Shaquille O'Neal On Business | Be Better Off Show
Hello, everybody. And tonight, Saya and I are going to be teaching you how to do the Shaq dance. And everybody stand up. Here are your instructions, so At the start of it, you're going to do improv, so whatever you would like. And then when it says Maniac, you guys are going to run on the spot. And then for the second maniac, you turn to the side.
And then you do a full spin. And then the wave sideways. And then the wave sideways.
Hello, Give it up for the girls again. the girls did an amazing job. You guys were terrible.
I'd like to give a big Sydney welcome to Dr. Shaquille O'Neal. It's incredible to have you here tonight. I really appreciate you making the time. And I hope to ask you some questions about business and your incredible career. I have a bone to pick with you.
Yes. You should be ashamed of yourself. I'm sorry. How are you married to a 19 year old wife? She asked me tonight, Doctor. She's just out of college. Yeah. Did she look okay?
What do you think? She looks fabulous. All afternoon Shall I wear this? Does that look okay? And I'm like, yes. Look at her. Not a day over 21. I'm so glad you noticed, I should start.
I thought it was your daughter When you say wife, you are married to a kid, what are you doing she was a genuine child bride. Now, we should start with the important things. People that know me well know that I love shoes.
And so tonight, I thought that the two of us should, you know, match. Can we just do a little, a little bit of a shoe show? there you go guys. Now, if you don't have a pair of Shaq Reeboks, I commend them to you.
They're very comfortable and they look amazing. So thank you. Thank you. Now, the other thing that I wanted to get in terms of housekeeping up front, I always loved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and that golden ticket. Now, our friends from Upstreet who allow us to give all of our people shares in our company did something very special tonight, and they made a 1000 US dollar gift to Dr. O'Neal. So to officially make him a Kelly partner shareholder.
So I'd like to give that to you, sir. Don't you mean $1 million? I wish. You could just. Wish I was going to do the black on black version one million dollars just checking Now we are talking the real league To start at the beginning, which is a great place to start. You grew up in Brick City, which you shared with me. Newark.
Newark, New Jersey. Yes. Your father was a drill sergeant. The three big values, the big ideas that he left you with, could you share them with us? One is respect.
Respect yourself, respect your family, respect others. Two is pride. You know, I was ashamed of being the tall guy because, you know, as a tall guy, they expect you to be a great basketball player. And when I first started out, I wasn't that great. And then, you know, the last the last one was just represent represent your family, represent your craft, represent who you are as a person.
And when it's all said and done for me, as a matter what I invest in, or how many shares or what companies or what I own, I would like people to say Shaq was a nice guy. When I'm no longer on this earth. I want people to say Shaq was a nice guy Yeah, that's great advice. And as I was reading about you, you were this enormous young man. And at one point, you thought that you're a bully to a boy.
there was a big fight And he had a, um, a seizure or something. So to overcome people looking at me and laughing at me and I mean, your son had a good conversation about criticism criticizing me. I became a bully, you know, because as a bully, people fear you.
When they fear you, they don't say whats on their mind in front of you anyway. So one time and that incident and I almost took this boy's life and from that day on from 12 or 13 years old, I had to change my life. Because when you grow up on a military base, you know, the military have their own rules. But, you know, because, you know, my father was well known and the kid didn't pass away.
The guard took me on the tour to the jail and said, if this kid would have passed away, this is where he would have been. And, you know, my dreams like people always talk about wealth. To me, wealth was being able to buy my mother and father stuff that they could only dream about.
I told the story of that, the sit down yesterday. Oh, one day my mother and I was riding through a really nice neighborhood and she just stopped and pulled over and looked at this house, small house wasn't even a big house my house is 76,000 square feet. So I have a really big house. So just looking at the house and you know, it's something that she was a secretary about only maybe 40,000 a year dad made $40,000 a year so 80,000 year in a house with two parents and five children doesn't really go very far. They learn to stretch and, you know, make it go far. But just to see her dream and look at that house, I knew that I had the opportunity to make a lot of money playing the sport that I love.
So at that point, I said, You know what? Not only do I want to be wealthy or what, I want to be able to get her stuff that she would she wouldn't be able to get on her own. So it was goal setting. A big part of of your early life. Did you look at where you were and have a clear idea where you wanted to go? Yeah. I call it I call it dream full attraction, similar to the laws of attraction. I would just dream about stuff that I wanted to do.
And, you know, at the tender age of 50, everything that I've wanted to do has come true. You don't have to just be sitting in my room on punishment watching the movies. And man, I would like to be a be a movie star, seeing Dr.
J and Magic Johnson run up the court and people would just marvel over the talent. Man, I would like to be a big star like that. I would like to do this. I would like to do that. And when you grow with a drill sergeant, they prepare you on how to get things done. When you grow up with a drill sergeant, you're not allowed to quit, not allowed to get down on yourself.
So which is hard to swim across this lake. And I didn't make it the first time. I'm coming back tomorrow. And if I made it to this point, I'm trying to make it to this point at this point.
And then one day I'll be able to just swim across this with ease. So you never give up. You know, a lot of people, you know, want instant gratification. But for us, the real workers, we have to start from the bottom.
And was it always, like you mentioned, your drill sergeant father? It was persistence. Never give up. What was it about him? He never allowed me to quit. You know, he he was he was a high level juvenile delinquent, joined the military.
The military taught him discipline and honor and integrity. And he wanted me to be better than he was. So he knew that I had the potential to become a great basketball player. So he made sure that I became a great, basketball player. Now, when I was researching your life, I saw this great love of your mom.
You talk about how you just wanted to make your mum proud. You wanted to buy her a house and and be a good son. Is that accurate? That's very accurate. You know, woman wake up.
Iron all our clothes, cook a hell of a breakfast. Get us ready. Drop us off at school, go to work, come home, take a 30 minute tea break, prepare dinner and never complain. Never take a sick day.
So I just wanted to be able to just, you know, say one day you don't work anymore. How much were you making? $40,000? Here is $400,000 a year tax free for you. I love you. Just wanted to be able to do that. And I've I've done that and more. But, you know, that was.
That was my goal. So when you get to L.A., to the big break, they you sign a $120 million seven year contract.
Now, because of my background in accounting, I think to myself, how does that actually roll? I've seen a video where you say you're you open this this contract package and you see all of the zeros. I see all of the zeros. Zero that only one could dream about. And it was a great opportunity to not only make a lot of money, but become part of the legend, become part of folklore. When I arrived at the arena, the forum J West sat me on a chair similar to this and the lights came on and all the retired jerseys there.
And the great Jerry West says one day, if this is done correctly, your name could be up there. You know, my name is up there, you know, among all the great players. But, you know, when you have a great, great Laker player, believe in you like that.
You have to believe in yourself. So, you know, because he said that I knew I was on my way, but I knew that with that it would be a tough task and I would have to win championships Started off rocky We lost the first four years, but then when Phil Jackson joined us, we were able to knock off three in a row. Was there anything that you learned from Phil Jackson that you've been able to apply in business? And if you. Learned that Sage is the cousin of weed, like, he would come in every day and we'd do these chants and the room would get you high. But he he taught us about not only muscle memory, but mental memory. We would do the same thing every day, right? So the first first hour we'd meditate and the second hour we walk through the place for hours walk through, walk through, walk through, and then we practice.
And then we did the same thing every day. And as we were meditating, he would he would tell us to go to our happy place. And my happy place was being able to buy my parents anything they want. So at times when it when the moment of truth came and, you know, people panic, he told us not to panic. And if you practice that and you get the muscle memory of not panicking when the moment of truth comes, you will not panic. So even in the Western Conference finals, we were down by 15 in the fourth quarter.
And if we lose this game, we have to start all over. Guys didn't panic. We were able to turn the switch. And then win the game and move on to the finals.
Have you ever lost an amount of money in a deal that made you panic? No. Because before you succeed, you must first learn to fail and most of the deals that I get to get into are the ones that I bet. So if I make a mistake, I learn from that mistake. Because when you grow up with a drill sergeant, your program not to make two mistakes in a row. Investments can be risky.
And sometimes if you don't do your due diligence to its full potential, you can miss certain things. So invest and I've I've lost some money. But, you know, when you do your due diligence and you know, you're preparing yourself and you have smarter people around you.
I've also had some great deals. So in the NBA, 65% of NBA players end up broke within five years at the end of their career. Why aren't you one of them? Because if I do that, the big house that I bought, my mother, she loses it. And I can't have that.
So I had to learn about financial literacy, to learn about I had to take what I learned from basketball and apply the teamwork structure to my business. And you always need great partners and great people around you, smarter people around you. So, you know, when I get approached with a business deal, if I like it, then it goes to level two.
My guys, you know, I don't like this one like this. I don't like this, this is a panel for five or six guys Danny Reshi, Marc, Jerome, Mike. So if the panel is positive, I say we like it.
Then you go to phase three and I get it to the lawyers and it goes to phase four, the final talks and then the last stage. How much was the return on the investment? Boom, boom, boom. That usually works like that. So if you can get the stage five, we could become partners. So it's incredible that you've been able to avoid the situation that has faced so many professional sports people in NFL. It's it's much higher.
It's even higher. It's even higher. Terrible. You know, a lot of times we we don't apply simple math. You mentioned 124 seven, but at the Texas it's only 5960. Yeah. So I wanted to ask you, if you get paid 120, do you pay 20% to your manager.
No not that much, 4% to the agent, 10% to the manager. Okay. I think 5 to 10% to a business manager.
But that's not the where the chunk goes. A chunk goes to the government. So I used to get all my money up front. So the first year when I received 20 million, it was ten nine.
And I spent most of that and one year being irresponsible because, you know, I had some money in the bank and I wanted to have some fun. So I bought a house cash. Three, 3 million, bought a couple of Rolls-Royces, took a couple of trips.
And then my my accountant reminded me, he said, you know you just spent half your checque? And I wasn't even thinking about fica and tax, like, no i didnt. It's been about six million. And then he reminded me that, oh, the government gets 49, 50%. So after that I didn't make that mistake, but I had a nice big nest egg from Orlando and all my endorsements.
So every now and then it's it's okay to splurge and have fun. But, you know, the guys at that are are in the 65% of being broke. They just every day. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And for me, it's not an everyday thing.
That you've talked about ownership that at you got to a point when was a point where and how did you learn that you needed to own businesses and assets and build a future? Because you have to realize that nothing lasts forever. And the average player in the NBA goes 5 to 7 years as the average player, the great ones can go ten, 11, 12, 15, 19, 20. But I knew that when I would retire, probably be in my early forties and still have a lot of life left. And I wanted to start a business.
The way I learned business was a gentleman gave me a book, The Dummies Guide to Starting Your Own Business. I tried to buy one to bring to get you to sign it, but I couldn't find one anywhere. And when I was reading, it wasn't for me with anything, but it was a chapter that really picked my interest. Joint ventureships, for example, if I was to start an accounting firm in America, that's when I would call you. Yeah. I'll think about it.
And our business deal would be I would do this profits were they split, and the only thing I would have to worry about is making sure I get the return on my investment. You are the accountant. Yeah. You already have 30 firms.
Here's what I know. You know what you're doing, so that's the best way to do it. Then I could probably say I own an accounting firm, but I'm not really doing all the work.
So joint venture groups and partnerships are important. For example, when I wanted to start a shoe company, I would love to start a shoe company, but I can't manage factories in China and this and that. But Reebok, who already has that structure, do a joint venture ship with them.
Shek and Reebok. And you know, like I said, my my business deal is okay. What are you going to pay me with all my royalties, this and that, distribution price point, all that stuff. I could focus on that as a single individual. A lot of guys go broke when they try to do things they're not capable of doing. Good. I have a shoe factory.
Yes, but not going to have the infrastructure to fly back and forth to China and play basketball and do all the things. So all my business deals are joint ventureships. It's amazing. And you've mentioned this teamwork idea that you learned and that you use now is a video where you talk about if you had a law firm, you'd implement your teamwork idea.
What what is that idea? So in the city I live in Atlanta, you have a bunch of individual lawyers that are great. I know for a fact I can get them together and we can create a powerful forum. I would give them an infrastructure and I would give them a building, a building. I will make them offer.
They couldn't refuse. I will have one of the most powerful law firms in the country. But it's not a law. But it's it's well known that in order to have a law firm, you have to be a lawyer. So I thought about going to law school many times.
Now, I love your commitment to education. You're your drill sergeant. Father, I believe, said you need to finish your education because if anything goes wrong, you need to be able to look after yourself. But you went on, you did a bachelor degree, an MBA and a doctorate in education. So I left in, I graduated in 92 and I was doing a lot of things, but my parents still didn't have the full smile like you promised us you would go to school.
So I got my bachelor's in 2000, but I noticed that every time I go to a business meeting, the guys who were doing deals will be like, Hello, Shaq, how are you doing? And then they were turn away and look at my lawyers and my accountant and all those guys. I said, Oh, you guys don't think I'm in charge? You guys don't think I understand the lingo. So I went and got my masters from the University of Phoenix. University of Phoenix is an online program mostly, but I went to the head officials and said, I don't want to do it online.
I want somebody to teach me in a class. And they came back and said, Unfortunately, we can't set up a classroom for one guy. You need 15 people. So I paid for 15 of my friends to get their masters. That's so good. That's a great story.
And and shows you entrepreneurship and then getting things done that you've demonstrated so many times. How did you come to do a PhD in education? Well, my mother came to me after I received my master's. She was crying. And her my father, like we were so proud of you.
And, you know, we don't have any doctors in the family. So. Oh, here we go again. So I did it.
But, you know, not for, like I have a doctor of education. It was more for a title, title for my kids, title for other kids that are looking up to me because, you know, you can always say get an education, but it'd be nice to show them like, this is what I did when I say good education, this is what I mean. And so I like to, you know, show examples.
a lot of people can tell you what to do. Well, I like to show and tell you. What to do. Yeah. And what was the did you do a thesis in it or was it called.
Yes, the duality of humor and seriousness and leadership styles. I was anxious to see which leader was more effective. The humorous guy such as myself. Well, the serious guy like you. You look kind of serious. So what I realized in doing the research is that no one individual can be a 100% one way we modulate doing, you know, certain circumstances.
My leadership style is 70 / 30 I'm 70% humorous, 30% seriousness, which is very effective. And I've I've when I was interviewing the people from Apple, the founder that passed away was Steve Jobs. Yes. Steve Jobs. They said he was 90 / 10, 90% serious and 10% humerous. both can be effective. You can win championships.
But if you want to win multiple, multiple championships, it's good to add humor in the workplace. But you have to modulate, like I can say that, I can say a certain joke around the fellows that you can say around the female. So you just have to modulate, just have to be be careful. But you know, the guys that work for me, I try to try to energize them by always doing something humorous. Like, for example, if the guy messed up and I'm going to say you mess up one time, you're going to be working in Czechoslovakia. Yeah.
That's funny, right? Yeah. And this. Yeah, I say if you want to work from home, you can work from India. Yes. Which is good too. Can I ask you a personal brand? You were told and I picked up through all the research I was doing on you I love this trade of you if somebody tells you that you can't do something, you don't respond well to that you like to prove them wrong. Yeah. You know, I was having a conversation with your son.
You know, he has a question of what if they? Well, they don't exist to me. You know, they say I can't do it. I just say, okay, we'll see, and I'm going to do it. We'll just, you know, make sure it gets done.
Even if I fall nine times and would get up and, you know, just keep doing it. Keep trying it. You know, when I first was learning about branding, you go into these firms and say, we're going to do this, we're going to do is going to do that.
I said, No, we're not going to do that. We're going to do this. So, you know, when it comes to the Shaq brand, it's all about fun. It's all about making people laugh and making people have a good time. You see a lot of people that portray a character and at some point it catches up with them. With me, what you see is what you get.
And even if I do happen to make a mistake, I'm one of the kids and parents to go, We're not going to do that. We're going to do something different. I never portray myself as being perfect. I never portray myself as being better or holier than thou, because as men, we all put our pants on the same way. We all work hard, we all have wives and children.
We all do the same things. some people just have a little bit more success, but because you have more successful than me and accounting doesn't mean that you're better than I am as a man. So I treat people as I expect them to treat me. Whether you're a homeless guy or a wealthy fellows like, you know, me and you, I treat people with honor and respect. So in your in your when you started and I said big men don't sell.
And and I could see the determination that that you then pursued that with was a deliberate in terms of personal branding to say there's a lot of excellent sports people who don't behave that well that are a bit arrogant. Did you turn around and say, Oh, I'm going to be deliberately humble and deliberately nice and deliberately funny. I have to be myself this is who I am. Yeah. You know, again, I'm. Not maybe a better athlete then you, but that doesn't mean I'm a better man than you.
Look, I know for a fact these people are way smarter, and I accept that. And I understand and I enjoy them and I like that. So when I did a marketing project in school, you know, my project was simple because, you know, the professor said, present me something that can be sold in the future. So I already had the Shaq shoes, Shaq, shirt, Shaq, underwear, Shaq tank tops, Shaq everything. And, you know, he kind of embarrassed me in class and he was like, I see you put a lot of thought into this, Mr. O'Neill, but big guys don't sell.
And he was correct because at that time only two guys were on TV were Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and Michael Jordan was coming. No big guy out of commercial, no big guy had anything. So I went back into my room, be like, How can I be different? And I kept saying, this dumb dog, Spuds Mackenzie, right? He had his commercials were funny. Then I go to the store and we have cups and we have t shirts and he had this and he had that, all the things that I wanted. So I said, okay, if I ever get the opportunity to, to show myself to the world has to be a lot of humor in all my commercials.
So every commercial you see I've design written and because I know how I want people to see me. And it's worked incredibly well. Worked very well. I'm here talking to you. which is cool But it's a natural part of who you are.
Like, I've seen the footage with the kids. We've got a few kids here tonight, but I think they all you guys said you didn't want to meet Shaq, is that right? No, no, But I don't like kids anyway, so it's good. Yeah, that's good. You put, you put, you put. It's a natural part of who you are.
I've watched you playing career. I've seen the business side of it. It just seems to come very naturally to you.
Was that was it your mum? Because if your dad was the drill sergeant, where does the humour come from? I was a class clown. I like to make people laugh as again, you know, I thought I stopped being a bully. I said, how can I get people to like me? Make them laugh? Everyone, everyone loves humor and when it comes to talking to children, I know I'm that portal.
What I mean by the portal is they see a superstar. They see a superstar they can touch. I just want to have a conversation with them with a lot of superstars. But I want to be the guy that, you know, your son asks a question. And if you listen to what I said, I know you're you're proud of him.
But if you listened when I said you're going to be super proud of them, because what I said was very important. It doesn't matter what other people say, it matters what mummy and daddy says. Yeah.
Because you guys created them and you guys can help them get to the next level. And you guys are setting a good example, founder, co-founder and you guys have the answers to the tests to a lot of people have to search and this and that and feel that you guys already have the answer to the test So if we listen to you, sky's the limit for the young man. Both of them and your beautiful young daughter. Yeah, I appreciate it. When you think about your future having done so much, what are the goals that you're setting in the big dreams that you have for the next 20 years? Marry a 19 year old.
I like you. That's highly recommended. Some more babies. Yeah. sail the seven seas.
Just continue to travel. Continue to, you know, make people happy and have fun and live my life. So legacy the thing you want to be remembered as a as a as a nice guy. I know you'll be remembered as a funny guy. My legacy here is I want people to recognize me as Shaqadile Dundee a.k.a the black kangaroo.
And can I and I can I ask you, I loved your Brick City medallion. When did you get that made? What inspired you and who did it? This is where I'm from. And jeweler.
And it made for me. It's just, you know, to represent where I'm from. So rough area. Yeah, very rough area. I'm from the projects of Newark, New Jersey, and I was very influential tearing those projects down and building condos and mixed-use housing and mixed use development. But I'm just, you know, very proud.
A lot of young, young men don't don't make it past the age of 20. So I was very, very fortunate. And the work that you did there in the property development, you mentioned that it was about showing a different vision or what was your thinking there? So a lot of the great things that I do, I get inspiration from my mother, my father. So we after being super successful.
We'd go back to the neighborhood and it wasn't like it was when we were younger, very rundown. My mother one day said, I wish somebody would come back and help beautify the city. So again, joint venture ships like that with one of the top developers, Boraie Development. And we put a lot of money into the city, but I actually have a new skyscraper in Newark, the tallest building in the history of Newark. We have regular people living there.
We have section eight people living there. And mix use shop and on the bottom. So you want to be one of the guys to help beautify the city again.
And it's and it has it's now known as the center of the Internet in that region. It's close to New York and. A lot of business there. And, you know, my building is right across from the train tracks, so I started living in New York with the rent is substantially higher. you can live in my building, I am actually on building three now.
So, you know, a lot of people, tech people have come down and they just jump on the train, go to New York. And come back. And so how did that come to you? Was that of a friend or was it your mum and dad or was. Oh, I got the inspiration from my mother.
But, you know, I still have a lot of relatives there. So just go back and I wish there was something here which was there. Yeah. To turn this to a shopping center, you know, we don't have a movie theater. So first thing I did was build a movie theater.
You know, for the kids. Yeah. The one thing that you wish you knew when you were 18 or 15. Nothing. Nothing. Because I'm able to stop time and think about what I'm going to do and think about the outcome before I invest in this company is either going to go good or bad.
All right, let's do it. So, you know, I'm able to, you know, really think about things before I do it. So everything that I've done since have into the life of being a professional athlete so programed, it's all designed and you know, it's all done by, you know, proper thinking.
So mental health have you, you know, used your mind from the discipline of sport to think with such discipline? You know, I'm actually doing research on mental health and mental fortitude to become a great athlete, you have to have mental fortitude. Those a lot of times I wanted to break down. A lot of times I thought that I wasn't good enough. But, you know, because of the way I was raised and because of my belief system, you had to overcome a lot of things mentally. I don't really like to talk about mental health because there's a lot, a lot of factions and a lot of kattegat worries about mental health, but it is a real thing. But I'm trying to see if mental health and mental fortitude is in the same category before comment on it,, I actually thought about going back to school and get my doctorate in psychology so I could be an expert when I speak on it because, you know, mental health is real.
And when I was young, my father taught me a very important lesson on pressure. We had a game versus the New York Knicks, and I played a terrible game. So I flew home. And you said you couldn't handle the pressure.
I said he was very upset because his thing is, I am tired of you Rich brats making all this money, dude, it just scared me. I thought we were being attacked. I was with my wealth and your accounting firms.
I can get a lot of money for me and you. So he said, I'm tired of your rich, spoiled brats complaining about, you know, you can't, you know, well, you know, step up to the challenge. So the next morning we sat in my house and oh 500 this 5 a.m.. So the next morning we were riding and we're riding and we see this homeless family and we stop. I said, What are we doing here? Shut up. And he teaches me that, you know, pressure is when you don't know where your next meal is coming from.
So you made $100 million playing this game. I want to hear about your game. The pressures. You have no pressures. This is pressure. Get out.
So what do you mean, get out? Get out, get out the car. And as I approached the family, I knew his mission was for me to help the family get off the street today. So talking to the to talk to the husband, father, I said, hey, I'm Shaq I know who you are, your dad he takes care of me. He brings us clothes, bring us food. He is a great man. I appreciate them very much.
I had certain means that my father didn't have a certain connection, that he did not, and my father knew exactly what he was doing. So I'm talking to the man and man. I just, you know, I put in a couple of applications or just came on some hard times and then I'll be there. I'll be there. So you need a place to stay? Yeah, they place to stay.
hold on, hey, John, you still got those apartments? Yeah, you got a three bedroom? Yeah. How much is the rent? 3000. Hold on. 12 times 3 = 36000 So I will write you a cheque for 30,000 on the three bedroom today. All right. Well, so I told the guy said, I got you a place to stay.
No, I insist. I don't want you to stay on the street. And it was him, his wife, his daughter. The son said, We got to get you.
I need some furniture and a guy going to come in, you know, some furniture or whatever you want. just put it on my tab, Boom Boom go! so now my son, that's okay. I got them in place. Think I'm the furniture guy in the TV's now. I got to give him some income. I don't want to just.
You know, I. Don't want this guy to rely on me. So what do you like to do? He said man I could do anything. Whatever. Cut your grass.
You like to cut grass? Hey Mark, you still got the lawn service yeah? You got room for an extra guy? Yeah, I got room for an, ok I got a guy he going to be there Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Make sure he gets a job, whatever, whatever. And this guy came back two years later. He had his own lawn service company. So I hired him to do my house in Orlando and he was doing my house for a long time. I had to let him go because I sold my house in Orlando.
but he's super successful. You know, we still talk every now and then. But I learned that pressure is when you don't know your next meal is coming from. So stop complaining and stop acting like I couldn't do it. And it really recharged my mental fortitude and I got to overcome it. You know, you're playing in hostile arenas and you missed a lot of free throws, but if you want to win this game and get to the next level, you got to overcome it.
No excuses. So that that mindset is really pronounced. When I look at all of the things that you've done, like the ability to change is unusual. To just say, I'm not going to think like that anymore.
I'm going to think like this. Did someone teach it to you or how did that happen? Yeah, it was talked to me by the drill sergeant. And back in those days, if you didn't follow orders, you got disciplined. So I can remember one time being the class clown. The whole dictionary's like this because I was using vulgar language have to hold the dictionaries while I sit on the wall for about four or 5 hours.
So it teaches you it may seem harsh, but it teaches you that if you do that again, that's going to be the outcome. So I actually did a perfect job of raising the standards. The standards that he was probably would be unacceptable in today's society. But every time I look up in the sky because my father passed away about eight or nine years ago, every time I look on the sky look, I says thank you. So I wanted to present you this.
It's it's one of our team members. This is Floyd the Lion, named after my dad, who died about 19 years ago, but the hand made by the oldest teddy bear company in the world in England. And one of our team members, Gary, he came up with this really special idea.
There's only 200 of them. And this is number 34 of 200. He's had his little Kelly partner's jacket taken off and we put number 34 in there, put in this beautiful box for you. And I just love to give you that as a thank you. I did think it would look amazing around your neck, on your medallion, but but maybe that's for another night.
And when you have five grandkids, maybe this could be a great present for them. Love to give that to you that this is a lion. Thank you. Appreciate it.
On behalf of everyone here tonight, I just really can't thank you enough for coming
2022-09-05 17:24
