My guest this week is former East Carolina baseball pitcher West Covington, who reminds us that, just because you leave college athletics, doesn't mean you can't be part of a high-performing, satisfying team.

West is a financial adviser with Plancentric Financial Group, a financial services provider within Northwestern Mutual. West took his business degree and pursued a path that a lot of athletes try: sales. But life as a solo financial rep was lonely, and West missed the camaraderie, accountability, and shared wins of being on a team. And so he made a change and found a group that would support him in the same way his baseball team had.

West was honest with me about the challenges that face athletes going into sales... but he's also a huge believer in the skills athletes have to be successful in this challenging field.In my conversation with West Covington:

Hear the one piece of advice West has for his younger self that might have accelerated his sales career.

Learn West's breakthrough strategy for professional networking (I'll give you a hint... it's not on LinkedIn.)

Bonus: hear me reminisce about my own experiences in Northwestern Mutual's grueling internship program... seriously one of the hardest things I've done.