Hustle Like You're Broke: Michael Strahan on Partnership & Authenticity

You should be so grateful for me, as I am for you, Constance. I thank God every night for you. have changed my life in so many ways. Can we make sure I get that as a promo, please? I didn't say, oh, we're good, but... When you leave the NFL and that was your first career and that shield is your identity, you learn real fast who your friends are. At that moment, I knew I needed you to

work with me. E, you showed me the world that you had been in for a while, which gave me a bigger picture of what I could do. You showed me the world that you had been in for a while, which gave me a big... Let's party. I'm going to try that too. A moment of silence, please, whenever you get on my nerves. Why? Why are we here? When you leave the NFL and that was your first

career and that shield is your identity, you learn real fast who your friends are. And to your credit, I moved to LA, I started managing Snoop, and you always stayed in touch with me. I didn't know this is where we were going to end up, so in hindsight. You should be so grateful for me, as I am. for you, Constance, you have changed my life in so many ways. As I am for you, Constance. I thank

God every night for you. have changed my life. Can we make sure I get that as a promo, please? I didn't say all were good, but I remember when you left the NFL and I was getting ready to retire, I would come to you and ask for advice. And there was one thing that I was so like, it just doesn't seem right. But talking to my guy at the time, he was like, they're paying a lot

of money. I go, they're paying a lot of money, but in my heart, I'm like, you could pay somebody as much money as you want, but if it doesn't feel right, you know, it just doesn't feel right. But in my heart, I'm like, you can pay somebody as much. So the one person I trusted enough to run it by was you, and you echoed what I felt. Right. And at that moment, I knew in so many

ways that I needed you to work with me. You showed me the world that you had been in for a while, which gave me a bigger picture of what I could do. And I guess you bamboozled me because I asked you to work with you. You told me. Like, you do everything. You just tell me and I do it. So what I'd like to do is test your skills and let's go to the chalkboard. Okay. Let's

go to the board. Let's go. Let's coach. Partnerships. Yes. I'm sure you get... We're partners. We are partners, long -time partners. And there's one thing I know is no matter what's going on in the outside world, I know you're always going to have my back. And you can't put a price tag on that. i think it works because we came into this in a lot of ways I think it works because... together and have grown together

a lot of ways but it's always been trust i think that and i think respect i think we respect each other the level of love and respect that i have for you it goes beyond being partners and we're unique because a lot of people aren't in business with their best friends you don't have to be friends but you have to have the same goals so i think that's usually what happens when you see a partnership blow

up is one of the partners decides to have what happens when you see a partnership blow up is one of the partners decides different priorities or objectives or doesn't want to match the work ethic of the other partner because it doesn't work if one partner is killing themselves to build a business. But I think that's the thing. When you have a partnership with somebody, you have to always stick to the core thing that we want it

to be successful. And the same goals. Yeah, that's the goal. you have the same goals. You know, it reminds me of Tom Coughlin. Tom Coughlin was by far the toughest coach I ever had when he first came to the Giants. Hated the man. Everybody on the team hated this man. He had rules that were so unnecessary, he put us through tough stuff just for the heck of doing it. But when I finally had a chance a

few years in, he and I had a real pointed conversation, I realized that he wanted the same thing that I did. he wanted to win. It ended up working. and led us to a Super Bowl. As long as you want the same thing, remove your ego, talk about it, everything worked itself out. I think we both are pretty easygoing with each other in that respect. I agree. When you had a job at the NFL, what made

you say, you know what, I'm going to try something different? I was fortunate enough to have a couple great bosses while I was there. And when Garber got a call from Summit Atlantic Records in the mid -90s. And Garber got a call from Summit Atlantic Records in the mid -90s to go see a band that loves sports, and it was Hootie and the Blowfish. So for the next, like, three or four years at the NFL, I

was literally just in Hollywood. But then I got a job offer to work at a record company, and it was double your salary, have a department, and be the head of strategic marketing, which didn't exist in the music business then. But to have that pit stop at the record company and then make the move, you know, there was no looking back. And just seeing how involved you were, how curious. you were, how smart you were. In

my eyes, I was like, why shouldn't we be really the first athlete to have his own company? So that's how SMAC was birthed. I think it's our birthday. I think we just turned 15. years. The pivot. So here's what I'll say. You constantly pivot. But I love it that everybody had the pivot. Everybody had the different path. How would you help somebody who's not Michael Strahan hard? Would you help somebody who's not Michael Strahan, Hall of

Famer, Peabody Award, Emmy Award winner? I think that you've got to figure out what it is you want to do. And one way to figure that out is find what holds your interest. What's something you're willing to work for? Find what that is. And I just think that everything that you do, learn something from it, if it's successful or not. I think the important thing, which I'm very fortunate to have you. so i had somebody who

could guide me and help me so you need someone who's kind of a So I had somebody who could guide me and help me. hype man sometimes who really believes you and said like you did for me i can see you this is what you're gonna do because i didn't see it i didn't know i had this skill set but you saw it and sometimes you need that person in your life so if you have fortunate

enough find that person it's so true and that doesn't have to be a sports analogy you can also just take the mentality of reality of being a great teammate you didn't have to play sports to understand how to be a good being a great teammate you didn't have to play sports to understand how teammate exactly i'm really good at what i know but i'm better at asking questions when i don't know something you don't have to

know everything and as you said it doesn't happen overnight but i think a lot of people get frustrated because it doesn't happen as fast as they want i mean for this to be happening for us in our 30s right now yeah oh god 30 plus plus 30 plus but yeah things happen when they're supposed to happen. You have to be patient. It's been an interesting journey. I used to go up to the office all the time.

I used to talk to you and then I would always have all these opinions and I think you got tired of me. I still am. When you retire, that's like the only thing you've done and it's scary. I almost went back to play another year, not because I really wanted to, almost because it was a safety net. Then I get a call because i went on live as a guest well you know a call because I

went online. we should ever take the vacation i'd love to come in a co -host get a call yeah went on the show the hour went like that and you were messing with me because i was my hands like i was nervous i had never done that right and so get back in the dressing room and you looked at me you go this is what you're gonna do and i'm like how did you go no this

is what you're going to do this is what you're gonna do and you gave it a foot stomp and somehow i i got the gig at live and that was a you're gonna do and you gave it a foot stop and somehow i i game changer with that being said the transition happened because you literally said this is what you're gonna do because i didn't see it right the first topic of the play is authenticity how

do you lead with authenticity when we are taking on a new client or a project you keep the main thing but you use that main thing as your platform to launch every But you use that main thing as your platform to launch everything around it. What do you like? What don't you like? What brands do you use? What brands would you be opposed to? And that's how we make sure that we're building out a plan for

these future clients that's going to stay authentic to their brand. Because why? Authenticity is your super power. Ah, yes. Three exclamation points. We really want them to know that they've got to hustle. Now, why don't We really want them to know you explain what this means? Hustle like you're broke. You, myself, and one of our clients were in a car going to do a show and you're saying, okay, we got this lined up and you should

do that and you should do this. And he was talking about, well, I don't know. I think I'm going to go to Spain with my family for a month and I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that. And I remember looking at him and saying, you're hustling like a rich man. You got to hustle like looking at him and saying you're hustling like a rich man you gotta hustle like you're broke and that

was an important lesson for him and i'm glad it stuck with us it sucks but i would say not only for our clients but hustle like you're broke can be applied to anybody you don't have to be a famous person it could be applied to anybody anybody not all money is good money that is very true and i think we can tie that back to when we did first start officially working together when there was that

brand deal, that was a lot of money, but boy, that would have been a career there was that brand deal that was a lot of money but boy that would have been ender for you. When people are going on to do this show or that show or an event, you have to use the game to let the game use you is, I think, a very valuable piece of advice. You've got to understand that it's because you're

doing it now doesn't mean that you'll be in it later. Continue to evolve. Don't just stick and get stuck in one area. Right. People get stuck. Yeah. And that's when you're letting the game use you. I was taking notes with partnerships, and then I even took notes on authenticity. Oh, damn. Now that's me. You put two chiclets of Barry calling my teeth. He passed on $20 million to close the gap, and that's a wrap. We passed

on $20 million to close the gap, and that's a wrap. Well, when you see me close it, it means my career is over.