We had a couple when I was playing. We had a painting franchise many years ago, which was an opportunity that was presented to a lot of us guys in the Warriors. It was really more suited to an owner operator though, and we didn't have the time at that point to do it ourselves, so there were some good lessons learnt around employment and business structure.
Then later we had a telemarketing business. We acquired the business from a relative of ours, but once he stepped away from it, it made things difficult. In my early twenties telemarketing was the last thing I was thinking about doing, so that taught me if I didn't have a real connection to a business it was never really going to work.
Your business runs tours to sporting events, so there's a connection there to your background, but are there other experiences or skills from your days as an athlete that you've been able to apply there?
On a practical level, when I played for the Warriors I was always the guy who'd plan our team trips away at the end of the season. I would look at the different dynamics in the group and try to give everyone a great experience, while still catering to everyone's different needs. I naturally love organising things and giving people a great experience, and I try to live by the mantra that the journey is just as important as the destination.
The downside is all the logistics that go on behind the scenes, and I'm not an office-type person so that's a real challenge for me. But from when I was playing I learnt that you play to your strengths and rely on your team mates, so I partner up with others to provide the best service I can.
I left school at 17 to live in Australia for two years, then came back to the Warriors for 11, then went to England for two so I spent 15 years as a professional rugby league player. You pick up a lot of skills, but you don't always realise what they are at the time. I have friends who have really struggled when they retired, because they didn't have any formal higher education so didn't know what direction to go in. But there are certainly a lot of useful skills you learn that people probably underestimate, like being able to connect with the right people to make things happen, being an ambassador for a brand, and working in a team environment.
Also the fear of failure isn't as scary for me because I've failed many times in front of thousands of people on the sports field and I've learnt you have to pick yourself up and keep going.
You've built a personal brand as a sportsperson. Is that something you've also been able to leverage in your business?
I've intentionally not branded my business in relation to myself, but I am going to change that and put myself out there more. Initially I thought it was more of a challenge for me to make something work without saying I'm the face of the company, but I've realised now there are a lot of benefits that come with using your brand as a former athlete. And the events that I do are all around sports, so it does makes sense.
You also have other work commitments as a TV sports presenter and commentator. How do you balance that with running your own business?
For me structure is really important. I look back to when I was an athlete and had things to do each day to get a result, and it's very similar now. I also have a wife and two children who I love to give a lot of time to, so I have to really focus on the goal I'm working on at the time, but when I switch to something else I need to do so with the same focus and commitment.
I get asked all the time if I miss playing professional rugby league, and I can honestly say on the whole I don't. But the one thing I do miss is the challenge it used to provide each week, so now I try to find that challenge in other ways.
