, like,
obviously it is beneficial to be in a city on
Miami's amazing, the weather is amazing, Like there's so many
(05:13):
bonuses that came for it, but the real reason was
for basketball and all the you know ads onto that
was just bonuses. Like I said, so, um, yeah, I'm
so happy that we did. It's kind of crazy how
how time has flown. Like we were talking about this
the other day, right, I think so too, and I
think that like we were doing fine. I just wanted
to put this out. We were doing like really, we
(05:34):
were doing fine more than fine with n I l
in Fresno. So it wasn't as if, oh, my gosh,
we need to go to Miami to make a move
for you know, our success with name, image and likeness.
It was more I love Florida, my families here, I
love coach, I love the players. So everything was like
why not, why not Miami? And then it just so
(05:55):
after we committed and stuff, it's like, oh, the twins
are going there for n I l Oh, They're going
to Miami. Of course there And I was like, really,
like what exactly? So annoying and then it's like, sorry, hand,
just cut you off. It's gonna look. And then it's
like then we get onto campus and we get to
our teammates and stuff, and it's always like I felt
like I had top prove like, oh, I'm not here
(06:15):
for TikTok, like all the questions from the media, it's TikTok.
It's this or like coach has to say like, oh,
they're not here for TikTok, like we're basketball players first,
like let us just like let us just like hoop.
And I think it was kind of, you know, a
little not like stressful, but like it definitely was something
that was in the back of our mind, like you know,
we have to show people that we work hard, Like no,
I wake up and work hard and put my my
(06:37):
hunter percent in anything I do, like I'm not gonna,
you know, like try to prove it to people, like
this is just what we do. Like you don't need
to tell people that you're a gym right, like you
just love to like work out and play basketball and
get shots up like you don't. I don't know. I
just feel like we constantly have to I don't come
from a family where we have to talk about what
you do, like you just do it and show up.
And I think that, like it's funny too, because it's
(06:57):
also like it puts out It's put our teammates in
positions to answer on comfortable situations, and like I think
I made our coaches have to come out and be like, oh, yeah,
they work hard, Like yeah, every college athlete works hard, Like,
you know, we're all trying to win. We're trying to
win a championship here, Like why would they not? Why
would they not? So it's just it was such a
weird position to be in. Honestly, it's made me learn
(07:18):
to It's made me learn to observe and just like
put your head down and like learn and grow in
a situation and not trying to prove other people wrong
just because like we love basketball. So it's funny how
it all worked out, right, But I mean, who got
the last laugh? Honestly. But let's get in to our
actual guest. Um, like we said before, we have Mr
(07:39):
John Rerees coming on to the podcast. We cannot wait
for you guys to hear and learn from him. Um,
he's an incredible person. He was just named one of
the most impactful and I help people in this space.
So we are so honored to have him on our podcast.
Let's welcome in, Mr John Rerees. We'll be right back
on twin Talk on the College Athletes Network. You were
(08:13):
listening to twin Talk on the College Athletes Network. I'm
Hannah and I'm Haley. You can find us on TikTok
as a Kabiner Twins or Instagram as a Cabinet Twins
reach out give us some feedback on the show. We
want your opinion. But right now, let's welcome in one
of the best lawyers out there in the CEO of
MSP Recovery, Mr John Arees. He wants us to call him.
(08:34):
John has been super active in the n I L space,
so we are so excited to pick his brain about that,
growing his business and more. Let's get right into it.
So are you doing John mysteries? Everything is good. But
before we do that, let me congratulate you girls. This
is an incredible endeavor that you've embarked upon. I wish
you all the success in the world. You've already had
(08:56):
a lot of success, but success comes with hard work
and continuing every day to do the same thing and
always staying humble, which I know you girls do, so
that's incredibly important. Thank you so much. Let's really appreciate that.
Thank you. We first kind of want to talk on
I know you're a huge family person, like when we
first met. I know, I love your kids, um, and
(09:17):
I think just like touching on that kind of growing
up as like a family, Like what were the most
important values like you embedded in your children. So I
come from you know, Cuban heritage. My parents instill that
and it's at a very young age. So we were
always very united on they which we celebrate what they
(09:38):
call which is the night before Christmas, and then on
the thirty feet. I was always with my parents. We
always stayed together as a group, as a unit. I
myself and the youngest of three. I have two older sisters,
and ironically I have three kids of my own, and uh,
the mom also comes from you know, three siblings, and
(10:00):
I think that that kind of paired things off well.
Uh Johnny, which is my oldest, Christie which is the
middle child, the female of the group and the smartest
of the three, and then we have Alex, which is
the entrepreneur. Uh. Their mom has been spectacular as a
mother with them, just completely phenomenal. I've always worked a lot,
(10:25):
but I always put time with my kids. Johnny was
a very very talented baseball player that actually got drafted
to the major leagues and or through a major league team,
and he really had a shot to make it to
the big leagues, but he injured his elbow and I
traveled with him everywhere since he was four years old.
(10:46):
And then my my daughter also danced in the Sensation
at the University of Miami. And then Alex, my youngest,
was also a baseball player at the University of Miami.
He played throughout. So there's always had all those activities
with my kids, and I always instilled in them, you know,
hard work. Nothing was free, Uh, they humble. Uh, you know,
(11:07):
money isn't everything. Money is great. People think of money,
but you can use money in very different, many different ways,
some of which could be toxic. So you've got to
kind of stay away from that. And I've always said
the worst thing that a human being has is free time.
When you couple free time with money, you've got a
very bad formula that a lot of people cannot stay
(11:29):
away from it. And uh, you know, for me, when
I was growing up, it was a different environment that
the environment that you girls grew up. And uh, there
were a lot more drugs and now different drugs and
people are sort of just getting into it. Uh, there
was a lot more ability sort of to stray away
because now there's a lot more knowledge about it, and
I think people are more cognizant about it. And so
(11:51):
you got to try to stay away from the drinking
and the drugs, and you know, luckily I was able
to do that, and I finished you Am at a
really young age. I was nineteen, and then I went
to law school and I graduated from the or you know,
I was just about to turn twenty three when I graduated. So, UM,
I try to instill that into my kids still today.
I think I'm extremely fortunate with my kids and you
(12:13):
you girls know, all three of them, more my daughter,
I guess than the others. But they're really hard workers.
Um and I and I make them work every day,
and I thought I had to make them, but they
do it on their own. So we have a very
good unit. Uh you know, in terms of everyone has
their own sort of space that they manage. So it's
very good. Yeah. I mean you've been so successful and
(12:36):
so is your kids, your family. So when we first
got to Miami here everyone you know, hearing about the
Reese family. It's just awesome to be even having this
conversation with you, So thank you for getting on here.
If you want to say that. UM, So, after hearing
about that, what would you say one of your biggest
successes in your life has have been. I would say
that my biggest success are my kids, because you know,
(13:01):
everything else sort of comes and goes. And if you've
been in business and you've done things for a long
long time, you're gonna have ups and downs. Right. I
know that your dad is a businessman as well, and
you know that the economy goes up, it goes down,
so you have to be able to manage that. But
you've got to keep a strong core. As long as
you keep a strong core, then I think you can,
(13:24):
you know, manage your way through a lot of different things.
I've been super fortunate to have a very stable family.
I've never had an issue with any of my kids.
I've never had an issue with my parents with my siblings,
and I think that that goes a long long way.
I know you girls come from a very united family
as well, and we can't, uh, you know, we we
(13:46):
can't take that for granted. Uh And one of the
reasons why I do the n I L is because
of that. Right. So I met both of you girls,
I got to meet your parents. You've got an incredible family.
You have to be uh, you know, aware of the
fact that you are very unique in terms of having
the fortune of being in that kind of an environment.
(14:06):
A lot of people don't have that that sort of
chance or opportunity because we don't get to pick, you know,
who our parents are. We don't get to pick the
environment that we're growing. So I think it's important you
know that from my vantage point, and i'd say this
because I know both of you are young and you've
got your whole life ahead of you, is to always
(14:27):
give back and I always make sure that you understand
that the situation that you're in is very, very unique.
And I every day that I wake up, I thank
God and I thank you know what, what I've been
able to do, not monetarily because money comes and goes.
People get stuck with the money part um. You know,
I've been fortunate and lucky because I've been in the
(14:47):
right place at the right time, working hard. So have
you girls, right, you guys landed in a very unique
situation and being able to do what you've done. You
are an anomaly of what you've been able to do
with n I L. You have a very unique set
of circumstances. You're twins, you're both pretty, you play basketball, war,
You're very personable and at the end you gotta have
(15:07):
a good heart, and that carried a long way because
you know, people like you. Thank you so much. UM.
I kind of just going into more of the business side.
Obviously you're an incredible businessman, so I was just curious, UM,
what would your advice be for young entrepreneurs or some
challenges that you faced, um, that you know that could
help people that are obviously looking to get into the
(15:29):
business space. I think you always gotta believe in yourself, right.
What's happened to me, at least my story is every
time I do something, people think it's impossible, it's not
gonna happen. That's not the way you do things, including
n I L. So I started an I L you know,
about a year and change ago, and everyone said, no,
that's not the way it's done, you can't do it
(15:50):
that way. But I became what I call it disruptor.
I did it differently. I did it by looking at
all the rules, looking at what was permissible, looking at
what wasn't permissible. And I think the misconception, and you
girls know because you dealt with it firsthand, it's a
misconception that everybody wants to kind of drag you into Oh,
(16:11):
that guy is crooked. He does it the wrong way.
He does everything to bend the rules. And you girls know,
and I know because we did it together, that that's
clearly the opposite of what we do. And that's something
that's very important for people to truly, truly understand, because
there's just a lot of haters out there in the
world and they think that because you do something and
(16:32):
it's working, that you must be doing something wrong. And
that just isn't the case, right, And you know, you
girls know it because you dealt with me directly when
we were talking, and you know, I was very very strict.
I'm very strict about everything to the extent that the
compliance departments of school say, like by why are you
doing that? And it's your protection too, because you girls
(16:55):
are athletes the other athletes that I deal with. If
I do something, you girls can get hurt more or
the other players can get hurt more than I can.
And I need to be aware of what I'm doing
to make sure that I go over and above you know,
what's demanded or are mandated to make sure that everybody
stays within the lights exactly. And I think that people
(17:17):
fail to recognize, like your love for the University of
Miami and um, how passionate you are about just Miami
in general. So um, and you would never jeopardize like
a student's eligibility to you know, for an I O
for anything. So it's going off of that too. I
think also it's you're not doing this for yourself. You
don't receive any benefits from this. You're doing this to
(17:38):
help people, young kids, young athletes, to put them in
a better position. So I always like to recognize that
as well. Um, you kind of touched on obviously haters
and your Twitter. There's a lot of people that come
for you. So my question for you is how do
you deal with it and why do you respond to it?
Just because on Twitter you do receive a lot of hate,
(17:59):
but then you also I always see that you're responding
to it, so is active. I have nothing to hide,
and I think that's sometimes silence. People may interpret that
as always got something to hide. I have nothing to hide.
I can be completely transparent about everything I do. I'm
not perfect, I'm human. I will make mistakes, but I
(18:23):
have a lot of experience, so it's gonna be very
difficult for me to make a mistake. Just because I
have that much experience and I'm very careful about what
I do and how I do it. And you girls
are a perfect example if you've seen it first and
how how it happens. Um. But you see, you know
lawyers like Darren Heightner, which is a great lawyer, he's
(18:44):
your lawyer, and people start hating on him too. I
think it's normal for people to hate success. Uh, you're
gonna experience it too at some point of them. You're
gonna get people that are gonna hate on you just because,
Uh it's not warranted. You don't ask for it. Uh. Look,
I I feel that I'm a very very compassionate per
gonna have a very good heart. But by the same token,
(19:06):
I'm a warrior. If you get in my path and
you're doing it in the wrong way, I'm not a
violent person, but I will press the law upon you.
And if you don't understand that, stay away, because I'm
not gonna stay quiet. Uh. I don't like And if
I get attacked because I did something, I'll be the
first one to confess, like, hey, I made a mistake.
(19:29):
I'm not gonna let people attack me because just because
because I know what I do and what I don't do. Uh,
And therefore there's no reason why I'm not going to
protect In a lot of times, I'm not just protecting myself.
I gotta protect my business. I gotta protect my people,
the people that work with us, which are amazing people.
And I gotta protect my kids, and I gotta protect
my family. So I'm that guy who has to confront
(19:51):
all that. But I'm a big boy. I know how
to handle myself. And you know, I've remember I started
with eight hundred dollars that my dad known me with
his credit card. So if I was able to get
through all of that, this is nothing. And when you
respond and they don't know what to say, that's what's funny.
Because I talked with talked with facts, right, So I'm
you're gonna say something. Show me the evidence, Tommy, where
(20:11):
it is? Where's the law? Like, give me facts. Don't
just go off of hairsay or a rumor, because that's
not fair to do to anybody, right, I would never
do that, do that to somebody, just go off of
a rumor. But unfortunately that's a society we live and
and you know, you gotta deal with it exactly exactly.
Um moving on to some more positive feedback. I saw
(20:33):
on an article that you were one of the most
impactful people and I N I L. Congratulations on that. Um,
So this is one of the questions I was kind
of just wanting to touch on as well, UM Like,
how do you see uh, the implanation of an ill
affecting college sports like for us to come obviously this
(20:54):
year you just got into it. But I'm saying, look,
I definitely think there needs to be some regulations because
I think it's getting out of hand. Uh. I think
it's not good for the universities, it's not good for
the players, it's not good for the sport, and it's
not good for anybody just generally because people being able
(21:15):
to jump into the portal and just changing universities and
looking for who's gonna pay the biggest N I L deal.
And then I stand think we start losing what NIL
is really supposed to be. Right, So you you both
know also because of the platform that we have, we
make our people work for the pay. It's not gonna
(21:35):
free of charge. You know, you girls have been involved
in commercials. You know how it works. And at the
end of the day, as good as I love to
be with kids. I got a business to run on
the CEO of a publicly credit company, and I gotta
get a return on investment. So when I get all
these n I L deals, I have to be creative
and getting a bang for the buck for what it
(21:56):
is that we're paying the players. That's actually a good
thing for the players too, because you both understand that
you're not gonna get money just because you're the Cammendar twins.
I'm an attorney. I have a degree behind my desk
in my office. Nobody ever comes in and says, here's
five thousand dollars because you have a diploma. It doesn't
work that way we think about it. You gotta work
(22:17):
for what you do. And you two girls are working
every day. You're doing this podcast. You're just getting get
bigger and bigger. And those are the things that people
have to understand that it's an everyday grind. My dad
taught me that when I was a really, really young kid.
He said, anybody can make money one year, but it's
hard to make money every year. And it's also hard
to maintain things once you have them. It's generally even
(22:39):
more expensive to maintain things than to buy them. Right,
So anybody can buy a house, but then you've got
to maintain it with you know, paying the water bill
and the electric bill and if there are repairs, and
the mortgage and so on and so forth. So that's
what makes it you know, challenging and and you gotta
do it every day. It's a grind. I think that's
such a good way to look at the Nile space too,
(23:01):
because like you said, it's kind of getting out of
hand where anyone wants to enter into the transfer portal,
especially with football football players, that's where the money is.
So entering into the portal and not having to do
anything and just look at the school for a paycheck
rather than you know, I want to go there and
win a championship. Um. I'd like to see some type
of change in that as well. And I think in
(23:22):
order to get there, those that are behind collectives and
behind the push of raising the money, they have to
establish a very good protocol platform because if not, you
end up hurting the kids. You don't want to give
kids money and not make them learn through the process, right,
(23:42):
That's what I think is so special about life whilet
the way they kids. Absolutely, but we're gonna teach you
you know how commercials got piece together. You're gonna have
to show up, you know how the editing is, the
post production, and the instruction. I feel that because of
my experience in life, I can be very instrumental to
(24:03):
all of the players, uh some more than others. Right.
So you guys, you know, your dad's a very smart guy,
he's a business guy. Your mom's very close family. So
I'm gonna be able to give you two girls less
instruction than some of the other players that don't have
the experience that you have. You know, other players haven't
been to New York and done the things that you
(24:25):
girls have. You have a special experience that you have
with you that the others don't have, and that's invaluable
in life for me. You're gonna be able to use
that for the rest of your life. And you're just starting.
You you you you both are blessed. So that's something
that we have to to understand. And you know, I
was blessed from the point of view that my parents
(24:46):
were not very wealthy at all. They were, you know,
probably less than middle class, but they always instilled in
me one thing that was very important. And my dad
told me this because he came from Cuba and he
had to leave his country with nothing. He said, whatever
you have in your brain, that can never take away
from me, everything away from you except your brain, which
(25:07):
is a very good lesson. That is great advice. Moving on,
I have another question about the n I L space
and just set your opinion on if do you think
and I will lead to more of a professionalization of
college sports just because of you know, the past year
and what you've seen. So I do think that that's
going to happen. Right, So everything, if you really follow
(25:31):
the history of the United States of America, UM, everything
that starts shorter from scratch, that's a new enterprise, a
new way of doing things, has to go through an evolution.
We've seen it with the seller phones. We've seen it
with private schools versus public schools. We've seen it with
(25:53):
you know, electric cars. We see it all the time.
There is an evolution process, there's a learning curve, there's
sort of a trial and error. So there's gonna be
an evolution. It's gonna take some time, and during that
time frame, you as a person that's running these sort
(26:13):
of platforms have to be innovative, stay within the lines
trying to be a visionary of war. It's going to
get to and then you're able to kind of put
it together in a way that's gonna work for everybody.
But there's still gonna be a lot of change. So
my answer to your question is, boy, I think we're,
you know, five to seven eight years away from seeing
(26:35):
this really stabilize. But there is gonna be a lot
of learning. Look, I think players learn now and the
parents learn, uh, and it's new, and I think schools
are starting to teach families players and the evolution of
everything is very important. And the smarter the families become,
the smarter the players become, the better the agents and
(26:55):
the lawyers that understand that everybody knows how to navigate
through the system, then it's gonna be less sort of
like what I call out the wah wah wa, right exactly.
Um No, that makes sense, just kind of surrounding yourself
with better people, getting more knowledge on and I think
that just comes with experience, Like you said so, but
it was awesome talking to you. We end the podcast
(27:17):
with rapid fire questions, So we came up with some
rapid fire questions. We're gonna ask you to finish this
off basketball or football. Favorite vacation destination Disney World. We haven't.
We need to go. We need to go. Best restaurant
in Miami zzs really over Carbone. See I'm still a
(27:40):
Carbone girl. Okay, yeah, we went one time when did
what's your What do you get there? Just I like
sushi and Japanese food sort of like that's my preference. Okay,
not really. I don't really love Italian food, so I
can see how you like Carbone more. Yeah, but easy,
in my opinion, is the best quality food in the
best restaurant I've ever been to. Okay, you heard it?
(28:03):
Your people check out easies if you're okay, we have
two more. What is your most inspirational quote? And it
can be your own? Never leave your wingman, I love it. Okay,
it's a top gun. It's a top gun phrase. And
I run it. Give My boat's name is Maverick. That
(28:25):
is I run before Never leave a wing, which is
kind of goes with it is trust the process. So
you stick with something, you go with it and don't
deviate from it. If you believe in it, it's gonna work. Okay.
Last one, you kind of touched on a lot of
advice throughout this whole podcast, But what is the best
(28:45):
piece of advice you've ever been given? I would say
that it is to keep your friends close and your
enemies closer. Okay, that's a good one. That's amazing. Yeah,
for sure, that's been a quote I've heard like our
whole lives. But something to live by, for sure, I'll
tell you this. Obviously, there has been an evolution of
(29:06):
me as a as a person. My dad's about to
turn ninety three years old. But I would say that
ninety nine nine percent of what I know and what
I call my wisdom of life comes from my dad,
who ironically lost his parents at the age of thirteen,
was homeless and had to make it on his own.
(29:28):
So he, in my opinion, is the smartest person I've
ever seen. He self taught himself and he's extremely, extremely
wide with with life lessons. So he's taught me a
lot of that and I take that to heart. That's amazing. Well,
thank you so much for coming on It's Me Talk.
We know you're a busy, busy man, so we're honored
seriously to have you on your mysteries. No, thank you,
(29:49):
Thank you appreciate you guys are gals inviting me welcome
back to twin Talk once again. That was Mr Johnnrees
(30:09):
And honestly, the Russ family is one of the most giving, caring,
most knowledgeable people I've can encounter with. So just having
him on our podcast and getting to know their whole family,
his kids, UM, we became cool with. So it's just
awesome to you know, to have people like that and
just to learn from him, right, just like hearing his
words and you know, like, UM trying to give take
(30:31):
advice when he's talking, Like I'm just trying to learn
as well. So having on our podcast was definitely definitely, yeah,
it was for sure. But UM, something that we wanted
to talk about is that we just came off to
top five wins and we'd just be UM North Carolina
and Virginia Tech. So it's been a great, great week
for Kane Nation. Our team is so excited. Honestly, it
(30:53):
was one of the best weeks of basketball I played.
It was so fun, right, I think that, Um, this
is why we came to Miami is to um be
one play teams like that, playing the best conference, UM
and then just being able to share that win with
our teammates was definitely something special and um, we've never
even played vers like like top twenty five teams, so
it was just really cool to you know, experience that
(31:15):
and just be where our feet are. Yeah, I think
also to just it's so weird to think how quick
time has flown by. I'm like, okay, we're starting season.
I'm so nervous, like are we gonna give men? That's
are we gonna play? Then it's like preseason, and it's
a different because you never know how preseason is going
to look to the a c C. And just like
now we're in the midst of the a c C.
And it's like, okay, we're playing the top ten teams
(31:35):
in the country. Like what's just And it's just fun
because it's you know, understanding and like being a part
of a team and just a culture that's you know,
you can win and compete at the highest level. It's
like I love it, like I love it. So it's
been a great week. It definitely hasn't just being able
to share that with our teammates, Like I just love
my team, Like I tell Hailey this a lot of time,
Like we had the most funny goofiest girls on our team, Like,
(31:57):
I wish you guys could hear um our everyday conversations,
like I literally can't stop laughing at the time. But
we will have a team team talk on twin Talk
or like something on the YouTube channel. But um, yeah,
we hope you guys are having an amazing three. Also,
Haley and I have been creating new habits that we've
been trying to implement. Obviously it's been only a couple
(32:18):
of weeks into January, but we're excited about that. So, yes,
we have been trying to create more healthier goals. I
Canna and I said, Obviously, I think resolutions, like a
New Year's resolution. I feel like it's either like you
like them or you don't like them. Like we were
talking to our family about this during Christis. I'm like,
are you guys doing a New Year's resolution? Are you
guys having goals? And other people are like, no, we are,
(32:42):
and others are like yeah, but um, Hannah and I
definitely have a few. Okay, So Hannah, what's your number one? Well,
like just going off that I feel like you don't
need to have like unrealistic, unattainable, like I just personally
have to write them down, and then as long as
I go back and look at them, like, no, I
write this down, like this means something to you, right, Like,
as long as it's just like something that means something
to you, I feel like it doesn't need to be
(33:03):
a goal because is at the end of the day,
it's not gonna you know what I mean, Like, it's
it's just about creating the best version of myself. It's
my it's my goal, and like what are those things
that are going to get me there? Is what I
want to do in create the best Hannah And then
look back at the end of the time and be
like did you did you do these things? Because you
wrote them down? Like you're just gonna let yourself down
if you don't do them. So that's what I boot preach,
(33:24):
it says. I think that's one of them too. I
think we're we're very similar and like, okay, like I
want to become better in my fitness, my fitness, lifestyle,
my basketball, just relationships, maintaining them and just yeah, spiritually,
so all those things I don't have like a specifical
but all those things I want to improve on in
like specific areas of them, So I'm really excited about
(33:46):
this new year. So we hope you guys are having
a safe, happy, relaxing January. UM, make sure you guys
are listening to the other podcast episodes. We have a
couple more coming out. But thank you guys again for
tuning into twin Talk. Thank you again, mysteries for coming
on here. This is Haley and Hannah where the Kavner
Twins on College Athletes Network and we will see you
(34:08):
guys next time. This has been a presentation of the
College Athletes Network.
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