Heroes in Business - Todd Stottlemyre, 2x World Series Champion MLB pitcher, author The Observer, entrepreneur, investor

Episode Date: February 26, 2021

You Deserve a Limitless Life. Todd Stottlemyre, 2x World Series Champion MLB pitcher, author The Observer, entrepreneur, investor is interviewed by David Cogan founder of Eliances and host of the Eliances Heroes Show. Broadcast on am and fm network channels, internet radio and online syndication  

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Alliances Heroes. Alliances is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities, and startups, where our heroes in business align. Now, here's your host flying in, David Kogan, founder of Eliance's. Yes, yes, yes. And again, always so excited to share with you, really, people who inspire us, people who make a difference in the community, doing so much and making their mark. But how are they doing it? That's the lessons we uncover on the Alliance's Hero Show. And by the way, too, thanks again for the feedback we continue to have when I interviewed the publisher of Forbes magazine.

So make sure you check out alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com, the only place where entrepreneurs align. All right. First of all, getting into the World Series in itself is a feat. Being able to play three times in the World Series is just incredible in itself. But now we have with us Todd Stoudemire.

And I just love what opportunity I have to really be able to uncover the secrets of heroes. Those are the ones that are building. Those are the ones that are making a difference, bringing joy to our world. And that's what this show is all about. So make sure you check out alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Why?

Because it's the only place where entrepreneurs align. And I appreciate the continued feedback we had when I had on the publisher of Forbes magazine. Well, let's get started with our next guest and hero. First of all, being in the World Series itself is just an incredible feat. Being in it once is, as I mentioned, incredible twice. How about three times? We have with us Todd Stoudemire, a two-time world champion MLB pitcher. He's an author, entrepreneur, and investor, and you can reach him at toddofficial.com. Welcome to the show, Todd.

First of all, being able to play in the World Series three times. I mean, I got to ask you, is it any difference when you're playing from the second time and third time versus the first time? You know, it's crazy. That's a great question. What's crazy is I would say that I guess experience, you know, you you kind of refer and lean back But everyone is so unique and special in its own right. And it's like, I mean, obviously it's the thrill. And I would like to tell you, hey, when I was a kid, I dreamed about playing in all these World Series. But I don't know if my dream and my vision was that big. I certainly dreamed about playing in Major League Baseball.

But landing in all these World Championship teams was pretty incredible. Let's talk about that dream and when that started. Yeah, so my father was a legendary pitcher for the New York Yankees, five-time All-Star, three-time 20-game winner. Mid-60s, mid-70s, as a young boy, you know, we'd go to the stadium, my brothers and I, every day for home games when the Yankees were playing at home. And, you know, to have Yankee Stadium, that majestic place as a playground, Monument Park was our monkey bars. And being around in that environment, you know, I kind of, when I look back and reflect on it,

it was almost like going to the School of Champions, you know, to stand in the outfield grass next to Mickey Mantle during batting practice, to hang out with Thurman Munson, Bobby Mercer. I mean, I can go on and on. So many Hall of Famers. So it was an incredible environment to grow up in. And it certainly inspired my dream to follow my father's footsteps. And I bet your father couldn't have been more proud. You know, it's pretty cool. I remember he said one time, it's pretty cool when your sons want to follow what you do, you know. So he obviously, he left an incredible legacy. We lost him two

years ago in January. He was my hero, best friend, meant a lot to me, was my mentor in life. And we miss him, but we're going to continue the legacy by sharing the stories of the way he lived his life. So it's in your blood to have played baseball in that. Did he help also coach you in that? Or, you know, does it give you an edge up to be able to since it's in your blood? Yeah. You know, what's funny is he told us as kids, he goes like, you guys do you. And just become the best you can at whatever you choose to do. And, you know, one of the things he never pushed baseball

on us, it was just around us all the time. And we love the game. And, and, you know, he really became a mentor to my pitching my career from afar, because he was also a coach in Major League Baseball, and usually in the opposite league that I played in. But he was the guy when I was struggling, and I was in and struggling, or, you know, having some major setbacks and was was in a dark place, you know, I reach out to my father and he always had a way to build belief back into me, kind of, you know, get me going again, usually give me one or two or three different things to work on and kind of get me back on the right track. I want to hear, and our audience wants to hear about those secrets he shared with you to keep you going, because I mean, I was far away from playing baseball and that, but I got to imagine just you're only as good as the last whatever

you did in the game. Right. You know, what's funny is people say that all the time. It's like, you're only as good as your last one. No, you're only as good as what you do today. They don't even care what you did on the last one, but I'll share a quick story with you. In 92, I was struggling. I had about four or five bad starts in a row. That means I've had a bad month. And when you have a bad month in Major League Baseball, when people are counting on you to win, it's not too pleasant. I reached out to my father, and I said, Dad, I'm struggling. And he says, man, I can see that. And I said, Dad, when I make good pitches, they get hits. When I make bad pitches, they're hitting home runs. And he said something, he says to me, he says, Todd, actually, I don't think you're making many good pitches. Too many pitches are up in the strike zone.

He says, but if you'll do these three things, Todd, he says, you'll dominate. And I was like, man, I don't even need to dominate. I just need to do good. And he was building belief in me. He says, no, listen, you'll dominate. Here's the three things that you need to work on. Stay back in your delivery. Finish your delivery strong. Think down in the strike zone. By the way, for a major league pitcher, that is so simple to do. He gave me something to focus on that was simple.

It was kind of like going back to the basics. He then says, in the bill of your cap, in bowl letters, right? K-I-S-S. He says, you know what that stands for? I said, well, KISS. He says, no, keep it simple, stupid. He says, you know what keep it simple, stupid stands for? And I was like, what, dad? He goes, stay back, finish strong, think down. My next start, I went out and threw a one hitter. The first hit I give up in the ballgame and the only hit I give up in the ball game against the Chicago White Sox was in the eighth inning. I threw the best game of my career because my father was able to get me to focus on the simplicity of the game, not the complexity. My message to many business owners and entrepreneurs today is what three to five

things do you need to do daily? Master those so everything else takes care of itself. And you played 15 seasons with, as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, where you won that one, two World Series. You also played for Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, and even Arizona Diamondbacks. And now you mentioned too, a little bit about business, in fact, and now you've made a shift into business. So the magic is really, Todd, what's more challenging? Is it baseball? Is it business? And how do those two relate? You know, well, I think they relate a lot, but I'll tell you which one's more challenging. Depends what day it is, right? And, you know, the biggest difference that I've noticed between sports and business is sports will give you an immediate reaction to how you performed in business.

There's kind of a tale. It might take a while to find out if you're really doing good or bad. But you get that immediate response from the fans, from the media. You know, you know whether you're on the right track or not. But I would tell you that, you know, I got're on the right track or not. But I would tell you that, you know, I got to a moment in my life and I just looked back and reflected and I studied my baseball career. I studied the habits, the rituals, the routines. I studied some of the people that mentored me in baseball. And then I began. And what I noticed was is very similar to business in business. Most times you build teams you build teams. Not one person does it all.

And everything eventually rises, everything rises and falls at the end of the day on leadership. So who's inspiring people to be the best? And that was our manager, our general manager, the owner of the club, putting us in the right places. So when I think of business, you got to take talent because, you know, you got to really focus on the people because people build your business. Some people ask me all the time, what's the difference between a winning team and baseball and a losing team? I say it's the people. It's always comes down to the people. Well, in business, what's the difference between winning in business and losing in business? Most times it's not the business plan. Most times it's the people

deploying and running the business plan. So very similar. And we're going to learn more about what you're doing next because you're listening and watching me, David Koch and host of the Alliances Hero Show. So make sure you go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Why? Because again, it is the only place, the only place where entrepreneurs align because we've got Todd Stoudemire, two-time world championship, two-time world series champion,

MLB pitcher, author, entrepreneur, and investor. And make sure you go to toddofficial.com, which we'll also have on our website, toddofficial.com. So Todd, let's get into now what you're doing because you've made a complete shift. You're doing a variety of things within business, right? You've also got a private equity fund and stuff. Tell us the projects you've got happening now. Yeah, so we have a true private equity fund that's not listed. It's my partner and I, we've been partners for over 20 years now. And that'll just, you know, it kind of tells you something about partnerships, you know, and, and the trust we have in one another. And, and we began owning

and operating and, and, and overseeing companies, employing some people. We're in about, we have about 12 different portfolio companies today. We're in, we're in everything from the restaurant business to genetic labs, to media companies and, and to YouTube companies. So it's a very diverse portfolio of companies. I think our expertise is that leading people, developing people, putting people, making sure that we bring the experts to the role where we need experts. We try to stay out of their way the best we can. We help capitalize companies and that sort of thing. So it's a huge challenge, but something different every single day. And I'm having the time of my life. I'm also the author. I started writing books. I wrote a book five years ago.

And then I've had this itch to really write my latest book, The Observer, that came out December 29th. And because that because that book the observer and becoming the observer and and and a fable on mastering your thoughts and emotions was something that i had to go through in my life it was truly my mess that today's my ministry and i want to share with other people on how to become the observer of their life how to how to really step back and and measure their thoughts what are they thinking where's their thoughts. What are they thinking? Where's their focus going? How do they feel about it?

What actions are they taking? And get people to focus on things they can't control, let go of everything else, and especially the things they can't control. Excellent, excellent words of advice. And I want to do some snooping now. So we're in your office, I believe right now. I want to do some snooping.

What's something that you treasure within your office, something that's unique, because I see a variety of different really cool things in the background. Well, I gotta say, you know, I have to start with those the World Series trophies. You know, there's two of them up there from 92 93. And, and, you know, I gotta tell you, you know, I always look back on those. And I look at those. And I always tell people, they're not to impress. They're to remind, they're to reflect that what did it take to win those world championships? You know, it took 25 guys pulling the same rope, the same vision. It took coaches all around us to keep us intact. the same vision. It took coaches all around us to keep us intact. It took, you know, trainers,

doctors, healthcare people. It took a general manager, took a president, took an owner, took every employee of that ball club, everyone kind of coming together to try to create something special. So when I look back on those and I look at those trophies, which are probably pretty, probably the most special thing to me as far as, you know, something from my past because of what they mean and what they represent. So and you've got a couple of children, right? I have five, five. Oh, my gosh. Five children. So we're going to have this as a really a wrap up question here.

So we're going to have this as a really a wrap up question here. But, you know, five children and, you know, I'm sure they look to you and they see the trophies and they see everything and they ask about, you know, what are these for and that. What kind of lessons really kind of sacred lessons are you sharing with them really that you've learned that's been passed down from generation after generation where you've gotten successful? And I'm sure you want the best for your children. where you've gotten successful and I'm sure you want the best for your children. Well, you know, the first thing is, is to dream and to buy into your dream, to own your dreams, not let other people, don't let the other opinions, don't let negative feelings and this and that destroy. You know, my parents were always like, if we came up with an idea, they were always like, man, go for it. And even though sometimes they might have known better to keep us from some traps, but they also were wise enough that if we had something in our mind, we had to go learn it for ourselves. I would tell you that I try to push my children to dream big, to go for it, to realize that the only thing that's impossible is something that's not possible

that hasn't been done yet. But that doesn't mean that it has to stay impossible. So, you know, they have the freedom to dream. They have the freedom to be their own people, express themselves. And, you know, at the end of the day in my home, you know, they don't really look back on the things I've done. I'm dad to them. And I love it that way. But, and sometimes I, you know, like my father was to my brothers and I, sometimes I'm their friend. Sometimes I'm their mentor, sometimes I'm their coach. And then sometimes I just have to be dad. So we have a, what I call controlled chaos in my house. It's a lot of fun. And you know, we're all great friends, not just family.

Well, incredible. And also, too, a special shout out to Alliance's member Tim Claiborne, founder of Better Phoenix, for nominating you, Todd Stoudemire, to be on the Alliance's Hero Show. Todd, you're a champion and a champion of others as well, helping them grow personally and professionally. That's a hero, Todd Stoudemire, two-time World Series champion. Make sure that you go to toddofficial.com. This has been David Covey with the Alliance Hero Show. Continue to stay tuned when we have on the chairman of NBC.