Latest / The Standard / From Southern University Athlete to MBA CEO — The Pivot Operating System for Athletic Success | Ep 60 Evan Alexander

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From Southern University Athlete to MBA CEO — The Pivot Operating System for Athletic Success | Ep 60 Evan Alexander · The Standard

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the standard podcast, where we raise the bar, rebuild the culture, and call out the lies nobody else will.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: This isn't motivation, this is a movement.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Thomas Rowe and I'm joined by my host, Aaron Charles, and today we're super excited.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: We're sitting down with Evan Alexander, MBA and founder, CEO and of Lead Coach and Pivot Athletic Consulting, where he helps athletes navigate the new world of NIL, financial strategy, personal brand decisions, and life well beyond sports.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: Evan's story is one of athletic experience, academic excellence, corporate leadership, and now dedicated service to the next generation of athletes.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: A former Southern University athlete, an MBA graduate with 15 years of corporate leadership experience, Evan brings a unique combination of athlete credibility and executive level clarity to help athletes make better decisions under pressure.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: What makes Evan's approach so powerful is his creation of the pivot operating system, a framework specifically designed to help athletes build lasting vision and optional beyond their playing options beyond their playing career.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: This isn't just career advice, it's systematic approach to decision making that protects today's opportunities while preparing for tomorrow's transitions.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: Evan understands that today's athletes face unprecedented complexities from NIL deals and personal branding to financial decisions and career planning, all along maintaining their competitive excellence.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: His mission through Pivot Athletic Consulting is to provide athletes, families, schools, and programs with a practical guidance that bridges the gap between athletic achievements and long-term life success beyond the game.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: Known for blending athlete credibility with executive level clarity, Evan represents what happens when someone takes their competitive experience, adds advanced education, corporate leadership, and dedicates their expertise to serving others who face the same challenges they once navigated.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: We're diving into the truth behind what it really takes to build identity, discipline, and legacy in sports and in life.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: Let's get into it.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: Evan, we're super excited.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: Both Aaron and I were talking about joining us.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's an amazing opportunity, and thank you for building this platform.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think athletes need more spaces like this to hear and understand the realities when it comes to life beyond sports.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: Of course.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Aaron and I couldn't do it alone, and we can't do it alone.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: It takes a village, right?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: So by working with you and the insight you're going to provide today, it's just going to be epic.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: So you're the founder and CEO of Pivot Athletic Consulting.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: You're a former Southern University athlete, MBA graduate, and have 15 years of corporate leadership experience.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: What does raising the standard mean to you in the work you're doing to help athletes navigate NIL, financial strategy, and life beyond sports?
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, great question.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Raising the standard for me, specifically sitting at the intersection of business and sports, I mean, today's athlete is sitting right at the crux of that, the way NIL operates today.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Raising the standard is really, for me, helping athletes understand that they're not only to be excellent on the field, but be excellent in the boardroom as well.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's critically important and imperative for their own success beyond sports to be to operate as a businessman, as a CEO of their own business.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's who they are, that's what they are operating as.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: So our goal and mission at Pivot is to raise the level of business acumen so they can operate at that level.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: And you are a current, you are a former athlete yourself.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: And what do you think is the biggest lie you feel the culture of the sports industry has sold athletes about decision making under pressure, personal branding, and what it takes to build lasting success beyond their playing careers?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think ultimately the biggest lie was really that performance and value are synonymous.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, while I do believe there is some connection, an athlete's value isn't completely tied to performance.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: What they do on the field isn't who they are.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: I believe that athletes are so much more and they're so much more valuable than just what they can produce on the field.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Athletes have skills beyond just what the stats can show.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you you're a former athlete yourself.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know those athletes that, you know, are critical to the team but may not implement the the stats onto the stat sheet.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, those blue guys, those ones that, you know, you don't necessarily see the statistics, but they're critical to the success of uh the overall team.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think athletes that that rolls over into life as well.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the skills that athletes possess and develop on the field translate far beyond just, you know, their playing careers.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we I mean we have seen you and I can both attest to how many athletes we've seen that have had so much God-given talent, but they are their own worst enemy, right?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: On and off the field.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it's sad to see that.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's, I mean, it breaks my heart.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: We see it all the time.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: You created the pivot operating system specifically to help athletes make better decisions under pressure and build vision beyond their playing careers.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: What did your own experience at Southern University teach you and how you were able to apply to 15 years of corporate leadership?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's a great question.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, for me specifically, and I guess to get a little bit into my story, right after starting, you know, my collegiate athletic career, I dislocated my knee third day of practice.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: So before I've played a true snap of college football, my kneecap is sitting on the on the outside of my knee and I'm being wheeled to the hospital.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: It definitively changed my perspective on sports.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And while I loved it, it shifted my perspective to say, you know, I need to get something from this bigger than what I'm just giving on the field.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that perspective grew and changed over time.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: It it planted a seed that I really believe was the seed that eventually became pivot, you know.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um the the whole perspective around the operating system is really understanding who you are and being able to apply that those values to the decisions that you make in the on the field, on within business, and then how you prepare for life beyond sports.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: Before I kick it over to Aaron, which is segment two, I I believe you and I didn't come up, I know I didn't, uh, with the NIL and the transfer portal.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think that's kind of a hindrance or I mean it's a blessing and a curse, or do you think it's more of an obstacle for athletes today?
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: I 100% believe that it's a two-edged sword.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: It is great in the sense of athletes are able to benefit monetarily from the effort and work that they put in.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we know collegiate athletics is a billion-dollar industry.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: As the, you know, the main focus of that entity, they should be compensated for that.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: That said, I think it also opens the can of worms for athletes, for organizations, for schools, universities.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: We need some parameters around one for the athlete to understand, okay, yes, you're able to, you know, monetize your name, image, and likeness and be paid for the work that you're putting in and the value that you're bringing to the school, but we also need to educate in order to help them understand what they're what that actually means from a tax standpoint, from business building standpoint, from a life building standpoint.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: So often we see athletes, you know, get so tied into their sports that when it ends, when there's an injury, you know, eligibility ends up and they don't, you know, make it pro, you know, they don't know where to go, they drift.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: And we we hear all these horror stories from athletes, you know, having identity crisis, you know, after sport.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And and and that's the the thing I kept seeing, and couldn't, I got to a point where I just had to do something.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm one of those people that I can't sit on the sideline for too long.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I I I decided to to leave, you know, corporate and go and you know, throw, throw, throw my hand into the fire to to help pull some out.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: And we love what you're doing.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna turn it over to Aaron with segment two identity and legacy.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron, take it away.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, Evan, I would love for you to just share with our audience who is Evan.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: All beyond all the accolades, beyond everything that Thomas has shared with our audience so far, just who is Evan?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, that's uh such a layered question.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I am originally from New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I grew up on the West Bank of New Orleans, went to Edna Car High School, which is going on to do great things.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think they've won about six championships in the last 10 years, and from there, you know, went on to have a great collegiate career and went into education.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: But beyond all of the sports and accolades, I'm a believer in God.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: I am a family man.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: I have married with three beautiful boys that that keep me up at night and going all day.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: So uh it's it's a wonderful life.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, you know, who I am is is really someone who's trying to serve the people in his life, whether that be on the business side, on the field, at home, my my goal is to serve the best way I can.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a I'm a servant leader.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: I I've always seen myself as someone who's willing to do the dirty work when it comes to helping the people that I care about, who I'm responsible for, who I'm responsible to.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that's critical for you know my my life and the the person who I am is is really being benefit and a goal and a benefit and someone that people in my life can benefit from in the long term.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: I love that term servant leader, and so grateful that um in my corporate career that was something was taught.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um went through.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to remember the author, but there's actually an author in a book out there, folks.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: Do your research around servant leadership.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: This was many years ago at Starbucks, but you doubt it it transforms the way you lead when you're in service of 100%.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it it's it's for me, uh great leaders are the ones who you know remove obstacles for their teams, not necessarily the one leading in charge and demanding orders.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership is really, you know, hey, this is how we do it, but there it's from a developmental point of view.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's also one that, you know, people are are more willing to follow someone who's willing to get down in the trenches and do the dirty work with them, versus, you know, just chilling out orders and telling them, you know, how to go where to go.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is this is the business.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Business is about people, and and that's the the greatest resource that we have on the planet, regardless of what AI does or or what uh technology advancements we may have.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: The greatest resource on the planet is people, and if you're serving people, you're making this place a better place.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: You could not have said it any better.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: I just want to say amen to that.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: We're never gonna get overtaken by technology because we're humans and we need interaction.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so 100% you're spot on with that.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, with that in mind, not only for yourself, but for the athletes and individuals you serve, what does legacy beyond all of that mean to you?
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: And how do you help athletes navigate building a legacy?
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, great question.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: For for me, legacy is is what is left behind for the people and communities that you know you are able to impact while you're here.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're here for a limited amount of time.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Bible says it's only a vapor, right?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: So what are you doing to benefit the people, the community, the spaces that you can affect while you're here?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And for me and and what I do with Pivot, helping to athletes to realize your your statistics and what you do on the field is great, but what you do to impact people is what is really going to be the lasting thing that is ultimately you're gonna be remembered for.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're not doing anything to you know benefit the people that are coming after you, whether that is raising the standard, whether that's you know, debunking the lies that you were told in order to help educate the future, that that's what really matters.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Again, it's it's all about people, you know, the families, the communities that you can raise up while you're here and leave something lasting is what legacy really means, is what's pivot is is true about athletics and and sport is great, but what what are we doing to help our communities, those people who are less fortunate, the the family that we have, you know, what what are we doing to benefit them in the long run?
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we can do all the things that can benefit ourselves, and and that's great.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's important, but at the same time, the things that we do and build that impact you know the next generation is what's really lasting.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think, you know, from my perspective, I think it's you know our responsibility to continue to build our society and lay more groundwork in order to you know advance you know the the systems and and communities that we come from.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's so important.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so with all of that in mind, what separates the athletes that successfully navigate, I think, the new complexities and the new challenges with NIL transfer portal, I mean you name it, from those that maybe don't, you know.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: So how do they balance the long-term decision making versus somebody that maybe doesn't do that as well?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: I really think it comes down to the the mindset, you know, that that athletes have.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Athletes have to shift their perspective on just being an athlete and focusing on, you know, what they're doing on the field.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, don't get me wrong, that's that's critically important because if you're not producing, you know, all that eventually goes away.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, shifting the mindset from being just an athlete to being more to being having a C what I like to call the CEO mindset.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Being the CEO of you, of your entity, of your business, of your athletic career is how athletes, you know, that's where it starts.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: The ones that are successful look at you know NIL as a business necessarily prized, a prize to be had.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: I I think that it's it's critically important for athletes in this new age, day and age to be to have that mindset in order to be successful.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: When you when you're thinking long term, you're thinking in systems, you're thinking in processes, that shifts from just you know the the short term to the long term.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: How do you how do I want my life to look in 10, 20, 30 years down the line versus you know, how can I get the biggest opportunity in an NIL deal today?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it it determin it changes and shifts the perspective of how much what what a deal may look like, you know, today versus okay, these the deal, this product or this thing that I'm you know advertising or partnering with, what does that look like, you know, 10 years down the line?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Is that something I want you know my kids and and my family and my community to see, you know, 10, 15 years from now and be proud of?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Or, you know, am I just taking the biggest opportunity for monetary gain today?
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think if athletes can shift that perspective and understand who they are and how their values align with the decisions that they're making, that that changes the whole perspective from the NIL athlete.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's huge.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: I've never heard anybody put it that way, but it's so impactful to think about you know, would I want this on my Instagram news?
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if I was scrolling back to it, you know, five, 10 years from now versus your point.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm living in that moment.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I think most young individuals are not thinking about the long-term strategy that's just this align with my values, yeah, and and that's the difference.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and I have has created great opportunity, but it it also created the need for great responsibility to yourself and to you know the people that you're connected to.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: It is it's critically important for athletes to think of themselves as more than just the now and think, you know, long term, you know.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna end inevitably for everyone, you know.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: And even if you have a long career and make it to the pros, you know, that that 35 is old man in sports, you know.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: And you look on the flip side on in business, some people aren't even getting deep into their careers at 35.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: They're still considered young and up and coming, you know, and that perspective and shift has to change from from the athlete.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: So they have to think longer term and realize that there's a whole lot of life beyond what sports, you know, is.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're thinking about that on the front end, you're able to make better decisions and reverse engineer the future that you want to have.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Listen up, kids.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's the best advice.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Listen up, tune in.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: With that, I'm gonna toss it back over to Thomas.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Aaron.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: All right, Evan, we're gonna get into segment three NIL and financial strategy.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: NIL has fundamentally changed college athletics.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: We we touched on that, as has the transfer portal.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: You help athletes navigate these opportunities by building financial strategy and personal brand decisions.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: What are the biggest mistakes you see athletes making in the NIL era and how does your corporate leadership experience help guide them?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, that's that's great.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it's critical for athletes to understand that whether they know it or not, when you walk into these colleges and universities and you're accepting money, you've become a business, whether you know it or not.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: You can operate as a good business or you can operate as a bad business.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if you understand that at a high level, then you start to make bad decisions.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: What we do is help athletes one understand that from day one.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, you're your business, you need to operate as such.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: NIL is an opportunity for you.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: But in order to maximize that opportunity, you need to have certain systems in place, especially from a financial standpoint, in order to maximize your opportunity, whether that be you know building a business entity, LLC S Corp in certain situations, having the understanding of taxes and how that impacts, you know, what your your financial, how it impacts your financial situation, those those are critical and important because they're not going away.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: Regardless of how much NIL you're able to achieve and attain, you know, IRS is IRS.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uncle Sam is coming for his, whether you know it or not.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, a lot of times that's that's the mistake.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's the biggest mistake I see most of the time is they get this NIL deal and they start spending as if that money is is you know good to go.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: And reality is about 30 of that percent is going to taxes.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: And if you don't prepare, prepare for that on the front end, you're you're looking at a tax bill that will be pretty, pretty rough on you at the end of the day.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I think education from that perspective and understanding the nuances that come along with it, because it's easy to say, oh, I'm gonna have a financial advisor and that person will handle all that for me.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: But how are you managing that financial advisor?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Are they actually benefiting you in the long run?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because we have all these entities, and it's I think it's important for them to have the access to that.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, you need to have the mindset in order to be able to manage that team, be the CEO of that business that you're creating.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're your support CPA, your sports lawyer, your financial advisor, all these people work for you, not the other way around.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: And regardless of you know your level of knowledge, you need to at least be able to ask the right questions, be able to let people that are around you know if they're actually benefiting you in the way that.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: That you know, you want it to be that aligns with your values.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's it's critical for for athletes to have that understanding and that education in order to benefit themselves in the long run.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you you wind up you know hearing these horror stories of athletes after their playing careers and done when they're in debt, they you know they're going through identity crisis, they they haven't developed those skills and the network outside of you know their sport, and now they're just drifting through life, and that's when you know things can get really dark.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: And and I've seen those situations happen in real time, and and that's really why, you know, I do the work that I do.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's to prevent those stories of of the athlete who you know was great on the field and had the great you know career, but 10, 15 years later, you know, they're they're in financial peril and their life is in shambles, you know.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's it's wasted resources when uh we don't develop from that perspective because life is so much bigger and so much longer than the the window of the athlete life cycle.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: No doubt.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: One of my favorite questions I'd like to ask our guests, especially athletes like yourself, if you knew then what you know now and you were gonna sit down with yourself as a college athlete at Southern University before you had the NBA jacashium and the 15 years of corporate leadership experience, what advice would you give yourself at that young age?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: That that's that's probably twofold for me.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think even at a young age, I was really locked in on you know getting better at my craft and being you know the best player that I could be.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't know if I enjoyed it in real time that at the level that I probably could have.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I probably would tell myself to stop and spell the roses from time to time just to understand, hey, you know, this is a great opportunity.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: You played at at Southern University, played in these great venues, you know, enjoy it, you know, a little bit more than than you did at the time.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: But also to think long term and and think, you know, what type of decisions could you have made, you know, to better yourself early on that could benefit, you know, 10, 20, 30 years down the line.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: Fun fact for me, I actually was compensated out of the the Ed O'Bannon case, basically birthed in IL.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, really?
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: So right after the case ended, everybody that had been a part of uh the college sports game had the opportunity to, you know, retain, you know, financial compensation from that case.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I got probably about$1,200 from that because I was on the game from for those that period of time.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't tell you what I did with that.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm I'm sure I spent it on something frivolous, some food and some clothes here, there.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: But what if what would happen if I had invested that or even just put it in a high yield savings account and didn't touch it for five, 10 years?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what could that compounding have been for me down the line?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and and granted, you know, that's that's chunk change compared to what athletes are getting today, but the mindset is is the the thing that you know stands out.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Ford, if you drop me into today's NIL with that same mindset, probably gonna do about the same thing and not necessarily benefit from it in the long term.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the story that you know I'm I'm trying to prevent athletes from you know having today.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, one of the advantages that I have when I talk to young athletes, I say, listen, I was 18, I was 20, you've never been 55.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: Trust me.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: And there's no there's no response to that.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: They just have to look at it and go, okay, right.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: So the pivot operating system is designed to help athletes make better decisions under pressure.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_02: Walk us through how this framework works and how it helps athletes think beyond just the immediate NIL opportunities to long-term options.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: So the the pivot operating system operates on four pillars.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: Which is who you are beyond the sports, beyond the stats.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Who are you at your core?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: That understanding that at a high level basically turns your decision making into a system versus just vibe.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're not going off of, you're not making decisions just based on a gut feeling.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: You're making decisions based on who you are at your core and understanding from a from a financial standpoint what partnerships, what deals that you know you won't be aligned with for the long term.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: After we walk through identity, then we're going to decision architecture, which basically creates a system of slowing things down.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're living in a fast-paced world, and business is always fast-paced, but when the pressure is on, that's when mistakes get made.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: And like we operate on, hey, let's let's slow this down, let's look at the the reality of this situation.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they might have said that deal may be on the table for 24 hours, but if it's a legitimate situation, you have time to you know discuss and and think through all the all the necessary things in order to make a well-informed decision that works for for you and your family specifically, which is critically important when you're thinking about the long term.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: And next is the the option, the the optionality.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that comes from building options for yourself past past just your sports career.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: So even while you're building your athletic career, you're also building your office field career.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: So what are you what are your interests?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: What are the things that you want to do that aren't involved with sports and and cultivating that in with intention is critical for athletes in order to build a future for themselves and create uh a space of um the next pillar, which is the transition.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: Setting yourself up from a financial standpoint as well as whatever your next thing is, you've understood what your identity is, you've made great decisions, you've built out your network and your skills beyond the field, and now you've set yourself up for smooth transition out of your sport whenever it's done.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you're building all that in parallel with your athletic career, one, you've you've built an audience that you know is your own.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then two, you can leverage that audience even after your sport is done because those people are aligned with who you are as a person, not necessarily who you are specifically on the field.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, that that encompasses, in my opinion, what would really help athletes, really understanding who they are, how to make great decisions, building out their the network and skill set for beyond the field and then setting themselves up for transition after the sport is done.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: No doubt.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: Can you imagine if you and I had access to that?
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, in between film session, you know, if we just have an understanding of those four pillars, how much easier life would be.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, sometimes you just gotta learn the hard way.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, and and 100%.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's where this all stems from.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, these are the the mistakes that I made, you know, along the along the way, you know.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: I not that I didn't know who I was, but I didn't, it wasn't necessarily something that I focused on from this perspective and and that that level.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: And had I known you know those things and built out those, I you know, I believe I I could be even further along in life, you know, having done things in a little bit of a different way.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, life happens how it happens, but you know, having someone in your corner to say, you know, hey, slow down, let's make a better informed decision, you know, understand your own personal values and what you actually want out of life versus you know what is most beneficial for you in the now.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, who knows what a kid's major may be if they're able to think about, you know, what they want to be beyond sport versus you know getting a general studies degree.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like what does that actually do for you know in the long term?
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that helps you stay eligible during your playing days, but you know, you're done at 28 and you have a general studies degree.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's no general studies career out there.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just the reality of you know the world we live in, you know.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: So ultimately, you know, my goal at Pivot is really to install the this framework, this system, in order to help athletes build for themselves beyond the game.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're we're not in it to have clients for life.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: We ultimately want to install and then you go out and make good decisions and then come back and tell your story to help the next generation of athletes.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a self self-fulfilling type of system that we're building and community that we're building with with the athletes that we're involved with.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: You know, one of the two things that whenever we talk to a family or an athlete, we kind of leave them with two things.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: Whether you work, one, whether you work with us or not, we just want to make sure you have enough information to make an informed decision.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: And two, I we want you to look at every situation and be proactive, not reactive, right?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: Because when you're reactive, you you're kind of in a hole a little bit.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: And it's you know, it's you got to get some traction.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: On that one, I'm gonna turn it over to uh Aaron, which is the rapid fire round.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron, all right.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, this one's fun.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm just gonna spawn the sentence and I'm just gonna finish my sentence so it's really quick.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, sounds good.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Discipline equals.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: Discipline equals the one controllable success metric that you have.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: A success encompasses a ton of different aspects, but your discipline is what you can control.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, if you control it well, it'll show in the success that you have.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: Leadership equals.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership is is serving before you're asked.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's critical from a good leader again to be a servant leader, one that does it before someone asks them to, does the work ahead of time, is willing to get down in the trenches and and and leave from a place of of servant servitude.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: Faith equals faith is an anchor.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's what keeps you when times get dark.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my my personal story, I I dislocated my knee three days into practice and then went on to tear my ACL three more times.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: There were some dark days in there, and the only way I made it out of some of those spaces was with my faith in Christ.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: What about legacy?
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: What does legacy equal?
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: Legacy, legacy is what you build for the next generation.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's truly about you or the statistics that you did or had on the field, but it's really about what what you're leaving behind when you leave here for others to benefit from and glean from your career, from everything that you build.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: What is one thing that you would never compromise on?
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing I would never compromise on is the truth about you know what athletes actually need.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think it's critical for everyone around athletes to understand who the athletes are and who they can be beyond the field in the court, you know.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, I want that that's something I just won't compromise on, regardless of whether an athlete works for me, just to kind of piggyback on what comments was saying.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I want you to leave here understanding you're you're so much more valuable than you know just what you're able to produce on the field.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: And if you could put a message on a billboard for the next generation of athletes, what would it be?
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: The game even ends eventually.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: The work doesn't.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, Thomas, back to you.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_02: Evan, before we close out, is I'd like to open up the floor for our guests.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: Is there something that uh we didn't touch on today that you feel athletes, parents, coaches, or athletic programs need to hear about navigation decision making and building lasting opportunities?
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think probably the biggest thing for me is is really the parents.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: They create the environment first.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's the athlete's first interaction with the world, they're the first people that they meet.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: They're so important to the athlete themselves in creating a mindset of you know legacy, you know, and if they set up an environment for their athletes and set a firm foundation, the athlete, there's no, there's no cap on on how how far they can go, whether that be on the field or off of it.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's critical that you know parents understand that they're not another position coach, but they're a parent.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes that line gets blurred.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, understanding is coming from a good place.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes athletes, especially once you're in the pressure cooker of athletics, college athletics, it's critical that they have a safe place to go that with trusted people that that care about them beyond the statistics, beyond the NIL, beyond all of it, they have a safe place to go.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that that should always be home.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right on.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so you went from rapid fire, now you're in the hot seat.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: What according to Evan, what are your top three sports movies of all time?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, this is this is a tough one.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because I I'm uh I love movies, one, and and sports movies are always you know right up my alley.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: So first, I would probably have to say is remember the Titans.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's Denzel in in in the middle of you know, deep south segregation.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, how how great of a movie was that?
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, number two, I'm a comedy guy as well.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: So cool runnings was uh probably one of my favorite.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: I could put it on at any point and and get great laughs and also a great true story on top of it.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and three, I'm a sucker for the childhood classics, Mighty Ducks.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, what what what how can you go wrong with Mighty Ducks, you know?
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_02: Hey team, for all the little shorties out there, Cole Runnings is about bobsledding out of Jamaica, so that's way back way back, way back.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: I know I'm I'm telling my age a little bit on that one, but it's it's a classic and it holds up.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_02: The fact that I knew what it was too, yeah, that's put a little put a little age on me as well.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, the one thing Evan, you and I can agree with uh about sports is it's the last frontier of meritocracy, right?
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_02: You and I didn't care what color the other guy was.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: Can you play?
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_02: That's all we cared about.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: Play.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: And and you know what, just don't be a jerk, right?
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_02: At the end of the day, just be a good teammate.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: And that's one of the things I think you and I, and as well as Anan, is the emphasis is on you know being a good teammate, you know, being good on the field, but also being good on the sideline, being good in the locker room.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_02: And before we close out, you know, I'll you know, I will share a story with you that we one time we were tough working with this athlete, exceptional athlete, and we got a call from Alabama, and they and we told the athlete, we're like, hey, you know, Alabama just gave us a call, they're asking about you.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, did you send them the highlight reel?
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_02: They already know you can play.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_02: They're asking about you.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_02: They they want to know who you are.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_02: What do you like on Zoom calls?
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_02: Do you show up to the meetings on time?
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_02: What do you like when you talk to your parents on those Zoom calls?
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: They I mean they're digging deep.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_02: And these are the things that we have to warn those athletes about because 100%.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: And now with the with the transfer portal and there's a lack of allegiance and loyalty to your word, you know, we were talking to the NCA uh about two weeks back, and they said, you know, the difference between a 4-7 and a 4-4 is character.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, wow, you know, because I mean if you run a 4-4, if you bench 300, squat 600, but you're if you're a jerk, if you're a distraction, they don't want you in the locker room.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's just you're gonna hold the team back.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Evan, where can people get a hold of you?
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: Whether that's your website, whether it's your social media handles, or even an email.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: They can contact me at pivotpack.com, evan at pivotpack.com, on LinkedIn is Evanander Sr.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: and Instagram at athlete turn CEO.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_00: So all of those uh I I manage personally.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: So reach out.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm here available and register.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_02: Evan, thank you so much for showing us what it looks like to athlete credibility with executive clarity to serve the next generation.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_02: And team, if this conversation hit you, we need you to do two things.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_02: One, share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_02: An athlete navigating NIL opportunities and financial decisions, a parent helping their child build lasting vision, a coach or athletic program focused on preparing athletes for life beyond sports, and two, connect with Evan on LinkedIn and those handles.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_02: We will definitely drop those in the show notes.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_02: And follow Pivot Athletic Consulting.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_02: If you need guidance that protects today's opportunities while building tomorrow's options, Evan's pivot operating system provides the framework athletes need to help better make to help better decision making under pressure.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_02: And if you're an athlete or a parent or a coach ready to raise the standard, check out me and Aaron on blueprintbluechip.com, and we're there to work for you as a resource during and after the game.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_02: If this episode has resonated with you, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: It helps us reach more athletes, parents, and leaders who need to hear this message.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: This is the standard podcast, and this movement only grows when we raise the standard together.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_02: Talent fades, but truth endures.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_02: Let's raise the bar, rebuild the culture, become the standard.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_02: Evan, Aaron, thank you so much.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_02: Team, we'll see you next time.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.