Making it to any level of professional sport is extremely difficult. Only a very small percentage of athletes make it as pros. The athletes that become professionals make immense sacrifices to get there. Similarly, succeeding as a professional sports agent requires great sacrifice and the willingness to invest today with no guarantee of future success. Only 17% of NFL agents represent 80% of players in the league.
My guest on this episode, Alex Beaudry, is an NFL-certified player agent. Like myself, Alex always dreamed of having a career in sports and was willing to take very significant risks to achieve that dream. Alex’s background as an athlete, businessperson, and basketball coach have equipped him for the challenging transition to sports agent.
In Episode 45, Alex discusses how he left a financially rewarding career in the insurance industry to pursue a career as an agent. During our conversation, Alex debunks many of the typical myths about sports agents and a player’s path to the NFL. Ultimately, we explore the question, “What’s the risk of doing nothing?”
So, what was your biggest takeaway from my conversation with Alex Beaudry?
For me, it’s that being an NFL agent isn’t glamorous. Agents must take on a great deal of risk and responsibility in the process of advocating for a young athlete’s future. Being an agent isn’t just about getting the best deal. It’s about helping athletes procure the best resources and deal with the hard truths about the path to professional sports.
My suggestion to any young athlete with dreams of being a professional athlete is to find advisors that have your best interests at heart. Agents have a vested interest in your success and will do whatever it takes to help you succeed. Take responsibility for your career and invest in it as much as possible to make your dreams come true.
I want to thank Alex for his kind generosity and the wisdom he shared with The Freshman Foundation Community.
You can learn more about Alex’s agency Team Lammi on their website at https://team-lammi.com and on Twitter @team_lammi.
To learn how mental performance coaching can help your mind work FOR you rather than AGAINST you, visit https://michaelvhuber.com.
Thank you for listening. We’ll see you back soon for Episode 46!
[00:00:01] Mike: Hey Alex, how’s it going?
[00:00:02] Alex Beaudry: It's going great man. I'm doing fantastic. Thanks for having me on.
[00:00:05] Mike: Thanks for coming on to the podcast. I appreciate it. So I guess to kick things off, I'd ask you what inspired you to become an NFL agent?
[00:00:14] Alex Beaudry: Yeah. So I wish I had some profound answer. I always wanted to be playing on Sundays, as I mean, it's every kid's dream, right to play in the NFL to play at that level. I played football in high school. Unfortunately, genetics is a huge component. And I was 6’2” or 6’3” 160 pounds. I hated the weight room. So my playing days ended at high school. And then as I got into college, you know, trying to figure out what's next, now that your glory days as an athlete are behind you, or they were for me? You know, I kind of wrestled with that I want to go into medical school. And, you know, what did I want to do? And, you know, I took a college level chemistry class, my first semester, I went to Marquette here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And that was my first experience being with 200 other kids, my high school only had 400 kids total. So now I'm in one class with 200 kids. And I struggled, and I was like, “Okay, this isn't for me”. So I pivoted and went towards the law direction. And I got pretty fortunate at the time. Marquette was one of, I think, two or three programs in the entire country that had a sports law specific program. And I was like, you know what, this would be cool, I'd be able to stick with my, you know, I love sports, specifically football. So I thought, this is what I want to do. And ever since then, you know, there's been some bumps along the way, of course, but I've always had the goal of going to law school and becoming an agent ever since probably my sophomore year in college. So I wish it was like something that I always want to do. And, you know, I had this great role model. My role model was Jerry Maguire. And then when I got a little bit older as entourage, if you ever watch that show, you know, those are my two agent mentors. But, you know, it's something I've always wanted to get into.
[00:02:23] Mike: Yeah, I can relate to on a lot of levels. One, you know, I think genetics haunts us all. I mean, you know, I sort of had the same experience and listen, you know, it's not an easy thing to be an athlete, but that doesn't mean you don't have the wherewithal or the knowledge to be to have a career in sports, right, which you're proving and I think I'm proving as well. And I laugh at sort of your inspirations. But I think it leads to a serious follow up, like you look at say, you know, an Ari Gold, and I watched entourage, I just re-watched it. Right. And I think there's a stereotype about agents in general, sort of the behavior the way that they act, sort of, you know, and it's not always positive. And I and the way I think of agents now is somebody who's a representative of someone's future, which is a much more positive way to look at it. So can you talk about sort of some of the realities of being an agent versus what you might see on TV?
[00:03:17] Alex Beaudry: Yes. So I think the first thing for anybody who's listening that might ever want to be an agent, is it is not glamorous. Outside of, I'll pick on football, since that's the industry I'm in outside of maybe 5 or 10 agents. Most guys probably have a second job. You know, I have 6 clients. This is my first draft class. I have six clients. Most of them if not all of them will be undrafted, free agents, or guys that are just trying to make it into camp and then you know, hopefully they stick around. If none of those guys play a down in football, I don't make a dime. Any and then even if they do in the league minimum next year is 705,000. I get 3% of that, which ends up being like $30,000 and I got expenses to pay. You know, a lot of times you're playing for their training, you're paying for their travel, getting them set up. I mean, the margins are razor thin. There's 1000 around 1000 certified agents and there's only 1800 players that are active in the NFL, they're on a 53 man roster so and then you look at the guys at the top like the Drew Rosenhaus is the David Malagos these guys have 60 to 80 clients just with them. So I think the stat is like 17% of agents represent 80% of the league. So there is a lot of guys fighting over 20% of the remaining players that are and these guys are just scrapping just trying to make it on a roster because if you don't make it to a 53 man roster on that final cut down day, you don't get paid. I mean you get your training camp stipend and things like that, but it's you're not making a living and then even if you have a client who makes it to a practice squad agents don't get paid for practice more employers. So I mean, it's a grind, it's highly competitive. People see the amount of money that goes into football. And they think if I can be an agent, I'm going to be a millionaire. And that's just, that's quite frankly, not the case, at least for most agents. So that would be the biggest thing. The second thing is, you talked about the stereotypical, Ari Gold, even Jerry Maguire. And I still think that's probably the perception for most people, even athletes, you get in contact with an athlete the two most common questions you'll get is, who do you represent? And what will you give me? There's this perception that true or not? And I'm sure there's folks out there that will do it. But you know, how much money am I going to get? Am I gonna get a signing bonus? Am I going to get a marketing advance? Where are you sending me for training, you know, all of those different things? And for the guys that are gonna go in the first couple rounds, the draft, okay, that's fine. You know, agents are treating that like a return on investment. The problem is that perception can go down even further to the guys that are borderline players. And a lot of times, the athlete may take themselves out of the running of getting a good agent, because they're asking for too much. So that perception does kind of sink in. And the last thing I'll say on it is colleges, the schools themselves, I think now with NIL, they're opening up to agents, but before that, schools would do everything in their power to keep agents as far away as possible, just and they're protecting themselves, right, they don't want to be in the news, they don't want their star player missing games on Saturdays. So I get it. But I also think they're doing their kids a big disservice on, you know, they should be teaching them how to select the right agent. And instead, they're kind of fighting you at every level, making sure you're certified. You know, it's expensive to be certified with these states, and the schools are keeping you at an arm's length. Now with NIL, I'm hoping they'll start to open up and let us in and we can kind of jointly educate their student athletes. So hopefully, that changes, but at the same time, agents are looked at almost as an enemy from the schools just because they don't want their athletes getting in trouble.
[00:07:22] Mike: Well, that's a really interesting point. And I want to talk to you more about that, because I'm in this space with college athletes, obviously, and I'm not doing not doing what you're doing. But I think you make a really good point about jointly educating but I mean, listen, at the end of the day, the compliance, the hit the legacy of NCAA compliance is, is that agents are no, no, and that's the way it's always been. And you know, those are the rules. And until the rules are change, which NFL, I think is part of the impetus for that, we'll start to maybe see more open borders, if you want to call it that, right, like sort of more cooperation but I think you're right. Like you've got these, let's look at football. You said football is kind of the biggest sport as it relates to, you know, draft classes. It's the biggest sport as it relates to free agents. They're the most jobs in the NFL. Well, you know, if you're a school, like, wouldn't you want your student athlete to have the resources to know if they're going down that road, just like if they were going on to a new career. There's a Career Center at the school, let's teach our student athletes about what the career options are, while being a football player as a career option for division one kids or even Division Two and Three kids sometimes, like not teaching them about how to select an agent for their future is doing them a disservice?
[00:08:42] Alex Beaudry: And I look at it almost like prohibition. You know, you try and make alcohol illegal people find a way to skirt the rules. And a secondary consequence of that as the mob takes over. It's kind of the same thing with agents if, if you're educating your kids, your student athletes on how to select a good agent who's a good character fit for you, who has your best interests at heart, if you leave that to the individual athlete and their families, of course, they're going to be drawn to the guy with a $300,000 car who's got a duffel bag of cash in the trunk. But you know what, that comes with consequences because that money is going to be paid back if you decide to fire that agent. They may not be the highest of character, they're looking to make a quick buck as opposed to looking at your career over the long period. And you know, I'm making stereotypes here too. I'm speaking in generalities. But I think you understand the point where as if we can all go in this together, it'll level the playing field and in the end will end up protecting the athlete because they have people within their school who's looking out for their best interests, not just the school's best interest of making sure they're not on the news, or that you get suspended and you can't play games on Saturday. Sports up until this point, it feels like everyone's out for themselves. And that includes the school. I mean, the school will tell you, they're there to protect the athlete. But really, they're there to protect themselves, make sure they're getting their TV revenue, and they have a good product on the field. Hopefully, we can kind of all come together. I mean, as an agent, I don't want that reputation. I want to do things the right way. I want to play by the rules, but I want everybody to play by the rules. And when you treat all agents like the enemy, some agents will become that just to remain competitive.
[00:10:35] Mike: Well, listen, I mean, you're sort of fighting against the human condition, which is survival. Like, you know, if I've played for four years in college, and I've been scraping by, and I want to go make a living, and I want to get that minimum contract $700,000. While it doesn't mean a lot of money to you as an agent several. $700,000 is a lot of money for most of us. So if you're a 22 year old kid who gets that minimum contract and makes a roster, that's a big deal. So like, I do want to go get that money. And, you know, choosing the highest profile agent isn't necessarily going to guarantee you that route. But the athletes should have some understanding of how to select an agent so that they give themselves the best chances of success. And I have to imagine in some ways, you're like a father figure. I mean, you're not that old of a guy, but like a 22 year old kid who has an agent is looking to them for guidance, like so what are some of the issues or some of the things you're helping them with beyond just getting placed? Like, what are some of the things you're helping them with in terms of education?
[00:11:40] Alex Beaudry: Well, the biggest thing is just being honest with them. Unfortunately, I would say 99% of the guys who've played Division One football, FBS or FCS level, believe they can play in the NFL. And that's fantastic. Because you need to have that ego to be successful at high level sport. At the same time, there's just not enough spots. And I would say the hardest part of my job is coming to terms with the fact that hey, man, I'm sorry, my phone's not ringing. You had a bad workout, whatever it might be. But your dreams coming to an end, and no agent, I don't care what they tell you can cold call their way to get you on a roster, I mean, scouts, they're on these, they're in their positions for a reason they've been watching you play football for the last three or four years. In some cases, like when it's your time, the NFL is a cold business and it's time to move on. And I would say that's the hardest part. So having an agent who's going to be honest with you, I think is important, because yes, we're there to support you, yes, we're going to do everything we can to get you an opportunity. But at the end of the day, if that opportunity comes and goes, you know, it's important to know that and probably to start planning, I think, you know, with this with the timing of the NFL, a lot of kids are done in December. And while a lot of them may have graduated December, others don't. And the draft process starts in January and runs through the end of April. So these guys are training twice a day, a lot of them are moving across the country, combine pro days, etc. And I worry about a lot of those guys who maybe didn't finish that last semester. Now it might be easy to go back and finish. But at the same time, like your degree is for a lot of these guys. The average NFL career is for four years, less than four years. You got to do something for a long time after you're done playing football. And I hope a lot of these kids remember to go back and get their degree because yes, they all want to play in the NFL. And yeah, $705,000 is a lot of money for especially for a lot of these kids who've come from rough backgrounds or whatnot. But that degree is worth something to and there is life after football. So I think, you know, not only being honest with them, but starting to plan for life after football. Even if you got a guy 10 year career, you're retiring at 32 that's a long time to not be playing football. So it's just important to kind of figure that out, set them up with the right people make sure they're taking care of their money. You know, they got that education to fall back on all those things.
[00:14:15] Mike: I mean, you know, what you just said is, you know, if you play 10 years in the NFL, it's an extremely robust career. So as an agent, if one of your guys signs a couple of contracts, like you almost have to start planning for the end of football, the day they hit the league, because 10 years is really not that much at all. And I think that I would think that the best agents are the ones that are looking at that horizon of like, let's maximize not only the contract values, but the amount of money that you keep and the way you set yourself up for the future because when you're 32 you're probably going to be doing something else. But I don't know that a 22 year old kid or a 21 year old kid is thinking about that they're thinking about, like, you know, how do I get the most money right now? So how do you have that conversation of like, hey, I know, it's important to get paid now. But if you do these things, the money's gonna come in. And how do you sort of have that conversation?
[00:15:17] Alex Beaudry: Good question. I haven't had to have those conversations. Luckily, you know, be my first draft class. All the kids, I'm working with this. Keep calm kids. I'm 32. So their kids to me. All these young men that are coming out, they all come from phenomenal backgrounds. They're all easy. These conversations are easy right now. It's when you, you know, a few years down the road, if I put myself in that situation, and I'm representing a first round draft pick, that's life changing money. That's when you're getting the million stats where you feel like the rides never gonna end. And that's probably a little bit more difficult. But you do have to have those conversations. I think I forget who said it, maybe Naval Ravikant, I don't know if you ever follow him extremely intelligent kind of philosopher, and he's in tech and angel investor. But he said, the three most important decisions you can make are like “what you do, who you marry and where you live”. And I think about that in the context of football, and it's who do these guys put around them? Do they have an entourage of five guys that they grew up with? Because that spells trouble just for a lot of different reasons. But do they come from a good family? Do they have a good partner in life, whether it's you know, wife, or whatever, those decisions are extremely important. And then you know, because once you make it, everybody's calling everybody you've ever met, I can imagine is probably reaching out to you, congratulating you, and then eventually down the road asking for something. So learning to say no is extremely important. I think about Rob Gronkowski a lot. Everybody thinks he's a big dumb oaf. He has not spent a penny over what he made his rookie contract. So you think about all the contracts he's made after that, that's all invested saved? I mean, he's going to be set for life and that's the way it should be done.
[00:17:13] Mike: Yeah. So I'll go back then. I asked that question, you know, I think a little bit prematurely because you're right, like, you're just getting started in this business but let me kind of go back to the beginning. Here, you were given us the statistics about the number of players and the number of agents. So you have six players right now. It sounds like they're guys who are just kind of fighting to make camp. But at the same time, six sounds like a pretty good number for you know, your first draft class. So what is your value proposition when you're talking to young athletes or their families about how you will serve their best interests?
[00:17:54] Alex Beaudry: Right now, the biggest asset I can offer is time. So you mentioned it, you know, guys who are, you know, kind of battling for a spot and going with the most established agent? Well, those most established agents likely aren't going to work with guys that are going to go in the sixth, seventh, round or later. And even agents who have been doing it, I pictured myself three years down the road, hopefully six turns into 18, I won't have the same time that I do now. So for guys that are just looking for an opportunity, I can do everything. I can just because I have time, I don't have a giant roster of clients to manage. So I think that's a huge value add. The second is just being open, honest and responsive. We talked about kind of stigmas in our industry agents are terrible at getting back to people. I've reached out to a couple different agents, I got some guys training down in Arizona, one of them is a tight and he was looking for a guy to throw to I reached out to a couple of other agents that I knew had athletes in the area training, just saying, “Hey, I got this guy. Do you want to set up some routes like run, like trying to create like a mutual opportunity and just cricks it? I mean, it's just an industry fraught with guys, you know, either not feeling like they have to or maybe they're too busy, I don't know but it's a lack of communication business. So, you know, being responsive, hey, I need this. What are you hearing? You know, and where should I train, all those types of questions, just trying to be proactive and responsive and just being good customer service. You know, the bigger agencies have things like PR and marketing, that stuff comes right now. Let's just take this next six months, like make sure you're still playing football, that's the biggest thing, you know, so put our power and energy into that.
[00:19:52] Mike: So looking, you know, knowing a little bit about your background, you know, you have sales experience, so can you equate your or how does your sales experience translate into that environment of like, I'm not getting a response? Like, because as you know, as a salesperson, you know, there's just constant follow up. You’ll get what you need, or you know, you're pursuing something. So does that like what's the benefit of that experience in your work as an agent?
[00:20:21] Alex Beaudry: So prior to becoming an agent, I sold group health insurance for six years, almost seven years. So I worked in public sector employee benefits, I'd go to municipalities, and I would set up their benefits plans that as much as at the end, I wanted to do something different. That job taught me a lot specifically about customer service. And I had the opportunity to work with my mom for the majority of those years. And just learning how, like people my age, don't pick up the phone. You know, it's kind of a stigma with millennials and younger like we don't, everything's on email or a text. I think like learning how to pick up the phone and ask for something is extremely valuable. How to respond to an email? How do you know things go wrong? You make a mistake? How do you address that, you know, attack it head on, hey, I made a mistake. Because bad news delivered early can be overcome, bad news delivered late, you're gonna get fired. So it taught me all of all of those different things. And, you know, in sales, I think if you've been in sales, you could probably sell anything, as long as you understand it. But it was more so the customer service aspect, I think, set me up for success, just learning how to deal with people how to deliver on your promises, how not to over promise, because in sales, it's easy to promise the world. It's hard to deliver on that. And that's where I think you get into trouble in life is when you over promise and under deliver.
[00:21:45] Mike: But if I try to equate that to being going back to being an agent, right, there's these time horizons. There's the short term time horizon of like, I just want to close the sale. And whatever happens after that, I don't really care versus like, hey, I want to close the sale but I want to be alone. I want to have a long term relationship with you so I could get recurring business, right. And to me, it's the same thing as we would think it would be the same thing as an agent. Like, of course, we need to get your first contract, otherwise, there's not going to be a second. But once I get your first contract, now I'm in it to make sure that you have a long and lasting career so that there's a long term relationship here, which is going to benefit everybody, and I have your best interests at heart. And I think, you know, that's where people set themselves apart, like you said, in the Customer Service element of it, like, just because you got a contract doesn't mean I'm gonna step away. In fact, I'm gonna lean in and try to do as much as I can to make sure that you're as successful as possible, because then I am as well. And I think that that is lacking everywhere in the world, because everybody just wants what they want, right now. And to invest the time to help somebody build a long term career is the incentive isn't really there, unless you really are motivated by other things, things other than money. You know, it's like, I have a client that I used to work with in my coaching practice, and he's a Division One baseball player now. And when I worked with him in high school, I was on staff and so it was through the school. And we've stayed in touch over the years and I've never done, you know, I've never done any work for him. I've never gotten paid to do anything. And nor have I think I've asked once, and it didn't work out and I was fine with that. But we had a conversation the other day on the phone, and he's doing great now as a sophomore pitching. And I just, you know, thinking about that relationship, I met him probably four years ago, and I didn't get one dime out of it, it doesn't matter to me, like, If there comes a day where I could work for him and be you know, a client or be a coach to him and him be my client, that'd be awesome. But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. And I think that, you know, having those values of helping people achieve their dreams, if you do the right thing ultimately, you know, doesn't pay the bills right now, trust me, I know, but I think if you do the right thing, now, it goes a long way to you know what your future is going to look like, you know, in terms of having that success that you invest the time and like you said, you have that asset now. So I'm wanting to shift gears a little bit.
[00:24:20] Alex Beaudry: Before we move on I just want to add one thing to that. What you just described is probably the best definition of your personal brand. So like branding is huge in sports, right? Building a brand and you know, what is your logo look like? And you know, what graphic designer do you have? But really when it comes down to it, that's your personal brand. It's what you do. It's not what you say. So, you know, people will remember how you make them feel. So if and think about as you're building a business if you want to be an agent or you want to go into sports performance like yourself, or whatever it might be if you can make people feel that way. You will have stories to sell yourself to the next person, and not only that person that you helped will help you move on. I mean, referrals are so much easier than reaching out on Twitter or trying to track down someone's phone number or anything like that. So I think what you said is extremely important. And for all the brand consulting and everything else that's out there, that's probably 10 times more important than what mostly goes into that. So I just wanted to add that though.
[00:25:24] Mike: That’s a great point. And it's something I think about in my building my own business is that, you know, whenever I start to question, you know what I'm doing, because I'm not getting the results I want right now. I think of the time that I invest in the effort that investors equity. It may not be paying off today, like if you have a job and someone sends you a paycheck, every two weeks, you get your return. May I might work 40 hours for a week and not get paid a dime. But that's equity into my business and into my brand where that payoff might come into the future way beyond what you might get if you're making a paycheck every two weeks. And I think that helps sort of frame things. But it also helps keep sanity, right when you're going through hard times. Because sometimes you do you go through hard times as a business owner, and I think, you know, having a purpose of serving somebody else. And that short term, you know, is a good way to get through. But I wanted to ask you about your background as a coach. So how did you get into high school coaching?
[00:26:23] Alex Beaudry: So when I was a sophomore in high school, I was about five, five, and 110 pounds, and I got cut from the JV basketball team. And again, I went to a pretty small school so that sucked. All my friends were still playing basketball. And I was cut. And so I focused on other things. For my sophomore junior year, I was big into golf was on the varsity golf team and play baseball and football, which was great. And then my senior year came around and I sprouted up between my sophomore junior years. I grew six, seven inches, and I'm 6’2”, 6’3” and the school wanted me to come back and play and well, when I was 17, so you make dumb decisions when you're 17. But I my ego got in the way, I didn't want to go back to a team that I had already been cut from. But at the same time, I didn't want to spend time away from my friends who were all on the basketball team. So what I did is the guy actually the guy who cut me, approached me talk to my parents and he said, Look, you understand the game of basketball really well. I want an assistant, would you help me coach the freshman team? And I said, “Sure”. So I did that for two years. So I coach freshman boys’ basketball as a senior in high school, which is a little bit unique. But I got to take the bus, I got to ride with all my friends. And then I got to sit on the bench for varsity games. So it was kind of like a win, win for me. So I did that for two years. And then I was a sophomore in college. And there was a head coaching position for freshman girls. And I really wanted my own team again, kind of that ambition, that ego. Totally overestimating how difficult this would be. I remember my first practice coaching 14 year old girls, you know, I'm got Bobby Knight in the back of my head, you know, drill sergeant, like Colin, all these basketball terms. And the varsity coach, who's a really good friend of mine pulled me aside, he's like, look, I'm gonna bet 95% his girls don't know what the elbow is. They don't know what the block is. You need to take 10 steps back, explain it to focus on the fundamentals. Don't worry about winning. And he like put it into perspective. And then, you know, a couple years later, I'm now the varsity assistant. I did that for seven years. So it was like this, this winding journey. But I think about like how I was when I was 2021 to where I finished where I had children of my own. And it was really cool. Not only did we accomplish some great things, but the relationships you build along the way how it changed me as a person was a lot. So coaching was a fantastic time in my life.
[00:29:12] Mike: What are some of the ways that have changed you as person?
[00:29:14] Alex Beaudry: Patience, the biggest one. I think my first year coaching girls, we had a really good freshman team my first year I think I broke two or three clipboards, you know, thinking that anger was the way to communicate how you were feeling or to inspire. And really that's just not the way to do it. You know, especially for girls the way, we compare it boys. They're a little bit more athletic, at least the high school level, but they all think they're the next LeBron James. Girls will do everything you tell them to do. There's just much more emotion that goes into it. So if you're a drill sergeant, especially like the freshman level. All they're trying and you're all you're doing is tearing them down, as opposed to like taking a step back, trying to build it dealing with some of the emotional side of it. So there's, you know, just kind of going those differences. And, you know, when I was in college, I had to really kind of take a step back, because, you know, like I said, I thought I was next Bobby Knight.
[00:30:23] Mike: Well, I mean, but listen to your credit, some coaches coach their whole lives and don't learn that lesson. Yeah, and I mean, being in the field. But Amen. I think that's one of the major deficiencies in your sport, is the ability of the shortage of coaches who can, you know, relate to players and understand where they're at and meet them where they're at versus thinking like, this is the way I coach because this is the way people coach me. Right. And I think that happens a lot. And the fact that you were able to identify that as, you know, something you needed to be better at eventually, and you did and you learn from it is, is a great testament to you. Because not like I said, not everybody learns that a lot of coaches think it's my way or the highway, and if you don't like it too bad. It's not the way it should be.
[00:31:06] Alex Beaudry: And with youth sports, because I saw it, you know, once I got to the varsity level, now it is a little bit more about winning, you know, you're not playing all 12 girls, you have a rotation seven or eight, you're there to be in the paper and win games. But I watched all those classes come through, you know, probably towards 100 girls by the end of it, and you sports. And I don't want to rip on them to arcs most of time. It's some dad who's volunteering his time, there's no money and I get that. But they're trying to win games at the Youth Sport level. And by doing these players such a disservice, because you know, eighth grade girls basketball, they're playing a two three zone. Well, nobody can really shoot. So it's easy to play good defense. But you're now when they get to high school, I have to reteach everything they've never played man to man before. And even if your girl is talented, your daughter's talented. It's so much re-teaching where if we could get back to where youth sports where I remember when my dad coached me. I played everywhere in baseball, he had me catch he had me play shortstop, I played right field, you know, you have to learn how to play every position because it helps you understand the game better you understand what's going on what everybody's supposed to be doing. And I think I'm looking forward to coaching my kids. And that's what's most important to me, are you developing the fundamentals? And then on then, taking a step back from just sports. Sports have been so important to me, how are you using sport to teach greater life lessons, and it's not just about wins, especially at the god the sixth, seventh, eighth grade level.
[00:32:42] Mike: Listen, my kids have gone through that. And when I could like third grade basketball. And people, these teams will like to play two three zones. It's one of my biggest pet peeves. I'm like, you can't learn how to play good zone defense until you understand how to play man to man defense. So we're gonna play man to man defense, and we're gonna stink at it until we figure it out. And then once you figure it out, then we can try other stuff. But everybody was trying to win games. But he's like, “Well, why don't you just play his own”? You could just stand in your little box and let them try to shoot over you like, no, that's not really how basketball is played. So why are we going to teach them the wrong way, but people want to win, and grownups want to win the kids. The kids don't really care until you get to like eighth grade, then they start to care about winning. But before that it's not. It's just it's the grown-ups trying to feed their ego and say like, “oh, I'm a good coach”.
[00:33:32] Alex Beaudry: But you got too. And then you got some eighth grader who's like, 5’11” you stick them in the middle of a to dry zone. And most of the time in middle school, he's gonna get every rebound until he gets to high school. And now you're going up against guys that are 6’4”, 6’5”, 6’8”. And he doesn't know how to box out, and he doesn't know how to help.
[00:33:49] Mike: And it developed bad habits.
[00:33:50] Alex Beaudry: Yeah, exactly.
[00:33:51] Mike: So I mean, that you learn from that. So like, how do you what do you take from your time coaching? How do you apply it in your work as an agent?
[00:34:04] Alex Beaudry: How do I apply it in life as an agent? I think the biggest thing is, is just how to work with people and it's kind of an accumulation of everything. It's an accumulation of being in sales. It's an accumulation of being customer service. It's an accumulation of coaching. I hope that the girls looked at me as a good leader. The most influential person in that space to me is Jocko Willing, his book, “Extreme Ownership” is fantastic. And I read that during the time that we actually made a state run and so it was like a light bulb went off for me, like understanding that everything is my responsibility, especially. Especially, you know, when you're winning and losing games, it's not the kids fault. It's your fault as the coach, you either didn't teach it right, you didn't do this and just and that little philosophy switch was truly life changing. And I think about that now in the context of an agent, am I doing everything to set my guys up for success? Am I being honest because it's easy? Especially when you're trying not to hurt someone's feelings, it's easy to just let something slide. But it's not what you preach. It's what you tolerate. And if you don't address it, you're either going to end up resenting it, or he's going to make a mistake to three steps down the road, that's going to get him into trouble. And now he's not realizing his dream. So kind of a long winded answer, but it's that accumulation of things, you know, coaching does teach you how to manage people, or how to lead people, because every athlete is different. Some athlete doesn't need to be screamed at and kicked in the butt. Others need to be pulled aside and probably told what they're doing well, as opposed to constantly breaking them down and trying to figure out who needs what and where and when is important.
[00:35:58] Mike: Well, it also ties back to what you were saying before about being honest, right? Like, great leaders, great coaches, great leaders, great business, people are able to be honest with people and give them feed the feedback that they need to get better, even though they know they may not like to hear it. And I think that that's being a coach, you know, you start to learn how to read the room, and you learn how to really talk to people and have a conversation. It's a great lesson. And if I go back to what we were just talking about with you sports, I think it's the same idea, which is to say, a lot of people criticize coaches at all levels. They criticize young coach, youth coaches, they criticize college coaches, they criticize, criticize pro coaches, they think they know what they should do. But until you've put yourself into that situation as a coach, you really don't understand, like you said, how hard it is to be a coach. Because it's not just about X's and O's anymore. It's about the people behind the X's and O's. And if you don't teach it well, and you don't take responsibility for it as a coach, you're the one that's failing them. And I think that that's a really important lesson. And I'm sure it applies in the work that you do.
[00:37:09] Alex Beaudry: And for anyone that's listening, that does have kids, and specifically high school or younger sports. As a former high school coach, I did that for 10 years, parents were hands down the worst part of the job. And I get it, they're looking out for their child. And but you know what, blaming your coach for your kid not getting playing time is not going to help one it makes the coach resent it even more. And two, you're not there. I was there with your kids six days a week for two hours a day. And that's time I'm taking away from my family. My job at sometimes, you know, I'm leaving work early. And I'm there watching your kid practice? And what did your kid do to during the summer? Are they lifting weights? Because the girl that you want your kid to play over plays a you and play and runs track and does this and does that. So you know, take it easy on those coaches and have an honest conversation with your child because there is a way to go about it. You know, going approaching your coach, what can I work on? What can I do? What do you need to see? For me, that is a much more productive conversation, then I'm going to call the school principal or the athletic director because you're not playing my daughter. Well, this is still competitive, and we're here to win games. And if I play your daughter, someone has to sit and who deserves to sit because your daughter didn't put in the work. I mean, so just having that honest, real conversation. And then last thing and I'll get off my soapbox, be honest with yourselves I want to so many parents, they're like I gotta get my daughter or my son to play college basketball. Otherwise, you know, they're not gonna go to college. And yet they're spending 40 grand a year in a you travel and tournaments and it's like if you just took that money and put it away. There you can go to any school in the country you want. So be yourselves too because I see so many parents wasting so much. Wasting maybe isn't the right word, but chasing almost their own dream turning on their kid play division one. And we mentioned genetics earlier. I could be a fantastic basketball player but at six two, I'm probably not playing division one basketball, right? I mean, yes, Kobe Bryant was one of the greatest ever but he was still 6’6”.
[00:39:24] Mike: And he was an elite athlete, you could still be 6’6” and not play college basketball because you just don't have to yell. But it reminds me it's a funny story reminds me when I was in high school, I played varsity basketball myself, but I was at the end of the bench and I never I really didn't play and I was okay with that. Because I played with all my friends and we had a good time. And that's as good as I was, and I knew that. And I remember after one game, my mother, like went up to the coach and said something. And I said mom, shut up. Like, I don't deserve to be playing like you don't I'm saying like you don't know you're not there and you make great point. And this is something I talk to kids about all the time, whether or not they deserve to be on the court or the field doesn't really matter. The truth of the matter is that as a coach, whether you like a coach or not, the coach has a certain number of positions for a lot more people. And coaches are getting paid to win games at the high school level and beyond. So they have to make decisions, the decisions that they think are best for the team which is ultimately what's probably best for them. Because if the team does well, they do well. So they're doing the best they can with the resources that they have. And not everyone is going to be happy. As an athlete, I tell my kid, as a coach, I tell the kids, I said, you don't have to like it. But you have to be able to understand and live with it. And to your point, like you said, like, what can I do differently as the athlete to put myself in a better position to succeed to take ownership of my own career and that's something a lot of kids aren't willing to do. They're not willing to have that conversation because it's uncomfortable, they don't know how to. And they rely on their parents to have the conversation who end up making it worse, when you go to the coach and having a conversation with the coach that's threatening, or that's really abrasive. And now that coach is like, screw you, I don't want to deal with you. I'm just not gonna play your kid law. I didn't really understand the damage that they're doing. So it's really a big problem. But what are we teaching kids if they don't know how to take ownership of their own careers?
[00:41:22] Alex Beaudry: Well, and to teach, there's such a huge life lesson here that things that you really want are really hard. Like, I think about when I started my business last fall, I had this, these visions of you know, as soon as I'm certified athletes are going to be lining up at my door, it's going to be so easy to reach out to the guys at the University of Wisconsin to set up meetings. And then like two weeks in like, yeah, it's really hard. There's 200 people reaching out to that same kid, he's probably getting bombarded on Instagram, and his phones blowing up, and his parents are taking calls. And like, nobody knows who I am. I've been doing this for six months now. And you know, you gotta it slow, it takes time, you have to show up, day in and day out. And at the sport level, yes, there are kids that are gifted, that are always going to be like, their talent is going to get them through at least High School. But as you go along further, if you really want that you do need to show up every day, and you need to create a process and it's like compound interest, you have to show up every day. And yes, you're gonna you know, it's gonna suck for a long time. But then one day, it's going to be your opportunity, and then you'll be ready for it. There's a fantastic clip with Nick Saban, where he talks about the national championship game where Jameson Williams and John match either to starting wide receivers both got hurt. And he's like, we threw the next guy in, who thought he deserved to be there. And now he gets his shot in a national championship game. And now he's not ready because he didn't put in the work, because instead of working hard and getting better at practice, he was pissed off that he wasn't getting playing time, he wasn't getting enough catches. And now he's got his opportunity, and now he's gonna blow it. And I think that is a huge life lesson. It's something honestly, as a 32 year old dad of two, I have to remind myself, I don't deserve anything, either. And, you know, building a business, I have my own podcast, trying to build that up trying to build it takes time, you have to earn people's trust, it's a lot of work. And you gotta be thinking about five years down the road, not next month, because if you think about next month, you'll quit because it's not going to be there anymore.
[00:43:27] Mike: Trust me, I know it. And everything you just said, you know, resonates with me, because I live the same life, which is to say like, as long as things are progressing even if they're progressing slowly, it means I'm doing something right. If you're not making progress, well, then you're probably not doing something right. And maybe you need to either do something different, or you need to make a change, right, like get out. But you know, you got to be patient, and you just got to see it through because that opportunity will come where it's like all the things you did that were unnoticed and on, you know, sort of unrecognized, are now being picked up on and it's like, well, now, what am I going to do? Am I going to capitalize or, am I going to fall on my face? Listen, I think that the same applies. I mean, the athletes that you're working with. If you're talking about players who are just trying to find their way onto a roster, like they probably weren't superstars in college, right? They were probably maybe they were starters, but they were all players, or maybe they were at smaller schools, and nobody saw them. Like, they've done the same thing for four years, they've busted their rear ends playing football, getting up at five o'clock in the morning and going to bed at 11 o'clock at night. Traveling, eating, lifting, like just to get that opportunity. So like, in some ways, like the people you're working with, are very similar to you. It's just a different framework.
[00:44:45] Alex Beaudry: And now those guys have to take it one step further, that's right. But everybody, all 2000 guys that are trying to go into the NFL this year. Every single one of them did those things. They lifted weights, they played on their team, they went to school, and they did all those stuff. Now, it's how do you become the 1% of the 1%? Like now it now it's eating right? No cheat meals. I mean, I'm talking super clean. You're working out twice a day. What are you doing for recovery? How much are you sleeping? I mean, all of these little things that people I think, take for granted. Sure, are now so much important because that I, there was a great book, it's called “The Slight Edge or Slight Edge theory slider”. If you look up slight edge, you'll find it. And he talks about how Michael Phelps, when you think it was in 2008, when he won eight or nine medals, he won one of those races by like 0.01 seconds. An author's like that could have been the difference between what times of day he had his cup of coffee? I mean, think about that. 1/100 of a second. And it's, it's the same in every high level sport, did you get eight hours asleep or did you get six and a half? That can be the difference in performance. What did you eat the day before? How much water are you drinking? I mean, all of this stuff, it goes into a bank and either compounds up or it compounds down. And it's, as you get further along, in your journey, that stuff, just the little things become the more important things in what you're doing. Otherwise, you know, you'll end up, you know, moving on to your next career.
[00:46:19] Mike: Excellent. So, as we wrap up here, you know, I'm trying to sort of tie together all the stuff we talked about. There's being as coaching, there's being an agent, there's career transitions, there's being an athlete, like taking risks. So I guess, kind of put it all together for me right for your journey, I can just summarize the journey from, you know, student coach, to where you are today. Like, what? Like, how would you characterize that? Like, all those different steps in your life? Like, what does that mean to you?
[00:46:57] Alex Beaudry: I'll answer it this way. And hopefully, I can do a good job of tying it all together, the thing that I'm most proud of, and the thing that I hope that my children get out of this when I'm older, is risk taking. And, you know, I was making a ton of money and insurance for anybody who is looking for a high paying job going into insurance, because there's just, there's just a lot of money, especially in health insurance. I had a big book of business, you know, I have a beautiful house, that it's supplied me with a lot of opportunities, and it's set my family up for success. And I looking back, as much as I wanted to get out, I have to be grateful for what that life's gave me. But at the same time, I could not picture myself doing that for the next 30 years of my life. And at the same time branching out and starting something completely new with no see, I mean, you know, you're living it too. There's no set income. I am basically a professional high stakes fantasy football player, like if my guy gets hurt, or he gets caught. That's my livelihood now. So I was really struggling with what to do with the decision. Do I chase this dream, or do I just continue on? And I think one of the best quotes I heard was, you know, what's the risk of doing nothing? And I'm young enough, where if this flames out, I can probably rebound. My family will be okay. I'll never do anything to make sure that we're eating and things like that, but I'm most proud of taking this step. And now that I'm going like the draft is in three weeks, I'm actually talking to teams, My guys are having their pro days. It's been amazing. And I wouldn't trade it for the world. And anybody who's listening whose thought, like, “Oh, I could never do that I got bills”, you'll figure it out. That's the best advice I can get. You'll find a way. I mean, don't be stupid. Because desperate people make bad decisions. But this has been amazing. And when I look at my life, I played it very safe. When I got into law school, I took the highest paying job and I did that for a while. And now I'm much happier taking a giant risk. And hopefully it pays off. And if it doesn't, then at least I know I tried. Because otherwise I would just be in that office, you know, thinking God, what if I would have done this is what I was wanting to do. And I never did it. And that regret I think was a bigger risk than not stepping out. So you know, to tie it back to youth coaching, what do we always tell our kids you know, go for it, follow your dreams, chases, you can do it, you can do anything. And then meanwhile, I had this cushy job that I was really comfortable in and you know, never really kind of got out of my comfort zone and that's where happiness is. That's where successes is just outside your comfort zone. So I think that's where I'm most proud of.
[00:49:54] Mike: I can completely relate. So I usually wrap up with the same last question. I'm gonna Just make it a little bit more specific for you because of what the work that you do. So if you had to give one piece of advice to a collegiate athlete, maybe a football player, maybe any collegiate athlete who's looking to become a professional athlete, what would you say that they should focus on, or she work on?
[00:50:18] Alex Beaudry: The little things, and then trust the process and surrender the outcome. So, you know, put in your daily deposit every day. And it doesn't have to be, you know, you'll go on Instagram, and you'll see some guys doing some elaborate workout. It doesn't have to be that. I think about like the greats like the Kobe Bryant's, the Michael Jordan's. They were the best in the world, at the fundamentals, and the little things, and it's just doing that to the point where, you know, once the lights come on, you're ready. I mean, Conor McGregor, I'm a big UFC fan. Conor McGregor has a great quote that “You only have to be nervous if you're not prepared”. And so you know, trust the process, surrender the outcome, because it's not always up to you, especially in football guy, you can get hurt, you might be the best wide receiver on a bad team and it's hard to get noticed. But you know what the NFL will find you if you can play. So just keep your head down, work hard. And then as you're transitioning out of school, find the right agent. More importantly, find the right trainer. Trainers are probably more important than agents for the first six months. Because as silly as the combine and pro days are, at least in my point of view, because they don't really transition to football. But those workouts are extremely important. And especially if you're like a guy just trying to make it, if you have a bad workout, your dream probably is going to end right there. So make sure you understand it. And then yeah, hope for the best. I mean, there's a lot of luck that goes into it. Making sure you stay healthy. Take care of your body, and find people that are gonna take care of you. Don't get taken advantage of make sure you put your money away doing the right things, all that good stuff.
[00:52:05] Mike: Well, I love the answer. Because what you just said is something I would tell any athlete that I work with. I probably do every time I work with somebody is, trust the process and surrender to the outcome because there's only so much you can control. So control what you can you're putting yourself in the best position to succeed and whatever happens, it's not up to you. So you gotta roll with that. So it's a great way to end. Thanks so much, Alex, for coming on. I appreciate your time. And it was great talking to you, and hopefully we can do it again.
[00:52:34] Alex Beaudry: Yeah, thanks for having me. I really enjoyed this conversation. I could talk sports all day. So I appreciate it. Thank you.
[00:52:38] Mike: Awesome. Thank you.
[00:52:39] Alex Beaudry: Yep, bye.