Blaze Your Own Trail - Episode 9: Sports, Sales and Entrepreneurship With Ronnell Richards

Episode Date: February 17, 2020

In this episode we talk about: Sports How sports translates to business Entrepreneurship  What Ronnell does How to reach him Connect with Ronnell: Website: http://www.ronnellrichards.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronnellrichards/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imabusiness.man/ Installing strategic sales systems & processes will stop the constant revenue rollercoaster you might be facing which is attainable through our 6 Week Blazing Business Revenue Coaching ProgramBook a discovery call with Jordan now to learn more! Are you an entrepreneur?Join my FREE Group Coaching Community where we have live calls, Q&A and more! Our Trailblazer Ecosystem also enables you to network with other entrepreneurs and creator hub eliminates multiple subscriptions and logins creating a one stop shop to take action!Use code: FOUNDING100 for 12 months access FREE and Founding pricing for life! (While Supplies Last)Join now! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode with Ronell Richards, we talk about sports, entrepreneurship, how sports and entrepreneurship actually relate to each other, and then all the things that Rinell does for his business. So I hope you enjoy, and we will talk right after the episode. Welcome to the Blaze Your Own Trail podcast. I'm your host Jordan Mendoza, and I've got a very special guest with me today. His name is Ronnell Richards. And for those maybe two of you that don't know who he is, I'm going to give him an opportunity to tell us a little bit about himself. Two, wow, you flattered me, Jordan.

I'm sure there's a few more than two out there. So, hey, first of all, thanks so much for inviting me on, dude. I've been looking forward to talking some shop with you. I love the fact that you've got your sports stuff behind you because I'm a big sports guy. But for those out there that don't know who I am, I like to call myself Mr. Entrepreneurship, man. I spend a lot of time out there coaching and teaching, early stage entrepreneurs and sales leaders, how to be great sales leaders. I've been an entrepreneur for nearly 20 years, grown, created several companies, had a lot of wins and a whole lot more failures. and those failures that really build our character and have helped me put me in a position

to where I can help a lot of great early stage entrepreneurs and sales leaders out there today. That's awesome. Yeah. And so, you know, we connected through LinkedIn, right? It was, I think, through content, you know, just seeing each other's content. I've been doing sales and marketing for about 25 years, started, you know, doing newspaper sales, door to door and I know you've been in the trenches too doing cold calling in sales and so I think that's really where we kind of first connected and then we did an event right and we were both speaking at

the event the LinkedIn meetup ATL which was which was such a blast and for me it's it's great like meeting other people like locally right because we're both in metro Atlanta and this is really the first time that we've kind of got to wrap, you know, other than digitally through LinkedIn. So I'm so glad that we're actually having this conversation. And so let's talk about sports just for a second because, you know, you said you're a big sports fan. You can see some of the stuff behind me. So who are your teams for the audience that doesn't know if they don't follow your content on LinkedIn. So who are your teams professionally that you follow? So, you know, I'm a very loyal sports fan. But I am also.

a fan of winners, baby. Well, with the exception of one of my teams, one of my teams is challenged for that. However, Laker fans since 1985, going back to the Magic Days, Ohio State Buckeye fan as I am a native Ohioan, so originally from Youngstown, Ohio, and an Atlanta Falcon fan, a very proud Atlanta Falcon fan and a season ticket holder for a very long time. Those are the teams that I primarily follow, big fan of basketball and football. As I moved to Atlanta, you probably had this sort of transition a little bit too. But Atlanta, the South, it is all about football.

Growing up for me, it was all basketball. And then coming here, I've been here now for 18 years, and it is, certainly about football. And so I've kind of gravitated to being more about football. And I go back to my basketball routes, usually towards mid-season and into the playoffs. Awesome. Yeah, and mid-season is a great place to do it, right? I mean, we've got All-Star weekend coming up, which is always super exciting.

And so what are your thoughts on the format change? Yeah. What are your thoughts on the format change? I don't know if you got an opportunity to see, you know, with the tragic loss of Kobe, and I know you're a massive Kobe fan. I saw a video you posted recently. That was such, such a tragedy for all the lives that were lost in that helicopter accident. So what are your thoughts on the way that they're honoring Kobe with this new All-Star format or have you had an opportunity to see it? You know, Jordan, I've seen a little bit, actually this morning,

just a little bit on the Sports Center scroll, but it's still so surreal. And, For me, I just don't really know how to feel about it. You know, it's a little more impactful for guys of our generation. Because, you know, we really identify with Kobe and his development and his maturation because a lot of our development and maturation was right along with him. You know, like when he was 18 years old out there in the court wearing his baggy shorts, I was doing the same thing. And, you know, here 20 years later, we're family men and, you know, raising our daughters.

And, yeah, so I really don't know how I feel about it yet. I don't, if I'm being totally honest, Jordan, I don't know if I want to watch it. Just because it's kind of, it's still kind of raw. And we'll see when they have, we'll see doing an All-Star weekend. I'll probably come around to it. But, you know, I'm that guy that at 1.30 on Sunday, I cut everything off. I just, I didn't want to see anything else. And I didn't, I didn't see any coverage for, you know, until two days later.

So, yeah, and it's not, again, and thank you for watching the post. You know, the post was something that honestly was just something totally impromptu for me. I had happened to be editing another video to put out on Monday. And that video happened to be a video that was about my daughter. daughter, about my daughter and about her basketball journey and our journey and how that related to business and some business lessons when my daughter came and told me about the unfortunate helicopter accident. And at that point, I just cut everything off.

I was super bummed. And I just got what came down here into the studio and made a video in some ways just to try to articulate what I was kind of feeling at the moment. And it resonated with a lot of people because I think a lot of people were feeling the same way. And we're still kind of feeling super bummed. You know, it's still less than a week since. And, you know, people are bummed out. But yes, we'll get past it and, you know, we'll find the positive and this sort of, and, you know, what happened and kind of use it as an inspiration.

But, yeah, that's my opinion. My long way of saying, I don't know about it. I'm going to watch it. Gotcha, gotcha. So we got to wrap a little bit before we went on air here. And so you found out that I'm a massive Portland Trailblazer fan. And so basically, like, we're rivals, right? Because you're a diehard Lakers fan.

I grew up in Portland. I grew up in Portland. Oh, you're not. You're not a diehard. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, I'm very diehard. But you said something that was a little bit inaccurate, Jordan. All due respect, we're not really rivals.

We have 16 rings and you have, what, I think, maybe. Okay. So it's going to go like this. I see what's happening now. So basically, yes, we did win a ring with Bill Walton back in 77 against the great. Who? Dr. Jay? Yeah.

Yeah. So I mean, so I think that victory is worth at least 15 rings, so we're not that far behind you. You know what I'm saying? But, you know. That Portland math is pretty interesting, Jordan. I don't know if that match checks out in the rest of the world. But, okay, we'll go with that. Portland is a great town, though.

I love Portland. Great town. Yeah, great, no, great city. And it is a basketball city. Let me tell you, if you've ever had an opportunity to go to a game, whether it was the memorial call seeing back in the 70s and 80s, or the Rose Garden, which has been changed to the Moda Center, I still call it the Rose Garden,

because that's where I grew up in, right? My mom was a season ticket holder since the 70s. I mean, she's forever until she passed away. And so all of us kids got really immersed into the culture of basketball. And so how do you feel that basketball translates to business? And I know you hit on this a little bit, but what are I, really, I guess, the three components that you see really translating well with entrepreneurship or business? Well, so first, first of all, I don't think that the traits that translate are kind of unique to basketball, just sport in general.

I mean, there's the obvious teamwork, right? There's that obvious teamwork, and you see the great teams, the great teams, everyone knows their role and everyone executes, right? Everyone executes according to their role. You can't, you'll see the teams, well, going back to basketball, you see the teams that have these multiple we'll use Houston Rockets, for example. There's not enough basketball to go around for James Harden and Russell Westbrook, right? They will never win a championship. They'll win some games.

They'll never win a championship because they are both at odds for the ball, and their roles aren't clearly defined. A really successful team, roles are clearly to find. Everyone knows what it is that they're supposed to do, and they trust each other to execute upon that, right? Basketball, you know what? Actually, I was going to go sports in general, but you asked me about basketball and you got my brain turning.

And so going back to basketball, yeah, you know, basketball is this game of ebbs and flows, right? Like, it's either you're on a 20-point run or you've missed your last 10 shot. And you keep ebbing and flowing up and down until you get to that final fourth quarter and five minutes in the fourth quarter and you have to be clutch in order to win. So much life business. my personal so i have four businesses that i um operate in and i'm involved in on a weekly basis um and you know few of them are doing awesome and then one is like not and that drives you down right and so we are on this emotional roller coaster where we have to stay even kill we have to we have to we have

to fight our way through and let the wave come through right and just stay and stay focus on putting one foot in front of the other and keep shooting, like I teach my daughter, keep shooting. We keep shooting and then it comes down to the fourth quarter and we execute when it's necessary to, and that's how we win. So I think there's a great comparison from basketball to entrepreneurship and just that we have to stay focused on getting to that fourth quarter. On the way to the fourth quarter, there's going to be so many obstacles.

There's going to be so many. We're going to feel great one month. moment because things are going awesome and then the next minute we're going to be like down here and we just have to stay even killed we got to be like tim duncan big fundamentals right tim duncan or kawai leonard how about that one mr no emotion just keep plugging plugging away so you asked me did you ask me for three where does that random number come from i gave you two how about that hey well we'll take we'll definitely take the two yeah and and so i would look at it from that framework as well because when I play, I'm a shooter, right? And there are times when

if you stop shooting, guess what? You're not going to start making it, right? And so you have to, you have to keep shooting. And you have to keep taking the shots so that you can get in a rhythm, right, so that you can start to get some of that momentum because that momentum is what carries you through, right? And so you want to talk about another person that has that composure. Let's talk about Dame time. Let's talk about Damian Lillard. And I know you actually went to the same college as Damian Lillard. So how does that feel being a Weaver State alum and knowing that that Dame went there as well? That's got to be a proud alum feeling, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Super talented player and one who doesn't, I don't think gets enough credit in the league because I mean there's so much

talent right now. But as I look at a Dame Lilard and I look at Stefan Curry, not a big difference. Curry is a tremendous player and I will credit Curry for people. I believe he's the most impactful player to come in the league since Michael Jordan in terms of changing the way that basketball is played, not just as an NBA level, but globally. You know, I also coach basketball and I coach A.U for many years. And I can remember the change a few years ago when instead of shooting layups on fast break, kids started stopping and pulling up for threes, where I'm seeing kids come across half port and let it go. Now, they can't shoot like Steph, but Steph literally changed the way that basketball is being played at all levels. Now, that said, his skill set over Dane,

things super talented. I really think they're like one one and one A sort of thing. And probably in the same sort of situation. Don't get me wrong, there's a whole IQ thing and there's a whole, you know, clutch factor and all that thing that I think that makes step like one over one A, but they are damn close. And maybe if he wasn't in Portland or had some other guys, had a supporting cast like the Golden State Warriors, maybe he'd be won in championships too.

Yeah, you know what? And that's one thing I really respect about Lillard is he said numerous of times on numerous media outlets that, like, he wants to be in Portland. He wants, if he's not going to win a championship, he's not going to win it there, right? And he's just one of those loyal players, but he also has, he still has that chip on his shoulder, right? Here's a guy that, you know, wasn't highly recruited, played four years, played phenomenally, and then comes in and rookie of the year in the league, right,

and still has that chip, right? And he doesn't show emotion, right? You cannot tell if you probably remember the game winner that he hit. And like he's getting tackled by people and he has that stone cold killer look on his face, you know? And, you know, when I think about that and then I think about like being in the trenches of business, that's really, that's really where you need to operate. You can't get too high. you can't get too low. You've got to literally maintain that same level, that consistent level,

and really that's how people thrive. And that's where I coach leaders, entrepreneurs and self-leaders. It's about maintaining our composure. You know, I've been asked on many occasions. Rana, what do you think the most important quality is of a leader? And I will say they are boring. A great leader is boring. What I mean by the, that is you're predictable. You're predictable. You don't get too high. You don't get too low.

People know what to expect from you, right? Because if they know what to expect from you, they know there's not surprises along the way. They'll perform and they'll maintain their consistency. And they will follow your lead. You know, going back to sports, now I might lose my Georgia card. I might lose my Georgia card on this one.

They might be coming to kick me out of the state after I say this. Georgia has a coach, Kirby Smart, and Georgia does a fantastic job of recruiting talent. We have amazing talent in this state, and he recruits the hell out of talent, bring some great people in there. However, they've had trouble winning the national championship. Everyone wants them to win the national championship around it. I have said that I want my coach to be like a Nick Sabin. What I mean by that is I don't want the guy.

that's whose emotions are way up here, right? I don't want that guy that wears his emotions on the sleeve. I want that guy that's strategic about it. Why? Because when it comes to winning championships, when it comes to winning the big game, it's about composure and it's about poise, right? And whether it's your employees or it's your players, in that case, they're going to follow your lead.

And the difference in winning at a high level comes down to these little points of execution. That's one play here or there, just because of having composure or losing composure. And I think that's what happened in them when they lost the national championship game. But I will point to their head coach, who I feel is a little bit too emotional. And earlier on, I said using it strategically, I think that everyone, every leader should use emotion and passion, but you use it strategically. You are always in control. So I get, like right now, I get a little bit fired up. I'm getting a little bit fired up because I know you're going to react to that in the positive way, right?

But it's not that I'm truly ever out of control. And so I think every leader should use that as a lesson. I think that's the difference between it doesn't mean that Kirby Smart can't be successful. Those guys are going to be successful. But you want to win chips? You want to get to Laker Town, baby? You better have you eat you a field Jackson. Yeah.

And I really believe in that. And, you know, emotional intelligence, it's a topic that I like to bring up. I like to talk about it in business because I'm a firm believer in people that actually are able to handle their emotions, but not just handle them. They actually know how to manage them, but not just with their friends in actual social settings and in building contextual relationships, right? That's the four buckets of EQ. And, you know, one of the things that, so my oldest is a freshman in high school.

school he played safety his freshman season and the coach literally just yelled at the kids all the time i mean this this guys you know he had like that you know caesar complex where it was his way or the highway he would yell at the kids and the kids were literally i mean we're talking about 14 and 15 year olds here that already beat themselves down and this is how you're going to coach them you know so i was like you know what this year i'm going to like volunteer to coach because i'm going to actually teach them things that are going to make a difference. I'm not just going to sit there and berate these kids, right? Because it's all about, you know, I learned this thing a long time ago in sales. It's called build, break, build, right? You got to build them up. You got to build people up.

And then break them down a little bit, bring them back to reality and then build them right back up. Hey, you know what? That play, great effort on that play. But you know what? You should have went left. You went right. But the next time you're going to get that. play, right? And when you can do that and when you can instill that confidence, especially in kids in high school, that makes a bigger difference. Well, what are your thoughts on that as coaches and, you know, the coaches that are just literally putting fear or beating these kids down these days? So whether it is a, whether it's kids in high school, whether it's rec league, whether it is adults, I have led and coached at all levels, right? And in business,

and in sports, and I will tell you that the skill set is exactly the same. It is about effective communication. That is the key to great leadership, effective communication, and understanding that that's the end game. How do I communicate to you, Jordan? How do I speak your language? And how I communicate to you effectively will not be the same as how I communicate with Sarah over here, right? because Sarah needs a different message. And I'll tell you, when I started in youth coaching, it was because of recognizing the same things that you recognize. So I started in youth coaching and basically using the same skill set

that has made me successful in business and leadership and entrepreneurship. And it was really focused and it always has been focused on and communicating effectively with the kids. But beyond that, making sure that they're, understand and that their parents understand that the skill set that we're teaching and the things that they're learning are going to benefit them way beyond catching footballs and dribbling basketballs. That's what it really has to be about. And what I see in youth sports is a lot of folks that get into coaching youth sports aren't good communicators. They're not good leaders. They're not in leadership

positions in their professional career. So they think that most, displeasing, Like, you know, most people think that haven't been in these roles and really don't understand this stuff, they think that you go and you yell and you get loud and that gets people going. Well, it doesn't really work. For some, it may, right? Like, some it may, but for all of them, it does not. And the issue, again, is that you really have to be focused on the outcomes. And the outcome that you want is you want them to be a success.

So if you want them to be a success, you have to really realize that each, you really have to be Each person, each employee, each child needs to be communicated to in a different way if you want to be affected. Because one of the things I say all the time, Jordan, is I don't care about being right. I need to get it right. So in order to get it right, I got to do the right things by each individual. And also be willing to go into leadership with a humble spirit. You know, like there are things that I know based upon my experience. and based upon the things that I've done throughout the course of my career,

but by no means do I think that I am the guru that knows everything, right? Nor do I want to be. I'm on that same journey. We're on that same journey of learning, but I just share my truths. Now, my truths may not be 100 percent your truth, right? Your experience may be different. But by sharing my truth and by being open and being humble to your truth, then we'll move forward positively and good things happen from that.

Again, whether it's youth sports or it's for its business, there's so many correlations, so many correlations in my opinion. Absolutely. And, you know, when I got started in sales, that's one thing I learned very quickly is you can't treat every customer the same, right? You have to be able to adapt like a chameleon. You've got to be able to, like I'm not, my, my conversation with this person is going to be a little bit different with this person just based on their personality type, right?

Maybe they're not as talkative as I am, so I'm not going to, I'm going to be a little more quiet, right? So, and so I think that that translates well into how you teach people, how you coach people, whether it's sales, whether it's leadership, you have to really be able to adapt to others, right? You can't just be, you know, it's great to be to even killed emotionally, but everybody has a different way that, like you said, they need to be communicated to. And so when you think about business, entrepreneurship, you've been doing it for probably what seems like forever now. So what was it, you know, down the road, let's say, like we're going to rewind 20 years, what was it that where you said one day, you know what, I want to go on this journey.

I want to be in charge of my life and work for myself. So to be clear, so my career now spans 24 and a half years, almost two decades as an official entrepreneur, like have companies, have pay taxes, all of those sorts of things. But I was bred for this. This is not something that I ever had a moment where it was like, oh, you know, this is what I want to do. It's something that I'm sure. You mentioned the influence of your mother on your life. My parents bred me for entrepreneurship. So I grew up in an entrepreneurial household.

It's all I've ever known. It's all I ever wanted to be. My parents were young parents. And so as young parents, trying to make it, trying to make it out there and start businesses, they owned beauty supply, beauty salon, real estate business, a bunch of other things. I was right there along with them.

Right? So, you know, at seven, eight years old, I manned the cash register. I learned things that kids at 7 and 8 weren't learning about business. I learned about sell tax. I took deposits to the bank. I helped with marketing, you know, all of these sorts of things that a lot of kids weren't learning at that age.

And so I credit my entrepreneurial lifestyle to my parents. I mean, they were very intentional in making sure that, I was going to be making my own decisions and going to be controlling my own destiny as I got into adulthood. So, you know, both my parents played a very crucial role, and I'll break it down. Like my mother was very intentional. This is a lesson to anyone that's got kids out there. My mother was very intentional in helping me to build a level of self-confidence that would be necessary for getting out in this world and being an honest. entrepreneur. My mother told me every day of my life that I was the greatest thing since

black is bread. And let me tell you something, when you get into the business world and you get beat up or in the sales world and you get beat up constantly, you better have some belief in yourself to get you through it, right? And then my dad made sure that I had the education and I had the tools to be successful in business. As I was growing up in the 80s, I didn't have toys. like I just didn't I had a couple toys I remember I got an Optimus prime transformer once and that was like the most amazing thing from my childhood but here's what I did have George I had a computer I got my first computer when I was five years old okay I had a computer I had encyclopedias I had tools for education and I had tools that other kids now everyone's got you know and everyone's got laptops and they're on but as a kid you kid of the 80s, no one had that stuff, but I did. And so again, my parents were very intentional and making sure that I was educated, not in the sense of, hey, go out there and go get a job and work for someone or, you know, go get your college education and go, but no, in the sense

that, hey, you're going to be your own man, you're standing your own two feet. And so that's what I've always been. And I know that you didn't expect me to answer your question that way, but that's the truth for me and there wasn't a moment where I'm like oh you know what I want to work for my health it's just in my DNA that's awesome and I love that story because that literally I mean your life was framed for this like you said like it literally the the foundations were set by your parents at a young age and so really but but and there's got to be a butt there because you've actually taken that and you didn't just start a business. Like,

you're involved in multiple businesses. So you're a trailblazer in that sense. Like that's how you have blazed your own trail is. You said, all right, like, I'm already an entrepreneur. So why not do this?

A couple different times over, right? And so, you know, as we come to close here, I want to talk a little bit about your show and you actually just launched a new show. So business and bourbon is the,

first podcast that you started and then you recently launched another one called day drinking okay and so tell us a little bit about those and where people can find Ron L. Richards. Awesome. Hey, as I tell you about that first, I want people, I wanted to be clear to people that the things that I'm involved in, first of all, they all kind of formed together like Voltron. They're all cohesive. But I didn't just start this overnight. Like it wasn't just like, okay, because a lot of people, their tensions are diverters. They're in all these different things. I started a company, 2004-ish, and that company was pretty successful for a long time.

And, you know, I didn't have a lot of different interests. I just evolved in my life to where I was able to take advantage of my different talents and the different things that I do based upon my experience and have multiple business interests. and the ones. So I just caution people with that. Don't look at me like, okay, I need to be involved with private things. You may not be where I'm at in my life and in my experience to be able to do that. All right.

So where you can find me. First, business and bourbon podcast is on Apple and everywhere. Day drinking is our daily version of business and bourbon. A business and bourbon podcast, we invite just super cool business professionals and entrepreneurs. They come have drinks with me at a bar and Buckhead, and we have real talk. So those of you that are watching this right now, you're like, oh my God, yeah, I want to be on it. Know this. I do not do anything virtual.

You got to come in. You got to have a drink with me. That's the way that it works. Day drinking is our daily version of that. So day drinking is a daily dose of business and bourbon. It is a five-minute podcast just to get you fired out, give you a little motivation, a little inspiration, or a little education. We also have the business and bourbon live events, which we've done in a ton of different cities. and we're going to have probably 13, 14 of those this year, the first one here in Atlanta.

We've traveled across the country. We've traveled to Canada as well with that event. That event is a live version of our business and bourbon where we invite in some really cool thought leaders, entrepreneurs. We sit and have conversation. We do whiskey tasting with food pairing, and then you get to meet some really dope people and network. with them. That is business and bourbon. You can find me at Ronnell Richards.com. Again, I serve early stage entrepreneurs in my consulting practice. Those are entrepreneurs that are two to five years in business that they've kind of vetted things out. They're making some money, but they're

doing all this stuff for the first time. So I really come in and help these guys as a partner in their business. I don't like the word coach because I think coaches, it's largely gives the perception of coming in and giving coach speech and firing people up. Yeah, I'm an energetic guy, but it's not about that. It's not about coming in there and just giving you a speech every couple of weeks. It's about really partnering and helping you to overcome those obstacles that you have to deal with in business. Lastly, sales workshops. So, yeah, I do a lot of sales workshops for mostly companies that are in the technology space. So you know, traveled the country, outside of the country, delivering sales workshops on a lot

of really great topics. So these sales workshops for different sales organizations and then help coach their sales leaders after the fact on how to implement all those strategies that we teach in the workshop. So you can find me at business and bourbon. dot live or ronnell richards.com as we're kind of all things ronnell is or lincoln awesome my friend well hey i really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to hang with me and uh i definitely want we'll definitely connect because i want to i want to definitely come to one of the events and um and wrap it up with you at an event as well

especially since uh we are local in atlanta my friend so we've got to we've got to connect we've got to play some ball. We've got to link up, get some lunch. And folks, that was Ronel Richards. Ronel Richards.com or business bourbon.com. Thanks for coming on, my friend. Thank you for the invite, my friend. Thank you so much for listening to that episode with Renele Richards. Definitely make sure to connect with him. I'll put his info in the show notes. He's such a great guy, been doing entrepreneurship, you know, really for a long time and has a lot of expertise. So if you're someone that's looking for a sales coach or maybe you're just getting into business, he's definitely a guy that you want to connect with. And if you're not subscribed yet,

make sure you subscribe. I would love for you to rate the podcast, review it, follow it, and share it with your friends. If it's something that you enjoyed, make sure that you share it with them and tell them it's something that they need to add to their podcast list. So thank you so much for the support. And I will chat with you in the next episode.