Speaker 1: 0:00

I remember very vividly guys telling me while we were playing hey, current player is a lot more attractive than former player. Being the fullback, I got to swallow my pride and understand my ego a little bit more than some of the other positions.

Speaker 2: 0:21

Welcome back to another episode of the burn. I am Ben Newman and you know how we do this every single week we're going to bring you a story of an athlete, an entertainer, a celebrity, an entrepreneur, somebody performing at their highest possible level, who's recognized that why and purpose is not enough. There's an underlying burn that ignites why and purpose, that causes you to show up when you don't feel like it, and especially after you win. I have said many times that today this is a special guest. This is a special episode. This is like I don't even know how to describe this one. This is like a throwback. This is like one for the ages. This is one where I have a tremendous level of excitement. You're going to see why we have Jed and I are Collins with us.

Speaker 2: 1:10

Jed Collins, former NFL fullback, former Washington state football player. Now he and I have kind of flip roles in our lives. Now he's a CFP teaching financial education. You can learn more at yourmoneyvehiclecom. He's an author, he's a speaker, he's a professor. Now you look at him now and you say, my goodness, like that guy used to be a fullback. He's gotten into shape. Look at that perfect haircut, look at that big smile.

Speaker 2: 1:41

But why this is so special for me is because Jed Collins and I were connected over 10 years ago. He was one of the first five, first one of, actually first one of. I think he was the third player I ever had the opportunity to work with in the NFL because of Dave Burnett from Northwestern Mutual in Seattle Washington. And so shout out to Dave Burnett, thank you. I had no idea when I was lighting this guy up on Sundays to throw monster blocks to protect Drew Brees and to create touchdowns and score some touchdowns of his own, that we would be on a burn podcast, with him being the one doing financial literacy and me on the sidelines all the time. So you guys know I'm jacked up and excited. You can tell Jed Collins this is a long time coming. Welcome to the burn brother.

Speaker 1: 2:35

I am one that gets to attest to how you have ignited and kept that fire for a decade. This is the real deal. You are the real deal. It has been a gift getting to watch you, getting to see your message and, yes, go Cougs. Got a shout out, dave B. And this is just one of those stories in a you know nutshell is build your bridges, make sure you keep them alive. You never know when you're going to go back over them, and it is wonderful to be reconnected to you.

Speaker 2: 3:05

Well, I have to. It is. It's like incredible, and we've always shared messages over social media and we've talked about doing the burn, and then my schedule got crazy and I'm like, please, like Jen, I want you on the show, like we got to reconnect, and so I'm glad that you hung in there. I want to start with something, and I hope you're okay with me sharing this, but can I talk about when I taught you about your emotional trigger?

Speaker 1: 3:28

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 3:29

So this is one of our first phone calls. You talk about the burn and your emotional trigger. One of the things that I use with Athletes is helping them connect to their ideal state of focus. For those of you that have a copy or have ever downloaded your part of uncommon live and have access to your mental toughness playbook, we now have it in the playbook. It's a five-step process that connects an athlete to their ideal state of focus. So one of my first calls with Jed after we connect, I'm like this is one of the things that I do. I can teach you how to lock in when you're on the Sideline before the next set of downs or when you're in the locker room. And, sure enough, I'm teaching this to Jed.

Speaker 2: 4:04

Jed was a big man back then. I'm telling you. He dropped the weight, which is hard for professional athletes to do. He was a big, strong dude, and so we're doing this over the phone. I'm saying close your eyes, go through these steps, connect your ideal state of focus, and there's a point where you connect your thumb and your middle finger and then you squeeze the energy in between those two fingers. And I remember saying you Jed, talk about the burn and igniting the fire. I'm like, do you feel the energy in between your two fingers? And you're like I think I'm gonna break my fingers. I want to go play football.

Speaker 1: 4:37

It is. But what you have the ability to do and what everybody does is you guide To see that energy and you guide to see that connection. And as an athlete Especially the one at the position I was playing I was a lead block and fullback I needed to be able to tap into that energy On demand, flip the switch on, flip the switch off and so to start to work through processes that I had never really experienced from a mental side, physical. Everybody stretches and you warm up and you know what to do. But to be able to have those simulations and be able to walk through those things, I've always been a big journaler and our conversations are ones that I documented and, you know, truly took to practice. Yeah, no, I remember tuning in and getting that, that Understanding that this tool is no different than warming up and stretching for a game. This is how I'm going to unlock you know that that inner mindset.

Speaker 2: 5:34

And you know we could. We could sit here and we could tell a bunch of football stories. I want this to be different, which I think you're probably okay with. We could talk about you playing with Drew Brees One of the best to ever do it. We could talk about which I used to get fired up about. They never gave you many chances for Touchdowns, but when you had the chance you got your ass in the end zone.

Speaker 1: 5:57

They lost me, everybody else was good, and so they're like ah, forget that guy.

Speaker 2: 6:03

It got me so fired up watching you play and we could talk all football. But I want this to be different. What I'd love to do? You referenced a bridge earlier.

Speaker 2: 6:12

There's a lot of people that are probably listening that, because of Covid and circumstance and politics and the way things have changed over the handful of years, they're currently in the middle of transition. Maybe they're struggling with a transition or maybe there's a former player who didn't understand the power of doing a transition right the way that you have. So where I'd love to start, if you're open to it, is how important has it been for you? Because I've done a lot of work in the NFL with Caleb Thornhill and pro athlete community athletes Transitioning. It's very hard when you're no longer in a stadium with college games You're playing in front of a hundred thousand, the pros at seventy, eighty thousand. It's hard when there's no fans watching you come to work and now you got to get yourself jacked up, connected to emotional trigger to attack. How important was a burn in discipline? And then how did you take that from football and then take it into being so strategic and so methodical With the amazing transition you've made now to being a CFP and one of the most sought-after financial educators.

Speaker 1: 7:16

You know one I I saw in that transition even though I had a path, I had a journey that I wanted to pursue Humbling to realize nobody's ever gonna clap for you again. You know, there there is no more locker room, there is no more support. It is devastating. This world we were brought up with and excelled in is all of a sudden ripped away. So even somebody like myself, who, you know, knew their time was limited, knew what direction I wanted to head. After it hits you a ton of bricks, that wave comes crashing down and you really just have to Resettle and resurface and refine yourself.

Speaker 1: 7:55

I would say one of my greatest gifts leaving the game was simply having a direction, not really knowing exactly where I wanted to go, but seeing that my new flicker of burn was coming from that financial literacy space, and so what I was able to do was start to invest in myself. How do I improve my education? How do I see and understand the things that I didn't while I was playing? But also look around from a network? I Remember very vividly guys telling me while we were playing hey, current player is a lot more attractive Former player. And so I built and I put out and I went to the events and I I would put myself out there From a humility standpoint, being the fullback. I got to swallow my pride and understand my ego a little bit more than some of the other positions.

Speaker 1: 8:48

But as you look at the new world, I cannot stop telling guys how successful they can be if they simply take those simple principles from the game and translate it into life. I was actually just telling my daughter she was asking me what the word discipline means and I said well, it is the practice of doing things you don't want to do. It is the practice of being able to see something and know I don't want to wake up or I don't want to do this or I don't want to be able to feel accomplished. And I look at every day. In sports you have the discipline to do that, bringing that into your new life, into your new world.

Speaker 1: 9:28

I really love those transitions, but I will say it again as no different than walking on a field, a court or anything. It begins and ends with confidence and that is a huge, huge oversight. As people leave the game, they no longer have the foundation of where they built their confidence. They definitely use their cockiness, their external voice to try to convince other people of things. But that internal voice, the confident one, is just going quiet, and so it's really establishing. What can I set my foundation of confidence in, and then I can start down a road to progress.

Speaker 2: 10:06

Do you find some of the conversations this is a little bit of a segue into this, but now being back in NFL locker rooms in a different magnitude do you find that you're having some of these conversations where you can really mentor guys on some of the stuff that's outside of financial? Are they picking your brain? Because I want people to understand it's very rare to transition as well as Jed has. It's very, very difficult. I just want to highlight again when you heard Jed say it's hard to know nobody's clapping for you again, right Before you get on your Zoom screen, there aren't fans in your office going. Let's go, man, let's get after it on this one, jed. Nobody's. They're not calling your name as a starter and the music is playing. I mean you got to get yourself going. So are guys turning to you for more than financial advice when you're in those locker rooms?

Speaker 1: 10:57

Once I build that trust tree absolutely and going in as a former player, going into somebody who is not going to sell them anything the.

Speaker 1: 11:06

NFL players association pays me, the teams don't, the players don't. We have that understanding, and so they know I'm there to do one thing help them, whether that's translating the language of money, whether that's translating the language of whatever they want to do after the game of football and just seeing themselves as more than I get to connect with them on different levels. Now, former player yes, financial empower, hopefully, but then the fact that I've started my own company money vehicle. I'm the founder, I'm the CEO, I'm running it. There are endless questions and what I love about if we can point to a lot of good things that have come out of the NIL space, the number one idea is that athletes are taking ownership of their money, but also their brand and their business.

Speaker 1: 11:52

At a younger age, that was something that I wasn't introduced to until year four, year five in the NFL, and so, as we look at those conversations, how do you build a social media presence? How do you deliver a message? How do you stand in front of people or room and speak to a level that they not only understand but can feel and connect with? So I love being able to take some of the stories Again. Being a journal, I think is the greatest gift in life If you ever want to travel through time, start to journal. But being able to go back on my journals and say, guys, I was in this room, I was in this building, I know exactly what you're going through. I know the pressures, I know the polls, I know the focus, but you also have to be able to accomplish other things and see beyond the 3.2 years on average guys are going to play in the business and see the 30 years that it's supposed to start springboarding and setting up.

Speaker 2: 12:47

And what do you think is the most important lesson that you teach from a financial standpoint that actually applies across the board for all of our listeners, not just athletes. What are the most important foundational disciplines that you teach when it comes to saving money? And just I want to say once again, yourmoneyvehiclecom. It is so impressive when you take a look at an organization that Jett has now built that has put him back in NFL locker rooms, back in collegiate locker rooms and across high schools in 20 different states in this country. So this wasn't like, ah, this would be kind of fun and something to keep me busy. This is a passion and a burn to teach financial literacy. So I'd love for you to share some of the foundational principles, or maybe the most important, because I know you can help people beyond just the game of sports.

Speaker 1: 13:39

I mean, obviously this is an endless subject for me, but I do appreciate you pointing that out. I have people reach out to me and say, oh well, I kind of want to get into financial literacy too. And I go, we built an entire curriculum plus hours. It's a little different. It's a little different.

Speaker 1: 13:54

But the number one concept I took away from the game that I translate into my daily life today and I'll show you here how and why is one that I got to work with a 16 year veteran linebacker when I was in Kansas City. We were out in training and being a big skill guy. You know, I'm not, I'm not the big guys, we're not the skill guys, we're the big skill guys. I would sit and work out with this linebacker and I would watch him and we'd run 40 yards, he'd run 45. We'd run 50, he'd run 55. We'd go into the weight room. We do a set of 225, we do 10. He'd slide on two and a half and he'd do an 11 set. We get two games, he'd go get a third. And I kept just watching and observing, stealing from him every step I could, and finally I got the goal to go up, because I'm a curious cat. And I said you know what is it? Is it hard for you to slow down because you're so old? You know five pounds on a bench press what difference does five pounds on a bench press make? And he sat in the locker room and pointed around. He said every guy in here is younger than me, cheaper than me, healthier than me. Every guy in here is here to take my job. The only reason after 15, 16 years I'm still here is because I come in and I steal this Every day. I steal an inch. And that concept really stuck. He said an inch leads to a yard, a yard to a first down, a first down to a score. And scores lead to wins. And the reason we're all here is to go to the Super Bowl and we need those wins.

Speaker 1: 15:24

I, as a fullback, I took that inch concept. I looked at the days of the week, monday through Saturday, as six days a week. If I could steal an inch, that would be six inches and when I went into those collisions my measurement was a six inch battle. So I turned that mindset into becoming the number one lead blocking fullback. But I did it inch by inch. Now, as I am transitioning, looking at it. As an entrepreneur, as a CEO, I have next to my desk every day, my tally of inches. What was my inch today, monday, what was it Tuesday, what was it? I'm challenging my employees and the people working with me to make sure they measure those inches of success. And so, as I transition and start to talk to people about the world of money, that concept, that principle, is the biggest difference it can make and it is the smallest.

Speaker 1: 16:16

Everybody says I want to become a millionaire. Pause, do you really? Or is it the lifestyle that you see people doing that you really want? But how do you achieve that? Money can become a millionaire overnight. Let me rephrase that Most people don't become a millionaire overnight. How do they? They do it inch by inch. They make a decision today, they make a decision tomorrow. They take an action today, they take an action tomorrow. And so I would challenge people to stop trying to get to the end so quickly and to start to see and measure out what are my subtle little decisions and choices that I make across this path that become my financial journey. Because the other thing we realize and I got to see this and you'll see this, you know, you this, see this, working with professional athletes, becoming the 50 million dollar, hundred million dollar person is not the end we all dreamed it would be. So it is a journey and it is an idea that, if I can take credit and take pride in the inch I stole today, I'm headed in the right direction.

Speaker 2: 17:18

Let me pivot again. I just I love here and that's. It's such an amazing lesson, what, what an incredible story, one of the things that I've loved. You've worked very hard, you've become a disruptor. Right there there's really a couple people that are getting into these NFL locker rooms. It's been a blessing for me that all of you are friends of mine DDA accident, hillary Seiler and yourself but we were specifically talking about the work that you and Hillary do and you the two of you have had conversations in the past and it was very obvious to me that you didn't really see her as competition, yet you do the same thing, that there was this abundant mentality, which those are the types of things when I hear you discuss and you hear people refer to those things, then I know that you're doing things for the right reasons, which had me even more excited To know that you're excelling and making this difference.

Speaker 2: 18:09

Why do you have an abundant mentality? You know there's so many people in this world, that's, you know they would never share secrets. I I remember I was at a meeting with the Philadelphia Eagles organization a couple weeks ago, towards the tail end of training camp, and At the end there was a summit where they actually invited a bunch of GM's from other leagues. And here we are and one of the GM said it was actually a quote that one of the veterans said that you know You're in the right locker room when your veterans are willing to teach the new guys. And if the veterans are not willing to teach the new guys, like good luck winning because it didn't gonna happen. And so when I hear that from you, I just I love that because it's that abundant, abundance mentality. Where did that come from and why do you think that way?

Speaker 1: 18:54

First off, I got cut so many times. I was in a lot of different locker rooms. I've been in locker rooms where the veterans not only don't teach but they'll tell you the wrong things, so they don't take, you don't take their job. I've seen that dynamic play out, that abundance mindset really comes by training. You have to, as an entrepreneur, as an athlete, as anybody who wants to try to control and manifest their future. You have to have a positive approach to it. That is not an easy thing. Everybody's gonna get kicked in the teeth, everybody's gonna get knocked down, but you have to believe that what is ahead is an opportunity and that opportunity Continues to grow as you get better. Why Hillary and I don't see each other's competition is number one. If we improve and begin to see ourselves as our greatest investment, there's always going to be a job for us. I remember talking to John Dornbos Philadelphia Eagles long snap, yeah, also Vegas.

Speaker 1: 19:52

America's got talent yeah, unbelievable story. But he taught me how to long snap my rookie year and he looked at me and he goes jet, I'll teach you everything I can. If you are better the long snapper than me, you deserve my job. And I took that mindset, that abundance of wow. I keep developing. I Can teach anybody what I want. My goal is to always be the best, to be one step, one inch ahead. And so, as I look at somebody in the financial space, there's 32 NFL teams. If a good relationship is built, you're gonna be in there three, maybe four times a year. So that's over a hundred, almost 200 opportunities. And I'm one person. I mean we have a company, we have a business, but for that relationship to go and stand in front of NFL rooms, I don't trust many other people to do that representing my me or my company. So now we're looking at 32 is just one league. Then you look at what's happened in NIL and turning professional athletes into probably 30 to 40 different colleges across the country.

Speaker 1: 20:57

You look at the different other industries of professional sports. And then you look at outside. Financial empowerment is not a professional athlete problem. That is what I discovered as I was leaving Asking people well, where did you learn about money Then? Where did you? You know, you're an advisory and most people go. I learned it through making mistakes Nobody's. I took a class, I went to this school, I went on a course and so that's what showed me. This is a Hundreds of millions, billions of people don't speak the language of money.

Speaker 1: 21:30

So why I? And the list goes on and on about people who are trying to make a difference in financial literacy. None of us are competing because the opportunity is just opening. And I look at somebody I battle on a day-to-day in high schools Dave Ramsey. I read Ramsey books growing up. I think Dave has amazing things to say. But the opportunity of what school is going to connect with Dave Ramsey's message, connect with jet Collins and money vehicles message? Those are just endless opportunities. And if you can continue to see that abundance, you're not competing, you're just continually trying to prove yourself.

Speaker 2: 22:07

I Love it. I could just talk about this stuff. It's just, it's incredible watching your transition, how, how you've done this, the impact that you're wanting to have. Final question for you when you think of the word legacy, which, as a former financial advisor, one of the things that I loved, you know, of course, I had a passion because my mom left, you know, life insurance that funded my college education, so I knew the impact of the work.

Speaker 1: 22:35

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:36

Yet I would go in and you meet with business owners and you realize that there's very few industries where you really can impact somebody's legacy. You helping these athletes, you helping these individuals in schools, like you're teaching money for them to understand it and protect it. A lot of athletes, if they're not given that education, they squander the money, and you're talking about money that should last a lifetime. How important is legacy to you and, ultimately, what do you want your legacy to be? How do you want to be remembered for this incredible work that you're doing in financial literacy, which is helping individuals attack their lives financially?

Speaker 1: 23:19

So number one legacy to me means something that lasts even beyond you, beyond you being there. You told me something over 10 years ago now, that you wake up at four with a fire and that's turned into the burn, that's turned into what you do. But you were the first person I came across that goes I'm a morning guy, jed Collins I'm. I wake the wakes up on the first guy in and hear you, and it was a challenge to me to say this cat is crazy. He wakes up at four and he is ready. Wow, that's legacy, because that has stuck with me, however many years. And so, as I start start talking to these players, my hope is to educate and empower them, because they have the chance to change not only their lives but their family lives and, more importantly, their communities lives. If we can start speaking this language, remove the taboo nature of it, we are building a legacy that what professional sports was meant to be is this opportunity to change your life. And so I look at this communication of this simple task and these simple things as how they are going to begin to change and shift their entire communities lives and to really make that kind of impact. But where my life changed is where I really meditated thought journal. I think that's my second or third time bringing that up about.

Speaker 1: 24:43

What I want my legacy to be being a financial advisor is a tremendous career. It's a great opportunity you get to impact lives and make a difference. But what I wanted my legacy to be was somebody who people looked at and said that guy taught a million people about money he shared and showed a million people how to begin their financial plan and head down a road to what we call financial freedom. I knew I was not going to be able to do that as an advisor working with clients. I knew the only opportunity to truly change the masses was to become an educator, to become a teacher and to become somebody who can help facilitate a conversation within yourself. So my legacy I hope and what Money Vehicles on the Road to Do in high schools and colleges working with students not clients, students is to change a million people and to get them to take one inch, one action and start a financial plan.

Speaker 2: 25:45

Your Money Vehicle dot com. Not just the former number one fullback in the NFL, not just one of the first athletes. I can never thank you enough. If you wouldn't have trusted me to teach you the emotional trigger and try to squeeze your fingers off your hand that first phone call, who knows where I would be in terms of the future. I'd say I'd work with athletes. But to see you become a CFP, an author, a speaker, a professor, somebody with this type of legacy, you've literally taken a burn. Where you had discipline on the field, you've now taken it off the field and the impact you're having it's just incredible. This has been such an honor to reconnect and to have you on the burn. I can't thank you enough for coming on.

Speaker 1: 26:32

All I can say is thank you for the opportunity, any questions or interest around financial literacy, but then keep being you, keep lighting the fire. I hope you're meeting another Jed Collins today that you get to talk to in 10 years.

Speaker 2: 26:47

I appreciate that so much, brother. That is big time meaningful conversation right there. For those of you that want to stay connected with Jed, in the show notes we will leave you everything that you need, including the website that I've referenced now a handful of times. I want many of you who are sitting on that sideline to realize from Jed's words you can't get into the game without discipline. For those of you that are in the middle of transition right now, you will not make it through that transition without confidence that comes from your discipline.

Speaker 2: 27:20

Those of you who thought you'd done your best work which maybe Jed thought he'd done on the football field, those millions of people he's going to impact is far greater than the touchdowns that he scored on the field and the wins that he accumulated as a player that is owning it with great discipline throughout all transitions and all chapters of life. His best is yet to come, as is yours, as is mine. This has been the burn. Please share this episode, subscribe, make sure that somebody who needs to hear this message hears the message, so they can drive more discipline in their lives. Remember why in purpose is not enough. It's the burn that ignites your why and purpose and causes you to show up when you don't feel like it, and especially after you win. This has been the burn and we look forward to seeing you next week.