Category: adventure

THIS is what it’s all about. Transformation.

The crux and motivation behind True North Team Consulting.

While catching up on sports buzz one day, I stumbled on this interview that I found to be especially surprising and valuable:

Joe Theismann on The Dan Le Batard Show Clip

Anyone that came across Joe Theisman, either as a fan, personally or working in the ‘biz would agree.  He was a first-class piece of work (to put it nicely).  Everything about him reeked of arrogance – his personality, his comments, his attitude, even his steakhouse.  He won one Super Bowl in a town without too many, and it’s safe to say that all the notoriety over the years made his head swell.

Sadly, this is not a phenomenon unique to Joe, who believably has made a remarkable turnaround in self-realization. Modern society puts our modern day gladiators of sports or earnings on a pedestal and it has a societal effect.

I, Charles Reynolds, had even caught the bug and this is my story.

I graduated from Michigan feeling near the top of the food chain as a part of Michigan football, put up and on the field for ESPN/ABC Sports and a member of swag-centric Beta Theta Pi. My competitive spirit was at a high, that is, until it became time to get a job. I didn’t have those players I was close with signed, so I had to find another way in.

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On the field, pregame at the Big House as a Manager.

I landed in a New Orleans rebuilding from the wrath of Katrina two years after the fact making a hot $17,500 as the newest Inside Sales member for the New Orleans Hornets, who had just quietly arrived back from a positive hiatus in Oklahoma City.  I had the sales pedigree and heralded Game Face Academy training, but that didn’t change that all the phone pounding equating to hearing:

He/she has relocated/died because of the storm/we’re rebuilding/who are the Hornets?

To couple that up, the group was out at our favorite bar Lucy’s after the 2nd game of the season.  Spirits are high, until someone said something to the VP of Ticketing’s wife, a punch was thrown and we were out a VP and Director the next day leaving a skeleton staff.  We were last in the NBA in attendance and notably, Mark Cuban called out our efforts (of which I called him out on, getting him to successfully acknowledge after an MIT Sloan Sport Analytics panel in 2012).  We kept at it, took what we could get, and got some nice publicity by hosting All Star Weekend (which allowed my to sit courtside as a seat filler for Magic Johnson).  The team was playing outer-worldly and Chris Paul was becoming the star he is now in leading the group.

The buzz over the Bees had caught on leading into playoffs and everybody wanted in. I was told my promotion was coming for some time and it finally did (less than 1/2 of Inside Sales reps get hired full-time traditionally).  Our numbers and demands were huge as we took on the NBA’s most-gracious benefit (“Lagniappe” – Cajun speak for extra value) program, we had a great president in Hugh Weber who instilled a community culture in the mix and everything started clicking. We targeted Mark Cuban on our weekly sales contests as the face on the dartboard and the team finished 2nd in the Western Conference. We got the chance to “stop the flop” in the 1st round against Cuban’s Mavericks and our fans made sure he heard about it in his seats near the bench as we won the first playoff series since the team’s move to the city in 2001-2002.  We had the vaunted Spurs on the ropes and a season ticket holder had my plane ticket booked for some love on Western Conference Finals tickets against the Lakers. Despite the series slipping away, the Hive rocked like it never had before with decibels maxing out like at the crazy Superdome across the street.

Despite the turnaround, the team had a legislative agreement to break its lease if fewer than 14,735 fans per game came out to support the team.  Would we be back in OKC, where the place sold-out within days? San Diego? The new Sprint Center in Kansas City? Pressures were sky-high to hit that while finding a way to generate 10k new season ticket holders in a market with the constraints of a poor market largely ignored by our country’s decision-makers during a time of unmatched need.

Well, the grind paid off. Not only did we hit our marks, but we pushed and broke the NBA record for new full season tickets sold (a mark held previously by the Baron Davis led Golden State Warriors) – a monstrous jump from under 2,000 full season equivalents to 12,000 from year-to-year.

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Celebrating an NBA record campaign with Chris Paul (CP3)

Despite the least amount of tenure and local connections (I knew 1 person in New Orleans before moving there) – I outsold the lot.  $2 million produced, including potentially having to see, know and service over 700 people in the house at any game. Like those other top producers that got promoted to manager, I thought I was ready for that.  I bought my dream car in cash – a black IS 350 Lexus. I flew my brother down for the cruise we won for hitting the record.  I was living too fast and too hard, getting in anywhere in town, living wildly in a city with a constant party environment. My head had swelled, it had caught up to me before I knew it and I found myself back to square one, without a job.

I had opportunities to sell for the top potential major league organizations but instead regrouped, dropped off the map to put work into my GMATs and opted for grad school.  Law school and the JD/MBA’s of the world were appealing, but it was late in application season.  Dr. Bill Sutton, who helped start the NBA’s lauded Team Business Marketing & Operations (TMBO) department under Commissioner Stern suggested building on successes for any host of potential teams over going back to grad school, but I was determined that a grad degree was what I needed to get ahead.  I then accepted a Graduate Assistant position to mentor an outsourced sales staff for the Memphis Grizzlies while pursuing an M.S./M.B.A. at the University of Memphis, where I thoroughly enjoyed teaching the ins-and-outs of helping students learn the ropes of what an official relationship with a major league team equated to, while leading a national Case Cup championship extracurricularly with “Operation BobSTATS.” In the process, we produced a 15x revenue multiple while helping place aspiring sports business pros nationwide from the program and Sport Sales Combine. Memphis wasn’t all glitz and glamour as I lived in a roach-infested place and market in need of a lot of uplift.  Again, another major communication snag  was realized when I demanded just average treatment while getting my car serviced – but at the wrong place (a key sponsor of the team).

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With my University of Memphis Case Cup Champion Team and “Coach” Dick Irwin

Another move was in order and I found myself passing up a great opportunity to sell for the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants (who’s VP in Russ Stanley is the most legendary in the ‘biz, 2 more “even year” rings to come) to move up the importance ladder (or so I thought) in sponsorship, the nation’s capitol and a top 50 global M.B.A. program in G.W. Reality set in hard with 18 credit hours of night classes, 3 hours of D.C. traffic a day and a demanding unpaid internship of which I was putting 6 days a week into.  Everybody and their sister with an Ivy League degree wanted into sports in D.C. and rights holders capitalized on this potential for cheap labor for the sake of “experience.”  Warning bells should’ve been ringing when I heard “internship” and not “job” during recruitment.  I graduated super-fast-tracked with two grad degrees in just over two years thanks to a back-breaking schedule allowing my a few hours of sleep at night after school and internship requirements were over.

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With family after M.B.A. graduation in D.C. – including my grandfather and motivation for this platform.

I was left out to dry, though: square 1 when it came to jobs and had to move home to minimize the student loan burn I had taken on and was making no traction despite the pedigree.  Months later, I set up an NYC stay with a school friend and meetings at the NFL League Office on draft day 2012 among others, which spurned other interest.  I picked up IMG College’s Ticket Solutions founder at the airport and sat down to discuss becoming Pitt’s Ticketing GM, drove back to Michigan and flew to Utah the next morning for a few hours. I couldn’t wait for the property to get signed and found myself again a transplant to a strange place, taking a pay cut from my pre-grad school days in the process.

My grit was put to the ultimate test day-in and day-out. The results were there on a large-scale as I got to shape a minor league game-day experience to the tune of production unmatched going years back while influencing the next generation, bumped my partnership average to nearly $100k and 3 years per deal at a top league property despite smallest market, but never received the all-important recognition or validation (which costs nothing). More valuable lessons in leadership learned.

Luckily, I settled down with a girl for the first time who spent her life helping people.  Things had been re-framed for me and I realized how important it was to not only acquire work experience and monetary or physical resources, but more so positive life experiences, especially those that could be passed on for the benefit of others and myself in turn.

Like Joe eventually found out, life is not about stuff, publicity or fame. Be real, remember where you were, who you are and what got you there, live to maximize your experiences in the world, share your “box” and you’ll leave a lot more fulfilled.

 

Recapping Travels: Backwards & Forwards

2 weeks, 8 flights, 20,000 Fitbit steps and approximately 7 miles per day, numerous shuttles, metro rides and even a few Uber and Lyft rides thrown in, my girlfriend and I have returned safely to Utah.  Just with feet and cankles that feel like a whale carcass off of Guadalupe Island after the Great Whites found it. Long live #SharkWeek, I will refrain from mentioning shoe brands for fear of losing future endorsements.

A story of the new meets the old.

Our family on my mom’s mother’s side arrived in this country in Maine in 1607.  Thanks to elaborate genealogical research done by the family, we’ve traced relatives who arrived to Casco Bay off of the Portland coast (part of the Calendar Islands, 365 in sum), not to mention more than a few from the Mayflower. While I joked with my mom about the recipe to a great nap being playing the audiobook on the Mayflower settlers in the car, it was fun to share lobster with generations of the Furlong, Leighton, and Knowlton clans dispersed across this great land. We commemorated my legendary grandfather, who passed last summer and had adopted Maine as his, for reasons we grew to know well every summer growing up.

After a quick Boston visit, reuniting with Study Australia study abroad friends in the South End and Back Bay, it was off to Europe.  TAP Portugal, along with Norweigan have offered great deals from certain locations (keep an eye out on Twitter for these), which we capitalized on over Hawaii or South America.

To avoid ridiculous roaming charges, it was Airplane Mode from then on (except for emergencies).  Here’s to testing the claim that millennials can’t operate without consistent WiFi and outlets.

Chebeague Island, one of the Calendar Islands located in Casco Bay outside of Portland Maine. Genealogically traced relatives back to the Mayflower. This group landed in Maine in 1607.
Washington spotted at the Boston Common.
Starý královský palác – the old palace at Prague Castle looms, like the clouds. Our relatives moved from Bratislava before the Czech/Slovakia split two generations ago.
Wandering through Barri Gotic (the Gothic Quarter) of Barcelona.
Taking aim at the unknown at São Jorge Castle in Lisbon.

Although my Airbnb “mom” in Prague might tell you otherwise, it worked out okay without WiFi in foreign speaking lands, despite being a 1st timer on a number of fronts.

Once a property of the U.S.S.R. with major city statues of Stahlin, Czechoslovakia split from the red grasp in 1989 and a few years later, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (where my father’s mother’s Demovic relatives hailed) split from each other a few years later.  Not more than a few years ago, Prague was supposed to be the place to go to live like a king on the cheap.  Not so much anymore as the secret is out.  The history and architecture is amazing, walkable, and German-like food and beers are still cheap though (under $2 at most places for premium local beers).

On to Barcelona, where we felt the ramifications of an airline services strike that started in France (see previous blog post).  Thanks to Marriott Rewards, we stayed at a hotel so modern that we didn’t figure out how to turn on the lights until we checked out.  Glass, Palm tree motif and live foliage throughout.  My kind of place minus the uppity service. And oh, the pool:

We spent five nights soaking in the infectious laid-back culture, the modern (read: oh-so topless) beaches, tapas (too many good places to rely on recommendations) and Gaudi influence of all the different neighborhoods and their tiny, walkable corridors. We met some newlywed Americans while wearing my authentic Nike USA Soccer polo (from Team USA), Californians in Portland who happened to be big Timbers fans that checked out Camp Nuell (F.C. Barcelona stadium) backstage.  No peanut gallery comments while taking US&A photos around town. My New Orleans Hornets dry fit the day before got more banter from an enthusiastic NBA fan yelling across the Metro stop for 20 minutes about his love for basketball, us, and mostly himself.

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Our Barcelona Renaissance hotel & pool view.

Because our flight was round-trip via Prague, we had to fly back there despite our Lisbon connection being only an hour away.  We made the best of it by stocking up on more Czech Absinthe.  We were pretty worn by the time we touched down in Lisbon, and the WiFi-less Metro to walk all over a town filled with cobblestones with slopes like San Francisco to find our Airbnb was a chore.  We made the best of the next morning, checking out an ancient castle in scenic Lisbon, grabbing a local bite, a few gifts and a real sweat before our flight of which we made by the narrowest of margins after getting lost on the walk back.

My takes? Yes, millennials can survive in unfamiliar lands (nearly) devoid of WiFi.  With a little bit of Spanish, some luck and a sense of adventure, we proved that.  The Spanish and Portugese are tremendous folks, but lack the sense of hospitality that we have here (it wasn’t just that I was wearing my new FC Barca shirt on the TAP Portugal flight back with Portugal just making it to the Euro Cup Championship).  Using plastic is a chore unlike in the States.  Living like a local via Airbnb is the way to go, doing more than the tourist traps even if it means getting lost in a neighborhood etc. while getting to know the Metro to save $.  Airports were much easier to navigate there then here (I didn’t have issues until having to go through Security twice in Boston on the way back). JetBlue rocks kind of like Southwest used to.

It was quite the adventure, getting acclimated with the lineage on and mostly off-the-grid.  With a good international cell/WiFi service, a Tim Ferriss “4-Hour Workweek” lifestyle can be had rich in life experiences in places where you can find new perspectives, which was fully put into view when arriving back in a country full of mass shootings and race wars.

Obrigado (“thanks” in Portugese).