My dad never really said much to me other than the doight rule. And dad’s
doight rule was, you know, what’s right, do it. And you know, I used to always think that I, you know, I know we
shouldn’t be, you know, out here drinking beer. We’re not old enough. I shouldn’t be doing it. I’m not going to
do it. Dad said, you know, do what’s right. And that wasn’t right. Mhm. And so I kind of lived my life a little bit
by my dad’s do right rule. Although, you know, I did some wrong, too. The thing that I really regret the most in my life
personally was my independent decision to stop playing something that I was committed to. And I’ve stayed committed
to almost everything else in my life since then. I think a lot of us forget the successes that we’ve had. A lot of
us forget the pain that we got through. I don’t know if you’ve ever just stared in the mirror and just looked at your
pupils and you know, of course, you go back and forth between them and you’re just looking into your soul and you’re
like, “What am I going to be
[Music] about?” Hey everybody, welcome back to
the Blueprint. Uh it’s Brandon Adams with uh the smoking gun. And today uh we
have Shai Anderson, developer, entrepreneur, investor, but I think he said what his
best name is Super Dad. Let’s see. Shai, thanks for coming on. I appreciate it. Well, man, I
appreciate you having me. It’s kind of I felt like I put you off for a few months and and but I’m glad to be here. No,
it’s like, you know, I’ve got some we got some mutual friends and uh you know that it’s funny the way they connect
people, you know, just in our brief 10 minutes that we had before this, like you know, seeing so many commonalities
between the two of us, man. I’m I’m really excited about this conversation because one, your spirit is very calming, but two but two is like uh you
know, you got a lot you got a lot to talk about um and a lot that I can learn from and and everyone else as well. So,
um, appreciate you coming on. Well, I appreciate you saying that, but I I don’t necessarily look at myself that way, but it’s a compliment to hear that
you’ve got a few minutes with me and you think that way. I hope I don’t let you down. No, you’ll be you’d be great. You’d be great. So, uh, Sha, where where
were you born? Where where you from? I grew up in a small town in Arkansas, Little Rock, which kind of funny. I’d
say it’s a small town called Little Rock, but I grew up there. And, um, I spent most of my life in Arkansas. It’s
beautiful up there. Yeah, I love going through that part of the town. Like they got uh the trees change and it becomes a
little rockier and the pines come in. I just I love that area. You know, Little Rock um my dad used to tell me it’s like
the best kept secret in the world. Um because you really are on the beginning of the prairie and the beginning of the
mountains and the Ozarks. And so you really have both the mountains, hills,
big trees, but then you can dip off and run down to the plains and go duck hunting, deer hunting. You know, you got
you got both sides of that equation and it’s a beautiful place. Oh man, it’s slow now. I was just back there from my
brother’s wedding and it’s u compared to this Dallas metroplex. I mean, it’s a snail crawl around that place. Well,
that’s a good that’s that’s kind of where I’ve gotten this stage of my life anyways. I I prefer the snail crawl versus the hustle and bustle, you Yeah.
Uh it it’s it was good going back and seeing all the guys and and seeing my
brother, you know, as happy as he is, you know, remarrying and kind of starting his new chapter for him. Mhm.
Yeah. Do you find that as you get older that you remove yourself from um more of
the limelight and and out into the woods like like most of us seem to do or are you still you still in it? Um I don’t
necessarily think I’d remove myself. Um, you know, my my focus right now is is,
you know, giving back. You know, there’s there’s a motto that um, you know, and and my ex-wife might have co coined it
saying to um to those who have been given the most, much is expected. It
might not be exactly that way, but I’ve always felt like, you know, it’s my turn. You know, I need to help where I can and, you know, be my best with not
only my friends, but my kids and and my co-workers. Mhm. um starting out in
Little Rock, Arkansas. Where’d you uh did you go to school there? Was family and everything? And I’m giving my age
away, but I was back then when they did all the disegregation, you know, and the busing and you know, early on, you know,
I didn’t grow up with a lot. my my family, my mom and dad worked hard and you know they hit that busing and so I
got busted all the way to the other side of Little Rock and I was in the all black school and um and so you know my
upbringing was a little different than my my peers and I was blessed in a way
that you know when I had the opportunity to take an interest exam into an all boys preparatory school called Catholic
High School for boys in Little Rock um I I did real well on that test you know
scored real Um, so I was accepted into that school and and that was my first like trying to be in in competitive
uh nature from a scholastical standpoint because you know you weren’t in the public schools. You really weren’t
challenged you know from you know ABCD. You were just getting through. But when I got to that school it was it was a
different ballgame. And um it that really probably was beginning of shaping who I am. What age was this? Oh I guess
I was 15. Okay. 14 15 right when you’re going into this eighth grade and the ninth grade. And so what was that school
like? Um amazing. I mean you it’s it’s hard to explain to people because it was
an all boys school back in the day and you know across the valley you had the St. Mary’s which is an all girls school
and that was kind of our our you know sister brother school. But um you know getting up every day and going to school
with all guys and um learning how to get along with men um from an early age. A
lot of a lot of guys, let’s say, don’t really get that opportunity to have to
um you know, come be a comrade with the good, the bad, and the ugly in a in an all boy school. And you know, and it was
it was a development process for me and it was a challenge because I spent my whole life in a public school in a bad
environment uh not learning, you know, how to dissect sentences, not really
understanding the math. And here I get put into a prep school in in the upper track. And you know, that’s really when
I started recognizing some of my own insecurities, which it’s good if you recognize your insecurities because you
can do something about them, you know, and you’re you’re not brought down by them. And that was one is what I I don’t know what these guys know. I don’t I
don’t learn the same. I don’t understand the same. But it also helped me later in life when my kids go to school because
my kids had learning differences. and learning differences. A lot of people don’t understand them. It doesn’t mean
that you’re you’re not smart or that you’re stupid. It just means your brain
sees and hears things differently than my brain, but it doesn’t mean you’re any smarter or I’m any smarter than you. And
and my upbringing helped me um with my kids and and kind of deal with that
growing up. Mhm. Did you feel like um as you went into the school, did you feel
like a little bit of an outsider looking in? Did people know about where you were from? Was this something that was kind of brought up or or held against you?
Because you go from one side to the other like that where it’s, you know, one is really led by wealth, you know,
but you got in through opportunity. I got an opportunity. Um um but but most
of my friends, you know, I grew up, you know, on that side of town and most of my friends that went to the parochial schools, the holy souls or the good
councils or the uh trinity school, um you know, they were all going to school
there. I mean, it was a coveted school. Everybody wanted in and if you were Catholic, you got auto in. And then everybody else had to take a a test to
get in. Even the Catholics because they they put you in, you know, in uh what do
they call it? Sections, right? super smart, medium smart, not real smart. We
call that, you know, the short bus group. But um so I wanted to go there
cuz that’s where all my friends were. But I was also a really good athlete. Um
you know, growing up, that’s kind of what I leaned into. I leaned into that hard because I I didn’t have that
friendship group from first grade all the way up through seventh grade. I had him in the neighborhood, but you know
that was playing kick the can and kickball and hideand-sek. But athletically, you know, I didn’t have
that and I wanted to be with those guys and they wanted me. I mean, which made it great. You know, athletics brings a
lot of kids together. Mhm. Do you think athletics is what helped you get into that school? No. Okay. I don’t think so.
I actually think it was my score on the interest exam that that allowed me the opportunity. What sports did you play?
Pretty much everything. We talked baseball earlier. That was one sport that um I I didn’t really enjoy cuz it
it just seemed seemed like it was a slow paced sport and I I laugh today as I wouldn’t let my kids play it, you know.
So my middle son wanted to play baseball and and he wasn’t as athletically gifted
as the other two. And I was like, “No, I got to let him play at all. I’m not going to deny him anything.” And I think
I brainwashed my youngest son and my daughter didn’t want to play baseball. So, and we went through one season of
baseball to where my middle son said, “You know what, Dad? I don’t like baseball. I’m like perfect.
Yeah, that’s cool. So, you you played everything that you went through from from time you were a freshman all the
way through into high school. Um yeah, I Catholic high you had, you know, back in the day you had basketball and football
and track were kind of the main sports, but then you had some other sports that were more club sports like soccer. Mhm.
Um, growing up I played tennis and I think I learned a lot about myself
um, playing tennis and I’ve actually told some of my peers um, not to name
drop, but um, and I’m not going to name drop, but I’ve told one of one of the people we know that’s a celebrity that
then you need to get your boys in tennis. They need to play tennis. And they was like, “Well, why?” And I said,
“I think it helped me develop all my my athletic skills. I had them, but how did you how do you develop them?” I mean,
you think about tennis, it’s like you hit the ball over a net, you’ve got to have a little hand eye coordination to hit the ball, and then you’ve got to
have your feet placement in order to put power into the ball. And once it goes over the net, what are you doing? You’re
waiting on them to hit it back to you. So, now you got to anticipate where that ball’s going to be coming and how do you get to that ball? And then, so it’s a
back and forth. And the other thing I liked about tennis is it’s just you. Mhm. If you mess up, you messed up.
Nobody else messed up. So you you put a lot more pressure on yourself to be, you know, perfect in practice and in your
game. And, you know, up until I guess 13, 14, I was one of the top
players in the state in tennis. And then then I got into team and I like team more than solo. So I transitioned over
playing football and basketball. Mhm. You uh did you ever play golf? I did. Yeah. You still play at all? You um
that’s a whole another story. Yeah. I used to be really good. My brother’s really, really good. He’s four-time club champ back in Arkansas. And the the
difference between golfers, right? I’m a better golfer than him. Mhm. He’s got a
better mind than I do. And I I I I say that because we can both stand over a
putt. I mean, Brandon, you can be over a three-footer and I can be over a three-footer. Well, he makes his. I
think too much and I get the woofs, right? And so for that reason alone, he he’s his mind allows him to be a better
golfer. Athletically, he’s not anywhere near. Yeah. But I mean, when you look at the pros today, there’s something up
there in that brain that makes them what they are. Mhm. You know, I I I play a lot of golf, so I there’s there’s a
buddy of mine that I always uh talk to and I and he say, “Man, we we play against each other all the time.” He’s like, “I score better than you all the
time until we play against each other and you beat me or we get in tournaments, you beat me, you know?” Um he’s like, “Can you give me some
insight?” and we’re friends. So, I tell him, I was like, “Here’s the deal, man. Like, you make it bigger than it is, you
know?” I said, “If you just took a drone and put it above us, and this is going to be kind of crazy, but if you took a drone and put it above us, and it’s 10
ft above us, and it’s videoing what what we’re doing, what’s it seeing?” And it’s like, “Oh, we’re hitting a shot down the
fairway, you can see where it lands, and blah blah blah.” I said, “Take it up a thousand feet.” Now, what’s it seeing? Oh, it sees some guys down there on the
golf course or whatever, you know? I was like, “Take it up another thousand feet. What’s it seeing?” Oh, it sees the city and it sees whatever. And I said, “Take
it up another thousand. What’s it see?” He goes, “I don’t know. It’s like some some uh green down there, whatever.” I
said, “No one cares what we’re doing. Nobody.” I said, “That’s that’s the matter behind this whole thing is like
you build it up so big in your head. I want to beat you, but I’m not building this thing up any bigger than it is. You
and I are two jack wagons sitting in a golf course somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. And I just know what I can
do. And it doesn’t matter whether, you know, you put this mind game on yourself or not.” You know, there’s a lot to
that. You know, I think, you know, being able to step outside of yourself and and and be able to, you know, turn that part
off because there’s so many talented people out there that just get in their own way. Mhm. You know, so yeah, I
totally understand that that part of it when it comes to, you know, the mind game that goes with with golf and
everything else and athleticism. Like there’s guys that can hit it across the moon, you know, but you can’t score, you
know. Um, you know, golf’s another solo sport, too, that you know, it’s it’s on you.
It’s also a skill sport. Um, tennis is a skill sport, but I think athletes that
don’t necessarily have the skill can can win at tennis. But in golf, you can be the greatest athlete, but you got to
have the skill. Mhm. And that gets in your head. Mhm. Yeah. So, uh, you you
played football all the way through high school. Yeah, I I played football in um for Catholic, you know, all the way
through and then um I had the opportunity to come play at at SMU and that was uh not in my dad’s desires. He
was really a big Arkansas fan and he had told me that if I was going to play, you know, football in college that I was
going to play at Arkansas and that was the end of it. Mhm. And so I, you know, honored him and uh I was fortunate
enough I played for Lou Holtz. Lou Holtz had recruited me and I went up and um
played up with him and of any one man um from an athletic or sporting standpoint.
Um I learned so much from Lou Holtz in two years and even today on on how I
dealt with my kids, how I dealt with my my coaching, how I deal with my friends. There’s a lot of Lou uh Holtz that
that’s there. And um I um there’s not there’s other thing that’s helped me a
lot is that was one of my biggest regrets. I mean, I played football at Arkansas. Um been in my sophomore year,
I decided that um I didn’t want to play anymore. I was a little burned out, been going hard my whole life. And you know
um and I made a bad decision and I didn’t have the guidance from my father at the time. And my mom and dad um split
early and back in the day that that was not normal. Mhm. Especially small towns.
I mean early um I was probably seven, eight and then when my dad told me he
was leaving, we were I was 10 and and so dad was never around and I remember you
mentioned your dad talking about going to all the games. My father used to stand on the on the
hill uh watching every single one of my practices and but I never had a
connection with him because when practice was over he disappeared and uh so I really didn’t know my father. Um I
knew he was a good man. Um uh I I I wanted to be around my father really bad. Um I think a lot of this shaped me
on how I became a dad. Mhm. Uh I used to remember getting up early in the mornings um when I was 10, 11 years old
and I’d ride my bike up to the country club of Little Rock and I knew that he would make that first turn, you know, at
roughly 9:15. And so I would want to be up there so I could see him come up, you
know, hole number nine and they park the little golf carts and I could sit on the fence and watch him putt it out. And then he would come up and, you know,
shake my head and we’d walk in and then I’d wait outside the men’s locker room and they’d go in there and get their
drinks and then come out and then I would jog along with them to hole number 10 and they’d tee off and I’d say bye,
Dad. And then I’ I’d get in my bike and I’d ride back home. And that was that was every Saturday growing up because I
wanted to be around my dad, you know. Yeah. Yeah. That’s tough, man. I uh I
can sense that, you know, understand that, you know, quite quite honestly. Like that’s that’s a that’s a heavy one,
you know. was heavy, but it it again, he wasn’t there when I I kind of needed him to be there, you know, and and again, I
made some decisions that uh were not I didn’t have the influence that that I
look back now and that I have given my kids. Mhm. But um when I graduated from
from the University of Arkansas, and it’s fun story is dad said, “I’m I’m going to pay for your school for four years. That’s your job. You’re going to
go up there and you’re going to work uh at school, football and school.” And I
get to the end of the year and you know you got all these little classes you got to take to finish up. Could be basket weaving or walking or they’ve got these
that makes no sense why you got to have that hour credit, right? And I had an hour credit of I think it was volleyball. Mhm. And dad said, “I’m not
paying for it.” And I’m like, “No problem.” And you know, I’ve been working my whole life, ever since I was little. And this is a great story. Um uh
my dad wanted me to start working when I was like 11 years old. and we had a push mower and if you remember with the
wheels and the blades and um and so um he and I went down the street and and
and talked to the neighbors about me mowing their yards and so um I got several jobs and then you know I’d go
push that little mower and mow it and then break the leaves up and all that and and I thought I was doing a great
job, right? They were loving it. But what I didn’t know is the next day when I would go to school, my dad who was in
the he was a real estate professional and he owned his own company and and they managed properties. He would send
his his yard crews by and they would they would clean the yards and mow them up and everything. So in my mind, he was
teaching me to to work, but I had back stop and making sure I you know I was
getting the job done right. Mhm. And um so I’ve always worked. I’ve worked from
at 14 years old when all my friends are hanging out by the swimming pool. You know, here I am on the summer. And I
laugh when I say this. As a kid, you know, you’re wanting to be like everybody else. You know, it’s I call it kind of the herd mentality is all my
buddies are out by the pool, all my buddies are having fun, all my buddies are talking to the girls. And and here I
am at a at a little store called Jippy Print, right? And tippy print was back
in the day where you know all the the legal offices and you know they they would they would send all their all
their print work down to a print shop and then they would print it all and then I would deliver all the print work
you know to all the the different floors in dad’s office building and you know so I’ve always worked you know it’s it’s
it’s never been a question of of of from the integrity standpoint we’ve
always got up and gotten after it. Um it was when I graduated from college and um
I thought I was always going to go to work with my dad and then um I took the
back then you could take your real estate broker’s test for the or license to get your license take the test and uh
I you know dad called me one day and said hey this is the last last opportunity to where you can actually
take the real estate broker test and if you pass it you get your broker’s license because after this date you You
got to take a real estate sales test and you got to work for if you pass it, you got to work as a real estate sales
professional for a broker for a number of years before you can take your broker’s test. So like, ah, so I went
down there and took that test and ended up scoring pretty high on it and got my broker’s license. So I thought I’d be
working for my father right out of college. And that was in 1985.
Mhm. And the world was different. It wasn’t a good time. And um my there was a nepotism clause that my father had in
his business with his partner and his his partner Dixon Flake had a daughter
who was never going to be in the business. And so Dixon pulled the trigger on the nepatism clause to keep me from coming to work with my dad. So
you know when I graduated from school I didn’t really I didn’t have a job. Didn’t know what I was going to do. And
um ended up moving in with my father because I didn’t have any income. And um looking back on it, that was absolutely
the best thing that ever happened to me in my life because I didn’t know my dad, you know. Um and I got to see him. I got
to know him. I got to talk to him. And and so after all that, so being gone at
10, going through school, going to a private school, going to college, doing all those other things, you you had no
personal relationship except for just seeing him at the turn. And then all of a sudden, you know, do you think a lot
of those things that you were doing trying to uh were they to live up, you know, to expectations or
uh Yeah, I think all of us want to want to make someone feel good about
what we’re doing, you know. Um I always wanted to please my father and uh I
always and and there’s and I I tell people today, I mean, you I don’t know if you have a business mentor or someone
that you can you can talk business with. You know, I’ve I created a business mentor in my mind, which was a guy named
Joe Ford, which is we can talk about that, but it’s a company that I work for. But I also had it in my mind with
my dad. You know, my dad never really said much to me other than uh the do-it
rule. And dad’s do right rule was you know what’s right, do it. And you know,
I used to always think that, you know, I know we’re we shouldn’t be, you know, out here drinking beer. we’re not old
enough. I shouldn’t be doing it. I’m not going to do it. Dad said, you know, do what’s right. And that wasn’t right.
Mhm. And so I kind of lived my life a little bit by my dad’s do right rule. Although, you know, I did some wrong,
too. But yeah, as we all do. Yeah. You know, it’s so funny. I mean, people hold you to a standard of what you’re
supposed to be, you know, and what you hold yourself to as well, but sometimes they don’t allow you to fail either, you
know, and it’s like none of us are perfect, you know. from none of us as we walk this earth. Um and and I think
people are just looking to say, “Gotcha.” Mhm. You know, you didn’t do it this time. You ain’t as good as you
said. No, it’s not. It’s not that I’m not as good as I said. I’m just strive to be something. Yeah. But don’t you
think today, Brandon, people really are looking more for the negative instead of really looking at the positive? And I
driving over, I was talking with one of my buddies and I said, you know, I’m I’m really want to make sure you catch me if I’m if I’m say something that’s more
negative because I I really feel like I’m a positive person. And um I know we all have rough things that happen during
the day or during our lives and uh have been through a lot, but at the same time, I mean, that’s behind us, man.
Let’s go. Right. Yeah. No, I do think there’s a lot of that. I mean there’s and I and I think that the reflection is
not people are trying to catch you or people are trying to pin something on you. I think it is relief for themselves
for not living up as well, right? And so when they see somebody else that they think is doing really well and they find
out they fail too, they want to call it out, you know, so they can say, “See, makes them feel better, you know,
whatever, right?” Um, and that’s a part of it. And and look, I I know I’m not perfect. I know I’ve made mistakes. I
know that I try to be better every single day, but man, I’ve got, you know, people I probably need to say I’m sorry
to at some point in my life for things that I’ve said or done. And like, you know, hopefully as the more gray I get
on my face, the the more I recognize the dumb things I’ve done, you know, and so,
um, I I’ll tell you right now, like in the last probably 5 years, um, I’ve changed a lot of my out outlook on who I
am. Even in the last two years since I’ve started this company, I’ve changed my outlook on how I see things. Um, I
always talk about, you know, you come across hardships and they
define you, right? Um, I’ve won at a lot of things when it came to situational
whatever it was, careers, career moves, uh, sporting
things, whatever. Uh, the art things done really well. like win had had
seemed to uh been in my favor and getting punched in the face over and
over and over again seems to humble a person you know and then it’s like oh I wasn’t
necessarily winning I was on a lucky streak you know and I just hadn’t caught it yet so I didn’t recognize you know
because a lot of times I think just work harder people it’s out there just work harder but you know circumstances happen
and things don’t always work out the way you want to work out and things are hard, you know, and um as you’re as
you’re leaning into it, it’s like this is a growth mode for me, you know, not just not just as as a company, but as a
human being, you know, to to sit here and look like I’ve got to figure out other things and I’ve not I’ve also got
other people depending on me to get things done. It’s not just me and I can pop off and do whatever I want to do
whenever I want to do it because I’ve got people depending on me, you know, and that’s a an added stress. But you
don’t know until you know, you know, you you you say that. Um
I think a lot of us forget um the successes that we’ve had. A lot
of us forget the uh the pain that we we we got through. And uh you got to remind
yourself and you know coming in to talk to you I was just thinking what are we going to talk about you know um but then
you kind of go back in time and you’re like yeah you know when I graduated from college you know I did start a company
on my own I did sell that company you know I did go to work you know as a straight commission sales rep you know
for a major corporation and you know and I did you know just I did I did and but
you know as you get older you forget how you overcame so many obstacles on your
own um to where you’re going to get through this next phase. You’re going to this the sun’s going to rise tomorrow
and um but we do we we we we got to give ourselves more credit for the successes
we’ve had. Mhm. Yeah. And also, you know, sometimes it takes a whapon to get us to to see the other side, too. Right.
Right. uh you can you can quickly forget, you know, what it’s like um if
you have too many successes in a row. You can forget what it’s like to fail or what it’s I mean, you just it’s
conditioning, you know. Uh and then when you do, it’s like, oh yeah, there it is. I got this. Well, you talked talked
about being a dad. I know you want to be the best dad you can be and and um you know, I know I’ve been a very good dad
uh for for my kids. At least I hope that’s how everybody portrays it and sees it. But I also know I want to be a
very good friend. And my father not being the dad that I wanted has made me
the dad I am. Oh yeah. Because it was more of what I was missing out that I
knew that I wanted to give to my kids. I wanted I wanted my dad, you know, to be around me to talk to me to, you know,
exchange thoughts. And it wasn’t until I moved in with him that we started having those exchanges that I realized how
rewarding that would have been for me. Now, I don’t know if it would have changed me. Mhm. But I know what I have
made some decisions different. I wouldn’t have quit playing football. Mhm. you know, and you know, those
conversations with my father there there’s one one that I had with him that
I I still remember he sat in an orange chair and my dad drank too much and um but he was one of those functioning
alcoholics and remember him sitting one one day and I came in and I’d just been promoted. I was a top salesman in the
country um out of Little Rock, Arkansas, small little town, but we were, you know, it’s and again, you look back on
your history, how lucky was I I had an opportunity to go to work for a wireless
telephone company back in the day when everybody was making fun of me because I was putting phones in cars, right? Yeah.
And they were like, “What? That’s a crazy job. Who wants a phone in their car?” Well, Little Rock, Arkansas, you could get around everywhere in 10
minutes, right? But um I started selling them. did real well and then they promoted me to being a sales manager.
Well, I was making over $150,000 a year back in 1987. That’s a chunk. Killing
it. And you know, I went home and I told dad, I said, I I don’t want to be a sales manager because here I am in my
early 20s and I’m I’m going to be the boss of all these older people. And I said, I don’t want to be their boss, you
know? I want to just sell. And Mhm. I remember dad sitting me down and he said, “Um, well, okay, right now you’re
thinking about the money aspects of it, but what do you want to be? What do you see yourself doing one
day?” And I said, “I want to be president of this company.” And he says, “You want to be president of Altel?” And I said, “I do.” And he goes, “Well, then
you’re going to have to be sales manager.” And then after sales manager, whatever job they offer you, you’re going to have to be that. and you’re
gonna have to be just as good as sales managers as you were as a straight commission sales rep. Yeah. And he said,
“It’s gonna be a challenge.” And it was. And you know, as we all know, I mean, if I’m playing tennis, it’s just me
playing. If you’re playing golf, it’s just you playing. Yes. But when you’ve got to get a whole bunch of people hitting the golf ball, it’s it’s it’s
hard. And I learned a lot early on on on on how to motivate, how to manage. And
then, you know, I think the the whole world changed for me on on how to
recognize a person for what they can be. Mhm. Um, and this is a this is way off-
grid, but my daughter at three years old was freaky fast. And a friend of mine,
um, Greg Hatcher, who owns a large insurance company in in Arkansas that he founded and has grown it, he asked me if
my daughter would play on his girls soccer team. And I’m like, Greg, she’s three years old. He goes, “Look how fast
she is.” And and I said, “Well, maybe.” He goes, “You’ll help me coach.” And I’m like, “Okay.” Yeah. So, I take my little
well, she’s three and a half year old daughter and put them on this little team and they’re just, you know, they’re just running around having fun. Mhm. But
I got to listen how Greg talked to the kids and it was like I’d never heard
another man talk to other people’s kids with with such positivity, you know, and
it wasn’t anything special. It was it would be like Brandon, today the way you
kicked that ball, it was amazing. I loved how you you ran up to it and you kicked that ball. M but what he was
doing, he was motivating all the other kids to learn how to run up and kick
that ball. I’m being real simple. And then as as we went on, it was like my daughter’s Haley and uh you know, he
would say, “Haley, the angle that you took going across the field was so great. You you saw where you had to be
on the other side of the field like we’ve coached you and you got there before the ball got there.” Well, he he
was complimenting her and making her feel good, but he again he was telling all the other kids, that’s what we all
got to do. Mhm. And you know, that woke me up to how I can coach kids. Um, and I
changed a lot of it. And I tell you a couple funny stories, but it but it also helped me with my how I dealt with
employees. You know, it’s like we all have our processes and and this is what we’re supposed to do, but really where
where do you want to be? you want to be the top salesman. All right. Well, then here’s some things you can do different and and and you just challenge them and
you point them. But that then they’re all striving to be better, you know, and and I had a lot of success with that.
Yeah. I I heard this one time it was talking about um kids in general and talking about your own children and you
give them like a a positive interaction. You tell them like, “You’re one of the best kids I’ve ever seen. I never worry
about you doing anything wrong. You’re just one of the best things ever.” Well, they condition themselves to hearing that and they hold themselves to that
standard. Mhm. If you tell them they’re a screw-up all the time, then they start to believe they’re a screw-up and it’s
okay to screw up because you’ve already called me a screw- up and I am a screw-up, right? But if you tell me how great I am and what I should be doing
and how I’m going to be conquering the world and all these other things, it’s like I expect myself to do those things,
you know? And it really makes total sense for people to buy in for that, you know. Um, it does. And, you know, if
they buy into it and you make it fun, it’s it’s it magnifies. And, you know, I’ve got brought a couple things you
asked me to bring. And, you know, when I kind of look back on on how I’ve molded people, um, been very, very blessed. I
mean, the greatest feelings that I’ve had here lately is seeing a a
32year-old girl that I coached with my daughter’s team light up. Coach Shai, or
seeing a 29year-old kid, boy that I coach with my son, Coach Shy, you know,
and you just see their energy of like, it’s good to see you and and then you peel it back. Um, I was at El Broco the
other night and eating dinner and and this guy came up to me and he goes, “You’re Shai Anderson, aren’t you?” And
I said, “Yes, sir.” And he said, “You I played against you.” I mean, I didn’t play, but my kids played against you. He
goes, “I really enjoyed watching how you coach.” And I’m like, “You know, tell me more.” And he said, “Uh,” he goes, “What
was that thing you said something about, you know, money in the bank?” And I said, “Oh, yeah. Um, I had this little
deal with the kids is try to make it fun for them. I used to tell them every day it’s like, you know, putting something
in your piggy bank, right? Um, you got to make a little deposit. So, we’re g today, what’s what deposit are we going
to make today? We’re going to learn how to, you know, catch the ball today. We’re going to learn how to come out of our breaks. Can we’re going to learn how
to backpedal and break on the ball and whatever it might be. And I’m talking football, but um, but at the at the end
of the the practices, I would always tell them, “Tell me what you think.” and they would all be together money in the
bank which mean we had a good practice. Well, that transitioned into games. So, when we were playing games, it was, you
know, I mean, I’m a different dad than than most. You know, if you remember the the the awards they used to give all the
kids, they called them participation trophies. Well, I didn’t do that, right? No, my deal was listen, you know, guy,
we’re playing to win. Mhm. Um we all have roles on the team and and I I go to my my middle son who um heart of gold,
one of the greatest human beings. I mean, greatest kids you’ll ever be around, smiles all the time, smart as
hell, um almost photographic memory, remembers statistics, but he wasn’t as
athletic as he wanted to be. Mhm. But I but I watched how other coaches, I’m not
beating him up, they weren’t they weren’t doing the Lou Holtz, as I talked about before, Lou Holtz would would look
at his players and and he would create plays and put his players in positions
to take advantage of their strengths. Our all coaches think they’re doing it, but Lou Host was a master at it. Well, I
saw that with my son. I knew that in order for my son to enjoy youth sports, I had to coach. So, in in first grade,
there’s a gentleman named Kenny Trout, who’s a big part of me being involved in
in the sports here in Dallas, but um he and I were coaching our church league team. And um um my son was not that good
with basketball. He was was was a great rebounder and he listened really well, but then Kenny had a really good kid. Um
uh Preston Trout was really good basketball player. And then we everybody had their little strengths. you know, couple could dribble. You know, we had
William Butter that can dribble. Um, we had a couple of guys, but so for me, it was like that Lou Holtz steel is let’s
put them all in, they’re all going to play, but let’s put them in a position they can have success at so that at the
end of the game, I can compliment them and I used to um bring all the parents
in as well. So, like um I don’t know your son’s name, but Cooper and Lincoln.
Cooper. So if if I’m coaching Cooper and I was, you know, everybody gather up. So I’d hold them all up and then I’d go,
you know, Cooper, man, what a great job today. I said, you know, the way you handled the ball and, you know, the way you brought it down the court, you know,
your dribbling was was really the best I’ve seen you do. I mean, just I love how you’re improving. Well, he’s swole
up, but guess who else is swole up? Daddy’s swoll up. Yeah, my kid, man.
Look at he’s getting complimented. And it created a whole unity for the families. And so with Kenny, um, we
coached that first first year, second year, and then Kenny had an older son and and, uh, he he ended up starting a
team called the Texas Titans. Texas Titans was in AAU elite basketball team,
and, uh, he’s got several players that ended up in the NBA. Well, here we’re
going probably third grade now, years later, cuz his kids are older. Um Kenny
giving back to his employees um who had some younger kids. He still had the Titans but they were they were a lot
older. Um he had some kids that were my my youngest son’s Paxton’s age. And and
uh Paxton it was another challenge because we were told when he was young that he was he was they call it had
disgraphia which is fine motor skill difficulty like writing. Mhm. Means
nothing. But back then his parents were like, “Oh boy, we got a problem. You know, he’s going to have a tough time going up downstairs or he’s can’t
write.” And so I was really into making sure that, you know, he got an advantage, you know, athletically and to
play on team sports. Ended up being a freak. He’s I’ll tell you more about him, but um with Kenny, Kenny had this
little startup team and it was a little try out team. And so I went to Kenny, I said, “Hey, can my son try out?” And he
goes, “Oh, listen. this is only for, you know, really elite players. And I said, “Well, Kenny, I I coached your kids and
I let your kids play on my teams. Can can he at least just try out?” And he said, “Look, I’ll let the coach handle
it.” So, a guy named Coach Scott, who is was a great coach, um, let him come try
out. And he told me, he said, “You know, he’s not really as as good as, you know, where we want, but boy, he plays good
defense.” And this is my youngest son. He said, “Uh, why don’t um why don’t let him play this weekend? We’re shorter
player.” And so he played and and played lights out defense. My best defensive
player you would see it at that young age. And um and so he made this called the Texas Titans. Well, there’s a group
of kids that were in the third grade. Well, a year goes by and Kenny decides that he not his kids are both graduated,
gone now. They’ve moved on. The Titan the older Titans are gone, but the younger Titans are still there and
didn’t have anybody to to back them. I said, I’d do it. You know, I’m I’m going to give back. These are all
underprivileged kids. They come from all over Dallas. And um I kind of put my
same mentality. We’re a team. We’re we’re gonna But the deal was when you came into the gym, it’s it’s time to get
it on. It’s it’s a we’re not here to play fun and games. We’re here to get better at basketball. Yeah. And um you
know, I look I brought this this little jersey here. I’m going to make that whole thing tough, but my little Texas
Titans jersey. And and I brought it because it’s got like Mike Miles was on our team. Mike Miles was one of the top
point guards that ended up playing at TCU. Now we’re in third grade, right? Yeah. And and then I’ve got um Hayden
Britain who ended up playing college ball. And then I’ve got everybody wants to talk about Kade Cunningham. Well,
Kade Cunningham was um just a a little meaty kid that could dribble the ball.
Mhm. And that jersey on the far end is um is Cades, but we um I talk about this
because it was kind of how we set practice. You know, it’s like you give them what our goals, what we’re trying
to accomplish, but it wasn’t for the season. It was each practice, what are we going to get better at today? And I
used to have them go around and and coach Scott was Popsicle was was his name, but he used to manage this. We
would really go around. So, I would say, you know, Brandon, what do you want to accomp accomplish today? And it’s your turn. Now, it would also help them with
public speaking, but they would say, well, today I want to get better at my uh jump shot. Great. All right. Cool.
You know, Kade, what do you want to get better at today? Well, today I want to get better at my footwork on defense. Great. And so, we go around the
beginning of the practice that way. Well, at the end of practice, we bring everybody back in and then we would
compliment them on what they did good. Not what they did bad, but what they did good. And that team unity just grew and
grew and grew and then we ended up being one of the top teams in the country and and you can kind of joke I I’ve always
been a I don’t didn’t lose many games and I look back on it well you know Paxton was one of the best football
players and he was my son. Yeah. Of course I had him on my team. Well also had Kade Cunningham on my team. I also
had Mike Miles on my team and I can go through the list of all these kids that ended up playing college ball. Mhm. I
don’t know. Cade would have, Mike would have, but I don’t know if the rest of them would have made it to the level of
achievement that they got to if it wasn’t for their families. Mhm. Cuz they
all came together and and and followed a family feeling of of the sport. Um, and
their work ethic. Mhm. All of them developed a work ethic that I was Case ended up being the number one pick in
the NBA draft and he just found the mega contract last year and had one of the best best years of his of his of his
life last year playing basketball. But Paxton um remember I talked about me
quitting football. Um you know that that was a regret of mine. And you know I think in life you you can’t go back and
dwell on regret regrets. Um, a really good friend of mine had me read a book
um called The Midnight Library. Okay. And uh The Midnight Library is about this female that wasn’t happy in life
and had all these regrets and was contemplating suicide. And you know, because she was so miserable with all
the things she thought she should have done. And it it kind of wakes you up to realize that regrets is really the
direction you turn for the life you’re in now. M so it’s really not a regret
regret. It’s actually something that is an accomplishment. Um me not playing football has allowed me to influence not
only my son but to see how my son has influenced others. For instance, um
Paxton wanted to play football for the University of Texas. Um his grandfather uh played at the University of Arkansas.
His uncle played at the University of Arkansas. I played at the University of Arkansas. his first cousin plays played
at the was playing at the University of Arkansas. Um, but Paxton decided he
wanted to do his own thing and he ended up getting an opportunity to play wide receiver for the University of Texas and
he went down there and that commitment and I told him you you you said earlier
when you were talking once you go you’re going there’s no you’re not going to quit. You’re going to stay in it. My
biggest regret and I pounded it in that that your dad. The thing that I really regret the most in my life personally
was my independent decision to stop playing something that I was committed to. Mhm. And I’ve stayed committed to
almost everything else in my life since then. Right. Well, he was able to use that story with several of his friends
that wanted to quit playing football and he was able to sit down with them and and explain to them why it’s important
for them to stay in the game. Mhm. And um again, it’s rewarding to see your kids give back as well. Yeah. I mean,
it’s so temporary anyways as you go through it, right? And and whatever you come across, like you you take opportunity and sometimes you you let it
pass you by, you know, and really if you just fight it out for just a little bit longer, it’s going to disappear anyways,
but you’re at least going to get every ounce out of it that you can get out of it, right? You know, I had um with
Paxton, he’s a was a very good athlete and obviously being able to stay on the team and play for University of Texas,
but I always was positive, oh, you’re you’re going to play, you’re going to get in. And he was like, Dad, you do
know that the two guys in front of me are the best football players I’ve ever been around in my life. And you know,
one of them ended up getting drafted in the first round and going to Kansas City. And then this last year, that guy just got drafted. And he was like, but
his whole point was I’m in it. You know, I’m going to make them better. and my goal right now is is to be the best I
can be on the practice field. And that was the mentality we taught taught them as coaches growing up. And and he was
like, you know, I can make this team a championship team and my goal is to win a national championship. So, how do I
help my team win a national championship? To hear your son tell you that is so rewarding because it was
like, wow. And they did. They ended up, you know, getting in top three and and playing for for the big big ring. didn’t
get it. But the simple fact that you had a team that that almost did is very
rewarding. You know, as you start putting that into your kids too, like that feedback that comes from that, like
you you always wonder if what you’re saying really resonates or it just passes on through, right? Yeah. Um, and
but but like the story that you told of don’t quit or this is what I get to do because of, you know, the input that
you’ve given me, you know, it’s that’s super rewarding, you know, as as as a parent in general, you know. So, um,
well, that’s super cool. I I want to turn the clock back just a little bit. We kind of jump forward just a little bit, but you got in your you started
living with your pops, right? You started you started thinking about it was the best thing that ever happened to
you, right? um your first job you said I couldn’t go and I couldn’t work for him. So your first job that you jumped into after
that were you first off were you rethinking the whole situation of man I may have messed up by following the lead
of kind of where I’ve gotten to this point or was it like I’m still going in the right direction? Didn’t know. I mean
I I I think most kids today um they don’t really know unless they’re going to be a doctor or a lawyer you don’t
really know what you’re going to be doing. Um, and I’m embarrassed to tell you, but it’s funny. Um, my first job
out of school, I got a I got a job working at Dillards for um for a a
marketing company and I was selling u men’s and women’s underwear. And you
know, I remember being Christmas time and here I was so proud and everybody knew me from, you know, that small town.
I’m in that little Dillard’s department store, you know, stocking underwear and making sure the shelves are right during
Christmas time and I’m seeing friends and people come through and I’m ducking and hiding because I don’t want anybody know I’m back here, you know, pushing
underwear. Yeah. And but that was kind of my first job. And then when I had the opportunity to start my company to sell
wireless telephones, um I did that. and it was called Advanced Mobile Communications and and I did that for a
year and ended up selling that company because another group wanted it in and
there was only two distributorships and I owned one of them and they they bought my distributorship and then Altail asked
me if I’d come to work directly for them and you know I I go kind of go back to
that when I was talking about mentorship um every decision I made when I became a
manager Mhm. I would sit there and and think how would Joe Ford how would he m
what would he do in this situation? What decision would he make? And I think it
made me realize that it’s not about me, it’s about we, it’s about the company.
And I need to make the best decision for the company. And it really helped me a
lot. And you know, I’ve told Joe this, he’s a lot older now, but I’ve told him this that, you know, you were a big
influence on me because I worked for he was chairman of the company and and my mind I was thinking if he was sitting in
this chair, the chairman of the company, what decision would he make and it really helped me the doight rule. It
helped me make the right decisions and uh and benefited me a lot. When you when
you said I started my first company, I mean, that’s a big jump. you know, you’re you’re selling underwear and all
of a sudden you start your own company. Didn’t know any better. Like, how how do where do you even start? Do you go get a
LLC? Do you like does pops tell you the road map to get this done? Like, no.
Where where did where did the phone line come in? I mean, where where was this? Like, how did that even But I’m dating myself, but you go back in the day, it’s
a little little past rotary phones, but go back in the day, you you just you got sat at a desk. My dad gave me a um he
owned an office building or manage an office building and he said here’s a little uh office you know in a cubicle
and here’s a phone and you know we shut the door you can do your deal and I remember I used to get the phone book out and going through the phone book and
just started cold calling and writing down names of people that might be interested and you know again I I think
I just outworked everybody you know I didn’t know any better and you know started that company and you know started several since but you know and
it it was just it just was You see it, you feel it, you know. But what did you run across that made you think phones?
Well, at the time I had the opportunity to go work for St. Paul Insurance, and I went up to uh Minnesota. Um, and I
remember it was it was freezing cold. Yeah. And I don’t know if you’ve ever been up there in the winter. It was below below negatives. And they had us
like a tube of crickets, right? I had to go to this meeting, but I couldn’t walk outside. They had the doors locked because it was too cold. So, I had to go
through all these tunnels. Long and short of it, I I didn’t want to live there. I don’t like being cold. Mhm. So when I came back, I was like, I got to I
got to find something else out to do. And I could either start this company and sell wireless telephones and make a
fool of myself or I could go to work for one of the biggest insurance companies in the world at the time in my mind.
Yeah. Um and I’m like, you know what, I’m going to go do this. So I started selling wireless telephones and had some
success with it. Um so then you moved on. You started to grow up from that one. You needed the the distributorship.
You owned that. How did you how did you get that by yourself? Well, um I tried to get I tried to get a job with Altail.
Okay. And and I didn’t have any sales experience. You know, I’m they were hiring all these people that had
Southwestern Bell telephone experience and exs salespeople. And you know, these guys were and girls, they had both. Um
they were a lot older than me and I was like, but I I’ll never have sales experience unless you give me a chance,
you know. And I remember uh the guy I interviewed with named Joe Sllayton. I threw a pencil at him and I said um give
that back to me. Let me sell it to you. And um it was he laughs about it now, but he was like right. So I tossed it
back and so I I sold him on why he should own this pencil. Yeah. And he goes, “Man, I’d hire you if I had a spot, but I have no more spots. But we
do have one distributorship, which means you’d have to start your own company and you’d be completely on your own,
autonomous for us. You’d have to buy all your own phone. you’d have to do all your own marketing. Um, but if you want
to get in the business, I think I can work that out for you. And he went and met with Joe Ford and and Joe Ford said,
“Yeah, give him a shot.” So, I got a shot and it worked out. That’s crazy.
Let me sell you this pencil bag. It turned into interview somebody. I mean,
life’s about sales. You nothing happens until you sell something. I mean, you can just like you, you could have the greatest, you know, advertising agents
in the world, but unless you sell your ability to a client, you just got in your mind a great insurance, I mean,
advertising company. And, you know, I’ve always had that motto and I I had that motto all the way through my career is,
you know, nothing happens unless we sell something and then everything happens. Mhm. You sold that, you moved on, then
you worked you went to work for Altail. Yeah, I worked for Altel for 15 years and um you know I had a v variety of
jobs and ended up in um in the mid 90s
uh Altel bought a company called 360 communications and um you know I was kind of top of my game. I was the
youngest uh president in in their I was a regional president but I was the youngest one and they asked me if I
would run the 36060 communication merger and so I ended up having office in Las
Vegas. I had office here in Dallas and um and I went with the transition of bringing 360 into Altale’s way of doing
business and um so that allowed you my wife at the time and I we were living in
Lorac to move here to Dallas and you know her family’s business was here. So,
um, it was good for the kids and good for us to kind of base out of here. And it was a lot easier on me because, you
know, flying from Dallas to Las Vegas and to Phoenix and all the areas that I was managing, um, you know, it was it
was more efficient here. Mhm. And, um, and then when we rolled that up and
ended up selling Altel, had the opportunity opportunity to move back to Little Rock and then um, and ended up
making a decision to stay in Dallas. So you we jumped pretty quickly to you now
have kids at this point, right? Had that was a long time ago, but yeah.
Um so you you got married in college directly out of college? Out of college.
I’ve been working for a while. Um I met Charlotte uh through um there was a
Debbie Tom party back in the day. They still have them, but we were uh connected to be dates at a Debbie Tom
party. Now, I knew of her because I played football with her brother, her older brother, and um but didn’t really
know her. She’s younger than I am. And uh that’s kind of how we met. And and then started our courtship and ended up,
you know, getting married. Yeah. How long after you guys met? Oh, several years. Three three years. And um
Charlotte is a uh extremely talented woman. Smart. I mean, the validictorian
of her school, ran for class president. Um uh I’m very blessed to have her as
the mother of my kids because I I I I sent her a text uh over on Mother’s Day
really just telling her how grateful I am that that she is her mom because
there’s there’s so many traits that I see positive traits that I see in my
kids that that she helped mold and shape and uh she was a really good mom. Mhm.
That’s awesome. And so you know you guys had three kids together. We do. Okay. And that’s And who are they and how old
are they? Uh Haley is my uh oldest. Haley Alexis and she is um I guess 32.
Mhm. I hope she’s 32. She be mad if she’s not. Um and then my son Shai Jr.
is he’s he’s 30. And I’ve got Paxton who’s you know six years removed. He’s 24. Mhm. And so they all you you did
sports with all these guys and Yeah. I had there was a there was a rule. I mean, we all have our own rules. Um, my
kids had to play a sport. I I felt for me growing up, I thought it was very
important to be involved in a team sport. Um, it it taught so many things.
Anybody listening to this plays a sport can, you know, add to it, but I really felt like it it it taught how to
interact. It taught it taught you, you know, what your role was. It it taught you um how to communicate. It it taught
you how to to win and lose. Mhm. And uh it was important to me. So all my kids
had to play a sport. My daughter said that, “Well, cheerleading is a sport.” I’m like, “No, no, it’s not.” But I
allowed it to be a sport. And then she hurt her back our sophomore year in high school. And so she couldn’t play cheer.
She didn’t make the cheerleading squad. Mhm. And so she came in one day and I said, “Well, what sport are you going to play?” And she’s kind of gave me that
look. And she just quit playing basketball. And she goes, “Um, I’m not.” I said, “You are?” I said, “I got
lacrosse practice this afternoon. Go get a stick.” And she was like, “Dad.” So, I had her come out. I didn’t know at the
time that girls had a different lacrosse stick than boys. So, she was playing with a boys lacrosse stick, which is a
little easier to carry. Uhhuh. And uh but I made her play lacrosse. And she hated me for it. I don’t mean hate in
the negative way. She just wasn’t happy that I made her play lacrosse. Mhm. But she played lacrosse her sophomore year,
junior year, and her senior year, uh, she was the captain of her Highland Park
lacrosse team. And so when she went out to colleges and put her applications
out, because of her being the captain of her sporting team, Mhm. the lacrosse
team, she got accepted to every college she applied to. And then she had to narrow it down. Ended up, you know, choosing the alma m of Arkansas. But
that was one of my rules. They all had to play a sports. Easy for the kids, the boys. They they wanted to play. But yeah. So yeah, she uh she said thank you
for that later. Oh, we joke about it. I think she does thank me for it. She’s
she’s such a wonderful girl. She’s actually, you know, works for the family now and um so capable, so talented, you
know, if she wants to get something done, she will get it done. She’s she’s just really talented.
That’s great to hear. And so going back into your career, um what was the next step? What was the big jump after that
after Al? Oo. Um, it was a big decision for me. Um, it was more of a family
decision. Um, I had an unbelievable career at Altel. I was one of the top in the company. And sounds funny saying,
I’m not trying to brag on myself. It just was. And, um, I gave that up and went to work for the family business and
and had various jobs in the family business and, um, uh, ended up having
the opportunity to be involved with some really cool companies. Um, Papa John’s.
Um, I was involved in the Arena Football League and part of the team and, um, you
know, had the opportunity to to hire some individuals that are still with the organization today that I think the
world of. And I I tell you what’s kind of cool is um, and I’m I’m going to go
back to what you asked, but my friends, people that I’m my guy friendss and girl, but my guys that I’m really close
to Mhm. are also really close to my kids. So, I’ll see one of my good
friends hanging out with my daughter or hanging out with my son and it it makes me feel good because these are quality
individuals and they’re also shaping the lives of my kids as well and I believe in them and um yeah, but I I ended up
hiring um a couple of people that are still with the organization and one of them runs their pro personnel in the
scouting department and he he was in my son’s wedding which is crazy to think he
was my best friend, Will Mcclelay. He’s he’s an amazing human, one of the most amazing men you’ll talk to. I mean, one
of the guys you’d invite to come sit at your table if you get to pick, you know, six. He’s going to be one. And um but
he, you know, now runs their, you know, pro personnel. And my oldest old oldest son, Chaba, works for him in scouting.
And it’s it’s just it just meant to be because Chaba loves sports. He loves statistics. And he was that kid that we
all look to if we had a question on Terrell Owens. I don’t know why I’m pulling that name up, but you know how
many what what’s his 40, how how many catches he had, what was he knew all the stats. He could tell you everything and
which helped helped the the conversation, right? Mhm. But Will was in his wedding and and it was it was fun
being at the bachelor party and looking over and seeing a guy who I consider to be one of my best friends be in my son’s
wedding. Yeah. Yeah. That’s crazy to see how that kind of transitions. I’ve got a group of friends, too, that you know
that some have been my friends since we were 12 years old. Right. Right. And uh now we’re married and we all have
families and we’ve all been together and one of the guys has been with us for about 10 years as well now too. So um
but when you get that group and they start to be seen as uncles, you know, as
opposed to here’s a a friend of mine, you’re kind of teaching your your kids too about um the strength of networking,
you know, the strength of networking with people that have your back ultimately, you know, and that’s a
that’s a really strong trait. I got I love that you said that, you know, because, you know, we’re all raising our kids to do X or be this or be whatever,
but a good human and recognizing other good humans and what people bring to the table is is the number one thing that’s
out there. Well, you know, my kids have a u there’s a lot expected of them um
just because of, you know, the family that they’re in and um but they they deliver. They they’re they’re good kids.
Um, you know, for the most part, most of the kids are, you know, don’t come across as entitled. Mine definitely
don’t. Yeah. And, uh, they’re very caring kids and, um, I’m I’m I’m
blessed. And, of course, I’m a dad and I’m bragging on my kids, you know, but at the same time, I’m telling the truth,
you know. I think if any of my friends were to walk in here and you ask them, they would tell you the same thing I’m telling you. So, it’s not like I’m
trying to make them something they’re not. And, uh, and it feels good to be a dad to that. man you introduced me as
super dad and up until I don’t know a year ago um I was super dad to all of
them you know it was super dad super dad how you doing super dad and it was kind of that cuz they didn’t want to call me big shy and and that’s kind of what my
dad was called big Sam and so I’m I’m I’m hoping my grandkids one day will call me big shy but um they’ve now
transitioned where they’re they’re calling me by my name and I asked my son the other day I said you just call me
shy and I said that’s the first time I’ve heard you say that and he goes you you’re like my best friend. And he goes,
“We hang out, but you know, I’m not going to introduce you as my dad because I don’t look at you that way anymore. I
mean, you are my dad, and I you’ll always be my dad, but I like hanging out with you.” And I was like, “That’s
cool.” You know, cuz I don’t really remember introducing my dad as my dad. I just introduced him as Big Sam. And he
got the nickname Big Sam because he was always up on the hill and in the huddle in the football field, all all my
buddies were, “Oh, Big Sam’s up there.” because he was just a big man. Mhm. That’s crazy. You know, I I can’t wait
to cross that. I mean, mine are 19 to 16 now and uh they’re making that transition as they go through that, but
uh I haven’t got to that point yet, but I’m pretty excited about You’ll get there. Yeah, you will. I can tell I can
feel it. M you know it’s um there’s nothing more rewarding and I and I think I could speak for you know Charlotte my
ex-wife as well is um the relationship that she has with the kids and the
relationship that I have with the kids and and I don’t think we compete. I mean, you know, she’s the greatest mom
and and I’m I’m hoping that I’m I’m the greatest dad and and uh now we have a
granddaughter. My son just had a little baby girl and and um it’s kind of cool
and special and you know it doesn’t make me feel any different but somebody says are you feel any different being a granddad? I said actually not. I’m
actually excited for my son cuz he’s getting to take the same steps that I got to take like you mentioned earlier.
It changed your life. It does. It makes you realize that there’s a little more to life than just me, you know. Yeah. It
changes the scope of everything and and you know it’s just a page that I always say uh I compare it to Field of Dreams.
You remember the movie Field of Dreams or whatever? I don’t like baseball, so I probably didn’t watch much of it. Uh Field of Dreams, there’s a scene in
there where um Moonlight Graham is a is a is an old doctor from from that they
have to go get. Well, they he says, “I’m not leaving.” Blah blah blah. So, they end up driving down the road and they
pick up a hitchhiker on the way back. They were like, “Man, I thought we supposed to get this guy or whatever.” So, they pull over, see this kid
hitchhiking, said, “Hey kid, where you going?” He goes, “I’m looking for a place to play baseball.” And they kind of look at each other. just kind of a
magic moment, you know, and they were like, “Sure, kid. What’s your name?” And he goes, “Well, they call me Graham, Moonlight Graham.” And they realized
that this is a fast forward of that kid cuz the old man was a doctor. And he
said, “I I’m married now. I’m taking care of a bunch of people. I can’t do that anymore.” Right? Well, this a personification of him as a as a younger
kid and he gets to go play on the on the field of dreams. But when he goes and plays for a little
bit, a couple of times out, one of the little girls that can see the field falls off and starts choking. Well, he
runs over the edge and there’s a a rock path and then it turns to dirt. Well, he runs up and he steps at the edge of
it and then he looks over at everybody and everybody looks at him and then as soon as he crosses over and steps onto
the dirt, he turns back into the old man who’s a doctor, saves the little girl’s life and then realizes that he knew that
he could never go back if he stepped outside of this thing. Uhhuh. Well, they were like, “You can’t go back.” He goes,
“It’s okay. This is what I was here for.” It’s one of those things. I used that transition mentally that meant a
lot to me. You turn into something else. When you cross a path, you turn into something else. When I had my child,
when I looked into my child’s eyes, the very first moment when he was born, I
just remember stepping from rocks to dirt and turning into some completely
different human being than I was before. Cuz I’d never seen this side of myself. Uhhuh. You know, you felt that side of
yourself. I felt that. I’ve never I’ve never been that. And I turned into something completely different. And it was like that. And I just remember it.
And I and I told my my oldest I was telling him I was like one day you will
have this feeling. You’ll turn the page and it will never go back. And I can’t explain it to you. I can’t even show you what it’s going to be like. I can’t even
tell you think like this or whatever because it’s you you won’t be prepared. You just don’t know until you know. I
remember my father telling me that he loved me. And I remember telling my father that I loved him. But I never
knew what real love was for my child until I had a child into my hand. Mhm. You know, I never knew. So, I couldn’t
even I couldn’t even sense what my what my dad was telling me or my mother was telling me, you know, love is such a a
strong word and and it has so much meaning to it. You know, I didn’t have that growing up.
And, you know, we all it’s like, you know, I don’t know what your high school was like. You don’t know what mine was like, you know. I don’t know what your
childhood was like, you know, but we kind of assume we had something similar. I kind of assume your high school was a little bit like mine, but maybe it had
girls, you know. Um, I can assume your childhood was a little bit like mine, but we’re all different. We all come
from, you know, different experiences and but that love thing I that’s that’s something I wanted more than anything
between me and my kids and um and I want to make sure that that I delivered that.
Yeah, it’s it’s crazy. I mean, that that transition of who you are uh through
certain parts of your life um you transition. You you become something else. you grow outside of what you were
before only through the experiences that you have, right? And so the more experiences you’re able to come across
or learn from or step through, um the better you become, you know, and and uh
you know, sometimes it’s for good and sometimes it’s for bad and it just toughens you up, you know. Um
sometimes it puts armor on you, you know, for the next time prepare you for the next time you have to run through
that wall, you know, when it’s not necessarily open for you, but you got to push through, you know. Um, so yeah, I
think I think what you’re saying right there and preparing our kids and and saying my son had this has this child or
or you had your first grandchild and you can see um I’m not excited for that moment, but
I’m excited for that moment. You know what I mean? Like I’m not ready for that moment, but I’m excited for that moment. Different for everyone. You know,
everybody was, you know, oh, how does it feel? Mhm. I’m just happy for him. Yeah. Beautiful little girl. I mean, I think
the the the best way I can describe it is um David, which is his father-in-law,
is Tori’s wife. Um he was on the phone with the mom who was in the birthing
room and I’m walking down the hall and it was all of us in this little room and he said, “She’s perfect.” And that that
word just described everything you need to know. Yes. you know, five, you know,
five fingers, you know, on each hand, five toes on each foot, nose, eyes, breathing, perfect. I mean, they could
have said beautiful and you’re like, “All right, what else is there?” You know, you know, they could have said tall or has hair, but it was perfect was
perfect. It was, you knew you had a good, healthy, beautiful little thing that you get to go look at. Yeah, that’s
amazing. You know, it’s it’s great that you’ve kept this uh and I and I know that from hearing your story at this
point, I know that um you know, you’ve kind of danced through the fire when it came through what you saw as a kid to
what you wanted to be as a as a father. And that really shaped you from from what I’m seeing right here, like the way
that you’ve talked. It did. And you know, looking back on it now, um I don’t know if you’ve ever just stared in the
mirror and just looked at your pupils and you know, of course, you go back and forth between them and you’re just
looking into your soul and you’re like, “What am I going to be about?” You know, what what am I? And you know, I’ve
had those moments where you just, you know, when things aren’t going the way you want them to, it’s a little struggle
and it’s like I want to be the best dad. you know, that’s it’s not I can’t say
it’s my purpose. Um, but that’s what I’m going to be. And so, you know, I I tried
to make again make decisions as what would be best for my kids, what would be best, you know, for them growing up.
Mhm. And, you know, my kids got a little really blessed because they were able to work see us work in the family. they
were able to see their mom, you know, grind it out and work and she’s so talented and and uh does a big part of
that family’s business and all the charity work and which really helped kind of carve me into getting into the
development side. But um and then they got to see me working in the family business. I ran the arena football team
and you know got accolades for doing that. We had a lot of success. They got to go to the games. They got to get on
the field. They got to see the they got to go to practice. So they saw dad, you know, they saw how dad interacted, they
saw how mom interacted. And I think the influences of parents being able to show
their kids, you know, who they really are and how they treat people. Mhm. Um,
but probably why my kids are where they are right now. You know, I don’t know where they’re going to go. I I think it’s a good, you know, trajectory, but
uh I know they’re special now. Mhm. You know, it’s really cool to see, you know, the the transition of success, people
building up to who they are and what they are and still having a humble nature about themselves without having
to let everyone know where they’re at the entire time. I mean, sure, you know,
people could have the ability to squash people at at any point in time. Um, but when you see people that have done well,
like yourself, um, have been shaped by different things in your life, to still
come through and and sit in this thing and and say, “My kids are my most important thing that I’ve ever, you
know, done in my life is is pretty special.” It’s funny you just said something cuz I I’m hard on myself. Um,
I always think I can do better. Um, I don’t You want to restart the interview?
We’ll probably have a better interview now. you probably direct it better, but no, you know, I always I always feel like I can do better, you know, and it’s
something that motivates me a little bit is um it’s not it’s not so much doing it because I want to win, you
know, more so than I don’t want to let others down and I don’t want to fail. So, I don’t know what that means and you
know, different people try to explain it different ways, but um you know, I got involved in a couple of companies that,
you know, nobody nobody thought would work. Everybody thought that knows that’s a joke. That’ll never happen. and they ended up being huge big successes
and like what [Music] um back when I was running Arena Football League um we knew we were going
to shut it down and um we just the player salaries were more than we but we
just couldn’t afford to it’s not that we couldn’t afford to keep the team up the league couldn’t afford to sustain the
expenses it was incurring we weren’t getting revenue but one of the guys that was working there I was really close to
I was on the on the finance team finance team border finance whatever and His name was Joe Rankin. And Joe had two
beautiful little daughters. And I was like, Joe, you’re going to have to find a job because if we shut this down, man, you’ve got a family to support. I said,
I I I’m just gave you a heads up. And I shouldn’t have because that was board board, you know, confidentiality. And
but Joe went out and found a job as a um as kind of a manager of this company
called Topgolf. And Topgolf had just come over, it was a idea in the in the
United Kingdom, Great Britain. And they just opened a little driving range. And what they were doing is they were going into these m municipality
uh golf driving ranges and digging these little holes and then putting their gear in and they were kind of selling as a
gimmick. And uh so he went to work for them and they um we shut the league down
and then he called me a couple months later and says, “Hey, we’re looking at buying this Hank Haney or taking over this Hank Haney range in Dallas, Texas
over here off Park Lane.” And he goes, “Will you come out and look at it?” And I’m all right, sure. So I went out and looked at it and this was at the time
when we had been the family had been spending years trying to design AT&T Stadium and so you can’t imagine the
thought that went into that and you know I’m got to give Jerry a lot of credit.
Um and I’ve said this about him before. Um he he he he sees he thinks like like
he’s in a in a prison. And when I said that before, somebody said like in jail, I’m like, “No, it’s like he’s that in
that prison when the the light hits that rock and it shoots light everywhere.” He
thinks that way. And so we were always thinking of how do we how we make a better stadium, how we improve it. Well,
here I’m now walking into a driving range with one of my friends I respected
and liked, and I wanted him to be successful. And I looked at it and I was like, “Oh,
we can do something with this.” And it’s like, “What?” And so I ended up uh
raising a bunch of capital through a couple of close friends and um uh we ended up designing the one up in Allen
and um created Top Golf as you know it today. And um it it was a success right
out of the gate. And um but my kids got to be a part of all that. And I will say this, when when we when we we first kind
of got it up and running um here on the Park Lane, I’d taken one end of it and
we designed it and tricked it up and it was big like bowling. I mean, you everybody knew what a bowling was. Well,
I was like, man, we got to make it like bowling and we got to make it like, you know, going and sitting in a suite at a stadium and, you know, everything’s
brought to you and you’re entertained and so it was easy for me to see it. Not anybody else really saw it that way.
Yeah. And um but I I believed in it and and it ended up working out. But funny
story is it was Mother’s Day and we just kind of opened up the bays um and again
Mother’s Day is in May. It was warm and I I grabbed Charlotte the kids and they were younger and I said we’re going to
take your mom out for mother’s mother’s day dinner and I remember taking her to Topgolf and she she I remember the kids
she just looked at me and she goes are you serious? I’m like yeah it’s Mother’s Day. we’re going have a good time. And
she goes, “I cannot believe you’re bringing me here.” And we get up there and we had the best time. And at the end
of it, we’re walking out and she goes, “That was the best Mother’s Day I’ve ever had.” And it was again just showed
you the family atmosphere that you were creating within Top Golf. And and uh anyway, that was one of the things that
was kind of created in a nobody believed it. Yeah. I remember going to Hank Haney’s range over there and practicing.
I I worked in a agency in downtown and I was looking for places to hit and it was just there, right? And I remember when
it turned to Topgolf and I thought, man, this is pretty this is pretty cool, you know, to be like it it wasn’t the same
as I didn’t go there to work on my game anymore. I went there to just enjoy and
try to you could play at different levels with different people and do so many things. So, you guys did a great job with that.
I tried to explain it to folks is it was it’s entertainment. You know, a driving range is to go work on your game. You
know, you you might take your kids up there, let them whack a ball, but this is entertainment. You’re going to take
them up there and everybody’s going to have fun. And so that first time when I walked in and I saw a couple old men
sitting on their little igloo ice chest, you know, hit a couple balls, sit down, you know, and like we they can’t they’re
taking the whole bay. We got we can’t do that, you know. And so it evolved. Yeah. And um at the time I was running um our
Papa John’s business that that I ended up partnering with John Schneider and I was like we had these old pizza machines
and I was like we’ll we’ll make pizza. So I ended up giving some machines to them and the parbaked dough and then
some supplies. We couldn’t make a Papa John Giants pizza but it tasted pretty similar cuz it was all the same ingredients. But we started selling
pizza by the slice. And you know that’s just one baby step at a time to where now you’ve got this. you go there and
you probably eat a, you know, fine dining place. Now, it’s funny. Yeah. What’s, you know, when you got, you
know, resources or you’ve seen things happen, you know, and and you can just implement them everywhere. It seems that
business is just there to be made, you know. Um, do you remember back when you thought business was hard?
Well, it No. Um, it’s been challenging. M you know,
the home building business right now is extremely challenging and um but I never
thought it was hard cuz I enjoyed it. You know, I’m um I I thought selling
telephones early on cares was hard. Mhm. Um it was taxing. It was too many nos,
you know, and my my dad, it’s a terrible illustration, but he used to say, “Keep stuffing them tennis balls in that
tennis ball can and they’ll start coming out.” And you know, after a few months, all of a sudden, I was getting call backs. I was making sales. I’m like
people that I talked to months ago and started teaching me lessons that you know you know perseverance don’t give up
keep going you know if if that’s your goal and you want to be president of the company make all your decisions I’m
going to be president of the company. Mhm. And it’s paid off. Yeah. So you went from Papa John’s to
Topgolf. You’re no longer with Topgolf. You’re not doing anything with them. No. Well, Callaway uh came in and and bought Topgolf and um which was, you know,
great day for all the investors. Mhm. And it’s, you know, still out there and active. And I think right now Callaway,
you know, I’m not going to give stock picks, but Callaway merged with Top Golf and it wasn’t a it wasn’t a great marriage. Um and Callaway now is looking
at spinning off Topgolf. The the stock is way depressed. And I think when they see the real value of what the top golf
business is when they finally put a denomination on it, you still have Callaway, which has a denomination as
well. And I think together they’re smaller than they will be separated. So I think that um that’s going to be
another little growth story in the future. But no, I’m not involved. Not involved. Um and so now you’re doing
home building. Yeah. Um I’ve always done it. My dad was in real estate. you know,
I grew up around real estate, grew up riding around collecting rents and um so I started just on the side, you know,
building houses and I enjoyed it. Um, I like the detail, the finishes. And then
there was one day, um, um, my ex-wife Charlotte was chairman of the National
Salvation Army. And I I remember going to a lot of meetings, but one in particular, they were the Salvation Army
people were talking about there’s not enough affordable housing, specifically in the Dallas Metroplex. And, uh, you
know, we’re very involved as a family with them, more so Charlotte than not just jumping in the bucket in the end
zone. not just jump in the bucket in the end zone. But that that whole thing was her idea. Not not jumping the bucket,
but the whole together with Salvation Army, but they were talking about not enough housing. So, I started looking
into it and I thought maybe this will be my give back. You know, I enjoy building and you know, maybe I’ll figure this out
and and um the city of Dallas has this they call it land bank land transfer program. Um it’s it is difficult. Um,
but I enjoy it because I’m able to to build a home for a family that now can
afford a home because if if the land bank program wasn’t around, they because they have them all deed restricted
property. So, you can only make so much money um and you can only sell the house for so much. So, it’s not like we make
don’t make much money in the in the business. But boy, the feelood is when you see that husband and wife or mom
with kids or new homeowner be able to go into a 1,400 three-bedroom, two bath,
twocar garage, beautiful little home. I mean, it’s it’s a feel good. It’s a give back, you know. And then early on, I
thought, well, I I can do something with homelessness. And then I learned early on that no, homelessness is a mindset. I
mean, there’s obviously things we can all do, but that that that person has made the decision to go sleep under that
bridge. Yeah. So, how can I how can I help a family that really wants to give back, that wants to work, that wants to
raise a family in a good area and and and live a good life and and feel like they’re part of the community? And
anyway, so I started building those these land bank over hundred of them and, you know, still cranking them out, but also build the high-end stuff as
well. So, what what goes into your everyday job for for that? Are you picking location? Are you picking finish
outs? Are you picking like uh who my who my um uh my people building on these
pieces are? Like what what are you what are you doing? Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes. Okay. Um you know, it’s fun because I I
pick the land. I’ll pick where I want to build, you know, where the lots it’s mainly infill. So, I’ll pick the the
lots and uh I try to buy them in clusters and so that I can my my teams and then I work with some really
talented builders um that do a really good job of the of building the homes. I’m more of an investor, you know, when
I explain to people, but they call them developers, but uh I pick out all the finish out. I design all the homes. Um,
you know, I’ve got an architect that I work with and they’re they’re very similar, but I need to change them up
because if I’m on the same street and I’m doing a lot of work over by Fair Park. Um, I want the homes to look a
little different so they really make that community pop. Yeah. And uh, but I do all that and then the interior work.
I’d pick out all the interior. I work with a couple of really talented ladies at some of the the shops at Floor and
Decor and Kimzer and u you know tap into them and they they feel good about doing
it too. So it’s like you know if everybody can feel good about what we’re working on together then we have a good product. You working on things like um
insulation and types of uh water heaters and it all of it. Yeah. It’s all and you
know what I’m also real particular you know if you go in one of my homes and I’m not saying anybody’s worse than me.
Yeah. But the homes that we’re building are are feel a little better. Um they’ve got better flow. Um I’m all about space
and uh and again maybe that was just the upbringing and all the engineering stuff we’ve done with office buildings and
stadiums and Top Golfs. It’s it’s just it’s flow. You want you don’t want odd
spaces just for square footage. And you’ll see and you may maybe you won’t, but a lot of builders today um they’re
building for square footage. So, you know, there might have a loft area that’s, you know, 150, 200 ft² that
serves no purpose, but it gives them square footage in their sale price. Mhm. I don’t know. I don’t want to do that.
So, so you you’ve been in this for how many how long you been doing this? Well, I want to say I’ve been in real estate
most of my life cuz my father, but um I started piddling in it back in 2009
when, you know, when everything kind of went upside down. Mhm. Uh I started buying some of the foreclosure properties and and fixing them up,
putting them in rentals and and then it just kind of grew. And then when my wife and I uh had our divorce, I no longer
work for the family. So um I kind of went full-time in this. And then how long ago was that? Um four three years
ago. Okay. Three years. Four years ago, give or take. Um, but I started doing my
own thing. But I had some investments and I’m I’ve got I’ve met some guys along the way that that that I believe
in, you know, um, like a Rico Taylor. He runs Concrete Cowboy. Uh, I met him and
I’ I’ve invested in him. Now, we also, you know, control Concrete Cowboy. It’s a it’s a sports bar. Um, but I wasn’t as
much into the sports bar as I was into this this man. This guy can really operate a business. Mhm. And it’s been
that way with a lot of my friends and a lot of business I’m in. Um um I had a really good friend. We’re not we’re not
close anymore. Um that started a company well was looking at starting a company
called True Velocity which is an ammunition company. And it I felt like it would revolutionize and change the
world. And um it’s um they make a bullet that is made out of polymer which is a a
real sophisticated plastic and it’s like a shotgun shell but with a gun rifle
cartridge. So 5.56 762 308 you know um 50 mm but they’re 35 to 40% lighter
because they’re not brass than a brass bullet. and they don’t conduct heat, so
they don’t heat the chamber of the gun and they’re not going to burn the the soldier or the person next to them. Um,
and they use less gunpowder because the energy that would be absorbed through the heating of the expansion. Now the
energy is just to push that bullet down the barrel and no cool down for the gun.
The guns don’t heat up like they do with brass. They do heat up over time, but that’s normal with the fire. But I got
involved in that and um I I still think that business could be a unbelievable
business. You know, it’s it’s just the the changing from someone going from a brass cartridge to a plastic cartridge.
The mindset’s been difficult, but you this business is you it’s we can make
the bullets in this room and so we can pick up the machines and send them anywhere in the world and they can set
up and they can be making bullets in anywhere in the world. So, when you’re making a bullet like that, does it uh now I’m going to nerd out with you for a
minute. Let’s go. Um uh does it because of the mass is less, does it travel
less? The the bullet the bullet itself is the exact same as the bullet that’s in the brass. Okay. The same It’s the
same projectile. Same projectile. It’s the casing. It’s a casing. Oh, it’s the casing. The casing that kicks out when
you shoot that machine gun and all those little casings are kicking out. Mhm. Well, you know, ours are plastic, you
know, and so and they don’t weigh anything and they don’t have any heat to them, right? You know, and the other benefit to them is uh we use a metal uh
alloy as the uh primer area where the primer goes. So, you can pick them up with a magnet. So, go to the shooting
range, you see them sweeping them up, had them pick the brass up, you run a magnet over, they all just jump to the magnet. There’s so many cool things
about that company and you know, I still think it’s got some good upside. Yeah, for sure. What was that called again? A
True Velocity. True Velocity. Yeah. We we make the bullets in in Garland and we’ve got a really nice facility there.
And um we’ve kind of transitioned now not to be a bullet manufacturing
company, but to be a technology company to where we can really license the ability to make bullets for other
countries, our own country. Um and I think that transition is good. Yeah, that’s awesome. I love I love stories
like that. I mean, we like to dig in and tell stories anyways as a marketing company. So, it’s like like to like to nerd out when it comes to like what’s
really the difference? I mean, that’s really how you separate yourself is why are we different than somebody else and how can we sell ourselves as being
better because of X, right? And so, well, this one I always thought was going to be cool because of the drones kicking in, you know, cuz you can you
can fire bullets off drones, right? And ours weigh 40% less, you’re going to carry 40% more. And then the other thing
that got me really excited, which I’m nerding back, I thought, wow, you know, think about it. If if you can only put
so much weight on a C130 cargo plane. Um so you’re going to put, you know,
call it 100 pounds and 100 lb might be 1,000 bullets. Mhm. Well, if I’m 35%
lighter, that means that that you’re going to put 35% more bullets on. So then, you know, I just thought, wow,
that makes a lot of sense. You know, save a little bit of money just in transportation right there. Yeah, that’s crazy. Yeah. and volume will be twice as
much but or or 35% more but same same weight it’s cool you can always stack up you don’t run out of weight on top of
the I mean run out of space on top of the boat do you so pretty good I guess it’s under the cargo hole maybe but you
know the the war fighters that we dealt with and and again I’m I’m not involved I was on the board for a while I’m not on the board anymore so I really don’t
know how they’re but the war fighters that we talked to um they would rather carry more ammunition than they would
water less wear and tear clothing and it was like I run out of ammunition, I’m dead. You know, it’s
like, well, cool. So, they really enjoyed the fact that, you know, we were that much lighter, which you know, made you feel good about what you’re working
on. Yeah. 100%. You give them 35% more ammo on the that one, I think, is even the best the best part of it too because
as a as a soldier’s carrying that around and and the weight behind that in general, most of the time they’re not going to use it. So, they’re just taxing
themselves with an extra 35% of carry every time. So, um by the time that they use it, then it does have the benefit of
35% more firepower. Yeah. But if they know they’re going to carry 25 pounds and you’re going to say, “Well, listen.
I’m going to lighten your load by 12.” Yeah. Exactly. Well, they’re going to go, “Well, no, I’ll just carry more
bullets. I’m going to carry that 25 lbs and I’ll carry the extra ammo for it.” Yeah. 100%. That’s what I’m saying. You
got 35% more firepower or you got 35% less weight. You know what I mean? So, uh, very cool. So, that’s the next step.
There’s no step to that. You know, I invested in that a long time ago and and we got that up and running. there’s good people managing that company and you
know just keep your fingers crossed that you know that um that the direction they’re taking it is the right
direction. Mhm. Do you have an next step? You have something in the in the oven you’re trying to another another
Papa John’s pizza? Man, I’m I’m tinkering. My best friend and it’s a guy I’m going to introduce you to. He’s uh
one of the um he’s my best friend. He’s one of the greatest humans I know. Um he
he’s come from a humble beginning. He’s super intelligent. He’s he’s he’s been punched in the face.
Um he’s started several companies. Uh he’s made millions um lost millions, but
he uh he started a company that’s called It’s a Secret Med Spa. And um uh he was
before his time and I give him credit. He’s been ahead of the game and everything he’s done. And I’m I invested
in him, but I’m also money. It’s it’s a secret med spa. Yeah. And we’ve got uh
13 med spas in uh in the metroplex and we’ve got them in I’ve got them all over the country. We’ve got them putting one
in Washington DC. We’ve got them uh we shut one down in Chicago. We’ve got one in Arizona. We’ve got them in Houston,
San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth. But um um that’s another business that we’re in
and it’s it’s really it’s doing really really well. And it’s you know I’m I’m big into health and fitness. Um, I don’t
know if you can tell by looking at me, but I I like to work out. I like to stay fit. I like to eat right. And, you know,
this kind of goes hand in hand because I think more and more people today, you know, want to feel better about
themselves. They want to live longer. All this longevity stuff. And and I think that this his business, it’s a
secret med spa, is a it’s a brand. You know, most of these med spas are are
centered around a doctor or a an injector and his he’s done a really good
job of streamlining it and creating the efficiencies and the brand and selling what is what the consumer wants. Um I’m
really proud of him. I’m proud to be a part of his business. Mhm. Yeah. What I do love uh about everything that I’ve
heard today out of you is one keeping focus on what it is that you’re working for and two is
surrounding yourself with the people that reflect what you want to be you know um it’s it’s all about the person
for you which I I really respect that honestly like that’s uh you know can it
can be easy to to take a deal you know with someone because you think there’s so much growth or so much benefit on the
other side of it but at the end of the Hey, like if you’re not working with the people that you trust or you know got
your back or uh you just believe in, you know, it’s a little harder harder to Yeah. You know, I’ve got a little bit of
a motto, which is it’s I might be crossing myself here, but um you know, I
want to back my money. So, um if I’m going to invest in something, I want to
be a part of it. And it it doesn’t mean that I have to show up and work. Um, but
I need to know that the person that I’m investing with and in is going to show up and work. Mhm. And because that’s my
money and and I’ve been that way with Rico. I’ve been that way with Justin. I’ve been that way, you know, with the
people that I’ve worked with, you know, at at Altel with with the Cowboys
organization. And, you know, I feel real blessed. I mean, because they they take pride in what they’re doing. And and
again, at the end of the day, your company’s only as going to be as good as your employee, right? And and if they if
they’re not performing, then your company’s not going to perform at the level you want it to. And I really believe that when it comes to my my
friends, you know, I’m I’m I’ve got some really good friends. And I know I said it earlier, uh the fact that my friends
hang out with my kids is so cool. It’s so cool.
That’s pretty amazing. Um, I’m gonna scatter with you for a little bit. You talked earlier about six people
at a table. Who’s coming to dinner with you? You know, that’s that’s Everybody says
that stuff. You know, I’ve um Will Mcclelay would be one of them. He’s um u such a he’s an inspiration to me.
He’s a great father. He’s been a a good friend. And um you know, although we
hadn’t spent as much time as I’d like to spend together, I feel like every time I see him, we’re we’re right where we
were. Uh I’d love to have my father at the table. Um, you know, again, like I said, I didn’t spend that much time
growing up with my dad. And, uh, I got to spend I lived with him for four years out of school and it before, you know, I
got engaged and got married, but it it was really looking back on it, it defined me because I I recognize who he
was, what he was about, that he really was a real human being and made human
being mistakes, and that it’s okay to make mistakes if you own them. And, you know, it’s all those things, but he’d be
one. Um, and then you kind of just trickle down. I had a a guy named Father Tribe who who was a director at the
Catholic High School. Um, Lou Holtz is still alive. So, you know, he it’d be fun to have him around just because
he’s I I I’ll tell you how what was so impactful about Lou. Here it is. I’m a
freshman football player at the University of Arkansas. And he calls me into his office um early in the season.
We were playing Texas that next week. Texas was number one in the country. Arkansas wasn’t even ranked. and he
pulled me in and and he shut his door and he said, “Uh, wanted me to stand.”
So, I was standing at the desk and he got up on the board and he said, “We’re going to beat Texas next week and you’re going to be a big part of it.” And I’m
like, “Me?” You know, and I’m thinking, “How am I going to be a part of this?” I was scared. I was nervous. I mean, I
don’t even know if I remember everything he said, but he he was showing me how he was going to set up this play. We had a
fullback named Jesse Clark. We had a a running back named Gary Anderson. We had a couple other receivers, Keith Kidd,
um, and some other players. I mean, nobody knows their names, but he says, um, they’re not expecting you, right?
I’m gonna put you in the game, um, early. And, uh, we’re going to run several plays that are similar. You’re
going to do the same formation. And so, what he was doing was set I I came down and I was a big physical, you know,
player. I came down. I was doing a crackback on Texas’s linebacker. So I come down and and and in the game I come
down and do the crack back on him and I mean I think I knocked myself out more than I knocked him out and then I I was
running off the field and he sent me right back on and and then we ran the same play again. Design I go in motion
um and then we hand back off to Jesse Clark on the other side this time because I I came in motion from that
side. So then I’m out of play and I come back in play. Now we’re running the same play again. Now I he and I then
linebacker and I buted heads twice hard. So as I come in motion just exactly as
coach holds had planned it. They start yelling crack crack which means I’m going to crack. So the now the
linebacker’s looking at me and he’s not watching the running back and I come down to crack on him. Gary slips down
the sidelines and we throw a 60 yard touchdown and we went on and beat him 42 and 11. And and I say that because that
that’s just one story of how Lou Holtz during my two years of playing cuz he ended up moving to Minnesota playing
with him, how he used his players to get the best out of them. Mhm. He knew what your tool was. Yeah. I don’t know how I
got there, but you know, that was one of my my good memories. Yep. So, uh so Lou,
your dad um uh who else did you say was at the table? Will Mlay. Yeah. Uh one
more. man, you’re starting digging. You get people looking for um you know, only
because he means so much to what I think carved my success and he’s still alive as Joe Ford.
Um he he didn’t even know how impactful he was to me. I just loved how he
carried himself. I loved how he talked to people. I loved how he remembered people’s names. I loved how he
appreciated the the secretary to the the valet. I mean, I just watched him and
I’m like, you know, I was book blessed. He was vice chairman of Augusta National and he invited me to go with him one
weekend and I didn’t know what to expect and it had actually snowed that that night and so you know we get there and
I’m like we’re not going to play golf you know there’s snow on the ground but it warmed up. M we were the only people on the course. But just watching how he
interacted and how he respected everybody from the groundskeeper to the waiter to the general manager to the to
the other executives that were there in the room. Just I mean I just remember I want to be like him, you know. So I you
know I I kind of hope I hope I’m a little bit of a role model for my kids. Um I know their mom is. Um and I and I
hope that they find other role models. You know, I hope some of my friends that I think highly of that my kids can look
at them and emulate, you know, look, why is he successful? What makes him successful? Why does he have the drive
that he has? And um because my kids have the opportunity and I see them already
starting to climb that little opportunity ladder and in their own way. It’s like we said, I don’t know what my
kids will end up doing. Mhm. I just believe they’re going to end up doing something really cool and that’ll be on
them. Yeah, that’s awesome. Um that that reminds me I’ve always been told, you
know, every relationship is like a bank. Um you got to put in as much as you withdraw, you know. Um some of these
relationships that people uh always take take take from you. It’s never really uh
a two-way street where you can kind of reciprocate growth, right? But if you make sure that you’re, like you said,
giving or understanding or learning or these people that you put around at your at your table um do the same thing for
you or would do the same thing for you because they’ve molded you, right? That’s that’s the ultimate definition of
a relationship. It is. You know, it’s funny you talk about again growing up in Arkansas, all my friends are there. So,
I moved to Dallas. I didn’t have any friends. You know, you make all new friends. Spent my whole life there. and and I just went back from my brother’s
wedding and and um got to be around some of the guys I grew up with and it it’s like we we we hadn’t missed a beat and
if you remember earlier I told you you know so you you made the analogy of putting money in the bank and it’s it
goes back to my kids if I if I said what was our our theme at the end of games they would say tell me what you think
putting money in the bank and uh but it’s true about a lot of things you know you you you put a lot into a friendship
you should get a lot back and uh Um, I put a lot into my friendships growing up and they’re still there,
which is cool. Yeah, 100%. Do you uh you drink alcohol at all? I do, but not much. Um, uh, you know, have a glass of
wine. You know, I didn’t drink at all. Well, I’ll say that. We didn’t really have alcohol in the house growing up with the kids. And then, you know, now,
um, it’s just I don’t drink a lot, but I’ll have a glass of wine here and there. Mhm. Wine, beer. You just
answered it, but wine, beer, whiskey. I don’t do beer. I don’t whiskey. I’ll do tequila. Um but tequila’s kind of been
my sneaky one because um I’ll get like a a reposado and I’ll get a big rock in in
a topico and while everybody else is drinking I’ll drink one drink a whole night cuz I’ll just keep filling my
drink up with topico and that’s what pays attention and and so no I’m not a real big drinker and I like to be in
control. Yeah. Which might be bad but um I never want to be where I’m not in control. Does that bring memories back
to when you were younger? Is that the reason for that? No, I I No, I just I like I like being in
control. I I I um I’ve seen my dad sloppy, you know,
and that that was hard. Um but he was a functioning alcoholic. Um, no. And I
think too is, you know, I also want to be I don’t want I want to be smart, you know, and being smart is not not getting
a DWI, not getting into a fight, not saying something, you know, because you were drunk. I mean, that’s no excuse.
Yeah. 100%. And, uh, my kids are that way. I mean, kids have fun. Mhm. But, um, I think they’ve learned how to how
to have when to have fun and when not to have fun, too. Mhm. You What kind of music you got in the car? Music? Yeah.
You’re going to laugh. I don’t listen to music. Really? Yeah, first one. First one to date. You’re like the 50th
episode. I got I kind of my mind’s always going. So, um, you know, I’m a little bit ADD. I’m always thinking. I’m
always figuring things out. I’m always looking at, well, what about that? How can I do that better? You know, you were
bringing housing and talking about finishes. And while you’re talking about it, I’m sitting here thinking about that fireplace mantel and did I have it the
right height? I mean, yeah, I’m always thinking that way. I love country music. Mhm. Um um one of my good friends is a
rock star and um I like his music and but John Majovi. Okay. And not name
drop, but he’s uh I met him during the Arena Football League. He had the Philadelphia team that he was the owner
of and then of course our family owned the Desperadoo. And um he and I got to
be weird as we got to be really close friends. It’s like he’s a super smart
guy. He’s an amazing marketing mind. He’s really smart and he’s great businessman and we just got to be really
good friends and um and he’s also a rock star so it was weird but he he called it
wearing his monkey suit um buddy suit. I said monkey buddy suit and I’ll tell that quick story. We’re in ESPN and uh
we’re up there meeting with the Arena League and ESPN to broadcast our games and he had to go do a meet and greet for
all the ESPN employees in their lunchroom. And he was he said, “Man, hang back with me.” And I’m like, “I’m
going to go back to He goes, “No, no, no, no. I’ll take you back ride back with me. I I got to put my bunny suit on. I’ll be right back.” And he walked
off and I’m like, “Bunny suit?” And um he he comes back and as he’s walking up
to me, he he like he grabbed his tie, like top of his tie, then unzipped himself, although he didn’t do it. He
just did it and then kind of act like he’s climbing out of it. He goes, “All right, let’s go.” And I said, “What the
hell was that about?” And he said, “Man,” he goes, “I don’t like being a rock star, but I know that’s what people
accept expect of me.” So I had to dress up in my mind in my mind. That’s cuz he
had to put his moneyuit on his rockstar outfit. And uh but he’s he’s a good man. It was a mental transition he had to
make real quick. Yeah. And you know, I’ve been with him before concerts and you know, we’re sitting there talking about life and kids and he’s got an
amazing family. He’s got he’s in business with uh his his oldest son.
They have that Hampton’s Wine, but um you know, but you know, he sits there talk to you and then then he’d have to
put on his mindset of going to be a rock star and get up there and perform. And he’s amazing. Amazing talent. Amazing.
You know, it’s funny. I go to um I’m an artist as well, so I like not a musician
but paint. Um so I go to gallery shows and stuff like that. Talking to people,
talking to them about my artwork, whatever. The dog and pony show of being around people is a different completely
different environment. You know, for me it’s not something I necessarily look forward to. Um it’s draining. Mhm.
Um I feel like there is a certain level of um shallowess with a lot of that
conversation. Um and I really sometimes really like to uh divulge into
like deep conversations with people. Like if they if they really want to get into something, talk about process or
whatever, I can really kind of nerd out when it goes to that scenario. But then everything else becomes, you know,
surface level. Mhm. And when you go for hours of surface level, it’s draining for me. You know what I mean? Uh when
you said put on the bunny suit like that, I just I don’t know why I reflected to that moment of sometimes I feel like I step into something that’s
not me for a couple of hours, you know, and then every, you know, 10th person or
something you’ll have a real true conversation with somebody, you know, but it’s that’s that uh that really made me reflect on on my own part of my life
right there. Um because there’s a lot of reality to that quite honestly. Uh because you really just want to be
yourself sometimes and hang out with your kids or sit on the back porch with your wife and watch a sunset or you know
do something simple. My favorite thing right now in life is um is working out with my kids. You know my son, youngest
son I work out every day together um most days when he can get off work. um I wait on him to come down and then we’ll
go hit the gym and uh hang out and work out and and um that’s again you’re going
to get that experience and that joy and you know I just as a dad advising you just um and I told this to one of my
buddies the other day I said you know stop treating your son the way you’re treating him right now and he was like
what do you mean I said when he was a baby did you get down on all fours and go gaga goooo gaga goooo and he goes
Well, yeah. I said, “All right, he’s 17 now. Get on his level. Look at him like
a 17-year-old. Talk to him like a 17-year-old. Not like you’re his dad. If you want to have a relationship with
him, cuz you were going to have no relationship with him when he was an infant and you’re screaming at him or talking in a deep voice. You’re just
scaring the kid. Get down there and be with him.” Yeah. And he was like, “Wow.” It’s changed. It’s changed him. I
remember when my kids turned 13, 12, 13, 14. Um, we went from spending like all
the time in a living room together watching shows and TVs and all a sudden like they started drifting towards their rooms and I was like, ah, this is
brutal. Like I hate this, you know, quite honestly like I I really want to spend more time with them. So, how do I do that? And I started talking to my
wife about it and I was like, you know, they go get on these games, they get on these headsets and they just disappear, you know, for hours. So, I told her, I
said, I’m going to buy one tomorrow. And she goes, okay. So, I went and bought an Xbox. I went and bought a headset,
downloaded their games. I got on and started playing their games so I could get on the mic with them and talk. And I
just I was like I wasn’t good. I got better as I was doing it, but it was like I wanted to wherever they were at
at whatever level they were doing, I just wanted to jump into that, you know? And so, um, you’re you’re exactly right.
Like what, you know, when you’re talking to them as a baby, that’s what they do. When you’re talking to them as a 17-year-old, what do they do? Right.
Um, you know, it’s it’s about that connection. I also play this game called Pass the Phone, right? And so, um, we’ll
all be sitting in a circle, uh, listening to music and I get two songs,
you get two songs, you get two songs, you get two songs, we pass this in a circle. That way, you can hear what I
love. You can hear what moves me. You can hear the things that I have passion about. I can hear yours. I can
appreciate those. I can do that without without all going, “Yeah, I’m uh you know, that’s this new music is terrible
nowadays or whatever. Your music’s terrible.” Well, that just tears them away because it’s that’s what they’re experiencing at the moment, right?
That’s what they feel. Um, and so I want to connect with what they feel and why they feel that. And I also want them to
connect with what I feel and why I feel it. The best part about that is now my children are now passing songs to their
friends. You know, they have these um these Spotify, you know, channels on there that they’re Hey, listen to this
one. It’s like all my songs that I told them about, you know, and it’s it’s really cool, you know? It’s like, but you have to connect. You have to just
break outside of your shell. Like, yeah, you may be you and you may think that you’re doing the right thing for everybody, but man, open up. Like, hear
somebody. Mhm. You know, what what’s their life like, you know, connect just,
you know, it doesn’t have to be the way you’ve seen it and the way you’ve processed it and the way you’ve done all these things. And then I expect you to
rinse and repeat what I’ve done. It’s like you’re going to live your own life and you’re going to do your own thing. I
should be able to insert where I can but also just be present, you know, be
human. Be human. Yeah. And I u I hope my you know my kids, my friends, everybody
I made made mistakes. I’ll make mistakes going forward. I mean I always tell in
guidance there’s not just one way to do something. There’s a bunch of ways to do
something. So it doesn’t have to be your way. So figure out a way where you allow
it to be y’all’s way or their way. You’re going to get the the better result if if they feel like they’re
doing it their way to get the result you want anyway. Yeah. And uh just like when
I leave here, I mean, there’s a bunch of different ways I can drive home. Might not be the way you drive, but I’m going to get home. Yeah. Well, I think last
thing before I close out right here, you got a picture on the bottom down there. You want to speak to that a little bit? Um well, you know, really you asked me
to bring a couple things and uh I think one of the things you said was, you know, what’s really important to me in my life and and it’s my three kids and I
uh I made all decisions, some very difficult decisions, not decisions in my
best interest to me personally, but I made decisions for my kids and they were
decisions for the better. Um, and then, you know, as I’m I look at the youth
sport picture that I have down there, um, that’s me teaching my son and as an example, how to get off the ball, how to
how to get off fast so you can beat the opponent. Mhm. It started at an early age as you know teachings you know and
then as I look at him most proud I am probably the most proud moment that I’ve
had with Paxton was when he uh his senior night when he ran out on the football field down there at the
University of Texas and came out his little 86 and he came over and he hugged his mother and then he turned over and
hugged me and and uh told me he loved me and it was special. Yeah, it’s pretty awesome. hell of an accomplishment. It’s
one that I didn’t do. So, it even made it that much better to see him do something that I regretted that I didn’t
do. But that regret I can’t dwell on because it allowed me to coach and teach
my son on how to accomplish something beyond his dream. Yeah. The butterfly
effect. Yep. Your choice caused another choice. That’s right. Pretty amazing.
Well, Sha, I tell you what, man. This has been uh a really great conversation for me. I’ve I’ve had such a good time
talking to you. Um you’re a super humble guy who um it seems like has all the
right things in place. Um and I know no one’s perfect and I’m not putting it in that light, but what I am saying is like
I appreciate your spirit and I appreciate who you are as a person. And uh thank you so much for for coming on the show with us. I really appreciate
it. And uh until next time everyone. Shai, that’s the blueprint.
