Former NFL player Jedidiah Collins discusses the importance of a strong foundation and begins with The Point of No Return, explained in his written story “The Cocktail Party” and his “looking the monster dead in the eye as the monster smiled”. 

The story continues with “King for a Day” and again in “Mowing Your Grass”. But what do these things mean to you, to the entrepreneur, to a business owner, an athlete, a student?  His mission: “empower people to own their story.” His desire is to teach people cash management and to understand “money is a vehicle and he wants you in the driver’s seat”.   

1:50 - raised students 1st and Athletics 2nd. Was a football player at Washington State. Ran into a guy on campus who knew who he was and started his dream of playing in the NFL. Never drafted, but tried out and never stuck with any teams; his take away was the discipline he learned, being around the best; used the athletic curiosity to always get better.  

5:10 - taught that athletics was a ticket for an education by his parents.   

6:30 - great foundation was his family (wife and brothers) and identifying who he was… his desires and goal setting. Learned to stay focused on goals, not setbacks. Goals will always be of most importance. Takeaway was 1) be goal orientated and 2) remain focused on goals Goals will always be more important that momentary wins and momentary losses.   

9:00 - Point of No Return - His writing: “The Cocktail Party” - Morbid reality of a violent game … gruesome take on football. Saw his 4 month old daughter in the stands with his wife after someone was injured and realized the risk of injury was real, that he was not invincible. Caused him to question what he was doing playing football and wondering if there was another way to make a living.   

12:30 “That monster looked my dead in the eye and smiled.” That’s when he realized he could no longer play football.   

14:00 - “King for a Day” - family (brothers and father) would play basketball and have contests and the winner was “King for a Day”. Winner gets to tell the other two brothers a chore they needed to do. Built competitive spirit in him. Learned to lose without being defeated. Learned to maintain focus.  

16:16 - “Mowing your grass” Learn to focus on attitude and taking care of your own backyard. Learn to control his attitude throughout every day.   

Pitch: Mission is to empower people to own their own story. Made poor and uneducated decisions regarding money. “Turned to his brothers for answers to “what do I do with all this money?” Set out on a journey while in NFL to learn how to build and handle wealth management.   Wants to be a financial educator, teaching people to become empowered in cash management and freedom. Money is a vehicle and you need to sit in the drivers seat of your own financial future.    

Catch up with Jed at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jedidiah-collins/.  

Want to know more about your bowtied host? Check out www.LeeRowley.com.  

All episodes available at www.LeeAfterDark.com.