Keontay Gaines is the Assistant Director of Student Athlete Development at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). Keontay and I met in Lawrence, KS, where we quickly bonded over a fascination of the people around us. After growing up in inner-city Baltimore, Keontay went on to play college football, build a family, and grab several degrees along the way. He is a great example of someone who did not have opportunity immediately spelled out for him, so he had to find ways to create it. From creating his own snack resale business to telling stories that inspire those around him, his timeline began to take off. 

In this conversation, we cover a bunch of topics, including: how Keontay discovered football and his biggest sports failure of his career, the most important book he read that ended up changing his life, what Keontay created (snack biz) to learn how to work with people as a kid, why being alone is super bad, and how to build yourself up by choosing the correct people to be in your inner environment. 

I was encouraged to lean further into self-belief, think less of waiting on opportunity but think more of creating it, put people around me who have a drive to love the people around them, and place a value on resilience. 

Episode Links: 
BOOKS MENTIONED
The Little Red Book of Wisdom by Mark DeMoss: https://amzn.to/44Xn8F8
The Art of Dealing with People by Les Giblin: https://amzn.to/42SgGNN
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki: https://amzn.to/3M87Bto
Letters from a Stoic by Seneca: https://amzn.to/3O9UJ8J
The Overthinking Cure by Nick Trenton: https://amzn.to/42HBCYk
Crazy Faith by Michael Todd: https://amzn.to/3BpVGlL
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell: https://amzn.to/3BpPQkn
The Way of the Seal by Mark Divine and Allyson Edelhertz Machate: https://amzn.to/3O8QbiU
You Can You Will by Joel Osteen: https://amzn.to/450speT
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