Former Olympian to Sports and Media Entrepreneur with Du'aine Ladejo

Du'aine Ladejo - Ladejo Speed Academy Interview.

[00:00:00] Hey, it's Carlo here from the Business Launch Podcast. I'm here with a special guest of mine, Duane Lada. Is that, is that how you say your surname? Uh, um, if you are Latino, Yes. La la, la. That's right. I'm a, were say Ladi Jones . So, um, I'm here with Dwayne. He's a good friend of mine. Um, we've known each other for quite a while now.

[00:00:19] Um, his bio is extremely impressive. He's, uh, two time, um, Olympian, both Bronson silver. Um, two time Commonwealth Games, gold medals and European. Gold medalist as well. Four types. Four types, four times European gold medalist. Yeah. He's also been part of the media in England and he was actually in gladiators.

[00:00:47] Um, and he was also, um, ran the greatest athletes here in Australia. So that was one of my favorite shows actually when I was watching it. So it was good to actually [00:01:00] sit down here with Dwayne. Um, we've known each other through our kids kids sports and he's actually trained my kid, um, in running as well.

[00:01:07] So welcome to this show, Dwayne. How you doing? Hi darling. Good to be here. Yeah. Um, tell us a bit, a bit of your background. You were born in England? Um, I was born in, um, um, Paddington Hospital in London, uh, raised, uh, northwest London mostly, uh, family live up in, um, in Newark. Modern show now. We still have a place down in high, Uh, went to boarding school, uh, in Horsham, Sussex, and then went to, uh, public school in, uh, sorry.

[00:01:31] From there, my last year of high school was in, was in America in the States, Madina, Ohio. And then I was five years as a Longhorn at the University of Texas studying Nice Aian film. And I had a track scholarship there. Yeah. And that's how, um, your scholarship was in, um, athletics? Um, I'm thinking track and field.

[00:01:48] Yes. Yes. Mm-hmm. . Um, also, um, I did mention he, uh, Dwayne's got a, actually a few businesses, I'd say . Um, he, he runs, uh, La Dejo Sprint, uh, well, it's, it's two, it's LED's, um, Speed Academy and [00:02:00] Lejo Sports Academy. Yes, that's right. So he's actually, um, was head of, um, Athletics in a few of the schools are in here, a few of the private schools here.

[00:02:09] He's done a really great job with, with doing what he does. So, um, what else? Um, how did you get started in athletics? I, as a kid, just enjoyed sports. Uh, I I was very fortunate at the school that I went to, um, Participating pretty much in everything, activities you can imagine ranging from rock climbing, fly fishing, um, sailing canoeing.

[00:02:27] Um, skiing. Skiing is actually my favorite recreational sport, . And, um, and the, and we always rotated sports throughout the year, so it, it was either rugby, rugby, union and my other school. That next one I went to was football. Um, and football. When I, you some, some people here call it soccer, but it's football, um, football association.

[00:02:45] And then, um, and then we would do hockey, um, the next time. Then for the final time we would do cricket. That was the rotation and intermingled with cricket, even though I never trained for athletics, I was, I went to athletic meets, uh, for that year. And my last year, [00:03:00] which was my second last year of high school, but my last year of, of school in England, um, I won the public schools, uh, a hundred meters and 200 meters.

[00:03:08] And that's how you transitioned. Going to that is how I transitioned over to the states. And then my last year of high school, which I was a year young, I was 17. Um, I then first started training for athletics, but before that I actually played American football, which was great fun. And, um, and then I started to play basketball, and then I had to make a choice between indoor track and basketball.

[00:03:31] And basketball, funny enough, wasn't going so well. Um, my coordination, I just had a massive growth, growth spur, and my coordination just went, What Just went ballistic. And I was like, something that just came so easy to me and something that I thought that I, I would have potentially in, in really progress.

[00:03:48] Became extraordinarily difficult to even bounce the ball and take a le it was just ridiculous that, I mean, in transition as in with, with speed and within the game scenario. And I remember going back on the bus thinking, Oh, my, my [00:04:00] life is over because I had these, I already had, um, American football now aspirations.

[00:04:05] I had the coach of the Cleveland Browns, um, asking me if I wanted to, um, take on a scholarship at college, um, and be trained for American football, um, contract. Wow. So I had that in my mind, but that was never on my, um, on my, on my, my plans. Within my plans. The Olympics was always my plans, but basketball has suddenly really taken to me as in something I wanted to do.

[00:04:23] It was always my love and my, my, my love sport. And. It went disastrous. My track, everything just went so disastrous. And then my track coach just came up to me and came up to say, Look, there's a couple of indoor races that you might just wanna go to. I know you haven't trained, but you know, just come along and see how you do.

[00:04:40] And I ended up being second in the state to a guy who completely dominated states throughout the years as in Ohio State. And, um, I just was, just got pipped in the 60 meter, um, 60 meter sprint. And um, and then I just, he went, I think you better consider doing [00:05:00] track. And, uh, from that on. From that point onwards, I took it and ended up that by the end of the year I was the number three high school sprinter in America.

[00:05:09] And I was a year young. So it was, uh, I was, I was, That's not experience, it's just all, But I did, I did train that year, but it was, um, you know, I went to running, um, 10.2 hand time. Um, so officially, um, at ten six four, ten six three. Uh, not in the best position, but it was, you know, I was, I was, I was realized that athletics was probably the way to go for me.

[00:05:31] Yeah. So from there, after you finished high school, you got Acho scholarship, I'd say. Is that right? I did. I, I, I got recruited by a few schools, um, Indiana, Ohio State, and, um, Texas and Kansas State, and there was a couple of others. Um, And I chose the University of Texas cause of Stan Huntsman. Stan Huntsman and the facilities at the University of Texas was just outta this world.

[00:05:54] Uh, and Stan Huntsman was the US Olympic coach at that time, and I really liked everything that they had to offer.[00:06:00] And, and, and so that was it. I I decided to go from Medina, Ohio, um, as bad as, uh, uh, urban as you can get, or now to Austin, Texas, which was, which was great. Actually. Austin, Texas was fine. Yeah, Austin's got one of those great.

[00:06:13] Um, Great schools for sports specifically. They got a good basketball program as well. So, um, and a good friend of mine actually, um, who was coaching that here a lot, um, he, he actually went, was at Texas with me at the same time. Joey Wright? Yes. Um, Jerry, He's been coach, Yes. Mm. And Adelaide coach. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[00:06:30] I'm not sure where he is coaching now, actually. Um, it's, um, But he was in Adelaide. He was Brisbane, Uh, yeah, he was in Brisbane a lot. Yeah. And then that's how I, I met up with him again cause we were both in the Gold Coast together. And then he went to Adelaide. So after finishing. Your scholarship. What, what did you end up doing after that?

[00:06:49] You would've to have a few choices. I did. I look, I had obviously studied radio, television, film, and I started coming up with, um, TV and, and film concepts, and I'd always been working on [00:07:00] those. However, I now was in a position, uh, running fast enough. I was, I I was an all American and, um, in track and, but I transitioned from sprints to 400, uh, which was not a transition I actually wanted to do.

[00:07:12] Uh, but my coach for it was a, a good one to do. So I never really got the opportunity to see how fast I could go. He made that transition really quickly. Yeah. Uh, what I discovered is that because he saw I could do the 400, the 400 meter runner, Attract at a university, uh, is the most valuable asset that you can have.

[00:07:28] Yeah. Because you score more points than everyone else. Cause you can use the 400 runner in, uh, all the different relays. Yeah. Which is about three or four of them. Cause they have, you can use them in the four by one and they can also do the one and two. Yeah. So it was a, um, I was like, ah, I've, I've become a, a serious commodity for tennis

[00:07:48] So I, I, I got it. I got it. But it wasn't my ambition to be a 400 meter runner. But you know what, It didn't work out that bad for me. You, after that, when did you start going your [00:08:00] aspirations to go in the Olympics? Oh, look, my, my first Olympic medal actually happened whilst I was at Texas, so, Wow. The last year at Texas, I You're still in college and you I was still in college.

[00:08:10] Yeah. I was still in college and I picked up the bronze medal with the four, uh, four by four there. And, um, I, I, I, it look, it was also a little bit to my disadvantage because, because I did my times and, um, and e and in over in Texas at that time, um, not that many athletes had, um, transitioned from the tech, um, from the university colleges and states to, to British, to Britain.

[00:08:31] And they took priority of times in England than my times in the States. And I beat the person in the trials. And they gave the spot to the other guy. It was, no one could explain it. It was funny. It was a very obvious, it was extraordinary political and no one knew of me. Um, but I still took up my spot in the, um, in the relay.

[00:08:52] Uh, but the person who was took the third spot, I actually had a faster time then and I'd be in trials. It was bizarre. It was the most [00:09:00] bizarre thing ever. And, um, yeah, never got an apology for it. It was just, I just decided to do it. Decided there's, there's always politics in, in sports, there's a lot of politics that are always come into play.

[00:09:13] And I guess it's still happening too this day as he can see as that's what say. And, and that's why I speak to kids and just say, Just enjoy it. You know, Don't let anything out, any other type of politics, whatever, get in the way. Um, just, just enjoy it. That's right. Um, From when, after going through the Olympics, you, you were still doing all the European racing Commonwealth games?

[00:09:34] I did. I, I, I ran, um, in 400 meters up until 1996. Um, I got a level of the level disgruntled because there was a few things going on. Um, behind the scenes. Again, this is politics to a certain states, it was pretty obvious. There was a, a couple of athletes. That were not doing the right thing. Funny enough, people always think that it's, um, it's their times that, you know, you say are, they're running so fast and everything.

[00:09:57] No, the times you're always capable of doing the [00:10:00] times like Lance Armstrong. It was never really the times, it was the recovery. And when you can recover that quickly, quick enough, it allows you to do something like the toward fronts or the stages over and over again at the same level.

[00:10:16] Whereas everyone else is depreciating and, um, falling off. They're able to sustain what everyone can do, but they can do it over and over and over and over again. And we, you know, witness the, you know, and certain individuals that's doing things over and over again and just going, ah, I didn't realize, I just didn't realize people.

[00:10:34] I was very naive. I, I dunno why I was so naive, but I just thought everyone was like chars of fire, like me, and just, you know, just wanted to, you know, do the sport naturally and see what you naturally can do. And when it was pretty obvious that people were covering so quickly in order to do another, the event again and again, which was a massive advantage.

[00:10:57] Yeah. Um, you kind of, I, I, I I threw my dummy out to be honest, and uh, and kind of walked [00:11:00] away from it and decided, you know what I wanna do, decathlon . I'm gonna do the one so I can just enjoy it again. I wanted to go back to the fun of it. And, uh, while athletics was never meant to be a profession for me, it was always meant to be fun.

[00:11:14] I only realized whilst I was. University that I actually could make a considerable amount of money from it. And, you know, athletics was, was very kind to me. I had my own TV series, uh, Dwayne's World off the back of it had Wow, fantastic, um, sponsorship with Adidas and Tilda Rice and the few other sponsors. Um, so I, I, I, I did financially, you know, I I was one of the better paid athletes in pretty much in the world at that time.

[00:11:36] Um, and it was not just off. Of doing athletics. It was obviously from the sponsorship deals, TV deals, um, that I was now had. My, my own show was Dwayne's World on itv. And uh, and I was also guest presenting on things like, um, Saturday Disney and, um, things just doing a load of different stuff. Um, so yeah, it was, it was fun.

[00:11:54] And then I just decided not I'm gonna do decathlon now. Decathlon [00:12:00] makes no money. . That's what I found. That it's not in the spotlight. It's not in the spotlight. Right. Well, you know what happens? You literally have to be the very, very best. You know, the greatest athlete in the world. Now you can see why, how that transition to, to me, correcting the show greatest athlete.

[00:12:15] Yeah. Um, if you are the greatest athlete or you are right there as what as coin is that you win the cath one in the Olympics of the World Championships, then you make an extraordinary, a lot of money, pretty much more than, um, outside of the a hundred meters and the five 1500. Um, you, you can, especially in sponsorships, you can on a considerable amount.

[00:12:35] Wow. So from there, when was the retirement of your athletics career happen? You I never officially retired. I never retired. I was, I, it was the, the, the the strangest thing. It was, I, my plan was to bow out in 2012, I was already now had three series of, um, greatest Athletes under my God, I'd moved to Australia.

[00:12:58] I was in training. Um, still [00:13:00] intraining still in good shape and then unfortunately had some stuff happen with greater sap. Uh, some, some issues with my business partner. Uh, unfortunately he was going through, uh, a lot of, um, issues himself. Uh, he ended up being bankrupt, uh, and it had a major knocking effect on, on, on greater Atheletes.

[00:13:15] So that was, he went bankrupt and took in a whole different business of development. Uh, unfortunately his, his bad luck or whatever fate, um, was kind of pulled into greater staff, so I had to put a hold. He, you know, he had to be removed. We had to remove him and, um, But I had no contacts. You know, I had no contacts here in Australia.

[00:13:33] I didn't know any, didn't know anyone at all. I'm the one that came up with the concept and came up with everything. He had all the, um, the business, um, he, the connections, the network, uh, and we decided to go our separate ways. And, um, but I had no, I had all the co I, I own Greater Atheletes, Lee, Greater Athletes is still mine.

[00:13:48] And, but I, I didn't know anyone to actually. Get the sponsors and everything. So anyone out there wants to, you know, come in and sponsor great staff. Um, and uh, and that's what I wanted to do. I it would sponsor that Rexona at the time, [00:14:00] and Yes, that's right. Yeah. And it was a massive success. Massive. They had a 42% increase in sales.

[00:14:05] I mean, it was massive. Um, and, and they kept growing and growing and grow. Um, but again, when I decided to separate, I wanted to start all over again. Yeah. And, uh, and rebuild, um, right from the beginning. And so, yeah, if I can build some relationships with people, with businesses, uh, especially businesses that would benefit of having the best sports people in the co men and women in the country going up against each other, get in contact with me, , getting in contact with me.

[00:14:27] Cause I, I would love to, um, to, to put up greatest athlete again. And, and literally I, I have a, I have a continuous deal with one of the networks. Yeah. Uh, I get the sponsors, the shows back on air. Yeah, with, I think it's, uh, it's one of the greatest concepts. When I first saw, I saw the athletes coming, seeing guys like Billy Slater dominating.

[00:14:47] That's right. And it was, uh, just seeing different athletes and how they're performing different, different types of sports was like a revelation to me. It's like the different, um, skill sets that they have, especially even the, the motor [00:15:00] sports guys. That's right. So you win up. Yes, that's right. Win up with second in the first one.

[00:15:05] Yeah. So it, it, it's amazing what you come up with and, um, and I, the way I want greater staff to be now is where the members of the public also get the opportunity and we go through them first and uh, and get a male and female winner that can join in with the actual sports stars, which would be a lot. I think, I think, um, we need to get you, um, hooked up with, uh, a network because I think it's still, it's still got a lot of legs in, in that the, the, the network deal is not the problem.

[00:15:31] It's getting the sponsors on. It's getting really getting sponsors and, and, um, stakeholders together and saying, Right, what are we all gonna get out of this? What are we trying to achieve? And, um, what do you, what product do you want to, um, promote, put, put out there? And so with the best athletes in Australia and sports people in the Australia, so it, it really is, it really is that simple and co but coordinating it is, um, is also, it, it, it's not particularly hard to do, it's just people having to [00:16:00] hindsight and saying, Actually, my brand will work really well with this concept over this show, and just let's just do it.

[00:16:08] Yes. I think, um, I think I'll, I'll see that in the next, next year or two. I think that that will be back on air. Let's, let's hope that, that you get, you get the sponsorship deals. Hopefully this show can get you some sponsorship deals as well. All right, listen, if there are any businesses out there that are, remember the show and, uh, and would love their brand or product, um, um, associated with the show, okay, please get in contact.

[00:16:31] Um, let's go forward to. Your actual, um, LA speed training, so from after greatest athletes. Um, what did you end up doing after that? Uh, so basically, um, I relocated from a Gold Coast to Sydney to actually, um, to, to build some of these, the networks and, um, and start building relationships. So that's difficult, you know, coming out as they, um, not knowing anyone, anyone at all outside of my, um, my wife's family.

[00:16:56] It was, um, it was very, very, very difficult to actually build [00:17:00] trust and get people to get to know you. Um, And we did actually manage to do that, but it was February, 2020. during the pandemic is that had everything in place, sponsors the whole thing in place. February, 2020, it was more, it was more of a media agency.

[00:17:20] Raba. I wasn't, I had someone else do that and with the media anyway, in between then and when I moved up to, um, the Gold Coast, from the Gold Coast to Sydney, uh, I took over as, um, head of athletic performance, uh, athletic development and head sprint coach at Barker College. Nice. Uh, I was there for about two and a half, three years.

[00:17:37] And then, um, I took on as, um, I was head of athletics for, um, Knox grammar school down the road, , uh, down the road I guess. Uh, I had Ladejo Sports and Speed Academy, uh, going at the same time. So Sports Academy, for me, it, it encompasses all different sports and I'm actually working on something right now with Sports Academy.

[00:17:55] After talking to you, Carlo, I've brought that back up [00:18:00] where incorporating basketball, football, track, um, Uh, and a high performance center, uh, or a, a training center and a recovery lounge all under one roof. Um, so that is, is something that I, I'm kind of kind of putting together. Um, and you know, one of the things that I'd really like to do down here is bring the very first bank, 200 meter track down in Southern Hemisphere in, in in Australia.

[00:18:22] Wow. Makes no sense. Especially with the weather. It does be heal. Yeah. Yeah. It makes no sense that we don't have something like that. Um, so that's one of my ideas. And then having the, um, the basketball and, and football facilities and, uh, where they in the infield with that, uh, is, is, is actually, um, something that I, I think interestingly can, can, can be put together, uh, and with my background and bringing in also people from folk, basketball, football, um, and, and then the high performance center.

[00:18:45] Uh, we could actually put something really, really great together. Yeah. I think when I first mentioned, I think you should do something like this because as I said, there's some here in the, in Sydney that's actually sprouting. I think it's five, 10 years [00:19:00] now. They're doing it. They're doing it in a small scale in the basketball since I think if it's, we get a holistic, if you do a holistic kind of sports training center, I think that's gonna help athletes all over Australia.

[00:19:16] Even bringing athletes here overseas, it would work as well, I think. Especially in the northern beaches, right? Absolutely. Along north, northern beaches. So it's, um, that is something that I, I, I'm looking at, not looking at and working on right now and, um, And again, it's, it's someone out there listening is, um, as interested in, in getting involved, getting contact, um, because that will need funding, no question about it.

[00:19:39] And, um, need back in with that. And, uh, and, and also no good experience, um, people, especially in those different areas, um, to come in and work. Yeah. Um, in your, in your business history, in, in your entrepreneur, because you're pretty much an entrepreneur, um, what was the biggest hurdles you've had? Well, it, look, in England it was quite easy cuz [00:20:00] everyone knew me.

[00:20:00] So, you know, if I wanted to, to meet someone or see someone or do something, that door would be open up very quickly and, you know, it would just be my agent would make literally one phone call. And, uh, I've had the meeting within, within days, uh, here. No one knows me, . So those doors opening, unless they're funny enough that I, I had a, a situation, um, where someone worked in, um, a, a big, big high tech, um, tech company here and uh, and they invited me on to take, um, a role, a, a very high role in, um, but it was the one thing they asked me to do.

[00:20:35] Cause the company's that big, pretty much, one of the biggest in the world was to. Let go of greatest athlete . I said, Look, you need to let go of greatest athlete and you need to, you know, focus in on, on the business, on our business. And, um, and I couldn't take on, I couldn't, I couldn't proceed with, with it.

[00:20:55] I was like, No, I greatest athlete's, my baby. And it, as you know, as [00:21:00] you said Carlo, it's um, something that I know people enjoy, they really love. Yeah. And I love doing things that people enjoy and love. I like bringing value, you know, that's the legacy is value added. And uh, you know, that has always been one of my things and is that if I can do something, it's, it's to bring value and joy into people's lives.

[00:21:19] Um, that's the purpose. So to ask me to, you know, to take something away and, um, and not, not even focus on, on bringing it back again was just, it was a no go. So I just kept going. And I, as you know, my energy is very, very, very much focused in on my kids as well. Yeah. So helping them progress. And uh, funny enough, it's not pushing them into sports, it's actually pushing them to enjoy all different types of activities ranging from chess type, um, debate, drawing, um, drama, acting, dancing, whatever, modeling.

[00:21:49] They do a lot of modeling. They do a lot of model, that's for sure. For those people that they know. Um, Dwayne's kids are plastered all over Sydney. [00:22:00] All over the world actually. So, um, we have some big, big brands that's out there, so you would recognize, um, his kids from like the DFOs to like all the Westfields out there.

[00:22:12] You'll see, he'll see his kids. So they are, they've done quite a, a few campaigns. Myer, dj, um, what's it, Maya, What's, what's the other one? Dj, Um, David Jones. David Jones, That's right, that's right. David Jones. Industry, Industry kids co on, um, you name it, there's um, a country road. Country road. That's right.

[00:22:30] And, and a lot of different types of, um, Yeah, no, I'm proud of them. They, they've got done well and Reese as well. Um, Reese is doing, he's international model now. He is an international model. He, uh, he's been on Paris, London, and Italy. Milan, um, Um, Living life. Yes, that's right. You know, he, he's, he's enjoyed it.

[00:22:47] He, he's enjoying it and he's come back and he's also doing well. He, he's also into his music too. So. Nice. Well, what was your biggest win in starting your own business? Um, look, it, I've always, you know, it's amazes it sound, when I took [00:23:00] on the role, um, as head of athletic development at, um, Barker College, that's the first job I've ever had working for someone else.

[00:23:09] You imagine that 45, 40 whatever I was at the time, and it was the first job of ever working for somewhere else. It was difficult, you know, it's just, I'm very, very, very used to calling the shots and, um, or working with people, you know, working with people, but it's within my time. You know, it's interesting enough, what I did realize is that when you work for yourself, which I have all my, you put way, way, way more hours in than you work for somebody else.

[00:23:37] But when you are working within a system and, and it everything's political as we go back to that thing politically, you, the hours just cruel by . When I was actually work, funny enough, when I was working with the kids and when we actually coaching and train, that was great. That went really, really quickly.

[00:23:54] That was easy. The kids were fantastic. But in, in the background, there's uh, [00:24:00] admin and the administrations, the mid-level people. Oh my gosh. They are hard work, hard work, and I hard work. You work for two, two schools. That's why you they're both private schools. And how was that like, How was it? The, the kids were great.

[00:24:23] The kids are great. And, um, the, the, the sports master at, um, Barker was amazing. Um, he was a really great guy, actually. The, the support, um, from the, the head teacher, sports master and, and and the, the high guy was, was great. I didn't realize how competitive teachers are , I had no idea. Uh, I realized, you know, they've had a hard time.

[00:24:41] They, you know, they, a lot of them, especially if they're coaching sport or doing P dhp, uh uh, unfortunately they didn't get to the level of what they had. Aspire to, um, in, in sport and, and now our, our coach and our teachers. Uh, but it's a good thing. I I mean, that's a, a fantastic thing. I I mean, it's the one of the best things you could possibly ever do, but I didn't realize how competitive [00:25:00] they were with each but each other.

[00:25:01] Not, they don't actually really work together. And it's always ideas. So I'm not an ideas person, as in when you are training, when you're coaching people, this is not an idea. This is what we do. And this is what works. And we scale it down or scale it up depending on the level and the ability of, of the kids and what they, what they want.

[00:25:23] There's always pro processes involved. Having a, breaking it down into bunk, uh, chunk, I guess little chunks all the way to the big chunks to get to correct the end goal in mind. Right? Yeah. And the key key is, is developing the kids or developing your athlete that they develop as people, You know, it's not just as sport acumen, it's the most important thing.

[00:25:44] What's important is that everything around them and what they're doing is also developing. They're becoming better people. They're adding, you know, they're value again to society, to their community and especially with what they do. And if they grow that and they become really [00:26:00] successful as sports people.

[00:26:01] Um, then, my goodness, they have a voice. They'll be able to actually influence people just by doing things like this and, uh, um, social media, but in a positive way. Yeah. And, and all the discipline and all the actual attributes, things that they learn through being coached and through being coached correctly, they can apply that discipline and apply that ethos to their work, you know, to what they do or, you know, anything else outside of their sport from, from that sense.

[00:26:25] So it's, that is it, it's important that they, they, um, we develop people, especially kids, to be, you know, to good citizens, you know? Exactly. I think it's that, that part of, um, coaching is missing in some, some sports, I'd say. I guess it's the competitiveness of, um, of coaches, but being able to teach. Kids or athletes, how to behave, how to be good people is a skill in itself, right?

[00:26:56] I think it's a life lifelong skill that can translate [00:27:00] over years to come, I think. And I think that's, that's one of the great things that you've actually, um, implementing to your, for your teaching. Um, what makes your business stand out right now from your other competitors? Oh, look, um, I, my business got really hit hard, um, by COVID, uh, both the entertainment business and, um, and sports, and particularly athletics.

[00:27:25] Um, it, you know, I, I had a, a quite a large group and. During Covid, and I had them at the age of, between 14 through to, um, 1819, which was the vast majority of them. And they had nothing to do. There was no competition, there was no, So the motivation to actually train for nothing was very, very, very, very low.

[00:27:47] And my training's not easy, you know, that's the thing, you know, the little, that little athletics training and, um, that they're used to doing is speed, speed, speed, go, go, go. Short, fast intensity. Yeah. That's, that's not what I do. It's not what we do as, as athletes, we [00:28:00] very much build up the foundation. I'm, I'm pretty much the Mr.

[00:28:03] Miyagi of athletics when it comes to coaching. I'm very much not the Cobra Kai. Right. Uh, not the Cobra stuff. That's what, you know, I, the comparison, I can see athletics is taught like the Cobra Kai way here. It's bizarre. It's for me, I just, you know, look, I don't need to. We haven't had a top sprinter and we still don't.

[00:28:27] Ryan Browning doesn't count. He's not, that's not good enough. We haven't had a top sprinter, a world-class general contender, no. 20 years, maybe even longer than that. 25 years. Yeah. That's ridiculous. We got some great athletes here. Australians, well, great, the talents here, but the coaching is very much wanting pointing.

[00:28:51] It's unfortunately they've literally fallen into a, a pigeon hole and they're all doing pretty much the same thing. And they have [00:29:00] really lost basics. They rely too much on high tech. When I say high tech, I'm talking about analytics and uh, always keep hearing um, the, what is it? Um, sports doctors. Sports scientists and all this, like sports scientists.

[00:29:11] Yeah. Yeah. It's always sports sciences. This, trust me, whatever these sports scientists are doing here are working with athletic coaches here. They're, they've got it completely wrong cuz they produced nothing, absolutely nothing. And, but they have all the numbers. So all these numbers of kids are going to little athletics and going through little athletics.

[00:29:35] Um, unfortunately, uh, they're going nowhere. They get to and they, and they get to 1516 Carlo and they are done. They don't wanna do athletics anymore. Yeah. Because that's where like basketballs and all other sports jump in and grab all these great athletes that, that that is right. And uh, whereas, you know, what they should be doing is just enjoying all these different sports throughout most a lot of the [00:30:00] time, have fun with the athletics, learn good technique, which they're not learning because a lot of them are, and it's, you know, again, it's not their fault, but they need to come to people.

[00:30:09] Like myself, I'm talking about the coaches, the young, uh, the coaches who are parents that have gotten certificates now coaching and they with athletics, which is great, but they need to also, you know, there's people like me there are still willing to actually help and contribute to the sport and say, actually no, you should be doing this.

[00:30:28] Yeah. And, uh, make it simple. Keep it simple, stupid. You know, that's, that's always my biggest philosophy is kiss. Yeah. And, uh, and just take your time. Don't be in a rush. You know, give them many other opportunities as well. And, and and that's not happening right now. It's unfortunately, that is the way of the beast here is, uh, a lot of money is made through junior sports.

[00:30:49] Yeah. And it's not right. You know, uh, sport for me should always be going and channel through the schools. It always, especially up through the ages of 16, especially to the age around [00:31:00] 16, 17, it should, everything, all competition should be channeled through the school. All infrastructure, energy, everything should go through the schools because it's contained and it allows the parents and the kids to know exactly what's going on and where they stand.

[00:31:15] Yeah. You have all these different academies all over the place and, and I'm talking about academies specifically geared to kids. You know that, that, that's a problem like Ladejo Sports Academy. Absolutely. Kids can come. , but it's geared for post school. You know, it's geared for the athlete or, or people, um, in that respect, who now wanna take it to that next level, you know, become professionals and really take it to that next level.

[00:31:40] Everything else should be contained within school infrastructure, where all the leagues and all of that, and all the scouts and everything. You can see. It's clear in front of you. It's right there. America do it beautifully. They do. And they do. That's why they do get so well, because it's all under one roof.

[00:31:59] And your [00:32:00] and the community. Supports the school. Yeah. They're rally behind all the primary schools. Exactly. On primary schools, high schools, colleges. Absolutely right. And it should be that way. It should be totally that way. And sports all should be done between three and five after schools done. You know, that is the opportunity for Cocurricular activities and that's where it should be channeled in all these different CA academies, like little athletics.

[00:32:29] Yeah. All that type of. It shouldn't be there. There's no need for it. There's no need for it at all. And uh, and that's the problem, you know, it's self-interest that's going on. Uh, at, for a younger agent, targeted parent parents love the, unfortunately, they're, they got darts in them all over the place. Come on, get your kid to do this.

[00:32:48] Pay for this, pay for that. Pay for no. Parents should be paying out all over for all the different types of activities that the actual, um, kids wanna do. It should be provided opportunities provided at school. [00:33:00] And you pay extra fees per se Yeah. Within the school. And you start really funding into your local schools.

[00:33:09] And then you get the best coaches available in the, in the area to coach at the schools. That's right. Get it. Just makes logical sense. Well, let's hope. Sometime down the track, we, we get someone, or the government actually changes that. But it's, uh, as you, we can see it's a a political, political thing, but hopefully, um, things change.

[00:33:31] Um, the, all the athletics, all the different sports starts getting funneled through the schools as well. So look, I I mean, and that's the other thing. I I mean, there's hardly any athletic tracks in the Australia. We got one in the, in the northern beaches that covers, you know, is it's an nabe, it's Abe track.

[00:33:48] The closest track is soak. That's ridiculous. I mean, how many swimming, let's put it in perspective, how many swimming pools are between. [00:34:00] And in the Olympic Park. Hundreds. Yep. Now there's no, no rocket science to figure out. While we have pretty good swimmers. Yeah. Because there's a lot of, every school, especially private school, they all have swimming pools.

[00:34:15] Yeah. But how many have tracks? Virtually none of them. It's the footballs, football fields and all that. Uh, but you see see in America, they get it, right. They have your football field in the middle, they have the track around the fields. Everything is built within one stadium, one arena. And then you have your gym, has your basketball courts, and it builds with all of that as well.

[00:34:37] And then all to the side, you'll have the tennis courts, you'll have your football as your soccer, um, courts there, your baseball fields with it. Where, where you can play cricket. Everything has its spot. But the actual, you know, the, the the center field. Is an athletics complied with a rugby or football fulfilled in the middle of it.

[00:34:55] That's right. It makes logical sense. And all sports [00:35:00] and all activities, they all run track. Yeah. You know, they all, as they go in at some point in love, they all do athletics, they all do gymnastics, they all do swimming. You know, it, it's all through the school. It makes logical sense. Yeah. You just, kids become well rounded, um, athletes that way I think.

[00:35:22] Correct. Yeah. Um, what motivates you daily? Dwayne, my kids. On a daily basis. My kids, look, I I've, I've achieved a lot in life now. As you get older, you begin to reflect back and go, I keep wanna do more, do do more, do more stuff. And I, and and I'm enjoying that and I like to keep busy. Um, but it's my kids. I just want them to really enjoy life.

[00:35:43] And, uh, I, I, I don't care what activity it is that they, um, that they really love, I just wanna be able to support them and give them the best support they can for whatever they want to do. Yeah. And that's at sometimes turn them away, you're doing too much. You know, there's, you know, you don't need to do this, but enjoy, you know, enjoy [00:36:00] being with your friends at times, enjoy this.

[00:36:01] So I don't mind them being focused and tunnel vision, but I want 'em to be to focused and tunnel vision with. Yeah, you can literally see they, they live and breathe, whatever it is. Yeah. You can't stop them because they're having so much fun doing what they're doing. That's a whole different thing. Yeah.

[00:36:18] But when it becomes a churn for them or a chore, it's gonna be over for them. So you don't want that to happen. So that's why you want them to be diverse and, and, and do different things. And you hopefully by the, the time they are 16, they find something and go, I wanna channel in into that. Yeah. A lot of people, and this is where people get it wrong here, they try and make their kids do what Tiger Woods did, the Agassi did or whatever.

[00:36:45] That is a nor 0.0 0, 0, 0 0%. You're trying to ask a kid to train from the age of three to let's say 18 or 19. With passion [00:37:00] and won it every single day. Most people don't think like that. They will get burnt out by the time they're 11 if they started at three, you know where wear and tear as well, right? Oh, absolutely.

[00:37:14] What it's wear and tear on everything, isn't it? Just the mind, body, soul and, and especially, uh, your spirit. Um, you know, and be at them and saying that that's the only way you're gonna make it. No, no, no, no, no, no. That's a one in a 10 billion. Those types of individuals. Yeah. They also don't make it too, There's a lot of those types of individuals that don't make it more often than not.

[00:37:31] Yeah. The, and that's the, And they have the talent as well. You see, that's the, that's the whole different thing Now. It is better to be diverse and to always be active and be involved because the growth spur in learning happens over two years. Yeah. If you have two years, anywhere up to the age of 18 where a kid goes, Boom.

[00:37:54] In those two years, they suddenly go, boom. And it doesn't matter whether that happens, that [00:38:00] three to five, five to seven, wherever it is, 16 to 18. Do you know some of the best basketball players in the NBA right now haven't picked up a ball until they were 17 in Africa? , all the African kids are starting, starting.

[00:38:16] Well, it, but it, it tells you, of course they have a predisposition to the sport as in the height, obviously in that respect. But it tells you straight away, you do not need to be at 12, 11, 10 and be so super focused on anything in order to be great at it. That's right. Just need to always keep challenging yourself and then sudden.

[00:38:41] Hone in on something and then kind of have that obsessive nature, passion for what you wanna do. You do that for two years and you have a good coach and you are taught well and your skills, you catch everyone up very quickly and you more likely will surpass them. Especially if you have the ability, the natural ability to, It's [00:39:00] not rocket science.

[00:39:01] Yes. This, speaking of African basketball plays, Hakeem Elijah on was like that. I think Jo Joel be, um, Pascals. Yeah. Ma Tomba. Ma tomba. They all picked up the sport really late, but they are excelling right now. Or they have excel before they excel and there's a there's, there's a lot of examples of that right now.

[00:39:24] Yeah. So it's, um, you know, it, it, it, the reality is, is that if we can get our kids to be active, enjoy life, and then just say be passionate. , find something that you can be really passionate about. By the time you leave school, you'll be okay. Yeah. You'll be okay. and that and that. And that's where I'm saying that's what leads to something.

[00:39:43] Like let's say for example then a Ladejo Sports Academy. Yeah. Really becomes a massive asset. Yeah. To the community. And you're hoping that the schools, if they had that infrastructure, will be always like they do with with class, they do [00:40:00] history, they do math, they do English, they do geography, they do all these art, they do all these different types of things.

[00:40:04] They don't just teach 'em English from the age of three. You know? Could you imagine someone even saying, No, you are just gonna do masks from the age of five. Or, Or piano. Or piano. This is all you're gonna do at. Everyone would look at you like you're crazy. But that's what happens with sport, right? Yeah.

[00:40:21] And what we're saying is, no, don't do that. Enjoy your sports. But if you are really passionate about something, then do it a little bit more. You know, do it what you want, but make sure you do other things as well. You know, you gotta make sure your buddy is versatile. Nice. But versatility is a strength.

[00:40:40] And then we can get specific when you get really good at it, when it's time to actually croach into the big time. Yeah. You know? Yes. Yeah. It, it's not, it just makes logical sense. Yeah. It's, um, what, what do you think is the right time to. That sport, the or [00:41:00] activity that they want to have. I, I think 1516 is a really good, gives you a good opportunity, Gives that that money.

[00:41:06] I mean, look, I was, I mean, I was lucky as in talented that my very, very, very last year at high school, uh, I did have a massive growth spur and, uh, I naturally combin. Year of training, um, was able to go from no one knowing me to the top three 100 meter runner in America. Yeah. So that is, that's just natural ability, Right.

[00:41:28] Combined with whatever. I, I always think especially, um, and what people don't realize, running sprinting is a skills, but to learn how to sprint is difficult. You know, it is micro skilling, like you would not believe it's technical little, little technical, extraordinary technical. But you then gotta be unconscious about that technique as well.

[00:41:46] Yeah. That's the key, right? It's so going from being consciously incompetent Yes. To unconsciously competent. Cause a a lot of stages through there. A few stages through, there is a long journey for a lot of [00:42:00] people. Yeah. And at some kids, and I was close to one of those kids that when I started running. I was near unconscious competent.

[00:42:08] Yeah. My natural running form was virtually there. So there wasn't much to coach in that respect. But for me, I fought, Running was just natural. You just, just do it. Until I started coaching that I realized, oh my goodness. It's like again, going to a basketball player, the basketball player, seven foot tall, they're virtually there, , you know, they just have to learn some few things.

[00:42:29] That's right. The head's gonna be absolutely fine. So it's not those individuals that we are concerned about. It's individuals that probably don't have disposition for their sport, but really wanna be in there. They sort of give themselves two to three years of hap um, channeling it. And my advice would be don't do it too early.

[00:42:51] Yeah. Because once their energy's there, they have to sustain that. Yeah. And if they have to say as they're trying to [00:43:00] sustain that through their childhood and their commitment through their childhood, they're missing out on being a kid. Yeah. You know, so by the end of it, by 1718, that time you can say to them, Yeah, do you wanna really fo this is a good time?

[00:43:14] But, you know, I've seen obsessive kids and I've coached obsessive kids. And it never goes right. It never goes, never goes to plan. So I would say around about 6 15, 16, 17 is a real good time to, to really take something very seriously, take note to our listeners. So, um, that is, I think, I think it is, of actually speaking to my kids right now.

[00:43:37] They, they, it's becoming their formative years now to pick something that they want. So picking at the right, right time because they can. Peak too early, right? They can peak too early, and it's just. Finding the right balance in the right coaching as well, and the right, and, and and remember, we don't, we're [00:44:00] not fully grown until we are reaching close to 18 90 18.

[00:44:04] Yes, that's right. And you know, the, I I always feel really sorry for the athletes that I, I watch at primary school championships and especially, you know, especially Fit 16 and Downwards, um, who are winning these championships and they're destroying everyone, but they're way more mature than all the other kids.

[00:44:19] Yeah. And so it's always the most mature kids in that year that dominate. Yeah. And I feel so sorry for them, the like 99.99% of them because the time they get to 17, 18, those last two years when everyone's caught up, everyone's caught up there and those kids, they were destroying are now destroying them.

[00:44:40] Yeah. And it's just, it, it literally destroys their soul. But because they were so focused, so young, And always winning and always determined when everyone caught up with them came over for them. Yeah. And that's why, especially in athletics. Take your time. Take your time. [00:45:00] Take your time. Um, who are your influences growing up?

[00:45:04] Ian Business and in. Uh, my, my influences were mostly in life. I mean, um, I, Ima Denmark was one of my first, was one of the, the, the and Beyond Bog, funny enough, Swedish Sports Star, Ima Denmark was the best all round skier in the world. He was just, he was just amazing. He was unreal to watch. He was just perfection personified.

[00:45:25] That's so, so, so, so smooth, so skillful and beyond board was just so much fun as well. Yeah. Arthur Ash was the number one. Muhammad Ali Sugar Ray Leonard was a big but no question about it. And I, but I think the person that the had the biggest influence in my life where I realized that, you know, you can really do something in sport.

[00:45:44] Um, And make a difference on the political side. Obviously that was Moham Ali within just sport itself. Was Michael Jordan Nice? No, if the butt's about it. Michael Jordan, MJ was just, He personified a professional athlete. Yeah. [00:46:00] Excellence and he's, I think Michael Jordan was the one that actually got me in the sport of basketball as well.

[00:46:08] I think it's when a lot of people are talking about who the goat is right now, comparing LeBron to mj. For me, growing up in the nineties, it's just, It's a no brainer. I think so. It look, it, I mean, but even if you compare the thing, I mean, I, I love obviously LeBron. It's amazing. I, I, I pretty much support and follow wherever he goes.

[00:46:32] And, uh, I've always been a Laker fan throughout my life, but, um, I support anywhere LeBron where I would watch Vivid. Cause you, you wanna watch the best players play, right? Yes, that's right. But, um, for me, Michael Jordan, um, was just absolutely sensational. And the other person I actually, I forgot, but that was more nostalgia and just revered was Pele was the other one as well.

[00:46:54] Yeah. But for me, PE Michael Jordan, where they, but this is one's gonna [00:47:00] surprise everyone outside of sport. The person who had the biggest influence in me outside of sport, Um, and Gandhi. Gandhi had a big influence in me on kind of preemptiveness, uh, in that respect. My favorite person, if not including sport, all around Bruce Lee.

[00:47:18] Bruce Lee. Who? Bruce Lee. Bruce. Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee was without a shed of a doubt, he set the tone for me in that aspect of, of approach to life. And, and, and, and, and those principles and discipline to his art form. Yes. His discipline to his art form. And, um, he, for me, set the tone in that respect. And then for me, then Michael Jordan took over, took come talk.

[00:47:44] See Bruce Lee was, uh, martial arts in, in win. And then he actually started. Implementing, grabbing different art forms from different martial arts, making it his own. So he's, I think [00:48:00] he's one of those, he imagine him in a greatest athlete's tournament. So, you know, and that's the thing, right? That's why I came out with greatest athlete because I wanted to see of all the people that are physically active Yeah.

[00:48:12] Who is the best All rounder yeah. And, and that can be a fireman, that could be a dancer, that could be, you know, anyone in the armed forces, that type of thing. Anyone that has a physicality, big, big physicality, an athletic element to what they do can be in greatest athlete. And uh, and that's what I think is fun about it.

[00:48:31] I like how we sit way back there. Huh? ? Um, how, Oh, wait a second. Let's just go a bit back. Um, What's your top three advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and athletes? Um, look, I would say for an entrepreneurs lean in, you know, that's the, the biggest advice I would say. If you have an idea, um, you have a passion about something and it's, it's even for, um, traffic lean into it, you know, really put your energy and, and, um, just have faith that you can go out there and do it for one thing, have a good support network, you know, that is, it is [00:49:00] key.

[00:49:00] You cannot do everything by yourself. That is what I learn out here, is that you do need a good team around you and, uh, people to, to, to help and support, um, your vision. And, and, and more often than not, you know, grow the vision. You know, if you, if you get people involved, get people smarter than you, you know, especially in, in whatever that area that you know, you want to also expand and get the smartest people, you know.

[00:49:21] Um, and obviously trustworthy people around you as well. People that you, you can actually have faith in that they would deliver and do, and have your back. That, that's, that's important. And, you know, listen to your mom, . Listen to your mom. Listen to your mom. I'd say to my kids, Listen to your mom and dad, but I, listen, unfortunately, my dad's not with us anymore, but, you know, listen to your mom and dad.

[00:49:42] And, um, it's, uh, those, those, I'd say, not just as an entrepreneur, but as a sports person, um, those are key things. Yeah. And we do, we've, we've spent a lot of time talking about in sport, leaning in, you know, when is the right time to lean in and. And as parents, I would say [00:50:00] just be extremely supported of your child's, you know, progress.

[00:50:04] Do not, do not helicopter to them, you know, let them, they gotta make that choice. My mother never ever, ever asked me to go training once, not once. She never asked me to do a sport. She never asked me to do anything. It was a hundred percent driven by me all the way. And that is the one thing I do know. If someone's gonna be good at it, someone cannot be telling them they should be going to do something.

[00:50:29] Yeah. Now the only way that person's gonna be really good at something cuz they're self-motivated and they do it and their own impetus and we just support that impetus. Yeah. You know, and that's where I think a lot of parents go wrong here is they think if they drive it, then their kids will come through and and deliver.

[00:50:46] No, no. They have to drive. Yeah, we are definitely the support system. The support network on their, on their, on their drive on this. Yeah. I think, I think so too. Um, in terms of, you know, how you wanna push your kids this, I'm [00:51:00] just segue a different, I'm just going off topic. Um, for those parents that just because nowadays there's a different type of challenges that parents go through with the gaming, getting 'em off their gadgets, how do you suggest in um, getting them out active?

[00:51:18] Uh, look, I think the old adage is bring the water and they'll drink it. You know, you've got to keep bringing and giving opportunities for your kids to do other things. Yeah. You know, if you don't give them the opportunity, if you don't bring water for them to be able to drink. They won't drink it. Yeah. So if you keep just saying, Oh, that's okay, we're just, they're gonna keep doing the same thing.

[00:51:42] But if you come up with some exciting things to do and, uh, and also, you know, just create these opportunities and friends and networks around you, uh, they enjoy it. They love it. My kids love gaming. I still love gaming. , you know, I'm part of the gaming generation that first started with Atari [00:52:00] in television, in, you name it, Sega, you know, we used to even praise it, you know, in that respect.

[00:52:07] You know, we, I'm still in the game and generation. I even, I even make games now, you know, make little things. That's what I've gone into doing as well. That's what we haven't talked about. Yeah. My art is, is art visualization and, and rendering, um, not just for, um, animation with games or, or, uh, photo realistic, um, animation series and movie, which I, I'm doing in, which I'm enjoying doing as well right now.

[00:52:25] Um, but for architecture, Yeah. So bringing, um, buildings and everything to life. Yeah. Uh, I love all that stuff. So I've implemented my gaming, uh, acumens and things that I love, love doing as well to what I actually create and recreate and all that type of stuff. That is what, you know, I, I, I also do right now, and.

[00:52:43] So that's what you can do is channel their energy into actually say, Well, instead of just playing it, why don't you learn how to make it make your own game. Yeah. You know, develop it in that way and, and, and go out and discover things. Go out and film things and all that type of stuff. Yeah. You know, be creative with what they can do and uh, you know, trust me, [00:53:00] kids love activity.

[00:53:01] They love activity. Games is just an easy, accessible thing to get to because they're bored. Yeah. They don't wanna be bored. So gaming is an easy option not to be bored. Yes, that's true. It's, it's just, it's like fast food. It's like fast food, right? Yeah. In that respect. So, Cause it's easy, it's, It's easy accessible.

[00:53:22] It's easy accessible. You can, you know, if it's raining, bad weather. Goes to gaming. It's easy. However, you got to see what I do like about gaming right now, especially within friends and with networks, is where they actually work together and strategize together to actually complete things, and they socialize that way.

[00:53:43] Yeah. So that's a good thing. So if they're not able to socialize at some point with their friends that it's this, you know, their peers and their friends, that is a good thing. And we have to be mindful there. Like anything else, kids walking in the street, strangers can come along. Stranger danger. Yeah. So [00:54:00] Stranger Danger is also more accessible on the gaming and environment.

[00:54:03] That's right. But that's Stranger Danger is also there in real life. Yes. So, you know, you can't blame Stranger Danger during the game. At least they're within their home. They have stranger Danger out there, and you are not with them. That's even more scary. Yeah. You know, from that was per, so don't, you know, use gaming as, Oh there's so many, you know, bad opportunities.

[00:54:23] They're bad opportunities or bad circumstances everywhere. And like yeah, you've just gotta channel everything and be, you know, diverse with. Don't try and prevent them and stop them. Cause it'll make them want it more. It's true. Find ways to actually broach them off in different ways or they get bored of it because other things that you are now producing are so much more interesting.

[00:54:45] Yeah. That's what I do. I guess the onus is on, on the parents being able to get out of our comfort zone to be more creative. Correct. Yes. Excellent. That's, that's a great, great way [00:55:00] to put it because I guess I'm not giving, for me as a parent, not giving another option to my kids to, to enjoy, you know, and that's the onus on, on parents, I think to be able to make it a different.

[00:55:19] Different thing to make sure that the kids are enjoying one way or another, being creative. Yeah, absolutely. Right. Excellent. Um, going forward, what big goals do you have for your businesses in the next three to 10 years? Look, um, for me, I love to be able to get greatest athlete back on air. That would be, you know, that's one of my, um, main goals.

[00:55:41] And, uh, and to be able to set up some, like the Ladejo Sports Academy, a physical, the Ladejo Sports Academy, um, that would be, um, fantastic too. Um, on, on both fronts, on an entertainment. And greatest athlete also can go photo right back through to the schools Yeah. As well. And do greatest athlete camps and stuff with, with the kids.

[00:55:57] So there's, there's always a, an extended [00:56:00] element to everything that I do. And the Ladejo Sports Academy look, the, the prop opportunity for that here is not really here. And, uh, on, on that level, on, on what I'm talking. And it's also can be a very educational, uh, environment too, you know, And, um, somewhere where, you know, everyone can pretty much go in there and join and see it and, and, and be involved.

[00:56:19] Uh, so those are, those would be the, the two of the main things that I really want to do. And, uh, and, and. And achieve over the next three to 10 years. Yeah. Uh, which would be fantastic. And, and continuing, you know, with my writing and, and animation and that type of stuff, it's awesome. And, uh, the art stuff with, um, uh, with architecture, which I enjoy.

[00:56:35] I love building, love building buildings. Yeah. It's, uh, it's, there's a lot of money in that as well. So, you know, it's, I think your goals are like, I think it's achievable for you and it's, I think hopefully I can jump on help, help get this greatest athletes back on online or somewhere. I think we get really try to get some sponsors that way.[00:57:00]

[00:57:01] That would be great. . Uh, hopefully I can help. Um, hopefully this episode can help you. Um, how do, how do you want to impact the world and what kind of legacy do you want to have? Uh, I think, you know, going back to if I can bring value, added value, enjoyment, a smile, uh, you know, and a lot of energy and, and the way we approach people, I mean, I mean, look at the political environment in America right now.

[00:57:21] I mean, we've never seen anything like it, you know, it's just beyond where people don't even believe a, a vote anymore. You know, it is gone to, to that stage is where I would like to take the politics outta stuff, you know, and just treat people as people. And, and this whole political agenda, uh, is really bugging.

[00:57:41] People down. I think it stresses people out that they literally have friendships based, based on their political affinities. It makes no sense whatsoever. Uh, but when you have people, uh, you know, striving for power all the time in one, in any way possible, you know, it becomes a burden to, uh, people [00:58:00] in society.

[00:58:00] So, going to your question, I'd like to actually create an environment and community where you are not worrying about political agendas. You know, what you are most concerned about is your community. That's true. And that your community is thriving and striving and we're helping each. That's the type of legacy I wanna be involved You know, I don't care what political affiliation is because you know, the reality is it's all about how much government is involved in something. That's the reality of one political side to the next is one side wants as much government involvement and support and whatever, and the other one wants the very least and minimal, you know, least amount of tax.

[00:58:42] One is, I mean, come on, seriously. You know, that is what it's all about. I mean, life has been about that, but that's what I wanna take out of it, is less about those, those types of things and more about us being people and just connecting with each other and striving, uh, for, so regardless of what we make or how well we do, we we're good.

[00:58:59] You know, it's, you know, you, you don't [00:59:00] have to want to need something. You're just striving to improve each other's in your life. That's, that's, that's, that's something that would like pass on from generation to generation as well. Right. There's, That is awesome. Um,

[00:59:12] , um, if you could recommend one book to our listeners, um, what should they read and what would it be and why?

[00:59:21] Um, I enjoyed a book called The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, and, um, it was, you know, one of those books that, especially as an athlete, helped you slow down. Nice. Helped you really take focus on, again, exactly what I was just talking about. Life, you know, life and enjoying life. And, and another book that I, I, I, um, coupled with that was also The Alchemist.

[00:59:46] Yeah. Bless. I love this. So, so those would be my recommendations. The way of the Peaceful Warrior and, um, The Alchemist were, were books that I, I really, really, really used and, and it helped me with my endevours. [01:00:00] Yeah, I've, I was in a mastermind about 10, 15 years ago, and those were the two books that the members in the mastermind actually, um, were sharing to all of us.

[01:00:10] And it's really good books to, to read and to live by. So, um, it's great. I'll put it, I'll definitely put that on a show notes and so that people can actually, um, read it. If not read it, listen to it in audible, I I guess. Um, what else can, Yeah, I think, um, if our listeners wanted to get in touch with you or get need help for business or in coaching with you, um, how can they reach you?

[01:00:38] Oh, well, you can always get me at, um, Du'aine at the Dejo Speed Academy. Dot com, Um, or even, um, duaineladejo@gmail.com. I would say probably the, the best one to get me is at duaineladejo@gmail.com. Yeah, it's a, that is a, um, and it's just how my name is start, except there's no apostrophe, , uh, and it's Gmail, so it's really, it's simple.

[01:00:57] Uh, so that's the, um, the, the the best way, best way to get in contact. There's, there's a, like, [01:01:00] it goes straight connecting to you, I guess. Um, do, do you have any, um, are you in socials as well, or? I am. So you, you can get me on Instagram and, um, you also, um, I have. You got LinkedIn as well? Uh, I've got LinkedIn, yes.

[01:01:12] I'll hit you up on that. Hit me up on that. Yes, indeed. Uh, I'm also, I'm also, one of the other things that I see, I just love doing things and it's, again, like another community thing is the Yummy Yum Club. Yeah. So the Yummy Club is like Studio 54 meets, um, you know, um, fine dining and, and, uh, good food. Well, I I should say good food and entertainment.

[01:01:30] That's something else. I'm starting up around the Northern Beaches, so I'm gonna be putting on one of those at some point too. Yeah. Has that, is that, uh, a monthly thing? It will be, it will be a monthly thing and, uh, at label, um, along Northern Beaches. Uh, and when the next one that's also, there's an Instagram page and a, a website for that as well.

[01:01:47] But that, that's something that again, get in like-minded people together and have a fantastic night with great music and, um, good food. And, uh, and entertainment. Uh, again, I'll just love doing community things. [01:02:00] Yeah. Things that I like, like to enjoy and, uh, and just bring it to bring it to people. Yeah. For those listeners, um, that we have, I'll get thousands of American listeners usa So when we talk about northern beaches, it's the northern beaches of Sydney where Manly and the beautiful beaches that we have here.

[01:02:20] So, um, that's when, when we took what we talk about Northern Beaches. That's right. So come visit us, come visit, um, Du'aine's spots. So I'll put all those in the show notes. Dwayne, um, anything else that you wanted to mention before we. Oh, look, no, colleague. It's been fantastic. A pleasure chatting to you. It's been a great chat, I think.

[01:02:41] Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for having me on board and, uh, you're doing a great thing, uh, loving the fact that this podcast is reaching out and helping people as well. Yeah, and I think, look, I think if we can just strive to, you know, be, you know, a better version of ourself all the time, um, I mean, that's, and, and be, and if you're a parent, you know, don't get in the way of our kids' [01:03:00] progression and their development and, you know, be that impetus or, or one of the reasons to make them proud, you know, um, and, and, and give you pride with them.

[01:03:09] Yeah. That's all we can ask for, right? Is, uh, and be healthy and look, and look out for each other. That's, that's, that's the way I, I, I see. Yeah. Thank you very much again, Dwayne. Um, thank you for sharing your story. I think it needs to be heard all over the world. Um, just seeing, sitting quietly here in Sydney, um, enjoying life in Sydney.

[01:03:28] So I think, um, um, when I first came across here and I said, I think I know this guy, and when I actually Googled you and I was like, Wow, Dwayne is, um, Du'aine is very knowledgeable about all things sports and everything else. So, um, yeah, thank you very much again for coming to the show. And, um, for those listeners out there, um, um, come and like listen like, and um, give us, uh, ratings and review and hopefully, um, we can get more guests like Dwayne and, um, Thank you very much once again and, um, we'll see [01:04:00] you in our next episode.

[01:04:01] Thank you, Dwayne. Take care. Okay. See you later. Take care. Bye.