IAM555- Founder Helps Adults Tap Into Their Inner Child

Elandas Miller is an Atlanta native who enjoys traveling, spending time with friends, playing sports, and volunteering for local organizations. He founded Kicking It Sports, an event-based sports and entertainment company with the purpose of helping adults tap into their inner child. In our busy lives, there are moments when we forget to do the things we love. Elandas has been featured in over 6 articles within the last 6 months dealing with agile project management, entrepreneurship, and event management. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and has over 4 business certifications.

• CEO Hack: Writing everything down on my phone notepad and physical notebook
• CEO Nugget: Be patient, try not to rush many things, and form a great team
• CEO Defined: Being empathetic

Website: http://www.thekickingitsports.com/

Instagram – @kickingitsports_
Instagram – hoodieceo
Facebook – www.facebook.com/thekickingitsports

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place, Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, hello hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today, I have Elandas Miller kicking it sports, and Elandas it's awesome to have you on the show.

Elandas Miller 0:39

Thanks for having me. Gresham. I really appreciate it.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Yeah, no problem. Super excited to have you on and what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Elandas so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's working on. And Elandas is an Atlanta native who enjoys traveling spending time with friends, playing sports, and volunteering for local organizations. You found it kicking that sports and event-based sports and entertainment company with the purpose of helping adults tap into their inner child. In our busy lives.

There are moments when we forget to do the things we love. Elandas has been featured in over six articles within the last six months dealing with agile project management, entrepreneurship, and event management. He's graduated from the University of Georgia and has over four business certifications. Elandas, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Elandas Miller 1:20

Yes, sir Gresham, I'm ready to talk to the I AM CEO people. And I hope you guys have a great time listening to our conversation today.

Gresham Harkless 1:26

Absolutely. Looking forward to it. So let's get started. So I wanted to kick everything off and hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story in your background. And what led you to get started with the business?

Elandas Miller 1:35

Yeah, so I started looking into sports about two and a half years ago. So as you say, in Dubai, I grew up playing sports and always had a passion for just spending time with friends on the field. So I grew up playing baseball, basketball, football, and three main sports. And then as I progressed into college, I started seeing myself getting less active, and getting very busy with work. And it got even worse when I graduated from college and started to the adult world.

So to kind of keep myself active, and keep that passion going from just doing business and doing sports, I wanted to figure out a way how I can get involved more. So I joined the Atlanta Sports League. And then in that league, I started seeing some openings and some gaps in between those leagues with the gaps of like food and music entertainment.

So I thought about doing that just starting off shooting sports. And I just started that with like, behind my house at a nearby park. And started with maybe like four or five friends, we got together and had some music and some food going. And then 10 minutes later about 80 people going in, in Atlanta, Georgia. So it's been a huge journey. So far. Started at the very minimum. But now it's starting to progress. And I'm looking forward to what 2024 has to offer.

Gresham Harkless 2:49

Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that. And I love it because I think so many times, you know, I say this all the time we see the finish line, we never see the beginning process and be able to kind of grow the business from there and start out in just your backyard and having five friends and then having to grow to 80 and continue to grow from that is definitely you know, something exciting to see because you never see that kind of documented documented process.

Elandas Miller 3:10

Exactly, yeah. So a lot of people struggle with getting stuck with not being started. And when they get started, they start not seeing the results that they want immediately. So just keep focus on the end goal. And just notice that the entrepreneurial journey starts somewhere. And the biggest thing is to keep starting to keep going never giving up. Just having a good support system has allowed me to be able to keep growing a business.

And just looking forward to as I say in 2020, you got our first event coming up in March. So right now we're just like planning for that, trying to get people excited more about it starting to like, implement some new marketing strategy ideas and things like that. So it is, um, it's like they say it's a journey. Man, being a CEO is crazy. But it's a lot of fun. I enjoy it a lot. So just looking forward to what my future has to do with me.

Gresham Harkless 4:03

Nice. I definitely appreciate that. Yeah, it's definitely great can be a crazy time juggling all the different things so, but I appreciate you giving light to that and doing that and reminding us to keep going which a lot of times we will forget. So I know you touched on touch on a little bit and I know you have an event coming up in March. Can you tell us a little bit more about kicking in sports and all the different things that you guys are doing so that our listeners or readers can hear a little bit more about that?

Elandas Miller 4:26

Yeah, so kicking the sports focuses our big game is kickball, so why will you kickball was because kickball was a very easy game to play for like you can play from all ages from like 10 to 45 Depending on how fit you are maybe 55 You know what you want to do? So our our events usually centered around that kickball game so I can kind of walk you guys through the kicking a sports journey.

So first you get to the event which is a local park and we basically run some type of interaction games so we have Jenga Connect for cards like UNO regular playing cards, things like that. And then once people started filling in, we began to start our first kickball game. And that's usually about a game of about 15 or 15. So it's very funny like seeing a grown adult trying to play kickball is a hilarious thing to see a lot of foul balls back and forth, a lot of people falling down trying to stop the ball.

So it was a great time. And no monster kickball game is over, we started going hitting, we start eating. So we're getting to get some local vendors out there. Usually, we kick ourselves. But our next goal is to get some local vendors to come out to cook for us. And then after that, we started playing some more games, then the idea was to have some more local artists come out.

So we had a few local artists and our previous ones come out. So looking at some more local artists come and then. So after that, we usually have another game, either the ultimate frisbee flag football or basketball, just depending on how everyone feels. Then we get into our last kickball game that's kind of like bringing everybody back together to have a great time.

And then some somewhere in between the mixing, like some field activity. So there's a lot of active activity going on a lot of fun, a lot of labs, the main focus is to like bring people together promote physical activity, and just like, like you say, in the bio, like tap into the inner child, so I feel like everyone has the inner child within them. So our goal was to get into the inner child, let people just be free, and have a great time.

Gresham Harkless 6:27

Yeah, it's definitely awesome. And I appreciate that. And that kind of focus that you guys have. Because I think, as you said, you know, getting into the adult world doing all this adulting sometimes we forget, you know how much fun it is to just play kickball, whether we take it far, or we kick a foul ball or missed the whole ball and completely, which I'm sure happens.

But I think, yeah, I figured that. So it's just so exciting, just to kind of, you know, get to tap into that energy. Because I think as we get older and older and further away from a busy in our lives, we get away from that. But I feel like that's part of what we need to continue to be ourselves and be our best selves.

Elandas Miller 7:03

Yeah, exactly.

Gresham Harkless 7:05

Awesome. And you might have already touched on this, but I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this can be for you personally or for your business. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Elandas Miller 7:14

Um, I think like, my support system, so a lot of my friends and family, they've been able to support me throughout this entire journey. So like one of my first events was like five of my closest friends came out was playing it was talking about it's really funny like is the concept of like Gozman. So many are like if you kick the ball, you don't have enough people, you have to have like a ghost man on base. So basically, we play Ghostman at first, so it's pretty crazy.

But I appreciate them coming out and supporting me. And then so I'll just say like, definitely my support system has been like the secret sauce to help me keep going and keep pushing me forward. Everyone's been helping me out by promoting me on Instagram and Facebook, They Share my posts, and they tag me. And they let me use their photos on social media sites. So it just helped me get to where I want to go right now. So I hope they help them keep supporting me throughout the journey.

You know, I'll just say like my love for businesses and others like secret sauce, like I enjoy always just being able to, I graduated from university with a business degree. So always learning different ways to like, create ideas, and then execute those ideas and figure out a way to become profitable. So this is just a way for me to just keep growing that passionate business, but definitely, my support system and just my love for business, are definitely those two things I think that help. Atlantis week coming in, which is really tricky given the sport. So that's who I am today.

Gresham Harkless 8:41

Nice. I definitely appreciate that because I think so many times that we hear kind of like the self-made man or the self-made woman and we kind of sometimes gloss over the fact that there is a support system, there's somebody that you know, helps out whether it be you know, letting you use your photos or showing up for an event or bringing food whatever that might be and how it manifests itself, we always are, are a result of all the people around us as well.

And sometimes we forget that so much I appreciate you for for bringing that forward. And of course, you know business knowledge can only make you a better entrepreneur or business owner continue to sharpen that saw. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app or book or habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Elandas Miller 9:27

I think most like what I like to do is write everything down. So I have this notebook in my book bag I carry it almost everywhere. So if any type of idea or anything that I want to implement or anything I want to do I have a physical notebook to write it down and also have a notepad on my phone.

Let me scroll through my phone there are probably 15 or 20 different pages of notes just sitting there just going like this go back into it and just see what cassava does. I have I like to do anything I come up with like any type of post I want to create or any type of promotion I will write it down.

Gresham Harkless 10:01

Yeah, absolutely. No, I definitely will say that. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And that can be like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Or if you could happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Elandas Miller 10:14

I'm so caught up in a THOMAS Yes, a really good question why do I think about that too much, I would probably tell myself to be patient. Try not to rush too many things. Also, try to find a great team to like, and support you more. Because like, like, like I said before, life support is a huge factor in life, no one can really do it themselves. That's what his journeys are like, I can't do anything by myself as like, I need help with different aspects of the business, like I have this one thing I might be good at having, like 20, other things that I'm not good at.

So just figuring out ways to surround myself with people who enjoy those swing things I'm not good at. So basically, just, I would definitely tell myself, like, find those people who are good at the things that you're not good at, and figure out ways to like to lead them to the path that you want them to get on and just be able to portray that vision that you have for the business.

So no, like, as a leader or CEO, you always want to portray the vision to your team, whenever you can have them understand like that one star that, that tunnel to be on it. Don't be on that tunnel. So you have to be sure that they understand like, what's the plan, how to plan to get there and things like that. So definitely surround myself with a great team, and find people who are passionate about things that I am not passionate about. So yeah.

Gresham Harkless 11:39

Yeah, it's great. And I appreciate you saying that because I think we all have kind of a zone of genius or thing that we are best at and what we do better than anybody else. And I think that those 20 things that you kind of talked about, that we all have, that we aren't really good at, and we probably don't even want to do, you know, being able to find somebody that has that as their zone of genius, that is incredible aspect and, and understand like, you know, getting that tunnel going on that journey, being able to be patient and understand that it is a process, you know, will help us to kind of embrace the process and not get like caught up in the end game when we're continuing to kind of work towards that.

So great CEO nuggets. And so now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So Elandas, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Elandas Miller 12:27

Yeah, so let's find out. I just heard about this question somewhere, too. It wasn't from a CEO blog nation, he was in the world. And I was like, I was thinking to myself, like what will be a great characteristic of a CEO? I think, for me, like it's from like my business experience from running my own business from like, being in corporate America and things like that.

I think just being empathetic, I think having empathy with people is something that is hugely, hugely important to be like a leader and CEO because you want to be able to put yourself in other people's shoes and understand like, they have other lives going on. Like it's not maybe they're like their highest priority, or someone else might be going on to the last, like everyone has their own struggles.

So you have to be sure that you have an understanding of people's struggles, you have the understanding that people come from different backgrounds and things like that. So you want to just be able to have that empathy as a huge leader. So I definitely think that empathy is a huge aspect or characteristic that you want to have as a CEO.

Gresham Harkless 13:28

Yeah, it makes so much sense. And I think that's a great answer. Just because people evade the thing that was the quote is people don't care how much you know,, they know how much you care. And by having that empathy and saying I understand, you know, you might have something that happened in your family, or whatever that might be. And if you can put yourself in that person's shoes and understand that then that helps out and that gives you like a raving fan, or somebody that wants to support you and see you succeed as well.

So I definitely appreciate that definition. And I appreciate your time even more Elandas. What I want to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best I can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

Elandas Miller 14:05

Oh, yeah. So um, I think a big thing that I've been doing the last couple of years is to like, give me some good ideas as I listen to different business podcasts. So for your listeners, I will say like, I think you're doing a great job with your podcast version of the CEO blog. So definitely listen to more podcasts, I try to listen to about two or three episodes per day.

Not always because you know, a human I get locked out like last time and to listen to music. Just like listening to different CEOs, and different entrepreneurs because of their backgrounds. Listening to different stories has been a huge influence on me in the last couple of years. So I definitely would recommend doing that and also like to read different entrepreneurial books, things like that.

So definitely just like learning whenever you can. I think it's a huge aspect of business. So never stop learning. Never give up. It's always pursue, So just be empathetic whenever you can to find me, you can follow me on Instagram, or my personal Instagram hoodie CEO, as H O O D I E CEO.

And then you follow us by clicking the sports kicking in sports K i c k i n g at eSports. underscore, and you can also email me or call me I'm sure person, we can leave the notes in the podcast, and I have all my contact information there. Other than that, if you have any questions about my journey, or any type of business advice I'd love to help, like fellow entrepreneurs is a great experience we can learn from each other so hit me up and let me know.

Gresham Harkless 15:42

Awesome, I truly appreciate that. And as Elandas said, We will definitely have the links and information in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you. But I appreciate that. Appreciate the reminder to continue to kind of sharpen the saw be better learn more and continue to take in podcasts blogs and video content, all this content we have available to us to be even better CEOs and entrepreneurs. So appreciate that. Appreciate your time again and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Outro 16:05

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by Blue 16 Media tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE And leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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