IAM2102 – Mindset Strategist Helps Athletic Talents Create a Prosperous Business Venture

In this episode, we have Jay Dixon, a seasoned expert at the dynamic intersection of sports and business. Jay established SuccessCoach.com, an elite accelerator tailored for athletes who've left their playing days behind.

His program combines mindset strategies with practical playbooks to guide athletes in leveraging their skills. Jay is recognized for Business Excellence in Venture Capital in Private Equity from Columbia Business School.

In addition, Jay Dixon discusses the importance of checklists, group fitness, and servant leadership in unleashing your potential – leading from the back, practicing humility, and empathy are essential traits for success.

Website: Success Coach
LinkedIn: Jay Dixon

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Full Interview:

Transcription:

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Jay Dixon Teaser 00:00

There's a suicide rate even with former athletes across country. It was nationwide in a media thing today, and I can feel that, man. And and it's my tribe of people, and I really wanna rally the troops around us and and say, look, athletics was a great edge. Let's translate it. How are we gonna translate it? Here's how. And, here's how we're gonna do it, and you're gonna be successful, right? And then you're gonna give back. So I hope it becomes one of those mechanisms that can help change our world.

Intro 00:27

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. Gresh 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.

Gresham Harkless 00:54

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast, and I have a very special guest on my show today. I have Jay Dixon. Jay, excited to have you on the show.

Jay Dixon 01:02

Hey, Gresham. I'm super happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

Gresham Harkless 01:05

Yeah. I appreciate you taking some time out. Love all the awesome things that you're doing. And, of course, before we jump into the conversation, I want to read a little bit more about Jay so you can hear about some of those awesome things. And Jay is a seasoned expert at the dynamic intersection of sports and business. He boasts an impressive record as an entrepreneur, having founded three successful companies actively participating in the sale of over 50 businesses of varying sizes. Jay's expertise ranges from supporting research initiatives to providing strategic guidance for business owners.

In Jay's most recent endeavor, he established SuccessCoach.com an elite accelerator tailored for athletes who've left their playing days behind. In the program, Jay seamlessly combines mindset strategies utilized by elite CEOs with a practical playbook to facilitate a smooth transition of athletic talents into prosperous business ventures. Jay's own journey as a student athlete began while playing division one football at the University of Nevada, where he played defensive end and appeared in three bowl games. Notably, Jay has received recognition for Business Excellence in Venture Capital in Private Equity from Columbia Business School, where he is currently pursuing his MBA, another layer to his multifaceted expertise. And I love everything that Jay's doing.

One of the the big things I always usually talk about is I love sports, and I always feel like there's such a synergy between sports and business. So I love everything that Jay's doing. I'm guessing he definitely believes the same. But one of the things that really stuck with me when I was preparing for this is he said 90% of former athletes at the collegiate professional level suffer from an identity gap once they retire from the sport. And I really love that he's writing his book, the After the Game, where he writes about the untold struggles athletes go through once they put their playing days behind while they're also detailing a practice playbook where the athletes can learn how to use their skill and navigate that success that they want to have in the business realm. So Jay, excited to have you on the show, my friend. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

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Jay Dixon 03:00

I love it, man. I'm as passionate, and I'd love to hear your passion, for this as well. So let's let's rock and roll.

Gresham Harkless 03:06

Let's rock and roll. Let's make it happen. So I guess to kick everything off, let's rewind the clock a little bit. I know I touched on it, but let's hear a little bit more of what I call your CEO story. We'll let you get started with all awesome work you're doing.

Jay Dixon 03:16

Yeah. Yeah. And thanks for having me. So my journey began, and we we talk about sports. My journey began at 7 years old when I put on a football helmet, and that became my identity. At the time, I didn't know, but I ended up playing a division 1 football university in Nevada, and then that game ended. And for me, it was a tough time. It was a three year journey where I couldn't figure out who I was, what I wanted to do, and I didn't have a team coaches or a playbook to go after. And so I hit that identity gap, which I write about in the book, which came out, earlier this week.

And for me, it was I was on that extreme barometer of that identity gap. So I was in the hospital, and I couldn't figure it out. But for some folks, some great athletes that say my best days were behind me and they're always looking for where am I gonna get those juices flowing again? And that was my journey. So we talked about sports there and congrats. I'm like, you could you have that passion too. I was up every morning watching SportsCenter. That's what I did every morning and then playing ball in the afternoon. And so from the business aspect, after that little journey, that identity gap that I hit, I got a corporate job in Corporate America, and I thought that was going to cure my apathy.

And I'd say it filled it in a bit for me. I got a promotion quite quickly and led a new business unit in downtown LA for a publicly traded company. It was quite the feat as a young man to do that and but I still couldn't find what the goal was versus championship. My potential feels like it's being untapped, and so ended up on the other side of the country, with a great partner and started a company. And personally, I didn't know how to start a company. I didn't know what to do. I just saw a hole in the market and said, let's go. And it was an air conditioning company. So we're just fixing air conditioners.

And, fortunately, as I look back, that was a perfect industry for me to utilize those athletic skills. So through God's journey or whatever it may be, it took me through that route. And then I didn't know you could sell a company. I had no idea. And then an investor came in and offered to buy the company, a gentleman who was his mid-40s and done really well in life. And so I like to tell people I got my MBA on the street. He taught me so much about how to buy and sell companies. We partnered on another company, and then we sold that together. So it was like, wow. I'm really learning that game of business.

And from there, the last one before Success Coach founded an M&A firm here in New York. I'm in New York City, and it grew quite rapidly. And I wanna say the firm to date's brokered well over 300 deals, and so we put together a great system to give back to the entrepreneurs out there to help them sell their businesses. But as I digressed and really want to pursue significance versus success in life and really help other people, that's where I've landed today with this book and what I do now and given back to what you said was athletes in that identity gap, which is a real thing, a real thing. And, we dive into the neuroscience and the data behind it, and we're not offering the cure, but I think we're offering a cure for it. So that's where I'm at today. Appreciate the question.

Gresham Harkless 06:06

Yeah. I appreciate you and sharing your journey. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more on hearing about that formula, hearing a little bit more about how you're making the impact and how that process looks. Could you take us through a little bit more what that looks like?

Jay Dixon 06:16

Yeah. Yeah. So absolutely. So I've always tried to find the game of business, right? That's been my key once I got out in the world. Where's the game? Where's the game? K? The game of business is growing and selling companies, right? Let's go to the private equity game. That's the game, and we can make that seasonality. So what I do in successcoach.com, and we talk about it in the book as well, is we take former athletes through empirically backed mindset techniques. And I partnered with a Harvard psychologist, top of her game, that consulted with some of the biggest and best on peak performance. So and we translate those athletic skills into the business environment. So you gotta start with the mine's number one.

And then I take them through the highest rate of success. So I'm not a champion of start ups. I'm not a champion of it because the success rate, especially for athletes, is quite low. 9 out of 10 people fail. It's a great and it's got I'm love ideas. I love all that. I'm a start up fan. However, remember, I'm trying to solve this identity gap and unleash potential out there. So there's two routes to being an entrepreneur. You can start a business or you can acquire one. And entrepreneurship through acquisition is something I've been doing for quite some time, and I've seen a lot of these deals.

And then going back to school and through my relationships, I was able to make these skills investable, right? So how do you invest in humans? So I'm trying to make a change. So these folks go through my course, and they gotta pass my test, and they come out with a thesis on what they wanna buy, but they gotta pass my test through it. And it's all built online, a lot of resources. And once they do that and so we've got their mind on who they are. We know personas, who they are. We don't be able to invest in humans. And now we wanna know what's their dream and what's their synergy to go acquire a company.

And we work with my investors and help them, and I've got my M&A team. And we go out there and we find that dream company, we put them in those roles as CEOs, surround them with a team and operational advisor and a peak performance coach. So they've got a team environment up there. And we drive success and tell people it's a 5 to 7 year journey. Let's gamify this thing. Sometimes it'll be shorter. Sometimes it might be longer, right? But we really wanna drive success and get these people in those roles where they can leverage those soft skills they built in sports. You can't teach it. You cannot teach it. I can teach you the technical skills, of operating a business. And if you've got all those soft skills and you perform at a high rate, you're competitive, you're resilient, then learning those technical skills, it's you're just gonna have to lean into that, right?

Stay up a little later. That's what I did. The first company I started, no I didn't know what books were. Right? I downloaded QuickBooks, and I learned it at night. I stayed up all night, and then I figured out P&L's and all that. And so anyways, that's the 10,000 foot view. And, really, for me, it's, affecting lives. That's all I count. I just wanna see people that have it have that potential in them. I'm gonna lead them into success. And in our world, you have to make those things investable to make it scalable. So, I've made it investable as well.

Gresham Harkless 09:13

Nice. I love that. Do you feel like that's part of what I would like to call your secret sauce? It's that ability to see that but also understand that human part. Because I often say as much as we wanna know what you do, we wanna know why you do it. I almost feel like that fuel to your fire, to everything you're doing, your passion comes out or rings true with me at least with understanding not just how important those activities, the soft skills, all those things are, but the why part, the human part, the as you said, writing the book and going through that journey, do you feel like you being able to translate that as part of your secret sauce?

Jay Dixon 09:43

Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I didn't know it at the time, right? Yeah. I didn't realize it. But as I dug through the data and I look. I went through a hundred and thirty two studies, interviewed a lot of people in writing this book. The data is clear in all aspects of the business stuff we're talking about. And one thing that was vindicating me vindicating for me and sad to say was what else was clear was this identity gap. So you've got this incredible education, right, that's always going to end. It always ends for everyone, some sooner than others, some on their own terms, some not, an injury, whatever it is.

And there's so much potential, which can be a nasty word. So I'm trying to match that opportunity with potential while filling pain in the world, And that's really where I'm going. So the when I talk about the why, that's for me, but it's also for I'm coming across these stories, and I went through a hundred and thirty two studies. And now I'm getting people. I got a text this morning from someone that heard of something, and there's a suicide rate even with former athletes across country. It was nationwide in an immediate thing today, and I can feel that, man.

And it's my tribe of people, and I really wanna rally the troops around us and say, look, athletics was a great education. Let's translate it. How are we gonna translate it? Here's how, and here's how we're gonna do it. And you're gonna be successful, right? And then you're gonna get back. So I hope it becomes one of those mechanisms that can help change our world.

Gresham Harkless 11:15

Yeah, absolutely. So I wanted to, switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an Apple book or even a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Jay Dixon 11:25

Yeah. That's great. Checklist. Quick. Easy. It's like making your bed in the morning. It just they take it to the neuroscience. The simplest things. I write down the simplest darn things. I do it with a cup of coffee in the morning. So my routine and look, I'm never gonna claim I'm the best, but I've spoken with some incredible like you, I've done deals with some incredible entrepreneurs. And so and I've done I've been dove into all the research. However, my routine, especially for former athlete, it's this. Get your butt up at 5AM. Hit the gym, if you can, right, if that works. You gotta go beat your body up, and you gotta go get that.

And there's a lot of data and science behind the benefit of that. So go get that. I go do a group fitness. I invest in that. It's expensive, but you know what? I show up because it's group fitness, and the people are there and I better be there. And I feel so darn good. Then I come back, drink a cup of coffee, and I start writing a list. And that's the most simple things. Sometimes it could be go put my shoes away, but not even business stuff. But every time, you just check it off, and that becomes a habit. It keeps going and going and going and going. And that's just like making your bed in the morning. So a lot of people champion that. I would say a checklist is number one.

Gresham Harkless 12:34

Yeah. I love that. So would you consider that to be a little bit more what I call a CEO nugget, which can be a word of wisdom or piece of advice, could be something from your book. But I like to say it might be something if you were to hop into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self or potentially your favorite client.

Jay Dixon 12:47

Be a servant leader. If you're a CEO, lead from the back. It ain't about you. It's about your team. And, humility and empathy will help get you there. And, great book is Emotional Intelligence 2.0. It's a good one. Read it. But don't lead from the front. Don't lead from the front. The same wolf of Wall Street. We don't need that. Lead from the back, and those are where the most successful CEOs are. And one of my favorite CEOs that built the company from zero to help to do a deal, I can't disclose, but it's over 250 employees, he said. I'd write down every year everything, my list every day, and then I would hire for 50% of that every year. It was just a habit. Every year, I knew I was hiring someone for I don't know what it was. But 50% of what I did, I'd give it to them so I can keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. So that was good advice as well.

Gresham Harkless 13:36

Yeah, absolutely. So how would you define my absolute favorite question, the definition of what it means to be a CEO? Our goal is to have different clinical CEOs on the show. So, Jay, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Jay Dixon 13:46

Yeah. It means I'll go back to it means leading from behind. It means seeing your team be successful, right? And developing empathy and understanding who they are, what their goals are, and matching that with the goals and values of you and your company and helping your team get there. And everyone from your C-suite all the way down to that new hire that's working his or her butt off. And CEO is just a title, but what it comes with is a lot of responsibility in our world to lead in the right way. And I've never championed those CEOs that it's all about them. It ain't about you. It's about everyone else. If we can look at business, business, the way I view it, is adding value to our world.

And as a CEO, you have a great opportunity to help your team around you, create a great culture, give people time on this earth that they enjoy and is meaningful towards achieving their own goals, but the common goals as a unit. And that's what coach Chris Salt, the hall of fame coach in Nevada would say to, look, do your 1/11. That was 1 out of 11 players on the field. Do your one eleventh, and then we're all gonna win, right? And then help that person beside you. So I like to think externally versus internally. I think CEOs should think that way.

Gresham Harkless 14:59

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. So, Jay, truly appreciate that definition. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I wanted to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best we can get a hold of you, find out about all the awesome things you're working on, and, of course, get a copy of that book.

Jay Dixon 15:16

Yeah. No. Absolutely. And I appreciate you for having me. I love everything you do. Yeah. I think this. I think for the grand world, if you weren't an athlete, I would love nothing more. What I want the folks out there to understand is this is a darn good education that can benefit communities, businesses, and folks like that. And for the big athletes that made it big, I would say investing in real estate's great and all these other secure mechanisms. But if you wanna also have a little bit of a risk adverse environment, get in this game and but you can put some sweat into it, and it's fun.

You're in the game of business again, and you're part of the team. So successcoach.com, you can go there, put in your email, and get more information about our program, what we do. And then the book was launched on April 2^nd, and it's Simon and Schuster, Amazon. It's called After the Game by Jay Dixon. And feel free to pick up a copy and, let me know what you think. I just really hope it helps people. That's my goal.

Gresham Harkless 16:14

Yeah, absolutely. I definitely think it will. So I appreciate you so much in sharing so much of your journey. And, of course, to make it even easier, we're gonna have the links and information in the show notes as well too so that everybody can follow-up with you. But thank you so much, my friend, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest day.

Jay Dixon 16:27

Awesome. Thanks for having me. It was fun.

Outro 16:29

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CBNation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase. It's a community. Don't forget to schedule your complimentary digital marketing consultation at Blue16Media.com. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless, Jr. Thank you for listening.

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