 into business? Yeah, I had no intention at all to run my own business. Actually, I quit a graduate assistant position because there was just no joy in that gym and I moved across the country during COVID and got a job as a trainer for a company called Point Guard College. They had just opened up their first ever onsite facility in Phoenix, Arizona. And so I kind of just kicked in the door and I was like, here I am, you can hire me or not. And they hired me. So I got a lot of incredible reps and in coaching and learning how to be a good trainer and a good coach through PGC. And that was supposed to be a three year gig. And then around one and a half or so years they had to close the doors. Just the business there wasn't working out. And so I can remember sitting on my porch at 11 o'clock at night and it was like 111 degrees outside in Phoenix, Arizona and shoot or shoot, it just kind of clicked. And that night I stayed up till like 3 a.m. I got on Canva and I made my first logo and the shooter shoot like staple design and I put it on a t-shirt and I created a campaign for a t-shirt and all of the donate, I used all of the proceeds and I gave them all to the Women's Sports Foundation. And that was like how I was gonna build this thing. It wasn't really even gonna be, like I was a shooting coach already but like it wasn't really even gonna be me making it my business as a shooting coach. It was gonna be more of a brand that I was able to like do philanthropy with. And then it just slowly but surely it kind of happened organically when I found out PGC was closing their doors. I found out, you know, I thought it was just talking about on myself and here we are. That's good, congrats. So talk to us a little bit. So what went through your head? Because obviously you just received some really bad news and how did you suddenly go, okay, from bad news to something positive? Cause normally what people do is they're like, they'll dwell on it for a long time and they'll start feeling guilty about like, sorry for themselves. So what went through your head in that moment? Why did you say, do you know what? I need to start something. You know, I think I think I like gave myself a little bit of time to mourn like in between the moment when I quit my job as a GA and then did this already. It was like that experience was so hard for me that it was just like you keep it moving. And you know, we've all gone through hard things. We've all like, we've all been through it and I've just gotten lucky I think in that I've from a very young age managed to like find resilience. And you know, we don't know where resilience comes from. We've studied it. We don't know, oh, or am I cutting out? No, no, you're good. Okay. Yeah, we've studied it. We don't know where. And so I really think it's just like sheer luck, sheer dumb luck is how I can bounce back. But I've seen it happen. I've seen it work for me over and over and over again like when hard things happen, like I cry and I freak out over it for a little while and then I keep it moving. And that has tended to work thus far. So that's all we have. Awesome, good. So tell us a little bit about your business then. What does your company specialize in? So I'm a shooting coach. So technical pieces of shooting from footprint to motion, all of those very like nerdy analytical science movement things and the mindset piece of course, the way we schedule feedback, the way we add constraints to different training, the way we have them think differently. Let's focus on something different so we can train holistically this one single skill. So there's that piece and then there's the, so my tagline is shot development and thought development. So the other piece is teaching young people, teaching all people just how, like how to have the audacity of self-belief, which is kind of a cheesy thing to just say out loud. But yeah, that's my why is I have very good friends and people I very much care about who haven't been able to find that little piece of going through something hard and learning to keep going and this feels like a good why. Cool, like that. So what ages do you specialize with? I'm sorry? What ages do you coach specializing? Yeah, anywhere from youth to WNBA. My WNBA client, she just sent me a text message today about her stats right now that she's playing in Turkey. She's shooting 74% from the three-point line. That's bananas, like who does that? Yeah, so and then I have my littles who like last night I watched a high school game of a team I worked with and I've got a little seventh grader in Utah who's just a little bucket and it's just, you know, so it's not really limited to one age group but it's very much based in mentorship and like the bigger picture of it all. Yeah, like that. So talk to us a bit about the differences between coaching like younger players and you know, girls at a higher level. Yeah, well it's different in I think two ways. One, yet the age difference and then differences in gender as well. You know, coaching men is definitely different. I mean, there's a different approach needed than coaching women. But with the younger women to the older women, it's really not that different to be honest with you. I mean, obviously you use different language. You take things at a different, you take a different angle and training a kid it's gotta be a little bit more fun, right? Whereas an adult athlete can have more focused, you know, conversations and things like that. But it's really not that different across the board. Because that's the thing we all have in common, I think is that just wanting to be great, like wanting to keep going, wanting to overcome. So it's the curriculum on that piece stays the same and with shooting as well. Anybody can be a great shooter, no matter size or shape or whatever. It just depends on how far we're shooting from what kinds of shots we're doing. If we're doing advanced, you know, are we doing a turnaround fade or are we like just working on cashing and shooting? So, yeah. So talk to us a little bit. What do clients that come to you, what's their biggest struggle that they have? Why do they come to you for a solution? That's a good question. So inconsistency is generally, if you were putting a large umbrella over it, then inconsistency, not being able to make shots consistently. And then sometimes it's somebody who's shot is just like broke, you know, they just don't know how to shoot. And they'll come to me and I teach them the way. And, you know, I'm building a team right now and when that team is put together, like we will teach them the way. So that's a, yeah, they're rarely coming for something like I want to do this move or I want to learn this shot. It's how do I overall become a better shooter? And how long typically do your clients stay with you for? Do you mean like in a session or across like time? Yeah, yeah, across time. So I just started this business in May. And so far I have eight clients, nine clients that are year round. One, my youngest being 12, my oldest being 33 in the WBA. So yeah, it's a high ticket item, you know, business-wise because it's a lot of time that I spend just on each of these humans, just as my job. My job as their shooting coach and confidence coach and shot development, thought development is to guide them on this journey individually for exactly where they are. So it's very involved, it's not just shooting. Like heck, yeah, we're gonna teach you how to be a bucket. Like we want you to score all the points, but beyond that, when the ball stops bouncing, who are you? Who are you? Yeah, okay, cool. So tell us a bit about the biggest obstacles you faced before you started the business or when you started. Well, what was the biggest obstacles? Yeah, I think not having, I mean, even now, not having a gym, I run this business on the road and I go to my clients and work out of their middle school or their high school gyms or that's been a challenge to try and find a way around that from a business perspective is how can I provide enough value to these athletes and their families without actually being in the gym with them for more than four days at a time? That's been a challenging thing to navigate in business. And then this summer, I was planning on running large-scale basketball camps and it turns out that I don't really wanna do that. I run large-scale basketball camps for Point Guard College, which I love doing, but that's not really what I wanna do. It doesn't really speak to my ethos that we've kind of just been discussing this whole time. And so understanding that and now like pivoting again so that's the hardest part about business is you just have to pivot over and over and over again while you continue to figure it out and then you think you gotta figure it out for a little bit and then, oops, no you don't, you got to do it again. So that's been the most difficult part, but it's never been boring, it's never been boring. Yeah, that's good, that's good. So talk to us a little bit, what do you look for when you bring on a new client? Yeah, I really only look for super serious players, ones that want to play at the next level. Not because I would turn away athletes who maybe didn't want that for themselves, but because in that sort of intense relationship, both parties have to be aligned on the goal. And so the type of athlete that I bring in is like they're trying to do something, go somewhere with basketball and the whole time we work through, all right, awesome. Hell yeah, go do something with basketball, go be great, but also who else are you? So it's a really fun, I was actually just sharing this with one of my mentees, she's out of Phoenix, Arizona, her name is Izzy and I got up at that morning, I had to get up early because of the time change to be on this meeting with her. And I like woke up, like ready to go. And so what all of my clients have in common is I like, I low key like them as humans, you know, they're like really cool people, 12 years old, 33 years old, 16 years old, whatever. So that's what they all have in common. Maybe that's a little selfish of me, but it's cool to like the people that you're mentoring. Yeah, yeah, very important. Good, cause you made an important point cause most of the time coaches, they just want to bring anyone in for the sake of bringing someone in and making money. So talk to us a little bit, how important is it to filter out bad clients? Yeah, I think I wouldn't even necessarily call them a bad client, but I made a, I made a, I sat down for a few hours and I just wrote down all of the things that I'm aligned with, that I would want an athlete to be aligned with, with me so that we can have the best possible relationship, mentor-mentee relationship, and I can push them into the places they need to go. And so then what I did is I put all of that onto a document and I recorded a really long, a 14 minute video that this is what you're gonna get. Please zone enroll in this if you're not ready to commit to all of this, not because you're a bad person, but because like this isn't gonna work if you're not ready for this and that's okay. And everybody's not for everybody. And they have to watch that first before they can even book a meeting to say, okay, let's talk about it. And because of that, I don't have a lot, I don't get a lot of leads, like I don't have a lot of people that click that and listen to all that. And they're like, great, like that sounds easy. But the ones that do, they come in, we meet and we already know based on the fact that they've watched that video that were in alignment that we're trying to get after the same thing here. So once they booked the call with me, then it's just a matter of, you know, here are the costs and how can we work this out and when am I coming to see you? Mm-hmm, okay, like it, I mean. So you've been part of our program now for a while. So talk to us a little, talk to the audience a little bit about being part of the program. What's one thing like that's helped you with your business? Yeah. Lots of it, you know, the resources are incredible. The backend stuff, you could tell Ben has spent so much time and thought on whether it, it ends up being the big money camps is one of the modules. For example, the step by step, here's how you market. Here's how you get a gym. Here's how you get some insurance because you definitely need that. Here's how you can negotiate prices. Here's how, you know, like literally it's put together piece by piece. Here's how you set up your landing page. Here's what you should do. You should have this video that does the referrals because if you do that, you're likely gonna sell out these camps and that's just one example. So for the other like people who are training, you know, year-round in person, right? He's got resources for that. And what's so special I think about training Ben is that like my business model, what I'm doing is very abnormal. It's very unique and he can still sit there and like take a lean back in his chair and think about it for a second and say, okay, here's what I think would work. And, you know, the dude's got a business mind and it's a, yeah, it's been great. He's, it's been definitely well worth the investment in him. And I think that he does the right things. Like he's, I can tell he's continuously trying to make this thing better. And that's just awesome. Oh, love that, love that. So where do you see the private training industry going in the next two to five years? Yeah, I think it's gonna double or more maybe and I think a lot of people are afraid of that. But they like, people have kids every day, you know? There's enough kids to go around, really there are. So I think there's like some fear. I have friends of mine that have that fear of just acting upon it. And that's the hardest thing about starting your own business is like you're never gonna feel ready. Even now, like I don't necessarily feel ready for all these things that I'm doing, but you just do it. And so, yeah, it is gonna, I think probably double, but that just means we have more athletes being served at a higher level and that grows the game. And if you do, not everybody's gonna be for everybody. Some kids gonna wanna go train with the cool guy who can dunk and do sick kezys and all of that. And that's okay, like good. I mean, I'm sure that person doing the sick kezys is teaching them really good things. And you teach them what you teach. And I think having structure is the scary part too. And if you don't know what you're doing on the business front, it's very hard to even, it's cool that it's easy to daydream and hard to put into concrete action. Yeah, absolutely. So why do you think some coaches are scared of the industry growing? I think because of their natural competition that we all feel as coaches, former players, you think, oh, somebody's gonna pop up and steal my business or steal my kids. And I think that's normal. I think that's a normal feeling for people to feel. And then you also remember, the AAU industry is a billion-dollar industry. So if you have 1% of the market, even in your area, is likely gonna be hundreds of thousands of dollars in it. So it's just, yeah, I think it's becoming more saturated, it is. But I think that's a good thing. I think all kids are expecting to have a trainer now. So we need them. Yep, yep, agree. So with any coach watching this that are on the edge, they're thinking about, do you know I wanna start something but I don't feel like I'm ready, what's one piece of advice you would give them? I think there are obviously things to weigh. Are you gonna be good not having insurance for a while while you're starting something new? Do you have a family? If you have a family, does your partner, could your partner carry that piece for you? But if this is something you've thought about for more than a year, then one decision can change the rest of everything. And I use means and example because I'm nothing special. I don't have any special, I'm not a genius. I have no idea what I'm doing on the business front. I just care very deeply about what I do and the impact I could possibly have. And I study my craft, just like many coaches do. And it's like, really, if I can do it, anybody could really do this. It's just like ballsy. You gotta just go for it. And you listen to all these podcasts of all these rich moguls and business dudes and that's like, all these, whatever, all the bros and they're like, yeah, you're just gonna go for it, man. They're right. And that's really what it takes. If you weighed your options, it is gonna be scary. You are gonna struggle. Like for the first year, my bank account bounced from $200 to negative $34 to just making rent. And if you wanna do something bad enough, you're willing to go through the hard stuff for it. So if you want it bad enough, then go do it. Mm-hmm, agree, agree. So what skills in coaching have you taken into your business? What skills in coaching? Yeah. Yeah, so my, that's a hard question. My background is in sport and performance psychology. So have it in skill acquisition. So having that kind of psychology plus motor behavior background has been very helpful. And then I also have a master's degree in instructional design. And so that's learning how to develop curriculum. I thought was really important for me, in the places that I wanna take this and also knowing how and when to give feedback, how to schedule your practices, how to do, how to make reps desirably difficult for athletes, all of those pieces I've taken in. And then the company PGC that I work for has incredible training for their coaches. And it's like between those two things, all the things I've learned from my own educational background and then all of the things I've gotten experience doing and coaching and speaking with PGC, those would probably be the two things that I brought together and who I'm presenting as the face of my business. All like that. So talk to us a bit about your current sales and marketing process. So how do you sell and market your business? Poorly. Poorly. Right now I'm building, I think, an audience more than anything. I have my eight or nine clients. Everything's happened organically. I haven't really marketed much. Just maybe an email here or there when something new comes up. But the next steps for me, I'm getting from Ben. So starting the marketing, I'm writing them in advance. So when I go on the road, then it starts rolling. I'm gonna make the videos and landing pages and all of those things, schedule out social media posts, all of that. That's actually what I'm doing here in Dallas. I'm just here for 30 days as a build month since all of our kids are in high school and middle school basketball right now anyway. So I haven't been selling and marketing my business to answer your question, but that's my move going forward. Okay. So how have you got those eight or nine clients that you worked with? How have they come? Yeah, one was, her mother was our team advisor when I was a college player. And so I got her just through that history. And after that, mostly social media. Just they, and I didn't have this whole process or anything set up until just recently. And so they would hit me on social media and say, hey, can you come train my kid? And I'd jump on a meeting with them and we'd figure out a way. And I landed on a number and that number worked for a while. And then I met Ben and Ben was like, what are you like the mother Teresa of basketball? Like, what are you doing? This is not your time. And so he helped me restructure all of that. And that's how I've gotten the client so far is really I just had to get on the phone with them and let them know who I am and what I'm trying to do. And I get, you know, maybe it's an energy thing, but it seems like the type of people that are looking for someone like me are gravitating towards the things that I'm sharing on my website, on my newsletter, on my social media, those sorts of things. Cool. So you made a really great point about getting on a phone call with parents. Most coaches don't do that because either they're scared or they can't be bothered to. So how important is that? Yeah, I think you are dealing with somebody's most prized possessions in their children. And if they don't hear your voice or your personality, if they have no reason to be excited about, wow, this is the person that's training my kid. Hell yeah, like that's who I want. Then you're not gonna be able to get them there through a text message. And I have a background in customer service actually with PGC, which has been super helpful in just knowing how to show your personality through a phone call and also how to use brevity, believe it or not. But this is the way, like, I mean, if you're really trying to build your business and a business where people come back and trust you, yeah, you gotta get on a phone call. Absolutely, like that. So where do you see your business in the next five years from now? Maybe it'll become a restaurant. I don't know. I see it still being this mentorship type of piece. I think that is something that I believe in and that I have a handful of people in my minds who would come on and I would trust with these athletes. So that I can do whatever it is that I do. Maybe I get an opportunity in the WNBA or the NBA, which I would take, like I would like to take and still have somebody carrying this legacy for me. So I think in a perfect world, that's probably it. This shooter shooter is still alive and well with people that I trust to maintain it. I'm running camps probably regionally. We're the only people that can attend the camp, we're members of the community and in the meantime, training pros. So like that. So I've got one more question for you and it's a two-part one. So the first one is what does failure mean to you? And the second one is how important is taking risks? What does failure mean to me? Yeah, failure just means coming up a little short this time. I think progress is only made through making mistakes and if we never made any mistakes, we never would get anywhere. We would never progress. So that's that piece and taking risks. I'm not a huge risk taker. I learned that lesson. I tried to make a living playing poker for three months of my life. And for the first two months, it was fantastic. And the third month, too risky, you know, too risky. So I think, yeah, I think if you're gonna risk anything, or if you're gonna bet on anything, it needs to be you. And I wouldn't risk my job or my wellbeing or my car or anything like that. But it is risky to start your own business but do you trust yourself or don't you? And that's what I think personally how I feel about risk is if I'm gonna risk anything, it'll be risking something on myself. Awesome, like those answers. All right, Brianna, it's been a pleasure having you on. Now, if any coach watching wants to reach out to you or follow your business, follow your progress, how can they do that? What's the best way to do that? Yeah, my socials are all the same. Shooters X Shoot 70 is on my socials on Instagram. I'm on TikTok, I don't really use it. I'm trying, I'm really trying not to. And Shooters X Shoot on Twitter as well. That's, those are me. 70% or better gets you the green light. Awesome, love that. So what we'll do is we'll add that to the bottom of the video so anyone can go over and follow your stuff. Well, thank you so much. Awesome. All right, well, keep up the great work and hopefully I can bring you on in 12 months from now and see where you are with your business. Wow, yeah, wild, let's do it. All right, take care. Thank you for coming on. Yeah, thank you, bye. See you.