Build Your Brand…Live Your Dreams with Sue Izzo

When you achieve your dreams, it's not so much what you get, as it is who you become. Dreams are vital in a man's life since they fuel our passion and purpose of existence. It gives us something to aim for and pushes us to achieve more incredible things. However, the route to triumph is paved with hardships and setbacks that we would rather not encounter, yet we sometimes do.  

This road requires determination which enables any troubled soul to keep going when they feel like quitting. Its authenticity of it preserves your true identity when things get difficult to manage. In addition, the ability to celebrate our small victories encourages our patience and helps us to appreciate our endeavors. Do your best to achieve your dream, and your dream will make you great. 

Sue Izzo is a business growth consultant, keynote speaker, Co-Founder, and CEO of Sports Management Mastermind, which is designed to educate upcoming action sports athletes and their parents on how to build their careers in action sports. And now, she's spending a lot of her time coaching and also giving back to the sport that provided a great lifestyle for her.

In this special episode with Sue Izzo, we'll learn about a passion that led someone to start her own enterprise and the things she had to overcome along the road to success. She will be educating us about life, business, and sports along with the mentality it requires to handle and enjoy a career.

Topics Covered:

(00:00:00) Introduction + Episode Snippet

(00:00:13) Introducing our special guest, Sue Izzo

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(00:02:24) An accidental career: What led Sue Izzo to be an agent for active sports?

(00:05:19) The woman who established her own empire: Who is Sue Izzo?

(00:07:06) Unafraid of the word NO: Being persistent with what you're passionate about

(00:07:44) Believing in my athletes: What mindset did you have that enabled you to succeed?

(00:09:34) Be true to who you are: What do you recommend to someone who's trying to build a brand?

(00:12:45) Beyond an athlete's talents: The importance of great personality and good communication skills

(00:14:25) A lesson for parents: Let your kids have the best intentions for a dream and excel

(00:15:50) The worst thing a parent can do: Make their kids one-dimensional.

(00:18:55) Placing more value on winning: There are different ways on the road to success; therefore, be flexible.

(00:19:36) Competing to win or competing not to lose: How do athletes fall under pressure?

(00:21:33) How will you encourage someone who's doing things solo and is pressured to be a female sports agent in a dominant male society?

 (00:25:37) Advertisement: Sabre Bats, the training bat that will take you to your next swing. Go to https://www.sabrebats.net to know more.

(00:26:26) Mentorship about life and entrepreneurship: "I felt responsible that I needed to teach them life lessons and life skills."

(00:31:20) What would you tell your 30-year-old self now about what to do and what not to worry about?

(00:31:55) Being happy at the moment: Give yourself credit and enjoy your moment of accomplishment.

(00:34:06) A recipe for disaster: "I was always trying to make somebody else happy."

(00:32:38) Be surrounded by a solid group of people to trust and to be loved.

(00:39:57) The Sports Management Mastermind: How is your one-on-one coaching doing on the opposite side of the sports agency?

(00:45:06) Final TimeOut with Sue Izzo: What would you advise a young athlete and their parents who are feeling overwhelmed by the career they are to take?

(00:46:36) The importance of parent and child communication: Parents are vessels of support and unconditional love for their children

(00:47:05) Help yourself grow so you can run your own race: Do not try to rush the process.

(00:48:42) Connect with Sue Izzo.

Key Takeaways:

"I learned how to cultivate and nurture relationships through writing down people's birthdays and anniversaries on an index card and sending cards out." – Sue Izzo

"It's when you believe in someone or something so passionately, there's nothing you won't do for them." – Sue Izzo

"I've made a mistake with athletes where we tried to manufacture something like this is who you should be. It would always blow up in your face. So, I think it's really true to who you are because people can call it out or sniff it out a mile away when you're being inauthentic." – Sue Izzo

"Having kids learn to go up to sponsors or coaches and shake their hands, introduce themselves, have the athlete be the one that's calling or sending the email or reaching out. Like, that's very important for young athletes to develop that." – Sue Izzo

"There is a fine balance between gentle pushing and nudging and encouragement. You have to follow your child's lead because, at the end of the day, it's them doing the sport for the next ten years." – Sue Izzo

"Sometimes, we get so locked in this mindset of how the journey needs to be or how it's supposed to be. I think we have to allow for flexibility because there are so many different ways to get to the end of the road. It's not just a straight line." – Sue Izzo

"In consistently repeating, success can all of a sudden change an athlete. You must pay attention to where they go from competing to win, to compete not to lose because the idea of loss in what will happen to them becomes a bigger weight than the desire to win." – Sue Izzo

"I was one of the very few females in the game and the only females that own the agency. So, it was very hard because it was absolutely a boys' club. People were always trying to take me out. I felt like they were going behind my back, talking to my athletes; it's the nature of the beast. It was ten times harder for me as a female. – Sue Izzo

"I would try to find entrepreneurial things that they were into or interested in that we could build other projects from because I felt like I could teach them some business stuff or help them find other revenue streams because you never know as an athlete, how long that career's going to be. There are career-ending injuries that happen all the time." – Sue Izzo

"We had some parents that were excellent, and they were a dream to work with, and they really looked out for their children, but we also had parents that absolutely screwed their kids, and it was awful to watch." – Sue Izzo

"Learning to give me credit for what I had accomplished and being happy at that moment. I shredded myself every single step of the way; I was never good enough. Everyone was better than me. It did not matter how much I built the company. It was impossible for me to give myself any credit because I was always looking at other people and envying everybody else." – Sue Izzo

"Once you achieve the level of agent, physician, professional athlete, you're almost untouchable, and people will glorify you for that one line. They kind of forget about you being a person and that you have struggled and that you have to go through things and overcome things and you have to be perfect every day when you step out of your house, put a smile on your face, shake hands, make the deal and keep moving." – Dr, Derrick Burgess

Connect with Sue Izzo:

Website: https://www.sueizzo.com/

http://www.sportsmanagementmastermind.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sueizzo/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sueizzo/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sueizzo

Connect with Dr. Derrick Burgess:

Website: https://www.drderrickthesportsdr.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drderrickthesportsdr/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimeOut.SportsDr

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-burgess-72047b246/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHGDu1zT4K_X6PnYELu8weg

Email: thesportsdoctr@gmail.com

This episode of TimeOut with the SportsDr. is produced by Podcast VAs Philippines - the team that helps podcasters effectively launch and manage their podcasts, so we don't have to. Record, share, and repeat! Podcast VAs PH gives me back my time so that I can focus on the core functions of my business. Need expert help with your podcast? Go to www.podcastvasph.com.