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Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations. It's the show that she

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Speaker 1: has the secrets of success experience firsthand by marketing and

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Speaker 1: Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I will know he's giving me

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Speaker 1: advice on many occasions. Indication didn't notice. I'm not broke.

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Speaker 1: You know. He'll be interviewing celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry

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Speaker 1: decision makers. It's what he likes to do, it's what

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Speaker 1: he likes to share. Now it's time to hear from

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Speaker 1: my man, Rashan McDonald money Making Conversations. Here we come.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversation. I am your host, rous

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Speaker 1: Sean McDonald. It's time you stop reading other people's success

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Speaker 1: stories really and stop let's really start writing your own.

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Speaker 1: I always tell people leave with their gifts. Gifts, we

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Speaker 1: call them passion and call them internal beliefs. You tell

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Speaker 1: them things that we believe in. Is our next level

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Speaker 1: of opportunity. Can be physical, can be intellectual, can be spiritual.

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Speaker 1: But that is a gift. And don't let your age, friends, family,

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Speaker 1: or coworkers stop you from planning or living your dreams.

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Speaker 1: My interviews that I do on Money Making Conversations provide

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Speaker 1: the consumer and business own the access to celebrities, CEOs,

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Speaker 1: entrepreneurs and really industry decision makers. My next guest is

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Speaker 1: an industry decision maker. His name is Anton Bonds. Over

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Speaker 1: fifteen years in the music industry as a record executive

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Speaker 1: Rockefeller Records or Sonyloud Records, Universal Moldtime Records, Couch Records,

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Speaker 1: as regional and national director of promotions. He left the

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Speaker 1: music industry right there's key because a lot of you

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Speaker 1: out there are sitting in positions where you want to transition,

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Speaker 1: you want to move with fear stops you. So in

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Speaker 1: two thousand and nine he started. He decided to start

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Speaker 1: the Brand Architects, which is a form that specialized in

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Speaker 1: pro athletes individual brand development. I know a lot about

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Speaker 1: brand I've been fortunately, work with a lot of high

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Speaker 1: profile talent, and Brandon is, uh, we're just throwing around

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Speaker 1: a lot. I don't know. When I started in twos

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Speaker 1: with Steve Harvey, and I brought up the idea of

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Speaker 1: branding to him in two thousand two. Didn't nobody know

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Speaker 1: what I was talking about, but I worked at IBM,

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Speaker 1: and I always felt that if a company could have

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Speaker 1: standards and and brands and and can stay there an individual.

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Speaker 1: Why can the individual have those same standards? Well, that's

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Speaker 1: what he does with pro athlete brand development, Please working

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Speaker 1: to money making conversations. He's down in PGC, y'all, that's

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Speaker 1: in that DC area. That's an Tom. How you doing that? Tom? Hey,

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Speaker 1: I'm great today? Or so how you doing? But the

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Speaker 1: weather that you know, we all when this spree time,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of like starting is thirty five

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Speaker 1: when I wake up, sixty five when I when I

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Speaker 1: walk out of my office. How is it down there

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Speaker 1: in the PGC? Pretty much the same? You know today, Well,

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Speaker 1: yesterday it was in the thirties. Tomorrow is supposed to

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Speaker 1: be almost seventy two. So what I'm saying, you know,

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Speaker 1: it's that time of the year. Is that for the

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Speaker 1: grass to sard green? The beauty of uh? Because you know,

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Speaker 1: I know of you we've talked before. Is that you

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Speaker 1: have the ability to communicate? Is that you feel that's

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Speaker 1: that's one of your true gifts. Your ability to be relatable,

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Speaker 1: your ability to communicate with people. I concur I concur um.

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Speaker 1: One thing I'm a firm believer in is also transparency.

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Speaker 1: You know, I was born in New Jersey, so I'm

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Speaker 1: very frank with people, you know, I think there's too

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Speaker 1: many How can I say, too many people being misled

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Speaker 1: and missing from misinformed. I was always taught, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'd rather you be mad and be I grew up

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Speaker 1: during the age of constructive criticism, you know, and you know, listen,

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Speaker 1: we all make mistakes, we all we don't know everything.

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Speaker 1: And the only way you learn is by listening and

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Speaker 1: by making mistakes and you know, being honest with anyone.

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Speaker 1: Because I want that. I want the same treatment to me,

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Speaker 1: you know. Don't beat me around the boys, don't feed

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Speaker 1: me no bs the truth because they're Not's the only

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Speaker 1: way you can make you can fix things or advance

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Speaker 1: or learn yourself in the process of learning. Now, you know,

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Speaker 1: you have educational learning, you have learning in the streets,

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Speaker 1: and you have learning in life. You know, So what

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Speaker 1: lay out those three paths that will that will help

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Speaker 1: you to from the educational standpoint, the streets and their life?

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Speaker 1: Well I had uh. My father was a very successful

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Speaker 1: black business owner in New Jersey. So I was thank

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Speaker 1: god I was blessed to see it forehand born and

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Speaker 1: raised in Jersey City, you know, came from very humble beginnings,

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Speaker 1: and the projects. My father uh went on to become

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Speaker 1: a councilman in Jersey City in the eighties, actually initiated

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Speaker 1: the the Jersey City Redevelopment Project, which is now you

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Speaker 1: see Newport Downtown Newport City. So my father was very

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Speaker 1: uh involved in the community in regards to politics, but

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Speaker 1: also business. You know, he owned business stores, he owned

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Speaker 1: car dealership. So I was able to see what hard work.

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Speaker 1: But then also I saw with him how you know,

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Speaker 1: also the difference being a black man, what he had

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Speaker 1: to deal with, but he never let it stop him

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Speaker 1: and he really used it his motivation. But one thing

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Speaker 1: I also saw was his connect with the community. He

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Speaker 1: always gave back and took care of the community and

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Speaker 1: vice versa back in those days. Now unfortunately, he passed

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Speaker 1: a a when I graduated high school, so I had

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Speaker 1: to really take lessons that I saw his mistakes and

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Speaker 1: his advancements and use it to myself. And then I

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Speaker 1: attended Morgan State University HBCU. Proud there's in Baltimore. So

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Speaker 1: I went there and that's kind of that's kind of

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Speaker 1: where I found myself as a man, but also what

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Speaker 1: I wanted to do in the industry. I wanted to

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Speaker 1: sell cars. I don't want to be in the music industry.

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Speaker 1: I'nna be honest with you. You know, it was by

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Speaker 1: chance um me and a group of friends of mine.

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Speaker 1: We used to throw parties in concerts and upon a

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Speaker 1: chance meeting with jay Z, we had jay Z. I

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Speaker 1: wanted to where people that I could say I had

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Speaker 1: jay Z performed for me for free. He had jay

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Speaker 1: Z performed for us for free for Faith Evans album

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Speaker 1: released party and to Baltimore Grant. This may have been nine.

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Speaker 1: And upon meeting jay Z and the Rockefeller crew, we

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Speaker 1: had to perform. They offered me a position at Rockefeller

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Speaker 1: Records that I couldn't turn down. And and that kind

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Speaker 1: of was my you know, my opportunity. You know, you

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Speaker 1: being an individual like yourself, you know, opportunities come. You

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Speaker 1: gotta be able to go with it. Don't be like

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Speaker 1: you said, fearful or scared of opportunities, because sometimes that

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Speaker 1: may take you on a path that you never even

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Speaker 1: intended on, that could take you the biggest dreams that

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Speaker 1: you really initially didn't And you said that because you said, Richard,

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Speaker 1: and look, first of all, if I go to you,

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Speaker 1: you selling cars, and now you just music and now

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Speaker 1: you know, managing and branded athletes. Let's talk about HBCUs. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and then in Twitter twenty during the pandemic, somehow white

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Speaker 1: America discovered HBCUs, especially corporate America. They decided to start donating. Uh,

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Speaker 1: there's a good and bad to that because of the

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Speaker 1: fact that it means that you know, this is not

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Speaker 1: something new in the black community. What hbc was founded

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Speaker 1: do to racism because there you can see that there,

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Speaker 1: but made basically in the southeast part of the country

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Speaker 1: as it rolls up the Eastern Carter because of racist

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Speaker 1: admission practices and prevented black people from trying to pursue

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Speaker 1: the next level education. But you went to Morgan State,

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Speaker 1: which is right outside of Baltimore area. Talk about your

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Speaker 1: HBCU experience and then seeing what's happened in and moving

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Speaker 1: forward like the All Star Game, three million dollars were

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Speaker 1: donated from the All Star Game to the hbc U

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Speaker 1: s UH athletes who went to p w I s

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Speaker 1: as predominant white institutions are now focusing their attention on HBCU.

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Speaker 1: You gotta be proud, but you also got to be

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Speaker 1: you know what's going on. Yes, I'm glad you brought

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Speaker 1: that up. I was coming out of high school. I

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Speaker 1: was actually a highly recruited football player. Actually, uh, I

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Speaker 1: had every intention on playing at Clemson University out of

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Speaker 1: scholarship and highly recruited. But going back, I lost my father,

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Speaker 1: uh literally a month upalm graduating, so I actually wanted

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Speaker 1: to take some time for myself. I mentally just couldn't

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Speaker 1: do it, and I asked for some time to leave

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Speaker 1: clemon In and basically get my mind right. I was

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Speaker 1: mourning the death of my father, and I saw how

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Speaker 1: they treated me differently, see what I'm saying, Like they

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Speaker 1: were like, well, you you're committed, you know, using this

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Speaker 1: motivation to hit harder on the football field. They didn't

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Speaker 1: care about my emotional well being and it rubbed me

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Speaker 1: in the wrong way. So that's when I decided to

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Speaker 1: go to an HBCU. And I always had interested because

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Speaker 1: I grew up watching school days in a different world

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Speaker 1: and I was always intrigued. I was like, wow, that's amazing,

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Speaker 1: Like wow. So I went to Mortgage State, went for

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Speaker 1: a visit, and fell in love. And it was the

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Speaker 1: best decision me personally that I've ever made because I

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Speaker 1: was able to be around like minded individuals, but that

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Speaker 1: had other interests. Like I was around friends that wanted

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Speaker 1: to be engineers, chemist, uh, you know, other business professions,

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Speaker 1: whereas out of p w Y, most of the black

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Speaker 1: faces that I saw, which is athletes, they weren't trying.

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Speaker 1: They didn't have any interest in other professions. So it

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Speaker 1: was it was a very interesting and great developmental stage

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Speaker 1: for myself because I was able to find out who

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Speaker 1: I was as a man, not just an athlete. And

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Speaker 1: we'll kind of get into that later on why I

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Speaker 1: started to brand architects, But it's like it was I

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Speaker 1: went through that personal experience in regards to development as

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Speaker 1: a man and being at a historically black, black university.

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Speaker 1: And this was in the nineties. Like you said, you know,

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Speaker 1: I go to Morgan. Now it's like I'm in alle,

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Speaker 1: Like wow, they put all this money, Like the campus

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Speaker 1: looks nothing like but you know, the experience was definitely

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Speaker 1: mind boggling. And like you said, and all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: everybody sees the I call them the hidden gems of

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Speaker 1: our society HBCUs And I'm proud, I'm glad now people

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Speaker 1: are finally giving them the credit that they deserve. Because

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Speaker 1: they also need that the support. You know they that

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Speaker 1: they haven't beginning for so long. It's finally here, the

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Speaker 1: season of celebration. And no matter how you celebrate with

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Speaker 1: that lived them, with commentary from experts. Visit adopt us

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Speaker 1: Kids dot org, slash podcast, or subscribed to Navigating Adoption

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Speaker 1: presented by adopt Us Kids, brought to you by the

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Speaker 1: U S Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for

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Speaker 1: Children and Families, and the ad Council. That's really it's

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Speaker 1: interesting that you say all move to a campus change

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Speaker 1: and when you went to I know, I graduated p

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Speaker 1: w I, which was a University of Houston Cougar and

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Speaker 1: three H five SLA my jam Clyde Drexler and uh

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Speaker 1: they lost the championship. I still don't have the ring,

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Speaker 1: so I could not pay myself, I said with them,

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Speaker 1: but I couldn't put a ring on my finger. Man,

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Speaker 1: when they lost that A three championship, I take credit

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Speaker 1: for it. I think it's my boys though. But when

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Speaker 1: you but you're absolutely right. I remember when I was

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Speaker 1: at the University Houston, it's about thirty or five thousand

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Speaker 1: students on campus, it was probably about two thousand black people.

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Speaker 1: It looked like it was a ton of us until

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Speaker 1: you actually with what they found out how many it

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Speaker 1: really was of us. But it tends to be that

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Speaker 1: the case of where if you go to UH HPCU,

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Speaker 1: everybody on their representative of who you are and who

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Speaker 1: you can be, and it feels like a much more

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Speaker 1: communal format. But again, when you see the NBA and

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Speaker 1: you UH do what they did on and you know

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Speaker 1: the HP the court was HBCU, you see the donations

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Speaker 1: they make, you know, inspiring. I'm just saying, man, you

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Speaker 1: know I didn't go there, but wow, I have to

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Speaker 1: say wow when I see that. It's unique for Sean,

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Speaker 1: and I'm gonna be honest with you. They're thirty years

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Speaker 1: upon leaving Morgan State. There are people we still Like

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Speaker 1: I tell everyone, when you go to a p w Y,

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Speaker 1: you don't know a home coming until you go to HBCU.

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Speaker 1: It's totally it's a totally different experience. And I have

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Speaker 1: friends that went the p WISE and when they come

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Speaker 1: to our home commings there and all, they're like, Wow,

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Speaker 1: I still came through and I'm glad you brought that

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Speaker 1: up too. We there's not just that family love, but

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Speaker 1: we also still do business together. See that's critical. That's critical.

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Speaker 1: Like I get my advice from black doctors that graduated

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Speaker 1: from Morgan I know, I know black judges moan like

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Speaker 1: if I need that. That is unique and I cherish

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Speaker 1: it because I could talk to people that could relate

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Speaker 1: to me as a black man, but also make that

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Speaker 1: connection on a professional level. You see what I'm saying,

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Speaker 1: where I could like, Okay, you know everybody's talking about

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Speaker 1: the vaccine now, like okay, should I take it or not?

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Speaker 1: I have four professional black doctors that I could call

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Speaker 1: to that I went to Morgan State with. They're gonna

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Speaker 1: give me that straight up for thirty years and we do.

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Speaker 1: I got an individual what I'm doing with. He's a

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Speaker 1: secret service agent and I'm actually consulting him now because

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Speaker 1: he wants to do something about mental health and if

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Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about that later, especially in the black community.

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Speaker 1: So it's like, you know, it's not just a family.

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Speaker 1: It's a family, but it's also business unification. I call

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Speaker 1: it as well too. You know. I cheated though, and

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Speaker 1: Tom because I went to University of Houston and I

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Speaker 1: could walk down the Texas Southern University, all right, and

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Speaker 1: then I could drive forty five minutes to pray if

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Speaker 1: you and them, So I cheated, and I cheated. I

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Speaker 1: don't know about something they have social media back then.

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Speaker 1: I cheated. I'm just gonna let you know show what

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Speaker 1: you're talking about, ye brother, I will right down the

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Speaker 1: Texas Universe and drove forty five minutes off the privew Panthers.

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Speaker 1: The Tigers and the Panthers thought you went there. The

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Speaker 1: Tagers and the Panthers had this cougar right here locked up,

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Speaker 1: so you gotta taste of the day. So that's why

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Speaker 1: I gotta tell you I cheat it. I cheated, and

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Speaker 1: I cheated let's talk about you a little bit more.

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Speaker 1: We live in a capitalistic state. There's a lot of

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Speaker 1: cheating going anyway out, fluid. Let's talk about the brand

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Speaker 1: architect You know the reason behind you, the African American man.

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Speaker 1: You're a black man. You know, we live in a

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Speaker 1: society where black athletes have a short window and they

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Speaker 1: make can make a lot of money. And we heard

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Speaker 1: the horror stories about black athletes spending my money and

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Speaker 1: walking away broke, not understanding how or why they do

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Speaker 1: with their money. I don't know if I hear that

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Speaker 1: story is much now and talk, but you know, one

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Speaker 1: time it was pretty bad. So talk about while you

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Speaker 1: started the brand Architects. Well, I started the brand Architects

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Speaker 1: back in uh two thousand nine. While I was in

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Speaker 1: the music industry. I would meet these athletes of course,

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Speaker 1: you know, because we would always have these concerts and

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Speaker 1: parties and then the club, so we will always meet.

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Speaker 1: And I had an interesting conversation with Burnon Davis. Bernon

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Speaker 1: Davis was actually the first NFL player I started working with,

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Speaker 1: and he would always tell me how he was interested

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Speaker 1: in other things, like he was like Anton, there's other

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Speaker 1: things I want to do besides being known as a

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Speaker 1: football player. Um, and he was like, how do I

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Speaker 1: go about that? And at the time, I was kind

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Speaker 1: of brushing ball up, like burning I got to the artists,

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Speaker 1: I gotta you know, I don't have time for this.

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Speaker 1: But then I started doing research. And but let's let's

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Speaker 1: tell everybody who Burnon was. Now he was the number

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Speaker 1: six pick in the draft. You know, University of Maryland,

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Speaker 1: tiny in San Francistico for it. And now the sad

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Speaker 1: part about that, I know all that, and then I

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Speaker 1: didn't know you're gonna bring up his name. That's the

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Speaker 1: sad part about this conversation. So didn't everybody know it

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Speaker 1: wasn't just a low level guy talking to you. This

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Speaker 1: was and that one of the physically built bodies in

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Speaker 1: NFL was was him. I was on a tour with

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Speaker 1: Nellie and Cash Money cause like whatever, but Vernon, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you're cool, like like dude, like I don't get all

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Speaker 1: strug And I tell him straight up, like I tell

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Speaker 1: him I'm not a fan, like you know, I'm I've

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Speaker 1: been on tour with Prints, I've been I've been, Brian

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Speaker 1: McKnight's been to my house. Like I'm like, okay, I

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Speaker 1: don't get into all that. It's about the person, you know,

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Speaker 1: That's what matters to me. And when I started doing

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Speaker 1: the research, I saw similar a lot of similarities between

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Speaker 1: artists and athletes, and how the record label pretty much

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Speaker 1: sucks the artist dry runs them like literally one week

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Speaker 1: you're relevant, the next week you're not. And I started

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Speaker 1: seeing that and I sat back and I did the

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Speaker 1: research and athletes I met. I met an athlete I

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Speaker 1: won't say his name is a Hall of Famer, and

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Speaker 1: I met him at Super Bowl event, and I mean

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Speaker 1: when I saw what he was going through in regards

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Speaker 1: to mental health, financial, uh, just identity crisis in regards

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Speaker 1: to and he had a conversation. We had a very

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Speaker 1: in depth conversation. He said, Anton, there's so many things

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Speaker 1: I would have done differently while I was still playing

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Speaker 1: then now and see. And that's the thing where I

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Speaker 1: started the brand architects. I was like, Okay, you know

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Speaker 1: what these young men, like we said, they come from

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Speaker 1: they go there, they're instantaining. They get money like out

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Speaker 1: of nowhere. I mean a lot of them come from nothing,

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Speaker 1: so they're instantaining there instantly. I'm sorry, put into a

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Speaker 1: situation where they got all this money. But also they

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Speaker 1: have a lot of relevancy. It's like, okay, now people

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Speaker 1: know your name. Like you said, you know Vernon Davis.

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Speaker 1: He ran the four three a forty. You know he

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Speaker 1: was the fastest tight end. But what else do we

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Speaker 1: know about Vernon Das Nothing? We just know the athletes side.

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Speaker 1: And you're not gonna be an athlete your whole career.

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Speaker 1: Let's be honest here. That's a short period of time.

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Speaker 1: Vernon was in the league for eleven years. That's a rarity.

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Speaker 1: You're lucky to get five years in the NFL. Now,

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Speaker 1: let's be honest here, especially now now is three to

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Speaker 1: five years. So what are you gonna do with this

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Speaker 1: platform to make a transition? That's the been the issue

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Speaker 1: with Sean. It is a lot of guys they get

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Speaker 1: I call it the track, and this is where I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna get real deep. Okay. A lot of them depend

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Speaker 1: on their agents to uh, I guess you could say

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Speaker 1: take care or run things to them. That's the number

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Speaker 1: one makes That's the number one mistake that they make.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna just be honest with you. Your agents should

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Speaker 1: only negotiate your contracts between you and the teams. They

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Speaker 1: shouldn't have anything to do with your marketing, your branding,

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Speaker 1: because first off, okay, most agents don't even care about

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Speaker 1: what you want to do. It could be painting, it

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Speaker 1: could be pottery. Like Vernon was into painting. And now

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Speaker 1: he wasn't a Picasso. But since it was Vernon, Davis

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Speaker 1: and San Francisco loved him so much. We did art exhibits,

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Speaker 1: you know, we did fashion stuff. We did you know

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Speaker 1: him to court. Vernon was not known as being the

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Speaker 1: renaissance man as he is now. Okay, Emmanuel Acho was

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Speaker 1: one of our first clients. Man. He was about the

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Speaker 1: host the Bachelor. Now, Emmanuel wasn't even a starter on

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Speaker 1: his team when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles, but

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Speaker 1: we had a conversation. He wanted to get into sports analysts.

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Speaker 1: He wanted to be an analyst, so he was on

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Speaker 1: Tuesdays he would catch a train from Philly to New

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Speaker 1: York intern at NBC ABC for free, learning the industry

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Speaker 1: that he did not know. See, if you're just a

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Speaker 1: football player, I tell the most important advice I tell

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Speaker 1: any potential pro athlete. Have someone when you when you

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Speaker 1: make it, okay, have a team or someone on your payroll.

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Speaker 1: Does that does not care about football or does not

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Speaker 1: care about basketball. They care about Okay, what you're gonna

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Speaker 1: do when you're done playing, because you have to do

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Speaker 1: it while you're in the league. That's when you have relevancy.

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Speaker 1: That's when the opportunities are going to be there for you,

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Speaker 1: not when you're not when it's over. See, a lot

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Speaker 1: of them the mistake that they make, a lot of

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Speaker 1: them get trapped into the it convinced into waiting. Oh,

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Speaker 1: don't worry about that until you're done playing. Well, you

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Speaker 1: don't know when you're done playing. It takes one weekend

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Speaker 1: that you get hit and it's over. And now even

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Speaker 1: with the salary cap structure, okay, you could be making

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Speaker 1: a league minimum, team doesn't even want to pay you

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Speaker 1: because you your league minimum. Now you you get aged out.

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Speaker 1: A lot of players get aged out that you don't

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Speaker 1: hear about. And then that on that will on set

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Speaker 1: to mental issues too, because now all these people have

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Speaker 1: around them they're gone, including their agent, and a lot

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Speaker 1: of them think there that they they they work for

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Speaker 1: their No, the agent works for you. He's not your boss.

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Speaker 1: Let's be honest. That's the number one thing. A lot

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Speaker 1: of these guys the worst thing that I hear A

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Speaker 1: lot of these athletes say, oh, let me talk, but

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Speaker 1: ask my agent why why you have to know? You

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Speaker 1: need to tell your agent this is what I'm gonna do.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna hire an outside marketing branding firm that's gonna

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Speaker 1: focus on my lifestyle branding, my image, not my football image,

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Speaker 1: to totally different things and exactly right, because like I said,

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Speaker 1: you know these agencies that you sound with, whether they're

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Speaker 1: I know them all, you know we're MARS c A,

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Speaker 1: you know U t A, and they've all developed little

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Speaker 1: sports divisions, and so what they don't do is day

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Speaker 1: to day they're not there what you They won't talk

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Speaker 1: to you through or four times a day. What you

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Speaker 1: have to do if you want somebody that there's know

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Speaker 1: your brand, know your interests, know your good days and

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Speaker 1: your bad days. Not somebody who shows up at game

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Speaker 1: time high fives you, pointing at you from the stand.

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Speaker 1: That's not a person that's gonna carry you to the

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Speaker 1: next level. And that's the part that they make the

426
00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,480
Speaker 1: mistake on because they allowing these people to make financial

427
00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,359
Speaker 1: decisions and career decisions for them that, like you said,

428
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,679
Speaker 1: one bad moment and Let's take the salary cap this

429
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:46,920
Speaker 1: year with the NFL. It has this is a billion

430
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 1: dollar industry and guess what. The cap was reduced, which

431
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,600
Speaker 1: means the cap instead of going up, it was reduced,

432
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,439
Speaker 1: which is crazy, all right. So that means that athletes

433
00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,879
Speaker 1: are being cut right now, not because they don't have

434
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 1: the ability to play in the NFL, is because a

435
00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:07,320
Speaker 1: billion dollar industry has made a decision that they need

436
00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,520
Speaker 1: to reduce the salary cap, which means that players are

437
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,760
Speaker 1: being cut right now and we'll take less money for

438
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:18,320
Speaker 1: the two seasons because of the salary cap. This is

439
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,239
Speaker 1: this is what you're talking about the business side, and

440
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:26,160
Speaker 1: that's what you try to protect your athletes and your friends. Yes,

441
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,879
Speaker 1: because I take it personal. You know, it's a SOB story.

442
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:32,359
Speaker 1: Like you know, half of our roster Rashaan or retire guys,

443
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:34,680
Speaker 1: they've been on the league three, four or five years.

444
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:38,000
Speaker 1: That shows the value on what we do because once

445
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:40,920
Speaker 1: we once I signed a client, I tell him, first off,

446
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,440
Speaker 1: first off, I don't care about football, and if I don't,

447
00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,240
Speaker 1: I don't even haven't been to a game of five years.

448
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,520
Speaker 1: I don't need to go and be honest, I know

449
00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:49,400
Speaker 1: I forgot guy I have a guy's playing the Super Bowl.

450
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,639
Speaker 1: I don't need to go for that. My job and

451
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:56,000
Speaker 1: my team's job is to keep you relevant Monday through Friday. Okay,

452
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,360
Speaker 1: you know, let's get you in the room. You got

453
00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 1: these fans cheering for you on Sunday. Let's make you relevant.

454
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,280
Speaker 1: Let's make sure you're in the room with them on Tuesday.

455
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 1: Let's utilize your base to create it to increase your

456
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:14,720
Speaker 1: personal value. Okay. See there's a difference. And even now

457
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 1: with the league, let's be on the league is all

458
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:18,760
Speaker 1: about their brand. You have the brand, the NFL brand,

459
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:20,920
Speaker 1: and you have the team and their brand. The more

460
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:24,560
Speaker 1: value you put on your individual brand, you actually more

461
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,119
Speaker 1: value it creates for your agent. Because guess what it's like,

462
00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 1: I tell people you have Lebron fans. You don't have

463
00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 1: like the fans wherever Lebron goes, this fan base is

464
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 1: going scenario these are you know, these are big time examples.

465
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 1: But it's like, if you create your own individual brand,

466
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:45,159
Speaker 1: it follows you while you're in the league. But guess

467
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 1: what most importantly when you're done with the league, but

468
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,359
Speaker 1: you you you have to utilize the platform. Now you

469
00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:54,879
Speaker 1: have to The interesting part about it because we were

470
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,880
Speaker 1: the same page. Because we're talking about media, and now

471
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,280
Speaker 1: we're seeing brands that were in some ways are bigger

472
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 1: than the football teams. Okay, especially from the football perspective,

473
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 1: we're seeing it being challenged now by by by UH

474
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:14,120
Speaker 1: Dwayne Watson and UH Houston Texas and also Russell Wilson

475
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,200
Speaker 1: up in cl Seahawks. And you know, you get that

476
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,920
Speaker 1: little racism type statement where they should keep their mouth shut.

477
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 1: Huh okay, keep your mouth shut? Who who were talking

478
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,640
Speaker 1: about here? You know? And the usually the person who's

479
00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,760
Speaker 1: saying that was the most vocal person in sports. But

480
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:33,760
Speaker 1: now they want to tell athletes who to happen to

481
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,720
Speaker 1: be color of color, they should keep their mouth shut.

482
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:40,240
Speaker 1: With social media, and we see how athletes are now

483
00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:46,720
Speaker 1: becoming more and more engaged in entertainment entertainment productions. How

484
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:48,920
Speaker 1: do you tell your athletes that do that are steer

485
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 1: playing and athletes who are transitioning post athletics, how do

486
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,879
Speaker 1: you evolve them with the social media growth partition of

487
00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:00,840
Speaker 1: the partition of the brand as well as the entertainment

488
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 1: side of it. Well, social media nowadays literally your resume.

489
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,000
Speaker 1: Let's just be to be honest when someone brings up

490
00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,399
Speaker 1: your name, first thing they're gonna do is google you. Okay,

491
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:12,199
Speaker 1: And a lot of times what comes up if you

492
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:16,119
Speaker 1: don't have a Wikipedia page, is your Instagram, your Facebook,

493
00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,000
Speaker 1: your website. But then also what follows and I'm glad

494
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,600
Speaker 1: you brought that up for song? What other what other

495
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:25,359
Speaker 1: categories will come up? What interviews that you have you conducted,

496
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:29,920
Speaker 1: Like if you're just doing okay, ESPN or CBS sports

497
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:34,120
Speaker 1: or and you're just talking about sports, guess what, You're

498
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:36,600
Speaker 1: just relevant in the sports for me. So you're just

499
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 1: relevant to Nike, Adidas, etcetera, etcetera. You're not relevant to

500
00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:44,280
Speaker 1: lifestyle brains. Okay, let's just say hypothetically, if a client's

501
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 1: interested in the fashion Ronnie Mclouds, one of our clients,

502
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 1: is very into fashion, so we set him up with

503
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,960
Speaker 1: doing interviews with fashion magazines talking about fashion, not talking

504
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,640
Speaker 1: about how many passes he intercepted, on how many tackles

505
00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,600
Speaker 1: he had. See what I'm saying, it's about expanding your

506
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 1: knowledge age while also gaining your knowledge and expanding your

507
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,400
Speaker 1: relevancy in the in the other industry. Because now you're

508
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,440
Speaker 1: in the NFL, people want to talk to you. It's

509
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,080
Speaker 1: interested in what you want to say, and to be

510
00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:12,680
Speaker 1: honest with you, a lot of the times media you'll

511
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,160
Speaker 1: get a better interview out of an athlete if you're

512
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,920
Speaker 1: talking about things that's not just athletes. Like athletes get

513
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:20,720
Speaker 1: tired of talking about how many tackles they had and

514
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 1: how many and then they were like, well that was

515
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,560
Speaker 1: a sorry interview. Well you're talking about something that they

516
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:27,919
Speaker 1: to them, this is their job, and that's what I

517
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,240
Speaker 1: tell them too. I'm like, listen, Okay, you're in a

518
00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:33,440
Speaker 1: unique position. Isn't there something else that you like to do?

519
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,200
Speaker 1: Football after a while isn't fun to them, it's a job.

520
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:39,919
Speaker 1: So it's like, okay, let's start invest let's you need

521
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:44,399
Speaker 1: to invest in cars or you know, house building, whatever

522
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:47,280
Speaker 1: your other interests are, because that's the American dream, right

523
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: to get paid doing what you like to do. You're

524
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:54,040
Speaker 1: in a unique position at the typical four year old

525
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,760
Speaker 1: young male isn't so you have this door that doors

526
00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,440
Speaker 1: that doors cracked open for you where we got to

527
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,439
Speaker 1: pick the rock and work through it and trying to

528
00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,040
Speaker 1: figure out a way that door's cracked open for you.

529
00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 1: What are you gonna do with it? Because if you

530
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,840
Speaker 1: wait until you're done playing guess what to shut you got?

531
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,000
Speaker 1: It took your spot for you. We were talking about

532
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,119
Speaker 1: talking to Anton Barnes, you know, the founder of the

533
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,840
Speaker 1: brand Architect, and you brought up something I definitely want

534
00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:20,920
Speaker 1: to talk about before we leave the air, the mental

535
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,760
Speaker 1: health part of it. Because athletes, they seem invincible, they

536
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,800
Speaker 1: seem that they're your heroes, but we don't see the

537
00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:32,880
Speaker 1: when they're off the main stage, or when they retire,

538
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 1: they land in bed and afraid to get out, or

539
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,440
Speaker 1: can't get out due to some ailment or due to

540
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,520
Speaker 1: some head injury. Let's talk about that which is not

541
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,160
Speaker 1: often discussed. You know, there was a settlement several years

542
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,200
Speaker 1: ago and it's kind of been brushed aside, but we

543
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,479
Speaker 1: know that problem still exists out there. So let's talk

544
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,720
Speaker 1: about the mental health side of being a professional athlete.

545
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,960
Speaker 1: The mental health side is very, very it's it's brushed under.

546
00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,480
Speaker 1: The league doesn't really want that to get as much

547
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,040
Speaker 1: shine as it deserves. You know, let's be honest here

548
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 1: and then, especially amongst our black athletes, we all not

549
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:05,760
Speaker 1: noticed that, you know, the black community is a stigma

550
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:07,920
Speaker 1: that we're already fighting through. You know, back in the

551
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 1: day you know, suck it up or you know, so

552
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,560
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's a sign of weakness looking for help.

553
00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:17,800
Speaker 1: But especially in in pro athletes, people don't realize, especially

554
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:22,280
Speaker 1: in the NFL, the pressures that these young men go through. Okay,

555
00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,960
Speaker 1: it's such a physical sport. And then it's also to availability.

556
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 1: Means if you're not available, you're more than likely gonna

557
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:31,800
Speaker 1: get cut in the team. Isn't doesn't not gonna pick

558
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:33,480
Speaker 1: you up. You don't know how many times these guys

559
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 1: have gone. I see the comments that these people make,

560
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:38,400
Speaker 1: and they don't realize what when I talk to these

561
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,480
Speaker 1: guys on Monday, it's like they went through a car crash. Literally,

562
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:44,120
Speaker 1: it's it's been proven that their body has been through

563
00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:48,400
Speaker 1: a car crash. You got these ultimate athletes that can't

564
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:50,920
Speaker 1: be that could barely walk. Okay, so you got the

565
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 1: physical aspect, but then we're sawing the most important thing

566
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: is the mental aspect. They don't have anyone that they

567
00:29:56,840 --> 00:30:00,680
Speaker 1: can really talk to. Okay, they can't. You know, it's

568
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,400
Speaker 1: that you know, it's it's not it's not my cheesemo,

569
00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,400
Speaker 1: it's not man enough to talk about whatever you're going

570
00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:09,320
Speaker 1: through mentally. And then by the time it comes out,

571
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,600
Speaker 1: it's too late. You know how many pro athletes have

572
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,200
Speaker 1: committed suicide. You killed themselves, and people think, oh, it's

573
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,960
Speaker 1: all financially based. No, it's not that. And then it's

574
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,800
Speaker 1: also part, like I said, of that transition stage that

575
00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:23,640
Speaker 1: we focus on. You go from being the man one

576
00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,760
Speaker 1: day to no one calling you. Tori Smith actually put

577
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,240
Speaker 1: a tweet out the other day saying the same thing.

578
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,080
Speaker 1: You know, He's like, listen, you know, one day you're

579
00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 1: the man. Everybody's calling you, everybody is available. The next day,

580
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,920
Speaker 1: nobody's answering your call. Your agent mon't even your agent.

581
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:42,760
Speaker 1: Most of their the biggest problems, Okay, having all those

582
00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,480
Speaker 1: people that were around you when you were scoring touchdowns

583
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,160
Speaker 1: and dunking the basketball. They're going and you don't have

584
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,239
Speaker 1: anything to transition to. You have no self value. And

585
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,480
Speaker 1: that's what we try to instill in our guys. You

586
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:56,720
Speaker 1: have to have self value and you as a person,

587
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,960
Speaker 1: not just an act. Incredible interview. In two thousand nine,

588
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,600
Speaker 1: he left the record business and decided to a bed

589
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,480
Speaker 1: on himself and founded the brand Architect And now not

590
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,480
Speaker 1: unless he changing lives, but he's also improving lives, and

591
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,840
Speaker 1: especially in the African American Black Athlete Area Arena, not

592
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,240
Speaker 1: only for himself but also letting people you know, you

593
00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:18,760
Speaker 1: think they hit the head coaching problems in all these

594
00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:23,760
Speaker 1: pro leagues, management and agency, it's worse. It's worse, and

595
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,880
Speaker 1: and and gentlemen like Anton very important in breaking down

596
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,040
Speaker 1: those walls. And I want to thank you for coming

597
00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 1: on Money Making Conversation, Mr Barnes. Yeah, I appreciate that

598
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,959
Speaker 1: you're having me on. And hey, listen anytime you know

599
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,040
Speaker 1: I'm I'm gonna be because I may. I'm telling we

600
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:44,720
Speaker 1: could have it's like thirty minutes we've been talking about

601
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,040
Speaker 1: and yeah, because we had you talked about the p

602
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:49,800
Speaker 1: GC yet you know that was part of the stuff

603
00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 1: off and we said we're gonna talk about PTC and

604
00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:55,160
Speaker 1: so the Holy Spirit. So no that we're gonna get

605
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,240
Speaker 1: back on the line real quick, kid, probably about draft

606
00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:59,560
Speaker 1: time a little bit after that. Come back on the show.

607
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,080
Speaker 1: And I can see your friend, my brother, he has

608
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,760
Speaker 1: like some barbershops in the d C area, So you know,

609
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:07,200
Speaker 1: the COVID died down. I'll be back out there often

610
00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 1: like I awards previously, and we're gonna connect. But importantly,

611
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:13,600
Speaker 1: most importantly, I just wanted to share your story about

612
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,560
Speaker 1: the brand architect, who you are and uh and and

613
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:19,440
Speaker 1: and how you are changing the game. And I appreciate you.

614
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,080
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. And hey, listen, I'm trying to keep

615
00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 1: over there your trailblaze yourself, so it's always a privilege

616
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:26,760
Speaker 1: to be on it. Which thank you. If we hear

617
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 1: more Money Making Conversations interviews, please go to Money Making

618
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:32,960
Speaker 1: Conversation dot com. I'm Rashan McDonald. I am your host.

619
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 1: In this season of giving, Cools has gifts for all

620
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621
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623
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625
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626
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627
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628
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Speaker 1: who lost twenty pounds on Noon Weight. Yeah, I lost

629
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:13,080
Speaker 1: twenty pounds and kept it off. So Martha, why did

630
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 1: noonwaight work so well for you. Well, Noon was just

631
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,720
Speaker 1: a really positive weight loss experience for me, and compared

632
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Speaker 1: to other weight loss programs. They gave me the freedom

633
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Speaker 1: and flexibility to keep eating what I loved and that

634
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Speaker 1: made all the difference in the world because it made

635
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,240
Speaker 1: me actually enjoy the process. You know what I mean? Oh,

636
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Speaker 1: we know, Martha. Learn how Nowon's psychological approach can help

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