Interview with Jordan Babineaux, Author of Pivot to Win

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Never miss an episode and subscribe and listen at dawnmcgruer.com. Hello everyone. We are live on this week's Dawn of a New Era podcast, and we have another special guest.

Now, our guest today is Jordan Babineau. You live in Seattle with your wife, three children, and you've had a very interesting journey. I've just been reading a little bit more about you and delving into your new book, A Pivot to Win. Now, I think the listeners and people who are watching the interview will be really keen to know about your transition from sports star, so you were an NFL player for, I think, a decade, and now you are sort of focused on not just entrepreneurial journey, but you have a foundation, I believe, that is all about the research for an amazing cause for lupus.

And we're just going to have a chat and find out a little bit more about you. But before we get started, I wonder whether I can ask you one question. Sure. What is your biggest, biggest focus for 2021?

Oh, wow. My biggest focus in 2021, I would say... I got out of the gate. You know, one of the things that's probably at the top and center is to get rid of things, you know, get rid of things that I don't need, get rid of things that I don't use anymore.

You know, I mean, it sounds like things that, you know, could be in the house and things that I haven't used or clothes that I haven't worn and need to donate. But it's also people, you know, right? I mean, I think there's also need to be an audit of where we are in our relationships, considering that we've went through so much in the last year. Life got really simple.

So, yeah, I would say trim the fat, if you will, you know. So, can I ask a question? We've had many authors on here, and I know when I did my book, Dynamic Digital Marketing, it was a labor of love. And let's be honest, anyone who says it's easy is probably lying.

But what was it like when you started your book? Because obviously you came out of sports, you probably had a lot to share, but what was the process like? A labor of love. Well, certainly, Dawn, you have a lot of love to give.

Having gone through that process, I know exactly what it takes to, you know, to go from conceiving an idea and to, you know, getting content on the pages. And I probably felt like, you know, I've dealt with so much of writer's block at times. And it wasn't because of lack of motivation. I think, you know, sometimes, you know, in the process, we, you know, kind of have this idea of what we want to go in the book, and we get to writing, and then we kind of play this battle of should we put this story, include this story in the book?

Yeah. For me, it was a 22-month process, and from the day that I reached out to, you know, to my book composer, and he and I began our relationship. And of the 22 months, 17 months of it was writing. So, yeah.

So it's not like something that just happens, and it comes to, you know, you hear these great people like the Brendan Burchards of the world who can flush out a book in maybe, you know, 30 days or two weeks. I'm not that guy, you know. I mean, you know, I was very thoughtful about it, and certainly having played nearly a decade in the NFL, there were some stories that I wanted to share. And then the other part too was, you know, taking the time to, you know, kind of have some space to find out what those stories were, from childhood to, you know, early professionalism, and then, you know, pivoting away from the NFL.

So it was definitely quite the journey. I enjoyed every bit of it. The timing of it was, I would say, more divine because I wouldn't have planned it the way I would have. I'm still in the midst of my MBA program, and I wrote the book while doing my master's program.

Not something that I would recommend. But part of where I was is I was absorbing and learning so much that I had to, you know, decide what goes in the book, what gets left out, and then, you know, kind of taking the new content that I'm learning and then using it to develop some of the post-book release training and content and conversations and things that I want to have. So I would say probably the biggest thing and the biggest challenge was finding the end to the book. Yeah.

I think the thing is, you've gone on, you've played a sport, you've done lots of press, and it's a different kind of feeling, isn't it, to what you're sharing through the press, what is the kind of the superstar, the sports star out there, and then did you feel almost kind of like the imposter syndrome a little bit about writing the book, but also a little bit nervous about the content, like peeling back the layers and showing the real you? Did that surface at all during writing? You know, I would say more so than not, one of the biggest things in pivoting away from the NFL that I've learned was I had to redefine success. You know, success was no longer putting on a helmet, making big plays, or tackling Tony Romo before running into the end zone.

And through that process, it was a matter of getting clarity around me, myself, right? And for so long, I think one of the things that I hope that readers can get from the book is that when we're moving through change, we experience loss, and there is this element or this notion that I'm not this particular person, right? So this imposter syndrome begins to set in when the very part of us kind of identifying what change is, is this, I would say, these new discoveries of reinventing yourself. So, you know, that includes new behaviors, forming new habits, potentially having new relationships, all of these things that's going to push us to where we want to go.

And change is uncomfortable, frankly, Dawn. I mean, really, think about it. You know, it's really uncomfortable when we're in this environment of, you know, something that we've not been exposed to, something that's new, and we're trying to develop and grow ourselves in a way to reach or hit this specific goal. I think that's also powerful.

And one of the things I just want to share and encourage people to do when they're going through this change, even in your moments of discomfort, to keep moving through that because those breakthroughs are on the other side. This is so interesting. See, when we talk about the whole sort of change aspect, a lot of people will totally relate to the sort of fear and retreat. Whenever you start thinking about something new, it's easy to go kind of back to what you know and stay there.

I mean, the transition is huge going from obviously sports personality into entrepreneurial world. I mean, you're still obviously commentating, and you're the voice of the Seattle Hawks, and you're sharing your interest there. Where do you think, in terms of like your pillars of success, is there a crossover? For me, I believe that marketing, motivation, and mindset are my core foundations, that if I know that I'm putting my efforts into all three, that it's pretty hard to fail.

I'm not saying I have balance at all times, but those are the things that I believe. What are the sort of success pillars that maybe you've taken from sport that you can use as an entrepreneur? Yeah, great. You know, I think maybe even starting with, you know, how we approach things, right?

So cultivating and developing a winning mindset. Yeah. So I went from, you know, growing up in, you know, economic ruin, surrounded by drug abuse, violence, and, you know, really the streets seemed like a faster way to make money than, you know, a real way. And, you know, here I was, you know, having dodged and, you know, put myself in a position where I've escaped really that environment.

And I think a lot of times one of the things that really stands out is that sometimes we can be kind of captured by our environment and start to behave like the people that we're around. One of the things that really always set me free was this idea that the world is bigger than where I was. And sometimes it's hard to do because we're so caught up in our circumstances. But, you know, even at this early age, I had this idea of how things worked and wanted to really see myself outside of where I was.

And look, it was some childlike imagination, right? But I even think that even in that, we lose that element of thinking that things are possible the older we get, right? We become too, you know, real about, you know, limiting ourselves from things that are actually possible when everything that we want is still available to us. Like, I really believe that we can accomplish and do impossible things.

I mean, that's one of the great things about humans. That's the reason that we've had so much progress. You know, in humankind and mankind, in the development of, you know, technology, in the development of infrastructure, in the development of, you know, laws, policy.

These opportunities and et cetera. I mean, just the list just goes on, on and on and on. So I would say, one, number one is mindset, right? And so Carol Dweck has this book I'll call Mindset, where she, you know, kind of challenges the notion of a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset.

And I think many of us are familiar with those terms, but that growth mindset always allows us to, even in our failures, find something new to learn and take away and apply it so that the next time we're in that situation, we can advance, we can move through it a little bit more comfortable. I think that's also the reason that we as people can develop more grit, or, you know, we can create this muscle of persistence and perseverance. Now, I talk about persistence as a muscle because it's something that you can develop, right, through trials and through overcoming adversity. And we've all been through something, Don.

I mean, we've all been through something. We've all failed at something, right? Failing at something doesn't make you a failure, right? So that's, you know, that's what would be called a fixed mindset, right?

And if in our failure we're learning, you know, we're developing this growth mindset. So that's one. I would say mindset is probably the number one thing that's high on my list. And I'll just share this one too, is that routine.

You know, one of the things that I had to learn as a professional, coming from college and becoming a professional football player was I had to find a routine, and I didn't know exactly what that looked like, right? I mean, it was, you know, come to work early, you know, whatever, how you... How you wake up, how you show up, the first thing you do when you wake up, the first thing you do when you get to the workplace, you know, find these little triggers that can set you in a place—well, one, set you up for success. But I think also help eliminate distractions.

Part of developing a routine is also putting borders around, you know, things that may be distracting or impeding, you know, this high level of efficiency that we all want to achieve. So I would say mindset and routine would be my top two, and certainly there are, you know, several other, you know. Yeah, I think that's a great basis. And I think just going back to one of the things you said, which I particularly love and I am going to take away today, is that it's like kind of finding your inner child again and allowing yourself to dream big.

And I think it's one of the ethos that many entrepreneurs are quite good at, having sort of aspirational goals, but things that feel truly achievable and having those steps and processes in place. Now, we've talked about the core pillars for success, and there's a lot of things in your book that obviously will really help leaders, entrepreneurs, people looking to just for change in all aspects of their lives. But how do you go about setting your goals? You're obviously quite disciplined in what you do, but how can you make sure that you're pushing hard enough and you've got goals that really are truly aspirational?

The discipline part, Don, trust me, it's always a battle. We're always trying to find out, you know, how to be more disciplined, how to be more efficient. You know, I would say, and I would say maybe one thing to help any of us is that, you know, where is our focus, right? I mean, in the book I talk about the use of a magnifying glass, right?

If you have a magnifying glass and it's just centered on, you know, one... You know, particular point is that, well, light can shine so heavily and illuminate through that magnifying glass that you could burn a hole in a paper, right, in a piece of paper. Now, so imagine that if we had that same intensity and focus on a particular project, on a particular goal, on a particular, you know, whatever, fill in the blank, that achieving what we want would be, you know, more probable. You know, so you mentioned goal setting.

I think, you know, one of the things for me in pivoting away from the NFL is that I was, I mean, as a football player, I mean, that was a huge part of my identity. Now, you know, people saw me in that light. Now certainly when I showed up, I was Jordan Babineaux, right? I mean, people saw me as, you know, Jordan Babineaux, the Seahawks player, or the Tennessee Titan, the football player.

And, but if I was introducing myself to anyone who didn't know who I was as a football player, I was just Jordan, right? Now, if you know who I am, then great, but I don't lead with my title, right? Because I think the one thing that I like organically is connection. And I think as humans, if we have that connection, then it'll, one, it'll tell me a lot about who you are as a person.

And versus if you know me as, I don't know, the CEO of Microsoft, if you know me as, you know, the football player or the championship-winning coach or, you know, superstar, this Hollywood actor, right, then you would treat me in a very unauthentic way. Like, that's not how you would treat me. So you would take the ego away and just be your authentic self, yeah? And I guess to respect, and probably people will respect you ten times more because you're leading with what you're passionate about, what you really feel is important.

And I think this is a really nice angle. When you think about entrepreneurs and, you know, people will see your status and they will think, very lucky in this position. They forget the journey that Jordan has been on to get to that point. And it's interesting because you didn't just find an easy way into it.

You overcame a lot of adversity, a lot of resilience is obviously built in with that. But when you think about what has been your... So, hardest moment, like if you think about a failure, what is something that you've struggled to kind of get through? Well, we're probably not achieving any one of those goals, right?

Personally and professionally, you know, probably my biggest, you know, failure was, you know, or has been, I would say one of them. In one of my businesses that failed in the very beginning, you know, it was, you know, it felt embarrassing. You know, it felt, you know, I felt small, essentially. I felt like, like even though my confidence was challenged, you know, I even kind of questioned if it's something that I wanted to do again, you know.

But from that also birthed this new fire and desire to want to achieve or try again. It's like, well, I'll be damned if you're going to remember me this way, you know. And you kind of get this fuel, this motivation from failure. And this is why I say that, you know, embodying this growth mindset is real critical because, you know, many of us who have failed and have decided not to do something again because of that failure starts to limit that and starts to limit who we are as an individual.

But one, it also shows up in other areas of our life. And that's where we have to be even more conscious of this growth and fixed mindset, because a fixed mindset in your finances, a fixed mindset in your relationships, a fixed mindset in your spirituality, right, it starts to, I would say, shrink, you know, our actual capacity, right, rather than taking on this growth mindset that it allows those other areas to blossom. So, you know, failure in one of my first businesses where we had to, it was a restaurant, it was a chain, food chain restaurant, and we had to shut it down. And, you know, it was like, damn.

Well, also associated with shutting down a business that you have the responsibility of your employees and the team and the people that you lead. And you got to have those tough conversations, right? But you also got to have those tough conversations with yourself. And I think really, in looking at them, you know, head on and having those tough conversations, you know, makes the second time or pursuing a new opportunity, you know, you more aware of where you were, the steps that you need to take to prevent failure again, and then even work even more hard, you know, to get yourself in a winning position associated and also with your team.

I think it's so true. When you talk to entrepreneurs and businesses, most entrepreneurs have had a failure in business at some point, whether they choose to share them or not. And I think the thing is, is we need to hear more about this because, you know, not everybody starts off with the lovely kind of success that just goes up. There's a lot of stress, there's a lot of sacrifice that goes into it.

What would you say that the transition of becoming an entrepreneur, what did you sacrifice more to kind of get your businesses up and running? Because clearly you're very focused and you're very disciplined. What do you think you let fall by the wayside? Yeah, I think, you know, having gone through, you know, this global pandemic in the last year that many businesses, both small businesses and large corporations are, you know, and have battled the idea of do we continue to, you know, to increase our debt, to accompany more risks, to, you know, to, you know, try to serve our customers in a way?

Should we pivot our product? Should we, how do we increase our, you know, processes that is more efficient? And all while laying off, you know, hundreds and thousands and millions of people who were no longer employed. And I think it's a huge challenge, you know, as entrepreneurs, but even as business leaders, to kind of walk that line on, okay, where do we, you know, kind of take a look at the balance sheet, we monitor the environment, what we don't have control of, and then make

Decision to position the company to still be successful. It's a real challenge. It's a real battle, Dawn. And here in Pivot to Win, I share, you know, some of those stories with my current business in transportation, is that, well, transportation was shut down and we were on hiatus for quite some time, and no one was traveling.

There was no corporate and business travel, and certainly companies saved a lot of money due to that. But no one was going to events. There was no nightlife. There was no, you know, scenic tours or any of that, right?

And so, you know, every transportation company, for the most part, at least here in the Pacific Northwest—now other parts of the country decided that they wanted to keep things open and risk that—but here in Washington, you know, we were shut down completely, right? And so it's like, well, how do I, you know, still position the company in a way that when things do open back up, that we're in a position? Or in looking at the pandemic, who are the few people that are still spending money? The government is still spending money, right?

So how do we become partners with the government? And I think looking at and going through this change, or at least particularly the pandemic, is that, yeah, sure, there are threats, there are uncertainties, but there's also opportunities. And in that pivot or in change, we have to recognize, you know, where the benefits may lie rather than looking at what it is that we're losing. What would you say—I mean, everyone's made these big changes.

I mean, I think we've become the most exercised people in the planet due to the pandemic. But there's been changes that I've made that I don't think I will reverse, and it's probably more about why I became an entrepreneur, about freedom, flexibility. I think we get stuck in the churn, don't we, where we're getting up, we're going through a day, we kind of think busy is great. What's the biggest change that you think that you've made during the pandemic in your own personal life that you will take forward as we hopefully come out the other end?

Yeah, I think one thing that I've heard many people talk about is simplicity, right? I mean, life got simple real fast. I mean, you know, suddenly having a nice fancy car, you know, and overvaluing moving from point A to point B became irrelevant, right? Right.

I mean, or, or, you know, people who go into offices or organizations and corporations who own an office space, even myself, I'm like, I don't even need an office space, right? Yeah. I mean, like working from home just became so much of the norm that people, in many ways, want to continue that. I mean, the norm became, you know, taking a conference call, taking out the trash, and maybe changing a diaper all at the same time, you know?

We became artisan bakers, cooks, and all sorts of different professions. And, you know, we were down to the basics, weren't we? We couldn't get flour. No one wanted these items more at this point.

And I think simplicity is key. I mean, I think for a lot of entrepreneurs, there'll be people who, as we ease lockdown, they're coming out, they're positive about their businesses. But I think we will all probably focus on a more simplistic life. And I think going forward as an entrepreneur, I read one of the stats and facts about books: in 2023, we're not going to have paperbacks.

When we think about books, I think books have been one of those central things in my life, and one of the books I love— No paperbacks? That's question. With books, just hardbacks. I love buying books.

You know, I've kind of—the only thing I don't like about the e-books, well, one, I think we've now overconsumed too much screen time, you know, with these digital platforms of what feels like the normal way of seeing and meeting each other for social hour, for meetings, et cetera. I mean, look, it used to be text messaging became the hot thing to do in communication. Now it's like, hey, I'll FaceTime you. So still picking up the phone still doesn't feel normal.

There's just one thing about a book, and I don't know what it is, and I was actually quite distraught because I look back to some of the books I read, like Rita Carter, Mapping the Mind. It's a really old book now in terms of books, but it's something that stayed with me. And some of the things I've read over the time, what books would you say have been central or impactful on your journey that you just really remember? Yeah.

Leadership on the Line was one. Let me think. Switch by the Heath brothers is another good one. Jim Rohn and Darren Hardy, two of my mentors, I've, you know, overconsumed their content.

Senior Leadership Teams, another one. Fierce Conversations, that's a really good one. And then, of course, everyone should pick up Pivot to Win. Absolutely.

So, in terms of best way of connecting with you, George, and how can people find you? What's the best social platform to get you on? Yeah, yeah, great. Thank you.

So right now, it's Jordan Babineau across all platforms: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. Working on a YouTube channel as well. Anyone who wants to continue the conversation and learn more about Pivot to Win and share their own personal journey, check out the website at pivottowin.com.

There's a free chapter download. You can also order the book on Amazon. Yeah, I'd highly recommend it. I've just started, and each week I'm dipping into other people's books, and I'm flicking through the different things.

But I don't think we ever stop learning, and I think it's one of the things that, you know, we should really be passionate about and we should encourage in others. If there was one takeaway that we could remember Jordan Babineau from today, is there a famous saying or a quote that you love that will stick in our minds? Wow, that's a good one. Maybe I'll share—I have many to share—but maybe I'll share one from Muhammad Ali, who says, ‘A man who views the world at 50 the same way he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.’

I love that. I love it. It's so true, isn't it? I mean, I think every day that we meet people, one of the things that the pandemic has starved us from is the interaction.

So the life experiences that we will have, hopefully as we're coming out and the lockdown is easing, it is so exciting. What have you got planned for the next three months that our listeners might be interested in? So coming up next month, I'm doing a three-part book series with Club Corp. It'll be something that's featured through my social channels as well.

It'll be a live webinar. So it's a three-part series. One, the first part is a keynote from myself. The second part is an intimate conversation with an educator and also author, Marilyn Gist.

Her book is The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility. And then the fourth—I'm sorry, the third piece of the series is going to be a panel with myself and other professional athletes, both football, another player who played professionally nine years of soccer for the Sounders as well, and talking about change and successes and failures and what has worked. And yeah, I would say probably that. And then, Don, I'm even more happy and excited to share that I'll be done with my MBA program in June.

So I'm looking forward to that and the new opportunities and conversations. I think there must be something in the air. You're the third entrepreneur I've spoken to in the past couple of weeks who's finishing their MBA, and I just think it's amazing because that is a hard thing to do. And you think about the fact that you did a book during this as well, Ransom Businesses, set up a foundation.

I mean, is there anything else that we need to know about, Jordan, before we leave in terms of your production on film? So are you going to be featuring in anything or starring in any other roles that we... So yeah, so I do have a production company, and, you know, there were some learning lessons in working and navigating that industry as well. But nothing in the next 90 days.

We're still—what we've done, what we've, the work that we've done in the past working with Kevin Hart and Mike Epps and some of the other great comedians that many of us know about and love these days, you know, those relationships are still there. I do have a script that's just been sitting on my desk for some time. It's a someday goal. It's, I don't think it happens in the next 90 days, but one day I'll be excited to share this script with the world and produce another movie.

Well, it's been a pleasure to have you on here. And do you know what? We could probably talk endlessly about the journey. Yeah, thanks, Dawn.

You know, you've had a lot of great tips and insights to share. So everybody who is either watching or listening, Dawn of a New Era podcast, don't forget to subscribe and obviously share, and continue to follow our amazing, inspiring leaders like Jordan. And remember, it's Jordan Babineau, and he is in all social channels, and you can also go and check out his book, Pivot to Win. So we're going to love you and leave you, and enjoy.

What time is it with you in Seattle? It's 10 minutes to 10. It's morning here. Oh, so we're just finishing our day in the UK.

You guys are done with the day. We're at 10 to 6, so yes, we are now finishing the work day. So enjoy, have a super day, and thank you so much for being our guest on today's podcast. Dawn, thank you so much for having me.

Take care. Thank you for listening to Dawn of a New Era podcast, and for your free checklist to find out how to boost your business for growth, profit, and success, and join our community, go to dawnmcgruer.com.