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Coffeez with Joe Shalaby
What Happens After the NFL? ft. Malik Jackson | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby
00:43:59
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- [00:00]
A
What's up everybody? Welcome to another very special episode of Coffees Proposers. Today we've got a really special guest in the studio. Malik Jackson, Super Bowl 50 champion. The founder and CEO now of the Carly coming in to talk to you guys about his new venture that he started that's bringing luxury concierge services that only elite athletes like Lebron James get to. You, the modern consumer. Please welcome the founder CEO of the Care League, Link Jackson. Welcome to another episode of Coffees.
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B
Go get the claps up.
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A
Let's go baby.
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B
How you doing everybody?
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A
Rocking that ring. I love it, man. I love it.
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B
What camera am I looking at by the way? That one.
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A
Yeah, let's go. Yeah. Oh man, you're so animated. Got such a great vibe and I'm so happy you're here with us today.
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B
Thank you for having me.
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A
So we're here, you know, the audience is here like checking out Malik Jackson's new venture.
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B
Yes.
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A
After Super Bowl 50 championship. But before we dive into all that, what's your morning routine?
- [01:05]
B
My morning routine? Well, gotta say two, right? I have a 10 year old daughter and if I'm with her, we wake up about six. I'll say I wake up at six, of course, wash my face, brush my teeth, get her up, get her breakfast ready and then my mom takes her to school, or I'll take her to school and then go work out and start answering emails and calls. But if I don't have her, she's with her mother, then what I'll do is wake up still about six, go work out 7:30 to 8:30, go home, answer emails and calls. So that's it?
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A
Yeah, that's, I mean, super bowl champ life, you know, what was your morning routine when you rocked the super, like, what's it like right before super bowl,
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B
the like of the game, the morning of the Super Bowl, I mean, yeah, wake up, brush your teeth, wash your face, maybe throw up once or twice. Cause you're just nervous that day and just sit around, hurry up and wait till the game. You know, it's not much you can do. You go eat breakfast, you have your meetings. Right. But for the most part you're just in your head and just playing a game over and over and talking success in your mind and going out there ready to wait to go do it.
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A
Man, I can't imagine the pressure like just to have the entire country just all eyes on you unobstructed, you know, it's beautiful.
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B
But as you know, we played Super Bowl 48 against the Seahawks in New York. And that was a terrible day. So that team, we had a lot of the same guys, so we were able to really, like, harness that and understand what it means to get an opportunity like this to live forever and how short and how far and few between they come. And so I think having that knowledge really helped us, and I think that's what really put us over the top to beat Carolina that day, as they were a really good team.
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A
I mean, that was an amazing game. Let me ask you, after the lights, after the fame, after all that notoriety, like, what's life like in that transitional phase from being super bowl champion elite athlete to just like, now you're back in the grind?
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B
Just a guy.
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A
You're just a guy.
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B
It's tough, right? I tell people first, people like Malik, what was retirement like? What'd you do first? And I say, I live like peply pew for like a year and a half, having a good time. You know, I'm single, so I did that. And then you sit down and realize, you know, the cheers are gone. There's nobody there to help you. My agent asked me to pay my last invoice, and I was like, yeah, I got you, man. I hate owing people, right? Atlanta star always pays his debts. So paid the debt and haven't heard from him in four years, right? And so you realize that you're really on your own. The team leaves you. That means there's no camaraderie. There's no training room for your access, for your healthcare, and there's no agent to really guide you in the next stage of life. And so we'll get on more essentially why I created what I created. But it's a lonely time, man. And, yeah, I don't think people really understand the hardships that the athlete goes to, right? Because when you're the guy, right, Joseph is the guy. He's the one that everybody loves him. And then you retire, and I come in, everybody's like, oh, Malik's the guy. And they're like, oh, forget Joseph. It doesn't matter. You know what I mean? So it's one of those things that's too tough to really. It's tough to handle sometimes. And especially I tell people it's not. It doesn't matter if you decide to retire like myself, or you got kicked out and nobody's picking up the phone to call you anymore. It's still tough.
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A
So, yeah, you know, you're. We were just talking. You're now the fourth super bowl champ we've had on this show. And there's a lot of. And I was telling you. And it's really, really breaks my heart to see when you see a Super bowl ring at, like, a pawn shop.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Or something, you hear those stories.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And there's really only two ways that transition hits you. You either take it and you run with that same level of grit and mindset that you had when you played a game every single day. And that's what Marshall Falk did really, really well. He's like, listen, super bowl didn't end for me.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Football didn't. Like, I grind. He grinds every single day. Same with Chris Heatherton. Same with Sativa. Golly. These guys are ultra grinders. And I feel like I attract those entrepreneur grinding super bowl champs to this show because it kind of like we're all kind of in the same network at this point. Or you go the. At the opposite direction, which is you get into your head, you fall into depression, then you fall into drugs, then you fall into, like. Then boom, now you're suicidal. And it's something that breaks my heart. We just had Vikings star yesterday shoot himself, right?
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B
Another one.
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A
Yeah, from the Vikings. I forget his name.
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B
Receiver. Not another one.
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A
The wide receiver. Yeah.
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B
Okay. Okay, okay. Yeah. Same guy.
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A
And same guy. What was that yesterday? Was it.
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B
It was the same. Same time frame. This week.
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A
Yeah, this week.
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B
Yesterday was Monday. You're right. Yeah.
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A
And it's just. It breaks my heart that they get into their head and he's still in the NFL.
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B
Yeah. No, I don't think people really understand the hard, like, the way. The type of pressure we put on ourselves. And it's not only us. Right. Imagine your family's depending on you to go out there, make the money, do the. Bring it back home, take care of everybody. And, you know, as a lot of people see on Sundays, you know, some guys just don't translate or they just don't get the opportunities, or their body just breaks down. It's very. Those are really the three options that really happen. Or you succeed and you thrive. But a lot of guys, it goes to a point where, like, you put so much pressure on yourself and you put so much value in football to where you can't see the end of the tunnel. You can't put yourself to say, I'm more than a football player now. Granted, for me, I just believed I was a football player when I played. And then I retired and I was like, dang, you know what? Like, I can be more, you know. Well, I had to have somebody tell me, like, you can be more. I didn't go through a huge stage of depression, but you still go through depression. It wasn't suicide or anything, but it was still tough, you know. Cause your identity is wrapped up in what you do, what you've been doing for the last. Since I was 8 years old, you know, and now I'm like, okay, who am I? But what I was able to have was in my corner, my financial team. Aaron Stevens. Shout out to Aaron. He was like, you know, Malik, I think you should go back to school. I was like, man, I already got the paper that matters. I'm rich. You know what I mean? He was like, nah, like you got to go learn and educate yourself. And I was like, especially if you're going to get into business, you got to understand what an LTV is and all these other things are. And I was like, okay, cool. And so I did the six week Stanford program and you know, I was like, wow, I can read more than a few pages in the book. I can understand, retain this stuff. I can write a paper. And so I really took those small steps to really build me up to say, okay, I do believe in myself now. And I think the sad part is a lot of guys don't have that. Like we were talking earlier, you know, my agent left me. So if a lot of guys don't have a good financial guy or an agent that actually cares about them, then they're lost and they're by themselves and there's nobody there to help them. So there's a huge, a huge void in that aspect. And I hope the league steps up and pays for that young man's funeral. And you know, I hope parents really talk to their kids about be more, go to school right? Like really focus on things, get people in your corner that are going to help you thrive, not just take from you. So it's, it's a tough sight when you see things like that, especially from a young man. I had his whole life in front of him.
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A
Yeah, I mean, you know, we're starting to see that a lot. And I just, for me, I. These are elite athletes and they, they're groomed to be just superstar humans in general.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And I always struggle with the fact that finding that balance, like you're an elite athlete now, you're going through this major depression. But they've been groomed for so much since they're. You've been groomed as a kid to be a superstar athlete, but being a superstar athlete translates into normal life. You're usually a hard Worker, you're usually, you know, a steward, a good steward in general. And it just breaks me when I see these guys going in through that kind of depression. What do you think is the catalyst for some of this stuff?
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B
Well, you said it, right? You said they're hard workers and they're good stewards. But, you know, how does that necessarily translate when you didn't get a college degree? Like, I did, put me in a. For example, I didn't finish college, right. And so what opportunities do I really have on my fingertips to go out there? One, to make as much money as I did previously as fast I did, and put myself in a position where, I guess in the NFL, if you're a starter, you can be considered C suite executive. Let's just compare it as that to put myself in a C suite executive role right away. It's not realistic, you know, I mean, I can't pawn. You can pawn this, but I can't. Everybody's like, why don't you wear it so much? It's like, well, because I can't go to Vons and buy food with it, right? I damn sure can't go to Erwan. So, like, there's not. There's not much. There's translation outside of it. You are taught, you are taken care of, but you have to really understand the educational aspect of it because people have been doing it for a long time before you and the opportunities for it. And so that's why. That's why I think it's so tough. And that's why I think what I'm doing is needed. Because at the end of the day, you need people behind you. You need people to push you. You need people to put you in positions, educate you, show you the way, Right? And so it's interesting. But, yeah, I think it just. It's tough because a lot of guys just don't see themselves as much sometimes, and it sucks. But we're also not. I'll say this, we're also baby to the fact. And it's. And I say babied, for lack of better phrasing. We're babied. We're coddled, we're taken care of. All I had to worry about was X's and O's. My bills were paid. My family wants to come out, do something, they needed something. Everything was taken care of, right? And so to have all that taken care of and then expect the guy to just get out of the league and answer emails, or I still type like this when I first left the league, or Open your own mail. It's not really realistic, especially when they're going through so many things in their head. Financial issues, marital issues, identity issues, personal issues. So it's a lot on that retired athlete to try to act like he's going to get out there right away. Not, you know, we have a lot of good examples. You spoke about the four, the three other super bowl champions you've had come through here. And there's plenty of other good examples. But, you know, unfortunately, when a bad one is. Speaks just as loudly as the good
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A
ones, and they're not necessarily bad, and I don't know what the NFL is doing to kind of like derail this. I think that there's some preventative measures that the NFL can certainly do to make sure that these things don't happen. And coddling someone hurts them more than helps them.
- [10:39]
B
It does, it does. But, you know, it's like, let's take you, for example, right? I mean, you have a thousand things on your plate, right? And if you have somebody that can come take some things off, allow you to focus, okay? But then that means you're taken away from understanding and learning that to say, pay a bill or something, right? Understand hospital networks and co pays or whatever. Once you try to. Once you find that person, try to get back in that life, you're already a step behind, right? And so it's everybody, you know what I'm saying? So I think just education or just creating something that has that same access and connections they can pull from when they're out the league or if they are a professional or an executive, that they can still have to not make that cliff so. So hard or so sharp, I should say, or so short. So.
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A
Yeah, well, now stepping out of being a superstar athlete, now you're, you know, now you're in our world, now you're an entrepreneur. What do you think was harder becoming a superstar athlete or now becoming a CEO?
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B
That's a good question. I'm not gonna give you political. I'll choose one. I think being. I think being a. That's a hard one. I'll give you two answers. I think being a superstar athlete is very hard. Obviously, a lot of things have to go right. You have to have the coaching, you have to have the body type. Right. You have to have the mindset. But I also think being a CEO is equally as hard. Maybe I would say that's harder because now you're not just fighting against a small group of guys. You're just fighting against everybody in the world that wants to do something. And let alone if you chose a niche space or you chose something in finance like you, that there's hundreds, thousands of people doing it all around the world, right? And so to separate yourself is hard and to really come up with a new innovative idea is tough. So I would have to say, between those two options, becoming a CEO, business owner is definitely tough. Because I'll say this. In sports, you don't quit. You're like, oh, I'm never going to quit. In business, it's like, fail fast and move on. And like, that's such a hard concept for me to understand playing sports, you're like, no, that doesn't make any sense. As the money's dwindling, you know what I mean?
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A
You know, kind of piggybacking on that. Now you're a CEO and now you're in this space, it's kind of niche. I haven't heard about something like this service offered before. But also the demographic that you're chasing is kind of is niche as well, because you're looking for pretty much affluent people that can afford these concierge lifestyle services. So, two questions. One, how are you getting their attention and making sure that the Care League is the company that you want to go to for these services? And how are you? What's your go to market strategy?
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B
So, yeah, first let me go back, right? I think that you said the League has to be doing something. So Zamir Cobb at the Trust is doing a hell of a job in really putting things out there for the guys that they can utilize. And so I commend him on what he's been able to do. And so, yeah, you asked about the budget or the finance part, our subscription model, Right. The way I tried to price it is because I understand that there's athlet and there's business people that got to worry about everything else. Right? So if I'm like, hey, Joseph, like, I want you to be a part of us, I'm like, well, we're 20,000 a year. You can be like, okay, cool, if that fits your pocket. But if you still have to pay for everything, which I'm very conscious about the providers we bring to you, then to me, that's not fair. And so where we are, we're starting about 253, 99 is where we start. And depending on what you want to ask for a month. And so depending on what you ask for and how frequently you ask for it and the things you want us to do for you.
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A
And.
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B
And so I really Want to price it in that frame so that we can sit here and be for everybody.
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A
Right.
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B
I just don't want to be for the ultra rich. I don't want to just be for the uber poor because we still have to have a successful business. I want to be right there in the middle that people can sit there, pay the monthly subscription fee, but also understand if they have a doctor they need to go see, they can pay that and not hurt their pockets too much. Right. I mean, it's hard times right now. So, yeah, that's where we are.
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A
So I got two things. One, this is her. Mosey says you can't have a successful business if you're for the poor. You're either for the poor people or you're for the rich people. And the middle is a hard ground to dig your. I hear you to dig into. But I guess for your model, I guess you can't charge 10 grand because they still got to pay for the service.
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B
They still got to pay for the service. I mean, we could, and who knows, one day we might get there. Right? But at the date, today's date, for me, it's about what's our. What's our core audience, right. Professionals and executives. Right. And so that's a core. In a second core audience, or the first one A is the athletes. Right. And so understanding where the athletes come from, where a lot of guys are going bankrupt selling their super bowl rings, like, what's the price point that we can get to them so that they can see the value. And once we show them the value and everything else, we add more to their plate, we add more services, then we can have a talk. Right? I mean, hell, everybody pays for Netflix, and it's going up every month, and they don't care. Right. And so for me, it's to show the value first, prove the model, show so the wealth of network we have, and then as we go, get to a point where we can be competitive price or just stay there and. Because I believe in quantity. Right. As well as quality. So let's get that straight. Yeah.
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A
So the Care League has every kind of service from. We're gonna add financial now.
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B
Gotta add financial.
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A
But you get every sort of doctor, specialized doctor, health, longevity. And it's very niched in. Right?
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B
Yes, it's very built in. So what we like to do. So we're a care coordination concierge company. And one of the things I'm pulling from, from my experience in the NFL is being able to walk into a training room and have everything at your fingertips. I need a, I need ekg, I need an mri. Right. It's done like that. I need to see a doctor for this rash. You're in there like that in the NFL and then you retire. I'm realizing people are walking around with torn ACLs, torn Achilles heats for weeks, years. And I'm like, that doesn't make any sense. So we have that health and wellness network where we can pull from, and also lifestyle and hospitality. Right? Because if you want to travel, you want to do something for your lady, your kids need something, we do it all in every space. And I think I pride myself on not just being specific health and wellness or specific lifestyle and hospitality, it's both combined to do whole life care.
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A
So with, with that said, like, what was the, the overarching objective when you wanted to start the Care league? Like, because you said to me, you're like, well, shoot, right after I got out of the league, like, I didn't have any resources.
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B
Yeah.
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A
I didn't know what the hell to do.
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B
Yeah, yeah.
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A
And that, that hits, you know, and that hits. And it dawned on me, like, right now, just saying that it's like your target avatars are athletes, retired athletes, because they don't know what the hell to do.
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B
Exactly.
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A
They have nothing after they get out. They're like, where do I go? You go to the Care League, you
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B
come to the Care League, we got your back. So for me, I'll preface it by saying I did very well for myself. Ten years in the NFL, over $100 million in contracts, before taxes, after taxes is another story, as you know, but still did very well for myself. And so for me sitting there, I'll tell you this story. I had McLaren, I tried to be cool. Hydroplaned it, crashed it, sold it, got him, got a Rolls Royce. I was like, I need to slow down. But as I got the Rolls Royce, I'm driving the ghost. I'm like, I feel so pretentious like this. You're getting almost the wrong attention, you know, And I'm like, I'm still, what, 33 at the time? I'm like, this is like a 60 year old, 80 year old car. You know, somebody that's lived enough life and nobody's going to think he's ominous or anything. And so I was sitting there and as I'm looking at stories of guys dying, guys going bankrupt, guys not being able to take care of themselves, it really hit me because I'm like, how do I go from caring about these guys when we're playing ball to blood, blood, sweat, tears with these guys really fighting every day to now I'm retired and act like I'm not supposed to care about them. When I see people struggling, living check to check after playing six, seven, eight years, it doesn't make any sense to me. So I sold the Rolls Royce. I was like, I'm gonna start a business to help guys. And so as I did this, you know, I'm understanding. League has great resources, but there's still a gap from what guys understand and the utilization of the benefits we earn. You can understand, when we sit here and we have benefits from the last CBA, the 2010, 2020. Okay, 2020 CBA. If we're not utilizing our benefits, we're not maximizing them truly getting our money's worth out of them, then we can't go back in 2030 and ask for more. The owners are gonna be like, yo, what are you talking about? You guys don't even use this, right? And so for me to sit here and be an advocate for. Have got to give us more to give our families more that we. So we can deserve to get. If you play 10 years, let's say five years in the NFL, you get free healthcare like basketball. I mean, hell, that's a good trade off, especially when we're way more. We put our bodies on the line way more. And I'm not just trying to disrespect basketball players, but, you know, it's a different game. And so if we could sit here and start utilizing things and start maximizing things, then we can ask for more. And if we can get more, then we can feel better and we can stop. Can we curse on this show?
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A
Go for it.
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B
We can stop bitching about what we don't have. But it comes from education and having guys come in and be a part of it. I went to go talk to the NFL one time when I first started, and I'm talking to this one to the higher ups, and. And she's like, man, you know, we do a good job. Guys got to open mail, we send emails. I said, lady, I get what you're saying, but you're asking a lot from guys that weren't taught this and don't have the business acumen. The business acumen or the time or just the brain power to worry about that, right? We got to hit them in a different way. And so that's why with the CARE League, what I really. The first thing we implemented was giving people a concierge assistant, right? We're Going to call you twice a week. We're going to ask you what you need. We also have a mentor, which is an older guy on our team named Billy who played 12 year Super bowl champion as well. Because I'm like, these guys need somebody that they can talk to, that they can relate to, to say, hey, I'm going through this and we can understand each other, right? I mean, some guy's been rich, been broke, been divorced, got back on it, right? Like it's, it's a whole, we have a whole ecosystem. And I tell people, as the NFL, we have one of the biggest frats. It's almost like we just refuse to use each other, which is a problem. So I'm trying to bring all that together.
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A
Collaboration is key. And you said something like that really hits, and that is that you have a concierge to call them because people don't know what the hell they need until they're asked about it. And one of the biggest things in any business is execution, right? And the way to get execution is to nudge. And now you're nudging these people going, listen, what the hell do you need? Like, what's hurting today? What's going on?
- [20:29]
B
Exactly. And one of the things we do is since we understand the benefits, speak purely speaking about NFL guys and athletes, we know there are benefit packages, right? And so we could say, hey, what do you need? He's like, hey man, I want to go back to school, but I don't really know how. Okay, cool, that's a benefit, let's use that. That's free. Hey, I want to start a business, but I need some help. Okay, cool, that's a benefit. That's free. Let's use it, right? And so we really push the NFL guys and all athletes to utilize the benefit packages that the teams or the three letter league has given them to be able to make it as cheap as possible for free since they already paid into it. And if that's not in the Rolodex of the benefit packages, then we go to our Rolodex and make sure that our providers, who we make deals and partnerships with, can provide a great product for a discounted rate.
- [21:12]
A
So, yeah, I mean, there's. My mind is just going. And I think like, your network is going to expand. You know, I do, I have. My mentor is a team owner. He owns the Phoenix Suns. He's now buying the socks. And I feel like there's so much synergy here with what we're doing and there's just a lack of education for athletes post profession 100 and if they just had some actual direction where they're not. They're handheld.
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B
Yeah.
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A
They just got to be handheld into it because they're going to leave, they're going to go, they're going to immediately fall into depression.
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B
Yep.
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A
But if there was like a hand holding ecosystem.
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B
Yep.
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A
That's partnered directly, not just like where you now you got to like, you got to reach out to these people and then get them to adopt.
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B
Yep.
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A
But there needs to be something greater than what you're doing to, to, to create a true hand holding platform for athletes.
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B
I mean we're building it, we have the platform, you know, and I think that's why we have something great. It's niche and it's nothing like it out there. And so I'm excited about what we have. I'm excited about building partnerships and people. The good feedback that we've had, we've been able to take a few good players, ex players through it and they love it. And so it's like, hey man, let's just keep going and, and really serve. You know, you're coming from a place of humility.
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A
You're doing God's work for these guys, man.
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B
I mean, yeah, I appreciate it, I appreciate it. So just looking to build, you know, get with the three letter leagues, the NBA, NHL, NFL, go across the east of soccer and truly take care of the guys that truly built the sport to allow the owners to eat and be who they are. But you gotta go from the owner all the way to the guy at the bottom. Right.
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A
And those guys at the bottom are not really at the bottom. Walk me through like some of the success cases of some athletes that you've experienced that get out of the league and they're like, I don't know what the hell to do with my life.
- [23:04]
B
So. Yeah, so I appreciate you asking. So we had a guy that wants to be an actor. Right. Didn't really have any connections. So through our Rolodex we were able to get him partnered with an acting coach and also some people in the acting scene to be able to help him get an interview. We got him an interview or two. And so that's one success story. One guy needed to move as he's taking a coaching job. So we said, cool, well you have that benefit. Let's go through that. We helped him with that. He also wanted to do some peptides because as you're going to say as an athlete you go one or two ways once you retire. Either you're super big or you're super small. And me, I have cheekbones now and my stomach's not popping out. So I've been doing a lot of work, you know. So that's one success story where we took care of him and partnered him with a company that does Peptides. Got him a discounted rate, took care of them, and he still uses them today. One of a current guy, he needed. He was a free agent and we had a partnership with this agency, so we took care of this guy. He needed PRP shots and he needed PRP shots. But he was. His ex. Team held the images that he had. Right. And so for us, we were like. We told the agent, first, you gotta get the images from the team so we can understand what's going on with them. We have to get some doctor's notes, which we have access to doctors that can get them. Doctor's notes. And we have to do a whole host of other things. So we educate the agent on how to do that. Got the player taken care of, sent a black car to pick him up, dropped him off. Billy, the guy I told the mentor, met him there, paid for the bill because, you know, he was in some financial. He's a free agent, barely got two years in the league. So we took care of it. And of course we built the agency. So, you know, we're not doing all that. But, you know, we took care of it in the moment because the agent couldn't be there. And so that's the type of things that we do. We helped a single, a businesswoman who has two kids. She wanted her son to get some baseball coaching. So we pulled from one of our good friends, Ryan Braun, he has an app. Ex Milwaukee Brewer. He has a baseball app. So we pass that off and we have some baseball coaches lined up for if she wants to go that route. And so that's how we make life easier for people. It's just not. Tell people anything you need, just ask and we have a connection for it.
- [25:02]
A
You know, that's like. That service is so instrumental. Like, I'm a guy, I have a ton of resources just because I got the podcast. But that's. I'm unique, you know, Like, I'm unique.
- [25:13]
B
And that's why you're not exactly our, like, ideal client.
- [25:15]
A
Yeah.
- [25:16]
B
Ecosystem.
- [25:16]
A
Yeah. I have a whole ecosystem of networks, but it took me millions of dollars.
- [25:20]
B
Yeah.
- [25:21]
A
To build this ecosystem of resources.
- [25:24]
B
Yeah.
- [25:24]
A
And I didn't unintentionally just kind of like, it came as a byproduct of branding and you know, being a CEO and influencer and all this other stuff, but nobody has that. You know, 99.99999% of people listening don't have that. Yeah, but with your service, they have that.
- [25:41]
B
Yeah, that's. That's everything.
- [25:42]
A
200 bucks a month. You could bypass all the work that I put in to build this massive ecosystem.
- [25:47]
B
Exactly.
- [25:48]
A
Because I'm thinking, I mean, even me, even in the sports. Because, like, my kids all train in all these different sports. I, you know, and I have some. But I could still use a lot of your research because I don't have all the Pro athlete.
- [25:59]
B
Yeah.
- [25:59]
A
To coach my kids in football or baseball or whatever.
- [26:02]
B
Yep.
- [26:03]
A
You know, so even. Even then, you still smoke me in those. Some of those resources.
- [26:07]
B
Well, you know, it's just adding value. You know, like you said, you build a Rolodex over the years, paid money, met people. Right. And so you've done that. Right. The circles you roll in, not everybody gets to roll in those circles. Right. And so if we can give what you have to people for less time and way less money, then, you know, and effort. I think that. Just ask. I think that's. That's effort.
- [26:28]
A
And you don't even have to ask because they're calling you to ask you.
- [26:31]
B
Exactly.
- [26:32]
A
Like, you don't even ask. You're just sitting there and your concierge calls you and says, what do you want?
- [26:36]
B
That's it. You're like, hey, man, what do you need? I don't know. Toilet paper. We got you. We'll send some to later today. So, you know, and it's not necessarily going through. You know, you can go through your Yelp or your other quick shop doordash, but, like, you know, we source things to really fit the type of lifestyle you're trying to focus on. Is it a certain group of demographic you want to support? Is it a certain person you want to support? Like, what do you. Like, what do you want to support? Who do you want to be? Who do you want to represent? And we got that for you. We can fit that niche.
- [27:00]
A
Yeah, Yeah. I think you. You should clearly identify, like, what is the difference between your service and, like, chat gpting it?
- [27:10]
B
We're going to do the work for you. I mean, they're going to write it out. You still got to get up and go do it. We're going to. You're going to. You could chat. GPT what you want, tell us and we'll get it done. Or just let's ask. And you may not have an understanding of what that means. Or let's say you want to talk to a financial advisor. Right. We were able to say, we got you on the podcast. Excuse me, on our. To talk to some people. So what we would say is, let's talk to a guy that you would never be able to have access to. And what we would ask from you, say, hey, can you give these guys a free audit and a our consultation for free? Right. Like, that's the value we want to be able to bring to our members so they can talk, understand, learn, and be able to build and then make a valid decision. And say, hey, I have two more guys for you to talk to before you make a decision. Let's just talk to everybody. And so that's, you know, we take the time away from you searching for things, and we also give you the quality people that are good at really, really good at what they do.
- [27:55]
A
And so, yeah, and you're getting. You said something else earlier. It's like you get LeBron James type treatment.
- [28:01]
B
Yeah.
- [28:02]
A
Like, you get the best of the best of the best stuff that people don't know exists.
- [28:07]
B
Exactly.
- [28:08]
A
Not just athlete lifestyle stuff, like the creme de la creme resources. I mean, you know, you're $100 million athlete. $100 million athlete resources.
- [28:18]
B
Yeah, yeah. So, you know, you get to live like a true athlete. And I think that's the goal. And that's one of the taglines that we have. Right? Live like an athlete. Right. And we understand what that means. Is that the partying, whatever you view as living like an athlete, is that the partying? Is that the lifestyle? Is that having the health care at your fingertips, is that being able to get taken care of? Right. When you need things, mental health, whatever, like, whatever you see an athlete or visualize when you see an athlete, live like them, the positive stuff.
- [28:45]
A
So you don't have like, VIP concierge bottle service?
- [28:48]
B
No, we could do that. Oh, you guys can do that? Yeah, we could do that. You know, we can go down a whole rabbit hole depending. We' about that later. That's for specific conversation with the member. But, yeah, we could do everything.
- [28:58]
A
Yeah. So it is true. Vip, athlete, concierge. I might just be a member anyway, just to have it, you know.
- [29:04]
B
That would be awesome. Look at that.
- [29:06]
A
LeBron's like, I'm on LeBron's level.
- [29:08]
B
Let's go. Let's do it, man.
- [29:09]
A
Something to brag about to my kids.
- [29:11]
B
Hey, you know, they can get it too, so. And I think that's the Biggest thing for us is we tell our members that if. If your family, you want it for you. Right. Or for anybody that's married. Say you're married. Are you married?
- [29:22]
A
No.
- [29:23]
B
Okay. So for a member that's married, they'd be like, hey, Malik. Or girlfriend. They could say, hey, can my girlfriend use it? Can my wife use it? Say, yes. Can your kids use it? Yes. Like, we're here for the whole family. It's not just you. Right. And it's not like you have to pay an extra fee on top of that to take care of the family. Like, we understand, we want to prove to you our worth. We want to make sure that everybody in the family's taken care of. And when you call on us, it's done. So everybody's involved. It's a whole family affair.
- [29:45]
A
Yeah. You know, there are services like this in Vegas just for like nightlife.
- [29:50]
B
Yep.
- [29:51]
A
Right. There aren't like, services like this for like a complete ecosystem of life. You cover health, wellness, nightlife.
- [30:00]
B
Yep. Hospitality, lifestyle.
- [30:02]
A
Anything lifestyle.
- [30:03]
B
Day to day fashion. Yep.
- [30:05]
A
You know, you got like probably, you know, if you want custom suits, you probably have that.
- [30:09]
B
We actually helped a guy do that about two weeks ago. He wanted to get some suits and we had a tailor come to his house, show him the fabric. He bought some stuff. I said, hey, let us know if you need some stuff. Some more stuff. Right. And also he was an athlete, so we showed him the benefits that he had to get more stuff for discounted rates. So a lot of guys just don't understand what they have at their fingertips. And for us, with, say, the professionals and the executives of the world, it's doing the day to day stuff. Right. What have you forgot? Do you need personal shopping? You want to go grocery shopping? Oh, man, I can't. I work a lot. Okay, cool. We have access to a company that does personal shopping from locally sourced farms. So produce, meats, vegetables, whatever you need being your door in two days. Right. And so we really just focus on really making life easier for everybody in every single way. Just providing pure value.
- [30:54]
A
What people have to understand the most important thing in life is time. And one thing that you're really just dialing in for people, especially like busy CEOs, like, I have no time for anything. Like, if I'm going to do a chore, it's just more like therapy than anything. I got to do my dishes now. Like, I'm just going to use this as a time to meditate.
- [31:13]
B
Yep. I'm with you, brother. I'm with you.
- [31:16]
A
Like, because I don't have time. I got four kids, I got an ex. Wife, I got, you know, all. I got no time.
- [31:21]
B
You pulled. You put a lot away. And you got a business, right?
- [31:23]
A
Big company, Podcast content.
- [31:25]
B
Yep.
- [31:26]
A
Traveling, speaking engagements all over the country. So, like, there's no time.
- [31:30]
B
Yep, exactly. And so I think that's what we're really focused on, really helping people get the time back, the access to connections, whether it be travel, anything. The kids need something. Right. You know, we just. Just want to be a worth. And so that's one of the things I really learned from the NFL. You have to be valuable. And to be valuable, you have to bring something to the table. Right. And so that's what I'm just really pulling from and just really want to just grow. Because I tell people, being an athlete, like, you know, we look to transform, not transition. You got to transform into something else. Right. You can't be that guy. I tell people all the time, I'm like, man, you know, in the NFL, you don't have. What do you call it? Not hra. But what's the people. When you get in trouble, you got to go talk to them. Hr. We don't have hr. Like, if you get in a fight, me and you fight.
- [32:14]
A
There's no HR in the NFL.
- [32:15]
B
No, if we fight, it's over. People are watching you. All right, cool. Now you're done. Right? Like, there's no hr. Then you leave it at my first business partner when we first started, but he's not there no more. We were talking about the Diddy case, right? And he was like, you can't talk about that in front of some of the ladies. You know, some people might feel a type of way, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, that's crazy to me. Like, I just didn't understand it. One, because our business is not a lot of women in the room all the time. But two, because, like, I'm just used to freely talking about stuff, and I'm not thinking about. I'm thinking about how people feel when we're talking about things, but not maybe at certain topic or having an opinion that might not be politically correct. Politically correct, right. You just say what you got to say. And if in the NFL, if you don't like it, you don't like it, who cares? You know what I mean? So it definitely taught me a lot in. I had to change, get more businessy.
- [33:02]
A
Yeah. You know, I know this is off topic, but you talk about fighting in the NFL. One thing I'm Always confused about they're allowed to, they're not allowed to punch and hit each other in the NFL and you get in trouble, but in the NHL you're, they want you to fight and punch and then they televise that and there's a full on boxing match going on and you're rooting for whoever, you know. Like doesn't make sense. Like they, they're allowed to do that in the NHL and they're not allowed to do that in the NFL. You guys ever ask like, why is this happening?
- [33:28]
B
No, I mean we get it in the NFL. One, you can break your hand and now you're sitting there out, right?
- [33:33]
A
Or you see you break your hand in NHL too.
- [33:37]
B
True. But you know, most guys aren't going to take their helmet off or you get the love this guy. But Myles Garrett, where he's just swinging shit, you know what I mean? Like, it's not, it's not safe. One, but two, I think it's funny because I love Premier League Soccer. Big Fulham fan, Shaheed Khan. What's up? And also I'm a huge Newcastle fan. And so it's funny because Fulham was playing one day, I believe, and one of their players got pushed and they were getting into a fight and I'm like, oh, he's going to get fined. And I'm sure he did get fined because you can't fight in soccer, right? But then a week later they played the clip in a promo of the Premier League and I was like, how crazy is that? Where they're going to use the clip to promote the league and show the feistiness and the battle of it, but possibly find a guy for doing those actions. Right. And so. But it's a business.
- [34:19]
A
I mean, forget about what happens in the stands. The actual fans are just like shooting each other.
- [34:26]
B
Yes, Yes. I love the old Oakland days. Boy, at the A stadium. Those are, those were good days. Those are good days.
- [34:32]
A
Now winding up. I want to talk about some of your personal goals here. Kind of some of the things. Because I really believe in what you're doing. What's a personal goal that you have for yourself right now? A family goal that you have for your family and a business goal that you have for the Care League.
- [34:47]
B
Personal goal. I think it's really just to be happy with where I'm at in life and what I'm doing. You know, you can get caught up looking at everybody else, especially when you're in the business world. You know, you have talks with other people, say in the concierge world and you see how successful they are and you're like, why can't I just get over this hump? But I think it's just understanding and being happy about where I am, the position I'm in, the mental clarity that I have, the work ethic that I have, the people behind me. And so I think that's truly it. Just be happy and not necessarily content, but just be happy in the business world, of course, building a successful business that people see valuable and also utilize and build partnerships with NFL, NHL, NBA Soccer, mls to be able to take care of their athletes and compounding what we're doing, to be able to build those companies up in what they're doing with their retired athletes and their current athletes, whatever they need. So that's a business goal and life goal. That was the third one. Right?
- [35:51]
A
Family goal.
- [35:51]
B
Family goal. Excuse me. My family goal, just to give my daughter the best life she can have. And not necessarily having to be financial, but having me be very there, be present, knowing dad's gonna be there, dad cares about her. That's really my family goal. Of course, I would love to have three other ones like you have. A total of four.
- [36:11]
A
I want four more, man. God gives, man.
- [36:16]
B
But for me, I think as you can understand, dating is hard out here. And so just to find. So I think those two prong. Question, right? Be able to build, start a family as I, me and my child's mother aren't together. So find somebody you can trust, love and move forward with and provide for, and then make sure my daughter just knows that she's everything. And I built her up to be a functioning member of society that loves herself and that can be a trust fund baby. That's not an asshole.
- [36:44]
A
So, you know, I want to. Actually, that's my next question. Because, you know, you grew up in a world of not much. Right. You didn't have what your daughter has.
- [36:54]
B
Nah. Middle class.
- [36:55]
A
Yeah. And that allowed you to have a level of work ethic and grit that you know, your daughter is. Might not have because she didn't grow up in the same circumstances. So my question is, how are you instilling that same mindset that you had to. To overcome tribulation, to just dominate what you dominated in sports? You also were a good student. Student. How are you instilling that mindset and that grit mentality in your daughter? Granted, she is potentially a trust fund baby.
- [37:28]
B
Yes. So I tell her, first thing, I got on a knee one time and I was like, baby, daddy's rich, not you so don't come out here thinking you got all this. You haven't done anything. So, like, let's prepare you to start to do something to build your own legacy. Now, granted, she's gonna have a nice little nest egg, but, you know, she doesn't know that yet, so that's what I told her. But for me, so she's a gymnast, and so I tried to instill in her to watch other gymnasts. So I took her to ucla, right? Understand work ethic, how hard things are, understanding that you don't always get to do what you want to do. You have to do what you have to do first to get what you want to do, right? And so there's little lessons that I just teach her every day and talk to her about to really implement to her that, like, you know, life isn't always just fun and games. It's a lot of work. But if you get the work out the way, that's when the fun and games start. And so, you know, it's just. It's just that battle, right? But then also, and I love having a little girl because I needed her to make me soft, right? Because after the league, you're going through so much, and I needed purpose. And so she was a great. I remember when I first retired, I was like, okay, cool. Now my job is to get my daughter to school on time, right? So I live in the valley. So it's 101 to 405. And when you're going 101 east or 405 south, you're gridlock, right? And so I'm like, all right, cool. So my whole thing was like, if I got to school, I was like, yes, I did it. You know, getting the claps in your head is like, yeah. And I'm like, all right, now what? For eight hours? You know what I mean? So definitely was. But that's what I needed. And so she's helped me out probably a lot more than I can do for her at the moment, just with everything I'm going through.
- [38:53]
A
So, yeah, I'm sure she's been the biggest blessing in your life. Without a doubt. Without a doubt. And it's, you know, for me, as a CEO and a father and a guy who deals with the struggle of raising four kids in Newport, who around a bunch of other kids just like them, I. I struggle with, you know, always trying to make sure that they have that same level of grit. Like, from here, boom, I'm shooting off jiu jitsu. I keep them, like, regimented like I'm regimen. They're just as busy as me. As me. Wake up, grind all day, then get, then still grind. You know, you got your activities, and then you got your, you know, extra homework, and it's like, boom, eight to eight, you're busy.
- [39:28]
B
Yep.
- [39:28]
A
And that's how life is. You know, that's how life is.
- [39:30]
B
I mean, it doesn't stop. And I commend you on that. Right? Because you have to keep the kids busy. You have to give them discipline. It's funny enough, I told my daughter I want to put her in some martial arts to learn discipline, and then she didn't necessarily know the true definition of discipline. And so, you know, me as a dad, I'm like, I know everything. And I was like, shoot. I said, hey, Siri, what's the definition of discipline? You know, because I know it. But I wanted her to know verbatim, right? And so I told her something. There we go. So, like, I know. Exactly. No, no, thank you. So. So, yeah, so, like, I brought that exact one up and I explained it to her in the best way I could, but I want to give her the. The dictionary version. Right. So she can understand it. And so I definitely commend you on that because you're right. It's really instilling in them that life isn't easy. You have to fight for things that we brought up, martial arts. Because I was like, you know, she's like, well, daddy, I do boxing. She does boxing, too. And I was like, yeah, but, you know, what is. What is it teaching you? Do you have. Can you think about things, process things? And so I'm just really just trying to build. So I definitely commend you on being a present father who has all these things going on but still knows what's important.
- [40:37]
A
So, yeah, that's the most important stuff. And I'm good at multitasking. I've managed to be able to grind while I'm at jujitsu or baseball or whatever, you know, like, I'm a ninja at that stuff now. You know, I love the idea of the Care League, and I love the concept that you're actually helping people execute on the proper care. And I think it's such a noble service. I'm going to try to put some extra resources into it myself and make some good connections for you.
- [41:08]
B
Thank you.
- [41:08]
A
Because I believe in your vision, and I believe that it's essential, especially because there's a true dilemma with professional athletes after the lights are off, you know, and it's It's. It's getting worse and it's. It just breaks my heart every single time I turn on, you know, a television and I see this guy killed himself, or, you know, it's like, why is this happening? Like, how the hell is this happening all the time?
- [41:32]
B
Exactly.
- [41:32]
A
And the more resources, just like what Trump's doing right now in the housing market, he's firing at all cylinders at this initiative, that initiative, this. And there is no one solution. You just gotta fire on all cylinders. And I feel like your cylinders, it's a pretty good bullet, you know, it's a. It's a pretty strong bullet and, you know, you need to get some true momentum behind it.
- [41:55]
B
Yeah.
- [41:55]
A
So we'll plug in some resources on our end to try to add some momentum, you know, and it's all about serving. And I truly believe that you're doing God's work.
- [42:02]
B
Well, I appreciate that. And truly I think this is an opportunity for me to get out there. You know, you're one of the best in the game at doing it, not only in your topic, but also just out there podcast space. So I appreciate the platform, appreciate. Amelia, come out here and just the kind words, right? Because I know a man of yourself, your stature, your business acumen, you're not going to tell somebody you don't believe in and just, you know, blow smoke up their butts, right?
- [42:24]
A
No. There's no incentive for me.
- [42:27]
B
That means a lot to me. So I appreciate that. You know, it's just really about creating value. Can I leverage the athlete and what they bring and also the provider and what they bring and meet them together and make sure that everybody's happy. And so that's all I care about. You know, I'm very trying to just come from a place of altruism, wanting to help, want to solve a problem, and then go out to the rest of the world and solve their problem. So I appreciate that. The platform.
- [42:48]
A
Let's go, baby. With that said, last question for you. When you're in front of the pearly gates, what do you think God's going to tell you?
- [42:57]
B
That's a good question. I hope he tells me that you did a good job, son, and you represented me the right way, and then lets me walk past. That's it. That's it. Hear those trumpets.
- [43:12]
A
Yeah, that's right. God bless you, bro. I love what you're doing. If people want to connect with you, Malik, how did they find you?
- [43:17]
B
Yeah, so you can find me at the Malik Jackson on Instagram, TheCare League on Instagram as well for our business page. If you want to find us on the website, you can go to thecareleague.com and yeah, just hit us up from there and we'll be able to get back to you and look forward to talking to you guys soon. Appreciate you.
- [43:33]
A
Malik Jackson, Founder, CEO of the Car League Super Bowl Champion. Make sure you check him out, check out his company and get plugged in. Thanks for tuning in.