Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - Life After Sports with Brandon Barnes

Episode Date: February 26, 2024

Former big leaguer Brandon Barnes shares his baseball journey, from playing multiple sports in high school to transitioning to baseball in college. He discusses the challenges he faced and the mindset that drove him to succeed. Brandon emphasizes the importance of mental development and the need for a competitive mindset in youth sports. The conversation explores the importance of winning and achieving success in sports, the need to understand the numbers and have a plan B, the identity crisis that athletes face after their sports career ends, and the importance of preparing for life after sports. It also discusses the impact of Athlete Narrative in helping athletes build their personal brand and transition to a new career. The conversation concludes with the announcement of the official launch of Athlete Narrative and the anticipation of future partnerships.   Key Takeaways Having a strong work ethic and a mindset of continuous improvement is crucial for success in sports and life. The mental aspect of the game is often overlooked but is a key differentiator at higher levels of competition. Parents and coaches should focus on teaching young athletes the mental skills needed to handle failure and develop a competitive mindset. Youth sports should prioritize the enjoyment of the game and the development of skills, rather than winning championships and trophies. Winning and achieving success in sports is important, but it's crucial to understand that sports careers are temporary and have a plan B for life after sports. Athletes often face an identity crisis when their sports career ends, and it's important to have a sense of self beyond being an athlete. Preparing for life after sports should be a priority, and athletes should explore other interests and develop skills outside of their sport. Athlete Narrative provides a platform for athletes to build their personal brand, monetize their name, image, and likeness, and transition to a new career. Building a personal brand is essential for athletes, and sharing aspects of their life beyond sports can help engage their fans and followers.   Connect With Brandon- Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/brandonbarnes_1?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Connect with Shawn- Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/theshawnfrench/ Join Athlete Narrative with 10% OFF- https://ambassador.athletenarrative.com/shawn-french-join   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Because I think that's the biggest thing I set up in my career was I was okay being a 20-year minor league player. I was okay to get into the big leagues and not being the best player, right? I strove to be the best, but I was okay not being the best because I understood that I wasn't just a baseball player. My identity wasn't wrapped around being a baseball player. I'm a father, I'm a husband, I'm a brother, a son, right? I have aspirations beyond the game when the game's over. So when that transition period came, it was a little bit easier. Southwest Florida is one of the most beautiful places on the planet to live.

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I used to compare myself to everyone around me. I thought that no matter how hard I work, I'd never be as good as the other guys. It killed myself for the lead. I now help athletes develop an elite mindset, so comparison no longer controls them. We teach techniques to cut out the negative self-talk and unlock the full potential. Imagine stepping into the box when it counts the most and feeling totally confident in your ability, feeling invincible instead of insecure, ready to seize the opportunity instead of shrinking from it. That's the mindset I help athletes develop. Don't waste another minute on comparison and self-doubt. Take control of your mindset and become the confident, unstoppable competitor you were meant to be. The end more comment

below to get started with Edge and transform your mental game. What's up everybody? Welcome back. This is your host, Sean French, and I have with me today, a former big leager, the VP of athlete narrative, and an all-around great dude coming out from us. Where are you from? Are you in Boise, too? Are you at Idaho? Yeah, man.

We're right outside of Boise, small town called Meridian. Meridian, Idaho. I wasn't sure if you were still there or you were there with them, but I have with me, former big leaguer, like I said, Brandon Barnes, welcome to show, buddy. Glad to be here, man.

I appreciate you having me on. Oh, absolutely, dude. It wouldn't have any other way. I wouldn't have any other way. I love what you're doing. And I think the audience is going to get a ton out of hearing your story, just how you came up as a young ball player and into the Major League Baseball levels. And then what you're kind of doing now, how you transition and like everything, right?

Everything that you deal with as an athlete in your ascension and then your exit, which is the most important part of it, right? So why don't you tell the audience a little bit about your baseball story, man? Yeah, I, man, I've been playing baseball since I was four years old. In high school, it kind of changed. You know, I've always had a deep passion and love for baseball. It's always been number one. But for me, you know, I came from a lower middle class family,

and I knew my only way to go into college was a scholarship. And in high school, that was football for me. I had a scholarship to UCLA to play free safety. And, you know, ended up not working out. And I remember back in those days, man, I'm kind of a little older than, you know, most. So I used to have to scrape VHS tapes together for a highlight tape and send them out to all the coaches. It's 50-50 chances the coach ever watched it. So, you know, sent out a bunch and had some good response.

But initially, man, I'm from Southern California. I grew up a UCLA fan. So I wanted to be a Bruin. And unfortunately, they had a coaching change. the new coach wanted to bring in his own recruits. So I ended up just playing in a baseball tournament one weekend. We ended up going to the World Series. So I took some time off of football.

And I hit eight home runs in 10 games. And we ended up going to the championship game, losing to a team from South Carolina. And I remember in that tournament, my buddy was like, dude, you need to play baseball. Like, you were born for this. And so at that time, I'd quit baseball my senior high school. So I wasn't even playing in high school.

And are you serious? Yeah, I completely quit my senior year just to focus on, you know, getting bigger, faster, stronger for football. You know, I was, it was 180 pounds. Toki wet my senior year. So I knew I had to push that 200 to 210 mark. And that's why I quit baseball initially. Do that tournament. My buddy's like, look, you need to play baseball. So I immediately like, I was like, all right, I'll pray on it tonight and see how I feel when I wake up. Went to the dorm, prayed on it. I woke. I woke. up that next morning and I signed up for a junior college that my buddy was going to. It was probably the best juco in California, go to state like every year. And I didn't even have a tryout, man, to be honest, I just went with my faith and felt like God was telling me to go play baseball. So I signed up for classes. Initially, ended up getting a tryout, went out. I was a third baseman shortstop in high school.

and the coach knew that I was a wide receiver, free safety. He knew I could run. So he's like, Jay, go to the outfield. Let me see what you can do. I was like, the outfield. Like, that's not where the good guys go, right? Like, I'm an athlete. And so he's like, no, just promise me to go out there.

Man, it came so naturally. It was, coach just told me the one tip he gave me, he goes, you're a wide receiver. When that ball goes up, what do you do? I said, I catch it every time. He said, same thing in baseball. You see that ball? go go do it he said go get it so man from that point on it was just it was natural um reading the learning to read balls off the bat learning to read swings i'm old school with it i don't need a card

i pay attention to the game so that was how i got back into baseball um and then that that freshman year in juco i didn't end up starting the first couple games of the year got a chance to come in in a game where we're just boat racing somebody and uh ended up hitting to doubles got to start the next game hit two doubles with a homer and did it come out to line up the rest of the year ended up being a freshman all-American all-state and was put into the cypress college hall of fame as a freshman got drafted by the houston astros in the sixth round and then took me another seven and a half years to get to the big leagues do so let's back up real quick right and this is something i want the audience to really dive into whether they're athletes or not or they're

entrepreneurs or they're just, you know, a kid that came across this show right now. You didn't, you didn't play baseball your senior year. And most people would say, if you're not going to play baseball your senior year, you surely aren't going to play college baseball, but you sure as hell not going to play in the major leagues. I don't want to over glance that, glance over that, because to me, that tells a story right there that anything is possible through faith. And I love that you responded to your friend, hey, I'm going to.

pray about this, right? And then when I wake up, I'll see how I feel, see where God leads me. And you, and you went in that blind faith, right? I think that's very important for people to really understand, not just from a faith standpoint, but from a work process to begin with. You have to have blind faith that the work that you put in eventually is going to give you possibly an opportunity to be very, very successful, you know, and that's what your story so far has shown me. And this is very interesting. So real quick, you said, Best Jucco in California, I take offense to that because I played for a very good junior college in California, but you might be right. Did you say you played at Cyprus?

Cyprus College, yep. Okay, very good, very good program. I played at College of San Mateo. Okay, okay. You're up there. So, I mean, yeah, you're up there, but we're up there, man. We ain't you guys. No, that's cool, man.

Yeah, I think Cyprus is in California, at least probably the most big leaguers. in California. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you didn't disappoint there. You know, you get, so you get drafted in the sixth round. And at that point, like, what do you think into yourself, right? Because, you know, two years ago, this isn't even on your, on your radar, man.

And now you're drafted in the sixth round and you kind of hang out the, the, the bus league for seven and a half years. So let's talk about all that, all those emotions. Yeah, man, I honestly, I didn't know much about the draft. back then it was it was all on the computer right so you just looked at the screen and waited for your name to pop up it's not it wasn't televised like it is now where you can kind of sit for and watch it um so it was kind of nerve wrecking but you know i've got to you know talking about entrepreneurship and going into business man i had a hustler mindset back then i uh i was called in the fourth round by the st louis cardinals um they asked me if i would willing to sign for a certain amount of money and i said

absolutely man I was broke kid just wanted to go play baseball and so immediately he got off the phone call with them I had a really good relationship with the Houston Astro Scout so I gave him a call and said hey look the Cardinals just called me they're looking to take me in the next couple rounds but I want to be an Astro and so he immediately is like hold on a minute I'm going to make a call look for your name I mean one round later it's the sixth round and my name gets called in the six round and I just doubled my stock by making one phone call. And, you know, I was later to go 10th to 12th round and just me making a phone call and having that hustler mindset, I went out and made it happen. So I tell kids all the time, like don't feel like you can't speak up or you can't go call

somebody or talk to somebody. That's why people are here, right? Like, you've got to take control of your own destiny. So that's kind of how that draft went for me. I knew nothing about the draft. I knew more about the NFL draft. And then, you know, three days later, I'm packed up and I'm gone into a small town in Greenville, Tennessee. No nobody. We're in the sticks.

The biggest restaurants, Applebee's. So you just take it. Applebee's, baby. Yeah. You take it for what it is and you just go grind, man. You don't know what to expect. But, you know, I think we all leave college thinking we're the man. And when you go into pro ball, you get humbled.

real quickly. Everybody out there is a stud, whether they're a college, high school guy from Latin America, you're going against the best of the best at that level. And so I got humbled real quick, man. I struggled mightily my first year, struggled my second year and just kept trying to develop as the years went. My motto was always be where your feet are and get 1% better every single day. Yeah, those are really good mottos, man. And I'm going to tell you the hardest one of those is, is be where your feet are, right? Because there's so many distractions and so many what ifs.

I mean, if we get caught up on the actual results that we want from the process, we're never present. We can't be present at that point, right? But it's funny, I want to go back and ask you a question. What year was that when you were the job? Because I, too, sat in front of a computer and I had an opposite experience, right?

It was America Online. It was dial up. and I remember sitting in my computer room for days on in, man. And I fell off the board completely. My name was not called. So I had a different experience. So what year was that? That was 2005 because I graduated high school in 2004 and ended up going to college in 2005.

So that was the 05 draft. I mean, Toulowitzky upped in, you know, pretty good. Yeah, yeah. Dude, I was already done at LSU when you were drafted. My last year was 2003, man. It's crazy. But yeah, man. So, I mean, we can get into that draft story of mine later.

This is about your story. And we can talk offline about mine. But I can just, I can feel the anxiety in me right now kicking up because you brought me back to that place. Yeah. Right. And this is one of the lowest moments of my life. And I thought my life was over, bro. Like literally over.

I had passed up on so many, you know, scholarships from like smaller schools, Cal State Northridge. You know, I thought I was too good to play there, right? And then I passed up University of North Carolina. So what was it? Western Carolina. Yep. You know, and Coloie, right?

And I passed them up. It was like, I didn't have to, I wouldn't have to pay anything, right? I was like, no, I'm not going there. I'm going to go somewhere bigger, right? And luckily, the, you know, Turtle Thomas knew my catching coach. college of San Mateo and once once they lost both of their catchers, Brad Cressy and Ryan Jorgensen, I called him. I was like, look, dude, I don't know what's going on, but my name's not called and I don't know what happened. And I've called the cross checker multiple times.

And he says he's on it and it didn't happen. So what am I going to do? And two days later, I got a call in an offer from LSU. But honestly, Brandon, I wasn't the same after that. I mean, I really, really wasn't, right? But dude, so you're in the minor leagues now and you're grinding and you have this gift of being fully present and getting 1% better every day. I don't think you realize, though, that type of mindset and perspective of life isn't really common for a young man that just graduated high school two years ago. Yeah, it's something that, you know, I think the biggest thing for me was I always said I was built different, whether it was physically or mentally. I had this mindset of, if you tell me I can't

do something, I'm going to do it. Or if it's too big, I'm going to tackle it. So I always had my mindset on like, I don't care how long this takes. I'm going to outwork everybody on this team, everybody in this organization. And I'm going to get there at some point, whether it's a year from now or it's 10 years from now, I was okay with it because I knew I was going to get there at some point. The thing, the thing too, though, man, is I think a lot of it has to do with your background, right? Yeah. Like you said, you grew up, you know, low, you know, middle class to low, you know, socioeconomic status. And so for you, I would imagine, you know, being in the minor leagues and even that opportunity, you know, in front of you was enough to keep you in that

perspective. Oh, no doubt. I think just the way I was raised by my parents, you know, my parents divorced when I was 11 years old. So, you know, I knew my way out, my way into a new life into something greater was my passion. And I've always lived off my passion. And sports have always been a passion of mine. And anything I do, I need to be passionate about it to be successful. And so, yeah, I mean, it was my parents instilling that passion, that work ethic. Because I got to see them both, you know, on their own try to make it, right?

and hustle and grind and, you know, make ends meet to feed us and get us the things we needed, not necessarily wanted. So I built that from my parents and then having my grandfather, who was probably the greatest influence on my sports career, just the way he would push me and the way he would train my mind without me even knowing it was a big part of that. Talk to the audience a little bit about that because I want them to get, you know, for the parents that are listening or even the grandparents that are listening, I don't know if there's grandparents that listen to my show.

That'd be pretty cool if there are. But like, you know, walk them through how your grandfather led you with your mind, with, you know, mindset wise because they might be able to pick up some strategies and tips, how to better lead their children. Yeah. Gramps was, he was hardcore, man. He had a no-quit mentality. You know, when you're younger, 11, 12 years old and you're supposed to be the dude out there,

you strike out. You don't think you're supposed to strike out. I'd get super, super pissed, I'd get mad, you know, I'd throw things. And he would talk to me, man. He wouldn't, we'd get in some arguments, he'd, because I'd argue back. But he was always there trying to prove a point. Like, this is why you do this. This is why you don't show emotion.

I think the biggest thing I learned from him mentally was to never let the other team know how you feel your emotions, whether you just struck out. cool I struck out I'm going to get you next time and that was something that yeah filled in me very early where once I got over that that stage of like being a little whiner and complaining because I struck out it was like okay you got me but I'm going to get you the next two times right so just those little things and there's always conversations on on the ride home on the weight of the game and it was never like why'd you do this why'd you do that it was more like okay, what do you want to get better at? How did you feel to do? Why do you love playing the game?

And then he would at the tail end be like, okay, well, you made this error. What was going through your mind? Why did you throw the ball this way? So he would talk me through things and we start to strategize and that's how I was learning the game, whether it be baseball or football. It was always a conversation. It was never like, you made a mistake. You need to fix this. You can't do that. You can't do this. He was teaching me through conversation. Dude, that's, that's amazing. I wish I would have had a grandfather like yours, man. You know, like I wish your grandfather was my dad, you know, because I think what happens is, you know, when we go through and it's hard because I'm a sports dad, you know, my,

my girls do ice skating and gymnastics, my youngest of soccer too. She's incredible, but my daughters are incredible. My son is a baseball player. And he wants to follow in my footsteps. And, you know, it's funny because I can, I can feel myself on the field. You know what I mean? He's, he's in the minor. He's, he's freaking 10, bro. And I can, I would say, hey, I call him BDOS.

His name is Bobby Doss for French. Hey, BDAS. I was like, hey, ball to you go one, two outs. Go one. And the, like literally this one time in particular, ball was hit right to him and he looks around. Like the next pitch, I'm like, I could feel myself, right? I can feel myself through the conditioning I had to be, you know, kind of humiliated by my father on the way home.

Like, what are you thinking, right? Yeah. But what I love. What I love what I'm hearing is, you know, your grandfather had it figured out, right? Your, your grants had the whole development process figured out, leading you to your own conclusion by asking you questions, getting you to understand, fill in the blanks yourself, and then come back around with a constructive criticism, right? the world's missing that right now, especially in baseball. I don't know how football is because I'm around baseball a ton more. But, I mean, listening to these dads and these moms from the dugout or against the fence

and the things that they say their children is sickening, bro. Oh, it's terrible, man. The biggest thing I have these days is this daddy ball stuff we got going on, man. Travel this, travel all this. You got to pay thousands of dollars for this. No, go train. go get better. You don't need to play 90 games a year. You only need 20 games a year, but if you're getting physically stronger, you're training your swing, you're throwing mechanics, you're sprinting,

you're in the gym, you're working your mind, right? Learning, I think a lot of the problem today is nobody's teaching these kids the mental side of the game. So they have all the tools, but when you get to the pros and you get to the big leagues, the separators, the mind. mind. It's not the talent because everybody's talented there. It's the guys that are able to deal with failure. There's no fear of failure because you understand it. You understand why it's there and the process of getting through it. The biggest disservice we're doing to kids is we're not teaching these things. And that comes back to Daddy Ball and wanting to win championships and getting rings and trophies. And man, how many rings trophies do you have when you were a kid,

man? I don't have any left, right? I don't know. I don't recall anything. They're just pieces of plastic or metal. For me, it was the bond I had with my buddies going out and playing, right? The good times, the summer. Yeah.

Because you get into pro ball. You don't get summer anymore. You're done. No. I didn't have a summer for 16 years. You know, so. Dude, that's a long, that's a long career, man. That's a long career, bro.

It's funny. Like, yeah, you talk about the camaraderie with the dudes. Like I remember in Pony League, because I did travel ball after my 12 year old year. But, you know, we did in the summer. And that was just it, right? And we get in many vans and we go. We listen to music, like tag team. There it is.

It was that was a thing back then. And we just had a blast with each other, man. We just, we, but here's the thing. And we worked hard. Oh, yeah. Right. And this is the next thing that I think there's an issue. Yes, Daddy Ball.

Yes, travel ball this, travel ball that. I think there's a place for it. but I think it's overplayed and overutilized, right? And we'll get there. But, you know, the other epidemic in sports is simply this. And I, when I work with the athletes, I work with some professional baseball players and some SEC baseball players. And, you know, they work so hard. They're like, man, I'm just crying.

I'm working. I'm working. I'm like, well, why are you working so hard? Ask him that, right? Because I'm looking for a specific answer. It's like, well, if I don't, if I don't. If I, coach, if I don't, and this guy, if I put the bad down today, that guy over there is hitting and he's going to pass me up. I go, then you're doing it for the wrong reasons, man.

You're doing it for the wrong reasons. So the problem is these athletes now, because everything is so amplified and all over social media, everybody knows if you're good or you're bad or you're having a great season or bad season, they start to work out of that desperation and scarcity mentality instead of wanting to work because they want to bury somebody, bro. They just love the competition. They love the grind. That's the difference, right? Because when we played, it was like, I just want to grind. I want to beat somebody down. Like, I just want to embarrass that dude 60 feet, six inches.

I hope his girlfriend's here to watch this shit. Like, I hope she sees this. You got to be a savage, man. There's kids aren't sad these days, man. When I went out there to play, like even if I had buddies on their team and we're going to war today. Like, I train to absolutely dominate you today. And I don't care. We'll be buddies after the game.

But there's too many like, like you said, it's the fear of somebody else taking your job, the fear of someone else outworking you. Instead of like, I went to the gym every day for 16 years to prove to myself how good I am, to get to the top, not for anybody else, not because someone was chasing me, not because this guy told me I couldn't make it, but because I wanted to make it so bad that I knew nobody was going to outwork me. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I like that.

It's funny because you and I are similar in a lot of areas. For me, though, the way I was raised and the way you were raised is completely different. And I had loving parents. I'm not saying my parents were bad. I'm just saying that the way that they motivated me, right? They motivated me out of fear. If you don't play baseball, man, what are you going to do? You're not going to be anything else because you don't know the difference between a hammer and a wrench.

Right. So there was that there was that fear struck into me. whereas you were you were coached you know within your mind of being you know in more of a you know rich energy this this awesome mindset to where you did this because you wanted to do it for you and you had all the confidence right you had the confidence that if you did what you needed to do you were going to be the guy on top i was the guy that was fearful right of not making it right and so i worked as hard as i possibly could and again we've had we've had we had two separate results.

My ability-wise, behind the dish, I could have caught the big leagues. Yeah. To receive a clock, I could throw the piss out of it, right? But like, the reality is it just didn't happen because everything in between the years. Yep. You know? That's the biggest piece that I'm telling you, that's the biggest piece we're missing in the game today at the youth level. Oh, dude.

It's, it's, it's, don't get me started on that, dude. Yeah, it's crazy, man. And everybody, the only thing that matters is winning these days and great. That's, I'm glad you want to be a winner. But if you want to be a winner, you got to get to the top. The only thing that matters in life and sport is a World Series in baseball, right? It's, you know, the Super Bowl champion. Those are the things that matter.

The, you know, perfect game champion, you're not going to remember that in 20 years. I'm telling you, I've been to the Little League series. I've been to the Big League World Series. Like, I took those as memories with my buddies and an opportunity to go have fun and play the game I loved. But when I look back at my career, man, it was the moments in the big leagues. It was getting to playing the playoffs for the first time. Those are the things that I worked my entire life to achieve. And then, you know, one day it ends.

And I think a lot of these kids don't understand these days. And I see it also because like you, man, I train kids for. in years. I've mentored college guys, one of my biggest guys at Texas A&M right now. But the difference is the kids don't understand the numbers. It's a numbers game, right? So we know high school athletes or high school baseball players, only 7% of them are going to go on to the next level. 7%. What are the other 93% doing, right? So you've got to make sure that you're working harder and smarter than 93% of the country. Yeah.

And when you realize the numbers, you understand that, okay, it's okay to have a plan B. It's okay to have something to fall back on because I was the complete opposite. I didn't. There was no plan B. It was the same, dude. It was get to the big leagues, make a ton of money and retire and never have to do everything ever again. But that's not life, man.

Everybody gets punched in the mouth. Sports got to end at some point. So I just want the kids to understand and the parents to understand that your kids most likely not going to be a big leagueer. Most likely not going to get drafted. Now get them to college. Get them in an education. Teach them about entrepreneurship. Different things that, you know, it doesn't have to be baseball all the time.

Like let the kid go play another sport. You know, that's a good point, right? Because what happens is you get wrapped up in an identity crisis. So let's get into the good, I hope people are still hanging on right now. Like y'all, this is where it's going to get really, really good because there's an identity crisis within, you know, sports and athletics. And that identity crisis happens the moment their last shot is taken, the last snap is, you know, the last snap is taken or the last out is recorded, right? No more. No more.

And they don't know who they are. They have no idea what they're going to do post sports. And, you know, a while back, we had. your CEO, Brian Fulmer of Athlete Narrative on here. And we talked a lot about the recruitment process and the NIL deals that Athlete Narrative helps young athletes with. Right. And we did touch on the transition from athletics to real life. But, you know, this is a very big passion of mine because it's where I feel the most in my life, Barnsie, is once it was over for me, I went on the street where I didn't know who I was and I was hurting people left and right.

I was just trying to fill this void because I didn't know who I was and I didn't know what my other skills were. And in fact, so much that, and it's crazy before me, you and Brian all connected, I got accepted to do a TED talk about, you know, athlete transition from sport to real life and how it can derail one's mental state, right? So let's talk about that part, man, because I think. think you're just as passionate about life after sports as I am. Yeah, for sure. It's, it's been a mission of mine the last probably year, year and a half to help guys understand

that, you know, there's going to come to a point where you've got to transition. Sport doesn't last forever. We all get old. We all get out of shape, right? The game doesn't, our body doesn't move as fast as it should. So it's going to come to an end, whether you're in high school, college or pro level, you know, it's going to end one day. And I think the biggest piece of advice I just like to give to kids and parents of athletes is understand that you are not your sport, right? The sooner you can understand that you are not just a baseball player, the easier that transition period will be when it comes. Because I think that's the biggest thing I set up in my career was I was okay being a 20-year minor league player. I was,

was okay get into the big leagues and and not being the best player right i strove to be the best but i was okay not being the best because i understood that i wasn't just a baseball player my identity wasn't wrapped around being a baseball player i i'm a father i'm a husband i'm a brother a son right i have aspirations beyond the game when the game's over and so when that transition period came it was a little bit easier You know, not saying that I didn't struggle with it, right? Because when I left, I struggled for about six months to a year on what I want to do with my life. And the biggest piece for me was kind of reverse engineering everything, knowing where I want to be and finding out how to get there by just reverse engineering it. And, you know, some things have come up.

Athlete narrative came up. And, you know, I've been doing real estate for almost three years now. it's been a passion of mine. But when I was pitch athlete narrative, man, I was like, I'll quit everything right now just because I believe in this product and what these kids need right now. Right, right. You know, that's interesting. I want to ask you a question because you said for the first to six to 12 months, you struggled of, you know, what you wanted to do with your life after baseball was over after you retired. How much of that was mental, though?

You know what I mean? Like, how did you feel mentally, even though you knew who you were? Was there a transition period where you, you, you, you, you feel? felt like a loss where you're grieving something? Honestly, no. And to be honest, man, I haven't watched a full nine innings of a baseball game since I retired. It's just, you know, my passion was playing the game,

was being on the field, being in the dirt, smelling the grass, hearing the fans. That was my passion, was being out there. I immediately went into coaching and training, which most of us do when we leave the game, right? It's all we've kind of ever known. and it's what we're experts at. But I really wanted to take, when I left California and got out of my comfort zone,

I knew things had to change. And so I had this mindset shift of, okay, what's next? It's not baseball anymore. You've got to get away from that because that's not who you are. Baseball is just something you did. It's something you would get at, and so you did it and you made a career out of it. But now it's time to move on to the next thing. And, you know, through prayer, through faith, through talking with my wife,

wife, you know, one of my my best friends out here in Idaho, he pitched to me like, do you want to do baseball for the rest of your life? Do you want to be a lifer? And that lifer word, man, it's strung according to me because I don't want to be a lifer. I don't want to be that 60 year old dude just hanging around the baseball field or a facility. I want to do other things. I want to do big things in life. I want to help people out. I have a path for giving back. And so I sat down with my buddy and he was like dude you ever thought about real estate and I said yeah because you know I made a I made good money in my career and I wasted it like a lot of us athletes do you don't have the guidance so you know I came from a family that didn't know a whole lot about how to structure money and

monetize it and do all these different things and so you look at the end of my career I don't have a whole lot saved up where I could have been investing over the my course of my big league career and been retired you know just making mailbox money off rentals So that's why I got into real estate initially and then, you know, got pitched athlete narrative and immediately jumped on board. You know, it's funny because a couple things. One, your transition from sports to life after sports is truly unique because not a lot of people have it that good to where they're ready and they knew who they were, right?

And then you have people like me that had the negative experience. And I think what's great is there's space for both, right? I'll be able to coach people up from one aspect of it. And you'll be able to coach people up from another aspect of it. And it is so impactful, man. I mean, I think that, you know, the world, the world is ready for athlete narrative. And like you said, you know, when you were pitched athlete narrative, you were, you were all in.

And I got to tell you, man, when I talk to Brian and then you, um, and then you, um, And then my guy talked to Brian, and I think he talked to you too. Bob Shepard. He's a dude. He's a man, dude. Dude, he's fucking Bob Shepard, bro. You know, I get approached by a lot of different companies to, you know, do some stuff with them. And I can't ever get behind any of it, right?

Because it doesn't resonate in my soul, right? This, what we have here, this partnership that we've strung up, this is, this hits me in the soul, dude. Like the very depths of my soul, I believe in this. And it's just, it's, this is going to be so impactful for, for kids and parents, man. I mean, the, the opportunity for parents to know that their kids are taking care of and their branding and someone's watching over them, you know, so they're not posting stupid things and saying dumb things. they're going to damage their brand, et cetera, man. It's just, I can't believe this is out there and it's exciting. Yeah, man.

You know, when we came up with the concept, it was, how is this not out there? How is this not already been put out with the technology that's already out in the world today? Like, how has this been overlooked? Because, you know, man, athletes have such opportunities these days with making money from their name, image, and likeness. And I think we're doing a disservice to ourselves if we're not helping these athletes build a plethora of bags, you know, to take home at the end of the day. Yeah. Because the colleges have been doing it for years. I mean, NCAA, we can go on and on about the NCAA and the money they've taken from kids, right?

But that's a whole different story. Now we're able to use a platform like athlete narrative to get in front of tons of, you know, whether it's you want to go to a. certain college or you want to get in front of boosters, you want to get in front of a brand you really like, we're able to push that through for you and monetize your brand, whether you start as an eighth grader on the platform and build over time, where you come on as a junior, senior, and you're like, all right, this is what I need. How do I get there? And we're going to be with you every step of the way, pushing your name in front of people organically, right? Not just sending DMs and messages to straight to the coach. We want you to come across organically to the

people that you want to come across and then able to monetize that by the different areas that we have in the platform with the locker room, the radar page, you know, just building your content alone these days because we're in such a digital age where, you know, newspapers are deads, magazines are dead. It's all digital. It's all social media. So how do we blow you up and how do we get you sponsored and how do we get you to the next level? And that's right now as athlete narrative. Oh, 100%. Let me ask you a quick question because I don't think I've asked, ask you or Brian this question yet. Do you guys ever take, because I'm working with somebody right now, you guys are going to connect with one of my athletes that plays from a zoo. Is it often you guys

take someone in college that you haven't worked with that long and towards the latter part of their college career, bring them on the platform? Yeah, definitely. I think our big demographic right, it's going to be that eighth grade to senior in high school. But our whole goal, with this is to blow people up organically however we can. So if it's a if it's a college guy, whether you know, he's a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, what we could do to monetize you as fast as possible with the people we have coming on board, it's going to elevate your game. And then not only is, is it going to help for while you're in your sport, but it's going to help in your transition because you're building a brand. You're letting your fans and followers and your community

know what you're doing. And maybe you want to be a real estate agent when you're done. We can help you with that transition process of building a network for real estate as well. Yeah. It is just so impactful, man. You know, and you're alluding to, you know, the, you guys give that, that quiz or that questionnaire when that player decides like, hey, you know what? Probably not going to go play Major League Soccer or, you know, be in the NBA. You know, I'm pretty good at XYZ.

And then you guys start dripping, you know, content in after the. They've built this social media brand since, you know, whenever, you know, middle school or high school. Now they have people that are already engaged and care about them. And they're able to see the transition. It looks natural. And again, naturally, it, their audience wants to help them. Yeah, absolutely. They want to help them when they get out.

I think for me, too, like when we came up with this idea, it was, and how can this have benefited me? Right? Because if I look at my life, my transition, if I'd have been using athlete narrative during my career, whether I was posting or not, but I had a platform where I can continue to build by a push of a button. Content's already done. And then, you know, I know my time's coming up. I knew my last year was going to be my last year. So if I had a plan in place, if I could have taken a life assessment test or a career assessment test, found out what I wanted to get into and then start dripping that content. As my final year was getting over, my fans, my followers, my community would have known exactly what I was going into just like that. I would have had that, that year-long transition period, we're like, okay, now I have to build a brand and start marketing for real estate.

I want to help athletes, so I got to start dripping that. It would have been done for me just through a simple test. Absolutely, man. Absolutely. And it's one of those things. I always joke. I tell Brown all the time, like, dude, you. You guys need to, you guys need one for a podcast house.

Like maybe just one for me. Like let's pilot it. Throwing it out there on the air. Audience hold them accountable. Badger them on social media. Because dude, like I'm going to tell you, you know, athlete narrative, yes. But also even from a creative standpoint, I can relate to this. And you're also a creator because you're an entrepreneur.

And like you said, we live in such a digital age. You know, you have to sit there and scripting content. Like, you know, you may have, I think you have a team. I don't have a team. Like, dude, it's me and this dude with big ears. It's just, just me, man. So, you know, having that taking care of, even for an athlete that is younger, because I get anxiety about it.

I'm like, dude, I, you know, I haven't posted in a day. I got to find something to do. You know what I mean? And so that's important part, right? Because when you know someone understands your through line of what archetype you are, And then you you build that again, you know, that's why the name is, you know, genius, the narrative around that athlete. It just works, man.

And it's all they got to do is approve it, right? Yeah. It's, man, it's simple. And the things we have coming down the line with the warning system for protection of kids, get parents peace of mind, the scout, which kind of hyper focalizes and targets people. We have, you know, we're working on getting chat. that GBT AI integrated with the system so the kids can actually use it within the platform. Get into a point where they can rescript some things.

This thing's going to go crazy. Technology improves and we improve. And the biggest thing is getting feedback from the athletes, from the people, from the users on the platform of like, what do you want? We want to best help you guys. So we need feedback.

So we're able to make this platform the best platform out there, for athletes. Yeah, it's needed, man. I was, uh, there's this kid on Instagram that liked a bunch of my post and then, you know, I went and followed him. He's this little football player, bro. He's legit. He's legit.

And then I started DM in with his daddy today. And then the kid popped in. I'm like, wait, wait, no, I thought I was talking to your dad. I go, look, man, he's like, no, it's both of us. I like, here's what have your dad call me. I need to talk to him because you guys are doing a great job. His brand is already awesome, dude. I think the kid is probably elementary school, borderline middle school, and the kid's got hands.

He's got great feet. He's a football player. And he's already got, you know, a couple thousand followers. Like, imagine. Imagine. Imagine, bro, right? When you sprinkle in other content, like, you know, even maybe, you know, a static post, not just reals, like anything else that can, you know, establish his narrative and send it out there. because, you know, listen, man, years go by fast.

And as soon as that kid is in high school, then by that time, he's going to be eligible for NIL. Hell, it's legal in Idaho now. Absolutely. Yeah, I think, you know, a big thing for athletes is your fans, your followers, they know you play the sport. They don't want to always just see you hit in a baseball or you throw in a baseball or you on a baseball field, you know, let them into your life a little bit. And you could be discreet on how you want or how deep you want to go. I was always open with my fan base and my followers.

You know, my kids, they're going to see them at the games anyways, right? So you might as well let them see them on social media. My wife, what we do, you know, when we go to dinner, my passions, you know, I love art. I love painting. You know, I let the people that are following me, my fans, in on my life, because that's what they want to know about, you know, a day in the life. these kids are now becoming creators, they're becoming influencers through social media, because that's what it is.

And if we're able to make an influence on your career by just boosting you, we've set you up for the next phase of your life. Yeah, I know. It's a good point because, you know, I did something the other day. I think it was just the family. It was around Christmas time. And one of my buddies in Australia, big fitness influencer, man, big. And he goes, more of this, please.

I said heard heard so we went to the LSU football game the bowl game the other day and I posted that content that went crazy right because for a long time to be fair I didn't post any of my wife or any of my children outside of my stories because what was happening before I was verified I was getting these people like downloading my kids pictures and everything and making fake pages and so I did it to protect them you know now because there's there's a check They can't do that. Like Instagram shuts it down. But yeah, man, people want to know, right, what you're doing. They want to know who you are as a person because that's when they, when they learn about you and they give a, you know what about you, that's when that's when you know you've built a brand, dude. Yeah, absolutely.

That's when I saw my engagement go up. And, you know, my team, we, you know, my social media manager, she looks at the analytics. what's doing well, right? Like a lot of my stuff is my family. People want to know about what my family's up to. My kids play sports. I've got a volleyball player. I've got a dancer.

They want to know what's going on in their life. And it just brings them, they feel like they're a part of the community. I feel like they're a part of the family. And that, to me, was always what my fans were. They're an extension of my family because if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be able to get to do what I got to do. it's so funny you mentioned fans i was talking to somebody in the neighborhood today um just a friend of mine and i was stuck on stupid dude like i look at myself as someone hustling and you know building a brand

building a show and and really trying to grow as an entrepreneur and she made a comment she goes like you amaze me i'm like what what do you mean like what are you talking about she goes like you have a TED talk. You know you're going to be like super famous, right? I'm like, yeah, I don't even think that way, Brandon.

Like I just don't think that way. Like I know what I want, but to think of myself like that to me is just kind of a weird thing. Maybe that's a limiting belief. Maybe it's humility. But it was so nice to hear, dude. Yeah.

And I think she said that my favorite thing about you is like, you're humble. I was like, damn, dude. Like that's a brand. Yes. No, that's a brand. And we're out here building it.

So listen, man, we got to land the plane here. But real quick, I just want to reiterate the site is live. We're out of beta testing and we're rocking and rolling, right? Absolutely. All right. Yeah, we're taking athletes on. Official launch date, April, sorry, April, January 15th. But if you want to sign up, you want to get on, go on now.

You're able to sign up. get on there before that thing gets massive. Yeah, dude, it's, it's going to be so big. It's going to be so big. The beta was outrageous, right? And, you know, as far as the participants in it, and it's just, it's a great thing. And so those of you listening, there's one of two people out there in the whole United States of America or possibly across a globe that have a 10% off link.

I'm one of them. So if you like what you heard and you want to do this, you need to click the link in my show or in my Instagram bio. Do not go to the regular athlete narrative site because you will not get the 10% discount for the life of your, I don't guess, your subscription or membership or whatever it is, being a part of the community. So I urge you to click the link, check it out. And, you know, Brandon, dude, I just really appreciate you being on the show, brother. And, you know, I know the audience got a ton out of your story and just some of the insight, all the insight you share was just, Absolutely incredible, bud.

No, I appreciate you having me. Oh, man. I wish this plane would never land. But, you know, business calls. I know, man. It's so, dude, I was thinking through this show and then, you know, the recording with Brian, I was like that we could literally have a show. And it would be probably three hours long.

Yeah. Like we would, our producer would have to tell us like, hey, you got to hang up now. You got to stop, you know. So I'm with you on that one. And the plane's not landing. just this recording. We have a ton of amazing things going on together, a ton of partnerships going on. And, you know, I see us working together long term. So I'm super exact about that. And I'm grateful. Me too, brother. I can't wait for it. All right, guys. Well, listen, hey, until next time,

please share the show. You know, if you got something out of this, leave a written five-star review. Let me and my boy Barnes know how you liked the show and why you liked it. And again, like I said, Share it for everybody you know. Until then, stay determined. Southwest Florida is one of the most beautiful places on the planet to live. For those of you that are thinking of moving from other states to come to Florida or even just moving to a different part of the state, I want you to think of a big, beautiful luxury home. Contact legacy luxury builders. They are a family-owned and operated luxury residential construction company. As a family-owned business, they believe in the power of building not just homes.

but legacies, contact legacy luxury builders. The nightmare feeling like it'll never measure up of constant second guessing and self-doubt. It eats away at you and destroys your confidence. I've been there too. Feeling like I didn't belong on the field with my teammates. But it doesn't have to stay that way. I used to compare myself to everyone around me. I thought that no matter how hard I worked, I'd never be as good as the other guys.

It killed myself, believe. I now help athletes develop an elite mindset, so comparison no longer controls We teach techniques to cut out the negative self-talk and unlock their full potential. Imagine stepping into the box when it counts the most and feeling totally confident in your ability. Feeling invincible instead of insecure, ready to seize the opportunity instead of shrinking from it. That's the mindset I help athletes develop. Don't waste another minute on comparison and self-doubt. Take control of your mindset and become the confident, unstoppable competitor you were meant to be.

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