Overcoming Career Transitions and Adversity FT. Tim Meyer

Tim Meyer, a seasoned expert in the sports industry, joins us to share his deeply personal journey through career transitions and the unforeseen challenges of unemployment. From orchestrating monumental events like the Junior Olympics to navigating the emotional and financial trials after losing his job at AAU, Tim offers a candid reflection on the resilience and self-discovery that such phases can foster. This episode is not just a narrative of professional shifts but also an exploration of the human experience, underscoring how life's unexpected turns can shape identity and fortitude.

We dive into Tim's strategies for coping with unexpected life changes and financial uncertainty. He opens up about the struggle of compartmentalizing emotions after losing both a job and a father in the same year, highlighting how these experiences reshaped his worldview and resilience. Tim emphasizes the importance of finding positives amid adversity, exploring alternative income sources, and seeking solace in supportive environments. From creative side hustles to the complexities of unemployment benefits, Tim's story is a testament to the importance of preparedness—financially and emotionally—and the power of community and conversation in navigating tough times.

Throughout the episode, we also examine the role of interpersonal skills and support systems in achieving career success. Tim shares insightful reflections on building meaningful relationships and maintaining motivation, even when faced with setbacks. His journey with the Orlando Valkyries, marked by resilience and persistence, serves as an inspiring reminder that setbacks are not the end. With practical advice and personal anecdotes, this conversation offers hope and encouragement to anyone facing similar transitions, illustrating that brighter days are always within reach with the right mindset and support.

Episode Transcript

Jonny Strahl (00:09):
Welcome to the Bender Continues podcast
Introducing our guest fortoday's episode of the Passion
Project.
Under our career pillar, we getthe opportunity to introduce
Tim Meyer.
Tim oversees corporatepartnerships and youth
programming with the OrlandoValparaiso part of the Pro
Volleyball Federation.
He brings over a decade ofexperience working in sports.

(00:30):
Today we are going to discussthe dynamics of changing careers
and the journey that thisentails.
Tim recently started a new roleafter spending over eight years
with an AAU.
We are appreciative of hiswillingness to share his
experiences over the last fewmonths and in hopes it will help
with anyone dealing with thetransition into their own career

(00:50):
.
Welcome, tim, and thank you somuch for joining us today.
Thank you for having me Happyto be here.
Yes, sir.
So, tim, I know you'veobviously been on your fair
amount of interviews, so we gotto start off here with the

(01:11):
number one question you alwaysget.
Just give us a quick two-minutespiel Tell us a little bit
about yourself.

James LaGamma (01:17):
Who are you, where are you from and what's up
?
Very interesting.

Tim Meyer (01:24):
I don't think you're supposed to talk about where
you're from and stuff in jobinterviews, but I'm from here,
born and raised in Orlando,florida, st Cloud, florida, and
moved up here.
I met all you guys through mywife Shannon my beautiful wife
Shannon and yeah, I worked atFanDuel, I worked at the AAU,

(01:44):
I've worked now with theValkyries and I've always been a
sports person, got my master'sof floor state in sports
administration.
Um, I've always wanted to workin sports.
I, you know it's just the jobfor me.
I know I I uh hear a lot aboutwhat you guys do.
One of my other friends do andit's like man, I just I like the
idea of being able to like nooffense to you guys, like have
fun at my job.
That's what I swab Ryan is like.

(02:08):
Oh, I sit behind and dospreadsheets.
That's what I think I've alwaysbeen able to enjoy going to
sporting events, traveling.
I love the sports industry.
Obviously, we're going to bebetting hundreds of dollars
later with our friends aboutsports, that's for life for us.

(02:30):
So, um, I get to live it andwork it, which is fun timmy
already taking shots.

Jonny Strahl (02:40):
That's our um.
One thing we respect about youis no matter the situation, no
matter what's going on, whetherit be serious, you're always
going to bring people up.
So we appreciate your obviouslywillingness to communicate and
talk through this journey, andwe're going to specifically talk
about unemployment and some ofthe factors it had on you and
just how you shape your futurestate.

(03:03):
I think it's important to notethat unemployment it's often a
personal challenge andexperience and affects millions
of people worldwide and it canbring a feeling of uncertainty,
stress and almost a sense ofloss.
But I think, with your journeyand what we're going to get out
of this is, it can also be atime of growth, self-discovery

(03:26):
and just resilience.
So this episode, more or less,is going to focus on anyone who
is facing or has facedunemployment, maybe going
through a job search, wantingchange in their career.
I think Tim's going to providesome valuable insight just to
advice, managing the emotionsand just resilience as a whole.

(03:47):
So, whether you're looking formotivation or just a reminder
that you're not alone in thesetypes of situations, this
conversation will offer somevalue and hope it helps future
state.

Ryan Selimos (04:01):
Well said.
So, tim, let's talk about that.
Man, I mean, right, aau overeight years.
It's a part of what you do and,if I recall, you know you were
coming back.
You just got back from one ofyour biggest events that you
oversee every year, and that'sthe Junior Olympics.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
So you get back from that andthen all of a sudden you go from

(04:21):
you're in a space that you'recomfortable with, you're in
sports, right, this is what youlove.
You've just finished hosting afantastic event and now, all of
a sudden, you don't have a jobanymore.
Just kind of take us throughthat, your mental state, through
that transition.
You know the shock reaction andkind of, what was the impact
there?
How are you feeling?

Tim Meyer (04:41):
Well, yeah, when you give you know event.
It's the AAU Junior OlympicGames and it's one of the
biggest multi-sport events inthe world.
It brings anywhere between like$60 and $80 million of economic
impact.
So just thinking about thatlike what it does for a city, I
mean it can kind of make orbreak a city, doing it the right
way.
And so when you're there,you're up 6 am and you're

(05:03):
working until whenever the lastevent stops.
So it could be 6 pm, 7 pm, 8 pm, setups, takedowns.
You're working with 13different sports track wrestling
, trampoline and tumbling,gymnastics, a lot of things that
like there's a lot of movingparts, obviously.
So, going back from that, Imean you work 14 days straight,

(05:23):
you're working 80 hour weeks, um, getting very little, uh,
appreciation for it, but it's,it's what you do, right, it's
your life.
So, and just as a whole with theAAU, you know I was there for
eight and a half years.
I met my wife there, I met somethat's how I met all of you,
all of you guys through her andI met some of my best friends
that stood at my wedding with me, um, and so like it is a family
, right.
So I don't really have too manymentors, I kind of have one and

(05:46):
they were there for me througheverything they threw.
You know I've had a tough yearand so they were there for me
through that.
They threw us a good likewedding shower and stuff.
It's just a big family and sothey sent me to the Super Bowl.
They sent me to a bunch ofdifferent fun events.
I've gone to Hawaii.
So, like, job was awesome, youknow like, and they're obviously
had its ups and downs, right,it's very political and things
like that.

Kenny Massa (06:05):
But so coming back from a big event.

Tim Meyer (06:07):
You're kind of like ready just to relax a little bit
.
I was doing some fantasyfootball research.
Uh, I got called down to uh,our you know our hr, which isn't
really hr, but, um, I'm gonnatry not to throw shots, but um,
and then they, uh they made myboss, who was my friend, just
sit me down and say hey likewe're gonna have to terminate

(06:28):
your employment.
And I was like, what like?
What are you like?
What are you talking about?
And uh, he's like, yeah, likeeffective, immediately we're
gonna have to terminate.
And he's like tearing up, right, so I'm sitting here like so I
start to cry.
I'm like, hey, like this,because this is you did your
life, right, it's your I.
In three days I was going toEurope as, like a, we were
taking my mom to go to Europe tosee some things.
We were gonna go to the Floridastate game over in Ireland.

(06:50):
So, like, I'm amped up, right,I'm coming off a successful
event.
And then I'm like, well, andnow I got a couple of days like
to kind of finalize a couple ofthings.
And then, okay, now thishappens.
So it was a, it was a whirlwindof emotions, right, like I, you
know, I sat in the office therefor like an hour like crying on
and off, like insulting and likejust like kind of figuring out

(07:12):
what I'm like, what should I say?
Can I fight this?
Like and and that's?
And I was like, well, why?
Right, like I've been here foralmost nine years, excuse me.
And they were just like oh, wedon't have to tell you, it's a
right to work state and like Inever thought I'd be in that
position.
Right, like no one ever thinksthey're going to be told like
it's a right to work state,you're fired Like cause I've

(07:32):
never had any bad reviews, I'venever had any kind of like
things like that.
Like it's just like all myearlier I just I try to bring
happiness like there's a lot ofpeople unhappy there and I try
to always be that guy that keepskeeps the good vibes going
because there's there's noreason not to um, and I think I
was pretty much, I was prettyuniversally like, liked there,

(07:55):
um, so yeah, it was.
Uh, it shook me to my core,right.
I called, I called shannon inthe parking lot.
I'm like, hey, you're sittingdown.
She was like, why am I?
I just lost my job.
She's you're kidding I'm lot.
I'm like, hey, you're sittingdown.
She was like, why am I?
I just lost my job, she'syou're kidding.
I'm like, no, I'm like I'mserious.
So I broke down again and thencame home and you know, luckily
I have a really supportive wifewho's like, yeah, we're going to
get through it and um, and yeah, so it was good and obviously

(08:17):
you got to take the positives.
So, like you know, I learnedhow my wife would react in that
situation.
A lot of people wouldn't be asgenerous and there for me as she
was, so that was really nice.

James LaGamma (08:32):
It's good to have that support system where
Shannon can kind of act as arock oh for sure, Help you
through that.
But I can only imagine not tobe able to get closure.
That's kind of what ends uphappening there in that regard.
Well and the worst part is.

Tim Meyer (08:47):
I guess I didn't talk about that.
It's like he's like all right,we're going to, you're going to
go like, and not no one.
None of you guys have seen myoffice, but you know I've been
to a lot of different events.
I've been to a lot of.
I have a bunch of memorabiliathroughout the years, like a
Tony Gwynn signed thing, prettyexpensive stuff.

(09:08):
They're like yeah, we can't letyou get anything, we have to
escort you out.
I was like what?
I'm like we work at the WhiteHouse or something, the Pentagon
.
I'm like are you kidding?
I told my boss.
I'm like are you joking me,dude?
I'm like I've known you fornine years.
You're going to like, you'regoing to escort me out, like,
like okay.
So then it became a littlehostile there for a second, but
you know it's just like.

(09:29):
So they had to pack up my stuff,which I trust them to do, that
Cause you know I've known himfor a long time but so they sent
six boxes home of all my stuffyou know, like I couldn't even
do that, that was hurt the mostbecause I'm like you know, and I
know it comes from the top andwhatever, and but I'm just like
really, and he didn't want to dothat, he was hurt and he still
is hurt, but it's just kind of,it was kind of weird yeah,

(09:55):
that's.

Kenny Massa (09:55):
that's a tough thing.
Sorry, ryan, that's a toughthing, you know.
Thinking about that, you know alot of people don't realize
that when you work in a, in any,in any capacity, right wherever
you work, you spend a hotmajority of your time.
So you become really close tothe people that are around you
just by association, by doingwhat you do, spending, let's say
, 40 hours a week in anyenvironment, you're around those

(10:18):
people a lot.
I mean it's morning to night,every single day, five days a
week, and in most cases it'smore than that.
That's the bare minimum.
So you become really close tothat and it could change the
capacity of your relationshippretty quickly with people.

Ryan Selimos (10:35):
For sure it's part of your identity, man, and I
think what's interesting is youtalked about you're about to go
on this trip of a lifetime andyou just get this news.
So how did you, you know, goinginto that situation and even
coming back from that, just howdid you cope with that situation
, how did you stay grounded, howdid you enjoy that trip?

(10:57):
But then, when you come back,how did you reset, like what was
your thought process?
Because this is somethingthat's been a core part of your
life so many friends, familymembers, so many different
relationships established andthen boom, kind of all gone,
like that.
That can really send people ina spiral and we saw it didn't
for you.
So we'd love to hear, kind ofjust what was your daily

(11:19):
challenges with yourself in thatenvironment and what's that?

Tim Meyer (11:22):
Yeah, I think like you you said it does- become
kind of part of your identity,right, because, like I, because
so many branches of your lifecome from that.
Right, like a lot of friends,like my wife, like family, you
know, so there's always gonnahold a special place in my heart
, right, I know a lot of peoplefrom across the nation from
there and, like I spoke to oneof them yesterday, a couple of
them yesterday, because it'salways gonna have a special

(11:42):
place in your heart, um, but,you know, going to, you know,
going to europe, it's like okay,well, for one, I took the
positive right, like I hadalready taken what like eight
days of pto to go, so I got allthat back, so I got paid out for
that, which is nice, like I gotpaid to go, so that was nice,
you know, um, and it's one ofthose things, like we have a
really big event that we'regonna have to to do some

(12:03):
reconciliation on.
We're going to have to like doa lot of like back end works.
Hey, I don't have to do thatanymore.
So at least there's a, you know, there's a couple of positives,
and I'm about to go on the tripof a lifetime with my wife and
my mom, like why not?
It's just going to be awesomeand I thought at the time that

(12:30):
was the end of the trip.
So I think it's just like.
And for me, I've always beenreally good at
compartmentalizing things, likein, in looking at the positive
and, like I said, for like, also, you know, I lost my dad in the
last year and so like, afterthat, like for me, like nothing
else can really compare to thatright, like losing a job and and
a parent in the same year istough, but like it actually kind

(12:53):
of helped, because I'm likewhat would he?
You know, what would he do?
What would he have me?
Uh, be like.
And I and he always was like betough.
You know, be tough, be tough.
And you know, one of the lastthings I said to shannon was
same thing thing Be tough forhim, I want you to be his rock,
which is really great becauseshe has been.
So it's not easy, but I thinkjust I was looking for the

(13:15):
positives at Europe.
I was just like, hey, listen, Ihave nothing to do.
There's so few times in lifewhere you're going to have
absolutely zero to worry about.
And I'm like, hey, I'm 33.
I'm like, I'm going to, I'm inEurope, I'm going to enjoy this
Like and not think about what Ihave to come back to.
It's just nothing.
I just get to come back andrelax, and so that was really.

(13:36):
That was actually reallyhelpful.
Cause I'm like you know, I knewthat I was going to get paid out
.
I'm very money motivated and soI knew I was going to get paid
out, because they do it likeyou're delayed almost two pay
periods, I think.
So I knew I was going to getpaid when I was in Europe and I
was going to get paid one moretime.
It was going to be like adouble paycheck.

(13:57):
So I was like, okay, I have alittle bit of time too.
So you just got to look at itvery black and white.
Don't let this stuff, becauseobviously I have my moments.
I had very like black and white, don't let this stuff, because
obviously I have my moments.
Like I had a moment yesterdaywhere I got pissed, like it
still comes and goes.
But, um, yeah, how can you bemad when you're in europe
anyways right, like how can yoube mad when you have, like

(14:17):
you're having the time of yourlife?
Like you said, true, for thelifetime?

Kenny Massa (14:24):
I agree with you.
You said something, though justa couple minutes ago, like when
you lose someone that's reallyimportant to you, especially,
you know, like your father, Ican relate to you with that and
we've had talks about thatbefore but it's like there's, it
almost becomes like everythingelse, like literally 99.9% of

(14:45):
stuff you become numb to,because nothing could be as
worse as that and thatexperience and that weight on
you at that moment in time.
So same for for me.
And, and when you look at itlike that, it's like well,
whatever, like life will go on,it'll move, it won't move past
us, it is what it is.
So I think you have to thinklike that.
It's like, well, whatever, likelife will go on, it'll move, it

(15:05):
will move past us, it is what itis.
So I think you have to thinklike that.
It's like, well, you know, itcan't be that, it's not that bad
in the grand scheme of things.
I've dealt with with the worstand this is like, whatever, I'll
transition and I'll just, I'lljust pivot, and that's, that's
what it is.
You gotta pivot.

James LaGamma (15:21):
And you know, to be able to call back to the
teachings of someone like thatto help you through the process.
I mean, that's massive, youknow, and obviously keeps their
memory alive as well too.
So that's huge.

Jonny Strahl (15:36):
Hey, tim and I know there's an opportunity
where we're going to explorefuture of like what you did in
the moment and supporting andtrying to find additional
sources of income and whatnot.
But I do have a question, andit kind of goes back to a little
bit of what Kenny brought up.
But you mentioned like there'sdays where all of a sudden

(15:59):
something just registers.
You know you get pissed off oryou get upset.
I think in the in the world welive in, there's a lot of
psychological factors and a lotof things we can do.
But how do you manage just theexperience when you go through
that moment of like?
You just get frustrated, likedo you seek out to do something?
I'm just curious.

Tim Meyer (16:20):
You know not, I said for me, I'm kind of, I'm kind of
weird, Like I just kind of letmyself feel it and like let
myself think about it and I'lltalk to Shannon or whoever about
it.
Like, for you know, for acouple of months, after my dad
passed on to therapy, because Iwas like I don't know how to
handle this, like I had no oneto really talk, express

(16:43):
everything that you really wantto feel, and ultimately me and
my therapist didn't bond liketoo well, I mean it was good,
but like she, just she alwaystold me like just let yourself
feel it and so, like you kind ofhave to right.
Like the other night I waslaying in bed and so I came
across the video and it kind ofreminded me of my dad and so I
cried.
I was like, okay, you just gotto cry and let it out, you know,

(17:03):
and this goes the same for itgoes the same for work.
You know, like yesterday, when Iwas on a walk, I was like man,
like I'm pissed, like I didn'tget any closure, like I, you
know, I'm happy I moved on, Iwas ready to move on, but like
not on my own terms, and so I,so I just like I don't know and

(17:24):
sometimes honestly I'll talk tomyself about it and like I'll
just talk out loud and I thinkthat really helps to say like
all right, like fuck this, likeor whatever like but it's going
to be okay, like you moved onand you're going to show them
that you're better than workingfor them.
You know.

Jonny Strahl (17:39):
Yeah, you have a sense of closure, a sense of
closure right, and you're atpeace with moving on, which I
think is what's most important.

Kenny Massa (17:49):
Yeah, yeah, I just always think like nothing lasts
forever, right, like there'salways a point in time where
there's a change, whether it's,like you just said, on your
timeline or someone else'stimeline, nothing lasts forever
and there is a point wherechange is inevitable.

(18:09):
But I want to jump into whatJohnny just said, which is like
those alternative sources ofincome.
What Johnny just said, which islike those alternative sources
of income, when you start tothink about you know obviously
now you're looking for a job,you're seeking somewhere else to
be employed with.
How do you, in the time whereyou have that gap, how do you
start to process the route inwhich you're going to go?

(18:32):
Do you pick up something thatis pretty in alignment with what
you're doing, or do you come upwith alternative sources of
income completely outside ofthat and kind of test your way
through this and do things thatyou normally wouldn't have?

Tim Meyer (18:46):
Because now you have the time, I think you have to be
creative, and I've always been,and that's one thing that you
taught me which is nice.
Like I'm not above anything,I'll do anything Right, and so,
like I have a wife that Shannonmakes good money, but like I
have a wife that I feel like Ineed to look after and a house,
I have a mortgage, and so thatdoes get a little scary.

(19:08):
I think one thing my parentsalways instilled in me was just
saving money and having anemergency fund and all that
stuff.
So you know what?
10 years ago I started anemergency fund and all that
stuff.
So you know what?
10 years ago I started anemergency fund and I never
touched it.
I put it it's an ally.
You know saving, which is fourand a half percent, or an
immigrant at ebbs and flows, butI've never touched it.
Now, that's not to say I put alot in there all the time, but
it's enough that it's going toget us going.

(19:29):
It'll keep us afloat for sixmonths or whatever it is, and
obviously my goal is to have onethat gets us going for more,
and I think everyone should dothat.
If anyone takes anything fromthis interview, it should be
have an emergency fund, becausethat number one that gave me
some solace in knowing that, allright, I have a little bit of
time, but that still doesn'tlike change the fact that I need
to like try to make some money.

(19:49):
So immediately, pretty much, Igot into I'm I'm just I'm stupid
with alliteration.
So I started up Tim's trims,you know, like at the AAU.
I admire his market.
I was the vending machine ofthe AAU so I make money on the
side there.
I hustle like I don't have a job, almost sometimes Like I'm like
it's kind of weird.

(20:09):
But so luckily I had somefriends like James and my buddy
Alex that needed a couple ofthings done around the house
that they just didn't have thetime to do.
So I trimmed my buddy Alex thatneeded a couple things done
around the house that they justdidn't have the time to do.
So I trimmed my buddy's treesand got paid for that.
I pressure washed my buddy'sfence and I did a horrible weed
job, for James broke my back andthere's still some weeds in the
wood.
You did a fantastic job.
That was the worst thing I'veever done.
I thought I was going to die inJames' backyard.

(20:31):
Every five minutes I was comingin and laying on the tile.
He didn't know this Cause likeI, just he was in his.
He was in his office working.
I was probably an outlier withme and I just was like I'm going
to pass out Like and I've neverbeen like that Cause.
I grew up doing like yard stuffand like working and working out
.
So, like I love, I love doingthe outside things and everyone

(20:52):
always tells me like I shouldhave like some sort of business
like that just because I likedoing it.
But I, you know, I have adegree.
For a reason I want to use myhead, not my, not my back.
So I did that and and that wasfun and, honestly, you make you
make a thousand bucks and it'slike okay, like that, you know
it kind of it's like one or 5%of comfortability for you.

(21:14):
It gives you, gives you like asense of calm, like all right, I
, I made a little bit of moneyhere, you know, and and I'm like
moving in the right direction.
I'm not, you know, you'realways moving.
So I wasn't.

James LaGamma (21:27):
I wasn't stopped.
Yeah, and some people, you know, while they're doing those odd,
odd jobs, they they might locktheir friend up, Actually you
lock up in the attic.

Tim Meyer (21:37):
Actually, you locked yourself in the attic, I just
couldn't get you out Technically.
Yes, I couldn't get you out.

James LaGamma (21:41):
That was a problem.
Yeah, you couldn't get me out,trying to put that attic ladder
into the ceiling.
I thought James was going todie.

Tim Meyer (21:48):
the same day I was going to die.
My arms were cramping.
I'm trying to get the thing out.
My arms are cramping.

Kenny Massa (22:00):
I can cramping, I can't do it.
That was fun, that was fun,that was good, yeah, yeah.
Now, do any of those like oddjobs?
Uh, did you have a thought atany point in time where you were
like this is actually not badand I can see myself like maybe
creating my own business ortaking this to the next level,
or did it?
Did it kind of give you athought of maybe you wanted to
change?

Tim Meyer (22:17):
yeah, I did, honestly because you know, when you lose
your job, you become jaded.
So, like I was, like I don'twant to work for the man, like,
fuck the man, you know.
Like right anywhere because itsucks right like you know if
it's just like.
It's such a weird concept thatlike I have to ask someone to
take off work to live my life orsomething you know.
And so, like I was, I was very,very like jaded and and so, and

(22:39):
I, as I like doing it, likewhen I grew up and I was in high
school and I come back forcollege, like, uh, my parents
live on a street, just like arandom street, and I'd mow
everyone's yards and I'd takecare of their stuff and do
whatever.
So I grew up kind of doing thatand I enjoy it.
And um, I, I mean, I was mowingmy grandma's yard up until like
a year and a half ago and thenshe moved down down South and so

(23:00):
like, yeah, for sure, I and Ihad friends tell me like hey,
but you need to just do your ownthing, like you're doing it
already.
You just have to like put more,put more behind it.
And so if I hadn't, you know andI still think about it like why
not?
But it's just there's a lotthat goes into it that I think,
like you know, insurance andthere's a lot to get off the
ground, which is like obviouslytakes up so much space in your

(23:23):
mind it's kind of scary, but Idid, yeah, I did think about it
and I still do, because it'sgood money too, right, like they
say tradesmen like make thebest money and they just kind of
do their own thing.
It's just not super challengingmentally sometimes and I think
that is what I need personally,but it is fun.
I mean I did enjoy it.

(23:44):
Honestly, I wish I could havedone a couple more jobs.

Kenny Massa (23:49):
Fair, yeah, I get that.

Ryan Selimos (23:55):
Give yourself a quick shout out.
Right, you're on TikTok.
You went the social media route.
You were challenging thevendors continues, which is why
you tried to lock james up in anattic.
So give yourself a quick shoutout if people want to see any of
your content that you're stilldoing.

Tim Meyer (24:03):
Yeah, so I'm.
I think I'm.
I'm tim talk.
Uh, let me see my actualusername, so I did do that.
I didn't know if you're gonnaqueue me up on that or not.
I'm tim talk.
13, 22, um, do you want me toget into why I did TikTok?
I?

Jonny Strahl (24:19):
think so, get into it, because that was an
alternative route.

Ryan Selimos (24:22):
You're talking about how not working for the
man and right You're, you'relooking at different
alternatives and, yes, everyonetoday wants to be, you know,
social media influencer, evenfor guys who think they can do a
podcast.
So you, you know, we would loveto hear that angle.
And and guys who think they cando a podcast.
So you, you know, we would loveto hear that angle and and some
of it's funny man, so tell usabout it.

Tim Meyer (24:40):
Was it's uh, I think to johnny's question a while
back like that was somethingthat kind of helped me too.
Like I just got back fromeurope and I was like I was on,
I wanted to create some, um,some healthy boundaries for
myself and some healthy habits,and so I was going to walk every
day and do all that Cause inEurope.
I ate like a cow.
Like you know, I drank.
I ate, like we walked a lot too, but, like you know, you just

(25:01):
feel kind of gross.
So I came back, I had done somefunny TikToks in the past, like
stupid things, like trends orwhatever, and so I'm like you
know, I'm, I'm going to, I'mgoing to talk about it and see,
like what comes of it.
Right, I never had anyintention of like going viral or
going like trying to make moneyoff of it.
If so, great, Like I would havetotally taken it.
But, um, I was like you know,I'm going to do this.

(25:26):
So I kind of told a little bitof my story on like a TikTok
that had got like 800 views, butlike whatever, who cares?
Like it was more for me, excuseme, it made me feel better
because like I could talk aboutit Right and um, and so I kind
of went back and forth, cause Idon't like sharing, Like that's
another thing.
My dad always says, like looselips stink ships.
So I'm like I don't really likesharing all my stuff on there
Like I don't know, I don't, I'ma pretty open book, but like I

(25:46):
don't know it's different whenyou're sharing it on a social
media app that you know anyonecan see at any time.
And so I deleted the video or Itook it off my profile.
And then I had a couple offriends text me and they're like
they're, they're always hypingme up and they're hey, like I'm,
I'm here for this, like this isawesome.
I was cracking up, like andthat really I'm like you know
what, okay, fine, like, cause Iknew I had the support, and then

(26:07):
all you, all of your wives,have watched them and loved them
.
And Austin Marks is one biggestfans, you know he's.
Like I love to talk and uh, sofor me, I love making people
laugh, like I love entertainingpeople and so sure, if it.
I guess if one of my videos wereto go viral, I made money,
great, or like you know, like Iwould, I would happily take that
, but like, I'm just doing itmore for myself, cause it's fun

(26:29):
and obviously everyone's alittle bit vain too, right, so
it's funny to like see myself onthere and like talk and and see
like how many people you canget and my viewers have gone up
right.
My first few videos were like200 250.
Now I'm up to like 500 a videoright, and that's double what it
was just 20 videos ago.
I would make some videos fortim talk or for tim's trims.
Um, I do like little fun videos.

(26:50):
It's just kind of something tokeep your mind off of things,
right like that's the biggestthing.
Like I know you have eighthours a day that you need fill
like you need brain, brainactivity.
Yeah.

Ryan Selimos (27:06):
I think the biggest thing that you've talked
about is you know you had adecision through all this you
could have solved, you couldhave sat around and you decided
to just figure out each day whatam I going to do?

(27:27):
Keep going, keep moving, keepafter it and I think that's a
big takeaway for anyone watching.
It's just you can't let thattype, whether it's you
individually or it's leaninginto, you know, a support group.
You got to keep moving forwardand you're a great example of
how you know every day you weretrying something and you kept
moving, and you know you keptyourself in a good mental space.

Tim Meyer (27:46):
You know, given all the bullshit, you have to, and
because if you don't, you can godown a really bad road.
And I I'm not saying that Ididn't have my days, but waking
up and walking every singlemorning and working out every
single morning, like that wassomething that I enjoyed because
I'm walking around and that'sthe thing, like I get to enjoy
the fruits of my labor, right,like I've worked for since I was

(28:07):
in college or whatever.
So like I get to enjoy my house, I get to enjoy my wife, I get
to enjoy my dog, I get to enjoymy neighborhood, get to, you
know, like, like I said earlier,there's so life is so short,
but like we work so much of it,so being able to like understand
that like this isn't permanent,I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna
not have a job forever, like solet me enjoy these two months.

(28:29):
Yeah, I need to apply to jobsand I need to figure it out at
the same time, like I don't, Idon't have to do anything, I can
sit here and hang out my wifebother her because she works.
You know she works from home.
So but I don't know, I just getto enjoy like what you work.
So hard for what you're gone 45,50 hours a week for Like I got
to sit here and enjoy it andlike decorate my house and clean
my house, organize my garage.

(28:50):
We got to go to Virginia for aweek and see my in-laws and like
enjoy staying there like Idon't know.
There's.
There's so many positives totake from it that like I might
not ever have that again.
Like I might not ever have atwo-month period where I'm not
working until I'm like unless Ieither have a kid or I'm like 60
and retired, and then I can'tmove.

Kenny Massa (29:09):
You know, like it's almost like a reset.
It's just like you just reseteverything, find equilibrium
again and then just reseteverything by an equilibrium
again and then just reset.

Tim Meyer (29:20):
And when you get, when you get let go like you
need that, I, I, Iwholeheartedly believe you need
like a month at least to to getover it and, at the minimum, I'm
still excited it's been.
I was August 12th.
I'll never forget that date.
I got back from Europe August26th and you know I started

(29:42):
applying August 27th and then Igot a job offer the third and
went from there.
But yeah, you need to, you needto reset for sure, and some
other things I thought aboutdoing.
You know, like maybe I'll Uber,maybe I'll Uber Eats, maybe
I'll do all this other stuff.
I never came to that, but um,it's enticing stuff to do.
It's like nothing's beneath me.
It was just like I just didn'twant to do that.
I'd rather do my own thingfirst.
But those are all options.

(30:04):
I mean, they're all goodoptions too.

James LaGamma (30:09):
So you got recalibration, you got a sense
of productivity.
You're imploring alternatesources of income, but what
about the main alternate sourceof income that most people
attack after they get, uh,removed from their position?
What about unemployment?
Oh, did you go down that route,did you?
Did you go after?

Tim Meyer (30:30):
the government to say like hey, it is like our system
is broken.
It's horrible.
You can't get a hold of anybody.
And my situation is very uniquebecause I've done unemployment
before with FanDuel.
Like they just cut a bunch ofus like after a year or so.
Like we got unemployment.
It was pretty seamless, so thatwas nice.

(30:51):
But so this time, the day I gotback, I probably should have
waited, but I was so pissed Igot back and I started doing
unemployment and it's a prettyeasy process but, like you know,
they don't really ask questionsfor everybody.
So, like in my situation, Iwasn't let go for a certain
specific reason.
They didn't tell me a certainspecific reason.
Like all my you know, out ofthe eight years I've been

(31:11):
reviewed like twice becausethey're a joke, but they were
both great twice to their joke.
But uh, they were both great.
And like my boss loves me, the,the volunteers I worked with,
all love me like.
So like I've never had a a likea demerit on my uh record or
whatever.
You know, like I got plenty ofdemerits, like jokingly, you
know.
But so like I, there's not anoption for that.

(31:33):
Like you can't just say, like Iwas just like oh.
You know, like there you haveto put like it was, because you
don't get it for certain.
Like you can't just say like Iwas just like oh, you know, like
there you have to put like itwas, cause you don't get it for
certain reasons, like if you getfired for bad performance you
don't get it, or whatever, whichthat wasn't the case, so I did
it and I'm still waiting.
I'm still waiting onunemployment.
Yes, I haven't got a dime and Idon't know if I ever will.

(31:54):
Cause like and so like I've,you know, I've applied.
So like I applied to 40different jobs over the time and
some of those were purely justfor unemployment purposes, right
, Cause you have to apply tofive a week and you have to log
all of that, and so I was doingthat and for all offer, I don't
know Cause, like they wentthrough the fact finding portion

(32:17):
, all that stuff.
Everything was good, I guess.
So I don't really know whatthey're waiting on.
Like I, in my account it justsays I have decision pending
adjudication and so, like I getthey're waiting to rule.
I don't know.
But like it's been almost 12weeks now, Right, that I've
initially started.
There's not a thing to email.
You can't call.
I messaged you people onTwitter.
I'm like, will you please fixthis system?

(32:40):
I'm like, honestly.

Jonny Strahl (32:41):
I'm about to write a letter.

Tim Meyer (32:42):
I am literally about to write a letter and hopefully
it gets there.

Kenny Massa (32:46):
Right, you're a congressman, you just pay into
that shit and your money justfucking disappears and you can't
call.
You can't call.

Tim Meyer (32:54):
I've called literally just one morning.
I wish I could show you.
I just called 20 consecutivetimes and then and it just
doesn't, it doesn't.
It hangs up on you because itsays like, oh, we're busy right
now, so, like it's just an ad, Iwould call.
I called her every day.
It was cause I just want toknow like, if I get it great,
whatever I would have gottenpaid over that time would have
been nice.
Right, like to help offset myemergency fund.

(33:16):
Yeah, it's not much.
It's 275 bucks a week is likethe max you can get, so that's
all I could get.

Kenny Massa (33:21):
So it's $3,300 over three months which is a
completely another fuck yeah.

Tim Meyer (33:26):
Literally 35 a week.
At least you can eat.

Kenny Massa (33:29):
Who the fuck can live off $275 a week yeah.

Ryan Selimos (33:33):
Yeah, If you get it, I think that's but that's
important because right.
Not everyone has an emergencyfund right For whatever their
situation.
And then you're you're toldthat, oh, this is going to be an
Avenue for you and potentiallyat least of one individual's
experience.
It's not like thank you forsharing that, tim, because

(33:54):
people probably don't know thatthey go into the situation
there's all these differentparameters about it that you
might not see the money at theend of the day.
You've got to be thinking aboutthat now and just know that you
don't have that to fall back on.
You really only have yourselfto fall back on.
That's important.

Tim Meyer (34:09):
It's fucked up.
It's important, luckily for me,I think, of a lot of different
scenarios.
So I had like four differentscenarios kind of played out uh,
within our budgeting thatShannon and I worked with, and
that's communication and money'svery important.
Obviously, some couples don'tsee the same, so luckily we do,
and so I knew, if I didn't getit, well what I, what kind of we

(34:29):
would need, which is why I kindof jumped on and started
working and getting some cash,um cause, and getting some cash,
because you never know how longyou're going to be without a
job, right, going into theholidays, and it's a really hard
job market.
So yeah, so that is kind oflike I think that's what kind of
pissed me off.
Yesterday, too, I was trying tolike upload some stuff and I'm
like how is this?
This is a joke, man, and that'sthe thing.

(34:53):
Like that's what's worse.
You can't get a hold of anybody, and, and that's the thing,
that's what's worse.

Kenny Massa (34:57):
You can't get a hold of anybody.
And if they could?

Tim Meyer (34:58):
just tell me, hey, you don't get it, or hey, you do
get it, or it's going to be 10weeks or 12 weeks, whatever.
But there's nowhere that saysthat it's like a website built
back.
Kenny, you need to get withthem.
It's a site built back in the50s, dude.
We need to update their system.

Kenny Massa (35:14):
The most interesting thing is like to go
through that.
You need an rfp right and thento get to get qualified and to
do all that like we.
We have ran through thatprocess to be able to work with
government contracts on thatside, and even that is insane.
I have to pay the city, thestate, the government, the

(35:36):
United States, for differentlevels.
They have to go through vettingprocesses it's the craziest
shit in the world and then theprocess that they go through.
Two years later they'll get thejob.
It's crazy.

Tim Meyer (35:55):
But then they just don't want to give you money.

James LaGamma (35:59):
Correct me if I'm wrong here.
Maybe, kenny, you actually knowthis, since you own a business.
But doesn't your old businesshave to technically cover your
unemployment when it's appliedfor?
And that's usually why jobs tryto avoid firing people?

Kenny Massa (36:12):
Every day.
This is, every state isdifferent, but you do, yes, as
an employer, you do pay into,like we pay on top of the salary
.
So like, let's say, someonemakes $50,000 a year For the
actual organization it's not$50,000 a year.
There's employment taxes andthings like that that the

(36:32):
employer has to pay, which thenfeeds into those programs as
well, correct?
But so, yes, and then we, ifsomeone does go through
unemployment, typically theywill get reached out to by the
government, basically in regardsto that individual that's
claiming unemployment,requesting sometimes details or

(36:54):
whatnot.
But what happens through thatprocess, like who really knows,
you know, with with the wholeprocess?
I'm not sure we've had that,that happened but you answer
questions and then that's it.
Like on our side, I mean, wepay into it like I have no
choice as an employer.
I have no choice.
I can't be like, no, opt out ofthat, Not really something that

(37:18):
can be done, so I just eat it.

James LaGamma (37:22):
Gotcha, I was just vaguely trying to remember
because I know my mom got let goone time, but she was working
for a company that was based outof Maine.
So it's possible that, like yousaid, by state it has different
things, and she did try to gothrough unemployment.
I can't remember the results ofthat, but and she did try to go
through unemployment I can'tremember the results of that,
but she ended up finding anotherjob later on in Lake Boston, so
that's been good.

Kenny Massa (37:42):
Yeah, everything's different.

Ryan Selimos (37:43):
We'll have to fact check this, but what I'm
hearing is right AAU pays Tim'ssalary, they pay his
unemployment, so the money it'sthere, it's there Tim goes.

Kenny Massa (37:52):
I'm here.

Ryan Selimos (37:53):
I'm ready to collect baby.
Sorry, your funds were shippedout overseas.
We have nothing for you rightnow.
I mean, that's what I'm hearing.
No fact-checking here.
So maybe we need to do some duediligence, but our guy, Timmy,
has owed some money.
I believe that is the process.

Tim Meyer (38:07):
I think, outside of that too, one thing we get I
told myself I wasn't going toget into an insulting session
but one thing that, like at theau, we always have, was like a
summer bonus and like achristmas bonus, right, and
they're not guaranteed, um, butyou know, you can kind of say
they are, because I've gottenthem every single year and so

(38:29):
like it's kind of for like thehard work you put in the summer,
um, and like you know, I'dspent two weeks away from my
wife, my, my, my dog, my family,my mom, like whoever, and I
come back they give them theweek after I get let go, and so
I'm like all right.
So I wrote I'm like, hey guys,like I really appreciate the
opportunity to get this bonus.
Like I worked harder than mostpeople.

(38:49):
There's people that didn't evenleave the office.
They worked their eight to five, like they're important too,
but like they didn't travelanywhere, they didn't do
anything and outside of liketheir normal job and they got a
bonus.
But like me, you know you letgo for whatever reason, and that
I'm not even, that, I'm noteven worthy enough to tell, and
then or like try to fix oranything, and then I don't even

(39:12):
nope, sorry, so that was, thatwas.
That was probably my lowestpoint, like I was pissed, like I
was very mad Because you'retalking a couple thousand
dollars, right Like that'sreally helpful for what I'm
about to endure.
So not only are you like shakingin my life, like you know,
you're not even going to give mea bonus that I earned.
I worked all summer for Likethat was unfortunate for sure.

(39:34):
Yeah.

Kenny Massa (39:38):
Yeah, so every state, like I said, every state
is different.
So, florida being a at-willstate, there's obviously there's
both sides of it.
It's good for some people andit's bad for some people,
employer and employee, bothpositions, but still, typically,
from like an employerperspective, you weren't put on

(39:58):
a PIP, a performance improvementplan.

Tim Meyer (39:59):
No, that's what I'm saying.
If I did something wrong, Idon't know what it is, and they
didn't even like, and aftereight years.

Kenny Massa (40:08):
Which means it wasn't a performance-adjusted
element.
Right, because you would havebeen put on a PIP and the
conversation would have been had, because and the reason why I
say that is because it is always, like always, always, always,
always more expensive to hireand train someone new,
especially than keeping someonewho's been around for nine years
.
I haven't had someone aroundfor nine years because the

(40:31):
company isn't that old, you know, that's a long fucking time.
So you know, you, generally, ifit's a performance related
thing and you know johnny and Ihave talked about these things
too like performance improvementplans are, it's just an easier
way to get alignment in regardsto things, but obviously, you
know, if you're not put on that,then it's not a performance

(40:52):
thing well, I would believe Icould speak from personal
experience with a you,considering that my wife worked
there with tim for, uh, a stint.

James LaGamma (41:01):
It was two to three years but they don't have
an hr department.
It's not formal, you know soit's understandable that they
didn't go through.

Tim Meyer (41:09):
I don't even know if they're just about to say that
I'm glad you said it.

Kenny Massa (41:12):
I didn't that's fucked up.
How many employees are there 50.

James LaGamma (41:17):
50 in office, yeah, and then obviously they
have all their like reps that doall the events nationwide and
stuff.

Tim Meyer (41:22):
So it's kind of like a it's interesting, you know the
AU has been around since 1888.
So it's just the good old boysystem kind of thing and there
wasn't a lot of like goodpractices put into place
business wise or, you know, likeHR, like I said, like James
said.
I mean there's like there'sbeen what I think 80 employees
that have left over the last.

(41:44):
Since the time I was there forlike eight years, there's been
like 80 boys that left for, andreally good people.
So it's like there's somethingkind of wrong with with that.
And I said I don't even thinkthey know what a PIP is to be
honest with you.

Ryan Selimos (42:00):
Well, they're out.
The government they're out too.
Let's talk about greenerpastures.
Let's talk about Timmy.
Mr, want to bring everyone up.
I'm pulling myself up out ofthis situation.
Confident guy, right, open bookand talk about anything.
You're 10 years in theworkforce, you're over eight
years at AAU and now you'rerestarting.
Right, you talked about thatreset.
How does your confidence change?

(42:24):
How's your confidence have tobe rebuilt?
And now, right, you're applyingto all these jobs.
You're going into interviews.
What's that mentality cominginto an interview for a new
company?
Like, are you confident goinginto that?
Are you starting to secondguess yourself?
Because, wow, I just got canned.
You know it's been eight years.
Yeah, I don't know.
Like, maybe you have someinternal interviews at AAU, but

(42:45):
really, how frequent have youbeen in this type of setting?
Take us through that part ofthe journey.

Tim Meyer (42:50):
The first couple of years at the AAU, like I was
like 24, 25, 26.
So I did interview for a coupleof jobs here and there, Just
you know if.

Kenny Massa (42:57):
I see something.

Tim Meyer (42:58):
I like you know whatever like, because when
you're young you don't reallyknow what you want to do I never
thought I'd be working and usesports for like my life.
Like I enjoyed it because, likeI could still love sports and
go to sports and then still workin sports.
So it's actually it's kind oflike an anomaly, um, but yeah,
it was.
It's.
It was hard because in thesummer I'd actually applied to a

(43:20):
couple of jobs because I said Iwas kind of ready to do my own
thing and and move on and trysomething different, just
because, like when you'resomewhere for eight years, like
it's just, you know, it's kindof time right, like I'm always
looking for something more,because when you're running same
events, similar events, doing alot of same things, like you
stop losing a lot of thatmentally challenged, like
mentally stability, mentalstability of like all right, I'm

(43:42):
always, I'm getting challengedevery corner.
Now it's like all right, now Ijust have to do this.
And so I was ready to kind ofdo something different.
I was a finalist for twodifferent jobs over the summer.
So, honestly, that kind of tookmy confidence down a little bit
because I'm like, oh, you know,like all right, I'm second best
, and you know, they both calledme outside of everything.
We're like, hey, we reallyliked you, but there was this,

(44:02):
this or this right, and I justwent up against a really good,
some really good competition.
But that kind of takes it outof you, whether you want it to
or not.
And so that's always kind of inthe back of your mind when
you're applying to so manydifferent jobs.
That also can really screw youover, right?
Because I applied to 40different jobs.

(44:22):
I'd say about 14 of those werekind of like I would have
entertained.
You know I would haveentertained it, but like mostly
for, you know, unemploymentpurposes.
Um, so, like 26 of them roughly, I kind of did, or like 24,
something like that.
Like where's like, actually I'm, I'm interested and I stayed.
I stayed in Orlando Cause, likeyou know, I I have things here

(44:43):
I need to take care of and likeum, I just I liked the area.
I don't really want to move.
Obviously I could have reallybroadened my horizons.
But so I did 24 jobs here inOrlando.
At some point I interviewed atfour different places and I
think I'm still waiting to hearback from him a lot and then I
got told no from like 12 of thetotal 40.

(45:03):
So there's still it's like.
So it is hard right.
I mean I interviewed four outof the 40 places, that's one in
every 10.
I got a job offer from one ofevery 40.
There's people out thereapplying to 200 jobs.
I'm in a very competitive fieldsports.
People want to work in sports.
It's not very glamorous, itdoesn't pay very well, but for

(45:24):
some reason people want to do it.
I always ask myself that why doI want to do it.
I think there's ancillarybenefits, obviously, but so yeah
, it's.
It was um it.
You know it took a toll on mypsyche.
Like you said, I'm a confidentperson, so it was tough going
into some of these interviewsand being like all right, here
we go again, you know, and I wasa finalist for one of one of

(45:48):
the four and then I got the joboffer at the other one.
Obviously, but yeah, it's a, itshakes you up a little bit.

Ryan Selimos (45:57):
Was there any like added pressure?
Because now you're interviewingfor a job and you don't have a
job, like every interview.
So I need to nail this, becauseI need this job, because I need
the income Like did that comeinto effect?
at any point, yeah, or were youable to kind of kind of stay
away from that Cause?
I'm sure people are out thereright, whether they've been
unemployed for a little bit oftime or extended period of time
at some point.

(46:18):
Human nature that that doubt isgoing to creep in where I need
to land this, or else I can'tbuy food for my family, all
these types of things.
You didn't get to that point,but did that ever-.

Tim Meyer (46:27):
It started to.
But I think if you have, thebiggest thing is if you have a
plan.
Like I had a plan from theget-go.
I knew what I could do.
I knew when I needed to reallyramp it up, because I know how
long my emergency fund is goingto take me.
I didn't want to empty it outobviously.
That was not my intention.
So I think, really, once,obviously I took Europe as its

(46:48):
own little section and I tooklike September and October.
I was like all right, apply tosome things that really can
further your career aspirationsand things you really want to do
.
Once November 1 kind of hit, Ithink I was going to be more so
like, all right, I'm open to alittle bit more Because.
So like, yeah, to answer yourquestion, it didn't really creep

(47:08):
in too much because, like Iknew I had a plan and I stuck to
it.
But no matter what, it's stillyeah, you know you're, you know
because, at some form or fashion, like I have a wife that's
working, all my friends areworking, my family's all working
, and so like it's fun to enjoybeing at home.
At the same time, you kind ofdo feel like, oh, like I'm the

(47:28):
only one not working Like you do, kind of lose a sense of
yourself and it's hard to fightthose battles.
But you know you keep yourselfbusy and then, like I said, have
a plan.
You know, no one's perfect, butthere's some tough moments.
I just looked this up.

James LaGamma (47:47):
Sorry, James.

Kenny Massa (47:48):
I just looked this up and I don't think this helps
you at all, but the job reportscame back a couple days ago and
only 12,000 people were reportednew jobs in October, which is
insanely low.
When I actually saw it, Ilooked at it, at it, I thought I

(48:08):
read it at 120 000 and I rereadit was like 12 000, like it's
insanely low for economic growthand like it's I mean it's
decades low, like very, very low.
So it does not help that thejob market itself is just not at
a peak right, like it, like itis at a really, and there's a

(48:32):
lot of political things thatcome into play there.
But I think that's at a veryweak point where, on the upside,
I think, if you did findsomething, but there is more
that's going to be out there onthe foresight, sure.

James LaGamma (48:54):
I remember, as you're going through the
interview process, there was apoint where you're starting to
get prepared to maybe make anindustry shift.
Um, kind of go through your,your thought process on when you
were ready to walk away fromsports essentially was it due to
the rejection that you keptreceiving.
I mean, you kind of gave yourstatistics there One in 40 got
the offer, one in 10 were, youknow, finalists essentially, and

(49:16):
kind of get callbacks, thatkind of stuff, getting
interviews done In a heavilycompetitive industry that you're
talking about.
When were you starting to thinkabout other stuff?
Because I know we hadconversations about hey, tell me
about the mortgage business.
Is there something that you maythink that I could be a fit on
based?
off of you know my personality,et cetera, et cetera.

Tim Meyer (49:34):
Yeah, I'm incredibly blessed to have a lot of friends
that reached out to me and, youknow, said like hey, like maybe
we can do this, maybe we can dothis.
Um, that meant a lot to me.
I think that just goes to showthe support system.
Almost everyone on here is likehey, what can we do?
And I had other friends samething, and that meant a lot to

(49:56):
me.
So then I'm kind of thinking,like you know, sports isn't
super glamorous, it's fun, right, there's just moments, but it
usually doesn't pay super well.
So I'm looking around, like Ithink a lot of my other friends
make more money than me, whichthat doesn't bother me too much,
but I'm like, but they're,they're doing a job Right, and
so you kind of just have to.
I was like searching for like areason why I wanted to stay in

(50:17):
sports.
I think it was mostly because Ihad done it for 10 years and
I've worked hard, I got mymaster's degree to do it, but
like, ultimately a job is a job,right, and you just want to
make money at some point.
And so I think I did entertainI still think about it, but I
did entertain being a mortgageofficer or something, I think,

(50:37):
for me I want to keep doing whatI was doing, because just
because you have one setbackdoesn't mean you can't keep
going right, one step back, twosteps forward.
And so I thought about it, butI really seriously did, but
steps forward.
And so I, you know, I thoughtabout it, but I, I really
seriously did, but I was justlike you know, I, you know, I
worked so hard to do this.
I'm going to keep trying and atleast give it a couple more
shots and and see where I can,where I can go.

(50:59):
But that's a hard thing becauseall you have, you know, it's
eight to six or whatever it islike.
All you have to do is time tothink and and wonder, think,
maybe I should do this, maybe Ishould do this, maybe I should
do this.
And so I think it's natural toswitch it up because obviously
something went wrong.
You know, and there's a lot ofother jobs that you can make a

(51:19):
lot of money in and I'm justlike, huh, that might be nice.

Jonny Strahl (51:28):
You know it's interesting, tim you kenny
brought it up as well justtalking about, like, how many
people were on boarded off forjobs just in october.
You also add the fact thatyou're working in sports, which
is the most competitivelandscape for finding a job.
There's nothing even close toit.
Um, you also have the fact thatit is a election year, which,

(51:53):
every four years, companiescontinuously want to wait until
the next year.
You want to figure out wherethe prioritization of their
spending and budget needs toallocate right, because they're
in wonder land too.
But I do think it is incrediblethat you know, after taking a

(52:16):
little bit of a hiatus, going toEurope, enjoying your life,
living in the moment, and thencoming back, having the
opportunity to interview andfind a job and land on your feet
, although it probably didn'tfeel like it was a quick
turnaround, it is quiteimpressive.

(52:37):
So I do have to ask this andthis may be a little bit off
topic but in an interviewprocess, building your resume,
like that entire area, like areyou naturally someone who feels
comfortable during an interview?
Do you beat yourself up Likecurious Cause?
Some people, unfortunately,have a lot of great experience,
try so hard to prep themselvesup for what to expect and how to
crush the interview andunfortunately just don't land on

(52:58):
the positive outcome.

Tim Meyer (53:00):
I pride myself on being a relationship person.
You know, like I just that's me.
I like talking to people, Ilike bonding with people and so
in an interview I feel like I'mpretty good at like forming that
connection pretty quickly.
So I've always, I always tellmyself if I can get, if I can
get in front of somebody, I'musually okay and I and I don't

(53:21):
know if what I've done hasproved that or not, but I think,
like you know, being a finalistfor two jobs at least, getting
through all those in a couple ofdifferent industries that I was
missing some pieces ofexperience in I think kind of
proves that point.
Because it is tough, right.
I've only really came away froma couple of interviews thinking
like shit, I did not do well inthere, because I've just always

(53:45):
been comfortable speaking topeople.
I've always been comfortablespeaking to people.
I've always been comfortablelike in those situations.
And plus one, if you're, ifyou're applying for jobs and
interviewing for jobs that likeyou actually should be
interviewing for, like it'spretty easy to to like
communicate your experience andlike cause, like you're all
cause you should be comfortable,you know, cause, like it's
everything that, it's everythingthat you've done, it's like it

(54:09):
should be an easy conversation.
I suit up and everything andI'm ready and I'm nervous, but
it should be a pretty easyconversation at some point
because you're interviewing fora job that you have experience
doing.

Kenny Massa (54:22):
Yeah, I think that those personal skills can go so
far.
I think they get you above,because I think it's still which
is crazy it's so hard to findsomeone who has good
interpersonal communicationskills, that can actually
communicate, that actually caresabout relationship building,

(54:43):
that can talk and discuss topicswith you and not be awkward.
So I think that you do.
You have that.
You know a lot.
You can talk to literallyanybody, like I've seen you talk
to anybody.
So I mean, that's a, that's askill, it really is as crazy as

(55:04):
that sounds, because we're allpeople, but it's unique and a
valuable.

Tim Meyer (55:07):
I don't have that skill.
Tim does, tim definitely does.

James LaGamma (55:12):
I think you have that skill.
No, tim does.
Tim definitely does, I think.
Jay, do you have a more?
Do you think I have it again?
Like you said, get myself infront of somebody and if I can
get a conversation going, thenI'm good, I'm all right.
It's more the approach that Ihave, which that necessarily
isn't needed.
That's tough, I don't even like.

Tim Meyer (55:24):
Shannon was talking about the other day how you were
talking about some, like youwere captivating.
I think we were all watchingfootball at Johnny's and you
were captivating the women aboutsomething and like going on
about something.
And Shannon's like, yeah, I'mlike, well, that's James, I
think you can talk to morepeople than you think.

James LaGamma (55:39):
I talk to people if I know them.
I'm an introverted extrovert iswhat I like to call it.

Kenny Massa (55:44):
Tim just walks up to random people.
That's what I like to tell you.
Tim just walks up to randompeople Tim you could just
Literally yesterday in ourelevator right.

Tim Meyer (55:51):
I'm just like it's in the morning, I'm in a good mood
.
It's Friday.
There was this girl holding aloaf of bread and I was like, oh
, I'm jealous, like that waspretty good.
And she's like, oh, that's myboyfriend's bakery.
Like, would you, this is youroffice.
I was like yeah, hey, becauseit's like a shared suite or

(56:12):
whatever, and she's like oh,I'll bring you some.
It's a sample on Monday.
So now I got a bread sample todo on Monday because I was nice
and tried to talk to somebody.

Kenny Massa (56:21):
I was actually going to say that.
I was going to say you bridgethe gap.
I would say, 50% of the timeit's witty comments, like you
know, I don't know, you justcome up with witty things to say
that aren't like intrusive,they're funny and they're like I
think they put people's guardsdown, but that's like your

(56:43):
unique proposition.
I would say, like you couldbridge the gap in any type of
setting by putting someone'sguard down and literally
starting a conversation withthem, but you catch them off
guard and then sometimes nowit's going to lead you having to
read, but oh that's trouble.

Tim Meyer (57:04):
So if you guys want some bread, I can apply.

James LaGamma (57:10):
Listen, now you're getting after that bread.

Tim Meyer (57:12):
I can happily provide .
Listen, now you're gettingafter that bread.
I'm going to make that guy be apartner with the Valkyries.

Jonny Strahl (57:18):
There you go.

Kenny Massa (57:21):
There you go.

Jonny Strahl (57:25):
Sponsor right there.
So, tim, obviously the journeyof just rebuilding confidence
and kind of focusing on what youcan control and going through
interviews, landing a job, youknow it's quite a, it's quite a
success story and obviously thefriend group here knowing you,
we're proud of you and we're notshocked.

(57:47):
But I think now it's futurestate Like when you look at the
goals and what are you trying toaccomplish moving forward.
I'm just curious what thatlooks like.

Tim Meyer (58:02):
Well, I think when I was at the AAU I became kind of
like an expert in the eventindustry Not an expert, but very
, very well versed to where I'mlike, okay, maybe I'll try
something a little bit different.
I've always liked the corporatepartnership side of things.
It's good for me.
Everyone always tells me Ishould be in sales so I can talk
to anybody and goodrelationships I hustle.

(58:22):
So I'm like maybe I'll do asales, corporate partnership
kind of thing.
And so I had interviewed for arole, became a finalist and then
so this role kind of came up.
I applied to it.
I'm like, yeah, that'd beawesome.
I get to work in professionalsports, an up-and-coming sport,
kind of like a startup, and thenalso corporate partnerships.
So for me I was just like Ineed to kind of be because I've

(58:47):
worked with corporate partners.
That's the best thing about theAAU.
One thing you're always selling, because you're trying to sell
the AAU, you're trying to sellevents, you're trying to sell
memberships.
You're working with budgetslike really big, large budgets
for events.
You're working with events,millions of dollars worth.
You're working with events.
You're working with vendors,partners.

(59:07):
So you get to do a little bitof everything.
So I have eight years of doingeverything but like mostly
events, and so this is going tobe like a really like a good
sales professional sportsfacility.
So we'll be at ucfs arena, soI'll kind of like we have 14
games there, um, so I'll kind ofget to know the ins and outs of
a facility like that.
I've done a lot of facility work.

(59:28):
But um and so it's.
I wanted to be able to roundmyself out as a sports
professional.
So that way, in my next role,or if I grow here to do
something great um, uh, likethere won't be a any stone
unturned I'll be able to kind ofanswer for every single
question they have with with ahundred percent certainty.

Jonny Strahl (59:52):
Love that.

James LaGamma (59:54):
That's cool.
That's cool.
I know Bobby did somestadiuming work for the Panthers
for a while, so are you likereally involved in the stadium,
since it's UCF stadium, or it'sjust basically the event itself?

Tim Meyer (01:00:07):
with.
Well, so right now you, now wehave an events team.
I'm the corporate partnermanager so I sell and manage a
lot of the relationships withour current partners, like our
biggest being AdventHealth, andthen we have some others and I'm
working through some deals.
I have meetings because ourseason starts in January, so
really more so for me at thegames I'll kind of be in like

(01:00:29):
the VIP area is all you know,kind of wherever our partners
are, we try to bring a bunch ofthe games so I'll kind of be
hanging out with them and kindof you know, building
relationships and you know justaccount management on that.
So I I'll be there pretty earlyand I'll probably stay after
and help do some things.
But it there pretty early andI'll probably stay after and
help do some things, but it'sjust more so like cause, when we

(01:00:50):
have the arena it's ours forthe night, Right, so we kind of
do different things that, likeUCF doesn't which is pretty cool
.
So like that's where I can likelean on my event experience to
help with that and then also sayyou know I've been a part of a
professional sports event set upand all that Cause.
We can do a lot.
We have a lot of creativity wecan do with like anything.

(01:01:11):
We have a B2B area, we have asuite area, we use the black and
gold club, we have a party, aparty suite, a floor suite,
floor seats.
So like we have so manydifferent areas that we can kind
of brand and and move forwardwith, which is pretty neat.
I have the creativity to dothat with any of our partners.
So you know, mass inbound techsystem, swab, fpc.
I hit up the FPC lady.

(01:01:34):
She hasn't really back, yet I'llgo walk into her office I'm on
77, I believe Right, yeah, andso and that's where it kind of
comes to like with theconfidence thing, john, it's
like you know, right now it'smore building our building, our
you know partnership stuff.
We have some in, you know, butwe want to grow.
Obviously we're only a year oldand so we have some really good

(01:01:56):
exposure where I think lastyear we averaged 4,200 fans a
game, I think this year we'reaiming for over 5,000 a game,
which for a first year team likeI think that's probably more
than a lot of WNBA teams.
So it's pretty cool, it's areally good product and it's a
fun, entertaining thing.
So it's an easy thing to move.
You just got to get in front ofpeople and I think when you're

(01:02:17):
firing, off emails and callsthey're like what is this?
And so I think that's kind ofchallenging.
My first two weeks has been alot of that, of having some
meetings but also having a lotof rejections and like not
people, people not even runningback, and so that kind of hurts.
Like you know, I've been tryingto like deal with that, but you
know, it's just when you thinkabout it though, it's just it's

(01:02:39):
still fun and every meeting islike a deal and it's like a kill
right, like for whatever moneyand like now you really value
that relationship and thatpartnership.
So it's.

Jonny Strahl (01:02:51):
but but confidence is definitely something uh, it
can be shaken well I think foryou, though, tim, like what's
what stands out is you have theconfidence, but it's not in a,
it's not from a cocky standpoint, and I think that's what brings

(01:03:14):
out your authenticity and whypeople kind of believe in and
naturally gravitate toward you.
So when you've explained thisrole from like what you've done
over the last nearly a decade,eight plus years right To then
now, this role, it's like thebest of both worlds.
You get to use a lot of whatyou've done in the past, but

(01:03:34):
then you really get to drivehome and be more of that partner
to try to build credibility anddrive solutions and help other
corporations grow, but also yourown, which is very unique,
especially in the sales side.
So it's cool to see that.

Kenny Massa (01:03:48):
Agreed.
Before we head out, one thing Ijust want to ask you, tim, in
regards to anybody else thatmight be going through a similar
transition, whether it'sintentionally or not
intentionally, like we discussedway earlier today what's the
best piece of advice that youcan give a listener who may be

(01:04:09):
going through a similartransition?

Tim Meyer (01:04:11):
It's hard and that's kind of a lot of the reason why
I started a TikTok too orstarted doing some of my videos,
because I was honest, I want tohelp anybody I can help,
because this is a hard andhelpless feeling.
I have a really good supportsystem.
I'm blessed.
I have all you guys, I have myother groups of friends checking
on me all the time.

(01:04:32):
I have my family.
I have my wife, my wife'sfamily.
You know like I have such avaluable support system.
So my transition wasn't as hardas some others could be.
Some people might be single ornot have a big family or friends
presence in their lives.
So I think the biggest thing isjust have a plan.
Um, have an emergency fund,please.
Everyone started an emergencyfund.

(01:04:52):
That is so important Um cause.
Without that and if you somereason don't get unemployment,
you could be in.
You can be in deep shit whereyou know you have to pay your
bills and and and that's whenyou have to go do something you
don't want to do.
Um, but it's just.
I think it's just stay strong,reach out to people.
You know, just talk, talk itout.

(01:05:16):
It's not good to hold it in.
Obviously, I like to talk, butit's just um.
You know it's really hard butit, you know, but it's not.
It's also not the end Like thisis like it's not permanent.

Kenny Massa (01:05:23):
You're going to get a job.

Tim Meyer (01:05:25):
You're going to find something you love to do.
You're going to make moneyagain.
Try to enjoy the time off,right, you know, but do what you
have to do.
Hustle If you have to hustle,you have to hustle, but because
you're the only one lookingafter yourself really, and you
know.

Kenny Massa (01:05:41):
Awesome.
Well, does anyone have anyoneelse any other questions before
I close this out officially?

Ryan Selimos (01:05:49):
I think, just a takeaway that I've had from Tim
and you being vulnerable with ustoday.
So thank you for that is just.
You know, like you said, it'snot the end.
You'll find a job.
And I think people don't realizethat people give up and that's
how they end up in thosesituations where all hope is
lost because they've lost that,that desire to continue trying,
to continue pushing forward, andthat's where you end up in a

(01:06:10):
situation maybe you don't wantto be so, no matter how.
You know what that outlooklooks like and you're a perfect
example that you tried newthings.
You kept after it, you keptgoing a little bit every day and
we've kind of been able to seefull circle.
You had a very low point andnow how excited you've been
talking about, you know, plansfor the Orlando Valkyries and
what's to come, and I thinkpeople can take that away as

(01:06:31):
just, no matter how bad it gets,it's not the end.
There there is, you know thesun's going to rise the next day
.
Just keep moving forward, talkit out and just thank you again
for for sharing that with ustoday.

Kenny Massa (01:06:46):
Yeah, we appreciate you being here and shedding
some light on some of thesituations that others may have
similarities with and might begoing through in a similar facet
.
But we all know, I think, atthe end of the day, that the
golden thing that you said isit's a lot easier to do it with
others by your side.
It's a lot more seamless of aprocess, not like the pain goes

(01:07:09):
away or the troubles go away,but the support system is really
important and it's super key.
So if we can shed light onanything today, that's probably
one of the biggest things andthat's the reason why we do this
with the Bender Continues.
It's important to shed light onthose topics, to share stories
that similar people might begoing through and hopefully we

(01:07:30):
help someone in the process.
So if that is the case, thenawesome, throw a comment in the
thread here, let us know whatyou're going through and if this
has helped you, at least changeyour mindset a little bit.
But I'm going to close it out.

James LaGamma (01:07:54):
And together the Bender continues, the Bender
continues.