Shaquille O'Neal Interview: His Secret to Success

They should ask me, how do I do so much? And the answer is delegation. You delegate. How do you own Reebok? You delegate. How do you own this? How do you own that? Rather than trying to be a rebound, be Krispy Kreme, do this, do that, how do you. How are you all over the place? Because I delegate. I delegate, and I don't micromanage. That's how I can own a bunch of things and be here in my country estate.

Shaquille o' Neal has done a lot in his career. On today's show, he's going to share his secrets to success. And as you may have guessed, we're going to have some fun along the way as well. This is the launch your business podcast, because we know starting a business is challenging, but it doesn't have to be confusing. Each week, we'll give you the tactical advice and the necessary tools to scale your business without feeling burnt out. I am Terry Rice, business development consultant and staff writer here at Entrepreneur Magazine. Let's dive in. Before we officially hop into the podcast, I just have to share this private moment that I had with Shaq, and it had me rolling. So let me. Let me tee it up for you. As soon as I hopped on the Zoom session for our interview, he asked me a question. How old are you? So I just kind of played along a bit and I was like, well, how old do you think I am? His response, 27 years old. Fun fact, I'm not 27. And you can hear my surprise when telling him my real age right now.

No, man, I'm 44.

Oh, my God, you're beautiful. Did you ever get growing up, growing up, did the kids always call you Jerry Rice?

They did, and they were like, I'm a public speaker. So people are disappointed when he doesn't walk out.

That's hilarious.

Yeah, like, who's this 27 year old kid from Brooklyn?

So I'm not Jerry rice. I'm not 27, but I'm so glad that I get to share this entire experience with you. And during today's episode, we won't talk too much about basketball. Instead, Shaq will pass along his secrets to entrepreneurial success. There's a dad joke slash pun with the whole pass and basketball thing. I will leave that alone, though. So today you'll learn why he is motivated more by negativity than affirmation, why honesty really is the best policy, and the power of delegation. So let's hop into it right now. It's going to be a slam dunk. I'M joking.

Well, I don't think I have too much your time, but I do have some questions I want to ask you. And I'm going to start with a confession. I'm going to confess to you. When my, my son Trevor was born, he's now three years old, I was just really stressed out. So I started eating a pint of ice cream every night. Pint of ice cream every night. And I just stopped two months ago and lost a bunch of weight as a result. Surprise, surprise. So on your end, I know you lost, I believe it was 50 pounds before your birthday last year. So I'm wondering, how did you lose that much weight? Was it ice cream with you too? Or how'd you lose that weight?

So I was non active. You know, I'm, I'm not gonna get on here and act like I'm this guru, workout buff, diet dress. It's not like that. I'm more, I'm more of the, the Sylvester Stallone type superstar, the Rocky. So, you know, coming in, eat what I want, but because I played so many games, never really noticed that when I stopped playing, I would still eat what I want. But no gym, no nothing. Like, I'm retired. Coming off this Achilles surgery, I don't need to work out, I'm shacked. Blah, blah, blah. Never really noticed it until I started really looking and I started taking my shirt off and my definition started losing. And then, you know, I was like, man, we work out. Work out a week. Motivation just wasn't there. I don't, I'm like, work out for what? Why do I need to work out? Like, I got a hot girlfriend, my kids are grown, she loves me, I'm not doing that. And then I, you know, like, I'm the type, I have to, it has to be very negative to motivate me. Man, you're fat. What about two weeks? Again, work. Oh, my main man, another celebrity. He got something that you could take? I would take it. And one year, like, I don't see nothing. Two years, like, I would take it every day but not really do nothing else, and it didn't work. And then I'm looking at him like his, his body ain't changing, right? So then I said, okay. And then Charles Barkley calls me fat on tv. One day, Charles Barkley, fat guy called me. Now I'm mad because, like, I'm the type that before I get upset, emotionally upset over criticism, I have to see if there's some truth in it, right? So I come home, body's terrible, And I'm looking at old video like it's terrible. So now I got to set new motivation that's make me going to get in the gym and stay in the gym because I got a gym at the house. So I'll go, bro, I'll give you a heart a week. And then once I come home, sit on the couch and say, I'll do it tomorrow. I'm done. Right. So my new motivation is because I was, you know, looking at my sons, I'm working out and they're all chopped up. I know you're gonna ask me about some other business. I was like, has there ever been a father son duo to do an underwear at? So now seriously. So now I'm thinking Fruit of the Loom, New York Times, Billboard underwear. So now I know I got to get motivated. So that's when it started. So I, I said, you know, I want to come out with a supplement for guys our age and younger that really helps them out. So me, the difference is I'm more active every day. I got to do something brothers walk. I got to do cardio and I do weights. So I took a couple weeks off because I, I got the hip surgery. But when I first started with no bigs Biotech, I was 410. 410 pounds. I just checked yesterday. I'm 373. But the ultimate goal is to be 350 and chisel like a he man doll. That's my goal. I guess it's there. I'm starting to see it. But now I gotta be more disciplined. So I don't not on the foo foo diet. Meal one is a shake. Meal two is egg and sausage wrap. Meal three is a salad. Meal four is another shake. And then the last meal is chicken, steak or fish. And then I, then I don't eat the rest of the day. I drink a lot of water. You know, I used to get in trouble with sandwiches. Sandwiches because you know, that's all I know. So your thing was ice cream? My thing was two sandwiches and some Cheetos. Like I used to do that every night and a Sprite. So, you know, I didn't like my appearance. And then I made that new motivation for myself. And it's not just a pill you take. You got to be active. I'm not saying go to the gym. Yeah. But be just cardio. If you're active and you eat right, you will definitely see results.

All right, I got to check that out because I, I know your actors. I've seen you like, doing, like, ma m a before. Like, I saw your show. I'm like, I was surprised how well you could move, to be honest, for your size, but you're. You're putting it in.

Thank you. I appreciate it. You know, I like to. I like to do. Do different things, but. But. But now that I got my new hip, I'm probably, you know, get back to it.

Nice, Nice. So tell me more about Novex, though. And I'm curious how you even determined, like, this was the right course of action for you.

Because I wanted to. I wanted to come out with my own supplement. This other guy, I'm not gonna say his name. I won't be disrespectful.

Charles of Barclays.

No. Another guy that sells a similar product. Yeah. Like, he was, like, saying, this is this, and theirs happened to be the number one product. And I tried it, and it didn't work for me. So I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I want to come out with something real. So I did my due diligence and came across this family company in Utah, happened to be highly respected in the business, and had a similar conversation. I us would like to come out with something that we can offer to the people that's going to do boom, boom, boom. So, you know, they. They came up with some supplement. I tried it, and they showed. Because, you know, my thing is, if I'm gonna tell you to take something, I'm gonna show you the real results, be, Take it, take it. And you don't really see what I've been through, so I'm letting people know. Started off at 410, already lost 40 pounds, about to lose another 20 pounds. And then after that, I may even chisel up even more. And this is the stuff I'm taking because the other guy, he hasn't changed since he first put out the product. He still looks the same.

Now, I got to do some independent research to see who this is, but let's. Let's talk about more about your. You as an entrepreneur, because I know that you. I mean, you own several franchises, and, you know, you have a lot of brands that you represent present. But what goes to your head when you're deciding whether or not you want to partner with the brand? Like, how. What. What criteria do they have to fit?

Two simple ones. Do I believe in what you're saying and do I like your product? You know, a lot of people think it's about the money. It's never about the money with me because, you know, if you look at A plus B equals C. It's your product. I'm telling the people it's your product. Probably got to be good. So if I don't like it, I can't do it. A lot of times people, hey, man, do this, do that. I just, you know, being raised by a drill sergeant, you're really brought up with the honesty and the integrity thing. Like, you know, my favorite stories is when I got a first championship Wheaties, hey, man, we want to put you in a box. And I turn them down. My agents, they go, what you can't turn down, bro, I don't know what Wheaties taste like. Get me in contact with Frosted Flakes.

What?

This is. I said, my man, I'm not, I'm not going on the weeds. I don't know what it tastes like. Not going to taste it. I'll never try this. Frosted Flakes, Fruity Pebbles and Fruit Loops. We don't have cereals in the house. We just don't eat cereal. So I think I was one of the first guys that kind of, you know, disrupted that space. And then finally, sorry to be able to finally, 20 years later, I. I did my first deal with, you know, fraud to flex. But to go back to the question, if I don't respect your product or like it, I can't take your money. It would be very dishonest of me to just take your money.

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Going deeper on just you as an Entrepreneur. What is one lesson about entrepreneurship that you wish you learned sooner? And I know our mistakes, mistakes even make us. But if you could go back and like, think to yourself, gosh, I just wish I learned this sooner, what would it be?

It would be, don't focus on the monetary rewards you can receive right away. Because I'm the type that. Well, I was the type. See this napkin? They call it check napkins, my boy. Work at the airport. You'll be the only napkins at the airport. Give me a hundred thousand. By next week you'll have 2 million. Let's do it right rather than doing a due diligence. What airports you talking about? You got the cut. The international airports. You got the homeboy, like, you got, like. So you know, if you told me something where I could double and triple my money, I would, I would believe it. So now, all about due diligence. It's all about it. Is it going to impact the people? Because I used to try to get rich quick a lot. And then I heard Jeff Bezos when he was, this is 10, 15 years ago at one of these tech conferences, he was telling people about Amazon. One day in the future, you're not gonna have to leave. Everybody was looking at it like he was crazy. But he says, I'm focusing on investing in things that's going to change people's lives. I don't like to consider myself an expert, but I have certain strategies. One of my favorite quotes is from a teacher, whereas in government class, and I couldn't understand it, she said, when something is difficult, break it down to the simplest form. To. You understand it, right? Break it down to the simplest form when you. Till you understand it. So when he said, I want to invest in things that's going to change people's lives, I was like, oh, my God. So that's been my new strategy. So it's not that I'm an expert. I just take my time. I see how I know it works because I use it in the game, right? Printers. I'm the guy that I could. I. I won't print nothing for a month. And then I print something. You got to change the cartridges. I tried that one day. It was a nightmare. I had to end up buying two. Comprentice? Oh, I need this cartridge. They go on the back. Oh, we don't have this. And I go to another store, we don't have them. Like, my man, this is a nightmare. Like, I need these documents, like right now. So when they came out with the one I'm like, bro, that's. That's excellent. I. I know people have the same problem when they trying to print and got to get these cartridges. Yes, let's do it. So I don't respect it, and I think it's going to change. Change your lives. I think it's always, you know, the right thing to do. And I don't look at the money aspect of this like it's a model to still be working 12 years after I'm playing, but I don't. I'm doing this, I'm doing that. I was flexing on the ground one day, and my mom was so disappointed. She's like, baby, we know you successful. You don't have to. You don't have to show it in people's faces. Look, she didn't like us. So I always. The way I use social media is 60 to make you laugh, 30 to inspire you, and 10 to let you know the products that I'm trying to say. That's. That's always been my thing.

Yeah. Yeah. I think, because if you're always selling, people just going to tune out after a while anyways. You got to educate, inspire, and entertain. So I dig that. And. And I know you're doing a lot of interviews today, so I don't take up too much of your time, but I know you get a lot of questions, too, obviously. So I'm wondering, is there a question that people just never ask you, but they should, because the impact of your answer would be so substantial.

They should ask me, how do I do so much? And the answer is delegation. For example, if I was going to own an African American successful media company, I'm calling you, brother.

Cool.

Not gonna do no work. I'm calling you because I know you're educated, I know you're smart, I know you're well respected in the business, and I'm not gonna micromanage you call you once a week. What we doing? Boom, boom, boom. So, you know, how do you do this in it? You delegate. How do you own Reba? You delegate. How do you own this? How do you own that? Rather than trying to be a rebound, be Chrissy Green, do this, do that. So that's my favorite question that people don't ask me. Like, hey, how do you. How are you all over the place? Because I delegate. I delegate, and I don't micromanage. That's how I can own a bunch of things and be here in my country estate. And now where my. I do a check every Friday. You know the important part about delegation? You have to be educated to know what's going on. So I could look at all 40 of my restaurants on a Friday, which is tomorrow, and compare them to last week's. Look pretty good to me. Move on. Hey, man, we lost. You know, he gets. I'll always hire people that are smarter than me. Like, my first move I had, it was. It was a. I got the concept from watching the Godfather. So it was a guy in Orlando. He was the number three guy at McDonald's. He wasn't complaining, but, you know, he was a brother. They'll never give him a chance. Like, man. So then when I came across this new franchise, five guys, I made him offer he couldn't refuse. How much you making? We're going to triple that. And I'll tell you what, we're going to raise his things up. We ain't going to sell them. I'm going to give you a piece of my company. You my partner. I knew he knew how to run those McDonald's because I seen it firsthand. So I knew with this new thing, he was going to know what to do. And Bam. Had 155 of them. Raised him, sold them. He calls me all the time and tells me, thank you. But that was from, you know, not. I could have did it, but not really, but I know he could have did it. And, you know, that and this and that. I said, okay, I delegate and let him be in charge and let him do what he do. This would be a great thing. And. And it happened to work out just fine.

And that's our show for today. You can learn more about novex by visiting novexbiotech.com that's N O V E X Nova B I O T C H dot com and I strongly suggest learning more about Shaq's philanthropic work by visiting ShaqFoundation.org thanks again for listening and I'll catch up with you next time. Apply what you've learned on today's show. You'll find the show notes and more resources at TerryRice co. Podcast. Again, that's TerryRice co podcast. And the best way to support support this podcast is by subscribing, telling a friend and leaving a review. Also, you can get more tips by following me on Instagram at Terryrice or follow me on LinkedIn. This episode was produced by Josh Wilcox of Brooklyn Podcasting Studio and edited by Dan Lardy. Special thanks to my wife, Dominique, for keeping our kids relatively quiet as I recorded. Thanks again for listening. I'll see you next time.

Sam.