 Yeah, so actually right out of college, I was offered an opportunity to coach at a non-profit organization. My mentor was Tina Sloan-Green and she was the founder and president of the Black Women in Sports Foundation. And essentially what the program does is it allows people to coach and teach non-traditional sports. So like soccer, fencing, lacrosse. And for me, like other than basketball, like I hadn't played any of those sports. So she gave me a platform to be able to learn the nuances of sport. So all of the skills that you need to learn to play the game, right? And so throughout that experience, I developed a love for teaching. And when I graduated college, I knew like, if I wasn't going to play basketball, I knew that I was going to teach in some way. But I didn't know everything that was involved, right? My undergraduate degree was sociology. So it was nothing about teaching at all. And as I got, you know, the experience of teaching, I developed a love for it. And I was like, okay, I'm actually naturally good at being able to control the room, right? I'm naturally good at teaching things and breaking things down. So I knew that I would teach right out of college, but I didn't know the journey of what that could look like. But because of relationships, my dad had a friendship with the woman, Tina Sloan Green, who was the founder. And I was like, well, dad, I need a job out of the college, you know, how can you support me in that way? And so he reached out because he knew, you know, the relationship that he had. So with that program, I was able to teach, I was able to learn, you know, how to break down skills. And with that, that was the coaching journey. And because of my relationship, but I did a really good job at that foundation, I was able to, you know, make connections and find a student teaching job right at a school called Germantown Friend School, which is a private school in the greater Philadelphia area. So once I got their job, I got a student teaching position. And then that was my first basketball coaching experience. That was the journey of coaching basketball. So it's funny that I went to, you know, I was in college, I got a scholarship at Stony Brook to play basketball. And then right out of college, right, like, I didn't coach at all. And typically people either become like graduate assistants or right, or they like, you know, they immediately go to their like local high school and help with coaching. But my first job was, was something that didn't even involve basketball. And I think that allowed me to develop a true appreciation for sports and teaching. So with that, you know, I kind of got my experience there. And that's a really started the journey of coaching basketball. Awesome. Awesome. So tell us a little bit about your, your business then. Yeah, so we are or per bound training. We are a youth basketball training and development program in the greater Philadelphia area. And we really focus on both the mental side of basketball, right? Like, and we really specialize in performance in general, because you can learn all of the skills for basketball. But if you don't connect all of the things that allow you to perform, which is really your your mental part of the game, like it's hard to perform well. So if you think about everything involved in a game, it's dealing with pressure, right? It's dealing with adversity. It's being able to not hesitate when you get the ball, it's being confident, right? And a lot of like today with a lot of kids struggle with this confidence. So we really kind of, you know, teach, okay, these are the things that are involved with performing from a skill perspective. But in order to apply that and translate that, you have to learn the mental part of the game. And so one of my other mentors told me, you know, when you start training, because it's so prevalent, you have to specialize in something, right? You have to find a niche. So for me, I knew that teaching, like I said, was one of the things that came easy to me. And so when I thought about pro-bound, I wanted it to be bigger than just me. And so how, how can we be able to, as a now community, I have three other coaches, like how can we as a program be able to still specialize in something? How do we, with the million training programs that exist, how can we separate ourselves? And so we've really developed the community. We have kids from all, you know, parts of the city. We have kids from the city, from the suburbs of Philly. And so we really, really stress the importance of mental training, particularly too in this timeframe, right? Where like kids are on their phones, they're not communicating with each other, right? And I know that sports was the thing that changed my life. And so we as former, you know, collegiate basketball players, we all know the importance of sport. And we know like, you know, all the levels that you'll get to from a mental perspective when playing the game, right? It's so many highs and lows to basketball. So how do we teach players how to, you know, sort of go through those highs and lows with confidence and, you know, the ability to, like I said, perform at a high level through those experiences. That's awesome. So would you say the confidence aspect of what you guys do, is that something that you struggled with as an athlete? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I'm five three. I know it doesn't look like it on camera, which is a good thing. But I'm sure, and that was definitely a struggle for me personally, because it stopped my ability to go to certain schools. Like there were schools locally who said I wouldn't be able to play at a division one level. I didn't get recruited. So for me, it really gotten away in my confidence from, you know, a college perspective from a collegiate perspective. But basketball was something that always, always knew had my back, right? Like always knew basketball would be there. And because I practice so much, because I put so much time in, I think that helped me develop my confidence in the game, because I put so much time in. I literally just had a conversation with my kids at the camp today. And I was like, our talk, our mental talk was about confidence, and how you really get that, and you really get it from yourself. So I told them the story of how in recess, when I was young at recess, I would always have a ball around me. And I would go to different kids and like cross them up just to meet people. That was my way of connection. Meeting people was like, hey, you want to play basketball? Let me cross you up and like get some ooze and eyes, because I know once I get the way of the crowd or people, that's the way I can make connections. So yeah, to answer your question, that that was a way for me to basketball was my confidence. It was my way to really develop ultimately who I am today. Love that. So where does the name Probound come from? Why did you choose that name? Yeah, because everyone's not going to play professionally, right? The majority of people in basketball, there's statistics, right, that are available to us. Like, you know, at some point, someone's going to stop at high school. Some people may stop at college. Some people may stop, you know, in middle school, they just want to play for fun. So for us, Probound means like we want to prepare you for life beyond the sport, right? So think of everything that involves being professional, being on time, being a great communicator, being personable, right? Like all of those things that require us to be professional. And so initially, people throw Probound meant like, okay, this means we train and we go pro. Know you go pro in life, right? Like, we teach you all of the things that you need to be successful in life professionally. And ultimately, we're preparing them for their second job. So it's like, you know how the first job you were like at readers, you really didn't have, need to have that many skills, right? But like as a professional, your second job is like, like I said, you have to have the interpersonal skills. You got to know teamwork, you got to know how to collaborate, time management, like everything that you learn through sport, right? We're developing you to be great at that. So if you know how to perform well in the court, you know how to perform well in life, right? So that's the whole idea. That's where the name came from. You know, that's the meaning behind it. And that's what drives us, right? Every day is because we know what we're training our kids for outside of basketball. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Love that. So you've recently achieved a huge goal with your business. So talk to us a little bit and talk to the audience about when you started the business, what's been your biggest struggle or what was your biggest obstacle? And how did you reach your your ultimate goal? Which which you've achieved recently? So first of all, tell us tell the audience what the goal was. Yeah. And then tell us a bit about like the biggest obstacle you faced at the beginning and how are you going to the goal? Yeah. So thanks to the community. I just reached my 100k financial goal. And the challenge and struggle initially was that first I'll be nine years in business, right? So think about that too for people like either just starting or also have the same challenge of like hitting their financial goals. It does take time for some people, right? Like it may take them two years, three years. But for me, I'll say the obstacle and then the difference. The obstacle was, you know, one is getting my name out there in retaining athletes. Like I would get people in from like referrals and things of that nature, but retaining them was always a struggle. Like I would see them because our model was set up like drop-ins. We would do drop-ins, a lot of private training. But we didn't structure in a way where we could really see the development over time. And so if parents or kids are dropping in, they don't really see the value. And it's really hard to create a customized training program for each kid. So we're not going to be able to follow them and really see their development over time, really make sure they have an adequate plan for performing and to get results. So if you don't have a plan and they're just dropping in, you don't see the value. So they won't stay. And so that was one of the biggest things for us is like, you know, getting our name out there, getting people to come in. And then when they come in, how do they stay? So that was a huge challenge. And then, you know, the change was definitely one mentorship. And I'm sure we'll talk about that a little bit later. But mentorship was the key to just have a little bit more clarity of the model that we want to create within the business and clarity and how to retain athletes, how to get them to stay and how to create a program where that happens, right? So that was really the difference was that. And then another thing that really helped was getting on the phone with parents, being personable and, you know, really creating a plan for each and every athlete. And for someone who is just doing it on their own, that may sound really hard. But there's ways now and resources where you have virtual assistants, you have fiber, you have artwork, like you have so many ways to outsource for if they if you want people to do calls, sales calls and things of that nature. So there's so many resources for us now, more so than it was before. For me, like we started 2014. So, you know, there wasn't as many resources out there as they are now. So being able to utilize those, you know, those resources to help you can really expedite the process, right? And so that was that was the biggest struggle. That was the thing that helped us just kind of really restructuring our model. So how has your business changed since being part of our coaching program? Yeah, so we we have people who are, you know, invested in our program over a long period of time. So that was the biggest change was like, we have folks that are on three months, six months to a year, you know, contracts. And what that does is again, not only it helps us to keep them for a long time, but it helps us to make a clear plan for their athlete and the parents can visually see and with the kids, they'll ultimately see results, right? Like, if there's no results, there's no business. So it's very important to to give as much value. And I think the coaching community has really helped us generate ideas of what their value could look like and how we could even be more creative and how we can, you know, be different than the programs that exist and really stand out, right? It's just the value that we provide versus just training. Like I think the training is great. But what else can we do for our kids to really, really help them? Because all kids are different, right? The way they receive information, you know, the way they're motivated, kids are very, are different. They range from so many different spectrums. So for us, it's important to make sure that we are training each and every individual, right? And really understanding them as players, as people to really help them to add value and give results. Love that. So a lot of basketball coaches that will probably be watching this will be thinking that in their head, getting to 100k per year is impossible. So talk to us a little bit. What does it take to get to that to that mark with your business? Yeah, it's having a plan. Having a plan and having a mentor who has done the same thing and who can essentially give you shortcuts. Because you're going to waste your time, you know, researching and making mistakes that someone has probably, you know, you avoid those mistakes because someone more than likely has done it before, particularly to now, because it's so prevalent that there are tons of coaches, tons of people running sports businesses that you can learn from. And a lot of people are scared to invest, right? They're scared, like if they look at a number and they're like, this is how much it costs to get mentorship. I don't want to do it. But if we think of the value that we will receive, the investment that we put out, we will 10x that, right? Or make it right back. And so we can't be really stuck on the monetary part of mentorship. We have to think about the value. And that is something that is priceless. And that's something that I've truly benefited from is the resources and tools and advice that I've learned within this timeframe. I joined the community in October. And to reach that, I don't think I know for a fact, I will not reach that goal without the help and support that I've received from the community. That's awesome. That's awesome. So where do you see this industry going in the next two to five years? Yeah, I think now it's saturated and people think saturation is bad, right? Depending on what it is, saturation is good, because particularly in this industry, because a lot of people and kids are getting helped, right? And the youth is the future. So the more we can pour into them, the more we're preparing them for life. And there'll be politicians, there'll be teachers, there'll be coaches, doctors, right? So I don't mind the industry being saturated. I mean, more kids are being helped and being guided. But I think from a resource perspective, they're going to be more mentors, right? There's going to be more tools. There's going to be more resources for us to help our business. So I think it's going to turn from, you know, trainers to now consultants. I think that's where this industry is going to shift. Right now there's conferences. Now there's like basketball training conferences, there's basketball training certifications. I am also a part of the Gannon Baker and Phil Handy community. And they are coaches and consultants and they help coaches and trainers, not only with business, but from a skills perspective, how to teach and how to make the game more practical for the athletes that you're training. And so I think there's going to be more of that because as people see success, right, from a business perspective, the more they're going to pour into other people. So I think it's going to shift there. I think there's going to be software for us, which already exists as well, but I think it's going to become even easier for us to run business. So I think it's going to really shift from training to more consulting to helping us right in the sports business. So I think it's going to be more and more companies like yourselves helping other coaches. So Misha, tell us a little bit about what do you look for when you bring on a new client and how many clients are you currently working with? Yeah, so within the nine years of training, I've coached and trained probably over a thousand kids. Currently, right now, we have close to 40 members, consistent members, not just like dropping folks, but people who come in consistently close to 40 members in our program right now. And yeah, that's where we are at the moment. Obviously, it's going to grow as we continue to be more intentional about what we do. But yeah. Okay. And what do you look for when you bring on a new client? Yeah, so the first thing is a call. That's our process is if someone inquires about our training, what we do is we say, hey, okay, let's set up a call. And then on the call, we ask some certain questions. And some of the questions can vary from do you have experienced training? Do you currently play on a team? And what are some things that if you do, if you have played on a team, where you play on one at the moment, what's some feedback, right? So really just getting information, because information allows us to create a plan. So once we ask those questions, then we have a clear picture on the athlete and the needs of the athlete. So we can go from there. And then we do an evaluation, right? It's essentially like an interview process, right? Where like you go on for the job, you do a phone interview, and then you come in, right, for the live interview. So that's really how we, you know, pre-board, onboard our athletes to our program. So talk to us a little bit about the importance of getting on that call with the parent. Yeah. So you understand where the kids are coming from in terms of their experience. You understand how serious the parents and the kids are about training. There's been times where, you know, I've been on a call and, you know, a Zoom call, and I would specifically have things set up for the call. And some parents, you know, don't abide by those expectations. And so you, then you understand, okay, they may not be as serious about it because it could be a babysitting scenario, right? And for us, that's not who we are, right? So, you know, you have to really have clarity in the value that you bring to then, you know, ask certain questions on those calls. And it's really important because it sets a precedent, right? A precedent. It's like, we are serious about what we do. We're getting on this call because we want to get to know you. And quite frankly, we genuinely care. And to show that you genuinely care, you have to, I think it's important to get on those calls. Absolutely. So talk to us a little bit because a lot of coaches that are in basketball work with a lot of clients that aren't very committed. So they either show up late, they don't show up at all, they're late on payments. So how would you in your business deal with a client that shall we say is a bad client? Yeah. Talk to us a little bit about your process, give coaches a little bit of advice on how you can deal with that type of client. Sure. Yeah. That's a good question. So there's two things that happen. One is there's a contract. And so before anybody gets in your program, you have to have clear expectations that you can always go to. So you have to set the standard, right? In an expectation. So what we do is when people sign up for a particular program, we have a contract and within the contract, there are certain expectations that exist both from the player and the parents. And before they even come into the gym and invest in our program, they have to sign that contract. And so that's very clear. And typically, what may happen is once they read the contract, they're like, okay, maybe we shouldn't do this, right? You set those expectations. And so if they read the contract, they sign the contract and it still happens, then right now, you have to act accordingly. So for example, let's say a parent came like 15 minutes late to a session, right? And then the next thing that typically would happen is that they say, hey, can we still get the full hour? And then the contract is like, if you're late, we have, that's the timeframe, right? And so those sessions don't roll over, right? So there's certain things that you can put in place that eliminate those things from happening. And then from a payment perspective, right, you have to structure the business in the way that you would want to get paid, right? So and that has to be very clear. And one thing that I learned from the community was, you know, in terms of, you know, how to structure that is like, okay, well, you have to have an expectation. If you want to get paid by cash, you have to set this deadline this day. Or if you're getting strictly paid online, you have to set this date in this deadline. Or there's so many softwares and platforms that exist, where you can set those up in advance. But it's important to have integrity and so it's important to let parents know how it structures. So there's no surprises, there's no payments taken out with without parents knowing, right? So it's like having integrity and being really clear on how your business works, how it's set up and being clear on your standards. So that's like something that I learned from the community and something that like is really, really important is having those expectations. Awesome. So talk to us a little bit about your sales and marketing process. How do you sell and market your business? Yeah, so what I've done in the past is I've had lawn signs in the area. So I put it was literally me physically like going to different stop signs and like putting lawn signs around. And with that process in some local areas, you have to get approval for that. So it's not just like putting lawn signs anywhere because they will take I've learned from my mistake where like, I will put lawn signs out without approval from like the township or the area or the county. And I would ride by that same stop sign and it's gone. So I spent money on this marketing tool that could have worked great, but I didn't get approval for it first. So that's something list somebody for somebody listening. That's something that they can like just take into account if you're doing that. I think that has been really helpful in the past. I've gone to games and I've been able to talk to parents. And you know, once you're like talking to the game, you're like, no, don't do that. And you're coaching on the sidelines. Sometimes parents are like, oh, you know, what you're talking about? Where did you play? And then it starts from there. But the biggest marketing tool ever in the most successful thing that really always helps us is referrals. Like that is, I would say 90% of marketing for us is our parents. And once you give great value, once parents are seeing results, right? Once they're they're experiencing, hey, this, this, this is working. What I'm investing in is working. They're going to tell other people about your program. It happens all the time. And a lot of times we don't ask, like we don't ask referrals and it literally happens because of the value that we provide for our athletes. So that should always be at the forefront of any person looking to run a training business, any coach, like you have to be providing value, right? It can't be just stuff that you're looking up on on YouTube and thinking it works for everybody. You have to have a customized training experience for these athletes. It's so important because every player is not the same, right? So once you're giving value and you really understand the player, parents are really appreciate that. And the way they show appreciation is by referrals. Yeah, yeah, agree. Nice. Cool. So where'd you see your business in the next five years from now? Yeah, it's so funny, that question, because a lot of people don't even know what they're doing tomorrow. And to think about five years. But if I could answer the question, I think one, it would be to definitely expand in other, in other cities. I think what we do is really awesome. We really are changing and transforming lives. We have so many athletes who never played basketball before, and then they try out for their team for the first time. They're taking risks, they're developing confidence. And so I think every athlete all over should develop those tools. I think it's so important. So I would love to take what we do on the road. And then the big goal, our dream goal would be a facility to have a space where we can have flexibility in our program and where our kids can have a home to learn, to develop as people, to build connections, relationships. And our big thing, like I said, we pride ourselves on this community. So if we can create a community space for a program, that would be awesome. That's really the dream goal that we have is to create a home for the families in our program. That's awesome. Love that. So I've got one last question for you. Now, Ben and myself, we talk to coaches every single day. And some coaches end up joining our program. Other coaches don't for reasons. It might be they don't trust what we do. They haven't got enough information. But question for you, when you invested into our program, how quickly did you get a return on investment? Oh, wow. So it happened twice, actually. So first was the acceleration community program. And so within two days, I was able to book a team training contract, right, with a local team. So two days after I invested in the community acceleration program, I got that, you know, I got my return on my investment right away. Two days. Literally, same thing happened when I got one on one coaching from you guys. So this was like right before Thanksgiving. And there was a promo going out about one on one coaching. And I knew that goal was coming up. It was like near I was like, I know I'm going to get it if I just get one on one intentional time. So I would say probably three days after another. So a lot of it was the team training. And those are other ways to generate revenue in the training business is teams, right, building relationships with teams. Once you build relationships with teams, you build relationships with new parents who could be a part of your program. So a lot of our members that are in our program now are from teams. So yeah, it literally not even a week, right, like after the investment. And I know people listening are like, that can't be real, it can't be true. But you got to put the work in, like you can't receive the information and think that the universe is just going to be like, all right, let me give you 50 clients, you get 100k tomorrow, like you have to literally like do the work. There were times when I've had like six to seven calls with parents in a day. Right. And eventually, once you grow, you can sort of like I said, outsource those things where you're not exhausted. But it's literally, it's literally the work that you put in. You have to apply the information that you get you're given for this to to work. Yeah, completely agree. Yeah. Cool, Misha wealth. Thank you for jumping on. Now if any coach wants to reach out to you or wants to connect with you, what is the best way to do that? Sure, I would say through Instagram at pro bound training. So P R O P O U N D training. And they can send me a DM. I'm just say interview just so I know, you know, it was from here. And then I can thank you for making that connection. But yeah, they can reach out to me from there, ask me any questions. I'm still learning. And I'm learning through experience and like I said, mentorship. So if I can, you know, we can, they can learn one thing from this interview would be mentorship. I think that's the most viable thing you can have in life. Every every person needs a coach needs somebody right who has been there before can help them along the way. That's awesome. Perfect. And what I do, we'll add that to the bottom of the video so coaches can reach out to you or follow your follow what you're doing. Awesome. Follow your journey. Thank you. Thank you for having me to appreciate it. All right, Michelle. Well, hopefully I can bring you on in 12 months from now. See where you are. Hopefully you've doubled your goal. Yeah. And we can see where you are. I know that you work really hard. Because I see you all the time in the program engaging. So keep up the great work. And I know you're gonna you're gonna 10x your business. No doubt about it. Yeah, I appreciate it. As long as you're adding value and you're making a significant impact, you will do well in this industry. But that should be at the forefront of everybody's mind is making sure you're changing lives and making impact. Absolutely. Okay, Michelle. Well, thank you for coming on and we'll connect very soon. Thank you. I appreciate it. See you later. See you.