Athelo Group - Athletes Meet Opportunities - Running the Bases with Small Businesses

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Randy (00:01):
I'm Randy Rohde and I'm fascinated with entrepreneurs
and small business owners.
Plus, I love baseball.
Every show I sit down with a smallbusiness owner and we discuss their
running the bases of entrepreneurship.
We throw the ball around on strategymanagement, execution, and innovation.

(00:24):
Plus a little fun baseball.
Hey, thanks for joining us today.
Settle in, grab your cracker jacks,and you know what they say, play.
And it's a great day for a ball game.
Hey, this is Randy Rohde with runningthe Bases with small businesses, and
today's guest has been quoted as saying,if your failures are outweighing your

(00:47):
successes, you're doing it right.
He's okay with the word no, has notrouble going after what he wants.
He's a sports enthusiast with incrediblework ethic, creativity, and drive, and
our guest today has a company many peoplemay only dream about on any given day.
You can find him at a NASCAR trackat the beach for a windsurfing

(01:08):
or beach volleyball competition,or near the ring for a boxing.
He might be at a photo shoot or amedia press session or hosting a day
of meetings with prospective partners.
Hoping to work with his vastnetwork of clients and teams.
He doesn't like the word agent andmuch prefers the word management.

(01:29):
So please welcome to the show,Andrew Stallings, president and
founder of the Othello Group,where athletes meet opportunities.
Alright, welcome Andrew.

A (01:40):
Randy, can I get you to do me a favor and just follow me around every
morning and pick me up with that intro?
Cause I, I think we all need thatkind of reminder and ego boost.
That was quite the introduction, my man.
I, I really appreciate

Randy (01:53):
it.
Thank you for Yeah, I, I can do justa recording of that and that way
you can just have it on your phone.
It's like, hey.
Plan for your wife.
Hey honey, remember here, this is me,. It's a gift that keeps on giving, right?
This is who you got.
Yeah.
So Andrea, I love some of thisstuff that I pulled out of here.
Well, I should say ourresearch team did it.
Uh, the word no is okay.

(02:14):
Failure doesn't phase you andyou know how to bet on yourself.
So I'm gonna roll with.
And then what I'm going to do, we heard,I don't know, somewhere my research team
pulled this thing out, but a a, a collegestory I'm gonna say about your pursuit.

(02:36):
For college entrance.
How about that?
And if you feel comfortable,we'd would love to hear it.
Absolutely.

Andrew (02:42):
Yeah.
No, I have no problem,uh, going down that path.
And to be honest, I, I can evenstart there if that's okay.
Sure, yeah.
Yeah.
Bring it up.
Uh, I it, it's funny because in life.
We're always kind of told by ourpeers and, and others around us what
they think that we'll be good at.
You know, even as a new father, Ihave a, a 10 month old and the fun

(03:04):
conversation over one or two many glassesof whiskey with my wife many nights is
What, what do you, what do you thinkhe's gonna be when he grows up?
What do you think he's gonna be?
I was always told that I waslike, Eddie Haskell, right?
Like, all my peers were like, man, you'rejust like the little used car salesman.
You're gonna be in sales and you'll,you'll do all these like you're a hustle.
And as a kid and as a teenager,you're kind of like, man, that what?

(03:25):
No, not me.
Like not.
I'm not gonna be in sales.
Too much risk, too much pressure.
No way.
It's funny how life works because youdon't even realize the situations that
sometimes you're gonna be put in, muchlike you're being rejected from every
single university that you've applied to,and you have a nice shiny, glowy 2.2 gpa.

(03:45):
Coming out of co uh, high school intocollege and you think your biggest
and best accolades are the fact thatyour high school basketball team that
you were the captain of for two yearsthat won two games total, uh, is your
highest accomplishment, and that youwere the senior vice president of a
small Catholic high school that had 60graduates in their graduating class.

(04:05):
Nice . Little, little reminder, it won'tget you that far in life, . So I ended
up applying to all these universities.
D one schools, some D two D three.
And the last university that I appliedto was, was Marymount University in
Arlington, Virginia, which is wherea lot of my family was located.
Um, I was originally from NewportNews in the southeast region of
Virginia here in the United States.

(04:27):
The last school, thatlast school was Marymount.
And you know, that's where I want to be.
That's where my favorite sports teams are.
There's a good growing communityin Arlington in that area.
My family's there.
Why?
And I got rejected.
So for some reason, mostpeople take that last blow in
a fight as the knockout, right?
You know, we're using thoseboxing references a little bit.

(04:47):
Like people will just knock youout and they think that's it.
But you know, I remember takingthat blow that day and it
just didn't seem to phase me.
, uh, you know, I remember cominghome, I took that rejection letter,
went right upstairs and I just,I wrote a handwritten letter.
This is a little bit before likeemail direct messages, like it was
still like obviously right whenFacebook was coming out and stuff.

(05:08):
Yeah, yeah.
Back in 2005, 2006.
But, you know, it wasn't the,the, the age and avenue of modern
technology and communications wasnowhere near where it's at today.
Wrote that handwritten note, signed,sealed, delivered, sent it in the mail.
A week later comes back.
You are conditionally accepted to theclass of 2010 at Marymount University.
Lo and behold, I look at this todayas I'm running, uh, you know what?

(05:30):
I think to be a pretty big and globalsports and entertainment agency with over
25 athletes that I manage in 130 brandsthat we work with week in and week out.
All of that started and stemsfrom that first sales pitch and
it's, it's quite remarkable.
At 17 years old, I never knew it untilprobably I got in my thirties that that

(05:50):
was my first journey into really beingan entrepreneur was, you know, fighting
for what ultimately set me up to thegreatest career path of my entire life

Randy (05:59):
and dreams.
Yeah, that is an outstanding story.
I.
And now, you know, kind offast forwarding today, you are
operating the Othello group.
Tell us about the Othello groupand what is it that you do?
I, you know, I kind of alludedto some fun stuff in the intro,
but, uh, what is the nitty gritty,what, what is the Othello group?

(06:21):
Well, I'm

Andrew (06:22):
gonna, I'm gonna really disappoint you, uh, as a baseball fan,
Randy , because, you know, the, the onething that I have to start off and tell
you is that the, the Othello Group doesnot represent or manage within the Core
four of North American popular sports.
So we don't have Americanfootball, we don't have
baseball, hockey, or basketball.

Randy (06:42):
Is that by choice?
Uh, you're not pursuing it yet?

Andrew (06:46):
It is it, it is.
Okay.
And, and I'll explain to you why there'sno shortage of opportunities that
find their way on our front doorstep.
Sure.
With those properties and therelationships that, you know,
myself and my team has there bothongoing and from previous years of
relationships and inner workings.
But you know, my career startedat Sirius XM radio after college.
Um, I was an intern there,went on to be a producer.

(07:08):
Learned the importance and skill ofcommunity and networking more than ever.
Went over then to Octagon to understandglobal sports sponsorship and strategy For
many years, hopped over to an experientialagency that was an extension of a current
client that I had with Anheuser-Busch.
Was doing stuff there for about 18 months.
Then went over to bra side withConstellation Brands doing field marketing

(07:29):
in the Northeast for Corona and Mode,and it was right in between that spot
of like Octagon to Constellation,where Othello group was born out of
an idea of a side hustle and a dream.
I think more than ever, as we currentlylive in this renaissance era of an
economy and a modern day and age ofwhere we are, you know, everyone is

(07:49):
always looking for that extra buckand that extra dollar, and especially.
The word and term and field of anentrepreneur has evolved so much more
than it has, uh, probably in the lastdecade, um, just in these last 18
months due to covid and everything else.
What I had done with two of mybuddies who I was in a men's
adult hockey league with were.

(08:11):
We were just burnt out.
We were burnt out from working 18, 19hour days, still getting our $50,000 a
year salary, which yeah, it was great.
You know, we were getting todo all these cool events, but
it was burnt burning us out.
So they were like, Hey, Stallings,like, you know, athletes, you know,
brands like, like Let's build an agency.
and everything all sounds great andgood when you're talking about it

(08:33):
after nine Bud Lights, . But youknow, you sit there and you're going
back and forth and you're like, huh.
And I remember just Googling that night,do I have to be a lawyer to be an agent?
Yeah.
The answer was no.
But there's a lot of butts that aretied to that, and I always preface these
butts because, People oftentimes hearme explain, and you know, it's kind of

(08:53):
why I avoid the term agent because I'dlike to really give respect and do credit
to a lot of the agents in respectivefields that require them to be a lawyer
by trade and, and all the hours andwork and effort that they go into it.
I've been blessed enough that I kindof learned things from the street
Credit, you know, way, you know, sittingin rooms with, you know, FIFA and

(09:13):
Budweiser and watching them negotiatesome of the biggest global pop property
sponsorship deals in the world.
Same to it with athletes and managers.
I, I got to really sit in thoserooms and absorb like, you know,
what is the right terminology?
What's the, what do you avoid?
Who gets what?
So, but on top of that, I have someincredible lawyers in my network
that really have been the backboneto how we built this thing out.

(09:37):
And ultimately we took twowords, athletes opportunities.
We smashed it together to make a funkylittle run on word called ATH fellow
that most people can't pronounce.
So it's good marketing out of the gate. And from there we aim to really give
athletes more than any other agent orlawyer or management team really could.
But we didn't want to take it tothe athletes or the properties.

(09:58):
Didn't really need it, whichare those big properties.
Mm-hmm.
We wanted to continue to lift upwhere there were more niche rising
opportunities, but also empower thebrands to get involved, the athletes
to get more involved and excited andgive everybody just more skin in the
game by kind of being that middleenigma between both property and brand.

(10:18):
But also the athletesand talent side of it.
So we serve a dual purpose role.
You know, I oftentimes tellpeople my job is always at the
intersection of entertainment andeducation daily, you know, for both
sides of the table that I sit on.
But, you know, we really try to,to just aim to do things different.
I, I, if I was here today to tell you thatmy goal is to be a billionaire and to get

(10:40):
acquired and all that, I would be full.
My, my main goal is to continue to pushthe envelope to the point of figuring
out like ways that just haven't beenexplored or done by people previously.
In this path or field or who havebeen told, no, you can't do that.
That's not allowed.
Hmm.
This has never been done before.

(11:01):
I love the unknown.
I love the gray area, and right nowwe are quintessentially living in a
gray area where we're seeing a lotmore competition pick up in the years,
and it's great, but for all intentsand purposes, When I started this in
2018, I had no idea because no oneelse around me was really doing it.

Randy (11:18):
Right.
Right.
I would think as well, especiallyin today's kind of world and, and
technology and social media and stuff,you know, nicheing down or getting
and, and really being the leader ina small niche or in a small pond,
I mean, I think actually makes.
Bigger influence and splash if youwould, kind of in the world to a degree.

(11:40):
And so, and it sounds like that'skind of where you're going a bit with
the management agency, where you'relooking at these different, uh, I
don't know, athletic events or athletesor athletic industries or sports.
And you, you're finding these like.
Beach volleyball and whatI loved beach volleyball.
I used to live in Chicago.

(12:00):
We used to go down and watch, uh, someof the beach volleyball tournaments said
they did down on the beach in Chicago.
And, and I know it's a greatindustry, but you don't, I'm, I'm
sure, maybe I shouldn't say I'm sure.
I'm guessing that some of the largersports agencies are probably not like,
Hey, we gotta go out and really gofind, you know, great beach volleyball

(12:21):
athletes and get 'em signed on.
So I think if you are pursuing that, I amguessing that it maybe gives you a greater
opportunity to be that big influencerand representative for those types of.

Andrew (12:34):
Yeah.
And I, and I think it's interesting,right, because the, some people would
say you're, you're almost setting upa world of competition for you, right?
You know, sometimes being thefirst is not always the best,
or being the new, innovative,refreshing way is only setting.
Setting the roadmap for those tofollow you and make it that much

(12:55):
bigger and better like never before.
To be quite honest with you, Ihave no problem with competition.
I, a lot of people like tocollaborate with competition,
especially in today's era.
They like to say, oh, I'm very, you know,it helps all of us win and educational.
Absolutely the hell not.
I'm competitive as all hell.
And it's

Randy (13:12):
part, well, you're, you're a hockey player.
I, you guys are like,smash mouth, let's go.
I'm gonna kick your ass all over this ice.
Let's

Andrew (13:18):
go . I, I get, there's a reason, Randy, why I'm not playing
men's hockey right now is because truthbe told, I kept getting suspended too
much for getting into too many fights.
So I can, I, I'm very, I'm verycompetitive, you know, obviously when it
comes to business and, and bigger picturestuff, I keep an even head on this, but,
you know, . There's some sports that wework in, for example, where a lot of the

(13:40):
agents and managers, they will keep thebrands like almost behind closed doors.
And then they put all of the athletesalmost in this pen and it's almost like
they, they kind of use them as tradingcards and they'll go to dinners and
stuff and be like, Hey, I'm workingwith this brand and they need this,
so why don't you let me borrow therights to that athlete and I'll give

(14:01):
you this for this energy drink company.
It's disgusting it, and I, youknow, again, the management team,
you know, the management teams,they may, you know, love it.
The brands may love it because itseems just very, you know, capitalized.
But the athletes are continuouslyjust getting screwed over
and they're getting smarter.
They're getting a lot smarter and gettingmore brave to the sense that, huh.

(14:22):
they'd rather go out on their own andsay no to people and, and figure it
out than to deal with this anymore.
So we're really trying to helpeducate the brands too, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Because the brands, they don't, theyonly know as good as their agents
that are, you know, their agenciesthat they're working with to go get
influencers and athletes and talent.
They think, oh, well that person gotthis athlete that has 800,000 Instagram

(14:46):
followers for a deal that's $500 a month.
Well, that poor.
She or he didn't know any better.
Right.
You know, they, they don't havemanagement, they don't have any of
these resources, and then what doesthat do to the rest of the industry?
It's a domino effect, right?
It's, it's setting a standardwhere it's a race to the bottom.
You know, very rarely do you, youknow, have a car company call you and

(15:08):
say, Hey Andrew, I got a budget for$500,000 for one of your athletes.
I'm like, come on mama.
Bring it on.
Bring it home.
like, it's usually like, well,you know, This agent would give
me that or that athlete, right?
And almost every single timeI stop the conversation, I'm
like, go ahead and go with them.
Go, just go do your thing, becauseI'm not gonna waste my time.

(15:28):
I'm not gonna waste my talent's time.
I'm not racing to the bottomdesperation and negotiating with.
Terrorists, for lack of a better term,just as I, I do reflect on that a lot
though, is I don't like negotiating,uh, you know, against bad terms.
I don't like having, ill taste inmy mouth in a partnership, right?
At the end of the day, theseare not sponsorships anymore.

(15:49):
They're true exchanges of return forboth parties, between athlete and.
And if people can't understand that andstart really getting on board with this
is not just me giving you money forsomething, but this is really how we
can exercise and explore an a massivereturn across the board for both sides.
That's how you eliminate.

(16:10):
A six month partnership orinfluencer deal and you build long
lasting credibility like MichaelJordan with an Nike brand, right?
Like it's stuff that justcomes straight to mind.
That's always the dream.
Brands are just too lazy and athletesdon't know where to begin to even begin
to, to build out relationships like that.

Randy (16:27):
That's really incredible.
I was just gonna ask, and youkind of threw it out a little.
But if you've ever kind of walkedaway from the table or, or a deal or
something, you know, from a brand,they're like, no, this isn't good.
This is not gonna work.
Or, you know, this is not thebrand that this athlete needs.
Um, anything like that.

(16:48):
So you're, you're okay for saying no.
You're okay to hear the word no,because in sales it's often, you
know, you hear, but you're okay.
Saying no as well.
Yeah, yeah,

Andrew (16:59):
yeah.
I mean, am I Okay?
I would say content, right?
You know, I, I think if there is sucha bad deal that it's a no-brainer.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm saying no morethan I'm saying yes, right.
Most times in a week.
But, you know, there, there does comesome contracts where the dollar figure
versus what the asset exchange is, is.

(17:23):
So ass backwards.
It, it, it's basically we'rebuying your entire career.
We're buying your life.
We're buying the licenseto use this on billboards.
10 years from now, we're, youknow, do like they're planning.
Almost as if they can take these awayfor 10 years and plan a nostalgia
comeback campaign as if it's somethingthat catches buzz and catches fire.

(17:46):
If I'm a brand, if I'm a property,it's a no-brainer to kind of
throw these horrible contractsout there and see who bites, but.
You know, many of these athletesI've seen, you know, I was talking
to an athlete this morning and theywere talking to me about how they're
starting this new app and the designteam that they're working with, they
are leaving almost close to half themoney on the table in, in that exchange.

(18:10):
I was baffled, and for the record,I'm not managing this athlete.
We were just having a casual conversation,but I was just like, my goodness, like
it's, that's not good because a lot of thepaperwork, it probably has buried that.
There is business tied to that whereinfluencer deals, endorsement deals,
philanthropic deals like are alltied to an overall business exchange.

(18:31):
These athletes don't evenknow what they're leaving.
Right.
And it's, and it's scary.
I think the number one thing that'smissing in today's world of the resources
for education to both athletes andbrands, and it's the number one reason
that I'm not the biggest proponenton the n i l space right now, is
because it, it lacks regulation.
And some people think that, youknow, oh, you just don't want
athletes or anyone to get paid.

(18:53):
That's not true at.
I just want it to be fair.
I want it to be as close as fair aspossible, and that's not fair for
the NCAA or for the universities.
I just want it to be fair so muchthat there are groundwork, there
are rules because when there are noregulations, somebody or somebody's.
Gets the raw end of the stick, right?
And sometimes that's gonna be you.

(19:13):
And a lot of other times it's likegambling, Randy, it's not gonna be you.
So that's why I always look at it fromeven just the overall world of being an
entrepreneur and a business owner is,you know, for as many wins as you have.
, you have so many other shortcomingsand failures and that's why
it's the point of what you madein the beginning of the show.
Like, I have no problem justbasking in my failures because it

(19:35):
makes the winds that much sweeter.
And I try to teach that to allof my brands and clients as well.
Yeah, yeah, sure.

Ran (19:41):
So let's talk a little bit.
So a a at Othello you have,uh, something like, and these
are the, the latest numbers.
Uh, I think that our teamcould pull together 25.
Athlete clients that really spanned alldifferent kinds of great cool sports.
Water, sports, surfers, volleyball,boxers, skateboard, indie

(20:04):
drivers, CrossFit, lacrosse.
I mean, you are in every boxer.
You've got Evander, Holyfield, sun.
Evan on your team, all differentkinds of like, amazing.
You, you have 190 plusadditional partners.
I'm curious what falls into that group?
About 110 different brands, Ithink, uh, that you're working

(20:27):
with as well, which is cool.
And here's a quote.
Now, I'd love for you to elaborate on thisthat you, you were quoted as stating you
want Othello to be a Swiss Army knife.
What do you mean by that?
I think
too often we pigeonhole ourselvesinto being a one dimensional tool, right?
And I think, you know, if, whether thatis the service that we're providing

(20:51):
or you know, the product that we'reselling, you know, all too often.
The, the most successful path isto always think very, very narrow
minded, is to identify your funnel.
The beautiful thing about a funnel though,is that it starts and opens very broadly.
Usually you want the opening of yourfunnel to be as broad as it potentially
can be, whether you're a businessowner or even just in the game of life.

(21:14):
Opportunities come from thebeginning of that funnel, right?
For me, I look at thefellow group as the same.
We don't know what we don't know untilwe get very further down that road of
exploration, discovery, innovation,conversation, and education, right?
But it all starts with us beingable to have conversations with
discussions like this or even justbigger picture things where, you

(21:38):
know, we're learning from differentproperty owners, different sports,
different agents, different agencies,what has worked, what hasn't worked.
I sit here today and I tellyou no on the n i L space.
I don't know what could happen tomorrow.
I, you know, you know, Isay no to you on baseball.
It doesn't mean that the startingpitcher for the Padres couldn't
call me and say, Hey, guess what?
I wanna work with you.

(21:58):
And I'm like, Hmm.
All right.
Is this just too good of a p opportunityto pass up because he has an incredible
brand and a bank account to match it?
I don't know.
So I know that we have doubled down onour focus on properties that, from the
brand lens, have hyper educated andengaged consumers and fan bases where
they can see return for a fraction of the.

(22:21):
That's always been ourfocus with brand partners.
Rather than spending $500,000 on a tweetwith Tom Brady around the Super Bowl, they
can spend $50,000 and probably sponsorthree of the best A V P volleyball events
and two of the best volleyball players inthe world throughout a course of a year.
It's incredible return.
People don't really know where to goat that, and oftentimes there aren't

(22:41):
a lot of people selling that because.
. Obviously they want more, theproperties want more, but there's
always gotta be a starting point.
Mm-hmm.
With the athlete side of it,we're always trying to look at
it from the same lens, right.
We wanna know as much as we possiblycan, but we also wanna get down
the funnel to really understandwho's gonna benefit the most from
all of these resources and do time.
It starts with the opening partof it, the Swiss Army knife effect

(23:04):
is just because in the beginning,I don't want to be an expert.
I don't want my team to be expertsand focused on just one avenue
of discussion and education.
We are the team and our hope is that wecan be the team where if we don't have
the answer, we're not bullish enoughto say, let us go find that for you.
Let us introduce you to somebodythat may have that answer.

(23:25):
It's always a model that goesback to just being community.
It's over currency.
If you build that community and youhave those discussions, you just.
Over and over again, becomethe resource to people.
Mm-hmm.
, there is no greater value inthis world than being a resource.
If you can find a way to do that,pe your business is gonna thrive.
No matter what you do in life, people likeyou, people trust you, people know you.

(23:48):
I mean it, it kind of sucksand sounds a little vain
around the world of popularity.
It matters.
. It matters, and you don'tneed to be the best.
You just need to be the most trustworthy,and you need to be someone that's
open and honest enough in a worldof complete dishonesty right now.
Right, right.
Where people want to be able to turn toyou and be like, wow, like holy crap.

(24:09):
I can get a straightanswer from those people.
Yeah.
Yeah.

Ra (24:12):
I completely agree with you.
It's how we manage our agency aswell, is that we really strive
to be that trusted advisor.
With our clients.
And when we get to that spot withthem, I know like, okay, we, we are
really gonna do some great stuff nowthat we, we've built that relationship
and, uh, and it, and it creates anenthusiasm, I think, both for my

(24:34):
team as well as, uh, the client.
I think.
Um, moving forward, you were talkingabout something I wanted to dig in really.
To kind of get your opinion.
So when you're kind of givingthat, uh, example of value, right?
So somebody's gonna go buy aone-time tweet with Tom Brady
for $500,000 or for 50,000.

(24:56):
They can do all of this othergreat stuff with this very niche.
Specific, uh, I think you said A B V,which I'm guessing was like the beach
volleyball or something like that.
Do you think, this was kind of where Iwas trying to get before, but do you think
that the fans in like the A B V, meaningthe beach volleyball, that those fans
are more, I don't necessarily wanna sayrabid, but more engaged maybe than people

(25:21):
that are in a, that are football fans now?
Football fans, obviously there'sgonna be some folks that are just.
Pure fanatics, right?
that come to the Browns game and they'reall body painted up and everything.
Those guys are, uh, amazing.
But I've always kind of wondered onlybecause I, there's several sports that
I love that are not your prime big core.

(25:46):
As well, like I love cycling andI've been a cycling fan for years.
You know, I've recently, uh, in thelast couple of years gotten into rowing
and that sport of rowing, and I'm like,oh, you know, and I, for me as a, as a
follower, uh, or a fan of those sports, Ifind myself just more highly engaged on.

(26:08):
Who are the brands that aresupporting those, uh, sports?
What are the, uh, resourcesand information available?
How do I educate myselfmore in those sports?
So I just know on those highly nichekinds of, of sporting events or, or in
that universe, I'm, I'm much more engagedthan, you know, I love baseball, but

(26:30):
I'm not constantly looking like, how do.
Uh, learn more about thenuances of the sport.
I don't know if I'm off the, uh, pathon that, or I was just curious on your
opinion about that in, in, in your

Andrew (26:42):
industry.
What do you say?
So, it's a great question and the,the one thing that I'll explain
to you and, and I'll, I'll turn itback on you for a quick question, is
with, with properties like the N FL and M L B when you're watching a.
or you're just doing a fantasy, you know,matchup that week on your phone or tablet.
How educated are you or how invested areyou into news happenings and findings

(27:09):
that make you feel like as a fan thatthey need not only just my emotional
loyalty and support, but they need myfinancial loyalty and support, even with
baseball tickets on the decline for years.
Did you ever for once think thatthe San Diego Padres were gonna fold
and that the MLB was gonna go away?
No.
No, no.
Never.
Right.
You know, and there's, there's abusiness side to all of that, right.

(27:31):
When you see some of these numbersand arguments about arbitration
and everything going on, it's,it's kind of comical because they
expect for us as fans to care.
When you're talking about TVrights deals in 50 to a hundred
million dollars, what does my $150jersey sale mean to the Green Bay?
Packers?
Like, get screwed.
I, I like, you don't need me.

(27:52):
Right?
So, The A V P, nascar, IndyCar, W SL, they and their athletes are talking
about the expenses that accompany theseathletes that accompany these teams that
they struggle with as Olympic athletes.
Like you're seeing that firsthand throughsocial media and then also just through.

(28:13):
Raw behind the scenes content anddocumentation like never before.
That kind of narrative and storytellingisn't happening so much at the high level.
It's being foreshadowed by big numbersand dollar signs that really turns
all of us off, and it really turns,like me as a fan, when I'm watching
a hockey game, you know, I sit thereand I don't analyze the business.
I'm like, the NHLs not going anywhere.

(28:34):
Like the minor league hockeyprograms aren't going anywhere.
I don't.
Like, you know, I don't careabout the business of those sports
because they're so established andso robust and have so many people.
It's part of the main reasons I don'twork in those properties is because I
think there's far too many layers andtissue for someone like me to come in
that's gonna get to the emotional coreof the, of the clot of issues between

(28:55):
like brands, properties, and athletes.
For anyone to even really.
And it takes a village, just even inthese smaller properties to do it.
Someone like me goingagainst the N F L come on.
Like, you know, like for all theissues that are all very like
seen and out in the open in theN F L, it still doesn't matter.
And, and it's foreshadowed by.
You know, all these big numbers andthings that we're often just kind

(29:17):
of like, we're oblivious to, right?
So we just go to our fantasy and ourDraftKings and our FanDuel and we move on.
Yeah.
So, you know, I, I think again,you see a better job of things
being documented in differentways through the lower properties.
I'm
curious because it always, uh,and I'm sh in your world, especially,
it started with the first one.
Uh, do you have a story?

(29:38):
Can you talk us through howdid you sign your first.

Andr (29:42):
Yeah, so when I was in the Maldives, I was there on behalf of
Corona and the World Surf League.
Uh, my job was to spend a monthon a boat with Chris Hemsworth and
Mia and all of these other people.
And the last person to getthere was this niche windsurfing
athlete named Zane Schweitzer.
And that guy showed up,did a back flip off the.

(30:04):
and he spent the rest of the monthbegging me to manage him because he
thought that I was an agent at Octagonwhen really I was an account manager.
That was just, you know, pushing premiumsand sampling and everything else.
So it was, uh, it's someone that,you know, I love Zane to death.
He's a 17 time winner, you know, inchampion of water sports activities.
He's sustainable athlete.

(30:25):
His grandparents invented the sport of,you know, windsurfing and kite surfing.
Wow.
Uh, and it just goes to show thatall that stuff is, you know, it,
it comes from just the most randomdiscussions and conversations.
So Zane's still with us, it's beenfour and a half years, and he was our
first athlete that we ever signed.
. Oh, that is

Randy (30:42):
awesome.
That's a great story.
And, uh, I, I've never been to theMaldives, but it sounds, uh, fabulous.
if you're hanging out.
So what does the organization look like?
Uh, Othello?
Do you, I, is it you?
And a handful of people?
I don't know how big a team is.
You know, I think my experience,and this is gonna sound absolutely
ridiculous, but my experience in thinkingabout agencies and representatives,

(31:07):
management agencies is like, um,remember that show on HBO Entourage?
And Ari, you know, and he just hadlike all of these people everywhere.
Like, what the hell doall these people do?
? Is that, you know, real life for you.

Andre (31:19):
I, I wish, I wish I could say it was like that , um, I, you,
you may even be able to hear behindthe scenes, my son waking up from his
nap in the other room and screaming.
So I, that that's, that's our team.
That's, it's me and myson, my 10 month old son.
Mm-hmm.
That's what we do.
No, I, you know, for.
For what we do, we probably have a handfulof full-time employees, um, that are

(31:40):
spread across operations, partnerships,you know, finances and legal right.
Taxes, all that stuff.
And then we, we have a lotof freelance relationships.
Mm-hmm.
You know, like we have a lot ofcontractors and, and partnerships and
other agencies that we work with on stuff.
And it's been that way because youknow, when you look at that model
of entourage, it's so big, right?

(32:03):
Like, you know, 500 peopleworking on one account.
It's not realistic and it'snot sustainable, like to these
ways and methods of doing it.
So, I don't know, justa little bit different.

Ra (32:13):
I thought it's crazy at that show is hilarious, but I'm like,
yeah, you just see all of thesepeople like what in the world?
How, how does that.
All right, good.
I'm gonna move on here.
I'm gonna ask you a question.
It's that time of the show here.
Andrew, do you like baseball?

Andrew (32:29):
I'm a big brace fan.
Big brace.
All.
Alright, well there we

Randy (32:31):
go.
And it's

Andrew (32:32):
time for the seventh inning stretch.

Randy (32:35):
Alright, time for the seventh inning.
Andrew, this is where I get to ask you.
Some fun, baseball related, questioned,um, just to have a little fun and start
thinking about other things besides,uh, you know, our business anyway.
And being that you likebaseball, that's good.

(32:56):
So our research team alwaystries to find like something
that's relative to your niche.
And so we kind of pickedup this about sponsorships.
And, uh, I got a twofold for you here.
Well, actually, it's not a question,this first thing, but just I thought was
kind of interesting because they threwin, they knew that you had worked with

(33:18):
Corona in the past, and did you knowthat this year that the beer category
for the first time is being shared by twobeers, two brands, Budweiser and Corona.

Andrew (33:28):
So interesting story.
I do know that cause I actually helpedwith the Corona deal for the Mets.
Mm-hmm.
, um, when I was at Constellation initially.
And what a lot of people don'tknow is that Corona in the US is
owned by Constellation Brands.
Yes.
Globally Corona is ownedby Anheuser Busch InBev.
So when you see the different marketingcampaigns in the US you see Bad Bunny

(33:51):
and Snoop Dogg and this kind of.
Satire, slapstick, Corona brandglobally, it's still fine.
Your beach exotic, laid back.
So two very different brand identitiesin the way that they're operating.
The marketing strategy.
Yeah, that's

Randy (34:05):
very fun.
I did know about the InBev.
I did know that they ownedCorona now, but uh, yeah, I
just thought it was interesting.
So, uh, Budweiser is still the officialbear, but you know, they've kinda
expanded upon this, uh, little other.
So now here's the realniche question for you.
All right, so we're gonnaget into uniform sponsorship.

(34:25):
So this is something that's really justin the last few years, has taken on some
steam and is moving ahead back in 2019.
The M L B.
Explored they were doing this deal,ah, where are my notes on that?
They were dealing the deal.
I think it was, uh, New York and Bostonwere, uh, going in London and they were

(34:49):
exploring how they could really marketand get some more juice out of this, uh,
series that they were doing in London.
And they experimented withthe concept of doing a helmet.
Sponsorship where they, uh, puta, a brand on the helmet on the
player's helmets with Mattel.
And so they did that back in 2019.

(35:11):
And then, uh, you know, theysaw it was an opportunity and
so they began exploring this.
And so next year they're doing thisin, um, 2023 season, they're expanding
it so that they are doing patches onthe sleeves of the player's uniforms.

(35:32):
What do you think about that?
I, you

Andrew (35:34):
know, I'm all for asset exploration and evolution.
I think the, the one thing thatI'm, I like seeing the Jersey patch
evolution right, uh, of that assetbecome more and more prominent.
I think it's a bit overvalued.
Some of the money behind it is.
I mean, the fact that brands arewilling to pay hundreds of millions
of dollars for a Jersey patch bafflesme, , uh, when they could own a race

(35:58):
team, they could own a NASCAR teamfor hundreds of millions of dollars.
They could own 10 NASCARteams for God's sakes.
But for me, I always look at stuffwhere I'm just like, Hey, if we're
looking at how we constantly exploreand reinvent these assets, everyone went
like, it's, it's an absolute win-win.
. I don't know if I love that exactexample, but what I'm gonna be more and

(36:21):
more curious of is what brands are gonnastart pushing the envelope on other
parts of the uniform that can be owned.
You know, I want to see like, you know, wesee a lot of, uh, sneaker artists right?
Coming into the world right now.
Like cleats, all that, right?
Like who's gonna.
Own that.
Like that's incredible.
The bats like, I wanna see designs onbats, gloves, I wanna see that creativity.

(36:42):
Yeah.
Be able to come

Randy (36:42):
out.
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think it's kind of fascinating.
So here's your first, or your questionon, I'm gonna throw at you though, is
there was an M L B team that debutedtheir sponsored patch first, and I
wanted to ask you who that team wasand who is their uniform patch sponsor.

(37:04):
Oh my goodness.
. It's not the Braves,

Andrew (37:08):
it's, it's definitely not the Braves.
I want to say it was one of the LAteams, but I know I'm probably wrong.
For some reason Clevelandis sitting in my head.
No,

Randy (37:19):
not Cleveland, actually.
You're close with an LA team.
It was the, uh, Padres.
Padre.

Andrew (37:24):
Yeah.
I, I use 15 Padre'sreferences this entire show.

Randy (37:27):
Yes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, um, Motorola isthe, uh, the sponsorship.
Yeah.
So Padres, they, um, they debuted thisthing with a big, uh, Motorola patch.
And by the way, so this first year thatMLB is, Doing the uniform sponsorship,
they're being very uniform aboutthe patch, that it can only be a

(37:48):
very specific four by four patch andwhere it has to be on the uniform.
But they're indicating that afterthe first year, they're gonna give
teams, uh, the liberty and freedomto kind of explore a little bit more.
what that would look like.
So I don't know.
I love it.
The creativity that youwere talking about, right?
Uh, yep.
Who knows what in the world that could be.

(38:09):
All right.
So that's fun.
So not too bad.
You're close in the same state anyway,, . All right, let's get back into it.
Play ball.
Okay, so for small business ownerslistening, cuz that that's the majority of
our audience here, what is the entry pointto working with influencers or niche?
That's
a really, really good question,Randy relationship building and, and,

(38:32):
and it sounds, it sounds so simple,but also so gray, but the power of
the dms in social media is incredible.
Hmm.
But you have to be very carefuland you have to be very authentic.
In how you approach somebody.
Athletes, creators, influencers, ofcourse, are looking at monetization,

(38:55):
which is fine, but for a lot ofthese small business owners, they
don't have big checks to write.
Right?
Right.
So how are you creative in your exchange?
. Well, if you're a bagel shop,no offense, but a CrossFitter is
not gonna want bagels for life.
, you know, as, as sexy as that is,it's probably not good for them.
So what can you do to incentivize acreative use of their name, image,

(39:18):
and likeness that capitalizes on amoment or a moment that is something
that no other athlete in theirrespective sport has done before.
Athletes and talent alone are lookingfor brands that get excited and
want to partner with them on loud,disruptive, creative opportunities.
If you can come to the table and putyour money where your mouth is, not

(39:42):
into the necessarily the pockets ofthe talent, but if you can do something
that's buzzworthy in PR enough.
it shows that you're serious.
Mm-hmm.
and it shows that, you know, you'retaking your, your business and your
bottom line seriously in order tohave a long lasting relationship.
Obviously athletes arebecoming more and more smart.
Agents are asking for equity andsweat equity deals these days.

(40:02):
There's nothing wrong with that, butyou know, as somebody who relinquished
66% of his agency early on andthen had to buy it all back, it.
Tough to start getting into thoseequity exchange deals, especially
if your end goal is acquisition.
Yeah.
So I always forewarn business ownersabout that, just to be very cognizant
and careful about that stuff.
But you know, I would say yourcreativity and your willingness to

(40:25):
just have a dialogue and listen tothe concerns of what an athlete or
talent may have, may surprise you.
And you know, many of these athletes just.
They just want their airfare coverage,the next event in Chicago, right?
And they don't have anyone to do it.
It would blow your mind how muchan exchange like that, that may
cost you four or $500 and maybeeven something you can use your

(40:46):
own delta sky miles out of, right?
Meant to that athlete.
But just, Hey, no, no strings attached.
We're big fans.
We wish you the best of luck.
Go get 'em this weekend.
Like we're proud of you.
It's just the empathytied to a partnership.
It, it really goes thedistance in a lot of ways.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, that's incredible.
I, and I loved, you know, when you'retalking about creativity and kinda even

(41:06):
the example that you gave there, becauseoften, you know, with small business,
they don't have these monstrous budgets.
Right.
For them to think they're gonna gospend $50,000 even to do something
could be just outlandish to them.
The, uh, it's.
You know, feasible.
So in thinking about othercreative ways that they may be

(41:27):
able to approach some athletes orinfluencers, I think is, uh, yeah.
It's a, it's a real, that's a realeye-opener I think, and, and a
great opportunity, um, for the smallbusiness owners with small businesses
and owners, entrepreneurs network.
I, I think is a big issue.

(41:47):
Always forefront, I think of their mind.
A lot of conversation obviouslyaround, you know, what is networking?
How do you do it?
Well, libraries have been writtenin regarding to networking.
I think you've got an interesting.
Approach and theory on networking.
Some things that I've read, uh, in somearticles or, or blogs that you've, uh,

(42:11):
put out on about, uh, your approach tonetworking and building your networks.
Can you kind of speak tothat, uh, specific area?

Andrew (42:22):
I mean, do we have time to do a whole separate podcast
that's gonna take nine hours?
, I just to simplify it, uh, I'll use theexample that I probably most commonly use.
I, I think, very old school.
The, the value that my, my male manor male woman can bring to me in an
exchange is just as valuable as inexchange as I'm having with you today.

(42:46):
So far removed.
We think, oh, the person that'smaking my coffee at Starbucks,
like, who gives a shit about them?
You know, like, oh, the personthat is at the gas station, you
know, giving me this pack of gum.
Who gives a shit?
If you are very self-aware of yoursurroundings and you are just giving
that respect factor, you know, it'ssomething that, you know, my uncle
uh, my uncle Matt, who's teachingEnglish over in Spain, I, I'll never,

(43:10):
I don't ask me why I remember this,but I'll never forget that as a kid.
He took me into a coffee shop ora cafe in Richmond, Virginia, and
we were getting a coffee with him.
He had me for the day and somebodyhad asked him, Hey man, have you
heard that new Fiona Apple album?
And they got into like a 20 minutediscussion on Fiona Apple's newest album.

(43:32):
I'm sitting there and I'm justlike probably 10 years old.
I'm like, what?
Like what?
But to this day, I remember.
Because he had this demeanor abouthim that made him approachable in that
setting, and they had that exchangethat, you know, again, nothing else
mattered like schedule didn't matter.
Rushing to the next appointment in thatmoment to that complete stranger, he

(43:52):
had built a relationship that probablyw felt like, you know, they, they
were best friends in that very moment.
That power and that connection andthat autonomy of just, you know,
feeling that that energy betweenexchange is so long removed.
People in business these days are alwayslooking out for me, me, me, me, me.
They don't have the patience for we,I'm not saying that they necessarily

(44:13):
should have the patience for we,because look, we all have to eat.
We all don't have the privilege to beable to, to go layers and layers and
layers in debt in order just to hopefullyone day hit it big on that one big deal.
But you do owe it to not only your.
, but you owe it to everybody aroundyou to give them the respect and the

(44:33):
time and the attention that as humanbeings we live for, and that goes, that
supersedes business that goes back intothat community over currency model.
And it's.
. It's just so incredible to me becausemy, my dad, you know, he was a banker
for 40 plus years and he was likethe freaking mayor of our town.

(44:54):
You know, he could go into a, apizza hut in Newport News, Virginia.
Everyone knew Roy Stallings andit, it, I was just like, man,
like he's a freaking banker.
You know?
Yeah.
Like, I mean, albeit he hada senior position at a bank,
but man, everyone knew my dad.
Everyone in Tidewater,Virginia knew my dad.
And I'm like, why?
Like my dad didn't golf.
He wasn't out there at the country club.

(45:15):
Schmoozing, like my dadliterally did his job.
He came home and heprovided for his family.
Very, very, very routine mentalityand blue collar mentality.
Still, everyone knew and loved my dad.
To me, that's what we should allbe striving for, is that same.
by anybody around us, whether it'sin business or life as a whole.
And that, I mean, that's truly the bridge.

(45:36):
That's the bridge of how, youknow, you can define success and
how you define it in your ownterms is to, is to seek respect.
Mm-hmm.
, seek respect, everything else comes.
Mm-hmm.
, that's the way that I'vealways looked at it.

Randy (45:46):
Yeah.
I love that, that currency.
How did you state that, uh, community overcurrency or is, uh, something like that?
Yeah,

Andrew (45:53):
yeah, yeah.
I mean, community over currency issomething that I've been saying for years.
Yeah.
And it's, it just came out one day andI remember I tweeted it and it's pinned
at the top of my Twitter profile justbecause I, it's literally the one success
metric that has made me who I am today.
Yeah.
Is my community has always, like,it's just always superseded currency.

(46:16):
And then currency has alwaysfollowed right now on top of that.
Now with that comes privilege.
I am a middle to upper classwhite male living in Connecticut.
I am a hundred percent aware that noteverybody around me has the benefit, the
authority, the education, the love thatI've had in my entire life that we all
too often just don't like to talk aboutor think that it shouldn't be talked.

(46:39):
But I'm lucky.
I've had a lot of bad things happenin my life, but I've had a lot of good
as well, and I think it's importantto always remember that somebody
and some buddies have it way worseoff than you, and you know, whether
that's business, life, et cetera.
Don't take anger and match it with anger.
Don't take emotion andmatch it with emotion.

(47:00):
It's truly a balance of yin and yang.
It, it's finding how youcan take what you are being.
And absorbing it.
And even when you're anger, like whenyou're angry, rather like somebody
hopefully can match you and balance youout it, it's finding those people around
you and that community around you that.
in your state of emotions, whereveryou're at that somebody can offset

(47:24):
you to keep you on your toes andpivoting and learning, educating, and
doing all those things, it becomesway bigger than anything in business
I, if you can have that communityaround you, right, and it's tough.
It, it consistently, I call mycommunity my fantasy football lineup.
I'm changing it every week, everyfew months I'm looking for new
mentors, new people to talk to.

(47:44):
It's not like, like marriage andbest friends anymore that we were
growing up and accustomed to.
You have to be looking for new people thatare going to inspire you and keep those
embers of your own personal flame going.

Randy (47:56):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm curious on your position about this.
So as you're talking.
Building the community or being a partof that community and the, and being
authentic, I think, in that community.
Do you feel there's a sense ofduty or responsibility that you
owe as well to that community?

(48:18):
It's a really good question too.
I, I've never thought about it thatway, but yeah, I, I mean, I don't
know to who I, I don't know, to mywife, to my athletes, to my family.
, but I always feel like I do owe somethingto someone and I, and I don't, I don't

(48:39):
really know exactly who, and I think maybethe unknown of that is probably what makes
it so inspiring is that maybe one day,you know, when I'm like in my hundreds,
I'll sit down and I'll figure it out.
Right.
For me, it's, you know, likeI'm not a super religious guy.
I, you know, I, I, I went to Catholicschool and stuff my whole life,

(49:01):
mostly just because I got kicked outtapublic school for being a snot, no
shit . But, you know, I, I, I mean, I

Rand (49:07):
went to Marymount, let the nuns beat you into submission.
Yeah.
. Oh yeah.
A hundred

Andrew (49:11):
percent.
A hundred percent.
But you know, I, I am, as you canprobably have gained in the last
few minutes, you can tell like I.
I'm very belief driven andenergy driven into the power
of people and those around you.
And you know, is there something,someone above us, I mean, who knows?
That's for another podcast, right?

(49:31):
Right.
But I do think that, you know,for all intents and purposes, I'm
grounded in knowing that I have todeliver for my tribe, and that is
what's under my roof for my team.
That is under my business.
And you know, ultimately my familythat goes and supersedes generations
with the name that I carry.

(49:51):
So yeah, I owe something to someone.
I just don't know exactly who at the end

Randy (49:56):
of the day.
Well, I was just kind of curious becauseas you were talking about the community
and you were given that great exampleof your uncle, and I know you talk
about mentors and having mentors inyour network, people that you can learn.
I often believe as well we'repart of those communities
and we should be looking.

(50:17):
And this is where I was wondering if youwere kind of going down this path as well.
I always kinda believe that peoplehave helped me in so many different
ways throughout my life and my career.
And I always think I should be, uh,it's part of my responsibility or
duty, if you would, to be lookingfor others that I may be able to.
I don't wanna be so bold to say to bea mentor, but you know, what are some

(50:41):
ways that I could help support and orencourage or provide, even in a moment
at, at that moment, you know, somewords of, uh, education, wisdom, I
don't know, off of my own experience.
And yeah, I do a lotof things with my kids.
We try to go do some servicestuff and things and you know,
they, why are we doing this?
And I'm like, well, we serve.

(51:02):
Others served before us.
And so I think that's part of community.
And when we're a part of a community,it's, um, we get from the community
certainly, but I think it's alsoincumbent upon us to, uh, to give.
to the community.
So curious about that.
That's all.
Yeah, absolutely.
So you've got this network and you talkabout mentors and the importance of, and

(51:26):
I think you even mentioned like, Hey, I'vegot people on my fantasy football team.
You know, I'm bringing peoplein and mentors into the network.
How do you identify those people?
How do you approach them?
Oh, it goes back to originallywhat I was saying before it, the mail.
Could be my mentor One week.
You could be someone that I,after this podcast, we stay in
contact and we find ourself onZoom calls at 10 o'clock at night.

(51:50):
Just sharing a bourbon orwhiskey, it really depends on.
The circumstances of life, it, it, itdepends on who's gonna approach me to
ask me about that Fiona Apple album whenI just had no idea it even came out.
Right.
It's, it's the curious, those that arecurious enough to be prideful enough
to also interject them into my life.

(52:12):
While also allowing myselfto do the exact same.
It can't be at this stage in mylife, in my career, it can't be 150%.
Me always throwing myself out thereand give, give, give, give, give.
I'm not sitting, sitting here sayingthat I expect something in return, but.
. I think that I've done humbly a goodenough job of building such a, a great
name and tribe and a business at thispoint that luckily the inbound is starting

(52:35):
to come back around full circle, wherepeople are actually listening to some
of these podcasts that I do and readingsome of the articles that are done about
Othello Group and some of our athletes.
And, you know, I, I thinkthere's power in that.
So for me it's really just finding.
Like-minded and curiousindividuals, they do not have
to be in the same space as you.
They do not have to be doingthe exact same thing as you.

(52:58):
Quite honestly, I love and usuallyfind the most inspiration from people
that are doing the exact opposite ofme and figuring out what are their
ways of working, thinking how to andwherewithal, because those are the s.
Those are the things where I pull themost information and apply 'em to my
model of life and thinking in business.
Yeah.
Uh, ask me if I talk to anotherNFL agent about anything.

(53:18):
Hell no.
like, you know, if, if anything,I am probably a bit too cocky and
think that I would just be givinginformation away, that it's gonna
be repurposed and used in areas thatmaybe I should or should not be in.
I'll, I'll have relationships,I'll have friend.
and, and I even had a, um, an agent callme outta nowhere two weeks ago, just
introducing himself, being like, Hey man,I'd heard about you in this space, and

(53:41):
was really putting himself out there.
And I told him, I was like,Hey, if for nothing else, I have
no idea what your motive is.
I respect the hell out of it.
Mm-hmm.
, I, I respect it for nothing else.
And you're curiously reachingout just to have a conversation
and engage like you want to know.
, what makes this guy tick?
Whether he's my competition ornot, what is he doing right.
Let me hear it from the horse's mouth.
Like that's the entourageshit right there,

(54:02):
Like that's when Ari Gold is havingthose conversations with Terrence.
That's the stuff where it,like as much as they hate each
other, they need each other.
Yes.
And that's, that's where it's goodcamaraderie and good business and also
just overall, Personal relationships.
Yeah, yeah.
Is relationships like that in due time.
All right.
I'll dig
it.
Hey, I, uh, I was, uh, you, you hadme going with the whole Fiona Apple.

(54:24):
I'm like, Fiona, apple.
So I, I got a little, uh, littletribute to your, your Uncle Max.
Do you remember this song?
The criminal from the title . Oh my gosh,

Andrew (54:45):
no, I ask me if I know any Fiona Apple song.
I have no idea.
, it's it.
I was so young.
I, I, but I just for some reasonstill remember that example.
No, it's delicate.
It's.

Randy (54:58):
Yeah.
I don't know why I, I haven't heardany of that stuff for so long.
Well listen.
Okay, here we are.
We're coming down tothe bottom of the ninth.
What advice do you havefor rookies in the game?
So those starting out in business,I mean you, uh, you know, just dug
in and kind of carved out this verycool niche agency that you're doing.

(55:18):
But for those starting out in businessor maybe those who have just started
their business, what kind of wordsof advice do you have for them?
Reps

Andrew (55:27):
get the reps.
. You know, I, I, I think, you know, Icould sit here and tell you networking
and all that, which would be very true,but I think it's a bit repetitive and
probably falls on deaf ears most times.
I think you need to figure out theways that you can get the reps in.
, you have to figure out ways andmethods for you to get reps in
and that cr and that's gonna alsochallenge and inspire your creativity.

(55:48):
Right.
You know, when you're thinking about,you know, business development.
Like say if you're a salesperson andyou're hired to sell tickets, we'll go
back to use the example for the Padres.
Do you think that some of the bestsalespeople are just going down their
list and just picking up the phoneand calling and using the same script?
Absolutely.
Like they are thinking about the mostengaging and entertaining ways to

(56:09):
get in front of perspective clients,customers, and buyers like never before.
And I think if you can challenge yourselfto be creative while also educating
yourself on new ways to make a buck.
It, it comes in due time with reps, but I,I say reps and creativity go hand in hand.
Like if you're doing the same thingover and over and over again, like,

(56:29):
okay, that's good and well, butlet me remind you that no one in
this world wants an expert anymore.
Nobody wants a no know it all.
Nobody wants to.
To have somebody that knows how to dojust one thing, unless maybe you're in
the HVAC or plumbing business or somethinglike that, or automotive, maybe you
need to know just one specific trade.
But even those individuals, I would argue,need to have other assets and connections

(56:52):
and tools in order to keep businessgoing and other verticals for them.
So you need to make sure that you areconstantly looking at what are new
and unique ways to try and lift a.
. Right.
You know, you can do it like this.
I don't know if this is recordedwith video, but you can do a bench
press, you can do a bicep curl.
Right?
What are the 50 million waysthat you can lift a weight today?

(57:15):
Yeah.
Like think about it thesame way with making a buck.
What are the 50 million ways thatyou can make a buck today in the, if
you wanna do it in sports managementand sports business, what are the 50
million ways that you could take TigerWoods and make Tiger Woods buck today?
Think about that.
Yeah.
And obviously you're gonna haveto set your benchmarks because
Tiger Woods doesn't need a.
So how do you make TigerWoods a hundred million bucks?

(57:36):
Think about that today, and what would youdo to get that a hundred million bucks?
So that's, it's always just creativity.
Yeah, creativity andgetting those reps in.
Yeah.

Randy (57:45):
All right.
Get the reps in.
Listen, Andrew, I, uh, thank youso much for being on the show.
It's been a lot of fun, man.
You got a lot of energy going on.
You're, you're gonna getthe reps in today, I'm sure.
. Oh,

Andrew (57:55):
man.
I, I, let's see, we're two coffeesdeep and there's an energy drink
in the fridge, in my name on it.
Oh God, let's go

Randy (58:01):
get it.
And at 10 months old ready foryou to, uh, hit the floor and
get wrestling or something.
So listen, thank you somuch for being on the show.
It's been a lot of fun.
And folks, you can go find out, uh,really all about the Othello Group.
Go to othello group.com.
That's a.
H e l o group.

(58:24):
And uh, they got a great lookingwebsite, A lot of fun stuff on there.
So go check those guys out andwe'll have links in the show notes.
And again, thank you Andrew,for being on the show.
Folks.
Hey, that's a ballgame.
Thanks for joining us today.
And if you like to show, please tellyour friends, subscribe and review,
and we'll see around the ballpark.
Running the bases with small businessesis brought to you by 38 Digital Market.

(58:52):
A digital marketing agencycommitted to client growth with
lead generation higher conversions.
And increased sales.
Connect with us today atwww.38digitalmarket.com.

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Athelo Group - Athletes Meet Opportunities

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