He trains seventeen kids a year. No advertising. Referral only. And he
interviews the parents before he says yes.
Steven "Shaq" Shackelford spent 26 years with Capital Group / American Funds,
managing just over 400 relationships across the country. Today he's Vice
President of Qualified Retirement Plans at Invst. On the other side of his
life, he coaches football: athletes in five states, the Thieneman brothers
from walk-ons to captains at Purdue, and Chris Evans from his 7-on-7 team in
Indy to Michigan to the Cincinnati Bengals.
In this one: the two rules his father gave him at twelve, why he'll turn
down a great athlete who isn't doing the work in the classroom, act as if
(and the three D's that come after it), the forty-year plan versus the
four-year plan, and the college athlete whose jersey number cost him six
figures, and several million once you run the math.
In This Episode
0:00 Who is Steven "Shaq" Shackelford?
4:15 The Tidewater Sharks: two seasons of semi-pro ball
5:52 Watching his athletes play on Saturdays
8:13 The Thienemans: walk-ons, captains, and confidence from reps
10:05 Chris Evans: from a 7-on-7 team to Michigan and the Bengals
13:40 His father's two rules and the Shackelford brand
17:17 Louisville to Irvine, and the grandfather who never took the trip
21:45 Why he only trains 17 kids a year
24:40 Delayed gratification in a DoorDash world
28:17 Leaving American Funds after 26 years
31:29 Act as if: dedicate, desire, dominate
36:05 What good parental influence looks like: "present"
39:14 The forty-year plan vs. the four-year plan
43:51 The $10 million question and the six-figure jersey number
49:11 Rapid fire
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GYM OWNERS
Training is one block of six. You've already mastered that one.
Find Jim Beebe on LinkedIn, tell him the sport you coach, and
he'll walk you through what the other five look like built
around it.
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Steven Shackelford — VP, Qualified Retirement Plans, Invst
Instagram: @stevenshackelford1
Athlete Builder with Jim Beebe
Win the day. Stay relentless.
