Reese Brown (00:00.554)

Calvin, thank you so much for being here with me today, for taking the time to have a conversation. I am thrilled to be chatting with you.

Calvin Blackmon (00:34.721)

Sounds good.

Calvin Blackmon (00:47.349)

I appreciate it, Reese. Thanks for, you know, it's always humbling to be asked to be a guest on a podcast and whatnot. you know, love your platform, love what you're doing and yeah, and ready to, you know, take on this journey as we embark on whatever we're going to uncover here. But no, I'm excited. Thank

Reese Brown (01:10.294)

Of course, absolutely. Well, to kick us off and hopefully set the tone for our conversation, first question is just what is one thing you're grateful for right now?

Calvin Blackmon (01:21.281)

I am grateful for this is good question. I was just listening to, and just doing some saw some things on ungratitude. I'm thankful for where I am in life right now. obviously aside from family and friends, kids and all my wife and everything and roof over my head. I'm grateful for where I am right now in life. I'm right where I'm supposed to be. I know we had it.

Reese Brown (01:35.16)

Hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (01:50.633)

I know we had talked about recording a few months back and I know transparently I wasn't that day. I didn't feel like I was in a place to record and I didn't want to do disservice to know to your audience and to your show. And so we here we are. And as I look back, know, still an entrepreneur, still building, still learning, you know, never going to be where you want to be. But I'm thankful.

where I'm at right now and for the journey that I'm

Reese Brown (02:24.683)

No, I think that's wonderful. And thank you for being transparent about that. And I think that that is something that more of us could learn how to do is like, be really honest with where we are and the level that we're ready or available to engage because I know I really struggle with that and wanting to just push through and get it done. But it's like, at what level are you showing up? Is that the level that...

you want to be at. So I deeply appreciate and admire that. Second question to just really open up our conversation is what is your story? Of course, that is a really big daunting question. Whatever you feel called to answer or speak to in this moment is perfect.

Calvin Blackmon (03:13.393)

so my story, so I'm originally from Dayton, Ohio. I currently live in Cincinnati now. I've been in Cincinnati for 20 years. I actually went to college at Miami university, not the you in Florida, but Miami university, Miami, Ohio, was just small division one school played football there. and when I came out of school, I went into sales, for

for many years and I also took on the journey of a high school and collegiate football coach for some years as well. And after coaching, went back into, I got back into sales and so I've been in logistics. So third party logistics is really where I've kind of cut my teeth when you think of the business world. Did that for a long time.

you know, I will say coaching college football, making $11,000 a year for three years was the greatest job I've ever had. in most rewarding and then, about seven years ago, yeah, about seven years ago, I got into recruiting. I always joke and say, you know, no one ever, or not, don't joke, but I think you hear from a lot of recruiters. None of us want no recruiter went to school for recruiting.

Like you kind of just end up in it somehow. And that was the same way with me. And I'm thankful that the opportunity kind of came my way. And it's really been, it's been an exciting journey, you know, from taking on the career of recruiting to now taking on the entrepreneurial space and, you know, starting my own business and figuring it out.

failing, winning, failing, winning. You know, so it's all good, man.

Reese Brown (05:07.958)

Yeah, absolutely. No, I love that. Let's start right there with the failing and winning and failing and winning. Something that I feel is deeply important to specifically entrepreneurship and kind of striking out on your own, but just life in general and wanting to grow is being able to fail forward. Right. And I think that that is something that sports very much teaches you because you're required to fail in sports and challenge yourself.

Talk to me a little bit about the way that sports has helped you in this kind of winning and failing cycle of life, but also if there's other ways that it has informed your life philosophy and approach to how you kind of take on life's challenges.

Calvin Blackmon (05:58.529)

Yeah, I think for me, it's been a matter of a lot of I've had to do a lot of reflection, right? I was recently on another podcast. feel honored. I'm getting to be on podcasts. My story is no greater than anyone else's. know, everyone has their own story. But and we talked a lot about that. And for me, I've had to do a lot of reflection on what my career was when I was in college and whatnot and who I was as a person. What did I learn?

And, you know, as I mentioned in my other, I didn't, I didn't apply myself as much as I should. I use the term that I felt like my entire four years of college was like a washing machine where I was just not necessarily going through the motions, but it was so much in the way my football career shaped out. So I only played two years of high school football and then I ended up playing Division one. So I didn't really know what I was doing. Right. So as I was going through college, it was just kind of like

Reese Brown (06:41.08)

Hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (06:59.829)

I'm here, how did I get here? Like, and before you know it, snap of a finger, it was over. So I've been able to now look back and reflect and think about, you know, everything from, you know, the effort that I put in, the attention to detail, the being intentional about, you know, studying, going to watch extra film, working out, eating right.

Prioritizing football and school. I also prioritized partying, right? Like, and so like that had a, that had an effect on me, right? On my career. And so looking back on those things has taught me, you know, I worked my butt off, right? I wasn't, I didn't screw off and do all those things. But when I, when I was, when I was playing football, like I worked my butt off.

Reese Brown (07:49.602)

Mm-hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (07:57.569)

thing is I could have done a lot more, right? You think you're doing a lot, but you don't, really know you could be doing more. So in my mind now it's, know, work hard, no one cares. You see that all the time. You see that quote, you know, no one cares, work harder, right? So for me, it's just tapping into that. And then, you know, thinking about like the systems that you, like life is made of systems. So going, putting systems in place and being diligent and being regimented and.

And all of those things and as an entrepreneur, as an entrepreneur now, like that is the most important thing. Like how do I maximize my time in doing what's most important? That's going to, you know, keep food on the table and ultimately build a business and be able to, you know, give the things my kids and my wife need. So just tapping into that competitiveness, if you will, and understanding what you didn't do.

Reese Brown (08:52.366)

Mm.

Calvin Blackmon (08:56.449)

then but you understand now and I've been able to teach as a coach but now it's implementing those same systems for myself and making sure that I maximize and it's a work it's a work in progress I mean it is a struggle like I could have done way more this morning before we started recording than I did you know what I mean and so it's those little things where it's like don't waste time you know just put your head down and and get to work

Reese Brown (09:26.678)

Yeah, absolutely. When you talk about this quote, you know, work hard, no one cares, work harder, you know, what? I kind of have my interpretation and what that brings up for me. Talk to me a little bit more about what that does mean to you in terms of like, what actually constitutes hard work? Because I think we all have different measures of that in different

levels of what we're capable and able and have the bandwidth to show up with, but what does hard work actually look like to Calvin?

Calvin Blackmon (10:07.553)

I mean, I'll tag it along with when I see that quote and I've seen, you know, things that go along with it. It's show up when you don't want to show up, when you don't feel well, when you don't feel like doing something, when something is extremely hard right now, it's going to be easier later. You know, I think it's about when you don't want to get out of bed, get out of bed. You know, for me, it's

Reese Brown (10:19.118)

Mmm.

Calvin Blackmon (10:38.249)

It's just about, they always say, work where your butt is, right? Wherever you're sitting right now, that's what you need to be working on. Don't be looking at the future of, what if I go start looking at this job? And there's something to that, right? But where you are, focus on where you are right now. things are hard, so you just gotta be able to, there's days you don't feel like doing it, and those are the days that you have to do it.

You know, I always used to ask this kind of just randomly come came to me, but I remember being when I was playing football, there was a like you may have a day where you don't feel like going to practice, right? Like we're week eight of the season. It's now getting cold. my gosh. I don't feel well. And it's like, I'm going to go. And I would always say if this was a game, would I play? Yeah. So I'm going to go practice. So I asked myself that a lot now, if I'm not feeling up to something, I'm like,

Reese Brown (11:19.982)

Mm-hmm.

Reese Brown (11:31.118)

Hmmmm

Calvin Blackmon (11:36.353)

Yeah, I'm 42, but like 20 years ago, or if this was a game, if this was something I really, really, really, really, really wanted to do right now, would I have the energy and fill up to going to do it? Okay, well then let's take that same energy and put towards what I need to go do right now. So it's just, I think it's just that mind. It's that mindset and really.

Reese Brown (11:52.044)

Mm.

Reese Brown (11:57.878)

Yeah. Yeah. How have you cultivated that mindset? Because I think as someone who was an athlete growing up, but has not competitively played sports in a very long time, there is definitely an athlete's mindset that it is like when you are in that zone, nothing else matters. It is one track mind. You are focused. You are in it. You are with your team and your shared goal.

What goes into that mindset for you? How do you continually return back to that focus? And even on days when it's like, okay, if it's a game, what I play, yeah, you still have to make the choice to get up and do it, right? What?

builds into that motivation.

Calvin Blackmon (12:52.545)

Let's not get it twisted, right? mean, I'm not, you know, I'm not David Goggins.

You know, there's days where I can definitely do more. But I think, you know, when I think about what goes into that mindset, for me, it's about, I guess another quote is I heard, and I think about this as well. It's like, being lazy is, I think it's something like being lazy is disrespectful to those who are counting on you.

Reese Brown (13:29.934)

Mmm.

Calvin Blackmon (13:32.321)

So I think about my kids, I think about my wife. She's like, you want to go this entrepreneurial route? All right. So we're going to eat. We want to go to Disney next year. That's on me. So it's just channeling that competitiveness into.

you know, whatever lane that I'm in and, you know, it's hard. think too, one thing that I'm looking for, and if anybody, know, whoever listens to this that I know, like I need an accountability partner for the gym. I, I, I need that. and I've got a couple of ideas, but like going to the, I'm, know, I'm up at four between four and five AM, most days and I like to go to the gym.

But I struggle with that too because of the way my schedule is in the morning with getting the kids off to school. So I think having an accountability partner is very important. When I was playing ball, right? Like we'd have 5 a.m. workouts. If somebody's late on the somebody on the team doesn't show up, it's not that person's fault. It's our fault. Everybody who didn't bring that person. And you've got to walk through the dorm, pass a few of your teammates rooms to go out of the building to go work out.

So stop and knock on their door. Hey, you guys up? Good. Everybody up? Good. Let's go. Like, can't be late. Having that accountability partner, I think, is something that is, it's not, I don't think it's spoken of, spoken about enough. You know, I think a lot of times we try to win our own battles and, you know, don't, don't do it alone. And so for me, it's, it's about finding an accountability partner. My neighbor doesn't want to join me at the gym. He's a former college football player. I'm like, bro.

Reese Brown (15:14.734)

Hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (15:25.673)

He's like, it's way too early. I'm like, what do you mean it's way too early? so, you

Reese Brown (15:33.57)

Yeah, well, and I think you can really hear how much the team mindset has impacted the way you live your life and this notion of accountability because it's like on a team, it's like, it doesn't matter. One of us is late, we're all late. We are only as good as our weakest link, because that's where the chain is gonna break. Is it the weakest link? And in thinking about that,

and how it can be extrapolated to then your next journey of being a coach, right? That coach is still very much a part of that team and that dynamic. If anything, they're like the biggest accountability partner to all of those players, but also thinking about your family and your kids and your wife. That's the greatest team you could be on, right? And how much that level of teammate calls of you to step up.

When you made the switch from athlete to coach, what was the biggest mindset shift that you felt for you?

Calvin Blackmon (16:44.225)

that's an easy question. mean, that's an easy answer because as a player, you know, at least for me and my for me personally, I was just playing coach say, do this. do this. You start to understand a little bit of why, but you know, Hey, go to class. Hey, be on time. Take your hat off when you walk in the building, you know, sit up straight when coach walks in the room, tuck in your shirt, tie your shoes.

That was just like, felt like they were just pestering and asking us to do stuff in a sense. Then you become a coach. And as a coach, your job is to win. Your job as a player is to win as well. As a coach, your job is to win. But your job is also to be a mentor for these players. And so I quickly found myself, it's like we do as a parent.

All the things our parents did and said to us, we started doing the same thing to our kids. It's the same thing in coaching where I started asking my players to do all of these things that my coaches asked me to do. And I think from the player, the actual game, like actually studying, watching film and really honing into my craft so that I could become a better teacher.

Reese Brown (18:08.654)

Hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (18:09.291)

so that the players could then go out and execute because their execution is a reflection of the coaching. So my mindset shifted and you hear a lot in sports, if I knew what I knew back then that I know now, like it's so true, you know, and I would have been a much, much better athlete, much better football player if I had that same mindset and approach that I did when I shifted into the coaching world. So.

It was a complete mindset shift for me on just how I viewed football, the game, coaching, life, mentorship as a whole. It really just opened my eyes up and I've been able to take and carry a lot of that on from coaching and from playing, know, into the business world.

Reese Brown (18:48.886)

Hmm.

Reese Brown (18:59.534)

Yeah. So then in, now in your entrepreneurial journey, you are a coach, but in a very different framing, right? What is it like going from athletic coach to life coach to mentor to mentor?

Calvin Blackmon (19:06.784)

Mm-hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (19:22.507)

Yeah, for me, and that's something I'm still working on, right? Because I feel like, so for me, I can talk it, talk it, talk talk talk it, talk it, talk it. From a business mindset, I think I overthink it sometimes, and I try to be too, I don't wanna say proper, but I try to be just too, I don't, even perfect, but like, I try to.

Reese Brown (19:26.286)

Hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (19:52.001)

craft this like really, really structured like message and it's got to be this way, that way or the other. And I've got a coach right now that I work with. And one of the things he said many things to me, but one thing, one of the things he said was, you know, think about the creative aspect. Always think about being creative when you're

building something and that takes the that takes the what is it called? I'm drawing a blank on the word, but it takes the imposter syndrome out of it. You know, it takes that imposter syndrome away when you think about being creative and instead of thinking, hey, I've got to make this post or I've got to say the right thing to this kid or to that, you know, I can talk to a kid all day about

Reese Brown (20:35.854)

Calvin Blackmon (20:51.157)

these things and now for me taking that and putting that into a business format and mindset, I've got to step back and say, hey, just put your creative hat on and let it flow. It will naturally take its course and you can put then you can put systems and structure around it. So it's just reframing it from a field and a film room of watching plays to

talking to someone like yourself, and being able to really put systems around it so that it can become a viable opportunity for people to leverage, to scale, and to grow.

Reese Brown (21:33.044)

Absolutely, absolutely. So this is, you mentioned systems at the beginning of our conversation as well. When you talk about systems, you, tell me more about systems.

Calvin Blackmon (21:50.881)

I'm not an expert on it. can tell you that much, but I had a had a friend recently tell me he was like, you know, like like like everything we do is a system like we we are like we as humans. We we need systems and we have systems in place, good or bad. We have systems in place and. Again, he was a football player as well and he we were just talking about think about when we were playing ball like everything was a system.

Reese Brown (21:53.43)

I'm

Calvin Blackmon (22:20.607)

the playbook, how we practice, how we worked out. was like, that was our systems. You had a very structured schedule. So for me, it's about putting those systems in place in real life. And I struggle with it. But I'm, I'm mindful of it and I acknowledge it. And I recognize that, you know, it's something that I, and I hate to say I struggle with it because now I'm telling myself that I struggle with it.

Reese Brown (22:21.773)

Mm-hmm.

Reese Brown (22:48.546)

Hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (22:48.789)

versus it's something that I'm working on. And I just believe having systems in place. And I think for me too, when I think about systems, it's about not wanting to make sure a system is perfect. It's about just having it in place, but having flexibility with it and making sure that you are still getting the things done that you wanna get done. But when you have a system in place,

you're able to maximize your time and really execute on the things that you want to.

Reese Brown (23:21.062)

Hmm.

Yeah, one thing that I heard a while ago, but it really stuck with me was routine is what catches you when you fall short. It's like whatever your baseline habit routine system is, that's what's gonna come through when you're not firing on all cylinders. That's when you are falling short, you are going to fall to whatever your autopilot is.

So really having a strong autopilot and routine and system that works for you, I absolutely hear that so important. I want to shift gears a little bit and talk a bit more about the decision to go into the entrepreneurial world, this self-growth improvement world. I think it makes a lot of sense that a lot of athletes, of course, there's the mental game as well as the physical game. So,

there is a lot of like mental toughness that you need to hone as an athlete, but going from a traditionally very tough, hard exterior, traditionally masculine trait kind of world into a more...

Reese Brown (24:39.797)

Open.

Not that entrepreneurship isn't tough and motivated, but in this kind of coaching world, it's very like open, getting in touch with who you are and some of your feelings. And it's a little bit of a different tack. What motivated this shift in both career for you, but also in passion? What do you think it was that was kind of the tipping point there?

Calvin Blackmon (25:07.761)

so I actually stopped coaching in 2011 and then I was in the corporate world for the last really 12 years. and you know, I've always been the person who said, I just want to do something different. Like I don't want to do the normal nine to five job that what do you do? I'm a XYZ. Like I've always just felt like, why not me?

Why not me? And I've never known what that was. I didn't even know that meant like my coach told me he's like, that's talking to him like that's what entrepreneur I can't even I always mess the word. That's what intrapreneurship is like. In a sense, it's creating. And so when I realized I wanted to create, I didn't know what I didn't even know I wanted to create. But

Reese Brown (25:42.947)

Mm.

Calvin Blackmon (26:10.923)

I had made myself a promise now three, four years ago. said, by the time I'm 45, I'll be running my own business. Didn't know what it was going to be. And then I put this post on my LinkedIn a few months back. Last summer, I was still working full-time as a recruiter for a logistics company. And I started my recruiting business on the side and had a few wins with my recruiting business. And it was a summer.

of 23 and I was leaving to go to work one morning and. We have seven and eight year old and my eight year old. She might have been seven at the time she's like. Dad, where are you going? Why are you going to work in summertime? We don't have to go to school and I was like.

I gotta go to work. Doesn't work like that for me. But I looked at her and I said, you know what? I promise you this, next summer, I'll be at home with you during the summer. I didn't know that I was speaking something into existence. And then in December, I was laid off from my job, but I already had a recruiting business. And I was like, all right, here we go. Let's go all in on this. So for me, it's always been about...

I used to remember, I just remember riding around years ago. Like I'd be headed to work, eight in the morning, I'd see somebody jogging. First thought I'd have is, what did they do?

Reese Brown (27:37.43)

Yeah, yeah.

Calvin Blackmon (27:39.105)

see somebody at the gym at 930 for whatever reason I might be there and I'm like, why are they not at work? You know, and it's, it frustrated me for so long. And so those things there really have always, that always kind of was a spark of curiosity for me. And then making that promise to my daughter has been the other catalyst to that.

Now it's now now we're fighting the daily fight and in trying to figure it out. Sorry, figuring it out.

Reese Brown (28:17.098)

No, I, there you go. I love it.

What do you think motivated in terms of the promises you've made, but this first promise to yourself that by the time I'm 45, I'll be running my own company. Why that? Because I think there are a lot of ways that we can experience like integrating freedom into our life and more flexibility. What is it about being your own boss, having this

recruiting company and helping people through that called you.

Calvin Blackmon (28:58.431)

I believe that again, I was able to coach football, make $11,000 a year, live in a dorm for three years, and it was the greatest job I've ever had. That's hard to find. Some people never find that satisfaction. So having had that feeling that I wake up at 4 15 in the morning and I don't want to get out of bed. I'm 27.

I gotta be there and I gotta put a face on for 100 kids and put them through conditioning for an hour and then go work for 12, 15, 18 hours and never once complain about it. So I'm coaching ball. I knew there was another way, path, profession, whatever to get that same feeling.

just not knowing what that was. And for whatever reason, when I was 39 years old, I said that to myself. said, you know, I've got to be doing my own thing because I want to wake up and I want to be jogging at 830 in the morning, right? And then I want to go knock out meetings and I want to go crush the day and I want to go have an impact on people's lives. And I want to be able to jump up and down.

and act like we scored a touchdown at three o'clock in the afternoon because we just helped somebody doing something that I truly enjoy versus it's almost five o'clock Friday. I got the Monday morning blues. I got to go to work tomorrow.

That's not me. You know, guess I can say it. I hate.

Reese Brown (30:44.076)

You're wishing your life away. Yeah, absolutely.

Calvin Blackmon (30:54.955)

Thank goodness it's Friday and I hate, it's Monday morning. Like I hate looking forward to the weekend. I heard it in a Drake song, working on the weekend as usual. It's like the very first lines in one of his songs. And in my mind, it's like, what makes Saturday any different than Tuesday when you're doing something you love? So that's, that's it.

Reese Brown (31:21.058)

Yeah, no, I completely agree. And one thing I've been thinking a lot about is how to like, because you hear a lot, especially in Western culture, like work life balance and, you know, don't let work control your life. You want time after your job because the nine to five is very standard. But then even in like European cultures, it's very, well, we work to live, not live to work like you do in the States and

One thing I've really been thinking about is how do we break down this dichotomy between work and life, period? Like, why can't we find work that is fulfilling, satisfying, and what I want to do when I wake up every day? Like, if I got to choose what I wanted to do, it would be the thing that also sustains my life. So clearly, I completely agree with you, and I have always hated the like, just...

make it through this week, just get through this week, just get through this week because you're what white knuckling your way through your life? No one deserves to live like that. When did you have that realization? Do you think that's something that's always been innate within you or has it kind of developed or been awakened? Talk to me about that.

Calvin Blackmon (32:40.297)

It's been developed and been awakened because I think just coming out of school, like, you know, I didn't know what I wanted to do. just was, I ended up in sales, you know, and like logistics is a lot of fun, a lot of money to be made. But like, there's something about

Calvin Blackmon (33:03.307)

being tied, like, there's something about just being tied to.

Calvin Blackmon (33:12.275)

on a leash at work. You got to go to lunch at this time. Like, you got to be here at this time. You got to you can leave at this time. And that just never like, just that just never has resonated with me. But I didn't know what that meant. Again, like I didn't know why I was having those feelings or those thoughts.

It was more for me about just, I just go back to again, that, that jogger at eight in the morning, like, why do they have that freedom to be on a jog right now? I'm driving past them going to work and this person, you know, hell, maybe they didn't have to be worked on at a club. I don't know. But like in my mind, I was just always playing that. And it's just been one of those, I just, I've just known like,

Reese Brown (33:54.508)

Mm-hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (34:13.025)

I can't go to my grave having spun around in a chair for eight hours every day. And I used to have a quote on my LinkedIn, the rock said, don't go to work for somebody else for eight hours and then not come home and work on your own dreams or build your own dreams. And, you know, and I, and I take that, take that to heart, you know, and I said, you know what, hell, forget going to work for somebody else period. Build your own dreams now.

Reese Brown (34:29.889)

Hmm.

Reese Brown (34:41.954)

Yeah.

Calvin Blackmon (34:43.283)

And show my kids. Hell, can do whatever the hell you want. If you put the time effort, energy work and all that, nobody cares work harder, right?

Reese Brown (34:48.995)

Yeah.

Reese Brown (34:54.838)

Yeah, yeah. What do you think it is? Because I...

there is this status quo, right? Of go to work for eight hours for someone else, come home and try and enjoy, try and relax, like pour a glass of wine, watch TV, go to bed, do it all again the next day. What is it that calls some of us to break that mold? Do you think everyone has a calling to do it or just in...

doesn't sometimes and just not everyone does? Or do you think that it is truly different for different people in that some of us are called to a life of flexibility and freedom and

Reese Brown (35:51.255)

a different status quo.

Calvin Blackmon (35:56.225)

I think.

I I would imagine everyone has the thought in some way, somehow of, you know, that freedom, flexibility, life, just building my, doing what I want to do, right? I would think everyone has those thoughts. I also think some people just, or some people say, you know what, like, I love what I do with this. Like, this is, I don't mind the structure of.

Reese Brown (36:11.32)

Mm-hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (36:25.089)

You the nine to five and doing what I do because I love I get fulfillment. I'm having an impact. I'm changing people's lives or whatever it is. And then I think there is something to. Opportunity I think. You know I think it's something I think my wife against my wife always give me a hard time. like every time we go somewhere you know somebody or you know everyone just that my mom is sitting college. Why do we walk uptown and you know everybody on campus? I'm like.

Reese Brown (36:38.243)

Mm.

Calvin Blackmon (36:54.411)

quote, I'm a social butterfly, whatever it is. But for me, I just always, and this is a pro-encon, like I've always wanted to be in the mix of what's happening and what's going on. And there's a point in my life now where I've had to take a step back from that and really narrow my circle of friends, focus on what's most important now.

Reese Brown (37:04.107)

Mm-hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (37:23.351)

and that aspect of things. But I also think that

opportunity, meaning those chance meetings don't happen by chance if you aren't intentional about doing them. So, joining a group. Things I didn't do in school, I didn't join a fraternity, like I had a football team as a fraternity, but I didn't go do all these extracurricular activities and things that you can continue to do in life. Joining groups and being a part of this, volunteering for this, going to coach your kids, do all these things where you're meeting people.

Reese Brown (37:38.53)

Yeah.

Calvin Blackmon (38:00.469)

to where then you don't know that if I go to the high school football game tonight, I may meet XYZ person who comes to me and says, hey Calvin, like we get to talk and next thing I know, we're at lunch next week because we sparked something that led to opportunity and everything. So I just think that some people may not maximize those opportunities for whatever reason, right?

Reese Brown (38:19.661)

Right.

Reese Brown (38:28.338)

Mm. Right.

Calvin Blackmon (38:31.758)

And so they don't necessarily last example. If I don't decide to play football. In high school as a junior. I had no plan to leave when I was coming out of high school. hadn't you know my senior year I had not applied for school. I hadn't done anything. Luckily I had a great football season my senior year. Season ends and my coach tells me colleges are calling. I don't do that. I don't know what I'm going to do.

I'm probably still in Dayton, Ohio, but I took the chance to play football because some friends asked me to, and it got me out of Dayton. It got me to Miami. It got me in a whole nother trajectory to I now know my wife because I went to Miami and moved to Cincinnati and met her. So I think it's just about taking chances on those opportunities.

Reese Brown (39:22.178)

Yeah. And I think it also calls for a certain amount of courage to do that, right? To turn away from something that feels like a sure thing to something that feels like a risk, but at the same time, it's like there is always the risk of staying the same versus the risk of change. It's kind of like, which, which would you rather have? One thing that's a very common thread in everything you've talked about as well as this passion for helping people.

And in making meaning, in doing this podcast, that if nothing else is the common thread, the common thread of how people find purpose, make meaning in their lives, that always comes through is making an impact, trying to make the world a better place, trying to help people. Where does that come from for you?

Calvin Blackmon (40:22.347)

Pink.

Calvin Blackmon (40:27.393)

going through.

Life.

feeling kind of And I say life meaning, know, my early adulthood, you know, and through my twenties and really through my twenties, which is a lot of 20 year olds go through it, right? But I think the aspect of sports,

because I only coached for three years at the college level, but there's probably eight, 10 of my players that I communicate with via social media. may text a few times a year, but they know that they can reach out to me for help at any time. And on the flip side, I've got coaches that I played for that I know I can reach out to for help.

at any time, I still call them coach for a res out of respect, but also out of because of everything they did to did for me. Right. I call people coach all the time. You may not even be a coach, but I'll respond in a message to someone. I may just say coach, because for me, it's a level of respect that you're having an impact. Right. And so

Calvin Blackmon (41:51.155)

I view myself as a coach, not just a football coach, not necessarily a life coach, but just coach. Like, what do you need? If I have the answer, I can help you. If I don't have the answer, can, we can figure it out. We can point you to somebody who probably does, but you know, it's not going to be a dead end. and I'm also a coach is also a student. So I'm also trying to learn and better my craft every day. I think it just comes from.

Reese Brown (42:11.043)

Yeah.

Calvin Blackmon (42:21.269)

wanting to, yeah, mean, the generic answer is wanting to help, but just understanding what coaching means and has done for me throughout life and having those mentors that I can pick up the phone right now and call 10 different coaches and they would answer and help me with whatever I'm struggling with. And while I'm building this business right now, I'm reaching out to coaches, Coach Maddox.

Reese Brown (42:39.629)

Yeah.

Calvin Blackmon (42:49.013)

just text me a few minutes ago. I haven't seen the guy in 13 years, but I said, I got a favor. And he said, I'll call you today on our way to our bus trip. team he's with now coming to play my alma mater and I hope they lose, but we can talk about the things that I need to talk to him about. And it's been 13 years since I spoke to him, you know, so he's willing to help.

Reese Brown (43:08.376)

Yeah.

Reese Brown (43:14.38)

What do you think it is that motivates human beings as a whole to want to help? What is that? Is it something that's specific to humans? Is it human nature or is it a trained, socialized trait to, I suppose, like through evolution, continue the species or what is that? What does that drive to want to help?

each other.

Calvin Blackmon (43:43.105)

I think it's a part of, I think some of us human nature. think some of it is. But I think a lot of you just have to be. You have to be intentional about wanting to help people as well. I don't think everyone there's bad people in the world, right? I think you have to. It has to be. It has to come from somewhere and hopefully you've seen or have experienced what help has done for you or how you've helped someone else. I think that in itself.

Reese Brown (43:53.943)

Hmm.

Reese Brown (43:58.092)

Yeah.

Calvin Blackmon (44:13.441)

is something that

is learned and it's how it's learned. know, I think like if you think about

Reese Brown (44:20.622)

Mmm.

Calvin Blackmon (44:28.427)

Like if you think about neglect early on, how someone is neglected has a huge impact on who they become, at least early on. And until they get help.

Reese Brown (44:38.286)

Hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (44:43.425)

You know, they're kind of stuck in this, they could potentially be stuck in this, in this kind of this world of, I don't know, like of where to go. So, and we always say this too, when you think about corporate, like corporate world, when you get hired to a job, what is the one thing you want when you get hired to a job? Training, help, coaching. What happens when you don't get it? You leave. When companies don't offer training.

or they say, here's two weeks of training, and then the person fails, it's kind of a reflection on yourself and what you guys are doing. So people want to be coached and want to be helped.

Reese Brown (45:18.304)

Hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (45:25.835)

So yeah, think it's a matter of if you want to be helped, you're probably also willing to give the help as well and to pay it forward.

Reese Brown (45:36.118)

Hmm. Yeah. I mean, it's kind of goes back to the golden rule, right? Like treat others the way you want to be treated. If you know there is something that you would like that you need, it feels instinctual to try and provide that for others. Yeah. Flipping gears once again, one thing that I am always fascinated by, especially in these conversations about purpose and passion and helping others, spirituality.

Calvin Blackmon (45:51.371)

Yes.

Calvin Blackmon (45:54.891)

Mm-hmm.

Reese Brown (46:05.878)

religion. Does that play a role in your life? Is that a part of your ethos, your worldview? Do you have a strong spiritual background or not? What is your relationship with higher power of the universe?

Calvin Blackmon (46:25.665)

Great, great question. Haven't been asked this question in while. I have ever. Grew up Southern Baptist, grew up Baptist. Going to church, didn't like going to church as a kid. Mom forcing you. But it's one of those things that my mom always was.

has and always will be in my ear about. You know, I was baptized in high school. I went to church, but it was my now my church, my memories of church in high school were sitting up in the balcony with all the other all the other guys because we're in high school, telling high school stories, telling our our sports stories from over the weekend. But we were at church, right? And we would listen, right? And then.

Hell, I didn't go to church for after high school for many, years. then, faith is 100 % a part of my life. mean, it is, it is everything for me. I'm not someone who speaks on it. You know, if I were playing football and they asked me, you know, how'd the game go? I'm not the first person. I'm not the person who's going to say, you know, I want to give glory to God and all of these things. I believe that.

but that's not the message or that I give off. But for me, right now, we don't go to church nearly as much. And you don't necessarily have to go to church to have the faith in your belief. But I do think there's something about the structure and foundation of going to church and the opportunities that it brings. There's a father-son camp here with the church that we...

Reese Brown (48:05.858)

Mm-hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (48:22.591)

that we used to go to or belong to that I've been wanting to do. The children's, know, children's community at the church, like all of those things to me are as valuable as anything else. And so I know when, you know, when you're having, when things are going great and when things are, you know, maybe a little bumpy or rocky, like stopping to

to talk to the higher, to the man above, for me is something that I do sometimes and have to do more. faith, on the flip side, my wife didn't come up going to church, right? It's not something we talked about before marriage. And so it's been one of those things where we've had to figure out what that good balance is and we've gotten away from it. But again.

Kids are seven and eight now. And so for me, it's, at least, because they ask questions, right? So for me, it's at least, you know, I want us to be able to answer those questions and at least give them the opportunity to make their own decisions, to understand what faith is and what it means to them.

Reese Brown (49:24.579)

Right?

Reese Brown (49:40.919)

I mean, religion, faith, it is a system. The church system, it is a system to fall back on and rely on, right? That was very similar to my parents' approach in raising me and my brother is we want y'all to make your own choice and explore all that there is to explore about spirituality. But when you're a kid and you just have questions, sometimes having a system...

Calvin Blackmon (49:46.315)

It is.

Reese Brown (50:06.572)

really provides some comfort that is necessary to grow and evolve and then begin to investigate and stay curious about spirituality. I think that's really beautiful that, you you want to create a space for your kids to explore.

Reese Brown (50:26.924)

Going in to final few questions. One, in light of our conversation, of everything we chatted about, of everything that we got to and didn't get to, is there anything we missed? Anything you want to return to? Anything you want to reemphasize? Anything you'd like to add in? This is space for you to share, offer, anything at all.

Calvin Blackmon (50:54.881)

question. I'm gonna pause for a second.

Calvin Blackmon (51:07.677)

I for me, I think because of present day, Entrepreneur, figuring it out, going through the peaks and valleys.

Calvin Blackmon (51:26.817)

staying the course and.

Calvin Blackmon (51:33.803)

figuring out what works best for me, what works best for my family. Those are, think that's just, right now that's what's most top of mind for me. So I don't know where we could potentially go with this, but I mean, that's just where I am right now. Not necessarily talking about my business, but more so just life in general. I think we go back to, I had to,

I wanted to reschedule this, right? And I remember when I saw your email come through, was like, one, great, she followed up. Two, I'm in a much better head space right now. And, go ahead.

Reese Brown (52:19.15)

Yeah, I was just gonna say, let's go there. Why do you think you're in a better headspace? What is transitioned?

Calvin Blackmon (52:29.525)

I'm not going to, mean, my personal is, I don't ever, I'm not one to make recommendations, but getting a coach.

The irony there. What is has been.

Reese Brown (52:43.31)

You

Right?

Calvin Blackmon (52:53.953)

has been like, I don't know, words can't really describe what he has meant and done for me. I know there's good coaches and bad coaches. That's not even, you know, not, and I know people, well, there's, everybody's a consultant now and all of these different things. But when you find someone who genuinely cares and genuinely knows what they're talking about.

and has a purpose and knows how to guide.

Not once has he ever told me what to do. Never has he told me what to do. He asked questions, as you and I learned, right, through the course that we met, he asked the questions and he lets me figure it out on my own. And then he invites me to tap into whatever energy that is and to be creative.

because he hasn't necessarily said this, he said a lot, but for me, goes back to when we look at little kids, they don't have a stress in

We put all this on ourselves and we put these expectations and these deadlines and this, that and the other. And we start wearing ourselves out. We start turning gray. I'm bald so I'm not gray up there, but there's a lot of gray in this beard. Like we start adding all this to ourselves. And he just constantly invites me to, you know, in more words, but man, you're right where you're supposed to be.

Calvin Blackmon (54:43.615)

What's the worst thing that's gonna happen if your business doesn't take off? If you don't pay the mortgage next month? If you have to go back and get a job? He's like, is life gonna end? He said, you're right where you're supposed to be. Step away, take all time, be able to take time away and.

Reese Brown (54:43.662)

Hmm.

Reese Brown (55:03.342)

Hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (55:12.715)

Put your time where you feel it needs to be. know, like I struggle, I tell him all the time, struggle with like the, again, I struggle with my daily schedule. He's like, and I'm like, I feel like I should be doing this. And he's like, or doing this or doing, he's like, says who?

Calvin Blackmon (55:34.173)

I don't know who says who. He's like, He was like, and then he coaches me through that. And it just kind of resonates with me. And I made a comment to him. was like, I used to reference an artist that I wanted to be like, but he's in a lot of trouble right now. So I'm not gonna reference that dude. But like, I used to always wanna be like the producer, like a music producer because...

Reese Brown (55:54.72)

you

Calvin Blackmon (56:02.185)

I see how artists work. I used to have a neighbor who was a very big DJ. like he would be up at two, three, four, five in the morning making music. And then he would sleep and he would just be doing, then he'd be travel and go do travel. And I always go back to like artists create when they feel like they need to create. know, artists don't wake up at 7 30, eat breakfast and start making music from eight to five.

they hit the studio and they need to hit the studio and they're in that studio for two, three days or whatever their process is. And for me, it's been tapping into that. So like this morning I said, I could have done a lot more and that probably would have stressed me out back when we were gonna record first time. I've learned to say, you know what, like.

All right, I didn't get as much done as I wanted to this morning, right? That's okay. That's okay. Like tomorrow's not the weekend, it's just another day. So let's tap into it tomorrow, get up tomorrow morning, get what I need to get done, because guess what? Everybody else is gonna be asleep. So let's get some work done. You know what I mean? Before the rest of the world gets going. So it's just being able to tap into that and be able to just say, hey, it's okay.

Reese Brown (57:00.131)

Mm-hmm.

Calvin Blackmon (57:24.82)

It's okay.

Reese Brown (57:25.134)

Hmm.

It will always be okay. And I think that is a beautiful place to round out our conversation. Last question to just put a little bow on it is what is one word to describe how you're feeling right now?

Calvin Blackmon (57:35.265)

Awesome.

Calvin Blackmon (57:47.923)

I just bring this full circle but grateful.

I feel grateful.

Reese Brown (57:54.158)

Mm, I ditto. Not an eloquent word, but yes. Calvin, I cannot thank you enough for your time and energy and honesty and openness and having this conversation with me. Thank you so much.

Calvin Blackmon (58:10.049)

Awesome, absolutely. Thank you very much, Reese. It's an honor to, again, to anytime you're asked to be a guest on someone's platform, I don't take that lightly at all. So a genuine, genuine, genuine thank you very much for the opportunity.

Reese Brown (58:27.976)

Absolutely. My pleasure and privilege.