Latest / The Growth Project / Episode 349: Behind the Mic - Dr. Cory Shaffer's Story with Dr. Kimberly Shaffer

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Episode 349: Behind the Mic - Dr. Cory Shaffer's Story with Dr. Kimberly Shaffer · The Growth Project

• 0:00
  You.
• 0:03
  Hey everyone, welcome back or welcome to The Growth Project, a podcast by.
• 0:08
  My name is doctor Corey Schaefer, joined today in studio,
• 0:14
  by a special guest, a friend of the podcast. Probably one other than the team who has been on the podcast more than anyone.
• 0:23
  Dear friend of mine. Oh, yes, doctor Kimberly Schaffer, welcome back.
• 0:29
  Thank you so much for having me. And so, yeah, this one's going to be a little bit different is my understanding. Yeah. So can I actually just take over as master of ceremonies for. Yeah. Yeah I'll, I'll stop here if we need to rain in. But, what do we have planned today? I know you had some ideas and now my podcast.
• 0:47
  Just kidding. So you have done a brilliant job over the past. What do we say, seven, eight years? You guys have been doing this podcast and you've interviewed a lot of people. And I know probably back in the beginning, you and Milt Andrew took some time to introduce who you are, where you're from, how you got into sports, like all that good stuff.
• 1:12
  But unless anybody has been listening since day one, which there may be some. Sure. I think we got some loyal listeners out there. Right. But I thought it would be a good time because obviously I've gotten in a front row seat on how your career has changed and shifted, and you've evolved in as a sports practitioner. So I just wanted to interview you for once and let everybody get to know you.
• 1:41
  Your background, if this works and we set a little precedent, we're going to need, you know, the other spouses to get on an interview. Love. Yeah. Okay. So meet the husbands as told by the wives. Sure. I'm here for it. Let's go. Okay. All right, so I'm not going to ask you the boring questions, which I feel like are on the Anthos website.
• 2:05
  Bio. If anybody wants the real background information, this is hard hitting journalists. Okay. Got it. Here we go.
• 2:12
  So you were valedictorian in your class of being recruited for D1 athletics. And so I'm curious how you ended up balancing the to an interest in academics. Obviously you're very good at that. And then you had some athletic ability. So the reason why I'm asking all this is because I do think there's probably a lot of parents or listeners who have kids who might be in a similar situation and trying to figure out what's the right path of them for their child.
• 2:43
  Do they end up choosing the really good academic school? Do they need more into athletics? So how did that all kind of play out in your world? Man. Yeah. So it feels, first of all, this feels like a lifetime of go. Oh, yeah. I'll start with that.
• 2:59
  Yeah, I think I was fortunate that number one, my parents always pushed and really valued academics.
• 3:08
  trying to put myself back into that mindset as a kid, like, I never felt like pressure from them, but the expectation was always, you know, you're you're going to need to do well in school.
• 3:19
  And there was always the threat of, like, if you don't like the first thing that would be taken away would be athletics, right?
• 3:24
  So there's always incentive, to do well in school. And, in some ways, too, I feel like school when I was younger really did feel like it came a little bit more natural. Looking back now, I understand I had absolutely developed much more of a fixed mindset towards academics, and really believe like, oh, I just my, I just must be smart.
• 3:46
  and it's certainly not that I didn't work hard like I did what I needed to do to get good grades. Right. And I went to a very mediocre public high school. I wasn't exactly, pushed a ton or challenged a ton there, but. So I had always kind of done well in school. I did what I needed to do there, athletically.
• 4:06
  Like, I was, again, sort of fortunate to, I guess, create some opportunities and kind of stumble into what I did with track and field, because I really had no background in track and field. My sophomore year, I go out, I throw a javelin for essentially the first time. It goes far, and they're like, hey, you can probably, you know, this might be your ticket to to, so it I think in my mind, especially in terms of track.
• 4:35
  And I ended up getting hurt. I kind of knew in the back of my head, like, all right, I don't know if this is going to be the long term answer, but I apparently had enough wisdom as a 1718 year old to recognize this could be a ticket to, something maybe bigger or better than would otherwise be available to me if I was,
• 4:58
  just graduating high school and just going on and, you know, normal student, like, going to college.
• 5:04
  there wasn't necessarily anything deliberate on my part in what I was doing to kind of balance school and life. In my mind, I was just being a high school kid, you know, I showed up and I went to school and, you know, did my homework every day and studied for test when I needed to whatever, like, went to practice every day.
• 5:21
  All of that. I think when it came time to for like, the recruiting process and this is where just, you know, some of my background in how I was raised, like my neither my parents really had much college experience. They had never been through a recruiting process, a little bit with my brother, who had gone on to play football at Division three school.
• 5:39
  But it's not like I could just lean on them a ton. And so I think what I recognized pretty quickly, based on how I was getting recruited and the types of schools that were,
• 5:51
  reaching out,
• 5:52
  and I was fortunate I had some good people in my corner. I've talked some about that on the podcast over the years, but the couple of track coaches, were more familiar with, like, the recruiting process and probably what this could mean for me, not just from a track standpoint, but like academically and just life.
• 6:08
  And so I remember having a conversation, with the head coach of the track and field program at my high school. His name was Carl Hinder Leiter, a great guy. And he kind of asked me, like, where do you want to go to school? You know? And I think he recognized and understood, like, all right, there's there's a ticket here, but you are probably going to have some options.
• 6:28
  And essentially it was like, how can I help? And I was like, you know what? I the only thing I said is like, I would love to go, I think to like a bigger school somewhere that still values academics. And he kind of took that and ran with it. And so I think he sent all my information out to,
• 6:45
  every school in the Big Ten, the SEC, the Ivy League, which I didn't that was never on my radar.
• 6:52
  So that actually came from him. Not for me. Even some SEC schools at some point reached out to me. And so it was. I'm starting to get letters now. I'm starting to get phone calls from all these coaches. And at some point in there, you know, I end up, I do get hurt. And now I recognize, I think maybe for the first time, like, hey, maybe sports isn't the forever thing here.
• 7:11
  Yeah.
• 7:12
  Which is kind of a hard thing to come to terms with. But again, I think I had enough wisdom to recognize where I go to school now becomes very important because back then, and this has changed a ton obviously over time. And this is 20 years ago,
• 7:25
  had I signed on to go to like a big D1 school and then I decided either one, I'm hurt and I can't participate, or two, I just decide, hey, you know what?
• 7:33
  I don't think this Division one track and field thing is for me, they could pull my money that was now going to put me in a obviously a much more difficult situation. Again, didn't come from a lot of money, was probably taking out student student loans like all of that stuff. So,
• 7:48
  I, I think I had enough wisdom, especially when I started getting recruited by some great academic schools, you know, Ivy League schools and so on.
• 7:55
  Again, that was never on my radar. But when I learned that, I remember being on my recruiting visit at Cornell, where I ultimately ended up going, spending the weekend up there with team coaches, all this and, you know, sitting down on Sunday morning before I left and then saying like, okay, what are we going to do to get you to come here?
• 8:16
  You know, we're really interested in you. And I was just like, well, first and foremost, it costs a lot of money. You know, this is this is out of state. I understand. I didn't even know numbers, but I'm like, I can only imagine how much money it costs to go to an Ivy League school year in and year out, you know, like, well, that's kind of the great thing about the Ivy League is we don't give athletic base scholarships.
• 8:39
  It's all need based. So, you know, we take in financial information based on, you know, parents financial situation, this and that. Like, you kind of just pay what you can pay. And I was like, well, what happens if I get hurt? What happens if I decide I, you know, don't want to be on the track team anymore?
• 8:58
  And they're like, it doesn't matter. It's not an athletic scholarship. We can't just pull money from you. Well, like, once you're here, you're here. And I was like, where do I sign? Essentially. So I ended up applying for early decision, you know, got in and kind of the rest I guess is history, as they say. So we're talking about you're now at an Ivy League school.
• 9:16
  We already talked about a little bit. You mentioned small town. Not a lot of people around you that I've kind of been through the process. Did you being at an Ivy League have as kids these days call it imposter syndrome? Is there any part of you that either from academics or athletics or you're just like, I don't what am I doing here?
• 9:35
  Like, I don't get it. Yes, certainly. Certainly academically. Yeah. I mean, I just would hear kids talk, especially I remember freshman year, this just just feeling so one like two degree a sense of almost culture shock, which became a little bit of a theme, over the course of my academic career. But you know, I went from a very small town, and it's not like Ithaca, New York is.
• 10:00
  It's still just a college town, but it's now it's a it's a college town on a campus where there's 25,000 people. Ithaca College down the road, another however many thousand people like it. All of a sudden, it was just this melting pot of thousands of people, literally like global, you know, people from all over the world. So different cultures, different everything.
• 10:20
  Yeah. And really not having experienced that much. You know where I'm from? Small town Pennsylvania. There was that there was feeling, you know, those, those freshman sort of general education classes, like sitting in a lecture hall, going from classes in high school of 20 to 25 kids now sitting in a lecture hall with 500. Yeah. Was very strange.
• 10:42
  Very much. Figure it out on your own. Right. And and yeah. So I, I remember, you know, just, you know, meeting people, talking casually in class and very quickly realizing like, man, I am in and maybe over my head or just how prepared some of these other kids seem to be from an academic standpoint, was like extremely intimidating.
• 11:05
  You know, them talking about like, the prep school that they were at and all the AP courses they had taken. And like, I had none of that. They didn't offer that. No, they did not offer that at Reynolds High School. So, yeah, there was 100% that. And then I approached academics like I did in high school. I showed up, I, you know, sort of I'm smart enough to do that in and out of paying attention of lectures.
• 11:30
  You know, maybe skim the reading that I'm supposed to, like, the night before class kind of thing. There inside of me is. Yeah, well, this is reality, you know, show up and and, you know, study the night before a couple hours and, you know, feel like I was going to be fine for the test and then just get crushed,
• 11:48
  by, like, the first round of exams and being like, wow, I really might know, like, I'm not supposed to be here.
• 11:55
  So, yeah, all of that happened, especially first semester, freshman year. But you flipped a switch and you figured it out, right? I mean, it took much longer than that. Okay. It wasn't so much a switch, right? Sure. So continuing on Cornell. Wonderful. You go to another Ivy League, you go to Columbia. And if you thought that there was a culture shift going from small town Pennsylvania to Ithaca, then you wind up in New York City, and then eventually you make your way down to Florida for state.
• 12:27
  So then you talked about it a little bit, but just kind of looping back around. You moved a lot in those, you know, the 20s very formative time. And you're doing it coming from a town where people don't leave too often, right where you are from. A lot of people in your family are from that area. They stayed in that area.
• 12:49
  And so now you're having to kind of go out and experience all these different places, all these different cultures. What was that like? I mean, yeah, I use the word culture shock and it definitely was that. And again, it's like, all right, I get to Ithaca and I have some of that, just on campus and,
• 13:06
  20 plus thousand students.
• 13:07
  And as I mentioned, just people from all over the world and this and that, living in a fraternity, even though it's like, all right, so now I'm in a fraternity with 75 other guys and we're a little more like minded and stuff, but still, it's like, these are people from all over the country, very different backgrounds.
• 13:23
  But obviously got used to that.
• 13:25
  Yeah. Did that for four years, sort of pick up and move essentially from there to New York City. Yeah. It was a whole different ball game. It was, you know, sort of the the first time in my life for sure that, where I ended up living, you know, I'm now the minority in the neighborhood that I'm living in,
• 13:46
  you know, just living in an apartment and, in New York City and taking the subway and walking to class.
• 13:53
  And, I mean, it was extremely different, as you can imagine.
• 13:57
  So to go from, like, a college town to one of the biggest cities in the world and just be, you know, like, figure it out, you know, there's no necessarily like, here's your how to manual to be a graduate student in New York City.
• 14:11
  And again, it took time, you know, just just like it did in college and undergrad.
• 14:15
  It took time, I think I was at in I was only in the city for a year. But I think by the end of a year, I really actually started to feel like, okay, I'm kind of a local now. Like, I get it, you know, and I probably would have been happy to do another year, maybe two, but knew I would not want to do that long term.
• 14:30
  Yeah, but to go from New York City, then back to a college town, but now one of the bigger ones in the country, right at Florida State and now living in the South for the first time, like that was sort of a new thing, I would argue a little less of the like, culture shock now because I'd experience lots of different people and stuff, but certainly a different way of life.
• 14:50
  And, you know, being in the South was new, just it being hot year round weather, like all that kind of stuff. But yeah, now I'm on a campus and there's 50,000 people or whatever it is.
• 15:02
  But in graduate school, a different level of responsibility at that point, starting to get my PhD.
• 15:07
  Yeah. At each step, I think the the move was uncomfortable, but it was good for me.
• 15:14
  And even from there, the one that you didn't mention prior to getting landing on where I'm at now, obviously, even moving to Virginia Beach, Virginia for just six months and being in like a military environment for six months, I think what came from that was just such a different, like life experience. And again, being around people of different cultures and backgrounds like all of that, I think ended up just being so good for me.
• 15:43
  By the time I ended up landing here, just because that collective, just life experience just gave me so much perspective. And I don't think you necessarily feel that or understand that kind of when you're in it. Right? But now looking back, I'm like, man, all of that was just so good for me. So you recommend 100%? Yeah.
• 16:03
  I think again, I and I was doing that, it was all very uncomfortable and in my case like so I mean like my, my mom and dad, I could have somebody to really, truly kind of lean on for, hey, what's this like? They'd they'd never been to New York City. You know what to tell me. So it's just kind of figuring out as I went and, again, I was fortunate enough to have, like, some good friends and people in my life, that that could kind of help ease the ease things and transitions.
• 16:31
  But, I mean, when I moved to to Florida, I knew nobody like, I was starting from scratch. And I know you experienced that as well. So, yeah, it's intimidating. It's, That's right. But, you know, it's intimidating and it's uncomfortable. But as we always talk about, like, those are probably your biggest opportunities for growth. So it's interesting too, because we talked about the parents of it all a little bit.
• 16:53
  And the first question like we have kids now. And so obviously our kids are so far away from that point. But like part of me is just like, heck no, I'm not letting you move across the country. And I know we only went north and south. Yeah, we stayed on the East Coast, but like the mom and me is just like, no, you're not going anywhere.
• 17:13
  And again, I know I mentioned, like, you know, my parents didn't have these experiences so they can actually help a ton. They, they were obviously supportive. Right. But I look back now and I'm like, man, that was what was so good for me is they weren't holding my hand. They weren't doing it for me. I really was figuring out on my own.
• 17:32
  I had their backing, which is great. But but yeah, they certainly because they didn't have the experience they couldn't be like helicopter parents and kind of just step in and do everything for me. And, when I was struggling, just like, snap your fingers and make it go away. Like I had to dig myself out of the holes I got myself in, like, all of that.
• 17:53
  So yeah, again, really, really good for me.
• 17:56
  20 years from now, or you listen to them back. Sure. Across the country. Yes. Let's do that. Okay. So you got your doctorate from Florida State, and this is probably something you might still experience to this day, but when you're in grad school and everyone's like, oh, what are you doing making your doctorate in and maybe even immediately after, and you tell people like, oh, yeah, I'm getting a degree in sports.
• 18:20
  Like how many people are just like, what is that? So, like, what became your elevator pitch of who you are, what you're trying to do? Yeah. I mean, again, I think a lot of people, you know, number one, they hear psychology and they immediately just think like, oh, you're a therapist or something like that. Or just kind of like the like, okay.
• 18:43
  So, like, you're, a therapist, but, like, for, for sports for athletes or something like. Yes. I mean, like, sort of, but no,
• 18:54
  I was just describe, like, you know, there's, a huge mental component to sports, just like there is for any job. And, you know, it's sort of like, all right, well, you know how athletes, they have a strength and get it and conditioning coach to help them get bigger, faster, stronger.
• 19:11
  Well, I'm a mental coach. Like, I help them get better in that area. And as simple as that. And many of them still won't fully understand it. And, you know, they'll just make some joke about like, oh, are you analyzing me right now? And I get the concussions a lot. Like I've a love to like, talk about NFL and concussions.
• 19:29
  And I'm like, I'm not a brain. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, at some point kind of get used to that. I've learned over time even to just like, all right. Do you actually want to know what I do? Or are you just trying to make small talk? Because if you're just making small talk, then I'll give you a small answer, you know?
• 19:45
  Okay. But now you've been doing this for a while, over ten years. Has that changed? Like your elevator pitch, who you are and what you do? As you've seen, your role and experiences change? Or is it still kind of the same? Go to,
• 20:00
  I don't know that my elevator pitch has changed. I think the probably how I view myself and what I do has changed, but,
• 20:10
  Yeah, I mean, I think maybe what I can add to that now, just given the experiences that I've had, is, you know, it's not just working with athletes, but it's working with coaches and teams and organizations and executive coaching, leadership training like it's become more encompassing.
• 20:26
  And some of those words now are easier for people to be like, oh, okay, I get it. Yeah. Right. But at the core of it, they still truly understand, like what I do with athletes like probably not.
• 20:35
  So you work with Oregon football? Not a secret. I know that one of the things that you do with Oregon football is you work on their DNA traits, and so two part question one, explain to people what that is.
• 20:51
  And two, I'm curious, in your role as a sports consultant or in your job or function, what are your DNA shirts? Yeah. So we use DNA trace, just sort of language. I think that I don't know, is stickier. Especially in some of the sport settings like football setting. But essentially we're talking about core values, right. So the, the values, the, characteristics that sort of guide you in your decision making, your life whatever.
• 21:25
  Right. So the idea behind helping create those that, you know, Drew's done this work in creating them, with Georgia football and me being able to to help create them at Oregon is just sort of like, this is our foundation. This is like who we are. We're sort of establishing our collective identity around these traits. I always describe it like, you know, what do you want Kirk Herbstreit to say about our team as he's calling the game?
• 21:55
  Right? And does he describe our team the way that we want to be. And so that's sort of the spirit of it. And I think if you think about that from like your own personal individual standpoint, right. Like you want people to feel a certain way when you leave the room or just by interacting with you, they can get a feel for like, okay, I know what's important to that individual.
• 22:17
  So yes, I mean, there are certainly, I think,
• 22:21
  characteristics that I try to embody and live by and sort of keep front and center for me, guide what I do and so on. Yes, those have probably evolved over time.
• 22:34
  You know, I first and foremost just what we I mean, at the core of it, like many people,
• 22:41
  and this has certainly changed, especially since becoming a parent.
• 22:44
  But try my best to keep family. Sort of the, the center of what is most important. Right. And say thank you in and want people to to hear that into to feel that,
• 22:58
  when they talk to me and, you know, from there, I think just now thinking more broadly,
• 23:06
  what with what we do, what I feel is important in this work and how hopefully I try to live my life.
• 23:12
  And we've even talked about some of this. But just like growth is really important.
• 23:16
  That's at the core of, of I think what I teach and how I teach is about just striving to improve, to get better. And I try to live that, you know, I've always just personally felt like.
• 23:31
  My worst nightmare is somebody describing me as, like, hypocritical, of, like, I'm not practicing what I preach, you know, that that to me and some of this, I guess, is just my personality. I'm how I'm wired. That could be, like, the worst thing that somebody could say is like, well, you're saying this, but you seem to be doing this.
• 23:50
  That is something that kind of motivates me to try to stay sort of on the right path. And so, I mean, those are a couple of things. I don't know if we need to get any deeper than that.
• 23:59
  But yeah, it's it's sort of changed. This evolved over time, like my vision for myself, for my life, for my career.
• 24:05
  I always talk about, like, you know, that starts as one thing. And when you're young and single and going through school or starting your career or whatever,
• 24:11
  most of what you're doing is like a selfish pursuit. It's like, I'm just doing what I want to do. This is my goal, my dream, my whatever. But then you, you know, in my case, right?
• 24:21
  Like, we meet and now, you know, we we we're together, we get married, and now it's like, okay, it's not just about what I want now. It's like, well, what do we want together? How do we kind of work together to to figure this thing out? And then eventually it's kids. And now it's not just you and me, this almost still selfish pursuit of just you and I.
• 24:42
  Now, it's bigger than that. And it includes kids. And so what do we want life to look like? And so on. So yeah, it certainly kind of evolved and changed slightly over time. But I would argue a lot of the the DNA traits for me have remained pretty consistent. Yeah. And I think it's interesting too, because there is often like this thought of like work life balance and like, works over here and family life over here.
• 25:07
  But when you are authentic to yourself and when there is alignment in your personal life and with your work, that like the two are going to bleed in together, and I think that's okay, that because you're true to yourself, that then that's going to come through with your clients and hopefully your clients are going to understand, like this is what's important to Corey and how he lives his life.
• 25:29
  So I don't always think it needs to be this like very separate, like work is work. Like, no, no, no, no. I think that the two are just going to live in their own separate cycle, right? No. And I think too, I mean, what I, what I think I've come to understand over the years is, again, me being sort of the best, most authentic version to myself is how I'm always going to sort of connect and relate to the most people.
• 25:52
  But I'm not going to connect and relate to every single person. And that's just because they have a different, you know, sort of set of values or they, they have a different perspective and like, that's okay. Yeah.
• 26:02
  When early in my career that would have like, crippled me to feel like, oh my gosh, somebody doesn't like me or they don't see things the way I do.
• 26:09
  I think that was just a part of like maturing and getting into the work more, doing this for a longer time, just recognizing that's okay. Yeah. So just being more confident in the work that you do. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. And it is funny because you've obviously been to a great schools, had a lot of great experiences.
• 26:32
  And I don't mean to say this to diminish what we do, but the at the end of the day, nothing about performance psychology or sports like is rocket science, right? It is pretty simple concepts, but I think what makes people like yourself and Milton Drew so good at what you do is how you can one connect with people, right?
• 26:56
  Because no one's going to listen to what you have to say if you don't form that connection. And then two, you have to be really creative about how you're packaging that message. Because if you go in year after year until whoever your clients are, some of these clients you've been working for three, five for however many years, right?
• 27:12
  If you go on and say the same thing time and time again, at some point they're going to check out. So you need to be creative about how you package that information and how you deliver it. So connection and creativity, that's what I think I'm trying to get at here. So how do you foster that connection and then how do you continue to be creative.
• 27:34
  Yeah I mean the connection piece first and foremost is a challenge, with what we do because just inherently as consultants, what that means is like, we're not in it every day. Yeah. Right. So we're we're getting an hour or two, a couple hours here or there, with our clients and that's just going against the nature of how you create the best connection and spend time with people and, you know, very intentional conversation and be vulnerable and all this kind of stuff.
• 28:04
  Right? We teach and preach.
• 28:05
  That's hard to do, though, when what we're tasked to do is basically come in for an hour here or there and deliver a talk. And so I think, again, the way that you at least for me, this is my philosophy on it. And I mentioned this a bit ago,
• 28:19
  I try to just come in and be as authentic as I can.
• 28:23
  I think that's how you can sort of fast track some connection. Not that that's necessarily the goal, but,
• 28:29
  especially again, we just talked we talked about this. Right. Like the perception of somebody like us coming in.
• 28:34
  Right. It's like, oh, psychologists call themselves doctor. Right. Like, well, if you just come in and show them that, like, hey, you're just a normal person, you know, and you can be relatable and funny, right? Like, that I think is where it starts opening up people now to. Okay, well, I wonder with this guy. Yeah. I wonder what this guy has to say now.
• 28:55
  So I try to just be as authentic as I can. I don't personally love, like, the surface level relationships, you
• 29:03
  I don't think that I could see anywhere. I'd rather just you be authentic in me to be authentic and like me. And if we kind of vibe and see things similarly, then I think now what we have the opportunity for is like a deep relationship, a good relationship, like there's real connection there.
• 29:16
  So,
• 29:17
  I think that's one in terms of how to create connection. It obviously helps when you can get time with people. But to in terms of being creative. Yeah. I think what I, what I came to understand pretty quickly in being this industry is,
• 29:32
  as you described it, things can become stale quick,
• 29:36
  or, you know, sort of the roll your eyes like.
• 29:38
  Yeah, I've heard this before, kind of thing.
• 29:40
  I don't want that to be the case. So it becomes so much more of like, how do you teach the same thing over and over, but in a million different ways. And that's where, again, even sort of hitting on the connection piece, finding a way to relate to people,
• 29:54
  you know, sort of telling a story through something that they're now interested in, I think becomes the vehicle to, to teaching them whatever you want to teach them.
• 30:03
  And so,
• 30:04
  in the corporate space, it's, it's great because many people love sports, right? So to teach through sports to a group of people in a business setting is often very easy way to capture their attention and get it sort of away from the conference room and that kind of thing. And that connects.
• 30:23
  Right? I think talking to like trying to teach stuff to college kids like, well, what do they like and what's important to them, you know, movies and TV and pop culture and so on. So how can you find a way to again, take the concept that you're trying to teach, but use those things as a vehicle to, you know, to get your point across.
• 30:45
  And so, you know, in a lot of ways,
• 30:48
  this is just how I view the world, almost to a degree, is like every single thing that comes across my face.
• 30:55
  You know, whether that's on social media, watching TV, watching a sporting event, like reading something is almost always filtered through. Can I use this? Yeah. To teach something.
• 31:07
  Yeah. And so I've gone very, very outside the box. Can you confirm like, just. Yeah. I mean, really, really like, across,
• 31:18
  a lot of different examples and industries in this, in that. So, anything under the sun in my mind is like inspiration, no doubt. Yeah. And I that sounds super cheesy, but it's true.
• 31:28
  Like, I've taken stuff from anything from everything. My mind is constantly, always just sort of going. It's almost like, you know, imagine The Matrix when he's just seeing things in numbers like that. I'm just always kind of like, oh, that would be cool to like, teach something through. And even if I don't necessarily what it is at first, know what it is at first or how I'm going to use it, it's just like, hey, there's something here, let me download that video, you know, and just sort of tuck it away.
• 31:55
  And then it might be six months and I'm like, got it. That's a word. Yeah. So no I love it. And to your point, even I remember over ten years ago when I was, for saying I first heard the phrase like, control the control balls. And I was like, that's so good. It's so amazing. And now hearing anybody say control the control blows, I'm like, we've heard it for like, it loses its luster.
• 32:17
  It doesn't have the impact that it had when you first heard it. What does it mean that you can't say it? You just have to show them a different way of how it applies, or, you know, a different, you know, video or something to get the point across. But yeah, and I do think it's harder nowadays with things like social media where people are constantly consuming content and they're constantly hearing good messages, or you're seeing clips of people doing amazing things.
• 32:43
  And so it's like, well, I can't just take this great video I saw. I need to know what my Corey spin on it and right, and repackage it in a way. So yeah, that's awesome. Okay. This was kind of a fun question for you. I love hearing athletes talk about their like, welcome to the NFL moment. Welcome to the MLB.
• 33:04
  Whatever insert major league here. Right. And they talk about it as like that was the first time they kind of looked around. I was like, what am I doing here? Do I belong here? Like you've made it to the big leagues. Welcome. Do you have a welcome to the major leagues moment in your career where you're just like, wow,
• 33:24
  I don't I mean, I hope I never stop having them, you know, just in awe. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I look back now at probably what those were very early on and, you know, some of the things I've done since it, it's almost just like, oh, I can't believe I thought that was a big deal.
• 33:41
  Right. But but it was at the time because I hadn't experienced anything like it. So
• 33:46
  yeah, I think in, in sort of the early days for me in, joining up here with Milton Drew and doing work out at Clemson, like there were so many cool opportunities there. You know, the the first time, just like traveling with a team or being on the field for a Clemson football game, you know, and like those are things I had never done before.
• 34:05
  So that was awesome. You know, later on getting to go to the Masters, like being inside the ropes at Augusta National, like sitting in the clubhouse and eating, you know, a pimento cheese sandwich in, in the Caddyshack, at Augusta National. It was going to be the first time you were at the Masters. Yeah. I mean, obviously, that was incredible.
• 34:28
  You know, being in the locker room, running out the tunnel with Oregon football, last year, getting the opportunity to, go down to Florida for spring training and talk to the entire Braves organization, like the those I mean, those are a handful, right? Like, those are just, like, such awesome experiences and things that, you know, we're always sort of goals and dreams to be in those spaces.
• 34:55
  But until they happen. Yeah. Are certainly those moments where you're kind of looking around like, man, this is amazing. So yeah, there have been plenty of those. And like I said, I hope there are plenty more. Never gets old, never gets old. All right. We're running out of time here. Yeah, we got five minutes or so, maybe.
• 35:15
  Okay. Perfect time for rapid fire questions. These are questions that, you have not seen before, and we're just going to go through them real quick. So first thing that comes to mind, you ready to your favorite thing to do to decompress.
• 35:33
  Hang out with the kids. That's not very decompress. No good answer I'm happy. But what. Decompress. No I mean there's truth in it, though, because, like, nothing will take your mind away from whatever has you compressed quicker than hanging out with two toddlers. Yeah. You know, and just being dad. I mean, I'm sick of being thrown, right? So cans so that, you know, there's absolutely truth to that.
• 36:03
  And again, because it's like, man, you are you're forced to just be so present. Yeah. And just, you know, it's just fun and just laughing. You know, with a couple of toddlers, like that's great. I mean, you know, exercise I think is an easy one, that I've always tried to be very deliberate about and disciplined about, and know how important and impactful it is for me.
• 36:32
  I think I can feel when I've gone a couple of days without it, that tension sort of mounting and building. So between those two, that's usually pretty good recipe. Okay, I like it right then LeBron, Kobe, Jordan.
• 36:47
  Oh, ranked them according to what is like greatest of all time one you three I mean, if it's greatest of all time then Jordan's won the Corey Schaefer world.
• 36:59
  If his greatest of all time. Jordan's always going to be one. If it's my favorite. Eileen. Kobe. Okay.
• 37:06
  I just, you know, one, two, three. Yeah. I mean, in a lot of ways, LeBron's longevity and stuff, I think is great.
• 37:18
  I have probably a little more respect for, Kobe in some ways for being in one place for as long as he was, he won with Shaq, but he also won without Shaq. Those are things that I, you know, I guess LeBron won in Cleveland. And that was obviously great I don't know I I've been you're doing a good job of beating around the bush.
• 37:41
  That sounds great. I gave you Jordan great. If it's old all time one probably all time favorite athlete Kobe won. Next question. Leave the fish is what I'm getting about. What's the best thing about being from Pennsylvania?
• 37:57
  I'll go number one seasons. And two, it's. I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but being a Pittsburgh sports fan, is probably up there I think these years. Yeah, I think three is, you know, I'm proud of where I'm from. And in so many ways, like there are some unique things about the area that I grew up in.
• 38:24
  And part of that and what people you think about, especially U.S like sports fans like, well, what do you think about the people of Pittsburgh? And they tend to always gravitate to like a couple of words and it's like gritty, tough, like blue collar. And I like to think that I have some of those traits. So I think that's, that's probably up there.
• 38:44
  I like it, okay. You travel a lot, you go to travel, snack. Man three question. So, try my best to, to be pretty healthy. So it's usually some combination of, like, beef jerky, just high protein. Good. Okay. And then some form of, like, trail mix or something like that. Yeah. Don't be the guy in there.
• 39:11
  Right? That's no fun. Greatest coach of all time.
• 39:16
  It's going to take way too long to unpack that question. These are not great rapid fire questions, by the way, when it comes to mind,
• 39:22
  It's easier to just name a bunch of names and then, like, sort through them from there. But the names that come to mind are, you know, like John Wooden is easy to throw out there. Nick Saban is easy to throw out there.
• 39:35
  Phil Jackson is easy to throw out there.
• 39:37
  There's those are a few for you okay. Last question FSU or Auburn.
• 39:43
  In terms of what college football. That was a bad question. Great question. I mean, Oregon, that's actually very easy. Like I have a personal relationship and a personal investment with the people there have personal relationships. I will forever, of course, like have a degree from Florida State.
• 40:04
  I will always pull for them. But I don't know a single person on the coaching staff on the roster. I have no personal relationship with the players, so I'm always going to lean in the direction of, like, who do I like your wife? Okay, I don't I was like, that's that's it. All right. Well hopefully later hopefully, there was something in here that our listeners can take away.
• 40:32
  Again, maybe we just set a new little precedent here. This is something that Milton Milton Drew can do, with their spouses. So, if you are still with us, thank you for tuning in, to the growth project. Big thanks to to Kim here. For, for sort of running the show today and making things easier on me.
• 40:51
  So, we will see you next time on the growth Project.