Build What You’ve Been Waiting For

During COVID, everything stopped. No travel. No meetings. Just space—and silence. For the first time in years, I had time to think. To be honest with myself. And what I saw was sobering:

I was busy—but not effective. I was building—but not aligned. I was moving—but not progressing.

I had spent years working inside a system that looked successful on the surface but wasn’t built to support the vision I had—or the people I cared most about serving.

And that was the moment it clicked:

If I kept waiting for the system to evolve, I’d be stuck in it forever.

From Player to Investor

My journey into business didn’t follow a blueprint.

I started as a passive investor while still playing in the NFL. But something about that didn’t sit right. I didn’t like watching from the sidelines. So I took a more active role.

When I invested in indoor football, I also operated the team, learning from the ground up. When I backed founders, I didn’t just write a check—I rolled up my sleeves.

The parallels between a founder building a company and my journey from 252nd draft pick were clear. I understood what it meant to create something from the ground up. The technical skills I learned along the way only added to that foundation.

That decade of active investing gave me experience most people don’t get. But I noticed something that bothered me.

Other athletes were diving into venture capital too—but many didn’t have the tools to do it well. The excitement was real, but the access to education wasn’t.

When the silence is loud

Seeing the gaps in education to venture capital, I partnered with Columbia Business School to create an executive education program that taught athletes the fundamentals of investing and entrepreneurship.

Tuition reimbursement was already in place. The infrastructure was ready. But the support wasn’t.

The leagues and the players association didn’t show up. Financial advisors weren’t interested in helping their clients learn.

The very people benefiting from the athlete investment wave had no interest in helping players build the capacity to own their outcomes.

And that was my second realization:

Plenty of people want to profit off your potential. Very few want to equip you to own it for yourself.

Fiduciaries should be holistic

The education model wasn’t scalable within the existing system. I thought of ways I could support athletes more directly—help them navigate their entire financial lives with alignment, strategy, and purpose.

Eventually I decided to become a licensed financial advisor.

I passed my Series 7 and 66. I joined a firm. I hit the road, recruiting young athletes with a long-term lens in mind. Notre Dame. Virginia Tech. One conversation at a time.

But once again, I ran into the same wall—this time from the inside.

The model wasn’t built to put clients first. It was built to manage risk—from the firm’s perspective. Claiming to be a fiduciary felt more like a buzzword than a guiding principle.

Every time I tried to make the system more holistic, I got pushback. Every time I offered more context and care, it was met with compliance restrictions. The firms treated the equity portfolios we managed as if they were isolated from the entrepreneurial ventures and private investments their clients balanced.

The lack of holistic visibility meant they couldn’t serve effectively—and compliance made sure that stayed the case.

After two years of misalignment, I left the financial advisory business—not in frustration, but with clarity.

Filling the gaps

After years of trying to reshape misaligned systems from within, I finally paused long enough to understand something deeper. The system was broken. It was never built with me in mind.

And if I wanted to do meaningful work—if I wanted to create the impact I knew was possible—I’d have to do it outside the machine.

That realization is the seed Champion Venture Partners sprouted from. It became the natural next step after a decade of lived experience, disillusionment, and clarity.

CVP wasn’t the grand vision all along. It wasn’t a pivot—it was a culmination.

It was the result of letting go of what wasn’t working—so I could finally build what I’d been waiting for all along.

What about you?

If you’ve ever felt boxed in, misunderstood, or underutilized—this message is for you.

If you’ve done everything “right” and still feel misaligned...
If you’ve tried to create change from within and hit resistance at every turn...
If you’ve carried a vision that doesn’t fit inside the structures around you...

Here’s the truth:

The thing you’ve been waiting for might not be coming. Because it’s waiting on you to build it.

Stop waiting. Start building.

You don’t need more credentials.
You don’t need another meeting or another round of approval.
You don’t need a seat at a table that was never built for you.

You just need conviction.

• If the industry doesn’t value your perspective—build something that does.

• If the infrastructure limits your vision—create one that expands it.

• If your lived experience doesn’t fit the mold—create a new mold.

You don’t need permission to be the solution. You just need the courage to stop waiting—and start building.

This is your invitation

Not to replicate my path. But to recognize your own.

If you’re stuck inside something that doesn’t reflect your values...
If you’re shrinking to fit spaces that weren’t made for your growth...
If you’re waiting for the world to hand you what you already know is needed...

Stop waiting. Build the thing.

Because someone out there is already waiting on what only you can create.

Ready to take the next step?

Whether you're pivoting careers, scaling your business, or redefining your next chapter, I help growth-minded professionals and organizations turn potential into sustainable success.

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