Latest / The Standard / From Emory Basketball to LinkedIn — Building Athlete After and Advocating for Life Beyond Sports | Ep. 63 Evan Coleman

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From Emory Basketball to LinkedIn — Building Athlete After and Advocating for Life Beyond Sports | Ep. 63 Evan Coleman · The Standard

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, before we get started, can you see me okay?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: Am I all right.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the Standard Podcast, where we raise the bar, rebuild the culture, and call off the lies no one else will.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: This isn't motivation, this is a movement.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Thomas Rowe, joined by my host, Aaron Sarles, and today we're super excited.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: We're sitting down with Evan Coleman, marketer, storyteller, student athlete advocate, and creator of the Playbook for Success newsletter, an athlete after interview series, who believes identity and experience are the greatest teachers.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: Evan's story is one of competitive excellence, career transition, and using your platform to serve others.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: As a four-year student athlete for the men's basketball team at Emory University, he was part of the first class in program history to reach the D3 NCAA tournament four years in a row.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: A legacy of consistency and breakthrough achievement that speaks to character, discipline, and team first leadership.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: After graduating from Emory's business school, Evan built his career in marketing at Newell Brands before joining LinkedIn in 2022.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: And here's what makes Evan's story so compelling.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: The same drive that shaped him as an athlete now fuels his passion for helping others navigate life after sports, and we know how important that is.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Through his Playbook for Success newsletter and After Athlete, a short-form interview series on LinkedIn and YouTube, Evan has created platforms dedicated to student athlete advocacy and transition support.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: His mission is helping former athletes understand that their identity and experience from athletes are assets for building meaningful careers and lives well beyond sports.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: As a husband and father of two, Evan brings both personal experience with the transition and professional expertise in marketing and storytelling to help athletes translate their competitive excellence into life success.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: His approach recognizes that the end of athletic competition isn't the end of growth.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's the beginning of applying everything you've learned through sports to serve others and build lasting impact.
• 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 you joined us.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for carving out time in your day.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you for having.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: That was that was one heck of an intro, so I appreciate it.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's it, team.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: That's all you need to know.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Just reach out to Evan and get everything taken care of.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's the podcast.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: Evan, let's start here.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: You're a marketer at LinkedIn, creator of Playbook for Success and Athlete After, and former four-year basketball player at Emory, who's part of the first class to reach the NCAA tournament four years in a row.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: What does raising the standard mean to you in the work that you're doing to help athletes navigate life after sports?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great question.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think the thing that comes to mind is leaving that space better than how you find it.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think we all kind of learned that lesson as athletes going through that youth phase is you know, your coach telling you, you know, clean up after yourself, leave that space better than you found it.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really what I feel like raising the standard means to me.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when I graduated and kind of matriculated into the professional world, I thought that it was rather challenging given all the skill sets or the skills and the skill set that I had to find a job and to find a job that fit for me.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: So as I go on this journey outside of my day-to-day to help student athletes today, I want to leave that space of transition, specifically going from college athletics to the professional world, better than I found it when I made that journey myself.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's awesome.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's so important, dude.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: One to give back, but also leave it better than you found it.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: What's the biggest lie you feel the culture of professional world, the professional world has sold athletes about transitioning from sports to career success?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: And what does the process actually look like?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Another great question.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think the first thing that comes to mind is that I think we've been told that athletes are one-dimensional.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that couldn't be further from the truth.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I really hone in on this theme of transferable skills.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that transferable skills are as valuable, if not more valuable, than some of those hard skills that a lot of employers or organizations will teach a young employee as they enter their organization.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, again, for example, time management, leadership skills, effective communication, these are all skills that we develop through our athlete experience.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes, those skills are more robust than our non-athlete peers.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: So my whole goal is to shed a light on that, allow athletes to understand that those skills exist and they are very valuable in the workplace.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then once they understand that, it's all about how do you articulate that to someone outside of that athlete ecosystem?
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: And once you can do that, you know, your foundation for success is very, very strong.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: True, true.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: And you believe the identity and experience are the great identity and experience of the greatest teachers.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: So true.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: You went from a four-year starter tournament basketball to marketing at new old brands again for LinkedIn.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: How did your athletic identity and experience actually teach you what you needed for career success?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, great question.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I want to clarify, I was not a starter by any means.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: I was a reserve most, if not all, of my college career.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, you know, transparently speaking, I had wrestled with, you know, as I got into the later stages of my career, like, do I keep playing or do I transition out and start focusing on my career?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: But I think I knew in the back of my head that me continuing to be on the team in close proximity to my friends and having that structure on a day-to-day basis would benefit me in the long run.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it did.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Again, it allowed me to learn more about my transferable skills.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: It gave me that structure and discipline that I needed to not only, you know, finish college, but excel and transition into that next stage of my life.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then as I think about, you know, what it what did it teach me?
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think from like a pure sports perspective, it taught me how to be adaptable.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it taught me that adaptability is a very strong skill.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think oftentimes people love to play one specific role.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that's no, you know, that's no fault or no problem.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you are very good at being a leader at all the time, then be that leader.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: But I think it there is very, very strong value in being a leader sometimes, but also being a support or reserve in other portions of your life.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that adaptability piece for me, it was very, very valuable.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was hard to learn in the moment.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, we all want to be the starter, we want to be the star player.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: But when I look back on that experience, being adaptable and being able to play different roles to help the larger kind of betterment of the team was was very beneficial to me.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's awesome.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: The fact that you are just so transparent about who you are and the role that you played on your team.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of people try to inflate it a little bit.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: But here at Blueprint, Evan Coleman is a he's a parade all American.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: He's a first team, he's the conference MP MVP.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: And this is our own little ecosystem, Evan.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: So you're uh you're all mad and more for us.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, Evan, I love it.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I think everybody has a role to play, and every role is so important to the team's success.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, with that, I want you to tell our audience just who is Evan Coleman beyond everything that Thomas has shared, all the accolades, who are you beyond all of that?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Great, great question.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think if I could just steal it down into a concise answer, I would describe myself as an advocate and a storyteller.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm super passionate about that student athlete experience.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Not everyone gets to identify and gets to experience that unique journey.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And secondarily, I think what comes from that journey are very, very in-depth stories that have yet to be told.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you guys have a platform right here, and you're doing a great job featuring former athletes, current athletes.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to do the same.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: I know there are a few other individuals out there doing that as well.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: But all in all, there's such great, strong, valuable stories that need to be told from that specific experience.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thinking about, you know, the day-to-day of being a college athlete, and then all of a sudden, that is gone.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: But what happens next?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: The story's not over.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I think that specific inflection point is where a lot of valuable stories come from.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And from stories come life lessons.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to be able to tell some of those stories and allow the current generation to learn from those.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's so important.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I think every athlete has a story to tell, and it needs to be told because it's so unique to them in their journey, and there's no one path to success.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I know you've created Playbook for Success newsletter and athletes after interview series to help athletes navigate life after sports.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: What does legacy beyond your own playing career mean to you, especially now as you're helping other athletes make that transition?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: What does legacy mean to me?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think it actually goes back to that theme of leaving your space better than what you found it.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: If I can, you know, grow my platform, but more if I can grow my platform, but double-clicking into that, if I can help individuals, that to me is legacy.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: That to me is helping the current generation come through.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then in turn, they'll be able to have help the generation that comes after them.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's again leaving that space better than what you found it and pulling people up as you go forward yourself.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's so important.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think we all need to like reach our hand back and bring people up with us.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: So through Athlete After, you've interviewed numerous former athletes about their transition.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: What separates athletes who successfully transition and translate their competitive excellence into meaningful careers from those who struggle with post-sports identity?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: From the athletes that I've I've interviewed, I feel that it is identifying those soft or transferable skills that make you unique.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: So again, time management, leadership, effective communication, but then also being able to articulate what that means outside of the athletic arena.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, for example, if you are a star point guard, point guards often have to be leaders on their team.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: They have to communicate not only with their teammates, but their coaches, their training staff, et cetera.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: To me, that's an example of effective communication.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Point guards, athletes in general, they know how to articulate what that means in the athlete setting.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: But if you can go a level up, if you can be able to articulate what that means outside of the athlete ecosystem.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, what does leadership look like, or what does effective communication look like in an office setting, in an organizational setting?
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: What does that look like if you want to start your own business?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you can be able to articulate that, those transferable skills in those forms and finishes, to me, that makes you very valuable from a professional perspective.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: People are going to want to connect with you and subsequently want to work with you.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it just opens up the world of opportunity to life after sports.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's an amazing advice.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's where most athletes, you're right, struggle is that translation of the skills that they are using into business because it's the same exact.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's just different wording and languaging.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And one thing I want to add to that actually is you know, to no fault of the athletes, current and former, I think we all just did not have the adequate time to think about what are transferable skills, what transferable, what transferable skills map to me in my experience.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then how do I articulate that outside of who I am as an athlete?
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like that takes time.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: So the thing I always preach as well is this theme of transferable skills is giving athletes grace.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: They need the time, they need, you know, structure to actually formulate what that means to their experience and how to then go articulate that outwardly.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I totally agree with you 100%.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: So my last question before I turn it back over to Thomas is what's one truth you wish every athlete, parent, or coach understood about the transition from sports to career that most of them have not heard?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: I would just say that your experience is very valuable.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think oftentimes, myself included, when you spend so much time and energy playing a sport, you can often feel behind versus your non-athlete peers as it relates to that transitional phase.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: So transitioning into the professional world or transitioning outside of sports.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: I just continue to kind of shout from the mountaintops that that experience is valuable and it teaches you a lot of skills that others do not have to the same extent or same level.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: So the earlier you can understand what those skills are, begin to articulate those skills, it's going to set up a great foundation for you post-sports or post-athlete.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: With that, I'm going to turn it back over to Thomas.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Aaron.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: Evan, this is the next segment we're in is advice across all stages.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I kind of like to frame it like if you knew then what you know now.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: And if you could sit down with yourself as a college basketball player and student athlete to Emery, before you understood how athletic identity and experience would translate to career success, what would you tell that version of Evan?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: I would tell that version of Evan, go explore, go explore campus.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: On any given college campus, there are so many different activities, so many different clubs, so many different types of people.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: And naturally, because we are athletes, we spend a lot of time in one specific part of campus.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: That is completely okay.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: But to the extent that you can, dedicate some free time across different avenues of campus.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: So joining a club that you may not have any idea what it's about, or connecting with people that may be in your classes but have never stepped foot in kind of that athletic complex that stands on campus.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Again, you all very similar to being teammates or being, you know, athletes in the same athletic department, you have a connection with your non-athlete peers because you all go to the same university or college.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: So leverage that connection because you never know where that will take you, not only while you're on campus, but maybe three to five to 10 years after you graduate.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: So again, I would just tell that younger version of myself to go like push, go explore other parts of campus to get the full effect of what it is to be a college uh student and a college student athlete as well.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_02: I couldn't agree more.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: You know, uh, I'm not sure if you own a fraternity, but one of the things that I talk to about my young athletes, especially in high school and their parents, I tell them how I learned more in the locker room and then in the fraternity than I ever did in the classroom.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you you know, fraternities get a bad rap.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, you could drink and you could get drunk and you could chase girls and all that other stuff, but I mean you could do that in the classroom and all that other stuff.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm telling you, I mean, what I learned, because when you get into a fraternity, the diversity that's there as far as backgrounds, we're not just talking about race or ethnicity, we're talking about, you know, just upbringing and parts of America that you or the world that you've never even been to, and all of a sudden you find people that you never thought you'd be friends with, all of a sudden you're a friend.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: So if you literally, you know, you go through a rush class of maybe 20, 25 guys, and then you're in a fraternity of maybe 50 to 60 guys.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: There's gonna be some really mix and match guys there that I think is just awesome, no question.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: No, I completely agree.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: I want to add to that as well.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think, you know, the more maybe not the more, but when I think about a college campus, there's so many different pods that exist.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh again, us being athletes, we naturally gravitate towards that athlete pod.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's just where we are most of the time of the day.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: We have a lot of different simulators with those people.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: But if you can just intertwine yourself with other pods in a in a meaningful way, like I don't mean just go sign up for five clubs and just put that on your resume that hey, I'm a part of five clubs.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: But if you can join, you know, maybe two clubs, if you can go to some sort of play on campus, just experience different things that exist on a college campus, it will benefit you in the long run.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: It may not feel like it in the moment, but it will in the long run for sure.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: No doubt.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_02: Athlete After is a short-form interview series on LinkedIn and YouTube.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: What have you learned through these conversations about the common challenges and opportunities athletes face in transition?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, this is a great question.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: The first thing that comes to mind, so, and just to give a little bit of background, so far I've interviewed around 20 people.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: I've published 17 of those interviews, so more coming in the next coming weeks, and I plan to continue interviewing more former athletes and current athletes as well.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing that stands out to me, just kind of at a surface level, is that nobody.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I the first question I always ask my guest are what's the one thing you miss most about being a college athlete?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: To date, no one has talked about specific stats or winning a game or like actual playing.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone has talked about the camaraderie, the closeness, just being together with friends.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's very powerful.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think, you know, when you think about it very quickly, if you were to ask somebody, you know, what's the one thing you miss most about being an athlete?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: You may think that they will tell you about a specific game or a specific shot that they hit.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: But again, it's it's quite the opposite.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's about like those everlasting bonds that are created through sport and through being an athlete that stick with you through those four years, 10 years, 40 years after you graduate.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's super powerful to me.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's what makes me want to lean in more and tell these stories because those are universal truths, you know, creating strong bonds and having those be everlasting memories as we go forward in life.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: No question.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_02: And also you're expanding on TikTok soon and clearly building a movement around athlete advocacy.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: What's driving your passion for this work and how do you balance your LinkedIn career with your mission to serve former athletes?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Great question.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, first and foremost, yes, expanding to TikTok as well as Instagram very soon.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think naturally that's a fit for myself as I want to get the content in front of current athletes.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: And naturally, current athletes, current college student athletes are on TikTok and Instagram.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: So it makes a strong fit that way.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: I would say and I'm I'm so sorry, could you repeat the question?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: I apologize.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, no problem.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: It was just regarding TikTok and what's driving your passion for this work and how to balance your LinkedIn career with your mission to serve athletes.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Great question.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: So what's driving my passion for this series specifically is I think in the past, I had thought like, oh, okay, I need to be a thought leader or I need to be an expert in the space.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I still have a passion and a desire to be an expert in the space.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: But I think what can be most valuable at times is highlighting other stories.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because I don't know everything, not one person knows everything.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: But if you can establish a platform and get, you know, a divide a diversity of thought, a diversity of sport, diversity of age, gender, all of those things, and just mix it up into one platform, you start to draw through lines to your audience.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: So the D3 basketball player in the Midwest, I want them to be able to come to my platform and say, hey, I relate to you know a former D3 athlete that Evan interviewed.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: Same goes for maybe a current D1 football player that plays in the SEC.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: I want them equal to the D3 athlete to come to my platform and say, hey, I'm thinking about this whole transitional phase after sports.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: This content, this platform is valuable to me as well.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what really drives me.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: And you asked another great question.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: How do I balance it all?
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Going back to those transferable skills, effective, time management, communication, all of those things.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: I really have to be very prescriptive about how I plan my day.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: But then I'm also kind of letting, you know, my interest and just passion for being a student athlete advocate carry me forward.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know, you know, where this would go when I started it, but it feels good.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Every time I talk to an athlete, it feels very, very good.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: It feels very reminiscent, a little bit nostalgic in a sense.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that feeling.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna keep chasing it and see where it takes me.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think, I mean, like minds, I don't know if we shared with you, it was it's probably about a month ago, Aaron and I came up with the the platform called Path to the Pros, right?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: One of the questions that we get often from student athletes at both high school and college levels, whether as well as parents, is like, what's it gonna take to get to the pros?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: And the question is, we don't have a secret sauce, we don't have a magic bullet.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, but what we do know is you you have to put in the work, you have to embrace the suck, you can't cut corners, you have to do the work that other people just aren't willing to do.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, now with social media, you could we have clients that are strong D2 athletes that have an incredible following and platform just because they are active on social media.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: And if you're good, they're gonna find you, right?
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: The the next level will find you because you know, pre-social media, especially when I was coming up, is always D1, D1, D1, D1.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't even care about D2, D three.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: That was always kind of like part of the pun of Hail Mary.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: So the fact of what you're working on, and the, you know, we have guys that we have talked to that have gone the Juco route, and then they, you know, they were undrafted, and then they end up playing in the Super Bowl.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then we have guys that are, you know, D1 athletes all the way through, conference all Americans.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: They have a Super Bowl ring.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: Two separate paths, one main goal, and that's to win and you know, be a strong team player.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: What about go ahead?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: No, I was I was going to add to that because I cannot tell you how uh much I relate to that.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: Specifically, kind of you know, coming up, it was D1.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: It was like that was the only thing you had tunnel vision in terms of being not only a college athlete, but a D1 athlete.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: And for my own journey, like if I'm being transparent with you, I didn't learn about Division III until I was probably to the summer going into my senior year of high school.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and I know that you know it all it worked out for me in the end, but I I want to shout out Carl, he runs D3 Direct, and I'm I just want to shout him out because he does amazing work as it relates to shedding a spotlight on just the division three ecosystem and helping high school parents, high school athletes understand that there are many diverse opportunities out there that exist.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I think D1 we associate with an athletic scholarship, getting school paid for, but there are other ways to get your school school to get your school paid for either partially or fully, and still have that athletic experience that sets you up for your post-grad experience, whatever that may be.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: So again, short stories like there's a lot of great work now that has that has been done and is being done as it relates to highlighting these other divisions out there.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's great.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think, especially if you're a high school student athlete coming up and you want to understand your options, using social media, using the internet to understand not only what schools are out there, but what divisions may apply best to the experience you want to have in college.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's awesome.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, when we're done with the podcast off air, we'll get the gentleman's name and then Aaron and I will reach out to him because he's definitely somebody we should have on the podcast for some reason.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's we had an athlete we were working with that, I mean, just a phenomenal high school American, great grades, great family, great football player, great baseball player.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: And he was getting recruited by Oregon, obviously one of the best programs, but Oregon was very specific: like, if you come here, you're just gonna play football.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_02: And he wanted to play baseball.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: So he actually opted to go a D2 route, and so he could play both sports.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: He was he had no illusions of grandeur.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, I don't want to go to the NLFL.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to go to MLB.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: If that's in the cards, that's great, but I want to focus on my education.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_02: I want to play the sports I love.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I, you know, I really tipped my hat to that gentleman because he had great parents around him, great coaches, a great support group, and he just wanted to play sports and also get a great education.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: Not saying you can't get it at Oregon, but when you get, as you know, when you get you know pigeonholed into an athlete and that's it, it's athlete in school, you know, it takes the pressure off going to a different conference or a smaller conference like a D2, right?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that that brings me to that theme of like being a superstar in your role.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think as athletes, we've all heard that at one point or another.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you can apply that same theme to a college search.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you as an individual out there who's uh all-American or just like a high-ranking high school athlete, there may be numerous D1s out there contacting you, recruiting you.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: There also may be a couple of D2s.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: What I always say is just like understand all of your options and to the best of your ability, find the option that allows you to be a superstar in your role because that is going to, again, carry you forward, not only for those four years while you're on campus, but those 40 years after when you are a distinguished alumni of that college or university, they're calling you back to you know talk on campus, speak to the current athletes.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, being a superstar in your role can carry you very far.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: No doubt.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: So, what about current college athletes who are approaching graduation?
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, here we are in May.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: There's gonna be a lot of graduation.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: What do they need to understand about translating their athletic experience into professional success?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna kind of hit hit on this point again.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's that theme of transferable skills.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, at this point, you know, many seniors probably have had some inkling or some interaction with what are transferable skills, but just to kind of cover it at a high level, transferable skills are those soft or kind of non-technical skills that you can learn from an experience or an identity.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: And in this specific this particular case, we're talking about that athletic experience.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are those transferable skills that kind of are highlighted?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: They would be effective communication, leadership, time management skills, uh, resilience, adaptability.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: Again, there are so many teamwork.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many different transferable skills out there.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: But the earlier you can identify what those are, they will help you on tactical things like writing your resume, filling out a cover, cover letter for a job, speaking in a networking session or even an interview about the skills you have learned over time and how they will relate or transition into the role that you're looking for.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: And even outside of that, if you're looking to apply to graduate school or maybe even starting your own business, transferable skills are very helpful because they allow you to identify your superpowers and then allow you to lean more into those superpowers to be successful as you go forward.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: From here, let's take it back to Aaron for a segment.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: The next segment, rapid fire round.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron, take it away.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, this is a fun little one here.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna start a sentence and you're just gonna finish it for me.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: Discipline equals discipline equals consistency.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership equals leadership equals a big superpower.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: Storytelling equals.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: Storytelling equals knowledge.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Legacy equals legacy equals leaving a space better than what you found it.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: And what is one thing you would never compromise on?
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: Family.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: And if you could put a message on a billboard for the athletes transitioning out of sports, what would it be?
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: Transferable skills are your superpower.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that was fast.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: Back to you, Thomas.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome, Evan.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: And we're going into our closing round here.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I'd like to open up the floor to our guests and just kind of a free flow, whatever's on your mind.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: And is there something we didn't touch on today that you feel athletes, parents, or anyone facing major life transitions need to hear about identity, storytelling, and building meaning beyond athletics?
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I I kind of want to tackle this in three parts.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: So the first part is I'm thinking about the audience of high school athletes and high school parents, thinking about that next next step.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: So whether that is you're looking at potentially playing in college or you're looking at the colleges recruiting you and thinking about which one is that best option.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think this sounds cliche, but as best you can, take your time.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: Take your time to understand that two-way street, what the university or college is offering you, but what you can also offer that university and that community around the university.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: Again, these relationships they can they don't have to last four years.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: They can last 40, especially if you nurture it, if you pour into it.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that 40 years can be very fruitful for you in the long run.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I would just, you know, advise that specific that specific segment of the audience to slow down as best you can to take your time when selecting a college or university of your choice.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: The second kind of audience segment I'm thinking about are my my student athletes, current student athletes that are working their way to transitioning into life after sports.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: We spoke about it ad nauseum at this point, but I can't continue to harp on this.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's those transferable skills, especially if you're looking to enter the professional world after college athletics.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: Again, whether that be starting a job at a corporation, 95, entering graduate school, or even starting your own business.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you can identify what your transferable skills are, you start to identify your superpowers.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: From there, you just need to learn how to articulate those superpowers to your non-athlete peers or non-athlete audience.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: So when I think about this, I'm thinking like, okay, how do I articulate everything I learned as an athlete, that adaptability, time management, leadership to an HR recruiter who did not play sports?
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you can learn how to do that, you will stand out in that process.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: I guarantee you.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: I continue to get that feedback all the time.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because again, someone sees athlete on your resume, on your LinkedIn profile, they're going to stop a little bit longer than they would on a non-athlete peers LinkedIn profile or resume.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: Again, to take it home, it's on you to articulate that, specifically those transferable skills, to those people who may not be as familiar with that athlete athletic experience.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then, I mean, similar advice, but we can't forget about people that make it all the way to the professionals uh in their selective sport and are thinking about that next stage, transitioning uh from life as a professional athlete into life after sports.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's very complex.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: I am not an expert by any means.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: I would just encourage those people to find their support system, understand what you want to do, and and very similar to the high school advice like take your time.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like you've probably worked your well, worked your way into a position where you can afford to take some time, and that's very valuable.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: So take your time, search on social media, search on Google, use AI.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of great tools out there that didn't exist five, 10, 15 years ago to really tackle this, this process and this transition head on.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: So if they have any questions, I'm sure your platform, my platform, both of us can be valuable resources to that audience as well.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: But take your time, find your support system, and you'll make it you'll make it through.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_02: You were with you at Aaron with the Rapid Fire.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: Now I'm gonna put you on the hot seat.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I love this question for former athletes.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: Art imitating life, what are the top three sports movies of all time, according to Evan?
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh no particular order.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I'm gonna go Space Space Jam just because it's funny, it's nostalgic.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's probably kind of a curveball, but I gotta go Space Jam with Michael Jordan.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: Second one, Glory Road.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: Glory Road is a sleeper to me.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: I really like that movie.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Glory Road was really, really good.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm hoping that makes it makes it back into the mainstream for this current generation.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: But that was that was a strong movie.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then last but not least, this is probably my top one, but remember the Titans.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: I I remember vividly watching that movie.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: I had it on DVD, I probably ran it into the ground, but remember the Titans, especially in this kind of DC, Northern Virginia area.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's just a very strong movie.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of life, a lot of life lessons, but just a great job overall with that movie.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_02: I forgot about Glory of the Road.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: What a great movie.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, whenever I ask that question, I mean for for me, it you know, I you know what's funny, Evan, is I've never played hockey.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think I've been on the ice three times, four times, five times.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_02: But I love Miracle.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: I think good call.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you take a you take a dozen misfits and bring them together, and if they have one goal, it's a remarkable what you can accomplish.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_02: And when I say misfits, they were talented athletes, but I'm talking about from all over.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_02: And you and I, we both know how hard it is to develop culture and continuity on a team.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: And when you're pressed against time and then playing at a stage like the Olympics, how they guys did it was just phenomenal.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_02: And then for me, who doesn't like an underdog?
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_02: I love the original Rocky, and then as it just developed into the you know, that whole trilogy, now we're at Creed, it's just it's just such a it's just so much fun.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: So much fun.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_02: Last one is last one is who's yours.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that that to me is just epic, and then everything after that is just an honorable mention.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: No, I mean, I I love this question because I think you know, movies, specifically sports movies, they're they have so many universal themes, universal truths that are embedded into those stories.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that can honestly be a lesson that people take away from this conversation.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: Is like, look how people that are not athletes can relate to sports movies.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: That same thing could be true for you know athletes looking to take those transferable skills and articulate that in kind of a universal theme or universal truth perspective.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's and that becomes like when you do that, you become highly relatable to again your athlete peers and non-athlete peers, and the world opens up in terms of opportunity because people understand what you do, regardless of if they play the sport or not.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: Totally, 100%.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: Evan, this is amazing.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: Where can people connect with you?
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_02: Whether that's a website, your social media profile, or an email, how can they reach out to you?
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, primary way to reach out to me is on LinkedIn.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: So search me, Evan Coleman.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: You'll see my profile.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: It says senior marketing manager at LinkedIn, athlete, student athlete advocate, and AI enthusiast.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: Follow me, connect with me.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions, I'm I'm an open door.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: Feel free to reach out, just type in to the LinkedIn chat messages, and I'll be sure to respond.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm, again, super passionate about this space of specifically helping and aiding student athletes as it relates to their transition from college athletics into the professional world.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm I'm an open door at all times.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: Feel free to reach out.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_02: And team, he means it.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: When we met Evan, he was very receptive about talking to us, as well as getting on the podcast.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: And Evan, thank you for showing us what it's like, what it really looks like to have your platform serve other athletes and build meaningful communities beyond sports.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: And team, if this conversation here to you, we need you to do two things for us.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_02: One, share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: An athlete navigating life after sports, a parent supporting their child's transition, a coach who wants to better prepare athletes for what comes next, and to follow Evan on his platforms that he just shared with you.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_02: And check out Athlete After on YouTube and Athlete at athlete.after on Instagram.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_02: If you're an athlete or care about athletes transitioning successfully, Evan's building the community that resources need to know about.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_02: And if you're an athlete, parent, or coach ready to raise the standard, reach out to me or Aaron at blueprintbluechip.com.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_02: And if this episode has resonated with you, it could really it would really help us.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_02: Do us a solid, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_02: It helps us reach more athletes, parents, and leaders who need to hear this message.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: This is the standard podcast, and this movement only grows when we raise the standard together.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: Train talent fades, but truth endures.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_02: Let's raise the bar, rebuild the culture, and become the standard.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_02: Evan, Aaron, thank you so much, team.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you next time.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_02: That was awesome.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome, awesome.