Marques Ogden | The Power of Resilience and Moving Forward in Life - Mick Unplugged [Ep 5]

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Here's Mick.

All right, everybody. Welcome to this dynamic episode of Mick Unplugged, where we are getting unplugged today with one of the people that has inspired me from afar for a very long time. And I am truly honored to be face to face with him virtually, even though we only live like 15 seconds apart from each other. So honored to be here with the man, the Myth, the legend, Mr. Marcus Ogden. Marcus, welcome to the show, my man.

I'm doing well, my friend. How you doing today, Nick?

I'm doing great. I'm doing great. So want to get into it? You have an amazing story, you have an amazing journey, and when I talk about being inspired by you, this is why you always figure it out. You always figure it out, and this is what I love. So for everyone listening or if you're watching, every day is Never beautiful, right? Every day is not going to be perfect, but it's that drive. And we talk about being powered and fueled by our because. Right. It's that thing. And Marcus Ogden is the epitome of that thing. So Marcus, I would love for you to take it wherever you want to go, as transparent as you want to be with your journey. But when I talk about inspiration and when I talk about you're going to get your butt knocked down, what you do next defines who you are. Mr. Marcus Ogden, ladies and gentlemen.

Appreciate you, Mick. So I'm from Washington D.C. i live in Fuqua Marine, North Carolina. Got that far for you over at, you're over in Wake forest. I'm about 20 minutes, half hour outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. I went to Howard University. I was very fortunate playing the National Football League for about six years. That was fantastic. Played for some great coaches. Jack Del Rio, Ryan Billick, Mike Malarkey, Jeff Fisher, played with some great teammates. My brother Ray Lewis, Ed reed, and you're 100% right, Nick. Everybody that I played with, played against or was coached by or coached against has that mentality of resiliency. When you get knocked down, you got to get up. You got to figure it out, you got to move forward. You have a great relationship with Les Brown. That is the epitome of Les Brown. Knocked down, got up. Use his story of getting up to help others. And that's what you're doing in your speaking. That's what I'm doing in my speaking. So after my NFL career, I struggled immensely with what to do next. I got hooked on alcohol, got hooked on narcotics, painkills to feel better. I had a huge hole, I had a huge void in my life. Football was about 15 years plus of my life. I didn't have it anymore. It was gone. So I had to figure out what to do next. And so finally I put down the alcohol, the pancakes and I started Cadence Premier Enterprises. We became the largest African American owned subcontracting company in the area of site work, grading, utilities, development in Baltimore City and the state of Maryland. But unfortunately right, Mick, as the company grew, my bravado, my sense of thinking I was better than everybody else, grew, my sense of thinking I was always right no matter what, under no circumstances, what I ever wrong grew. And I would basically push out my best employees, I pushed away my best leaders. That along with a job that I did for a construction client. And that job cost me about $3 million over budget. Finish the job because when I start something, I finish it but unfortunately. Right Mick. When I finished it, I was denied my change order by the developer and the contractor sent me to chapter seven, complete bankruptcy. Home foreclosed on in a matter of days. Got up and packed my cars with my now ex wife, she's my fiance at the time. And I ended up coming down here to Raleigh, North Carolina, more specifically Cary, North Carolina. By the time we got here after moving in, paying our rent for our place we lived in and all the movers, everything we did to get to this location, $400 to my name. That's it. That's it. 400 bucks. Boom. No credit cards, no savings, nothing to fall back on. No 401k0. Nothing but $400. Both cars were repossessed in the same day without the NFL, which we everybody now knows as the NFL Trust through the Player Care Foundation. That program started January of 2013. I filed bankruptcy in April 2013.

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So without that program being there, I would have gone homeless. God put that program in. I tell everybody I think about for me, because if I'd have gone bankrupt a year before that, we would have gone homeless. So the Gene Upshaw Trust Fund kept us from going homeless. But I didn't really have any money. I had a job at Merrill lynch. Was not focusing on doing my actual craft of working and developing myself. And I got fired from Merrill Lynch. All my fault. The next day I went to a construction company, got a job in their sales store selling things. They gave me a company truck, gave me a company phone, gave me a laptop, gave me $1,000 cash. I was rolling. But you know what, Mick? I still hadn't learned. Because when my ex asked me, do you have a contract? I said, what I need a contract for? He gave me a truck.

Boom.

Laptop, paid me cash. Why would he fire me? Five days later, he fires me. Gone from there. Mick. I said, what can I do? I started becoming a businessman. I started teaching football to kids. I became a birthday party clown, playing football with kids at birthday parties. And that wasn't paying enough of the bills. So I took a job. One of my clients owned a janitorial business in downtown Raleigh. And she said, marcus, if you know anybody that wants to work, please let me know. Say, well, what do they have to do? Because I was putting in applications, but it was delayed. Or I'm overqualified or I can't start for two months and I need a job now, right? I said, well, when can they start? She said, they can start on Monday. What does it pay? She says, $8 an hour. I said, I'll take it. She said, marcus, the best I can pay you is 8, 25. And I took it. And I worked for 825 an hour in downtown Raleigh from 10pm until 5am and what really woke me up was my rock bottom moment. One of my favorite authors is J.K. rollins, who wrote Harry Potter in her car. And nobody thought she would have success. Just like it took Dr. Seuss 128 publishers to get his book published, which became a household name. Just like Abraham Lincoln lost eight primary elections before he became the president. Right. All these things just like, you know, S. Grant was, you know, didn't have the best time at, you know, when he was, you know, in the military, you know, at Army. And then he ended up, you know, having to work hard, start over, start up, grow up the toa. He became General of the US Army. Right. And of that regard. Right. Of the army of the north and became a President of the United States. So my point is, is that everybody that I know that has had success, you, Les, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, I go down list. Has had some sort of struggle, some sort of obstacle. And if you want to overcome obstacles, master these three things. Resiliency, perseverance and mindset shift, master them. So I finally had that moment with someone's trash. Rotten meat, nasty protruding, horrible smelling garbage got over my body, my skin and my clothes. And that was my wake up call. And I said, wow, if I don't change this, I'm going to be sitting right here for the rest of my life. So I made the decision to get my life together and I said, you know what, I want to start speaking. Les Brown, homeless. And they started speaking. Eric Thomas was Tony Robbins, struggled. So I said, well this, this has to be me. So I started. But like how you get coached by less and have an accountability partner. Unless I didn't have a coach, I didn't have an accountability partner. So I went nowhere fast. Two and a half years, not one paid speaking job, not one, not one phone hung up in my face constantly. Emails not being returned all the time. People say, marcus, love your energy, but I don't want a football player on my stage. That was what I got most of the time. And I finally got my first paid job in April 2016 after my first book, Sleepless Nights got published. Got coached in 2018, learned how to bring more value than I was charging monetarily. And in the last eight years, Nick worked for 55 Fortune 500 companies. 55 again. Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Equitable work for Home Depot, worked for New York Life, MetLife, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Mutual of Omaha, Cisco, Seamus, Netapp, you name it. And what we really stress at our organization is being the solution to our clients problems, whatever that may be, right. If it's mindset, if it's culture, if it's leadership, if it's how to sell, if it's how to craft all these things, right? That's what it's all about. So at the end of the day, what's really, really important is that anybody that's trying to move forward, they have to be willing to be coached, that'd be willing to learn how to bring value to the table. And when you do that, great things happen. So again, right, Mick, been doing this now for, you know, almost 11 years. Almost 11 years. And was it easy? No. Is it easier today? Yes. Is it easy still? No, it will not be easy. Because if you sit back and you get comfortable and you like I've made it, then you're going to start having the beginning of your demise like you talked about, maybe potentially working with you with less. Always wanting to go to the next level, always want to be around people that can do what, push you to the next level.

Amen.

So that's about me, man. And so that's my story. That's what I've had to go through, that's what I've had to deal with. And now here we are today, helping clients do speaking, coaching, consulting a brand ambassador, work with organizations and structure and really help people in that regard.

And oh, by the way, he also has the number one podcast in the country, let's not overlook that. One of the podcasts that I listen to on the regular Get Authentic with Marcus Ogun. Love it. Love it. So Marcus, you said a couple of things that I really want to unpack and go deeper in because you know, my revolution on getting people to be fueled by their because and thinking about their because is this. I love Simon Sinek and I love the book start with why, right? But for me, there's a deeper push if why is the question because is the answer or because is the reason. Right. And you brought up something that I talk about all day, every day, which is the mindset shift. Right? If you don't have that mindset shift, you're never going to change. Right? What was that moment for you that drove you to say, if my mindset doesn't change, it's not going to happen? And then how are you inspiring others to do that, to have that mindset shift?

Remember when I tried to get a speaking job with the Ravens and the gentleman that I Had to speak to who I had known since I was 17. Shot me down, not just a little bit, but really hard. Marcus, I'm only taking this call because you're little Jonathan, Alvin's younger brother. You don't have what it takes. I want celebrities talking to my players, not has beens. And guys that you know aren't going to be successful. You should give up speaking. It's not going to work. And for, for about two days, I was very, very hurt. And then I said, wait a second. Like my dad always taught me, when you have people that are hating on you, usually something wrong with them and that they see something in you that they don't want to push to do what they need to do. So they try to knock you down, to try to tear you down. And that's what I realized and that's what I was dealing with. So I said no more, no mas. And I put down the victim mentality. I turned on the victor mentality. And that was my why. And what I tell people is in life, if you want to overcome obstacles, you have to master resiliency, mindset, shift and perseverance. And once I was able to do that right, that's when life got better. I basically, I mean, I filed for divorce. It'll be two years this July, July 2022, I had to file for divorce unexpectedly and I had to then move out after I filed to a two bedroom apartment in a little area of Cary by the Durham line. It was dingy, it was dark, it was run down. But I didn't have a choice make. I only had two weeks to get out and I had to find a fully furnished place and I had to get two bedrooms because I have my nine year old and we're going to be splitting time. So I had very limited options. Looking back on that place, I'm grateful I had a roof over my head. But I really didn't like being there. I drank a lot in that apartment. I went on multiple dates with different women in that apartment. I was living a lie. Wow, Marcus, you are trying to act like you're okay. You're not okay. And I hated living in that place. I hated it. But I had to because that's what I had to do. That's why I was constantly out at bars. I was constantly. This is again, this was in November, December 2022. This is January 2023. Finally, in January 2023, I re found my purpose. I said if I keep doing this, life will be just like this in this apartment, right? Constantly Saying, why am I divorced? For Marcus. Dictum mode. Marcus.

Right.

And I said, enough. I leaned into our brand, worked hard, put some parameters in place for myself, disciplined myself, changing who I was around, got more focused, and I was able to buy my dream home in May of 2023, six months ahead of schedule. Bought a house by myself in Fuquay. And where I live, Nick, is very affluent. I'm the only individual person that has a house so far in this development. We have about 100 people that live here. I'm the only one that's single with his only name on the mortgage. And I'll tell you this, that are listening. If you want to change where you're at, you have to visualize what you want. If you want to change where you're at, you have to visualize what you want. Better surroundings. I didn't know what type of place I wanted to be in, but I knew I wanted a house of my own. I knew I didn't want to be in that apartment for much longer. So I visualized it, I focused on it, I wrote it down. I made it part of my everyday process to do something to move me towards that. And now here I am.

Look at that. You put action into what you had to do, right? Which leads to the second thing that I want to unpack with you that you hit on. And it's something that I had to do for my personal journey and my professional journey to take off, which is I had to look at my circle, right? Because everyone that says they're for you aren't there. And I'm going to use a sports analogy that I know you're going to get. The most popular player on the team is the backup quarterback, right? Until that backup quarterback has to get in and play, and then he's the least popular person on the team. There are a lot of people around you that want you to stay average. There are a lot of people around you that are going to shoot down your dreams. There are a lot of people around you that are going to tell you you can't because they can't see it. And again, I don't know you well enough yet today, but I would almost guarantee that what you had to do was look at that circle of people and say at all the stages, right? And it's something that I do. I do it a couple of times a year. I analyze my circle because I'm trying to get to that next level. And I need people that can see it or have been there to help me go. So I would Love for you to talk about your circle, how you analyze it and what that did for you.

So for me, if you are hanging around me, I'm going to pick up your energy, good, bad or indifferent. And if you are somebody who is always telling me what I can't do, what I shouldn't do, where I can't go, what I can't be, I'll start to believe that again. Take my ex. Looking at it now, I am in a much healthier environment. Even though I am single, I have my own place, I have my own things. And I do miss having someone around to be with and lean on, stuff like that. And I'm dating, but it's hard as you're trying to readjustify yourself. But looking at it now, Mick, with her, and again, nothing wrong with her, but she's not for me. The toxicity, the negativity, the self doubt, you know. And what I really realized, right, Nick, we don't have anything in common. Whoever's in your circle have something in common, right? If you have nothing in common, then how you going to have conversation, right? Nick, like you, I can hang out, we can talk about speaking, growing our business, travel who we think are great athletes, that have great discipline, who are great leaders, like, like, you know, like Jeff Bezos or Les or Tony Robbins, that are individuals that we know what put the work in, right? So, you know, hang around people you have something in common with because that way you guys are conversating, you're sharpening each other's skill sets. You know, iron sharpens iron. You're getting into a much better position to move forward in your life, right? So like right now I'm on a 90 day, no drinking. So if you're. Somebody wants to go to the bar all the time and get drunk all the time, I'm not the person to hang out with you. I'm just not, you know, saying. And I'm okay with that because at the end of the day, you know, I enjoy playing poker, I enjoy going to the movies, I enjoy going to the gym, I enjoy traveling, I enjoy watching good things on tv. I like staying at home a lot of times. And that's the thing too, like now, Nick, I'm back to Marcus, right? I love being at home, right? I love. Yeah, I don't have to somebody say, marcus up for a date? You know, she's like, hey, you want to go downtown to the Rooftop? I'm like, no, I'm not drinking for 90 days. I don't want to go to downtown Raleigh I don't want to do that. We can have a date. Sure. We can go to Dave and Busters, have a great time. Awesome. But if you want to go downtown Raleigh rooftop and, like, get drinks and all that, you know, Friday night, that's not me.

Right.

I just don't want to do that.

Right.

And that's getting back to me. Right. In my home, I'm back to who I am. And when you want to build your circle, be around people that you have something in common with that you know has your best interest, live by the same. Building relationships plus building trust equals loyalty, man.

Say that for me one more time.

Building relationships plus building trust equals loyalty.

There you have it, everybody. That's why I listen to this guy every day. And again, if you're not listening to his podcast, go listen to it. Get Authentic with Marcus Ogden. It is a great listen. It's in the top 1%. So that should tell you how it is. He's in 112 countries. That should tell you how popular it is. And I'm going to be transparent because I believe in authenticity and transparency as well. I listen to Marcus. He has over 300 episodes. Right. Instead of binge watching TV, while I'm trying to get in better shape, I'm binge watching Marcus Ogden's podcast. So when I'm on the treadmill, I give myself two episodes per treadmill visit to make sure that I get three. So, Marcus, thank you. You are an inspiration. You are a leader. Love everything about you. Can't wait to get to know you even more. So definitely thank you for being on the show. Can't wait for all the great things we're going to do together, brother.

I love that. And you know what, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you picked up what Mick said. As Mick is working to develop himself and better himself physically, he's also doing it mentally right. And that's the key. Listen to this saying. In life, if you are tactical, but you are not strategic about it, first you will lose. If you're strategic and not yet tactical, you're not going to go anywhere. So trying to go and do a bunch of work and working out without having a plan, probably not going to work. Trying to go and create this awesome plan, but never do anything that's not going to work. So you have to be strategic and tactical. If you're not going to go in that order, something's going to get missed or worse. I think that we're going to start and then what happens? You're constantly saying, wow, why am I not fulfilled? Why am I not having an awesome perspective of life? Well, because you're not either doing anything or you're doing everything wrong.

Listen at that. This is why I can listen to Marcus all day, every day. Again. Go download the podcast. Go follow him on all social Marcus Ogden Brother, I appreciate you. I thank you. And for the listeners, as always, your because is your superpower.

Unleash it.

Thanks for listening to Mick Unplugged. We hope this episode helps you take the next step toward the extraordinary and launches a revolution in your life. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast and be sure to check us out on YouTube at Mick Unplugged. Remember, stay empowered, stay inspired, and stay Unplugged.