Let’s get real for a minute.
Josh Hull’s Story
Purpose. For fourteen years of my life I had a purpose. I was a football player. Throughout those fourteen years every single second of my existence was focused on becoming the best football player that I could become. I ate healthy. I trained harder than everyone I knew. I took care of my body. I studied film. I prayed. And most importantly, I loved the sport. I started each day with a list of objectives, all of which pointed towards the ultimate goal of being the best football player that my body would allow itself to be. On August 24th, 2014 all of this came to an end, not because I chose to quit but rather, because the NFL told me that I was no longer good enough to compete with the best athletes in the world. I had been released by teams prior to this, but I had no idea this was the last time I would ever be so honored to wear the coveted NFL shield.
On August 25th, the day after my NFL career ended, the negative emotions were overwhelming. I was angry. I was confused. Then suddenly, I was motivated, maybe even obsessed, to train harder than I ever had before, with the sole intention of proving the NFL wrong again, just as I had when the Rams released me in 2013…and the Redskins in 2014…and the Patriots in 2014. The emotions I experienced and the process that I put myself through was the same as it had been the three previous times I was cut, except that this time my mental status and negative emotions would never improve. The days that I was no longer on an NFL roster quickly turned to weeks and the weeks quickly turned into months. I became so disgusted with the NFL that I didn’t even want to think about football. I couldn’t talk about it and I surely didn’t want to watch it on TV. For the first time in my life I was completely lost. My patience had vanished. I was triggered into fits of rage by the most immaterial things. I lost control of my thoughts and, even worse, I felt as though I had no purpose.
For the next two years, I constantly fought with my emotions. I woke up angry and went to bed angry. Regretfully, I brought all of my negative energy home to my wife who did not deserve it. On April 5th, 2016 I finally reached my breaking point. I was tired of living without a professional purpose and I knew I was the only one who could change that. After much discussion with former players, my wife, and my family, I made the life-changing decision to utilize funding from the NFL players association, most specifically the TRUST, to go back to school for my Masters in Business Administration. As odd as this sounds, the moment that I made the decision to go back to school, I immediately felt as though I had a purpose again. School was my new football. With each passing semester I slowly felt a burning desire beginning to develop within my soul. This desire was to start my own business. As I worked through each course I began to realize that the traits that I had developed as a professional athlete were the same traits that are required to own and operate a business. For instance, the ability to bounce back from a loss or a poor performance prepared me to overcome the many obstacles of business ownership. Learning an enormous playbook and relying on my memory to make split second decisions prepared me to be able to develop business strategy from large quantities of related information. I was amazed at how the ability to work long hours under stressful situations prepared me to deal with the demands of wearing multiple hats as a business owner. My skill set as a professional athlete were useful, and even necessary, in my life outside of football.
While in school, I had the opportunity to work with a classmate named David Dupree – a serial entrepreneur and business genius. Upon graduation, David and I partnered with one another to co-found Contend Consulting. While earning an MBA provided important skills and knowledge for business ownership, the most valuable asset it gave me was this realization: Due to the NFL, I had all the prerequisites I needed to start and operate a successful business. My skill set was just as useful off the field, as it was on the field. Believe it or not, advanced business degrees are not required for business development and business ownership.
In a way, David and I got our MBAs so you don’t have to! We have strategically gathered the relevant content relating to business development and business ownership from our course work and combined it with David’s 20 years of real world business ownership experience to create a condensed program that teaches you how to start and operate your own business. Don’t spend two years of your life trying to figure out what David and I have already identified…professional athletes make great business owners!
Want to talk to me about your story? Shoot me an email now. Don’t wait. It’s time for a change. Only you can choose to take the first step towards finding your new purpose.
It’s time. Let’s do this.
Josh
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