Entrepreneurial Appetite
Entrepreneurial Appetite is a series of events dedicated to building community, promoting intellectualism, and supporting Black businesses. This podcast will feature edited versions of Entrepreneurial Appetite’s Black book discussions, including live conversations between a virtual audience, authors, and Black entrepreneurs. In this community, we do not limit what it means to be an intellectual or entrepreneur. We recognize that the sisters and brothers who own and work in beauty salons or barbershops are intellectuals just as much as sisters and brothers who teach and research at universities. This podcast is unique because, as part of this community, you have the opportunity to participate in our monthly book discussion, suggest the book to be discussed, or even lead the conversation between the author and our community of intellectuals and entrepreneurs. For more information about participating in our monthly discussions, please follow Entrepreneurial_ Appetite on Instagram and Twitter. Please consider supporting the show as one of our Founding 55 patrons. For five dollars a month, you can access our live monthly conversations. See the link below:https://www.patreon.com/EA_BookClub
Entrepreneurial Appetite
From Gridiron to Entrepreneurship: Timothy Cole's Journey of Resilience and Innovation
Timothy Cole's journey from Brenham, Texas, to becoming a standout student-athlete at UT Austin is a tale of resilience, ambition, and the transformative power of mentorship. As he recounts his story against the backdrop of the historic hiring of Charlie Strong, UT Austin's first Black head coach, Timothy reveals how his passion for football and support from his father shaped his early life. His insights shed light on the unique challenges faced by student-athletes both on and off the field, emphasizing the importance of community support and personal growth as he navigated through pivotal moments in his academic and athletic career.
Transitioning from sports to academia, Timothy's path took an unexpected turn as he embraced entrepreneurship during his time at UT. With a keen interest in blending his experiences with innovation, he and his fellow former UT football players ventured into the creation of a protein donut company. This chapter of his journey highlights the power of seizing opportunities beyond the gridiron, leveraging skills learned both in the classroom and on the field to forge a new path in business. His story is a dynamic example of the potential for athletes to redefine their futures by embracing their diverse interests and talents.
As Timothy offers a glimpse into the NIL era and its implications for current student-athletes, he underscores the importance of building a strong foundation for life beyond sports. From the creative inspiration found in literature to the significance of fostering a personal identity outside of athletics, he encourages others to capitalize on their unique opportunities. By sharing his personal superpower of resilience and determination, Timothy inspires listeners to harness their individuality to create meaningful and sustainable futures, proving that there's more to an athlete's journey than the game itself.
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Speaker 1:I'm Langston Clark, founder and organizer of Entrepreneurial Appetite, a series of events dedicated to building community, promoting intellectualism and supporting Black businesses. Enjoy this special bonus episode from the African Americans in Sport pod class. What's up everybody. Once again. This is Dr Langston Clark, one of your co-hosts, one of your professors for the African Americans in Sport pod class, and I have a very special guest today, timothy Cole, who I met it might've been 2012 or 2013 when he was a student in the class that inspired this pod class. So just to give you all some history and some context, when I was in graduate school, I was a teaching assistant for this class called African Americans in Sport.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is where the idea for the podcast came about, and those of you who know the story of the pod class know that me and the other co-hosts were all TAs in this same course, even though we weren't all in grad school at the same time. We come from the same community and mentors and things like that, so it was easy for us to just transition and make this into a pod class, and so I think Tim is the first person to have been a student in that class to now actually be a guest on the actual pod class that we're producing now, and so it's a tremendous honor to have him here with us. So here's the thing I remember about Tim. Tim was always more than just an athlete, and you could tell I think it was you and Adrian who were in that class. Yep, and it was I can't remember the brother's name the Nigerian brother who used to sit in the back, who was really smart too. Oh, he was definitely a.
Speaker 2:D-line man. I know you're talking about him. I can't think of his name right now. It's slipping away from me. But yeah, it was me, Adrian, and I can't think of his name.
Speaker 1:Might have been Reggie. Yeah, it was a whole bunch of y'all in that class. It was clear, it was obvious that, although you all were playing big time sports at UT Austin and it was a historic moment at the time, right because coach Charlie Strong had just been hired this is like big because, like you know Texas racial history and things like that him being a first black coach at the school meant something. But you three brothers in particular were always to me the way that I read. You was more than just an athlete and I remember it's like Tim, what position you play? Linebacker. And I was like Tim you don't look like a linebacker because you're a little small.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was man, but when I put the bass on it's a different story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's great to have you here and, just to you know, learn a little bit about your journey from someone who you know actual interview come from small town to move to a city like Austin to a school like UT. But before we get into all of that, talk about just like what's your background and your journey, even into becoming like a student athlete at a school like UT Austin and all that stuff Got you man.
Speaker 2:So just a little bit about myself, man. So I'm from a small town called Brenham, texas. When I was a kid, around five years old, I started playing Little League football and the first glimpse of me wanting to actually be a football player was seeing our high school go to the state championship in 2003. So I was like fresh, fresh off playing Little League football. I used to watch them. I was like, man, I want to be on varsity football. So I just, you know, through playing Little League and my dad starting to figure out like he's pretty good, you know, and he's not, you know, had no practice, nothing in particular, just like working on skills. But my dad just kind of like he's like hey, man, I play football. Kind of guided me through that whole process from Little League until high school. And he's like, hey, if you want to do it, like you know, let's do it, but I'm never going to you of those, you know, overbearing dads that's like, hey, man, we got to go, you know, we got to get it. He always just watched me. He just knew I had like a natural, I naturally wanted to, you know, play football. I get to high school. They moved me up to varsity during the playoffs of my freshman year and I'm like, okay, this is a little different Cause it's like you know it's one thing, but like, here I am as a freshman, they're putting me in for the playoffs of a high school football game. So I'm like, man, I'm pretty, I'm getting there. Then started getting recruited out of college my sophomore year we go to state, and so it's like kind of full circle moment as a kid watching them go to state. And then here I am as a sophomore starting linebacker for Burnham Cubs. I I am now in the state championship.
Speaker 2:Immediately after my sophomore year, going into the spring, I started getting those letters. College coaches started coming by the school every week and that's when I knew this was serious. It kind of blew my parents' mind too, just because up until that point my dad went back to school in his forties, but that's academics. And then my sister as well. My sister went to Baylor for academics and she also went to medical school for Texas A&M, so, like, and my other brother went to Prairie View. So at that point everyone was, you know, no one really got a scholarship, but everyone was going to college. So here I am, getting all these letters from all across the country and me and my parents have to like schedule visits and figure out, like, what is it that you're looking for in the school. And they're getting their thinking caps on.
Speaker 2:And I think Texas was really, really big on on recruiting me. And the thing with my parents they're just like, look, we don't want you to just be an athlete. They started that before I even got to school. Yeah, I was like I don't care about you know sports, like I want sports to get you somewhere so you can be well-rounded, you know, and kind of you know, build something for yourself. And so, out of all the schools that you know were recruiting me at the time, I was considered in Texas. I considered Texas A&M, I was considered in USC, florida and Oklahoma. So I was considered in all those schools but Texas just stood out for some reason because, like I think it was the atmosphere.
Speaker 2:My mom was looking, my mom and dad were both looking at like, man, these academics are top notch, especially if you're staying in Texas or just for a global aspect, you can get a global appeal as well as your state appeal. So they kept talking about academics. Man, this is amazing, the resources they have for you. I feel like for a kid from a small town. If you're going to move into a city, this would be the best situation for you, because not only is it giving me a chance to grow, but I felt like I had people on staff and things like that who just weren't going to let me just go out there and just run wild and not have any kind of guidance. So I think they saw that early, but they didn't pressure me at first. They just got, hey, let's take another visit, let's take another visit, let's take another visit.
Speaker 2:And as the more I visited the school, the more I knew I was like, hey, this is where I want to be, this thing is where I want to, you know, spend my next four or five years. And so I chose Texas. And lo and behold, I think, for who I am as a person. I think it was the best school for me and I still think that to this day, you know, being able to play in front of 100,000 people but also go to school and anything that piques your interest in terms of academics and things that you didn't have access to in high school is at your fingertips.
Speaker 2:But all it is is like the asking of a question, like if you tell someone up in your mouth like hey, man, I want to do this, like hey, who got the resources here, go down in this building or talk to this person. It was just, it just blew my mind that this school wanted to. Like I said, if you take initiative in your own you know academic journey as well as just your own college journey, you can find the things that you really want in life and really figure yourself out. So yeah, texas played there for five years and, you know, I think I opened some doors. That I only thought. I guess my initial thoughts were just to be, you know, be a football player, but just with my curiosity. I was like man, I became something greater.
Speaker 1:So let me ask this Obviously, you have relationships with people on the football team, right? Can you talk a little bit about any relationships that you might have built with students who weren't student athletes? So what was that, the student athlete experience? But then also like, how did you relate to other students on campus and did or did not help you as you were transitioning into becoming a professional entrepreneur and things like that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say so. So for me I'm a very, like I said, I'm a very curious person. So when I would go to classes I didn't want to be locked in an echo chamber of just like everybody I hang out with, so an athlete, because I knew that was one aspect of it. But the time we would go to class I would make sure I, like, like I said, sit in the front and a lot of people like hey, you play football, and that's kind of how the conversations would start. People were curious about what sport I played and things of that nature. But I would always flip it, I guess when they hear me open my mouth and actually talk and you know, talk about things that I'm interested in, like oh wow, this brother is like deeper than just like an athlete. He's just here just for, you know, the football games and trying to get to the league. So I think I would shock them when I would just be genuinely interested about my academic growth and like where I wanted to be. Like when I was asked about my plans, you know, I had an idea. I think that's how I connected with other students not other student athletes, but other students on campus and from there. They would kind of invite me to study groups or like different like their organizations would have things and it was like hey, man, if you guys are ever free, you know you're an agent, you guys can come out. Man, if you guys are ever free, you know you and Adrian, you guys can come out. And so that's kind of how I started building that bridge with students across the campus and becoming friends with them, because a lot of these people I run into now in Austin and I'm like man dang, it's good to see you, like we had this class together, and they remember my face, remember the experience they had with me. It was like man, you always treated me well, it was always good talking to you every time I caught up with you. So I think just me not trying to live in a bubble, I think I always introduce.
Speaker 2:Again, like I said, I'm from a small town, so I've always tried to grasp everything from other people, learn from other people. I always be fascinated when I find out people are from like man. I want to know about that experience because I didn't, you know, I didn't necessarily grow up that way. So I think just me latching on to other people's experience helped me to connect and realize like people wouldn't move. You know businesses, industries and things like that. If you can build a community of you know people of all walks of life, you can kind of build anything and you can build something sustainable of life. You can kind of build anything and you can build something sustainable.
Speaker 2:Once I, you know, went to grad school after playing football, going to UT as a just a student and then kind of learning like, hey, I think I can start a business and, you know, finding people who also want to start a business and you guys have like-minded ideas, and watching that blossom, using my competitiveness from football and applying it to another realm, I think also like helped me. So I guess, like meeting people that was, you know, outside of my own um, that didn't look like me, didn't walk like me, weren't the same groups as me, and also applying my my regimented um, you know schedule of being an athlete. Applying that. I think that all that that just whirlwind, that perfect recipe of ingredients, helped me start my career as an entrepreneur.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so before we get into entrepreneurship stuff, you mentioned grad school. Can you talk about your grad school experience? Did you stay at UT? Did you go somewhere else? What was that like? I stayed at.
Speaker 2:UT. I had an extra year of eligibility with being on scholarship because I redshirted my freshman year. So I kind of I graduated a little early undergrad and I didn't want to go and get another bachelor degree. So I always wanted to do advertising. I'm like man, this is a good chance to get in there and do advertising. So at the time after I graduated in 2016, I go and take the GRE and I'm talking to my advisors in the athletic facility about what I want to do I was like hey, I want to go to grad school. Give me another degree. You know, give me a master. I think this would be perfect because my dad had two masters. You know, higher education is where it's at for me and I'm like look, I can, I'm 22 at the time. I'm like, look, I can have two degrees by age of 24. I think that's a good start for me, especially as a black man.
Speaker 2:Education is key. Like I said, you got to build yourself up to be valuable in society. So I'm like man, I don't want to just come out here and leave with. Dr Moore told me this when I first got to UT. He's like man if you leave here with only a Nike jersey, some shorts and a t-shirt and some shoes. You've been pimped so that always like got stuck in my head. Man, I was like, dude, you got. Like you got the opportunity to go up and like change your whole family situation, like you can go get you another degree before you leave. Like to get two degrees on a four year scholarship is kind of crazy. So yeah, I mean, I stayed at UT, passed the GRE, ended up getting accepted into the Moody School of Advertising, and that's kind of where I kind of figured out what it is I wanted to do, because I think it was like a nice window to transition. It's like, hey, man, you play football, you balled out, you did all that. Now it's time to close that book and figure out who Tim is as a person. Without sports, you know, you've been playing football from six to 22. You really haven't had any time to actually do any self-exploration of your own without having people guide you or like have your schedule laid out for you. Here I am now creating my own schedule, figuring out what piques my curiosity.
Speaker 2:So first year of grad school, I find out I'm hanging out with I don't know if you remember Caleb Blewett. He played at UT as well. We were living together. So we meet up with two guys, amin and Amir. Amin was an equipment manager. Hey, what are you guys doing post-graduation? And at the time they're like man, I want to start a protein donut company after Austin's Fit City.
Speaker 2:Everyone does protein bars. No one ever does. No one has ever kind of innovated that space. Everything was kind of like you eat protein bars, not good, you're just eating it for the workout. So we all had this idea, you know, for for the workout. So we all had this idea was like let's do a protein on a protein on a company. So we started, like you know, going to GNCs getting protein powders and trying to learn how to bake in an apartment and I think we found like we had, like we had found something we could work with. Oh yeah, the perfect storm of it was I was in my first year in grad school, not realizing there's resources for entrepreneurship at school.
Speaker 2:So I signed up for a class the second semester of my first year in grad school called the Longhorn Startup. No, it's called, it's called um Longhorn Startup Lab. So pretty much you go uh, every Thursday from 6 pm to 9 pm and you get with, like your group and you have to learn how to pitch your business the first part of the class. Hey, my name is Timothy Cole. I'm the CEO for Elite Suites. This week I learned I talked to five entrepreneurs and I also talked to a graphic designer. I'm trying to get a logo started and I'm also trying to learn how to find wholesaling. You just say that. So the mentors who are in that class, who have started businesses before they can either A help you out in that, in that realm, or, b connect you with somebody that they've talked to in the space that can can help you with that. So I learned how to like advocate for myself.
Speaker 1:So hold on real quick. Hold that thought give me more context for the class, right? So it's a class that any student could take. Yes, I'm assuming ut had a group of mentors who would come every week and hear you speak, or was it just the other students like what, what was going on in this class?
Speaker 2:right, right. So I guess what they wanted to do. The whole premise of the class is to foster people who have ideas and watch it come from an idea to a full-blown product and, however that may be, it could become successful, it could not, but the fact that they want you, they want a group of students to learn how to grow a business and start from an idea and see it through. So we had six months, basically, to take an idea like hey, I think I really want to sell our protein donuts. Me, amin and Amir and Caleb would show up to the class because, since I was still a student, anybody who was in your company could come to the class. But you had to have one person who was a student and so you would show up and we would work for three hours. Like I said, the first half of the class was just everyone pitching their business, introducing themselves, because every week was a different set of entrepreneurs that were watching us or mentoring us for the week. But you also were assigned a main mentor, but he would show up every every Thursday, so, like somebody that would check in with you, keep you accountable. So we were just like, again, like every week, we had objectives. He was like I want to see what you guys like write down what you guys did for the whole week of your business and then come back next week and we can see where we can you know where we can kind of improve. So that was kind of the thing. That kind of got me started. But the goal of the class at the end of it you was you got into this to South by Southwest for the startup crawl. So it was a pretty much. It gave you a booth to advocate and pitch your business to other entrepreneurs and people who are coming into the city for South by Southwest. So we finally, once we got to that point, we get into South by Southwest.
Speaker 2:At the time, while I'm in grad school, I thought it was a great idea to intern for the UT football creative department. Coach Strong had just got fired. We got tom herman comes in and I'm starting to see that they have like they're taking pictures and they're putting a lot of stuff on social media, doing videos and all these things. So I'm like I want to know about the production of you know building a brand, like starting media and doing you know kind of telling your story, like that little. I'm right there doing really well as storyteller. So I dm the texas creative page and I say, hey, I like what you guys are doing. I see you guys have like a creative department. Can I come in and teach you guys? Teach me everything you know. And he was like the guys responded like, yeah, come by this week. And so I started showing up. So I had an internship I'll also um, doing grad school and doing this class so so I applied my you know, photoshop, illustrator, adobe, lightroom, all of those creative things. I applied that to start the business. So I created a logo for us, I helped make T-shirts, I did flyers for the company, all of that, just so we could have like a booth that you know kind of felt well represented. And it was kind of cool because, like I said, we had the team aspect. We had me and the four of us had our t-shirts, and then we got our buddies who were still in in um at UT, um, some of the football players came to the startup crawl. Some of our students would come and show up, so we had a large like community that was at our booth.
Speaker 2:Something I had noticed is his name was Robert and he had. Just he was like, hey, I like you guys' business. He was like I think you guys should enter a competition called we Work Creator Awards. I was in it the year before my company won money. I think you guys can. They're trying to, you know, trying to branch out, make sure they get more diverse business owners and stuff like that. So we're thinking the guy's just gassing us up. I was like, yeah, whatever. But we ended up taking him up on the offer.
Speaker 2:We pull up Sunday to the WeWork office in Austin downtown. We go there. We bring some sample donuts that we had, which is our minimum viable product, our first product. So we bought him something. We had everything we could marketing materials, the donuts, the whole nine and we all show up. We pitch the business kind of show who we are as people. Um, I think they like our, they were charismatic and the fact that this was such spur at a moment we could have. You could easily like blew them off and didn't show up. But we took this guy's. You know what he what he said. It was like, hey, let's just hear him out. We show, show up every day, like, oh, we love you guys, you guys should apply. So we applied, we did a video, we sent it in and a month later.
Speaker 2:So the competition, the startup call, was in March for South by Southwest. We hear back from the Creator Awards in April. So they're like, hey, we want to fly you guys out to San Francisco, um, for the semifinals, to pitch your business and things like that. People win money for this, they win funding. So at the time I'm like man, I don't have any entrepreneurship experience. I've only been doing this for four months. Um, we you know, we just had eyes on us for South by Southwest. Now you're talking about people are telling us they're going to fly us out to San Francisco. This is blowing my mind While I'm still in grad school. So I'm like dude, telling my professors like, hey, I might be gone for a week, you know, to do this. And they're kind of encouraging it because I guess grad school is like a place to foster growth and, you know, start your career. So they're understanding it's like man, it's super cool. Keep us posted on this, because I think that makes the school look good. It makes it here. He is doing this and let's highlight that. So we go to San Fran, we win the semifinals. They tell us. They're flying us out again the week after that for the finals Fast forward.
Speaker 2:We ended up getting second place but we won funding of $180,000 to start the business and so after that I'm kind of full in. At this point Let me dive in. This is pretty much my job at this point. I mean finished grad school, but also I'm starting a company with three of my friends in college, which is super cool because none of us again had family members that started a company or anything like that. We just came in with an idea, showed that we had a community. People fostered to the idea, we showed we had work ethic for it. And now we are here we are. After that we used that money to get into a commercial kitchen in Austin. So I'm fresh out of grad school. I got my master's, I'm starting a business.
Speaker 2:We go every Tuesday we would go and make batches of donuts in business. We go every Tuesday we would go and make batches of donuts. But the thing about it, what I learned is what you start with is not what you finish with. Like learning things like baking in a in an apartment kitchen or a regular kitchen doesn't translate to a bigger facility because, like I said you have to scale it. So relearning how to scale ingredients, scale processes, and so it's like I'm gonna feel like I'm a scientist, almost a scientist in a commercial, like we're wondering like, okay, what temperature should we put it on? How long does it? Um cook in this oven versus our smaller oven? And okay, does the? Do we need to put more um of this ingredient um in here, or or less of it? Because it doesn't. The consistency is different when you make large batches versus a small batch. So that kind of helped me.
Speaker 2:I really enjoyed that, because with any business you kind of have to have those those genesis journeys. You got to start out and figuring things out. You're not going to come out with a perfect product the first time you, you, you come out with it. And I and I thought that was pretty interesting I'm like man, it let us know what, like all of our inefficiencies that we had as a business. So from there I knew we like, hey, we need to get more money so we can get better ingredients. That was what. And then, although we had a nice, uh nice logo, I say I don't think our packaging is up to par for what we want to do, like if we're just selling it, like you know, on farmers markets, I think that'd be perfect for what we're doing. But we kind of were thinking bigger is like, hey, we could be, you know, I want to be sponsor, official sponsors for, like you know, sports teams and athletes and going in the Whole Foods, gncs, hebs that's kind of what I was thinking, and so we knew we needed more money, and so that's kind of where we learned how to start fundraising.
Speaker 2:Talking to other people in Austin about getting money, we did more accelerator programs, which I'm figuring out. There are other groups in Austin that invest into businesses but they have you in a cohort and they teach you more things about growing on your next step, the ideation stage. Now you're at the fundraising stage and they're teaching you how to go and fundraise your business. And what I thought was interesting, they gave us more books. Like I said, I'm reading a lot of books at this point. They're giving us books on how to get backed or just different biographies on different businessmen who started companies and how to scale, becoming like 10X in your business. So I'm just learning all these books allowing me to have ingredients to start a business, not only this one, but I can repeat the process on several businesses. So in the process, we're reading, we're growing, we're getting more money, like I was in, like we was in a group called it was A16Z. It's an investment group out of San Francisco. They a lot of those guys invested in like Facebook, twitter, slack, things like that. So they started to do more consumer packaged goods, like food companies. So they started to do more consumer packaged goods for like food companies.
Speaker 2:So it took a chance on us. We got in there, got some more money, we were able to kind of improve our product with the ingredients, we was able to improve the labels all of that. Also, we got ourselves into a facility, castle Rock, colorado, because we realized Colorado has better baking temperatures and the atmosphere is way is better to bake there than Texas. So we was able to meet with somebody who, um, his name was I forgot his name, but he started. Um, he was a research guy behind Udi. Udi is a gluten-free company that's in Whole Foods. He worked with them at first and then he kind of liked us. He's like I'll help you guys out. So we moved into a facility in Castle Rock, colorado and started there. We're still growing, like I said, still learning. And then after that we got into another accelerator program called Sputnik ATX, so we were in their cohort and then we also was able to raise more money to be able to flourish our business and so fast forward.
Speaker 2:Now, right now we're taking a little break because I guess the goal for us now is to really figure out how to get into HEB, get into Whole Foods and grow sustainable. But I would say we're blessed because we made it past COVID, yeah, which was very interesting, I think from that whole perspective. We had shut down for a little bit and had to figure out a regroup, which was interesting, but to be able to make it past that and still have a business is very interesting. So now, like I said, we're regrouping. We plan to, like we launch our product again soon, but right now, like I said, all of that, the whole journey from learning how to be like, learn how to be a man, like in college, going from a student athlete you know bumps, bumping your head Like you play football to the highest level, although you didn't go to the league, you found success um in your life and learn how to adapt and and I taught myself that where you are now you don't.
Speaker 2:You don't never have to like live in a box of someone's expectations. You can always, always exceed those expectations. I love that. I can always evolve and and prove people. Prove me right, but prove people wrong as well. A lot of people have this preconceived notion of who I am as a person and I feel like every time someone talks to me or meets up with me another time, they're like blown away that I'm not even the same person that you met, you know, a year ago, two years ago, which is very interesting, so I want to rewind, yeah.
Speaker 1:I know probably all over the place. No, no, no, it was good. The story was, was linear and it was. That's my, that's why I ain't cut you off, cause it was good, you gave good details and all that stuff. But I want to, I want to think about, um, um, one thing about that time in UT when Coach Strong was there, because you know, as as a student athlete, as a black student athlete, like that was a momentous time, like people, like Black Post was strong, everybody was strong, everybody was suit. We were just we're going to win a national championship and it just it just spiraled down.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying and I think, because our entire audience is student athletes, current student athletes, I'm wondering can you talk about how you were able to and maybe you didn't right, did you separate you who? You separate your experience as a student athlete from your experience as a student? Because while you're like exploring and learning all these things about UT, football is not going well, right? So how were you able to be able to find all of these wins in other parts of your life while football is not going well? Talk about, talk about that, like what it took for you to do that and the other brothers that you were doing this business with, who were in school with you, who are being more than just, you know, athletes. Yeah, man, I feel like so for me.
Speaker 2:I came in and I have Mack Brown as my coach the first two years I'm at UT. So I have him, I play a little bit. I'm not playing a lot, so I'm already in my mind thinking like, hey, while you're getting some PT, you should also be making sure you keep your student life just as good, so we might not be winning. I was like I got to catch a dub in some aspect of my life while I'm here. I got to handle pressure the right way. My parents always told me like, again, I hate losing, but once that game's over, like you got 24 hours to like to grieve and be upset, you got to move on. So that's kind of how I approached it, because it would hurt me deeply. But when Coach Strong gets here, I'm kind of like happy because I'm like all right, you know? Um, I'm seeing how, you know, could Mack Brown resign because he didn't want to have like be on the hot seat every, every year, like having to like hey, we don't, we don't know if we want you or not. So he's like I'm gonna leave and you back, let me, let me take a back seat. Coach Strong gets here, I'm going to leave and you back. Let me take a backseat. Coach Charles gets here. I'm like all right, this is crazy, because I've never had a black coach high school like a head coach. I've had black coaches coach me, but having a black head coach was like something new and I was like, well, let me, I'm moving too fast. Let me fast, give me a rewind.
Speaker 2:In the hiatus between Mack Brown resigning, there's Christmas break. So I go home and you know I'm hanging out with family. You go to the barbershop, you know you get your haircuts and things like that. And on the ticker on ESPN, they're like giving like coaching candidates, like for the Texas job, and I'm seeing the tears. You know they want Nick Saban. And there's like Coach Strong here from Louisville. Then there's James Franklin. I forgot what school he was before he went to Penn State. There's a bunch of different guys. I think he was at Vanderbilt. Yeah, he was at Vanderbilt at the time. So I'm thinking my mom like, alright, texas.
Speaker 2:I was like Texas is going to do something that's not very conventional here. They're going to try to, they're going to switch it up. I was like I feel like we're going to get a black coach. I was like, and them had Kevin Sumlin. I was like I was like I was like schools like that, they kind of like copy each other a little bit. I was like I bet we get a black coach. So I'm thinking like the biggest universities in college and in college, and then to be also led under with the black coach. I said, oh man, this is the best of both. Where I got it, I want that go.
Speaker 2:Lo and behold, it happens. Coach strong gets hired and I'm like I'm already knowing his background, like man. He won a national championship with, uh, florida. As a defensive coordinator. He done big things with Louisville, with, with, you know, teddy Bridgewater, all of that. I'm ready to go.
Speaker 2:He gets here and I'm excited about what he like, what he does. Like he's like man, he's like you guys, I'm going to get you guys Like we're going to win, we're not going to lose. Like we're not going to have any like down years anymore, we're not going to up and I'm like, all right, let's do it. Um, but I feel like how, what you want on the football field and being a UT, I didn't.
Speaker 2:I realized there's so many other things that need to be, need to happen, or you need to show to have a successful football program. Like I said, it's just more than just x's and o's, it's like um, how do you communicate with your alumni? How do you communicate with boosters? Are you a personable person to go and do these? You know these talk shows, these press conferences and you know things like that. It's a lot. It's almost like I don't even. It's almost like you're a mayor, almost. Yeah, oh, you gotta go shake hands, you gotta kiss the babies, because these people donate money, they're they're very invested in the program. They want to see the program successful. I think.
Speaker 2:So you have to have both. You have to be a good coach off the field you got to be like a ambassador off the field but you also have to be a leader of man on the field and I think he he had a. I think he had that recipe right in terms of like connecting with players and you know, being that guy you can go talk to in the office and you know want to talk to. I think he had that. Well, I think he. I think he's a great defensive coordinator and he did a good job like trying to like have like he had some philosophies that were great, I think, in the grand scheme of things, he just like in terms of just the culmination of people not want Like I don't think people really wanted him here to begin with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, as much as he tried to not make that a big deal, I think it bothered him. You know, I think and I think sometimes he could you could show, you saw that pressure in his face again. Maybe that's for me. I kind of I'm a person I read body language well. I see people for things deeper than what it is. You can only show face so much. I knew it kind of was bothering him, like those things. I think he would hear things or that he probably wouldn't express to us about that person. I think. Also, it kind of didn't to me, it didn't allow him to move the way that I think he really wanted to and I think he should have just I think he should have done that been more confident. He's like, hey, if I'm here, if I'm going to be the coach, this is how I'm going to go out, because, again, if you're playing, if you're coaching, teaming or trying to coach to what you think other people are going to want, it's not going to be, it's not an idea, and I think that's kind of.
Speaker 2:He got caught in that whirlwind. I think a lot of players saw it. I'm not going to say we saw it in the beginning, because I think in the beginning he was really building stuff and I think he had the recipe to like kind of make it work. But us losing those close games we would lose, because it wasn't like we were like getting blown out, we were just like five points and or like a missed field. I'm like this doesn't feel right.
Speaker 2:And then I remember one game specifically where I felt like they was out to get coach drone. We were playing oklahoma state at home and we're doing really well. We're up and and we're on defense and Puna Ford gets called for defensive holding and I'm like, don't get me wrong. I mean, I know it's a call, but I think that call was like a phantom call because no one ever calls that and that really, if you watch the play, it wasn't a defensive holding. So Coach Strong was a little upset. He didn't talk to the ref, but he's not like getting disrespected with the ref or anything like that. But the ref like does this thing where he like bumps into Coach Strong on purpose and then he calls a flag on Coach Strong and I'm like man, it feels like the fix is in on him, like there's like an underlying, like you know, motive, like hey, let's give this man a hard time.
Speaker 2:And I'm like so I'm noticing things like that and just I would see like like coach strong, after a game like game like that was super winnable um, he, because he's always, he's like I'm always the last person off the bus.
Speaker 2:Um, well, when we have away games home, then anything like that, I'm always the last one off the bus, just because like, oh, that's how I do things, I'm slow to move, coach strong was off, so he always like kind of like the last one off the bus, just because like, oh, that's how I do things, I'm slow to move, coach Strong was off, so he always like kind of like last one on the bus.
Speaker 2:And I would see like the stress in his eyes after a game from like losing, because it's like one thing to lose. But then he's like people, these men's jobs are on the line. It's like, hey, you know towns, they got kids and things like that, and with the, with the revolving door of coaching, like your job could be called for any moment, just because somebody don't like the direction you're going in or they don't feel like you know they don't want to. They don't want to. They may not want to wait four years for you to get this thing moving. So I think that's just. It was just tough watching a black man struggle like that and try to do good and how did you deal with that?
Speaker 1:because I'm thinking about the student athlete in basketball. The student athlete could be track, it could be soccer, could be whatever, and you come into a season with high expectations, or or a number of seasonal high expectations as a new coach, somebody's retiring or you know things. You can see a trend from previous years where things are getting better and all of a sudden things are getting worse, right?
Speaker 2:So I mean, I'm going to be honest with you. So, before Coach Strong, I wanted to transfer Because, like I said, I had, like Beck Brown was the guy who recruited me and I'm like, if he's leaving because he's like he was basically saying I don't know, like I guess he's like I don't like the like people not giving me like the grace to like, hey, you're the guy we want here. So he leaves. So I'm already feeling away. I'm like, should I transfer? Because, like we didn't, we were one game away from winning the Big 12 championship my sophomore year. So I'm like we didn't have success that I wanted. I was like, should I get a fresh start? So then I'm like no, let me stay. Like I said, I like the school here. I was like I gotta, I have a good feeling that we're gonna get a good coach. So I'm like all right. So then when coach sean gets it and we're not winning, I'm not seeing that success. Uh, I'm playing more, but as I'm playing while I'm watching, like I I said I'm playing, we're not winning, we're not getting it done. I'm like, man, we're losing. I'm stressed out. Every week I'm upset because I don't like, I feel like the work we're putting in during a week is not being showcased or we're not finishing it on the game. So it's like man. I was like we worked too hard to go and lose on some penalties or something crazy. I was upset, man, I wanted to leave again. I'm like I should get out of here. It's like this is not working for me. Like I said, I stress out, I put in all these hours during the week and then I go play football on Saturday. So six days out of the week I'm dedicated to football and I can't even get a win To. To me. It it takes a shot at my confidence. Um, it takes a shot at, like, my prize. Like what am I doing this for? Like what am I here for, you know? So it's just like man. Like the love of the game really got tested for me to stay sane or also keep things like balance and perspective.
Speaker 2:I sought out, you know, different. I was like man while spending all these hours in this facility. As soon as I got out of there, I grasped on like oh, there's the hump day, where the frats and the black frats and black sororities are. I want to go over there. To me, that was a a haven, a step away from, yeah, the politics, the, the pressures of all, the, the drama of you know that being what college sports is. That's why that bubble just give you so much pressure as much you try to like stay stressed out, stay stress free from it. So I would go grasp onto like, all right, who am I as a person? Just Timothy, just a regular student. So I would go to the probates, I would go to the events that were on in campus to go, like I said, foster this other identity of mine of like man, who you want to be as a person, who you is, who are you? So I would always grasp on that during the week when I would have free time, any time, to go hang out with people that were like me.
Speaker 2:So I thought that was the only way I could make the most of my time at UT. Because if I would have just uh, succumbed to just athletes, athlete, you know, gang, let me just go lock in and fit in, they're not like I think I wouldn't have been. Honestly, I think I would have health wise. I don't think it would have been healthy for me to handle that type of uh stress like that, because it I mean I'm. I'm gonna add another tidbit all while having coach strong, a black coach, dealing with the pressures of winning, my brother passes away in college.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm dealing with that and it's just like there's so many things being thrown my way and I think that was the one time I felt like, all right, you're a man now. It's like, bro, like you know, you lived in this, you know bubble of comfortability. Like, yeah, say you got your family, we all do anything like my brother's in college. We're doing like I said, we got a nice family. Like I'm gonna be playing football for the university of texas. Nothing can go wrong, you.
Speaker 2:And then I get hit with my brother passing and I'm like, yo, this is real. Before that, the only thing I'm used to, people dying of old age, yeah, I never had someone that close to me pass away 25, and here I am 21. I'm like, yo, this is real. So I'm just like, again, I, I have to find healthy ways to um, to grieve. I had to find healthy ways to handle stress and I had to find healthy ways to handle defeat. So you can see where, like, I'm trying to figure out, man, I have to get out of this where everyone's expecting me here. I need to go somewhere. I'm not known, I'm new, and so that's why I've grasped so hard to being a student.
Speaker 2:Just like my classes I would make sure I go talk to, like I said, all the all my classes that I took for, like, african-american studies, race in asia, obama um, afro black athletes in sport, age of Obama, black athletes in sports all of those things to me helped me find the source of like, my identity. Like I said, I mean, I always knew I was a black man. I always knew like who I am as a black person. Like I said, my family's all you know blackness, but going to a college and actually finding that for yourself as an adult was therapeutic for me. Yes, I could be like.
Speaker 2:Like I said, you can have you're in a space where they embrace sharing of ideas, they embrace um, speaking up. Uh, like I said, now you don't have to have this. You know echo chamber of like, having the same ideas. So, like, I got to be a black man in a space that's mostly predominantly white, but also feel proud to to be who I am. Like I said, I'm growing out my hair, I'm growing locks. I'm not worried about how I look per se in terms of that I need to be this, you know, this guy for people I'm becoming my own man, my own person as a black man in this space, where I think a lot of people kind of I ain't gonna say walk away or falter from, but I don't think people fully embrace until they leave school, you know let me ask this question, tim Hall.
Speaker 1:What do you know? I'm 30, so you're 30. I think it's interesting. In your 30s you don't have, so you're the same age I was when I was your TA, like around that age, probably like 29, 28, 30, depending on what year, right, but I graduated when I was 30 years old from UT.
Speaker 1:Okay, and it's like man, when you're 30, you can look back at your twenties. You can kind of see like you have a perspective of success. You can look back and be like yo, I kind of did pretty good in my 20s. You know what I'm saying. Like yeah, and, but when you're in your 20s you'll see my way. You know you don't see it. You don't see it and you don't know it. And so I'm thinking about the student athlete who's in their 20s. Right, or maybe they're in their 20s and they just graduated, they're no longer a student athlete.
Speaker 1:Talk about the perspective that you have now being 30. You won at UT as a student. You won like you won better than most students. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, you took L's on the football team, took family L with your brother passing away. But just talk about the perspective that you have now looking back on that and like where, where you are, how you, how you value that experience or what you like, the broad ideas about what you learned about yourself in that right so, like you said, like when you're in it, you don't see it.
Speaker 2:But now that I'm 30 and, like I said, when I talk to people about my college journey, I realized I was actually building those bricks for what I wanted to do now. And so, like I said, like I, my perspective on is, like I said, like for people who are in their 20s, are still in school, I would say, continue to like, feed your curiosity because, like I said, things look grim in the beginning. Like I said, things look grim in the beginning, like I said, a lot of people switch majors, switch careers, they quit, they start something, don't finish it, they start giving up. I think, if you just know, like I said, keep what you want, keep the goal, keep that the main thing, but the journey in between, erase in your mind of how it's going to go from this point, just know, just know you want to get to that point and leave the middle part flexible. And I say that because I said my, my journey wasn't linear per se. Like I said I, I went to grad school, didn't actually know what I wanted to do, yet Doing advertising in the midst of advertising, I chose entrepreneurship which is, like I said all, not even like I said, I wouldn't say that the same journey, like all different paths, but doing those things constantly and consistently, from from graduate, graduating till now, has guided me to the point I am. I'm here today, so it's like all the stress you're having about me, I don't know who I am. You're watching people take jobs that they're finding, they're getting, they're getting money in or doing like things you like oh, I'm not. When am I gonna find my, my purpose or my passion? And so you can't, don't, don't, compare yourself to other people. But again, continue to want to like, continue to network. And I'm so glad I networked, yeah, I'm glad. I'm so glad I like opened my mouth and talked to people about what, what I wanted, what, what made me curious, what kept me up at night, things like that. Because I feel like if I didn't, I don't think people would have you know, because, like you can't, a lot of people expect like things just to happen for you and it don't. It don't work like that, it's like you're only a accumulation of your works. So you just got to constantly just do things, be of service to someone you know, ask questions and things like that. I think just I'm so proud that I was curious. I'm so glad I was.
Speaker 2:I had enough want to and initiative to pursue my academics seriously. I actually want to grow and I don't know if, like, knowledge is so crazy and so slept on. I'm a sucker for knowledge in any realm and I just continue to continue to learn, even after I was done with school. And I think that's the key. I think a lot of people we go grab that, we get that piece of paper from the school and we think that's it. Oh, I graduated. Here's my, here's my degrees on the wall. But the work, the work starts after you graduate. You got to continue to pursue some type of seeking of knowledge, whether that's going to another school or just the journey within your career of going to work, putting in the work, getting that experience. That's like you're still learning. I feel like you got to go with the experience life so that you can create the life you want.
Speaker 1:I'm going to ask you a question about advice you would give to student athletes interested in making the journey to entrepreneurship, and maybe starting that journey now as a student athlete. But the context is very different from when you were in school because you got NIL. I was just going to mention that. It's totally different now and I wonder I wonder, how do I say this? There's so much pull with NIL. I actually don't think NIL is entrepreneurship. I think NIL is your. It's, it's sponsorship and spokesperson ship, something new that maybe hadn't been done, or doing something that had been done in a different way. So talk about why maybe, in addition to NIL, people should be thinking about starting their own business, creating something new that they have ownership of, rather than just being an employee or sponsor for somebody else.
Speaker 2:Now, I'm glad you asked that question because I think that's a very great question. I've been having this conversation with a couple of my teammates about this now, because I feel like NIL is one thing. I feel like when we first started talking about paying players, my idea of that was the NCAA was giving us a portion of their revenue that they made from games, jerseys, all of that. That's what I'm thinking and I think we got I ain't going to say we got distracted, but we got sidetracked. And then it was like well, name, image and likeness, let's do that. You know, based on name, you know you can get paid. You know somebody wants to sponsor you. They can do that. Again, I feel like we're only at the tip of the iceberg. We're only doing sponsorships and, like I said, people are spokesmen for company. But I always thought I'm like, while we're making money and you're a student athlete, your name is, as you have, so much social currency now than you will ever have any other time. So, while your social currency and your name is high, why don't you use that money to build something? Because at least, let's say, you start a freshman year. I got this Lamborghini sponsorship. I got this sponsorship with this real estate group and I'm making these six figures While I have it, I feel like it's better to go ahead and take that start building a company. It could be anything, no-transcript. By the time you just say, from freshman year, by the time you're senior year, you've built four years of building this company. You're getting, as I said, you're getting your own capital. You don't have to go and fundraise. You're getting this money to do all these things and just say, just say, right now, ut is very successful. So if we're successful in the football field, that's only going to intensify my IEL opportunities. If I have a business, so add me having a business. I'm going to make a play on Saturday. They're like, oh good, play by Timmy Nicole. Did you know he also started. He has his own real estate company. You know what I mean. So now people are like, oh shit, go. You know, go support his business here. Yeah, I think that's. I think that's gonna, to me, build generations of people who are no longer just going to graduate from college, seeking just any kind of job. If you're an athlete, you can legit change your life where you don't even have to play football anymore per se.
Speaker 2:If I go to the league. That's, that's, that's a perk, that's that's a plus. But if I've already started a business and it's generating revenue not just any kind, like it's generating big revenue, I'll you have no choice but to want to go pursue that full-time and see it. See it go, because, like I feel like the higher you go successfully in your athlete, the bigger, the better is. So you got something that's already helping you.
Speaker 2:But whenever you decide to hang those cleats up and I think a lot of people miss out on that, like I said, we're taking the NIL money People go to the league, but I think when they leave the league, some of these cats I'm not going to say they're lost, but I feel like you got to start over and build something when you could have already had it, you know, while you were, while you were coming up. So at least like, at least when you leave, you don't have again, you're not going to like I need to go back to school to go do this or I need to go work for this company while I figure this out, you already had it figured out because you already advocated for yourself.
Speaker 1:You know it's interesting and I think I think, really interesting classes at UT Austin back when both Tim and I were in school there. And it's like one of the things that the more we'll talk about is use the capital that you have right now as a student athlete. And I think what you're talking about now because the situation is different with NIL and all that stuff, there's immense social capital, but then there's also the opportunity for monetary capital In this circumstance it didn't exist before. So let's say, ut Austin, your third string, your third string running back at UT. You're still on UT's football team. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:You still might be part of the NIL deal, even though you're not the superstar. You're right, you could still leverage that opportunity to start your business because you're probably not going to go to the league. Let's say you're the star at the non-Power 4 school, okay, mid-major, like you're a star. You're in a large city, like, let's say, where I live in San Antonio, but your chances of going to the league are still low, even though you're the star where you are. You might as well leverage the fact that you're in an environment that appreciates who you are your local star, local celebrity and use that to start your business. Even though you might have an opportunity to go to the league, I think it's wise to just take advantage of the brand that you have in the moment, because the moment you graduate you ain't with Texas football, no more, or Oklahoma football, or wherever you are, it's not the same. People don't receive you in the same way?
Speaker 2:Not at all. Again, even like, even your, even your coaches and people who are on staff, they'll, they'll say hey to you, they'll welcome you, but you don't have the same 24 seven access to them. Like, hey, can I get this, can I get that? So it's like, why you're here, bother these people. Like I said, they're, that's what they they they're, they're, they're there for you. So again, like you said, somebody who's like in a mid-major, but it's still a big city. If you don't go to league, you're still. You're still somebody in that city, like I said, and most people who are fans of sports, they always want to follow up with with you after, after you play football.
Speaker 2:I know multiple people who, like, are genuinely curious about who I am after football. Oh man, I used to watch you all the time at UT. What are you doing now these days? And that's why I think starting a business with NIL now is so important, because I didn't go to the league and you said, oh man, you was a great linebacker, what are you doing now? I was like, oh, I have this and I live in. I still live in the city.
Speaker 2:So, oh, I'm going to come check you out, I'm going to come by your store. I'm going to come by. You know, by your bit, I'm going to tell my friends about you. I have a Facebook group and we always look for to support. I'm going to put you in our Facebook group. You know what I mean. Like I think people forget, like why you go to these schools. You also have to have build this community. You're going to end most people are going to end up living or working in the city that they went to school at Nine times out of 10, you know, if not, you're going to be in the state that you went to school in.
Speaker 1:Well, that's true in Texas, for sure foster these relationships.
Speaker 2:A lot of people turn their not turn their nose up, but they don't think it's important. Like I said, they just tunnel vision. Yeah, I'm a sports, I'm going to get to the league and again, I want you to keep the main thing, the main thing. Don't get me wrong, keep that the main thing. But while you have that free time, while you're shaking hands with these things, I want people to, I want student athletes to, you know, wrap their mind about how important the time is for them. And we're in such a great time as a student athlete than we all were 10 years before. You guys are making legit money that could change your life, and I would hate for you to just have the money and not use it appropriately. That's how. That's what I think. So I said, I think I encourage all student athletes.
Speaker 2:Man, like, whether you want to be like start, like start entrepreneurship, or like learn about investing, those those things I think matter because you're going to learn, you're going to have to do those things anyway at some point in your life. So why not jump on the ball when you're at the peak of your popularity? So that's how. Oh, go ahead, go ahead. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, that's all I was going to say. Just I just think why you? Why are you at the peak of your popularity, man? Maximize that and use that money to your advantage and actually get your mind going about creating something, being a creator versus a consumer. A lot of people make money and they go spend that money, which is fine, but naturally let me ask something there.
Speaker 1:You said being a creator versus a consumer. I would say versus also being the product. Because a football player, you're the product, right when you're the sponsor, when you're someone is having you sponsor their Ferrari or whatever, you're still part of the product, but like that's different than actually being the producer. Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think also a lot of these, and I don't know if I'm sure it's possible, but I want also student athletes. Like when these companies come to you with these NIL bills, why not also try to leverage? Like, hey, can I get a percent of something, let me get a stake in this, or can I get a seat in these companies? I think we got to take it beyond just being a product, being a sponsor. Dude, these companies are making money off of you. While they're making money off of you, like I said, you're scratching their back, they have to scratch yours as well. So I think you should just leverage more than just like I'm going to do this in exchange for money, but you should also get something other than just money Facts. Like I said, these companies they're going to always get the upper hand. So you need to also be thinking about how can I leverage myself and put myself in a better position, because I want to have a seat at the table.
Speaker 2:I guess that's where my mind is now. I'm 30. We're having conversations. I want to have a seat, I want to have a stake in something. That way, my blood, sweat and tears is gaining equity. A lot of people don't think about that. At the end of the day, you're getting paid, don't get me wrong. But I feel like if some people say, hey, I'm not going to take this front-end money, I'll take back-end money, I think a lot of these athletes would be a lot better off For sure better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah for sure. Um real quick before I ask my final question are you familiar with notley notley?
Speaker 2:yeah, man, um elaborate give me, you know so, um, yo, there's this.
Speaker 1:Um, I don't know if they billionaires, but they at least 100 millionaires. It's a white couple that lives in austin and the husband like sold some business, signed company or something to some other company or whatever. You know, typical Austin stuff, right. And so Notley is basically part of that venture capital social entrepreneurship ecosystem in Austin and every year they have a cohort of Notley fellows and basically they give you like a masterclass for two years on business entrepreneurship. You sit down with VC people, all of that, and they had started to expand to San Antonio. I was in the second San Antonio cohort but then they decided to pull out because I guess I don't know what all the politics was, but whatever. But they still function in Austin and I think the fellows it's under 40. So, like that might be something you want to check out.
Speaker 1:My um, my homeboy, mike Johnson, who's been on my other podcast, has done it and, um, I think it'd be like a pretty good opportunity for you where you are now, because it's all. It's a social capital opportunity. It's like an investment opportunity or people to invest in you and whatnot as well. It's basically another. It's almost like another accelerator or incubator. It's not just confined to people to have a business like. You could be someone who's got a non-profit which is business like, or doing some amazing thing, and it just kind of put you in a space to kind of like, grow and excel.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm definitely going to look into that for sure. Man, I appreciate it. Yeah, I'm going to send you. I'll send you the information. Actually, I'll probably connect you with my boy, mike. Last question is because I think I'm going to use this for both podcasts. The other one is Entrepreneur Appetite and it has origins as a book club, and so tell me some books that you've been reading or books that you've read in the past that have inspired your journey or maybe helped help make your journey a little bit easier.
Speaker 2:OK, absolutely, I'm about to pull out some books right now, man, all right. So, yeah, I got. So, yeah, I got. So I got a book called oh snap, it's called Get Backed by Evan Baer and Evan Loomis. It's pretty much a book on how to craft your story, build the perfect pitch deck and launch the venture of your dreams. So it teaches you how to craft your story, build the perfect pitch deck and launch the venture of your dream. So it teaches you how to like, talk to these VCs, make sure your business plan is not only for the present but also speaks to the future of what you want. I think it's an interesting book because I said when I first started out, I didn't have any entrepreneurship experience whatsoever. But what I've learned is that most people who are in entrepreneurship don't have, you know, any experience. They just had an idea, they believed in it passionately and then just kind of like didn't stop until you know somebody saw their vision. So I think this is a good book for anybody wanting to get into the entrepreneurship space but don't kind of know the ins and outs of like where to start. It gives you that, gives you that blueprint get into the entrepreneurship space, but don't kind of know the ins and outs of like where to start. It gives you that, gives you that blueprint.
Speaker 2:I also have another book called Shoe Dog, the memoir by Phil Knight. Yeah, I really enjoyed that book, man, just cause it'd be pretty much Phil Knight got out the mud, kind of similar to kind of how I am student athlete. He ran track at you know Oregon, him a student athlete, he ran track at you know oregon. Um wanted to like saw, I saw a space opportunity, um to um fix a need in the space. So he created, you know, shoes out of using a waffle iron and from there created, you know, nike, um, I think, um, that's also a good book, just because you never again, you never will.
Speaker 2:You start out, you know, you know, being bigger than what you initially, the dreams and goals you have set out for yourself, ends up being. You know, greater than what you would imagine. Recently I told you about, like you know, my interests. I have a couple of interests that I'm in. I'm super into fashion. You know I've started, you know, working on creating a clothing line. That's, you know that it's not just about clothes but it also has a greater message for overall, just self-esteem for men. I want to create it for dreamers and creators who, I guess, were lost at first. I'm speaking to like student athletes, so I call it. You know, obedient sons and creators who, I guess, were lost at first. I'm speaking to like student athletes, so I call it, you know, obedient sons. It's for people who had a dream, probably didn't reach it, and you got to adapt, change trajectories and then you still find success.
Speaker 2:There's a book called this Is Not a T-Shirt by Bobby Hundreds. He's also a great. He started a streetwear brand, but he comes from the tech space. He started in the tech space, was successful in it, but he only did it because his parents. That's what he wanted to do to make his parents proud. But he always was heavily into streetwear culture and fashion. So he started a blog that got some traction and then he ended up creating his own clothing line, which is now successful, and most people who are in streetwear they kind of reference Bobby Hundreds at some point.
Speaker 2:And then, lastly, dapper Dan, made in Harlem, is another memoir I read. I lived in New York for two years and I got a chance to meet Dapper Dan, just so listen to his story. Gucci copied a lot of his designs that he came out with in the 80s and 90s and they finally gave him the respect they deserve and, like you know, gave him an official sponsorship. And now he has his own boutique in New York where he has the freshest of Gucci materials and makes shirts and he can make suits and things like that tailor them to you. Um, I like it because, again, he, during the time of fashion, back in like the seventies, eighties, like, but it's just a black, it was a black man Like he didn't have the money to go, just go get these fabrics and things of that nature, but he made knockoffs, but his knockoffs were so good that these major fashion brands took notice.
Speaker 2:And so you know, like, no matter how small you are, like it's important to start something because at some point there's always eyes on you People. You think people aren't watching. I know every major company in every industry pays attention to the little guys. The little guys are what influence the big big guys. If you you I see it all the time like little creators always get copied off of and then a big company does it and then they don't get any recognition.
Speaker 2:It's like, oh man, they took my idea and we always think they're lying. And it's true, like they hire people to to stay in the culture and figure out what's popping, what's trending, and so that's why I like that book. I say like, let's be know, like everyone's unique, we all have our own thing. That just gives us our own superpower. So, again, like, never change who you are, only continue to intensify and continue to foster your superpower, because that's what people are jealous of, that's what people resonate with, and they kind of want that from you. And you don't realize it because, again, we're in the moment, but other people see your greatness, so you got to continue to remind yourself how great you are.
Speaker 1:Tim, thank you for sharing. I appreciate it and much success to you. Thank you for joining this edition of Entrepreneurial Appetite. If you liked the episode, you can support the show by becoming one of our founding 55 patrons, which gives you access to our live discussions and bonus materials, or you can subscribe to the show. Give us five stars and leave a comment.