164: Harnessing the Athletic Mindset: Transforming Adversity into Innovation in Business w/ Darnell Jones

Diving into a new endeavor always presents challenges & difficulties. When you try a new sport for the first time, you’re bound to not catch the ball, miss your target, or not get the time you were pushing for. But, that doesn’t mean you give up and stop trying. If it’s something you care about, then the positives and the negatives will be worth it. All of this also applies to being an entrepreneur. And Darnell Jones can speak to the perspectives of being an athlete & a business owner.

Today’s episode focuses on how to take experiences from your past and apply them to what you’re currently working on. Before founding two businesses, Darnell played professional basketball on the West Coast. Although he wasn’t keen on having his sports career end, Darnell always believed that he had a bigger purpose than just being an athlete. Once he got the opportunity to build his companies, he never looked back. Even if athletics aren’t your forte, Darnell shared some amazing insights into creating a business from the ground up.

DURING THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• Discover the core principles of determination, discipline, and resilience that Darnell carried from the basketball court to entrepreneurship
• Learn how to deal with rejection and maintain unwavering focus during adversity
• Tips on how to successfully promote your products
• What’s needed to build your business if you don’t have a blueprint
• The ways your past can influence your future
• Why it’s important to incorporate a philanthropic aspect to your business 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• [BOOK] The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Alibaba
• Etsy
• Ebay
• North Texas Neuroscience and Sleep Center

About Darnell Jones:

Darnell Jones is an entrepreneur & investor, athlete and sales professional. As an athlete, Darnell was a team captain and academic all-conference basketball player at Mesa State College. After college, he pursued a lifelong dream of playing professional basketball for the Utah Eagles of the former Continental Basketball Association. He founded his first company in May 2012, TUKZ Undergarments LLC. This entrepreneurial venture exposed him to several cross-functional disciplines within sales & marketing, operations and manufacturing. 

In November of 2013, he became CEO and Founder of his next business venture, POWERHANDZ Inc., an athletic training sporting goods provider of performance enhancing multi-sport training products. He developed these products based on training techniques used throughout his basketball career and as a skills trainer for several elite athletes over the last five years. POWERHANDZ products are used by youth and professional athletes in more than 58 countries, including professional organizations such as the NBA, NFL, MLB, WNBA, WBO and PGA. In addition to his role as CEO with POWERHANDZ Inc., Darnell serves on the Board of Directors for the Power To Give Foundation, which launched in July of 2014. Its mission is to build legacies of service that increase a commitment in athletic excellence.

Thank you so much for listening! If you liked this episode, please subscribe to “The Black to Business Podcast” and rate and review on Apple Podcasts:

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