IAM986- CEO Helps Athletes Understand their Full Potential

Danielle Berman has dedicated her career to helping athletes understand their full potential. She believes that athletes should be supported as individuals with unique skills, passions, and interests rather than a cogs in the sports industry machine. That's why she founded Tackle What’s Next, where she serves as CEO, to provide athletes of all ages, sports, and circumstances the opportunity to focus on creating impact and finding purpose in life after sports. Tackle What’s Next aims to provide athletes with a safe space to discuss the challenges and opportunities that come with transitioning out of sport, plus share important resources that can help.

• CEO Hack: I take from other people but take my twist on it
• CEO Nugget: (i) Prioritise time for yourself (ii) There's no right way to do it
• CEO Defined: Putting yourself first to help others

Website: http://tacklewhatsnext.com/

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/bigleaguephil/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tacklewhatsnext
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleberman1/

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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00:13 – Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. GRESTS values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:39 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Danielle Berman of Tackle What's Nets. Danielle, it's awesome to have you on the show.

00:48 – Danielle Berman

Thank you so much for having me, Gresh. I'm looking forward to it.

00:51- Gresham Harkless

Definitely. Super excited to have you on. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Danielle so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Danielle has dedicated her career to helping athletes understand their full potential. She believes that athletes should be supported as individuals with unique skills, passions, and interests rather than a cogs in the sports industry machine.

That's why she founded Tackle What's Next where she serves as CEO to provide athletes of all ages, sports, and circumstances the opportunity to focus on creating impact and finding purpose in life after sports. Tackle What's Next aims to provide athletes with a safe space to discuss the challenges and opportunities that come with with transitioning out of sport, plus share important resources that can help as well. Danielle, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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[00:01:34.00] – Danielle Berman

I'm ready.

01:35 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Let's do it then. So to kinda kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit here a little bit more on how you got started and what I call your CEO story.

01:43- Danielle Berman

Yeah. Absolutely. I did not see myself starting my own company. So this is a journey that came over time, but, I really loved the idea before I decided I wanted to start it myself, the idea of supporting athletes outside of sports, kind of in their next chapter. And I was looking for ways to do that. So even when I was working full time at a marketing agency or working for other sports, or small business firms, that was always what I wanted to do, what I was drawn to. And so when I started doing some consulting, I was like, I wanna figure out how can I contribute? How can I help?

So I definitely was working more on the idea than I was on a business, and it just kinda came naturally from there as, like, a next step. But, really started just by consulting with some nonprofits. Some are athlete-based, some aren't. I had worked for a former athlete in the past, which gave me a great perspective on the challenges that a lot of athletes face moving on, from sport to what's next. But really it all came together. I hosted an event, with a local, DC chapter of the NFL Players Association alumni. We hosted an event called the Tackle What's Next Summit.

And people were like, what are you doing? Like, what else is there? Is there a site? Is there this? And I was like, no, there's nothing. It's just this event. We just thought it'd be cool. I've always wanted to get into this, and that just genuine interest really propelled me to launch an actual business out of it, at least on the marketing side, and now services have been coming out of that. So it's been a whirlwind of two years, but it's it's been really cool.

03:21 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Definitely sounds exciting. I love the organic nature of how that's been able to kinda grow and excel. And I think so many times we forget that if we kinda lean into our passions, we may not know all the steps on the staircase. But if we continue to take those steps and you continue to have that, that, I guess, that that hard work mentality, so to speak, then you can kind of, see all those things come to fruition.

03:43 – Danielle Berman

Yeah. Absolutely. I think that's exactly right. And it's been definitely a learning curve. Again, not something I really saw myself being able to do or, like, ever tackling, but, it was an exciting journey. And it's been every day it is, you know, a new opportunity to be like, oh, okay. I need to do this. Great. You know? It's almost April, so taxes are always really fun and exciting. And just like all these things that as a CEO, you now learn, especially entrepreneurs, like it's all these different things that you're like, oh, I never even thought about that, but okay. Yes. We do need to do that.

04:14 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. To say the least, it's definitely a fire hose experience. I would say so. I know I touched on a little bit when you read your bio. You did as well. Could you take us through a little bit more on how you serve your clients? And I love the name of everything that you're doing, tackle what's next, and how it, serves the clients you work with.

04:31- Danielle Berman

Yeah. Absolutely. So, really, the main focus we have is prioritizing our clients themselves in the next step. So I think a lot of times we hear, oh, they're athletes, so this is who they are, and this is what they should be doing. Right? We see a lot of them go down the same path, but our goal is really to help these individuals prioritize themselves in the process. So we don't necessarily say here's what you should be doing. Here's the field you should be going in, but we take the time to say, what do you wanna do? What's what are your interests? Let's explore that. Let's prioritize you.

And that can be hard. That can be hard, for athletes because it's it's a team sport. Right? Even if you're an individual athlete and you play tennis or golf, like, there's a team with you, and you have to prioritize that team. And it can be hard to look at me personally and say, what do I need? And so that's really what we try to focus on, whether it's helping them find that identity outside of sports, whether it's just helping them be accountable for what they're doing for themselves, or helping them create impact in the community. Those are kind of our three pillars, but the main purpose is really helping them understand what they're good at, what's unique about them, and how they can leverage that into their next chapter.

05:39 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That's extremely powerful. And I think, I've seen, like, sports documentaries and, you know, and I hear so many times, like, as you said so well, like, I don't think especially, I guess, when you're younger, you always have that team mentality, and often you forget about yourself, and you're doing everything for everybody else that you don't really know that when that what's next comes up. Exactly what are your interests, what things are you passionate about, and so many things like that to try to figure out what that next step is going to be. So I appreciate you for having that as kinda like the north star to the steps and how that aligns with everything that that, you're doing.

06:10 – Danielle Berman

Yeah. It's it's definitely, I think, not just an athlete problem. I think all of us sometimes need that reminder that, like, spending time on ourselves is not a waste of time, and focusing on ourselves. So it's heightened, I would say, in the athlete experience because this is all happening at twenty-five, twenty-seven, twenty-nine, thirty-one. But at at the same time, I feel like especially even us entrepreneur communities and CEO communities, like, you're always thinking about someone else or something else, and sometimes you just need to shut down and and focus on you. So it's it's a good reminder, but we all work in progress. Right? We all definitely need to continue to visit it.

06:43 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. We're all definitely a work in progress, and it is essential to make sure you're taking care of that because that allows you to serve even more if you take care of yourself first. But I love that point because that that also came up in that documentary I saw as well is that so many times, we don't we don't realize how young a lot of these athletes are when they are sometimes making, a lot of money and a lot of revenue and having to make really tremendous decisions, having so many people kinda looking up to them. And I think putting that in context, it's we're still in the process of learning a lot about ourselves individually, let alone an athlete who's able to reach a certain level of success.

07:18 – Danielle Berman

Yeah. Absolutely. I think it would shock you, especially if you look at a sport like the NBA. These guys have been in the league for sometimes eight, or nine years, and they're in their late twenties. Right? So if you think about you think about all the power and influence they have and the responsibility that comes with that. Right? You know, it's it's whether they want it or not, there's a huge responsibility they have to young people and to, athletes that, in other sports and to their communities also. So it's they need to have resources because there's a lot thrust upon them.

And even those that don't make it to the big leagues. Right. Even if you make it just to college or you make it to the minors, that's a huge accomplishment. And not only are your friends and family watching you, but your community knows, oh, yeah. That's that. I went to high school with him or I went to high school with her and she's playing internationally or she plays, in the WNBA. Like, people are paying attention to that. So it's you do have a responsibility. And so it's sometimes hard to think about, as you're trying to find yourself, you have all these eyeballs on you, which just makes it a little tougher to kinda prioritize that.

08:19 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Definitely.

08:22 – Danielle Berman

Definitely a different ballgame, so to speak.

08:22 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, and this could be for yourself personally your business, or a combination of both. But what do you feel kinda sets you apart and makes you unique?

08:31 – Danielle Berman

Yeah. I think for me, it's it's truly that I wasn't I don't do things the way they're supposed to be done because I don't really know how they're supposed to be. I'm kinda figuring things out alongside my clients. So while I have my own tips and tricks that work for me, I think my open-mindedness and just my flexibility of, like, let's try that. That sounds great. Let's let's throw it out there and see what happens. That takes it, to another level for me because I don't like to continue to do the same things if it's something that if it ain't broke, don't fix it, sure, with some of the little things.

But when we're talking, you know, prioritizing someone else and helping them dig deep, there's nothing I won't try to say, hey. Let's give it a whirl. You wanna do this? Cool. Let's go down that path. And I would also just say that, for me, what helps me stand apart is that I am committed to supporting these people as individuals. So I don't look at, oh, this is what you should be doing. This is what society tells you should should be doing. But I really work to get to know my clients and the people that we work with as individuals, right?

I wanna know how their family is. I wanna know what their big fears or goals are. I wanna get to know them. And I would just I would hope that the amount of time that we spend at tackle what's next on them isn't just about, oh, we wanna get that money in at the end of the month. Right? But it's we wanna help you win in your next chapter. We actually care. We're gonna put all the time in that it takes to get you to that next, that next spot, whatever that is. And we're gonna work with you if it doesn't if it doesn't work out the way it works out. Right?

It doesn't matter if you played in the big four, as I call them, or if you just played in college and you're trying to figure things out.  it's we wanna support you. And I think that's what makes, hopefully, us a little bit more unique, and makes us a little bit more engaging with our clients is that we really care about them.

10:21 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I truly appreciate that. 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 Apple book or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

10:31 – Danielle Berman

Yeah. I would say the biggest thing that makes me effective is I take from other people. I am someone who if somebody gives a good app like you said, or like a habit trick, I try it. Like, I am not I don't put myself as like, oh, my system is perfect, and it's, you know, it's perfect for me. But I will absolutely take an app someone recommends or a lifestyle tip that someone recommends and see if it fits into my routine schedule or systems. And I would say that my biggest piece of advice is just to do that, but to not freak out if it doesn't work for you. So that was something early on. I was like, oh my god.

This does not work for me. How do people do this? You know, it would be like, oh, I get up at five in the morning and work out and get all my stuff done personally before 9 AM. And that's just not me. I'm not a morning person. So I was like, oh my god. I'm never gonna be able to do this if people are getting up at 04:35 in the morning. And I was like, you know what? I could do 06:30. Like, that's doable for me. So I kinda take my spin on it. So my advice along with that habit is, like, definitely look at what other people are doing, but take your own twist on it.

And don't be afraid to be like, that's not mine, and I'm that's not gonna work for me. Yeah. It definitely was a learning curve for me being like, oh, yeah. I'm not gonna be all over social media all the time. I don't have time for that. That's just not what I do. And that's okay. Everybody has their own thing. So, but, yeah, I think I think for me, I'm I'm a big fan of reading those tips and and answering those questions from other guests of yours. Right? And being like, oh, let me look into that. Oh, let me look into that. As much efficiency as I can put into my day, I love it.

12:05 – Gresham Harkless

Exactly. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So that could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

12:16 – Danielle Berman

Yeah. Okay. I have two I have two, and I'll make them quick. One I would say is you have to make time for yourself. Have to. It's like I said earlier when we're working with our athletes, it's a work in progress for me too, but it's especially when you have those crazy months or crazy weeks, you just have to make that time and it's nobody's gonna make it for you. And I think that's the thing that I've learned over time is I keep saying, oh, once I get through this, more time. Once I get through this, never happens. Right? So you have to absolutely prioritize that time for yourself every week if you need to.

Right? And I think you should. But I think that's the biggest thing I've learned and that we talk to our athletes about too is, like, no one's gonna carve out those two hours in the evening for you and say, here you go. Like, here's your here's your evening time. You have to do that. So that's a work in progress. And then the other thing I would just say is if you're building a business or running a business, like, no game plan is proven to work. Like, there's no, like, you're you're an entrepreneur. Great. Here are the steps that you take. Like, it's all unique.

A lot of times we work with athletes who are starting to think about building their own brand or business, and they wanna know, like, what is the plan? How do I do it? And like you said, you can give those best practices. You can look at what other people have done, but it has to fit with you. And I know this all kind of comes back to understanding yourself and focusing on your part, but it does. Like, if you need to start it on the side while you run another business or while you work a full-time job, there's no perfect way or right way to start something.

And so I think that's my nugget is just, you know, whatever makes sense for you and your situation with your family and your income and whatever. Just just try it even if it's just an hour a week on the side, right, to just start putting a website together or writing a plan out. That would be my nugget is there's there's no right way or wrong way to do it. Just do it.

14:04 – Gresham Harkless

So, Danielle, I truly appreciate that. Now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping that different, quote, unquote CEOs on the show. So, Danielle, what does being a CEO mean to you?

14:15- Danielle Berman

Yeah. I think being a CEO is really putting a solution out there to a problem. And you're in charge of how that solution operates and is sustainable and how it impacts people. I'm a I'm a big proponent of putting, you know, products, companies, services out there in the world that actually make the world better. And so I think CEOs are responsible for doing that, whether it's internally with your employees, whether it's with your clients, or whether it's out there in the community.

I think CEOs are the important linchpins keeping all of these companies together. And I think they hold a lot of responsibility, for making making these companies sustainable and and impactful. So I think they're leaders, they're they're motivators, they're team players. I think most of all, they do understand that you have to put yourself first sometimes to create success. But at the end of the day, it's putting yourself first to help others. And I think that's really the big definition of a CEO.

[00:15:13.39] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. That's the beauty of it. And I definitely have to I'm gonna take that recording. I'm gonna put it on the commercial because that's exactly what we're trying to do. So I truly appreciate that, Danielle. I appreciate all the awesome things you're doing. And what I want to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you wanna let our readers and listeners know, and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find about all awesome things you're working on.

15:32 – Danielle Berman

Yeah. Thank you so much for having me here. I definitely love the I AM CEO brand and CB Nation. Like, I just think it's great. I've been following and reading and, you know, getting all the blog goodies of other people's nuggets and great advice. But, you can find us at tackle whatsnext.com or @tacklewhatsnext on any social media platform. We have a weekly newsletter we send out to all of our athletes and subscribers about things like prioritizing yourself and events coming up, so you're welcome to subscribe to that through our website. But it's been great to be here. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share what we're doing.

16:06 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. It's great to have you on as well. We will have the links and information in the show notes too, so everybody can follow up with you and subscribe and and hear about all those awesome things. But I appreciate you, Danielle, for reminding us of all the awesome stuff that you do to take care of ourselves and to really make an impact in people's lives. And I appreciate your time, and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

16:24 – Outro

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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