High school graduates straight to the league I ain't waiting for my knee to blow yesterday
I was needing this done get it. I was needing this though
Ron whatever it's not on that you obviously were 18 when you started making in my run you came from nothing
To make it money
Did you ever stop and think like well I got to make these tough decisions at 21 and 22 being like a first
Generational money maker in the household is a scary thing and for 18 year old I go from being sitting in classrooms
And may graduating high school to being a multi-millionaire a month later. You know
From when we were kids, I mean I was thinking about these I was
fabulous that
We dealt with this in like a high level all of a sudden luminous
Like for me. It was like holy shit now were in this room, and this shit is real
It's not like I had that moment we were sitting in that room at Reebok and Paul fireman was very smart
He said to you you know I know you're gonna go see Nike and Adidas
But I'm gonna offer you ten million dollars today. If you don't go see them to shake my hand he offered
He brought you a ten million dollar check in that room and you turned it down
I can't say I would have turned to done. I mean I think in the room
I said yeah, let's take this check and get the hell out of here, but you turned it down was it see
What was that thinking with you? Do you remember what I was thinking of why you did it, right?
I mean I remember first of all
The one of the longest damp tables adversely my longest table, but a longest ballroom tables. I've ever seen in my life, and I
Had no idea what he was doing at the other end of the table. I just seen him right yeah, and
He was talking his head down. He was making sure he didn't get anything wrong on that on that check and
When he slid it down there, and he said listen if you take this right now
You know you just promise me. You won't go talk to Nike or adidas?
You know you can take this right now
And and I was I was lost for words that at the beginning
I mean shit we flew in I flew in from Akron, Ohio this spring here
From the projects. I mean I written is like 17 dollars a month
Now I'm looking at a 10 million dollar check that you can leave with it
Yeah
And go to high school and go back to the classroom the next day
You were going to homeroom the next one corner homeroom the next morning, so I'm like
holy shit
that's my first initial thing and then I
For some odd reason I started thinking like
If this guy which is a he's a great guy to still love him to this day
He's an unbelievable guy, but if he's willing to give me a 10 million dollar check right now
What does this say that Nike or adidas is not willing to give me 20 or 30
You know up front
You know or to say that maybe the upfront money is not even the biggest thing you know
Maybe let's start thinking about the back again. You know and
You know I've always you know and that comes from you know my uncle's as well
Just you know never put all your eggs in one basket
You know and give
Give it an opportunity to give people an opportunity to say what they what they got to pitch themselves
And you know we all we always say that I said we're gonna hear all three companies
We want to hear all three companies what they have to say you know what's their playing and I?
Can't I still can't believe I left that team I can't believe it was there a point that it
Really clicked for you like okay now
I understand actually the difference between equity and money like like betting on myself long-term versus just getting some money today. Yeah, oh
Wow I mean I said, that's a hell of a question right there, and I think I
Think when we started to look at
our
endorsement deals as partnerships
I think that's when a lot of us started clicking for me of saying you know what we're not just here to
Hold your product, or we're not here just to talk your product. We're here to work with you
To how we can figure out how that product may look better on that on that bookshelf you know
and how we can live sometimes not what without even exactly you know and
Once we started doing that and I started to seeing us become more and more and more
Seasoned at doing that I was like you know there's no reason why we can't start our own thing. Yeah
To a point where we can have our brainstorming opportunities. Where if we come up with something people?
Want to buy what we got of course you know and that's what I think that's what a lot of it
Had to do it and just to say that you
Bet on yourself, and you started from ground
From the bottom. That's it you started from the bottom
And you've created something where you can look at it and say wow we we did that
We did that and we all net yeah, and we all that's that's a that's a really cool thing. We both invested in blaze
It's obviously done very well
But you had a great contract with McDonald's yeah
that was set to pay you I
Mean you're another fourteen or fifteen million dollars left guaranteed and I came to you with the idea that hey
I think if you let let's get rid of McDonald's you'll give away that money
You won't make that money, but there's a better investment. I think we can invest in this thing that a better fit
Where you're going as a person your lifestyle and B. I think it's a better business idea
What what is it about that that you went? I'm okay? I trust that I believe in that let's do that
I believed in to the actual product first and
And like I said was a great partnership with McDonald's we had we had a great time
we did some great things on television, then we did some great things over the years, but
I remember we went to UC Irvine
It's the first ever blaze first ever blaze
And we tasted the product and the product was phenomenal
You know and I actually took a pie back back to the hotel as well and then
you came with me with the proposition that we could actually own our own and be franchisees of a couple cities in America and
The numbers that you were showing me did the potential that we can make if we just put the time and effort into it
Exceed it. You know what McDonald's will be guaranteeing me for over the next four years
But more importantly I think for me it was like. Oh wow we get to actually build this
Be a part of speaking a part of something I so get the money and you forget the money
We can actually build something and and if it doesn't become successful
Then I can only blame myself
Because I know the product is that damn good like I taste the product. I went there. I'll see how cool
It was to go up there, and you just like I remember going upon the roast as a kid like Buffy
I want that I want that I want bad choice choices bull you eat two minutes
And that was the same thing with the piles like listen. I want this I want that mix
I want that sauce I want that ingredient. I want that topping
two minutes later you got a fresh pie I was like if we can who doesn't like pizza I
Don't know a person in the world. It doesn't like okay
What kind of died you are everyone loves pizza, so I was like if we can't make this successful
Then when we are we're in the wrong business anyway exactly
How do you let that ego go and ask questions like wait a minute explain this to me explain that to me when you need?
All that ego to compete the best right throughout this journey of mine
I'll just like you know we also about the process
You know in the process of me trying to become the greatest of all time or maximize
You know my potential as a player. I also have to be able
Once I'll leave
battle or leave competition to have to accept the fact that there are certain things that I'm
Maybe don't know or don't know enough of so I have to ask questions
You know it's a challenging thing, but at the same time. I know that once I get off the floor
There's gonna be more time of my life spin off the floor then on the floor
Yeah
exact so from age 9
to if you make it to 40 if you make it to 40 that's 31 years of your life, but from 40 to 85
90 hopefully I'm lucky to get the 90 that's 50 years
So you know I still have to live life. You know beyond the hardwood
