The G.E.M. Series Episode 3: 3 Pillars to Greatness with guest Jamal Lewis
[00:00:00] Blake: Welcome to the GEM series powered by rocket level. On this podcast, we empower entrepreneurs to succeed by setting big goals, executing like a pro, and having a fearless mindset. The gym series is all about investing in yourself. We're here to share the path, to getting what you want out of life. By sharing the stories of entrepreneurs who have done this themselves, providing thorough research from our team on what careers and habits are yielding the best results, and discussing the mindset it takes to overcome the obstacles that all future entrepreneurs will face investing in yourself.
[00:00:36] Blake: Putting in the work every single day. And this podcast is here to help you do exactly that. My name is Blake Chapman. I'm the vice president of the ambassador program here at the rocket level. And I am thrilled to be your host for the gym series. I am so excited to welcome our guest today on the gym series, Jamal Lewis.
[00:00:56] Blake: I'm sure you all know Jamal, but I'm just going to give you a quick rundown a little bit about Jamal. So you don't mind. Give everybody, the stats here, but Jamal has done something that very few people in the world have ever done. Jamal has led a team to win the super bowl. Jamal has won a record as an AP NFL offensive player of the year and has rushed in his 2003 season, 2066 yards.
[00:01:22] Blake: And additionally has just smashed records and in 2003 and won a game where. Erratic a grand total of 295 yards in one game. I want to talk a little bit about that because you know, obviously, it's, it's a really challenging thing for anybody to be able to do, and it takes the right mindset. It takes having goals.
[00:01:41] Blake: It takes dedication, it takes that execution. But what a lot of people don't realize is you know, and something that I'm excited to talk about today is that you also are an entrepreneur. And you, I'm sure I applied some of these tactics today to be able to get to where you are right now. And that is what so many people are always trying to figure out these days, there's this big shift happening where more and more people are constantly looking to see, how can I invest directly in myself?
[00:02:11] Blake: How can I kind of go against the norm and get what I want to live? Do you know? And I think you're just an excellent example of somebody that went against the norm to be able to achieve exactly what you want. And as somebody that's had clear goals and stop with those to get to the next stage. So I wanted to ask you, Jamal, first.
[00:02:29] Blake: How you doing, man? 
[00:02:31] Jamal: Oh, good. I'm good. It's Friday. That's why I chose today. Daddy, for, you know, for a week. With kids having an out…
[00:02:46] Jamal: I was in Las Vegas watching the national football foundation. So I was already sporting my old roommate teammate. So you got to go to one. So that was awesome. So at the time, Las Vegas definitely.
[00:02:54] Blake: Yeah, most definitely. That's definitely what happens in Vegas.
[00:03:03] Blake: Now. I love that, man. It's also cool. You're still getting support. Somebody sees somebody else get up there.
[00:03:11] Jamal: For the university. 
[00:03:12] Blake: Yeah, absolutely. Right. Absolutely. So, you know, something that I was kind of touching on earlier was like bowls that execution, that mindset. I kind of wanted to hear from you. What, you know, how, how did you overall apply your goals, your execution mindset from pro football to the business world.
[00:03:30] Blake: This is something that maybe not everybody is, you know, obviously everybody knows you across the world for some of your achievements, and football and football are part of your life today. I was just hoping for some of our, our listeners, our viewers, that you could maybe share a little bit about where your head's at with that.
[00:03:47] Blake: And you know, Make that transition. Now you apply it to other fields of your life. 
[00:03:51] Jamal: You know, I've been asked this before and it's more of, you know, it was hard work, dedication, sacrifice. That's kind of three principles, across there. So from sports. You know, and I was allowed to go to the next level to the pros. It's all about, you know, being successful and then the next level. And I think it all a student were you willing to give up, you know, in order to are you going to be dedicated to our little work hard and before and after.
[00:04:27] Jamal: Going to, well,
[00:04:33] Jamal: Dan's off of businesses, which I learned we'll be patient, but you know, when I, when I ended up finishing up, I have certain Spire and another, 1,008
[00:04:49] Jamal: So creating the example or whatever, but that same time, the county thing you know, in transition from football or my career, my past career to, what am I looking at now is one of the things I think
[00:05:09] Jamal: it's more of, you know, trying to find that structure until. That, you know, when you leave the NFL, everything's orange, the structure's already there. So when you show up at fraternity camp, you already know what hotel are you going to be in? You know, what time dinner is going to be pregame you, you know, and everything else.
[00:05:29] Jamal: So everything's are laid out every day. Hula
[00:05:38] Jamal: posts, you know, football or posts you know, sports career, whatever or either tell you how do you find their structure in a mirror and you have to, you know, in today's kind of inspiring. You know, what would I do if I was down, you know? And then you roll back to those coaches that used to say that a lot of great coaches that, you know, will say, look, you know, we get our blessed, you know, whatever time they look now, what do we gotta do?
[00:06:13] Jamal: We gotta regroup. We gotta reassess what's going on. And we got to go out of here and just, you know, minimize. And we got to keep our blood and keep breasts. So that's just happened. And what. In order to platform for post-career you know, and tell you some of those things that I've learned you know, from coaches, teammates, for me,
[00:06:41] Jamal: My rookie year. And again, you know being in these games where you see burger or, you know, even their own and then come back and beat us. So, you know, it's all about, Hey, what's next? And you know, after a day this was done with. He's the director of states. And you know, we can, you know, correct those weaknesses.
[00:07:04] Jamal: Those problem areas are addressing it. It was a written batch that I go back and you got to go back to the farm notes. So I can remember one time we were. And I can remember it was probably weeks, six weeks, and we'll let it practice to you with all the, we were a 10-year-old power warranty going through handoffs, you know, going through these little fundamentals, just you got to go back and reassess the situation.
[00:07:34] Jamal: And that's how I. You know posts through the bar and or ship and trying to just grind and find my way and what am I want to go and what am I going to be successful that, so that's how the adjustment, 
[00:07:50] Blake: I think that's incredible, you know, I love what you said about, you know, sacrifice as well, because I think that is something that is important to realize and is helpful for being grounded at the moment is realizing that you're not going to have, you're not going to be able to have it all necessarily, right.
[00:08:07] Blake: You got to stay focused on your bigger picture and constantly be realizing that there are certain things you'll have to, for go to be able to get there. Also with back to basics, I mean, that is crucial. I think. At any moment, you know, I think people get, have a loss in the vision of what it takes to get to that next level for themselves.
[00:08:26] Blake: And they forget that maybe they're fundamental. Not in check, you know, maybe that stuff's not set up for success right now. No, I think that's a that's really, really crucial for all of our, all of our dealers to be able to know. So something that I, you know, also wanted to catch from you is, you know, even in high school you had this, it sounds like you had a long-term plan for yourself.
[00:08:48] Blake: Did you, did you have this, this whole thing mapped out for you? You know, and, and what did that, I guess, sticking with that, what did that look like for you? 
[00:08:56] Jamal: When I was going to be a first you know, I knew what I wanted to do necessarily playing football. Wasn't like my goal. I want to do I like a business.
[00:09:06] Jamal: My dad was in business, so I felt like I would run the business, jump in and do what he does just in case after my 10th-grade year. That has kind of opened up opportunity opportunities there.
[00:09:22] Jamal: And that's where the schools were calling and getting letters. And just everything kind of just rolling. I said, give this a try. And as far as. Are we giving me a college student getting me from going and giving me a better life? So I had to go to the military. I plan to have a plan and that was my plan.
[00:09:45] Jamal: You know, football you know and then they just kind of feel my way, but I worked hard. That was always one of those guys where my opponent was because I realized that my opponent was just teaming. I was going to be running back and I was in the country and I saw that. I wanted to outwork them. I wanted to be doing something at nine o'clock at night, they were doing and that's where my brothers, we said, what are you doing different than.
[00:10:21] Jamal: That's still just to make you marriage. So that's what I took with me on through college and even pros is, you know, just our not work. Everybody just stays focused and you know, you got to still know. I learned early on in school. You know, short-term those medium term long term, and that's how you stay on track.
[00:10:48] Jamal: If you don't have that, that goal, that long-term goal, or those milestones. You could fall off track and it's easy to get distracted, especially with 
[00:10:59] Blake: yeah. Set the agenda and put everything in place to make sure that you get there. There's going to be some stuff that I would imagine, you know, you can knock out immediately, but you need to make sure that you're not just working just to work.
[00:11:09] Blake: Right. And I think that's absolutely crucial as well. No, I, I. We a lot of times over here, you know, what, what we're always talking about is, you know, analyzing your opponents and looking at the competition. And again, you know, it comes back to the sports analogy. Do you find yourself doing that now in the business world and having that same mindset of like, who are the other players out there, and what do I do to stand out?
[00:11:34] Jamal: Oh yeah. Yeah, definitely. You know, in my businesses where I'm at, I always started looking at a competition, not just looking at the competition, look at, innovation, how can you innovate differently? Do you want to set yourself apart? And that's where they worked in my opponent. And using that in my day-to-day business is, you know, both of us are in the room with the client, you know, I want to figure out you know, there's growth there and innovation.
[00:12:04] Jamal: That's key. 
[00:12:05] Blake: I wanted to ask too. So, you know, we're talking about business, we're talking about your life. What, what are you excited about right now? You know, I, I know that you got a lot going on you came in with the amazing gifts from your parent company right now that you so much, by the way.
[00:12:18] Blake: And you know, what, what gets you out of bed in the morning though? Right now, you 
[00:12:22] Jamal: know Keith, to take your time. We know that's getting a bucket, you know, what gets me out of there and that motivation need is a thrill sale. That's my rush. That's my test. Go and close a deal or a closed client get more business and employ more people and be able to put people to work. That might be under certain circumstances.
[00:12:48] Jamal: You know, just, just being around opportunity. That's what drives me, gave me. 
[00:12:56] Blake: Absolutely. No, that's something that I think is the biggest goal of hopefully most entrepreneurs out here, right. Is looking at, you know, Who are people that I can bring onto my team and how can I make them even better than I am even.
[00:13:11] Blake: Right. And how, how to empower people. So is that something that, you know, you guys are always thinking about over there? Are you looking to lift people up and get people to get given the next up and tomorrow, you know, out there and yeah? Tell me a little bit about your thoughts on that. 
[00:13:25] Jamal: Yeah. Well, you know, I was looking at everything, my football team.
[00:13:29] Jamal: Yes. You know, I always, I was, I was a player on to you, but always by the upper management and upstairs, you know, what they were doing and power, they come up to her. How did it work? Do you know? Totally. And I kinda see myself as a general manager, but kind of go in. You know, I know my weaknesses, I know what my ones are, but also wear skirts.
[00:13:58] Jamal: And my students are, you know, sales, my service is relationships, resources building relationships. That's matched. But the people around me that can do the other things, do the other things that can excuse me, that lead, that can match that can handle certain areas of the business. You know, that we, we need taking care of, you know, those are the things that that, that are trying to do and, and, and, and putting together the pieces to the puzzle.
[00:14:29] Jamal: So building a business. It's all about your people, you know? And, and giving them, you know, the power to do and make decisions and you know you know, be, you know, I want everybody to be an entrepreneur and I'll, even with people that work for me, I try to give them. That ownership, you know, give them that ownership, let them go and make decisions and, and not be afraid to make, you know, risk make, make mistakes.
[00:14:53] Jamal: Yeah. Give them a, 
[00:14:54] Blake: give them space to grow, you know, cause just anywhere you're, you're going to need to be able to, you know, take those risks to get to the next level and have people that are open to allowing you to get there now. That's so, so true. And I would imagine even not, you know, on the field, like, I'm sure there are moments where you're like your coaches needed to give, give the other players space to be able to, you know, take a risk and get to that next level.
[00:15:20] Blake: Oh, 
[00:15:21] no, 
[00:15:21] Jamal: definitely. And that's what. Great players will make great players, great players. We get involved in, in, in a game and get in a situation that hasn't been coached. And they still make the play and that's taken a risk, you know, that intercession that a guy might make, guess what? He guessed it.
[00:15:40] Jamal: And he guessed right. And he turned around at the right time and it probably was a method to his madness where he saw it. And he said, I'm gonna take, I'm gonna take a chance on us. But that may, that's what makes people special, make people great. And that's what I try to instill in my employees and the people that are in leadership within my companies and making sure that they have that and they can go make those decisions and Hey, make a decision and live with it.
[00:16:04] Jamal: You know, our boss said it best. He said, you know everybody has an opinion, you know, but everybody doesn't have to make decisions, you know? So. It's kind of one of those things where you know which one you want to be. And, and that's what we try to do in instilling that into our employees. 
[00:16:20] Blake: I think that's, I think that's so cool, man.
[00:16:22] Blake: Cause like, I feel like such an important part of growth is trusting yourself and trusting your gut. And that is all a part of the mindset and creating that mental resilience because. So many people are dealing with doubt. So many people in my generation I know are always kind of conflicted about what direction do I need to go in?
[00:16:41] Blake: You know, am I really destined to, you know, go to college? And then I get the degree and then I get married and then I'm working for 40 years. I'm is that my route? Or am I somebody that can be a freelancer? Am I somebody that can work for myself? And how do I look out for myself? Do you know? So I feel like just like somebody that's trying to.
[00:17:01] Blake: Get to that next level. It's so important to learn how to trust your gut and, and get to the point where, you know, you can, you can block out any of those other kinds of doubts that come in. So how do you evaluate doubt when it comes your way to keep your mind strong and continue increasing that kind of mental resilience?
[00:17:21] Blake: You know? Cause I would imagine, I mean, you're talking 21 points up, you know, and you guys were still able to beat them. That's just an example, but I guess my point there. There's gotta be something that you tap into, right. That gets you to where you are not afraid of failure. You're relentless.
[00:17:37] Blake: And you can take yourself across to the other side to go for the win. Yeah. 
[00:17:42] Jamal: Well, the first, first thing is faith. You know, I have faith that God's going to lead me in the right direction, first rock, and he's not gonna let me fail. And if they do put me in a certain position, It's for a reason. So go in it, learn from it and take that as an experience, you know, and, and take it to the next level.
[00:17:59] Jamal: But I think it's more of, you know, over the years that has built up over, you know, not being so wound up when I got to go play the Pittsburgh Steelers where I'll mess around and have a fumble in the game, always did in that game because you're mental. Engaged because they got you. So you have to meditate, you know, you have to meditate, you have to have faith and know that, Hey, look, you can keep pressing or what's the solution.
[00:18:23] Jamal: You know, that's why with my guys is more of, Hey, you know, I don't want. No, I don't want a problem. Bring me a solution, probably needs a solution that covers that problem. And, and that involves a thought process and it involves being able to, you know, think on the run, you know? And so somebody day that say that he was, you know, just left his job and, you know, jumping in entrepreneurship is like being a running back.
[00:18:49] Jamal: Hey, Anything in the general back there, and you just gotta be able to, you know, react, you gotta be able to think quickly and react quicker. So how do you do that? And how can you do that with a calm head? And how can you not let things really get to you and get wound off where you're not making a bad decision on emotion.
[00:19:08] Jamal: So that's kind of where, where I'm at now and I've grown to do that and be that way. Nothing really bothers me or it's going to get to me because I've been to the bottom. So it's like, you know, it's what else? What else? Yeah. You're 
[00:19:25] Blake: like, you're like, this is nothing I've been there. 
[00:19:28] Jamal: Yeah. I've been, you know, so it was kind of like, how do you keep that level head, keep your mind strong.
[00:19:34] Jamal: And that comes with meditation that comes with, you know, understanding yourself that comes with. Being able to, you know, have been in control of yourself and not let others control you. So mentally is just staying focused and working on that, you know, the same way you work on your muscles, you work with your minds, right?
[00:19:50] Jamal: So do that, you know, therefore when the heat does come on we got one of the game maxims at Tennessee. What a game of brakes goes against you, you know, don't let up put on more steam. So that's one of the things I fall back on too. It's like, Hey, get a grip. Figure it out, you know, what's the worst thing that happened tomorrow.
[00:20:09] Jamal: We'll come. 
[00:20:09] Blake: So yeah, the worst that can happen is you, you give up, right. You're like, that's all there is, you know? And I guess that's something that I, I talk about a lot too, and we are always thinking about is, you know, what is it, what does it mean to approach failure and almost welcome failure?
[00:20:27] Blake: Right. I welcome. Just like in sales, right? You welcome objections. Right? We welcome anything that. And Luminate what's in front of you and give you an opportunity to overcome. And get you to the next stage you got to be at. I now I loved, I loved how you tied it back to running backs too because you know, I, something I've been reading, there's this book called impact players and it talks all about what does it take to be somebody that makes a true impact at whether it's your organization or whether it's you know, a job that you have, what does it take to actually make a difference and something that they always talk about?
[00:21:04] Blake: You gotta be the person that's looking around the corner, right? You gotta be the one that is constantly taken into consideration. What could possibly happen in the future? What problems might run up and be at, be ahead of it that way you're not the guy, you know, sitting there totally in your thumbs, whenever a problem comes up and just complaining, complaining to your boss or complaining to somebody else.
[00:21:26] Blake: So I think that's a that's something that I definitely can see where you, you have that in practice over. 
[00:21:31] Jamal: Yeah, you gotta be, you gotta be a hit, you know, like you said, thinking from the analogy of the running back situation, it's you have to, you know, there's plan a, B, C, D. So you know, when one doesn't work, you already know what other one is.
[00:21:47] Jamal: It's running and reacting. And you know, one of the things we say is, you know because Belichick, you know, prepare for everything and expect anything. So if you prepare it, guess what, you know, nobody can tell you any curveballs or surprises because you're ready. So that's, that's how you got to be.
[00:22:04] Blake: And that is awesome as a, so tell me a little bit about you know, right now you know, w within your job. What gets you to know, w what have you been working on, like more specifically right now that gets you really, really fired up over at the job. Are you know, do you have any big projects that you're working on right now?
[00:22:22] Blake: Something, is that something that you feel passionate about right now? 
[00:22:24] Jamal: Yeah, I think that one of the biggest things, you know, and my business, you know, we do in-store fixtures and installations, so big box retail stores going in and doing cross merchandise. You know, Atreides moving shelves was mainly labor-based.
[00:22:40] Jamal: And that's one of the things that's, that's really got me going now is the labor getting the right people building a nice team building a nice foundation of people that, that want to work that want to get better, that want to climb the ladder within our company. And, and just be a part of some special.
[00:22:58] Jamal: You know, I would say, you know, especially in some of the details I'm in, you know, I'm the only African-American company that's even involved. So we're in stores, you know, whatever, you know, we're, you know, All African-American crews. You know, we have women as well, but at the same time, you know, I go in and find the labor in certain areas that others don't want to go.
[00:23:20] Jamal: And they can't. So that's kind of what motivates me to try to change the game and do something different. Make a difference. 
[00:23:28] Blake: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, no, that's so cool. I mean, because. It's so important to, I think, to recognize that in these industries they're like, so you know, people of color are so still underrepresented, you know?
[00:23:43] Blake: So have you found that from being able to bring this organization together and, and go out and like make this kind of an impact that, you know, more people are feeling more comfortable to see? I see somebody that looks like me that's here that can, you know, that's making a difference and, and that's, I'm sure that's just like a magnet for people to be.
[00:24:02] Blake: For you to be able to, you know, connect with them. And yeah. 
[00:24:05] Jamal: Right. I've been in, I've been in stores and, and guys have been F asked me, you know, You know what? I think that I'm a manager, a supervisor. If I work for a tech company or something that was Bobby and the be a lead. And then when I tell them that it's my company and you know, I'm the owner of the company and this, that, and other, then it's a whole different ball game, a whole different ball game because, you know, it's how you treat people.
[00:24:31] Jamal: It's, it's how you run your business and be at sometimes being into. Then, you know, being in the mix and in the trenches, which you guys or whatever you know, it's big and it's needed. And we give it a lot of guys, a lot of people inspiration. So if there's somebody that I see is doing a great job, I might surround him with a team, you know, surrounded by a team of guys and let him lead.
[00:24:55] Jamal: Build up now he's making more money in it. Hopefully, get them to another position where he can start his own company and he has his own guys and he can take on more, you know, take on more stores or whatever. So it's, it's all about building that opportunity for, for others, you know, giving money to take it.
[00:25:12] Blake: How do you identify that too? Whenever you're looking at somebody and seeing that they are, you know, getting better and better, and that. You know, you're like, I want, you know, you're representing this company so well, and I am so proud of your work. And I want, I know that you can have that effect trickle down to others.
[00:25:27] Blake: What are some of the key things that stand out to you? Just for anybody that is looking to step it up and, and, you know, especially now more than ever, I know so many people have gotten new jobs. So many people have gone into new industries. So many people have changed so much. What are you, what are you looking for?
[00:25:42] Jamal: I'm looking for, you know, people that do the little things, right? Yeah. You know, being on time you know, being on time you know knowing before you come in that, you know, you've, you've, you've kind of looked over the plans and you're prepared. Things like that, you know, somebody that's in a room, you know, somebody speaking and, and, you know, you're taking notes, right?
[00:26:02] Jamal: So take notes, you know, and somebody that they, you know, got drying and it has, that has that, you know endurance too, to keep that. You know, and it's tough and you know, you're over the hours that you need to be working or whatever, but you want to give it some more and you want to make sure the job gets done and you want to teach others, you know, so somebody that can go in and deal with others and teach others.
[00:26:22] Jamal: You want people like that, you know, that, that it's not all about me. You know, it's all about, Hey, how can I do my job, but how can I help the next man? To do better and be, be it be beside me because it is a team. So you want to better your team, you know, so that's what I, pretty much that I look at, you know, we're looking at these guys, it's slightly looking at a player, you know, and watching a film, right.
[00:26:47] Jamal: You know, you watch a film, I can watch five or six plays on a player and I can see everything about why, because we're creatures of habit, you know, recruits, creatures, a habit, guess where you come in late once. You know, you probably come in late, periodically, right? You take plays off. I could see that you take plays off, you know?
[00:27:06] Jamal: So, therefore, it's kinda like you, you, it's a, it's a pattern. So I look at that and I think it, it works, it works, but you know, that's kind of how we like to assess it and move people up and then guess what, if they're not. Are they willing to learn, you know, can they be taught? And you can see that as well.
[00:27:28] Jamal: Are they coachable? 
[00:27:31] Blake: Yeah. And I think that's something that everybody should be looking for right now. And, you know, we've talked a little bit about also just aligning your, your bigger goal with anything that you're trying to do. Sometimes I know that people find it a little hard to be able to align their company's goal with all of their employees across the.
[00:27:47] Blake: What is, you know, any advice that you have on that for being able to make sure that, you know, you have this bigger vision, how do you get that down to the people that are working for you, make sure that they're aligned with what your vision is. 
[00:27:57] Jamal: Give them one thing to do and let them do that one thing consistently right over and over again if they can do that.
[00:28:06] Jamal: And, and we can do a good job of positioning them to do that where we're not all over the place. Do your job, you know, and that's another Illa check quote, you know, do your job and help second. Right? So get your job done and do it consistently over and over again. Once you're done with it, if you want to help, then you can help.
[00:28:27] Jamal: But I just need you to focus on that. When you show that you can do that consistently, then maybe we can add something else to your plate. And can you handle two things now, you know, two positions, and then that's where you kind of can move people up the ladder. But at the same time, that's how you're going to keep people focused.
[00:28:45] Jamal: Cause you could tell them, you go, you could tell them where we at, but I don't think you need to worry about that. You need to worry about just your job because this is where your part is played on this team. And I just want you to know. Do that, if you can do that, then we're well off and we're going to be a great company.
[00:29:01] Jamal: If I can get a hundred percent of my people to think just like that. No, 
[00:29:06] Blake: that's, that's so true because anytime that you can get people to. Actually do what their function is, or what's the most valuable to the company. All of a sudden, if they can keep it doing it time after time, next thing you know, you've got this performance guarantee.
[00:29:19] Blake: Right, right. You know that when they come in and you're like, I have seen this guy for the last, you know, this guy or girl for the last, like two, three months show up and execute this perfectly every single time to the point that I know if I put them on the play, they are going to make this happen in.
[00:29:35] Blake: Right. No, I think that's a that's totally, totally. Exactly what people need to keep in mind whenever they're trying to lead folks. So for me something that we've been seeing happening is, and I touched on a little bit, is this big shift, right? And our generation. You know, people, especially after COVID so much changed, people are leaving their traditional jobs left and right.
[00:29:56] Blake: Retention at companies is going it's, you know, dive-bombing right now. People are taking a chance to bet on themselves and pursue their passions, whether that's. Anything from being a digital freelancer to doing real estate, to becoming an entrepreneur, right? People are doing all these different jobs.
[00:30:13] Blake: And this big shift is happening across the board where people are going against the norm and betting on themselves and trying to invest in themselves. So for me, what I wanted to know was you know, for you what made you want to start. For greatness rather than just taking the easy path.
[00:30:29] Blake: Cause I know we talked a little bit about that in the beginning, but you know, my thing that I'm curious about is you could have, you know, there's, there are so many different options where you could fall in line with exactly what, you know, maybe everybody else. But rather you know, you did, you took the hard way, you know, in a sense, right?
[00:30:47] Blake: Cause you, you worked so hard man to cause this stuff does not just happen naturally. When you look at any of the grades you know, it takes what, you've, what you've already said, that mindset of studying, you know, studying the other place. You know, being able to sacrifice, being able to have the right faith and dedication to get yourself across.
[00:31:05] Blake: So yeah, what, you know, I'm sure. Have there been moments where you? You know, have thought maybe I won't take this path or what? Yeah. W w tell me, why did you, yeah. What got you there, man? 
[00:31:16] Jamal: Honestly, I guess I've always been a 10-year guy, right? 10 years, 10 years, 10 years. So where am I going to be 10 years from now?
[00:31:24] Jamal: Where do I want to be 10 years from now? And then how am I going to get there? So, you know, even playing football, you know, it's more of, Hey, I noticed NFL is short-lived that it's a lifestyle and it's different and it's, you know, what, what happened with guys going broke or filing bankruptcy or whatever.
[00:31:41] Jamal: I know all of that, but at the same time, I think earlier on what I did was I I try to plan for that. Right. I plan for that. There is a high percentage. So guess what? You can fall in that, you know, but how do you mitigate your risk of doing that? That's one thing, but I think I think taking, taking the, taking the easy road that's just simple, you know, that's average you know, in, in, in, in order to be average, you know, the only thing you gotta do is hurt.
[00:32:09] Jamal: Listen, tequilas, bikes, just wake up. Yeah, you'll be average. You'd be just like everybody else is walking around that day. But I didn't, I never, I didn't want to be average. I wanted to be great. When I was on the football field, I wanted to be great the same way in business. I want to be great. So, therefore, how do you do that?
[00:32:25] Jamal: This time of year? I go back and assess everything that I did this year. What can I do better? Not what I did. Great. It's more of, what can I do? So that's one of the things where it's like, what can I do better? How can I, how can I get? So you go back and address that. And it's kinda like that regrouping thing going into the new year or whatever, but you know, I liked the hard road.
[00:32:46] Jamal: It's, it's more exciting, I think, but as long as you got a plan, you know, as long as you have a plan and you got a vision I think you could accomplish anything. Right. You can accomplish anything. So it's not necessarily that hard. It's just, that I know guys that are lawyers. I couldn't go to school for eight years.
[00:33:02] Jamal: I know guys that are doctors to me. That's the hard road. 
[00:33:07] Blake: Yeah. It's you know, I think it's. Being honest and aligning your passion with what you, you know, what's going to give you that dry 
[00:33:15] Jamal: and what you do. You know, one of the things I want to say about early love is if you love it, it doesn't matter. You know, if you love it, it doesn't matter.
[00:33:21] Jamal: Like I start up these businesses or whatever. It's not that I just love that business. You know, I love starting up businesses and putting the right people in place and growing them and seeing them Excel and see everybody else succeed. Yeah, exactly. Cause that, that, that, that, that has, you know, I've had companies with four or 500 employees, you know, or even more and, you know, that's, that's, that's miles just feeding.
[00:33:47] Jamal: They're taking that to their communities their homes, their families, you know, and stuff like that. So being a part of that, you know, that's just. Maybe we sleep well at night 
[00:33:56] Blake: now. That's I think that's such a good way to put it as, you know, analyzing your impact, aligning your passions with what you want to do.
[00:34:03] Blake: And you know, I think that's important for so many people to hear just because there are people that are maybe nervous and doing something that they don't love, what that, you know, they don't love what they're doing. Right. Yeah. What was what got you out of, you know, or what helped you realize that whenever you have.
[00:34:20] Jamal: When you really look back at, in the mirror and look at your path and your, your plan, and you say, no, this doesn't even fit into my plan and my 10-year plan and where I'm trying to go, it doesn't fit the time. As you said, you wake up in the morning, you don't want to go do that. And the site, you know, guess what?
[00:34:40] Jamal: This is not it, you know, this is not anything that stresses you out. You shouldn't do it. You know, there's, you know, You got to do something you love and and and that's it. And if you don't you'll know it, you know, you will know it. And at an end of the day, some people have companies that hit, it might be successful.
[00:34:58] Jamal: The company might be successful, but it's not something that you really want to do. So it kind of rubs off or whatever. It's just, it's just, I just wouldn't feel good about, 
[00:35:09] Blake: yeah. And what do you think the balance is? Cause I feel like sometimes. You know that I feel like there is, there is kind of a fine line there, right?
[00:35:16] Blake: Because sometimes just because you're doing something that you love doesn't mean that there won't be hard times either. Right. Or it might be seasons that are terrible where you're like, man, I'm down bad right now. How do you, I don't know. How do you, how do you kind of navigate and toe the line there you think with being able to get yourself through?
[00:35:33] Jamal: You know, it's like a relationship like your relationship, you know, you might love that person or whatever, but it's going to be some bumps in the road. It's going to be things that happen, but what do you gotta do? You gotta communicate you gotta address the issues and you keep going. You know, you keep going.
[00:35:50] Jamal: You just break apart and go your separate ways and that's that. And I think that's, that's kinda how you can, how you could say how you could think about it. 
[00:36:00] Blake: No, I think that's, I think that's a great way to think about is we're always talking about like relationships, how that, you know, in business, we're always talking about relationships.
[00:36:08] Blake: We're always talking about sports analogies and cause I don't know. It's funny. I mean, it sounds kind of silly, but like. It's giving us the answers a lot of the time too, you 
[00:36:17] Jamal: know, you just gotta be able to listen to it and see sirens. That it's, that it's there. You know, it's a business that, you know, I've had some businesses that just, and I've shut them down, you know, shut them down.
[00:36:28] Jamal: Look, you know, or somebody else's passionate, it's not yours. And all, you got a partner or whatever, somebody. But you jumped along for the ride because you liked it or whatever, or seemed right at the time, but then once you get in, it's like, no, the people that I'm dealing with, the things I got to go through or whatever, it's like, it's not, this is not what I want to be doing, you know?
[00:36:48] Jamal: So, 
[00:36:49] Blake: yeah. Yeah. And I know whenever we talk about the ten-year plan, you know that's, that's something that I think is important for everybody to kind of keep in mind. Whenever you're making these plans, it sounds like sometimes you got to think of the overarching goal and not make it so specific because I'm sure you found it right.
[00:37:09] Blake: The plan doesn't exactly. Always work out exactly as you want it to. So you gotta be, you gotta be open and be like a running back and be reflexive to it and adjust accordingly. You have 
[00:37:19] Jamal: to be nimble, right? You have to be nimble and you can't be tied emotionally to anything. And even though you love the business or you love what you do or whatever, you can't be emotionally tied to it.
[00:37:31] Jamal: So the point where it drags you all the way down if something happens, you know, and I think that that's very important. 
[00:37:37] Blake: Absolutely. So not only have you been, you know, this entrepreneur, this professional athlete, you've experienced a lot of life and you've, you know, you've done so much. But you know, we have some mutual friends they're telling me that you're also just an awesome dad too, you know, so I wonder.
[00:37:54] Blake: You know, talk about it because you know, I heard that you even empower your kids to like go on their own paths, whether it's being an entrepreneur exploring like music or anything like that. You know, that's not normal always, right? Like it's kind of crazy. I know that there are so many parents out there that are like, you know, they don't want their kids to.
[00:38:12] Blake: Necessarily fi find their own way rather, they kind of have it thought out for them. What's your kind of mentality about all that? I just think 
[00:38:18] Jamal: that the traditional way of growing up, especially with these kids nowadays is not, it's not the same as when we did it was, it was a go through school, you know, get good grades and go to college.
[00:38:32] Jamal: Find your career. You know, these kids nowadays, you know, they can be 16, 17 years old and making millions of dollars just because they got 2 million followers because they did some kind of whatever. Posts, you know, or whatever. So it's kinda like, you know, it's, it's really, like I said earlier, innovating and being with the times, you know, and not being behind the times.
[00:38:57] Jamal: So therefore my kids, you know, they kind of keep me in line. Right. So I want to give them that opportunity. Hopefully, one day run my business or whatever, but I want them to know. Because they can't, you can start a business, but we're just not starting up a business, but you need to know the fundamentals first and how to start the business and notice it's going to take some time.
[00:39:19] Jamal: It's going to take some bumps and whatever, but we're just not starting a business. It's gotta be something that you love to do or you want to do or it's. It's, it's something that is You know, something that you see is going to be big in the next couple of years, you know, saw industry or whatever it might be.
[00:39:34] Jamal: You know, so letting them do that, you know, experiment with it. Like my, my oldest son, he had, you know, he had a shoe company when he was 13, you know, selling shoes and this and other daddy wanted her music. And he's in a TV show right now on the Apple TV. That's amazing doing that. Now. I'm trying to capitalize on that.
[00:39:54] Jamal: But you know, I just try to say, Hey, if you want to do it, you can do it. But I just need to know that you're passionate about it and that you're going to work hard at it. And it's just not something that you just want to do. So you gonna have to put the work in and that's kinda what you want.
[00:40:09] Jamal: That's, that's why I like it more than anything else is I want to see. Put the work into it. So 
[00:40:14] Blake: especially our oldest. I mean, have you noticed that you know, they're coming back to you and trying to pick your brain about these things now and get some of that? Cause I know it's also like you're still there.
[00:40:24] Blake: You know, you, you still have their dad, 
[00:40:27] Jamal: sometimes they do, but sometimes they, you don't know, you don't know, you don't know. Or whatever, but at the same time, yeah, sometimes they, my ass or whatever, but they like just do their own thing and fill it out their own way. But if I see something, I'll say something and just let them know, Hey, did you ask questions?
[00:40:46] Jamal: I'd ask questions. You know, what are you doing about that? Or what's the plan for that? Or you know, given a whiteboard, you know, You know, what, where are you at? What was your plan? Are you where you want to be or whatever, you know, it's just asking those questions and just diving in that way. It's more helpful than anything else.
[00:41:04] Jamal: Yeah. 
[00:41:04] Blake: Yeah. I feel like some of the best, the best coaches out there are the ones that can just ask the question, then all of a sudden you give that person that you're Rica moment, you know, Damn. It was right in front of me the whole time, 
[00:41:17] Jamal: you know, I'll help, you know, but I got three companies now and I don't need another one right now.
[00:41:22] Jamal: So I let them do that. That's your company, that's your thing. 
[00:41:26] Blake: I'm not running. Hey, that's, that's how you empower people thought, you know, that's, that's great. And you see that met with one day take over your places in the future. 
[00:41:35] Jamal: Possibly, possibly after they get finished, figuring out, but at least they'll be.
[00:41:41] Jamal: Well equipped and, and have some experience along the way. And be more innovative. And I liked that, you know, when hopefully when they get a little older, you know, be able to come in and innovate and take the company to another level from where it is right now, you know? So that's part of it is part of the growth in how you have companies stay around for a long time.
[00:42:02] Blake: And, you know, I think it seems like part of your mindset too, is that there's still a lot to learn from the younger generation as well. Right. And it's like a two-way thing. And I, I thought that was very. Humble, you know, cause a lot of people, they, you know, they, they laugh at it, but then it's like you said, there are 16-year-olds, 17-year-olds that are making millions.
[00:42:21] Blake: So w what are your recommendations for being able to like, stay humble and be open and, and, and, you know, get there. Cause obviously, you know, it'd be nice if we all have that switch in our brain to be able to get to that place. But what kind of made you realize that, you know, that it was important?
[00:42:35] Blake: Here, you know what they're, what your kids are, what your kids are doing. 
[00:42:38] Jamal: Our interns, interns, you know, and you can learn a lot from the interns. They knew a lot that I don't know, you know, as far as how to get to. Point a to point B with it, with navigating through spreadsheets and PowerPoints and, you know, putting together this there are so many apps and so many applications out there nowadays, and I'm sitting there trying to figure out something that's like, oh, you got an app for that call this, that and the other.
[00:43:05] Jamal: Oh wow. So you go and you find that, you know, like It is being able to listen to them because they want to be heard, you know, if and they, they won't then I think that's one of the biggest things with the younger generation they want to be heard. So therefore we got to listen, you gotta listen.
[00:43:22] Jamal: We can't be stuck in our ways. And I think the pandemic helped out a lot too. Cause I can remember going into meetings Pandemic where it was cookie-cutter, you know, businesses, a very cookie-cutter about how they operate but after, because of everything and the unknown, or are we going to have another lockdown or there is going to be another barrier, that's going to put everybody at home or whatever.
[00:43:43] Jamal: So now I say, we got to move quick. We got to move now. We gotta move now. So it's like I was talking earlier with somebody about NISL, you know, with the colleges and the prayers for. Right. You know, coaches nowadays they're different. They gotta be different because you have to win with what you have right now because some of your best players that you have right now might be in the transfer portal next year, going somewhere else.
[00:44:07] Jamal: Wow. You've got a wheel with a team you have right now. Maximizing their abilities, try to pull it out of them. What can you do? And there are ways to keep them incentivized and stuff like that. But at the same time, it's still the fact that remains. You got to win with the team we have right now. So listening to them, hearing them out and, you know, cause we got to win together, lose together.
[00:44:32] Jamal: We gotta win together. So I think that's part of being a team and coaches even under. Yeah, you need to listen to your players too, even though you want your players to buy into what you're selling, sometimes you got to listen as well, and being a great listener makes a good. 
[00:44:49] Blake: Absolutely and business owner and they now there are definitely so many, so many intersections there where all of that is so crucial and everything is pretty informed by whomever your team is, you know, whether we're talking sports or business.
[00:45:04] Blake: It's just you, you gotta work with what you've got. Absolutely. Right. No, I think that's so, so important for everybody to make sure that they are aware of So then I, you know, I was thinking about too is a lot of times know in these scenarios where people are trying to you know, learn how to become the person that can speak up and become the person that is being heard.
[00:45:26] Blake: People have a tough time getting there, you know, getting their voice in there and providing a platform. So it sounds like your mindset is again, to just be open to absorbing that you know, whenever, whenever somebody comes to you and says, I want to make a change. How do you you know, tactically absorb that information and then, you know, give something that you know, she makes up make a game plan out of that.
[00:45:49] Blake: Like, if you're thinking like a coach or thinking like a business owner you know, and you're getting all this feedback coming at you all the time, how do you manage. What would you say that it comes back to goal your big picture goal, or how to, how do you filter through that? 
[00:46:00] Jamal: It comes back to you, how does it fit into his model of, what we're doing and where we're going and where we're trying to go.
[00:46:08] Jamal: And also, you know, how, how much did you think this through, you know, how much do you think this through and poke some holes into it or whatever, and, and just see how viable it is and, and will it work and. If it's not what is hurting us, then, Hey, we'll try it. You know, sometimes that person needs to learn that, Hey, look, you know, sometimes things don't work, you don't work.
[00:46:30] Jamal: Sometimes you're going to cite things. You're going to put things out on the table. Yeah, I guess what, who cares, right? Yeah. Let's move forward, you know, and that's one of the things that, you know that's, that's pretty much how I think. And as far as people bringing in input or whatever it might be Yeah, you wanna, you want to hear that, you know, you wanna, you want to some days might work.
[00:46:51] Jamal: There might be some things going on in the field. Like right now I got project managers out there that they'll come back and say, Hey, we need to probably do this different or do that different next go-round. Or we go to this next, this next project or whatever. And we'll, you know, I want to deal with thinking through what's the pros, the cons.
[00:47:10] Jamal: Okay. Let's do that. And if it works, it works great. If it doesn't, then we just sit back and say, it's not their fault. It's Hey, what could we have done better? Or where did this miss or whatever, and assess it, address it and see if we go back and do it again, you know, and just do it a different way?
[00:47:29] Jamal: But don't be afraid to try things out, you know, don't be, you know, don't be afraid 
[00:47:34] Blake: the resistant to yeah, you're not resistant, but open to open to just. Failure in a sense, right? I mean, that's, that's the thing is, you know, I think people need to redefine what failure is a little bit because I would say that I'd love to know what you think about this, but I'd say that failure usually is only when you actually give up or stop doing something.
[00:47:55] Blake: Right. It's whenever you choose to be averaged by doing like that quote, you said earlier, you know just waking up and only doing that, you know? So 
[00:48:03] Jamal: yeah, you're right. People do. Failure means certain things differently. Some people are successful as well. But understanding failure is really just experienced, you know, it's just experience.
[00:48:16] Jamal: And also mentally, you know, being tough that, Hey, if something did happen or I didn't work out the way you want to work out, they just regroup. And. Do something else or how can you do it differently? Do you know? And that's, that's where people get confused and not really addressing and assessing their selves.
[00:48:35] Jamal: And what did I do wrong? Do you know? It's always what everybody else to hear wrong or what happened was this that. A, what did I do? Or what could I have done better? And that's where I think that's where the failure lies and people assessing their selves and their weaknesses. That's why, as an athlete, I always looked when I watched a film, I didn't look at the great runs.
[00:49:02] Jamal: You know, I looked at, my weaknesses at the end of the season. What did I do wrong? You know, what can I do? What do I need to work on this? In order to come back a better running back than a better, you know, that's how you're going to keep Excel, you know? Yeah. So 
[00:49:17] Blake: looking at yourself is so important because I feel like that's really all you control.
[00:49:22] Blake: Right? So, I mean, why are you trying to worry about stuff that you can't control in the first place? You know, 
[00:49:27] Jamal: that's a big, that's a big statement, you know, as far as control. And I tell my kids that all the time, like you can only control what you can control. I tell employees that too, you can only control what you can control and know our customer, our client, you can't control, but what you can control is are we prepared?
[00:49:47] Jamal: Are we ready? Are the people doing the little things and being on time and doing all that, we will control that. So that's what we need to control. Everything else is out of our control. And this just takes them out of the comment and find a solution when a problem, you know, happened, 
[00:50:03] Blake: use that mental energy accordingly, you know, towards the, towards the things where you can actually make an impact, you know?
[00:50:09] Blake: Cause otherwise you're stuck. Yeah. Wasting precious minutes. Precious seconds 
[00:50:15] Jamal: wheels, right? Yeah. Yeah. Keep going. 
[00:50:18] Blake: Yeah. So you're always thinking in this ten-year plan, I wanted to just reverse engineer that a little bit. What do you do at you know, whenever you've maybe got. Through that ten-year segment.
[00:50:29] Blake: What would you, do you ever try to talk to your, you know, think about what you would tell yourself 10 years ago, or a, you know, reflect on that time to make, you know, tweak the plan and, and make your next 10 years even better? What's that, what's that kind of like 
[00:50:41] Jamal: for me, it's always been, you know, my, my whole.
[00:50:45] Jamal: You know, my whole tenure thing has always been that Nick, that extra step, you know, that extra level, that next level or whatever. So it's kind of just gone back in and set another ten-year plan because of what's behind us. As you said, we do gotta address it and see where we went wrong and what we could have done better.
[00:51:04] Jamal: But at the same time now that's behind us. Now it's another, it's another season. So we can't talk about it. Last season in game 14, right? Can you talk about it? You know, now is, Hey, look, I went through the off-season, I've trained hard. I've worked on my weaknesses. I feel like I got better now. Okay. What's the ten-year plan going into this and bringing it to the table and where, where am I taking my company?
[00:51:31] Jamal: You know, where am I taking it? Where, where are we going? You know are we, you know, are we going to acquire more? Are we going to sell more? Are we going to, what, what, what are we going to do? So. It's a that's a. It's a good question, but it just all rolls back around. It's just setting a new path. I mean, let's 
[00:51:49] Blake: keep moving forward, right?
[00:51:50] Blake: Let's 
[00:51:51] Jamal: keep moving forward. 
[00:51:52] Blake: Yeah. Well, Jamal, Hey, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on, and I know that our viewers are going to. Absolutely love all this knowledge that you've given us all this wisdom. So you know, I was really excited to get to have you on as our you know, one of our official first guests.
[00:52:10] Blake: Thank you so much for joining me, man. I really look forward to checking out everything that you do. Is there anything that you want to like plugin here that you know, where can people look out for you? Do they need to be on, ah, 
[00:52:21] Jamal: LinkedIn, small Lewis on LinkedIn? You can find me there. To Instagram, Jamal 31, Louis Facebook tomorrow, Louis 31.
[00:52:29] Jamal: So I'm there, but by our connected incorporate is one of my companies out these exhibits and events and also scholars education tutors. You know, just all around trying to make a difference. Cool, man. Hey, well, it was 
[00:52:42] Blake: a pleasure. Thank you. Thanks, Jamal.
[00:52:48] Blake: Thank you for joining us on this episode of the gym series, the podcast for anybody dedicated to investing in themselves, stay tuned for our next episode, and look in the links below for resources that you can. For yourself until next time, this is Blake Chapman. And remember to be awesome and do awesome things.