In due time, all things come to pass. If you are consistent, you will get there no matter how long it takes. Some people will get there before you. Some people will start there, but you will get there if you aren't already. I've always been self-conscious about my country accent. I'm also self-conscious about my race, although not as much anymore. I'm self-conscious about my age. I'm also self-conscious about being an independent brand. For all those reasons, I couldn't see when I would get the opportunity to do a corporate crossover. What I mean by corporate is major brands, companies, and so on. Yes, I was called on by different organizations such as the NBA, NBPA, NFL teams, and NCAA teams, but I didn't look at that the same as corporate. I actually wanted to be on salary with a professional sports team as a life coach. I also wanted to be a spokesperson for a major brand. I guess for me this would be validation. I wanted to know that I was just as good as the guys who have a full staff, super agents, proper speech, degrees, and all those things. I'd read some of their wisdom, heard some of their speeches, and wouldn't really be all too impressed. I'd hear some good stuff, but it didn't intimidate me or make me feel that those guys were any better than me. I just needed for my opportunities to come.

I remember asking pro athletes if their team had a life coach. They would all say no. I would then ask them if they felt they could benefit from a life coach being on the team. They all said yes, but that they didn't think the NBA cared enough to invest in them that way. I later found out that it's a team decision, not a league decision. I had no connections to any teams other than through the players, but I didn't feel comfortable asking a player to connect me to a decision maker in the front office. I couldn't ask for anything like that. I just kept doing what I was doing. I mentored a lot of pro athletes at no charge. Some of them I'd visit in their hometown or in the city where they were playing. I'd stop by their home and just talk. I didn't want anything, just to help. I took the same approach I took online with these guys. My goal was to motivate and inspire. Well, one day out of nowhere, I noticed a general manager for an NBA team started following me. Then a couple days later a player development guy from a different team called me. Then players from other teams started calling me. There was a lot going on at once, and I felt I was close to something. I spoke to the GM in the Twitter inbox. Surprisingly, he was a humble and cool guy. I thought he'd be arrogant and condescending, but he was the opposite. About a week or two later, I got a call from the assistant GM, and we talked for a good bit. I was so excited and so pumped up I probably made him think I was crazy. I always do that. I've been waiting for my moment for so long that when it finally came, I could hardly contain myself. Well, we spoke, and then I had some talks with some other teams about coming in and speaking to the team and working with the players. Some of the players liked what they heard when I spoke to them as rookies, and they had kept in touch; then, when they got back to their teams and were asked who they wanted to bring in to speak, they would mention me. I guess your gift will always make room for you. Well this team, which I can't identify contractually, wanted to work with me exclusively. I've always said I didn't want to do anything exclusively, but this was different. This was a dream of mine. When I was little, I dreamed of playing in the NBA or the NFL. I never made it as a player, but here was my chance to play a different role on an NBA team. I'd never heard of a life coach on salary with an NBA team, or I guess you'd call it a consultant because I wasn't actually a staff member. It was all the same for me. I would have done the job for free. They asked me how much I'd charge, and I gave them a dirt-cheap monthly retainer fee. Of course, they couldn't lose. I signed the contract and that was that. I can't speak about the inner workings of what went on while on the job for my first season because some people know which team it is since they saw me at some games, so I'll keep that confidential. All I can say is that it was a great experience! I'm not sure if they will continue the program or not, but I'll be fine either way. I reached my goal. I met guys that I'll know for life and will be able to help any time they need me. I got to experience what it was like to work for a professional sports team, and I wouldn't trade that for the world. I showed myself that anything is possible. Little ole me—no training, no degree, just a gift and some passion. I did something that no one I know has done. I asked around and no one in the league had heard of it either. There were sports psychologists working for teams, former players working as mentors, but no life coaches. I think it's safe to say I was the first life coach in the NBA. A real life coach, like someone who wears the title and makes a living from being a life coach, not a former player who mentors. I share that to say—you are worthy. You can make it. You can achieve your dreams no matter how big they are. If you know who you are and you operate in your gifts, then anything is possible. I think a lot of times we allow our insecurities to box us in. We never grow beyond our insecurities because we put limits on ourselves. I took the limits off and look what happened.

The next corporate crossover came while working in the NBA. There were actually a couple things that happened. We haven't rolled them out yet, so I don't want to say the names of the companies. It's never done until it's done, but I feel good just to be approached and to sign the contracts. One of the companies is a major dating site. I speak a lot about relationships so that really gave me a foothold in that space. I was introduced to a production company once, and they wanted to work with me. I would be a matchmaker and a love coach on the TV show they were trying to produce. The company reached out to this dating site and wanted the site to be a part of the show. I would be the host of the show. The show never happened for whatever reasons. Well, I thought it was dead in the water, but a few months later I get an email from the dating site, saying they are looking for advisory board members and would like for me to join. It sounded good, but my ideas were too good for the money they were offering. Instead I pitched another idea in the form of a partnership, and they loved the idea. We've done all the work, got the landing page ready, and signed the deal. Now we're just waiting to hit the go button. I'm feeling indifferent about it right now because I'm not 100 percent sure it's the way that God wants me to go, so I'm being patient. If it doesn't go, then I won't be mad at all because I know God always moves in my favor. What is supposed to happen happens. What isn't supposed to happen doesn't happen. I trust God, and I trust the process. I don't question anything that is beyond my control. I'm just flattered because I'm a different type of relationship coach. I'm still not polished around the edges. The site is predominantly white, and I'm black, so of course they are trying to build the African American side of things. I'm honored to be chosen as the one they'd like to work with. It's another form of validation. We can think and feel however we want about ourselves, but we still need others in life. We need someone else to see in us what we see in ourselves. It may not happen right away or when you want it to, but if you have the gift, it will happen.

This publishing deal is also another corporate crossover for me. I've been an independent author for the last nine years. It's been a long and fun journey, but now I'm here. I don't know if this will be better or worse because that is still to be determined. I'm sure I'll be honest with you about the experience in a later book, which may or may not be with a major publisher. I can't predict the future, but I can say I'll be honest. This deal came about interestingly enough. It goes back to consistency and social media. It seems like my whole life revolves around Twitter, doesn't it? I know what you're thinking. What if Twitter goes down tomorrow? Well, I'm sure we'd find another way. I was tweeting away, and one day I got a follow from a sports psychologist. He seemed legit and in the know. I connected with him in the direct message, and he was eager to hop on a call. We spoke, and it was a good conversation. He was over my head to be honest. Remember, I don't really buy into things over my head. I went my way and he went his. I later noticed that he unfollowed me on Twitter, which could have been an accident but I'm not sure. Nonetheless, I saw him follow me again later. I followed back, and then I connected with him via email in response to an email blast he sent out. I was on his list for months or maybe a year. I wrote to let him know that I'd become a life coach in the NBA and wanted to pick his brain. We hopped on a call and had a great talk. On this call he told me I reminded him of a guy he knows named Jon Gordon. I'd recently heard of Jon Gordon from the guy who hired me in the NBA. He recommended one of Jon's books to me called Training Camp. I bought the audio book because I'm not a big reader. I love to listen though. I listened to the audio book, and it was pretty good. I thought to myself—I can do this. A lot of the stuff I heard in the book resonated with my spirit, and I felt like I'd said some of the same stuff. Of course, being a conspiracy theorist, I looked to see when the book was published. I thought to myself—let me see if this guy Jon maybe stole some of my stuff from Twitter and put it in his book. I think I found out that the book was published before I blew up on social media, so I realized there was no way this guy could have robbed my thoughts. It was another “great minds think alike” moment. I respected his work and wanted to get more of his books, then I realized that he'd wrote so many. Well, Garrett Kramer, the guy who told me I reminded him of Jon, told me that he'd connect Jon and me. I thought he was lying. The next day I noticed that Jon followed me on Twitter. Yes, even though I have nearly 300,000 followers on Twitter, I still pay very close attention. After all, it did change my life. Honestly, it has changed everyone's life. There were so many careers on the brink of extinction until Twitter revived them. Well, I sent Jon a message in the direct message, and we hopped on the phone. We spoke, and he had a great spirit. I mentioned that I had his book, and I heard of it from my boss in the NBA. I told him that someday I wanted to publish with a major publishing company just to see what it's like. He said, “Oh you want to do that for real?” I said, “Sure, why not?” He said, “Well, say no more, I'll connect you and I think they'll love to have you.” I honestly didn't think he was serious. But he was. If you refer back to my analogy about the different types of people you'll meet on the climb, you'll see that Jon is a giver and a teacher. I didn't sense any jealousy from him. Although my online following is larger than his and I run my business in a different lane, he's satisfied with his lane and what he's doing. He gave me some tips, and I gave him a couple of mine. I implemented his, and he has implemented mine. It was an exchange, although his was a greater gift than mine. I just gave him a tip about how to quote himself on Twitter and Facebook. Jon told me who his publisher was. It was strange because I'd just heard this publisher's name like a week earlier. I was talking to another entrepreneur who said he would be publishing a book with John Wiley and Sons. It was crazy to me because I kept hearing names in twos. To me it was God creating cosmic collisions on the road to destiny. I heard Jon Gordon's name from two different sources, and then I hear John Wiley and Sons from two different sources. Jon Gordon's stamp to the publisher was better than any agent's stamp. Jon also has the same boss as me. We both work for the Big Guy upstairs, so it was a Kingdom Connection. He connected me to a publisher and didn't ask for anything in return. I know his blessings are steadily rolling in. I'd never really met anyone like that. I can't really ever remember someone making that grand of a connection for me and not immediately asking for something in return. It made me think this publisher must be a little fish in a big pond. I googled Wiley and found out they're the oldest publisher in the game. I also had an agent who wanted to shop my book to the “Big Five,” she called it, so I asked her about John Wiley and she said, “Oh yeah, I know exactly who they are. They're the real deal.” I told her that since the opportunity came to me before she and I had spoken, I'd have to see what comes of it first. I let her know that if they wanted me, I was going to take the deal because I didn't feel like going through the book proposal and shopping manuscripts phase again. I'd been down that road before. Sure enough the deal was signed. Now, you'll have to check the publisher's name on this book just to make sure everything went as planned, but I believe it'll be just fine.

Right around the same time as the dating site and the publishing deal, another corporate crossover came. This one is with a major car company. I won't say their name because the online commercial hasn't been released yet. I've shot it and been paid for it, so I'm pretty sure it should be online as you're reading this book. This deal came in right through my website booking address. They told me they found me on their own, online. I was wondering if a big-time agent or someone pointed them in my direction, but nope, it was just good ole social media. They visited my site and saw my short bio film on there and said this commercial would be similar. They said I'd be telling my story and promoting this car at the same time. I was blown away. I thought maybe they were just going to use my face and voice and have me as an actor in a commercial, but they wanted me to be in the commercial as Tony Gaskins Jr. The commercial is for online use in order to reach my demographic. It's not TV, and it's not for everyone, but I'll take it. The brand is so big that I was just honored to get the call. I just didn't expect to get the opportunity this soon. Granted, I'm not the only person they are shooting with, but it still means a lot to me. Right after the commercial they came to me with a couple more opportunities as well, so that was just a little more validation that I needed. Just think, all of this came from building an organic brand online—nothing more, nothing less. It's really just mind-boggling to me. I've written this book with a lot of sureties and matter-of-factness, but I can't sit here and say that I really believed that all of this could happen organically. It has happened, and I can't argue with the results or lie about how it happened either. Anyone can disagree with my methods and beliefs, but they can't argue against the results. It's a new day. There was a time when in order to work with a major brand, you needed an agent to represent you to that brand, but today independent beauty bloggers are becoming millionaires through YouTube. There are average, everyday people who turn on a camera in their room and shoot a video and later become a millionaire from those very videos. You have to embrace the change and get with it. Make it easier on yourself and just be true to you.

We will see what comes of these corporate crossovers. I can't predict the future. I'm not sure if they will bring bigger opportunities or if they will turn out to be just a fun experience. Only time will tell. I'm just here to tell you that no matter where you're starting from, it's possible.