Renee Lopez: Recruiting Educator, Author, And Speaker

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All right, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. Today, I have Renee Lopez with us, and after being a college coach for 14 years, she's now a recruiting educator to help high school student athletes and their families on the college recruiting process, and she also does leadership development training as a certified trainer, speaker, and coach for the John Maxwell and the Jordan Company and the Positive Coaching Alliance, and author of the upcoming book, Looking for a Full Ride: An Insider's Recruiting Guide, How to Quadruple Your Chances at a College Athletic Scholarship. So welcome to the show, Renee.

Thanks so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be a part of this.

Of course. Pumped to have you on, Renee. We'll dive into the first one The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

Well, you know, having been a college coach for so long, you know, you get into a little bit of a rut. And one of the things that I decided to do a couple of summers was actually work some camps at multiple colleges across the country. And I got the privilege and honor to be able to work at the University of Virginia camp. And the— for those of you who are not soccer fans, they may not know that the assistant U.S. Women's National Team coach is the head coach at Virginia. And being able to spend time with him and really just watch him in action really just stretched me to grow and develop as a coach. But also, it was one of those taking a leap of faith. You know, I had to sleep in some dorm rooms and things like that for a summer. You know, sometimes you have to make a sacrifice in order to grow. And I think that's probably the bigger lesson that she worked is, you know, I had to sacrifice a little bit of my summer to be able to spend some time there. And it was an amazing experience. And so sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and make some sacrifices in order to grow.

And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

Well, you know, I think with working with high school student athletes on the college recruiting process, many of them think that are just going to have— like, they've seen the movie The Blind Side, and they think that college coaches are just going to come knocking at their door if they're talented. And that's just very opposite of what the case may be. In my book that's going to be coming out here in just a few months, I've interviewed over 65 college coaches and athletic directors, and the number one thing that they say to us is that you need to make sure that you're marketing yourself to college coaches and sending them emails and also sending them video clips and of you playing and letting them know of your interest very early on in the process, not waiting until your junior or senior year, but actually starting that process during your freshman or sophomore year. And then also that those emails should be coming from the, from the players, not from the parents. That's very, very key. And I think those who start the process that way are much more effective in being able to keep their options open in choosing a college for the long term in order to play.

And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.

Wow. I would say definitely get a mentor and get many mentors in, in multiple areas of your business. Obviously I work with an amazing publishing company who are just absolutely helped me every step of the way, but also I have mentors in different avenues of sales and marketing as well as leadership training. And I think that's something that I wish I would have done much earlier in my life is get more mentors to help me in business. And it's amazing how many people, if you just ask them, they'll just give you a little bit of their time. It's amazing how much— I just was so scared to ask in the past, and I didn't realize how much I just needed a few people to pour into me and give me their expertise as often as possible.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

Well, definitely would be the mentor, you know, making sure that I sought that out earlier. I wish I would have done that. But also writing a book, you know, for 14 years people told me I should start writing my book. On the college recruiting process because I did seminars on it. And I look back now and realize the opportunities that have opened because of writing an upcoming book in terms of media as well as reach with other people. And so I think it's important to take those steps and listen to people. If they're saying to you, you need to write a book, you should jump out and do it, even if you're scared. It's overwhelming, but it's a good process to have.

And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

Wow, I think it's definitely having a balance and being able to have a balanced life that includes, you know, a spiritual side of things. I am a strong Christian, and I believe that God honors what we do as long as we follow his word. And I think that also being able to have a balanced life in terms of free time. And I live in Florida, so I am happy to make a run to Disney as often as I can, or the beach. And being able to have that away from the work that I do as well with, with kids and families as well as in corporations.

And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that? Wow.

There's so many to choose from, I think for sure. Um, but I would definitely say is The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon. I'm honored to be a part of his speaking staff. And what that book encourages people to do is really look, take a look at themselves and culture. And that they're creating around themselves. And, you know, what type of attitude do they bring into an environment? Are they bringing a positive self and are they adding value to other people? And John really speaks about that in Energy Boss and multiple of his books as well. And his most recent one talks about the power of positive team, and I've been able to utilize that as well. So those are probably two of my favorites from John Gordon.

And what is your favorite quote and why?

Well, definitely from the Bible. I would say it's Colossians 3:23. It is, do everything enthusiastically as it's for the Lord. I think that's important is that we've got to serve God in what we're doing and serve who, what he's called us into being and who we are to be for him and honor him.

I love it. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find you online?

Well, I'd be love for you guys to find me at www.rlopezcoaching.com, rlopezcoaching.com. And on there you can find links to my upcoming book and you'll find out about the release of it as well as I run multiple Facebook groups, 9 of them to be exact. And you can find links on there also with my blogs on the college recruiting process. And so love for you to connect on there if you're looking for the college recruiting side of things. If you're looking for leadership development training, there's also information again at www.rlopezcoaching.com. And on that website you can also find my links to all of my other Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and LinkedIn as well.

Amazing, that's exciting too. 9 groups, how do you do it? That's awesome.

It is very time-consuming, but it's definitely an honor to be able to help and encourage people as they walk through their process of growing.

Yes, amazing. Well, so anybody listening, make sure to check it out, and thank you again for joining us. We appreciate it.

Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.