041: How Family, Faith, and Football Shaped Drew Weatherford's Career

Speaker A: Hey there. Welcome to Sandy on Talent. Have you ever been stuck in an awful job? Or maybe your current job is good enough but not great? Sandy Ogg is here to help change that. Through decades of experience as a CEO, advisor and a renowned talent expert, along with the insights from his distinguished guests, Sandy will explore ways to unleash the vast potential within individuals and teams. His goal is to help everyone achieve fulfillment, dign and success in their jobs. Whether you're leading a team or just starting out, Sandy on Talent will deep dive into an array of topics, from executive leadership to entrepreneurial success and everything in between. So buckle up and discover your own unique clique where your talent meets your dream role. Join us and ignite your journey to personal and organizational excellence right here with Sandy on Talent.

Speaker B: Hello and welcome to Sandy on Talent. Today I'm so excited to have my friend, my partner, and someone I have the deepest respect for, and that's Drew Weatherford. And so Drew, I so appreciate you taking the time to come and be on with us today.

Speaker C: Well, I'm honored and super, uh, excited to, uh, be here. There's some sort of record has been set right around how long it took

Speaker B: for us to kind of get it all, you know, organized. But we've been doing some fun stuff in the meantime.

Speaker C: Good things come to those who wait. That is one thing that I've learned in life.

Speaker B: So that's it. So I know that it's very important people are, are really interested to know more about you, Drew. So I'm going to take just a minute and introduce you to the folks that are listening in. So my guest today is Drew Weatherford, a man who's combined leadership on the football field, who has combined leadership on the football field with leadership in business. So Drew is the true representation of a scholar athlete. But Drew is a founding partner of Weatherford Capital, which has grown into central largest private equity firm headquartered in Tampa with more than 1.2 billion of assets under management and 24 platform investments. Among his portfolio, IMG Academy, one of the world's premier sports education brands and several innovative companies shaping youth, sports, government, technology and services as well. He leads Weatherford Capital's sports strategy and developed the firm's sports continuum investment approach. Drew is also the co founder of Collegiate Athletic Solutions, the first committed capital fund dedicated to strengthening the collegiate ecosystem. He serves on the boards of companies including the United Soccer League, IMG Academy, the Zebra Summit, Broadband AirX Investment Partners, Bishop Street Underwriters, Embark Collective and Coterie. Earlier in his career, Drew co founded The Strategos Group, a consultancy that provides strategic counsel across government advocacy, business transactions and public opinion. He's also deeply engaged in public service and philanthropy, having held leadership roles with state level economic development and investment organizations, as well as a founder of On Bikes, which provides bicycles to at risk and foster children during the holidays. Drew earned his BS in finance and real estate from Florida State University, his MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business.

Speaker C: Yay.

Speaker B: And of course before that, he was quarterback under legendary coach Bobby Bowden at, uh, Florida State University. Drew, I'm glad you could join. And welcome to Sandy on Talent.

Speaker C: I don't know what to say. I felt honored to be here and super cool to be able to have this conversation with you, Sandy.

Speaker B: Yeah, well, you know, you've done so much in your life, it's pretty amazing. And I'm really excited about the path that we're, you know, that we're carving together into the future.

Speaker C: It couldn't agree more. And I'd be remiss if I didn't say I think the most important accomplishment that was not mentioned was unmarried to my beautiful wife, Morgan, uh, of almost 15 years. And I have four kids. Let's go 10, eight, six and four. Two girls and two boys. And so all that stuff is great. And, uh, obviously been really active in business and philanthropy and all that kind of stuff, but that doesn't mean much if, if you don't have, uh, family, you know, so that's what I'm most proud of.

Speaker B: Yeah. And you have great energy and, and I know that your family is a very important source of, of that energy.

Speaker C: No doubt.

Speaker B: Well, Drew, I think that, you know, people, whenever you see someone who's accomplished as much as you have, people are kind of curious, like, how does somebody become Drew Weatherford? How does that happen and how does that happen?

Speaker C: You don't want to know.

Speaker B: Actually, we do. And so what I really like to ask you to do is kind of start as far back as you like.

Speaker C: Sure.

Speaker B: And kind of tell us the story in your own words of, you know, of your life and, you know, with the kind of key stops along the way and, you know, maybe people who shaped who you are, situations who shape who you are. I think everyone's very interested in that.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, I'd be happy to do so. And I think it actually, once again starts around family and not necessarily a particular person per se. As much as I think a lot of who I am is shaped by where I was situated and how I grew up. Honestly, I'm Um, one of nine kids. We were interesting. We live in Florida now. But my dad always says the first string was born in Dallas and the second string was born in Tampa. So the first five of us were born in Dallas and I'm number. Then the second, last four were born in Tampa and I'm number four. So I'm kind of. It's an interesting. When you have that many kids, which I still have a hard time imagining how someone talk about an accomplishment. I have no idea how my parents did that, but I was kind of. So that it goes. The oldest is a girl, so she was basically like a second mom. And then there are three boys. So my brother Will, my brother Sam, myself. Then there was a girl and then there were four more boys. So in some ways I was kind of like the youngest of the first batch. So it's like girl, boy and then there's another girl. So in some ways I was like the youngest of the first string of like boys.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: But in other ways I was kind of the middle child too. And both of those are kind of true, I think in just the way that I grew up. And so it was a unique upbringing in addition to being from a large family. My mom homeschooled all of us for a very long time. I think she homeschooled for over 25 years. So I was homeschooled until middle school. My older siblings were homeschooled all the way until high school. And the only reason they went to high school was ah, so that they could play sports. Back then you couldn't actually be homeschooled and play sports. And frankly I think my parents did that because they were hoping we get scholarships to play sports. And they were nine for nine actually. I take that back. The oldest did not play at the collegiate level. She was too busy being a second mother to all of us. But everyone else played Division 1 sports. Uh, so my childhood was one of very close family ties. A lot of time spent with siblings and ah, most of that time outside of school was just playing, was free play. All the other kids were in school. We were running, you know, we were running the neighborhood. You know, I mean we were all over the place. We played everything you could imagine.

Speaker B: Um, how long did you actually spend in schooling when you were homeschooled Each day?

Speaker C: Three hours. You could knock out most of the schooling in three hours. And so it left a lot of time to be outside playing. I have very fondness memories of being homeschooled. I think there are some really significant advantages to being homeschooled. There's some drawbacks, too, for sure, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world. I loved every minute of it. And what I loved most was all the time we had to, uh, be outside and to explore and, uh, play every sport under the sun. When it came to sports, though organized, the way our family operated Sandy was interesting. Where my parents logistically couldn't get everyone. We didn't have a choice as to what sport we were going to play. We were all playing soccer until we weren't. And when the older ones wanted to start playing something else, we were all playing baseball until they didn't want to play baseball anymore. And then it, uh, moved to basketball and then to football. And that's literally how I grew up. I didn't play but one organized sport at a time, and I played for a season, and then it was over. But every day I would go outside and, you know, play with my brothers, whatever the game was of the day, whether it was basketball or football or, you know, jumping on the trampoline. So I think that being from a big family, being a middle child, being someone that had to just kind of roll with the punches to a certain degree taught me a lot. Having older brothers taught me how to compete. I was tough as nails as a kid, I think most people think. And I'd like to think I'm a pretty nice guy. You know, as an adult, I was a very tenacious kid. Yeah, I just was. I was constantly trying to prove myself to my brothers and my friends. And whether that was sports or, uh, frankly, whether that was fighting, I was just tough. I wanted. That was. Part of my identity was being an athlete and being super, super tough. And a very pivotal point in my life came when Coach Bowden came. You know, we had moved from. From Texas, and so, you know, we kind of had affiliation with some Texas schools. I hadn't really picked who I was going to root for. And in Florida, you gotta. You know, you're either a Seminole, you're a Gator, you're a Hurricane. You know, back then, I was kind of the only three shows in town, and Coach Bowden came and spoke at a nearby church, and we went and we. I, uh, listened to the sermon. And I'll never forget I had a very defining moment where I told my older brother I wanted to go play at Florida State. And I'm like. I'm like 8 years old at the time. And it would have been very easy for my little brother with his will at that time. To just be like, oh, uh, whatever. But he actually really, you want to go play there? He's six years older than I am. Right. So a little wiser. And he asked me what I planned to do about it. And we talked for this is a car ride across the country. We talked about what I was going to do to make it happen. And, uh, I will always remember that because I do think there's a lot of power in speaking things into existence and a lot of power in having a goal and an objective and a dream and honestly not being ashamed to put it out there. What held me accountable to work so hard for so long was I told everybody that would listen that I was going to go play quarterback at Florida State, everybody. So if I didn't, I was going to look like a chump. So every time I ran wind sprints, I ran them a little harder, you know, and I lifted weights, I lifted a little heavier just because I felt like, you know, that's what it was going to require to get to where I wanted to be. It's interesting. So much of who I am is shaped then. Yeah, obviously when I play at a high level at Florida State and playing for Coach Bowden and starting for three years and having ups and downs was amazing. You know, I thought I was going to play in the NFL for a really long time and due to injury and some other circumstances that didn't happen. And so I had to roll with the punches. You know, I had figure out what I wanted to do, uh, with the rest of my life and, you know, had to reimagine and had to re. Kind of cast that vision and that dream for me. Which is hard. Which is really, really hard when so much of your identity is wrapped up in sport. When that, uh, yeah.

Speaker B: And a different over.

Speaker C: By the time I was 23, I was done playing sports competitively.

Speaker B: I think it's really interesting, Drew and I, I understand a little bit better now maybe why our connection. I'll never forget the first time we met and had lunch together. I felt as if I had known you for ever. It was the craziest thing I said, man, if there was ever a situation where you had a kindred spirit, this was it. And I think this thing about, you know, getting a picture in my mind.

Speaker C: Mhm.

Speaker B: And then talking about it and so on, and that you started that process when you were eight.

Speaker C: Mhm. Wow.

Speaker B: That's really something of, you know, getting this picture in your mind and then you sort of like engaging with the world on it. So many People won't engage because, well, what if it, what if it doesn't happen? Then what? Correct. And you said something to me when we were at the Masters together and thank you very much for that experience when we were at the Masters together, which is when you have played in front of a hundred thousand people, then what?

Speaker A: Mhm.

Speaker B: What comes after that? And um, what is going to match that? So by the age of 22, 23, you had this. Yeah. You had willed this thing into existence and then you're there and now you are actually experiencing what that is like. I mean you could have become really weird, you know in. And you see these people who become weird, they actually start to believe. Press clippings and all of that. And you know, I heard the phrase that success breeds arrogance and arrogance causes us to stop listening. And so therefore, you know, we're in this echo chamber that we, you know, we're believing that stuff. And then you're in decline, you just don't know it. But somehow you found a way to correct through that. How in the world did you do it? I mean, I can't even, I, you know, I never played in front of, of a hundred thousand people, uh, that transition. How, how in the world did you navigate that thing and become like, uh, you're not only normal, you're like fun.

Speaker C: It's an interesting question. First of all, it wasn't easy and I've never met someone that's played at a really high level. Doesn't matter the sport that when it's done, it's not a really challenging time because in many ways you have to come to terms with the fact that, you know, I might have been, you know, I was 19 and we won the ACC Championship. I was the starting quarterback at Florida State. You know, they had gone on this long run, you know, being in the top five for 15 years. The program was at a, uh, you know, it was kind of the modern day Alabama. And uh, you know, as a red shirt freshman, I'm, I'm starting and, and in many ways you have to come to terms with the fact that I could be wildly successful in almost any other way and I might not ever be more recognizable than I am than I was at 19. It's just a really hard thing. You know, every restaurant you walk in, every year that goes by for the rest of your life, you're less recognizable.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Even if I became one of the best private equity investors in the world, I would argue that I was probably as recognizable, if not more than, than I will be at that point. And I do. I hope that's. I aspire to be excellent at what I'm doing now, but it's just. It's really hard for athletes to not feel like their stock have been rising since I was 8. And then all of a sudden you're done, and it feels like if you have the wrong perspective, like, your stock's falling. So it really begs the question of, uh, what do you really think important in life? And although that stuff is very intoxicating and a lot of fun, uh, to compete and to have the thrills of running out in front of all those people, I think my worldview of, uh, and frankly, what I believe spiritually had a lot to do with it. And just. Just that there are more important things in life than sport. There are more important things in life than being recognizable or being a star. And those are a lot of the things that I mentioned earlier, just about family and. And being a good steward of the talent that you've been given. I think that's inherently something that we're all held accountable to, which is we're not all dealt the same hand. Uh, you know, we're not all as physically gifted as one another, but we are all given certain gifts and abilities. And at that point in my life, I just realized that, hey, I'd stewarded what I had in football as long as I could. That chapter had closed my life, and I kind of reevaluated and said, what else am I good at? Where else can I create value? Where else do I get satisfaction and all that kind of stuff? And how can I steward that really well? How can I set that new dream of playing at Florida state? I was 8 and now on, um, 23. I recognized then that I needed to have something else to go chase and something else. Another arena to compete in and to try to be great at it again. I don't think life is worth living if you're not trying to be great

Speaker B: at, uh, what you're doing.

Speaker C: And it doesn't matter what you're doing, whether that's being a husband or a father or a private equity investor, whatever that is in the context of your life, if you're not trying to be great at it. Like, what are we. What are you doing? Yeah, I don't think there's a lot to be learned, whether you achieve what you want to achieve or not. It's the journey, it's everything that you learn. Trying to become, uh, an NFL quarterback, I didn't even get there, but I gained an awful lot along the way.

Speaker B: Yeah. Well, you know, it's interesting. I have two pictures in my mind of you that make more sense to me now after hearing this story. And one of the pictures is where we're on a zoom and we're discussing whatever it was, the topic of the moment your son walked up and the look on your face was. I mean, I don't even know exactly how to describe it, but the way you looked at him and the care that you could see in his face, that he felt, this is a cared for kid. I mean, this is a cared for kid. And the look on your face was, yeah, heck yeah, this is important to me. And you didn't say a word. And I'm like, wow, that was something, you know, and, and of course I've seen, you know, uh, talk to you when you were out coaching flag football or whatever it was you were doing. So. But when I saw the two of you, I was like, oh my gosh, that's really, there's a depth to that. That is really something. And then, uh, the other thing is how deeply you care and the ferociousness that you have about the success of Weatherford Capital. And not ferocious in a, ferocious in a. I'm going to live my values through this business that kind of way and I'm going to be who I am. And I have high expectations of, um, who we are, what we do, how we do it. And you know, you're doing this with your brothers, which is pretty cool.

Speaker C: Mhm.

Speaker B: And so I'm kind of curious to hear about, you know, how you made the transition, what you started to do next. But I just want to put a point, put a pin on that. You know, you're, you're doing a couple other things that, which are, which are kind of maybe building on all of, uh, that you did. But man, there's another definition of success which has emerged here. That's right.

Speaker C: And as I listen to my self unpack my story a little bit, a lot of it does center around family. And I'm fortunate, yeah, to be building a business alongside family, you know, but it's, it's not how it started. You know, I got done playing, you know, football and uh, had to figure out what the heck I wanted to do with my life. And I wasn't sure, you know, And I'll never forget the first job I took right when I got done was a place where I had some time. And I'm grateful for the university for giving me the opportunity, but I worked for the boosters for about two years. And uh, it gave me time to think about one, to get back to the school, which is great. I love the university and what it did for me. Two, I got to meet a lot of really interesting people that were FSU alum. Um, but it became very clear to me very fast that working for the boosters felt like living in the past. And I'm like, I don't want to live in the past. I want to go build something, I want to go do something. I need to find a new arena being there and I'm grateful for the opportunity, but it felt like I was living in the past and that was a very uncomfortable place to be for very long. So I kind of, as I mentioned earlier, re evaluated what gifts and abilities and opportunities and relationships I had formed along the way and the journey and decided that the best way for me to contribute and to create value in the ways that I wanted to. I didn't want to go work for a big company. I wanted to be entrepreneurial. I wanted to be hands on, creating value for people that I worked with. I started my own strategy consulting company at a very young age. I think I was 25 years old. I was smart enough after about six, uh, months to find someone more experienced than me to partner with to actually build out a proper consulting firm. But I was able to leverage a lot of the relationships that I build to work with businesses during this time. Think about this is like 2010, 2011, the market was not very good. A lot of businesses didn't want to invest in business development resources. So I was kind of an outsourced business development, you know, strategist and on the delivery side for a bunch of different, uh, types of companies. So it really taught me, yeah, it taught me how to think strategically. It taught me how to actually create value. Like, what does that actually look like? How do you. It's one thing to put something on a piece of paper and tell someone to go do it. Like most consultants, I was actually doing it. I was telling them what I think we should do and then they were looking to me to go generate business, which gave me a great appreciation for just sales and strategy and all of that. And I'm so fortunate for that opportunity because, uh, and I'll tell you how we got into the partnership of Weatherford Capital. I eventually sell out of that business to join my brothers and starting Weatherford Capital. But if it wasn't for that experience, I wouldn't have come into this partnership on equal footing. I would have been joining my brother's firms, starting a firm with them. And if it wasn't for that kind of next right decision and being honest about what I was good at, what I would enjoy, how I could create value and just taking that step to do it, I wouldn't have been in a position to create value, to be, uh, an equal partner with my brothers in starting Weatherford Capital. So I sell out of that business in 2014 and 2015, we start Weatherford Capital and you know, 10 years later, you know, here we are. And uh, it's been really exciting and fulfilling. I don't know that it would be as much fun if I wasn't working and building something with family. I think that's a big part of why the values matter so much. The way we go about doing our business matters so much because it's not just a reflection of me as a person, it's a reflection of our family and of our parents and of uh, the way we grew up and the way, and what we were taught, you know, on the football field and baseball field and basketball court. That all really matters to me a great deal.

Speaker B: Yeah, it's interesting. The family thread is clear and I know families where there's a lot of siblings and the last thing that they would want to do is build a business together for all kinds of reasons where they were competing with each other for all sorts of stuff as they were growing up and actually competing with each other.

Speaker C: Mhm.

Speaker B: But you have found a way to work together, which I think is really interesting and something. And the other thing is every Weatherford I have met is an entrepreneur. Where does that come from?

Speaker C: That's a good question.

Speaker B: You started your own firm. Your instinct, 25 years old, I'm going to start my own firm. You don't think I'm 25 years old. You know, I've got this amazing brand. Why don't I join McKinsey? Rather than starting your own firm at 25, I mean, that's, that's amazing.

Speaker C: I think growing up the way that we grew up created a lot of agency. When you're in a big family like that, your parents can only be so involved in your life. They have to give you a lot of autonomy just by the nature of just management principles and parenting principles. And so I think at a very young age, everything from letting us explore the neighborhood, letting us sleep over at people's homes, you know, letting us go on vacations with, with other folks, letting us, yeah, just kind of be who God called us to be. My parents were always, they Were not helicopter parents. They were not. They were very loving. They were very caring. But they let us make mistakes. They let us, you know, they gave us enough rope to grow up, you know, and to take risks and to. And to be our own individuals. And so I think that was something very important to my mom and my dad and was just a part of the way that we grew up, which is very different than today, where most parents won't let their kids ride their bike around the neighborhood. I was riding my bike at the age of 10 with my older brothers, three miles to the shopping center and going to see a movie and then going to buy a pack of baseball cards and being gone for six hours. That's just the way that I grew up. And I do think instilled a bit of just self confidence and a belief that you're worthy, you know, and that you can achieve things. So I do. I think my mom was also a very, like. She was a visionary type of person. She had big ideas. She was so busy raising kids. Never got to actually fulfill those big ideas herself. But in many ways, I think those big ideas are being manifested through her kids. And I think you've met almost everyone at this point. Virtually everybody is an entrepreneur. Yeah, except my oldest sister. Wonderful. Maybe the most capable of all of us who. Her life was different. The way she grew up was very different. She is very successful in her own right, but not an entrepreneur. She was a part of the structure of parenting all these maniacs. She wasn't running around living as freely as. As we all were. And I think that might attribute to some of that.

Speaker B: Yeah. So she was like the Chief Operating Officer

Speaker C: 100%. We could never pay her enough to repair for what she did for us.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: Uh, thank you, Jackie. If you ever watch this. I love you. Thank you. Yeah.

Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Yeah, I understand better. And the one word you said there that really landed with me was agency. And where does that, you know, kind of come from? I was reflecting that on my own life and the things that my parents let us do, which was the same. I mean, it was the same. Uh, I can remember I was in. I was in high school, and there was a decision to kind of change the composition of the. Of what high school you went to because of some federal busing and, you know, some things like that. And so I was being bused now from the neighborhood, in the school that I was in, to another school. The school had no football team. And I thought that was like, the worst thing that could ever happen. It Was like, the worst thing that could ever happen. And my mom was very involved in the sort of local politics and stuff like that. And so she was involved in, you know, all of those conversations and all that sort of stuff. So I got on a bus. I went an hour and a half or two hours away. I was 16, I think, 15 or 16. And I went to the local military school for the regional military school. Walked in the front door. My parents didn't even know I was going. I went in, I met the guidance counselor, and I said, listen, I'm a good student. I'm a good athlete. I can be a credit to this school. I have no money. You should have me here.

Speaker C: And you did this because I'm assuming they had a football team.

Speaker B: They had a football team, a big one. They had a good one.

Speaker C: I would have done the exact same thing. I would have gone to any place on earth that had a football team. If my high school didn't have a football team, that would not have been an option.

Speaker B: It was just the thing. And my dad was a physicist. I never saw my dad sweat. And so football, he was happy, I was happy. Doing was not really like a big focus or interest of his. He was much more interested whether I could do calculus then. And so I come home that evening, and we're sitting at dinner, and I announced to my parents that. Because, by the way, the guidance counselor says, I've been in this job for 30 years. I have never had someone walk in by themselves. He goes, do your parents know you're here? I said, no, not yet. He said, but what I need. I need from you is to tell me I can come here. I can't ask my parents for money. So you're going to have to, you know, I know they charge. You're gonna have to figure it out. And the guy says. He said, it's crazy. You probably are a good student. I said, I am. I can tell you that. And he said, you're probably a pretty good player. I said, I can tell you that, too. That is true. You know, you can check me out you want, but I need to know whether you're gonna have me come here or not. He said, well, I'll tell you what. If you go and your parents say that you can come, I'll take a bet on you.

Speaker C: I've never heard that story.

Speaker B: That's incredible.

Speaker C: I love that. I love that.

Speaker B: And I'd get home, and my mom was not the nervous type, but she was like, you did what you're considering doing what you're going to a military school, so. And then my dad says, well, you know, he did it. If that's what he wants to do, we should support him.

Speaker C: Man, defining moment in your life right there.

Speaker B: I would have never gone to the United States Coast Guard Academy if I hadn't gone to that military school ever.

Speaker C: And you're exactly right that the epitome of that is agency. Your parents recognizing that, hey, if you really wanted something enough, they were going to be willing to do what it took to allow you to do it.

Speaker B: Yeah. And you don't get to pick your parents, but, oh, my gosh, I feel. Yeah, it was a big, big deal. Big deal. So you've built your own strategy consulting firm starting at age 25. Amazing. So you built it, sold it, which created the foundation of you being able to be a, uh, partner with your brothers in this new venture called Weatherford Capital. Also amazing. And when did you decide to go to Kellogg?

Speaker C: Great question. When I. So it's interesting. I sold the consulting business to my other partner. A lot of the clients that I worked with wanted to come with me anyways, so I had to figure out a whole separation agreement. And when we started the firm, it was kind of to pay the bills. We still did some consulting work, is the truth. And many of those clients were mine. That came over was kind of the foundation of some of that. And, you know, we did that for a couple years, kind of doing, you know, investment management. We knew is where we wanted to go, but we needed to pay the bills. We didn't raise enough money to generate management fees. You know, as, you know, we're not a family office. We came from really humble beginnings. None of us had really made a lot of money at that point. Will was in political office, you know, Sam was overseas working for a family office. And I had just sold, you know, a small little boutique consulting firm. So we didn't have a lot to, you know, speak of. But when we did that for two years, if it came, there was kind of this burn the ships moment where it was like, hey, we can keep trying to be an investment manager and hedging with this consulting business, or we can all get in the boat together and get rid of this consulting business and all work every day together to try to build what we really want to build. And we made that decision. And it was kind of during that time, that transition period, I said, you know what? You know, I didn't, uh, go to banking, right. I didn't go the traditional route to get into investment Management. I was still viewed, I think, in the market in many ways as an athlete. You know, I was, you know, played for a big school. I was still living in Florida, you know, big name id. And so people just wanted to talk to me about football, you know, and talk about sports and, you know, that was my brand and my identity, and I really felt like one. I needed to go back to business school to learn as much as I possibly could about just business, period, you know. And you know, what I love about the Kellogg program and many of these MBAs, is an executive program, is the average age was like, 45. So I'm 32. I think I'm the youngest guy in my cohort around a lot of folks that have a lot more experience. And I'm learning about accounting and, um, um, dusting up my modeling skills and just learning more about strategy and different frameworks. And I'm happy that I didn't get my MBA right out of school because I wouldn't know how. Known how to use it. I was coming back every, you know, month because it was a. I'd go for Thursday to Sunday, once a month with new ideas and things that I was using. So part of it was just raw knowledge. I was very thirsty for knowledge and, uh, be, you know, as good of a investor and business operator as possible. And then the other was. Part of it was brand. Part of it was like, I wanted people to know that I was entering into a new arena that I wanted to be the best at, and I wanted them to know I took that serious. I wasn't just playing around, you know, trying to, you know, do a couple deals. Like, I was willing to do what it took to be the best version of myself. And I felt like practically getting an MBA did that from just a core knowledge and standpoint, but also what it signaled to the rest of the market and people that knew me was, I think, very powerful, too, which is like, hey, he's not resting on his laurels. He's now living in the past. Yeah, he's got a vision, you know, and he's willing to do what it takes to be successful.

Speaker B: Yeah, this is not a football guy with a, uh, a bunch of good relationships that he's developed over time and a great personal brand. You know, this is a serious business leader and willing to invest in yourself as you make this pivot. That's pretty cool. Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, it goes back to what I said earlier. I don't think things are worth doing unless you want to be great at them. Um, and that's one of the things that I felt like would help me become great. It wasn't going to make me great overnight, but it was foundational to a, ah, great foundation to stand on and to continue to learn for the rest of my life. Yeah, I feel like it did. It created the framework by which I was able to learn at an accelerated pace, faster from that point on than I would have without it.

Speaker B: Yeah, interesting choice of words. You didn't say, uh, I don't want to do something if I can't be good at it. I don't want to do something if I can't be great at it.

Speaker C: Sure.

Speaker B: That's amazing. So here we are. And looking back now, uh, Drew, what's the worst job you ever had?

Speaker C: The worst job? It's a really good question. I would say that the worst job I ever had was actually working for the boosters, Florida State. And for one simple reason, I was living in the past. I didn't have at that point. Uh, because how it's no longer playing football, which was the vision I had for my life was pretty abruptly taken away. And for 18 months or two years working for the boosters, grateful for the opportunity. There were a lot of positive things that came from it, but I was stuck. I didn't have vision. I no longer had a clear vision for what the rest of my life was going to look like or even a ten year vision. Uh, I didn't know where I was headed and it was very unsettling. And I was resting on. I was a quarterback and I was meeting all these people that were telling me how great I was. And I remember this game and you signed this autograph and it was miserable. Honestly, it was kind of miserable. Sitting in that moment in time thinking about, I'm going to. Every person I'm going to talk to is going to be talking to me about what I used to do on the football field. But like, you know, that's not where I'm headed. And so I think that's how I would answer that. And I think I've experienced that at other moments. Not to the same extent, but when I was doing consulting work and we weren't fully bought in building Weatherford Capital, the investment manager, and we were hedging. That wasn't very much fun either. Right. Because we weren't all in, we weren't fully committed. There was a period of time, even more recent, right, where it gets uncomfortable when you're just, you're on the fence and you're not willing to take the Risk and to pull the rip cord and actually do it. And so those are kind of three examples of my journey that weren't overly fulfilling, because in many ways, I was living in the past. And in many ways, I think there is some fear associated with the risk to actually take the next best step. And then when you do, the relief you feel, the amount of energy that you get from stepping into your purpose and your true, like, identity and where you get energy that gets me really fired up. Uh, and so I know you asked for one, but those are, like, three different examples during my journey where I felt like I was. Energy was being sucked out of me because I wasn't living, you know, honestly, living out my purpose and what I felt like I was called to be doing.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I think it's really interesting, Drew, because, you know, I have been. You know, I've been really fortunate in that I've had a chance to work with primarily in different aspects of business and different aspects of investing. I have met some amazing people, and one of those amazing people, when I've had a conversation with them, they can describe to you their worst job. Uh, so I. I wrote a little paper recently called 9027. And 9027 was just basically saying that whenever I've, uh, worked on. Okay, we're looking for a chairman or we're looking for a CEO of this particular kind of situation. We're trying to find the right leader. And I get this, the assessment report back on the top three candidates. Invariably, these people are in the 90th percentile.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: They don't get to the cut. They don't make the cut to even get to the finals if they aren't great. I mean, they're. They're great. It's great talent. And then the 27 is. Why is it that 90th percentile, uh, talent are producing 27%. You know, 27% of them are successful in those jobs. And that's in a private capital setting. And in a public setting, it's dropped below 50%, sort of first time ever.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker B: Uh, great talent, lousy results. What is going on? Is it the talent? No. What it is, you know, kind of isolated. Two. Two variables there. One which you really honed in on, which is the work challenge. And the work itself. And the work itself has its own. In some cases, the work is so hard that you can't be successful.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: And sometimes the work is so unfulfilling that it doesn't feel. I don't feel challenged. I don't feel Inspired, I don't feel. And so if the work challenge doesn't interact well with that talent, that's a problem.

Speaker C: Yes, yes.

Speaker B: And it introduces risk to the talent and to the work. M. Right. Because you could say, well, gee, those boosters deserve someone who is passionate about that. So there's risk on both sides.

Speaker C: That's right.

Speaker B: The other variable, of course, is the role and the design of the role. And in that is, what about the BOSS framework? You know, do I have a path, permission, protection, you know, in what it is that I'm trying to do? And, you know, are my colleagues, uh, resistant and resentful, or are they collaborative and cooperative? This is just a little bit too hard. And then what about the team? My team just isn't talented enough. And then finally, what about. Do we have an alignment of incentives? So are we worried about how we're going to split up the dough and how we're going to, you know, all that, all of that kind of thing. And when that, uh, role design, is it then in that role design, interacting with the individual that introduce risk? Yes. And so, you know, that's where I came up with this crazy thing of role, work, talent. Click, no. Click, no. Good things don't happen. And, you know, you described and zeroed in there on. On work challenge. And so a lot of times the conditions of success are not present. And you have amazing talent that is sitting there frustrated by the fact that the conditions don't exist. Now, you were smart enough to say, gosh, this booster thing just doesn't do it for me. And think about the people, and we've met them who are, uh, now they wake up and they're 45 years old. They're still sitting in that booster job, and they're talking about, you know, when they were a quarterback at 19.

Speaker C: Wow. Not for me.

Speaker B: Not for you. Maybe for them, but not for you. So I think it's. It's really. Yeah.

Speaker C: One thing that stood out, I think, from what you're saying, is there are certain environments. Right. Work is hard. It's supposed to be hard. I mean, uh, we should all expect that. You know, nobody promised. And frankly, it wouldn't be very fulfilling if it wasn't, which is key. So thank God, work is hard. Sincerely, the only way, it's too hard. And there's some exceptions to this if you're not inspired enough to work through it.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: You know, there are certain environments where it's just like, hey, it doesn't matter how much will you put behind it. Right. And you have to be wise, you know, to call it quits or change strategy, etc. Etc. But that might be 20% of the time, 80% of the time, it's achievable. You just have to be inspired enough and most importantly, be able to inspire others around you to help you achieve that objective. I didn't get to, uh, Florida State by myself. I had coaches, I had friends. Hell, I had a receiver in high school that caught, like, 80% of my passes. You got there without him, and so all of it is challenging. So I just think it's really, really important that you're excited about what you're doing. Don't let fear get in the way of, um, decision making. We all live in a lot more fear than we would admit, myself included. We all do. We all do. And you got to get over that. And you have to be willing to step in to a role. A strategy that gets you excited. You know, there has to be humility. You got to be honest about what you're good at. Are you capable? Are you competent? Do you have the track record to actually be successful in this endeavor? But if you're not excited about it and you do have all that, you're likely going to fail.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. The crazy part about these things, Drew, is that people don't often see the risk. When you look at the work challenge, if you're not inspired, the risk goes up of you being successful. It's more risky. And the crazy part about the risk, you know, and being a math guy myself, you know, if you say, ah, all right, we start with a 0.9 talent, 90th percentile, so that, uh, you get a 0.9 talent. Well, if the work challenge is, you know, what are the chances of being successful in this work? If the work is, like, super ridiculously hard, that's risky. So you say, well, gee, what are the chances that we're going to be able to do that and get it done in time? 50. 50.

Speaker C: Right, right.

Speaker B: 70%. If it's 50, 50, that's 0.5. Now we got a 0.9 going out of 0.5. And then you look at the role and you say, well, gee, uh, the boss framework. I'm not aligned with the people in charge here. My colleagues are fighting me on this, and my team is okay, but not great now. Oh, uh, what's that? Maybe 0.7. So if you take 0.5 plus 0.7 plus 0.9 divided by 3, okay, that's not great. The worst news, they multiply. So it's 0.9 times 0.5, 0.7 times 0.5. So now you're in the 30s. So that's where the 9027. Because I kept thinking, where does this 27 come from? The problem is these risks interact with each other.

Speaker C: And so, yeah, they're compounding.

Speaker B: There's a difference between intellectual and wisdom. Intellect is. I see it. Of course you see it. But wisdom is, this is the right time. This is the right time to do it. I've got all this energy and so forth coming together.

Speaker C: Let's. Well, you say I can do it, Right. Obviously, what's inherent about leadership is there's never. It's never an I thing. I feel like that I can inspire the right team to come around, uh, to build it, to be able to make it successful.

Speaker B: So I've watched you do it. And here's the other interesting part about that, Drew, is that you have to have energy, give it to others.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: You get a lot of energy from your life and giving, but a lot of people, they withhold it from others. Or worse, they take energy from others. But the fun part is that energy is one of those resources that there's a multiple on it when you inspire others. So now it's the effort times the multiple boom. Now you get. Not a boom. You get big boom. Because, you know, you're creating the energy in other people. Well, that's the cool part about energy, no doubt. Um, so I got a takeaway for people, Drew, is if you were going to give a piece of advice to someone who's listening to this about finding their clique, I think you have found it, and you'll find more. But if you were going to give advice to someone, what would you say?

Speaker C: I think it starts with humility. I really do. I think it starts with being honest with yourself about what you're good at. Um, about what matters. What really matters to you as an individual. Not about how much money you can make, not about how much power or prestige you'll get, but, like, what really matters to you as an individual. I think it's virtually impossible to find that click and to get that boom if you don't know who you are.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: And you don't know what you stand for, and you don't know what success looks like in your life. You know, it's very easy to think, you know, but we fool ourselves, you know? So I think you really have to know. Know thyself.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: To use a biblical term.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: And. And then you also have to evaluate what life has been preparing you for. I would say what God has been preparing you for.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Know who you are, look at your life and the experiences that you have and take all of that and point it at the one thing that you want to go be great at.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: You know, and don't worry about failure or any of that stuff because that's all noise and it's all fear. And, you know, that gets in the way of so many people living a fulfilling life is just being afraid to take that chance, you know, And I, and I do believe if you know yourself and you're honest about the experience that you, your likelihood to succeed, if you're excited and want to be great at that next endeavor, goes up drastically.

Speaker B: I think that says it all. I think we're going to call it here.

Speaker C: Thank you for this is so much fun, man.