Blaze Your Own Trail - S3:E3- From the Projects of Atlanta to a Legend in France with Norris "Bo" Bell

Episode Date: January 11, 2021

Norris Bell, also known as Coach Bo Bell is a retired professional basketball player. He is the principal owner and CEO of Bo Bell Basketball Academy. Coach Bell is a native Atlanta Georgian who for more than 40 years has dedicated his time, knowledge, skills, passion and love for the game of basketball. Coach Bell played for North Fulton High School where it all begun. As the new kid coming in after a football injury with the determination and fire in his eyes, he knew that no was not a option for his life. He exceeded everyone’s expectations and the path was paved for his future. After high school Coach Bell attended Middle Georgia College for two years then transferred to Gardner Webb in Boiling Springs North Carolina. He played basketball for the Bulldogs and finish the remaining years of his college career. In the spring of 1983 Coach Bell was attending the Atlanta Police Academy. The call of basketball ended that career path and open up an opportunity to sign as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks. After a long deliberation with a trusted advisor he went for one year to the CBA with the Ohio Mixers in Lima Ohio where he earned the title rookie of the year. His first choice was the NBA but a scout from Europe made him an offer to play in the European professional league that he could not refuse. Paris France was the destination that enlighten him to a whole new world. In the European league he gained accolades while playing in France and Switzerland. He played against top players like Billy Knight, Ex Atlanta Hawks general manager, Michael Ray Richardson, Drazen Petrovic, Tony Kokoc, Avenis Sabonis and Bob Mcodoo to name a few. In this episode we discuss: Bo's upbringing The early years Where he wen1to College How he signed a 1 day contract with the Atlanta Hawks A conversation that changed his life His Basketball Career in Europe His Coaching Career What he's up to now Connect with Bo: https://linktr.ee/bobellbasketballacademy Connect with Jordan: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanjmendoza/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jordanjmendoza/ Do you need help with your Marketing & Sales Strategies? Let's talk! https://linktr.ee/impulseconsulting 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.

Are you ready to find out how to blaze your own trail? Welcome to the Blaze Her Own Trail podcast with your host, Jordan Mendoza. In this podcast, Jordan interviews people from around the world to find out about their journey to success. If you're looking for valuable content with actionable advice, you've come to the right place. And now your host, Jordan Mendoza. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Blaze Your Own Trail podcast. I'm your host, Jordan Mendoza. And I've got a very special guest today.

His name is coach, Bo Bell. And I'm going to give him just a second to tell you a little bit about who he is and what he does. Well, my name is Bo Bell, Norris Bowbell. I'm a native of Atlanta, born and raised. I have a basketball academy here in Atlanta, actually three of them. I have a Bobel South, Bobel North, and a Bobel Midtown. And what we do is we develop players, not just as basketball players, but as people. So we're using the basketball as a vessel to change lives.

That's what we do every day. I love it. I love it. Thanks for sharing that. You know, one of my favorite parts of the shows is really taking a rewind. So I want to give the audience context into you as a human. So, you know, where did you grow up? And we'll just say from elementary through high school years.

I'm a native at Atlanta. I was born and raised. I grew up in the projects probably about two miles from downtown Atlanta. Those projects, it's called Herndon Homes. There's no longer there. They're doing some different construction over there. My journey has been, it was tough. I had, you know, four brothers and four sisters.

and I was the third eldest, so it was nine of us, and there was no father figures in the home. I was the third oldest, so I had to assume responsibility right away to kind of help my mom. So I had a total 11th job between the ages of 11 and 17, just trying to help and support my mom. And so I had an opportunity to go to college and went to junior college, and then I went to Gardner Webb,

long story short, my mom was having so many issues, so I left school to come and get a job. This is a true story. And so I applied to be a farmer, because I always thought about being a service. I started coaching my two younger brothers at the age of 11 years old, teaching them how to play football and basketball.

Long story short, I applied to be a fireman. They had no more position, so they put me in the police academy. I took that opportunity. I didn't like it. But long story, short, I stayed in there. Atlanta Hawks had a camp. This is true story. A rookie camp.

So I paid my $175 to go to the camp. And Atlanta Hawks signed me to a contract. The contract wasn't guaranteed because two of the draft pick was holding out, like Dr. Rivers and Randy Ripman. Those are the guys that they drafted at the time. So they said, okay, a day before veteran camp, 24 hours I would have made the team. Guys was holding out.

Some of the guys took less money because all the publicity I was getting, ex-police officer walked onto the Hawks and all the time. It was a big deal, not just for the Hawks, but for the community. People who knew me, it was like everybody was just this huge excitement. And so, long story short, they released me the day before veteran camp. And they said, okay, we're going to sing you to our minor league, which at the time was in Ohio and Lima. I don't know if you know what that is.

And so they say, okay, if Dominique get hurt or Doc or Randy, Whitman, we're going to bring you back. So two of those guys got hurt, I got Co-Rick at a year in the CBA, I got no calls. So I'm discouraged. So long story short, I came home, was playing the Summer Coram League, and I played my worst game ever, Jordan. When I tell you, I was terrible, I was terrible for my standards.

And a guy came up to me with Broken English, she said, Would you like to go to playing friends? I thought it was a joke, you know? And Tuddy asked me, did I have a passport? Then I'd say, oh, this is serious. And so I don't have a passport, but I can get one. It's a long story short, They flew me in to Belgium and brought me into France.

I ended up playing professional basketball for the Boston Celtics of France for 13 years in Europe. That's been my journey. Just before I retired, I really got involved heavily because I was coming home too much in the summer. And I was heavy involved with the travel team basketball, developing players, and just doing it because that's what I love. I always felt that that was my purpose, working with other people and being the service. So it parlayed and I built the Bobel Basketball Academy. One thing led to another, and we got several guys in the NBA. We got 200 and some kids.

got Division I scholarships and over 40, 50 kids, female and male, playing professional basketball in Europe. And I can't even begin to talk about the kids as lawyers and doctors and just all are professional people, you know, that came through our program. We're using this basketball as a vessel and we change their lives in an organic way. It's not like we're getting them on the head. We say, okay, here's the basketball. But boy, when you shake my hand, you better look me in my eyes type stuff.

You know what I'm saying? Yeah. That's been my life, man. That's what I do every day, man. That's my story. Let's unpackage this a little bit because there's, There's a lot of lessons I think that can be learned in your story, right? Your story is not over yet, but everything you've been through so far, there's a lot of lessons.

So I'm going to rewind back to 11 to 17. You're having to work multiple jobs to help provide for your family. What was that like going through that mentally? Because that had to have been something that really enabled you to develop tough skin over time. I mean, you know, you're in, what, middle school to fifth grade, probably to 12th grade. and you're working all the time. So what was that like? Well, I'm going to tell you, just to give you a few names of the jobs. I sold eggs and I sold vegetables door to door.

I saw newspapers. I was an entrepreneur. I bought a bunch of candy and honey buns and stuff, and I sold stuff out of my house. I worked at the grocery store. I changed tires. I worked at the Georgia Tech football game where I sold popcorn, Coke's and programs. Those are just some of the jobs. I think having that my biggest accomplishment, Jordan, is I survive.

When you're in survival mode, you do a little bit. it takes, man. You do what it takes. And I learned at a younger age, and I assumed the responsibility as an adult mentally when I was a child because I didn't want to see my mom struggling by herself. So I took the responsibility. Not sure where it came from, but I just felt that it was my duty to be that guy or that person to help provide for my brothers and sisters. I love that. Definitely shows a lot about your character and your tenacity. All of those things that you just mention, those to me, being able to sell things, being able to have that little side-hub, You know, when you're a kid selling newspapers, selling eggs, selling candy, because I did that.

I didn't sell eggs or newspapers, but I did sell candy bars out of my locker in middle school, you know, right, trying to make some extra money. Mom goes to Costco. I get to benefit off the discount. And then I'm selling, you know, selling them for a dollar apiece when you got them for 50 cents or 40 cents a piece. So, you know, I could definitely relate there. And for me, that really helped increase that ability of communication, right? effectively communicating, how to look somebody in the eyes, how to smile, right? How to shake

somebody's hand. Those are fundamental things. And I would love to hear your take on how that helped you throughout your life. That's heavy, man. That fundamental structure, those lessons that you get inside of that, those experience, that life fiber inside of that struggle, it builds something inside of you where you become selfless, you become resilient, you become more of a driven person, you become more focus. These are all the things that I got just from the experience. Would I change it for anything?

No, because my struggles is what made me who I am as a person. I was spending so much time because when I retired, I was offered to real estate, but I still were with kids. You know, I was an investor,

but I couldn't get away from working with kids. So I was doing stuff out of my pocket, charging buses, taking the kids around the country, you know, all kinds of crazy stuff. But that wasn't fulfilling, you know, that wasn't fulfilling.

So in the market tank, Jordan, I had to reevaluate. I said, okay, I'm let this real. I prayed on it. I was like, literally, I was like, man. And the message that kept coming back to me is peace, be still. Peace be still. And the way I interpreted that, Join, was I was already doing what he wanted me to do.

All I had to be doing is be still. It was working with the kids. And so once I just focused on that, my wife said, baby, go for it. Because I sent her to real estate school so she could do all my deals. So she was doing really good in real estate. And so long story short, I've just focused on working with kids. And Jordan, when I tell you, man, it was like kids was dropping out the ceiling, man. It was coming from everywhere.

Currently, we have over 2,500 members in our academy. It's been a grind, but it's been a pleasant grind. It's been a good grind. It's never been worked because I always felt like it was my passion and my purpose. And when you're doing things like kind of what you're doing, Jordan, that's a purpose for you. You feel as though that's your purpose to share this information with people like myself, their stories. That's a purpose, man. And that's why I commend you for even having me on and convene you for doing what you're doing in the community, man.

helping a lot of people not even realize it. Appreciate it. And there's some more lessons I really want to dig into here because in hindsight, you could have stayed at Gardner Webb. We could go down the trail of what would have happened if you had stayed player of the year type situations and maybe getting into the league that way. But you decided to go back, back home, right? Back to go help mom out, you know? And I'm going to make the assumption that that wasn't even a question in your mind. It was like, nope, that's what I'm going to go do. And so that puts you then in the position. You come back to help.

And then you say, you know, I want to go into service, like maybe be a fireman. And then you end up being working for the Atlanta police. Like that probably was not anywhere in your mind, a role that you ever saw yourself in. So I would love for you to share maybe one or two lessons that you learned going through that experience as a police officer. That's another good question. When you really trying to sincerely be a service, because the benefits, the benefits, The only reason I wanted to be a farmer, one is I can be a service. Two is, I would make a good decent money.

Three is the benefits, right? So I was able to help my mom be a service, and I had good benefits. Same thing with the police officer. I wouldn't even think about getting killed. I didn't even think about the danger of the job. That's why I accepted it when they had no more positions in the fire department. I'm thinking about, I'm going to change my community with this badge. That's how I was thinking.

And so check this out, Jay. So I never forget, man. When I got the uniform and I went back home to where I grew up at, all my friends, they just start like, man, Bowie's 5-0. All the guys are just like, he's 5-0. But my point is this, man, when you're doing a service and you feel like in your heart

that you really want to sincerely help other people, you move with your instincts. It's almost like a spirit. There's nothing you think about when it's right, you just make the decision. I've made a lot of bad choices in my life, man, a lot. This wasn't a perfect trail. The choices I made, when I first jumped off, I was like,

I don't know, man, but I stuck with it. I stuck with it. I stuck with it because I always felt like it was going to be a light at the end of the tongue. And so what happens is a lot of people, especially nowadays, Jordan, and you know as well as I do. They want to take that elevator, man. Well, the elevator don't exist.

We all got to take the stairs. And then sometimes the stairs might swerve around like they did with me. But the key is to stay on the stairs. I stayed on the stairs. and because they're going to get you to the same destination. It's just going to take longer. What I would say to people is when you have adversity in your life, when you have things that you're not sure about, pray on it, pray on it,

and trust that and believe in that and have faith. Because if you don't believe in something, you'll fall for anything. 100%. Thank you for sharing that. And so I want to jump into this narrative here, right? Like the narrative is you're a police officer and then the hawks are having a camp, right? So you're paying your $175 to basically it's the price of you being able to show your skill set to an NBA team. Give us a little bit of what did the background of this look like, right?

Because this is a team that has Dominique Wilkins. Like you said, they had just drafted Doc Rivers. And then they've got Whitman's. They've got some really great players. For one, what made them hold this draft? Was there a shortage of players during this time? I don't know this information. So I'm going to learn this with the audience.

And then two, what was the experience? like and were the other players there checking you guys out as well? Like were they part of it? Was ownership there? I really want to get some context because I think this will be cool for people to hear this story. Absolutely. When I went, I paid my $175. It was part of my pay that I got from the police academy. I always stayed in shape. That was my thing. And for the police academy, you had to stay in condition, you know, because you was training, they had us running. It was like them, like the military. So I stayed in shape. At night, when I left the police academy, I went to the gym and I shot and I worked and I played. I kept stayed at it. I didn't know how those

duels was going to open. I just knew they was going to come open. My thing was just being prepared. And as you know, Jay, preparation and opportunity have to meet the order for you to succeed or to move to the next level. And so I looked at that as an opportunity. Once I got there and I started playing with these guys, they had also drafted Harry Machine Gun Kelly. During the time, he was the leading score in the country. I think it was Virginia State. Of his Virginia Union or something like that. They actually cut him for me, the draft truck. So now you come in, you might see Dominique standing up at the top, looking, watching.

You see Treat Rolley, Eddie Johnson, all these guys, because they're curious because everybody's concerned because I'm on the news, I'm in the newspaper. It was a big deal. Ex-police officer walk onto the halt sign of contract. That never happens. You just don't walk on the NBA teams and sign a contract. Whether you make the team or not, just by them even thinking enough of my talent. to sign me to a contract, that was huge.

And it was a confidence boost for myself. So now I go back to my community, everybody so proud. Oh, man, man, everybody excited. It was this huge buzz. But that experience taught me a lot, too. Because in that moment, I thought I was there. So, but it strengthened me because I used that as positive fuel to continue the rest of my journey and to stay on those stairs that swerve around.

Awesome. Yeah, you used it for fuel to propel you. And I'm going to assume you had that chip on your shoulder. right? You're playing some basketball. You have somebody approach you with the French accent. Like, and again, you shared earlier. You thought this was a joke. Telly asked you for your passport. So share a little bit about that journey, like that first 30 days of when you met this person. And then what were the steps next that led you to Europe? Oh, wow. The Hawks sent me to their minor league and they cut me. No, by the way, they still had to give me a portion of the money or the contract because I made it to the, I was the last cut. I was made it almost to the veteran camp.

So they sent me to the CBA in Olimo, Ohio. So I went there, they gave me all these promises. Okay, if these guys get hurt, you're coming back. So I came home, I was really frustrated. I'm going to be honest with you. But I stayed encouraged. Through all of that, I stayed in courage. I still saw that light.

I saw it. I just knew I had to keep moving. And so I came home playing the Summer Pro Am League. So in the Summer Pro Am League, back then it was called the Lou Hudson Pro Am League. It was held at college. So when you're playing the Pro Amel League, all the professional guys that come to Atlanta,

they play in L.A. And like I said, I played my worst game ever. And the guy came up to move with broken English. Would you look to go to pleading friends? And like I said, I thought it was a joke. But the lesson I learned from that is even when you're not at your best, people can see the value when you got the right spirit. What a powerful lesson to learn, right? Because I see this all the time and you hear about this all the time, you know, people seeing something in you that you don't see in yourself. It happens a lot. It happens in business. It happens in life, whether it's that coach that puts you in the game and then you end up having the game winning shot, you know, when you're like, I don't even want to go in the game, right?

There's always things like that. So that's awesome that they saw something in you. And I'm going to have to assume this wasn't the first time they had seen you play. Did they see you play at other venues and maybe they were just watching and didn't talk to you? Did they give you any insight into that? No. Well, actually, in Atlanta, I was playing all the dog leagues, the program. So the buzz was out.

You know, this was just rent leagues and stuff like that with pro leagues, right? the gym is packed. I mean, like the round two, watch us play because they knew I was playing. And the buzz got around, and so I'm assuming that it got back to the hawks. And that's why they invited me to their camp. Awesome. So you get over to Europe. So give the audience some context.

What was the first team that you played for? And what was the run like with that particular team? Okay. Can I go back on something, Jordan? 100%. Yeah. The experience that I've had, I got. through that whole thing where somebody saw something in myself and me that I didn't see in myself

at that time, it stayed with me. Let me tell you what I mean. So now what I've done, the players that I work with, I'm able to see something in them that they don't see in themselves. Let me give you an example, Lou Will with the Clippers. So I work with Lou Will 7th grade. That's three times six men of the year. He's going to go in the Hall of Fame, just on that. He's good. Yes. And so, in a magazine, they did an article. And he was in high school. He said, I didn't know I was that dude until Bo told me I was that dude. So he didn't even believe it.

That's the lesson that I learned through that. And I was able to take that and convey that to others. And see, through the journey, it's always these lessons, these little times and these experiences that you go through that want to empower you to help others if you got the service mindset or if you got the service in your heart, right? These lessons are for you to learn and to help others. And that's how I always looked at things.

To fast forward and to talk to you about the whole thing when I went to Europe. I remember the first time, it's your story, man. They flew me into Belgium and flew me into France. So I ended up playing for, like I said, the Boston Sultz was of France. Tony Parker actually on the team now with Eastern France. And Tony Parker used to come to my games, man.

I got an article where he wrote, man, I used to go watch Norris Bell at the Estabal. That was the name of the jail in Asvale. The name of the team was Asvale. It's in Lyon, Leon, France. And so once I learned to speak foreign friends, because I speak foreign French and foreign Italian, I was able to communicate with people.

But before, it was almost like, man, because all I knew, Jordan, is what I saw on TV and the media about friends. People walking around with the click-clock shoes on with the skirts and the dresses, and that's all I knew. I didn't know villages, you know what I didn't know. But it was totally different, man.

I remember the first time they put me in this very nice, luxurious hotel when I got there. So I ordered breakfast for room service. I say I want some grits. I want some bacon. Some egg and cheese. Man, they brought me a baguette with some butter and some jelly. Our shoes, I said, what is this, man?

So that was one of my moments, right? I was like, man, I'm not in the United States anymore. I'm somewhere else. So long story short, man. They embraced me, man, in that city. It was like, I go back right now. They retire in the Jersey. I go back right now, they roll out the red carpet everywhere I go.

The first time I went back after our retired, this thing happened to me, man. So I'm walking down, you know, the little tiny streets where they got the chairs on the side. You know, car is able to come down through the little tiny street with the buildings and stuff. So I'm walking down the street with a friend, and I had just came back from the United States coming over there just to visit. So that'll probably been two years, three years after. So a car pull up, boom! The guy jumped out the car. Norish Bill.

I took off running, man. I'm like, what the man? I took off running. And it was a fan. It was a fan. I mean, the dude ran. All he wanted was an autograph. Coming from the United States,

my point is coming from the United States and going over there is not quite the same because what I learned over there, the difference is for me, from my experience. I think the quality of life is better. They live long,

life expectancy is different, and they smoke and drink way more than we do. But they're living along because they're less stressed. You know, they shut down the whole city for lunch, man. They take vacation for 30 days, man. And for the most part, when I first went over, every corner had a fruit stand. And if you wanted meat or if you ate meat,

you went to the butcher, give it your fresh right there. And had I invested in water when it was selling water in the store back then, I called my friend, bro, they're selling water in the store. Had I invested in that, I'd be a trillionaire. I thought that was a joke. But anyway, that was my experience, man. And they're having a chance to go all over the world, man. I got four passports all stamped up because I played in the highest love with the Euro Cup.

Played against Sabonis. Played against Drazum Petrovitz. Played against Oscar Smir. Some of these people don't know who these guys is. But those guys, well, Sabonis came to the NBA. People saw him on the tail end. He got hurt. He was a seven-two-small forward.

You think Joker was a good passer? This guy was. was the best pastor I ever seen in my life. And then, Driesen Petrovich. That was the gorilla, man. He had 46 on Jordan. 46 on Jordan. And Jordan said he was the best shooting he ever seen.

I played against him twice, one in our country, and I played one back then. It was called Yugoslavia. He played for Yugoslavia. I played against him in this country. I got him in this country. That's the first time I went to somebody else, Jim, where the fans was cheering my name.

That was weird as heck to me. Norris, Norris, nor, and damn Yugoslavia. Now, asking my teammates, I said, what are they saying? They're cheering your name, man. I think I had 36 against him, and I held him to like 24. I beat him down, man. I was, you had to beat him up. That guy scored 100 points on you, man.

But anyway, that's my story, man. And it was an amazing experience, man. And, man, I went trade my journey for nothing, man. It's been remarkable. I'm just so grateful. I love it. I love it. Well, for the audience that doesn't know, share with everybody,

what position you played, you know, your height, weight, and everything when you were playing. and also just some of the things that you worked on, right, like the biggest parts of your game. And also, I think it would be fun to share with the audience who in the league today would you say your game would replicate if you were playing today? Those are good questions. I'm about 6.5.5.66. I wait like 220. I play all positions. And if you compare like most people, even my friends, the player that they compare me to most is LeBron because I did everything. I just made sure the team won.

I filled up with stats. And if you look at my stats over the years, 13 years, my average was 56% from the field and I shot threes and everything. Average like six or seven assists a game, eight, nine rebounds a game. So I mean, because I did what it took for the team. Three times I got the most complete player in France.

And one time I got the most complete player in Europe because I did everything. So if you want to compare a player to me with the tenacity, I think it would be LeBron because we even got the same body type, same bill. So it would be LeBron how you played the game. Awesome, awesome. And if LeBron here's this episode ever,

we'll show him some of your tape so we can check you out. Absolutely. I want to really have you share who are some mentors in your life that have added value to you. You know, for you being a coach, I'm going to assume that you've had coaches and mentors that have invested in you as a person as an individual. So I would love to find out who are those people for you?

And then also how important is it for people to get a coach a mentor in their lives. That's huge, especially nowadays, man. We all need some type of direction, but I think the kids needed more, more so than ever. That's why I do what I do. The persons, I had about two or three people that I could call out, but the number one person was a lady. She was an old lady. Her name was just Mamie. She took me from my mom, but my mom was riding the bus. She kind of adopted me. So you should take me to church, make sure I had everything. And then after that, it was Carl McCrae. He was our recreation center director. So he would make us watch cars and to buy trophies.

They always kept activities on the field. So we had basketball, softball, football, even golf, going on at the same time on one field. So you can pick and choose. So they gave us options with the recreation centers. The other one I would say, Harold Hill, he talked a lot, but he passed away. But he was a basketball player himself.

So he worked in the recreation center as well. So those people kind of looked up to because I wanted the way out. Because you had all the other people over here doing all the other crazy stuff, like selling drugs. I didn't want that life. You know, I wanted something better for my life because I wanted to do something better for my mom. And the first check I got, I gave most of it to my mom. And the first thing I did before I bought me a house, I bought my mom house.

Those people, my mom, because she gave me, she passed away last year, she gave me to strengthen courage. I can't go not mention her. Her strength and her courage, raising nine kids by herself, no father figures on welfare, two bedroom apartment, two bedroom apartment, four beds, two kids at the bottom, two kids at the top, sleeping. And it was some days. And we didn't miss her beat because she didn't want us to. She didn't want Christmas and all those things. We had just too much as all the other.

I don't know how she did it. I know she used to work for other people and arranged their kids. And she had like two or three jobs. So her courage. And to go back to that, that's where I got that drive from, was watching her heart she worked. I love that, man. Love that.

Thank you for sharing that with the audience. So as we close out here, it's been so cool learning about your story and your journey. And these are the stories people need to hear. here. You've been a true trailblazer in the sense that everything you've done, you've been showing up. You've had opportunities come, but you've also showing up for the opportunity and you've taken action at each opportunity, invested your energy and your time and your hard work into it. So there's definitely, from the story that I've heard, there's no reason why you wouldn't be successful because you've definitely put in the work for it. So I'd love to find out what are some things in the works for you.

You know, I know you've got the three locations now. Are there thoughts of maybe expanding, adding a fourth location? We don't have that many good gyms here in Gwinnett County, so you want to open one up in Gwinnett? Is that something you've been thinking about, you know, expansion, or are there some other things you have in the works? That's funny you say that. That's the next one.

It's going to be in Gwinnett County. So we're going to do any Gwinnett County. Yes. That's the next one we're going to do. We're going to do one out here in Gwinnett County. We're just trying to get the right location. But we also working on, we just got the drawings back from our facility. So we also working on Petamount on facility.

And then the other thing is I got this huge thing is what we're going to be doing on social media. Well, people can subscribe and you can strive for different levels of training and development, not just for the skills, but from mentorship and just giving people positive inspiration and, you know, just trying to help people. So that's a thing that we're going to launch to also pretty soon here. Not to give away so much. That's just some of the things that we're working on. Yeah. Yeah.

I know I appreciate you sharing that. And, you know, I know they will be successful. Everything that you've done to date, you've always worked hard. And that's how you've realized the results, right? Sometimes it is as simple as doing the work. But when we're in it, when we're in the hard work, it doesn't feel as easy. Right. So, you know, hindsight's always 20-20, as they say.

So I would love for you to share real quick. Where do you want people to reach out and connect with you? I know there's going to be people to listen to this, whether they're aspiring entrepreneur or a student, maybe an athlete, listening to the show. They're going to get value and they may want to reach out to you for a call or coaching or mentorship. So where are the best places to reach out and connect with Coach Bo Bell? Absolutely. And then we always look for interns. Guys are coming in that want to learn the craft. Kids want to learn how to do this. You know, as a profession, we're looking for

interns also all the time. So they can go to our website, basketball coach Bobel. They can reach us at 7709-1-2-4. Those two platforms, you can go to IG and Follow us at Coach Bowbell, Twitter. Coach Bobel, same thing. So those are ways that you can reach out to us and check out what we're doing, man. We're really serious about it. If you got kids or if you're just a basketball player or you want to maximize your potential, man, in the process, just get some inspiration and learn things, new things about yourself and how you can maximize yourself.

Man, y'all check us out. Just come one time and see if you like it. If you don't, don't come back. But if it's something that, you know, you can see that fits in your life that would help you, then come see us, man. We can help. Awesome. I appreciate you sharing that. And folks, if you want to...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead. Not to cut you off, man. I got to cut you off, man. I got to tell him about how I met you. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. I met Lifetime here. Got in Gwinnett on Shiglo.

And Jay came in, I guess, with his friend, and we wanted to play some two on two. I guess you didn't know me. So Jay started shooting some jumpers way out. I was like, man, this boy got a nice jump shot. That thing was going in. And I can tell you had played before. because some of the moves you was making,

the things that you was doing. And you caught me by surprise. I ain't allowed to you. I said, well, who's this little dude right here, man? And you shot the ball. You were shooting the ball from half court. I'm like, almost half court. And it was easy.

I was like, oh, so let me try to make him dribble. So one time you went to the basket, you did some, and you twisted and you turned it, Murray shot. I was like, hold up. Let me clap down on this dude. That's how we met, man. And you didn't know who I was,

and you saw that ball kept, going in, you said, man, you played somewhere. Yep. You can recognize a shooter, right? The shooters will shoot. And you are positioning your shots with an arch that there's no way I could do anything about it. You know, that step back that you have, you was automatic. You weren't going to miss it. The key to all of this, and what separate Bobel Basketball Academy is we put a lot of emphasis on the feet. A lot of people don't understand how important the feet work is. Like, we don't even call it footwork. Because when you talk about foot, you're speaking to one. You talk about feet. You're speaking

and a two. We are conveyance of players how to utilize both, which is an advantage. A lot of kids are just gifted. But when you watch kids that came through me like Lou, Lou Will, you watch guys like Malcolm Brockton, you watch how they play. They're so efficient because they're not relying on the dribble. They're relying on their feet. And their feet work is key because it matters. I just had to throw that in there, man. That's all. I appreciate it. Love you sharing that. And folks, if you want to work out, whether it's you or your kids, you want to work out with somebody that is high on values, is high on building leaders, is high on building people that are not only going to be good athletes, but good men, good women, good students, good husbands, good fathers.

Then this is a guy that you want to get involved with because those are the principles that he's living by. He's truly trying to build character in these athletes. Coach Bell Bell, it's been an honor. I appreciate you coming on the Blaz Your Own Trail podcast. We got a hoop again soon. I got to show you that that just wasn't a one-time thing out there. I didn't just eat the red pill that day and get lucky. We'll definitely stay connected and play some ball here soon. But I appreciate you coming on the show.

Hey, no problem. And you're doing a great job. I'm going to keep watching. And since you told me about your stuff, I'll peep in every now and then and watch some of your stuff, man. We need this in the community, man. Keep up the good work. Hey, thank you so much. All right, man.

We'll see you soon.