Impact Over Dollars - Jeremy Booth

Matt Cundill  0:01  
This is the mental approach where we discuss mindfulness, mental performance and the tools available for coping in a high performance world. Here's Todd Arkell,

Todd Arkell  0:11  
today, I am thrilled to have with me Jeremy booth. Jeremy is the visionary founder and CEO of program 15, and he's the president of baseball operations for the New Balance baseball future stars series, a youth baseball series that focuses on developing players. Jeremy's both a former major league Scout, had an 18 year career in pro baseball as a player, coach, talent evaluator, and he's also on the air with CBS, calling, doing, commentating on the Houston Astros games. He's an exceptionally accomplished individual and has a really different look at things. The conversation's really great. We take some turns that even I didn't see coming. I hope you stick around and enjoy the show.

Jeremy Booth  1:01  
Welcome Jeremy, thank you, man. I'm excited to be here and definitely appreciate you having me on looking forward

Todd Arkell  1:06  
to it. No, it's awesome. I always love having knowledgeable people on the show. It makes my job easy. So let's start with long career in professional baseball, maybe kind of go through a little bit of that, kind of your journey, and maybe mix in around the role mental performance kind of played in in your development and how, you know, sort of early lessons is sort of stuck with you as you went through that. You know, I have a very

Jeremy Booth  1:31  
unique background in the game. I grew up in Major League clubhouses, and my cousin, my dad, there's no question about it, very charmed life that as an early age. You don't necessarily think is Charmed, you know, you're just more thinking that it's doing your thing. Yeah, it's day to day, you know, and guys that I would consider my uncles, and it's come up recently in some of the questions that have been come my way for life, events such as resolution in some other areas of things going on. But you know, Darrell strawberry and Eric Davis and Ricky Henderson, God rest him, and Dave Stewart, Tony Phillips, even the consecos back in the day. It goes, it goes a lot deeper than that. But those guys, Chris Brown, were at the front of my, let's call it my early development years. And those are the famous guys. There's a lot more guys that didn't make it, that no one's ever heard of, that are minor league guys and and we're part of they make the big leagues. I should say that were part of a have to work harder, type culture, right? My grandfather was Korean black ops for the United States Navy or United States Air Force. Rather, my son's in the Navy. Now he's 27 there's always the Navy here, so, but my Black Ops in the Korean War, and who's the only African American, only black you know, Matt person, in his, in his, his squadron, right? So my father is the first post grad, you know, college person in his family. He's an attorney. It was an agent as a kid. He's been a practicing attorney in Southern California for now 40 years. My mom, same thing, you know, customs broker, educator, administrator. And my aunt, same thing, worked for the city, county and all kinds. Of stuff. My aunt, my other aunt, she was, she's a younger than me, not much. She's a little younger than me. Kenya has like, nine degrees or something like that. She was like a published professor at 22 you know. And so I say that because the lesson that was always taught in professional baseball, even throughout my minor league career as a top prospect in high school, and our former number one prospect at some point in time, was about resilience and focus, and those things lead to doing taking sacrifices that others won't right? Because no one's gonna give you anything. So it's just, it's gonna kick you in the teeth and it's gonna grind you down, and they're gonna do everything they can to take from you, especially they think you can be something, they're gonna come after you, right? My I had an uncle one time say nobody roots for Goliath. Roots for Goliath, right? What is the minute that they think that you're successful? They're coming for you? If they don't boo you, you're not doing it right, right? You have to be able to accept all those things and go after it aggressively and stay focused and be resilient when it knocks you down, and you get up and you keep going, and you get up and you keep going, and you get up and you keep going, and you come out on the other side. So different when you can master those type of approaches that there's nothing that phases you. And as long as you can stay in the moment, stay present, still focus on the future, your mental performance will show up. And you know, the from the off the playing field, some of the biggest transitions that you got are no longer putting the uniform on every day to go hit, no longer showing up to the ballpark, take ground balls and get your early work and your conditioning and transitioning wherever life is after that. I was very fortunate that all those lessons I had were able to transition into the scouting community, right scouting career and and I moved quickly into that. And those are planes, man, those are bouncing around every day, and that's sitting in the area Scout, and you're in a car and you're driving. One time I went from Houston to a place called Big Spring, Texas, was about eight and a half hours away to LSU the next day, which is another 11 hours away, because I had to go across the state. And I did that in two and a half days, stayed one night in a hotel, set four hours, and still made first pitch the next day. And. Lot of guys would do that. Some guys wouldn't do that. You know, you have to find a way to to achieve and the mental performance side of it really comes down to not not being, um, not giving an inch, and staying focused on what you're what you're doing. And all those things in baseball will serve you well. They serve you well because everybody wants your job. Think about baseball is you can't, you can't force your way in. Man, you just can't, can't force your way into what you're doing. It has to pick you. Somehow, has to choose you. And because of that, it's great, and because of that, it's great, but it has it has to choose you, and you have to be able to stick with it in a way that refuses to accept failure and defeat. Those focuses. Another performance takes care of itself. It's when you allow the doubt to creep in, and you decide there's something you don't want to do, or I'm not willing to take that step, that's when it goes backwards.

Todd Arkell  5:46  
That's, uh, that's an interesting perspective. And I mean, it lines up with with other things. I mean, I have a buddy of mine and talked to him about his journey through the miners and got as high as double A and, you know, I said, When did you know you weren't going to make it? And I think I've talked about this before. This before, but he said, Well, I had this guy they brought up that day, and he was in my BP group, and the bat made a sound I'd never heard before, and it was Andrew McCutchen. And he said, I don't think I'm I'm going to make it. That just is what it is, right? But, and he also talked about the grind of everybody is trying to take your job, everybody on your team, they're your teammate, but they're all They're you're all trying to get up and you know, there's, there's a certain amount of that, a certain amount of that internal competition that really drives a lot of it, too. And are you able to kind of put that aside, right, and kind of keep moving forward, makes sense.

Jeremy Booth  6:44  
There's a day that I had like that. It was in Tampa Bay, and Josh Hamilton, you know, I just, I just got there. And the bottom line is cut to the chase. The complex we had was a, it was in a neighborhood like all those complexes in Florida, and wind was blowing straight over the center field wall. We took batting practice on the backfield early BP, and Josh is out there, and he's back spinning balls against this 30 mile an hour wind over the batter's eye. And I walked next to a guy named Jared Sandberg, because we're going out to get work, and Josh all back to the big league side, which is wasn't on within the same spot. I said, Jay, I can't do that. He goes, nobody can. Was one of those moments where you're like, all right, got it, you know? And that that was, that was a moment for me. So I understand the self recognition moment of when it's time to move

Todd Arkell  7:29  
on. Just kind of show you so many people like, you know, watch games, and I think pitching ninjas really put for people that don't understand the game of baseball have really kind of brought it up to the forefront, where you sit there and you watch a pit, a guy with overlay pitches, and you go, how does anybody ever hit a baseball, right? Like, I mean, the numbers are so small. Of those who kind of get to that kind of level, and then you just laugh at the guy sitting in the stands, going, what a bum. You're a bum. Why can't you? Why'd you swing at that, you know? And I just, I don't know. I'm always shaking my head. I'm going, Man, I'd be happy to touch anything that that came over. Just, it's a different world. And I think people just don't understand the level that it's love. It's that. I mean, even those players that are at the minor league level. They're all great baseball players. They're better than 95% of people who played the game. It's the

Jeremy Booth  8:26  
1% of the 1% of the 1% right? So I mean, big, big leaguers, has been 20,000 plus, just over, just over that minor league guys, much more. 700 800,000 over the course of time. But if you think about it, in the same time that minor league baseball has been around, professional baseball has been around, there's been around. There's been 13 billion people, which on the plant same time, right? So you have 700,000 out of 13 billion. It's might be tough to do, you know, it might be one of those things that's hard to do. And it's a It's hard even in the analyst chair, man, because I sit in the analyst chair, you know, obviously I'm, we're in CBS Houston, where I'm at right now, where I'm doing this from. And, you know, where I sit in, you know, ESPN, whatever that is. And I go over this, and then for even for future star series, you know, when I'm talking about players, and you look at the guys in the big leagues, and you have to talk about where, why they're failing, and that they're not very talented, and where they fit, that is just painful for me to do, because they're so good, they're so good to be there. I actually have to preface it every time like these guys are big league players. They're very talented players, but it's it is a humbling sport, and not everybody can do it takes amazing dexterity and amazing focus and a different level of discipline and approach to to have have that mental acuity to be able to to excel in high school. I tell this story, you know, so I didn't go to prom in high school. It's a story that most people don't know, and I didn't really go to any parties. Didn't hang out much. They just didn't I wanted to be a professional baseball player, that's where I was at, and I didn't want to get in any trouble, and it wasn't up my alley for what I wanted to do. And at the time, I thought was gonna go to UCLA. True story, okay, if I was gonna go to UCLA and. Both my parents went to UCLA. So it was kind of legacy. I thought I was gonna go. Grew up in Bruin, and so I went to by time I got to be about 16 years old, and I could drive. I was fortunate, you know, my parents bought me a vehicle and I was able to drive. And I used to find myself in the batting cage at night, at midnight, when they, you know, the indoors hitting in the cage that the only UCLA players could do, and I had a key, and that wasn't all that legal back then, you know, it wasn't all that legal, but they gave me a key. I brought my buddy in there, and we hit at midnight. Man. We hit from, you know, 11 o'clock at night all the way to one or two. And it got to the point where the campus police would come by and they'd see us in there, and they saw Jeremy, is that you? Yep, all right, see you later, if you knew anything. And they come back and check, and then we we'd be get it done, and we go home, and I'd go to I'd go to campus the next day, so it was high school the next day, and I do it again. But that was my that was my chosen outlet. I don't regret a minute of that I did. And as far as I'm pushing, I didn't miss anything. I do what I wanted to do. And even when I was 18 years old, I was gonna go to LMU and my parents on a vacation to Hawaii, the island of Kauai. My first question was, hey, here, keep mine. I'm a soccer boy originally. La, right, so, I mean, jump over. So I'd say to my dad, I might ask my dad they had batting cage on the island. I don't think so. It's Kauai, you know, I've been to Kauai since, and I don't think they have batting cage now, you know. And I was like, that place to work out. He goes, Jeremy, it's a vacation. I said, I ain't going. He goes, All right. And so they went, and I stayed in the house, and I worked out for a week, so I didn't miss anyone. I showed up on campus. So, you know, it's, um, it's hard to do. You have to take those type of approaches. And I always felt like I was missing something if I

Todd Arkell  11:35  
wasn't working at it, yeah. And that's, it's interesting when I when I think about it, and you go, how much is self driven all those different things? And, you know, you hear, you know, when I hear that story, obviously you had a lot of drive to do it, because it's what you wanted to do. And and not, I don't think everybody has that. I think they really struggle with the balance between those two different things, right? And then, but again, I guess that's the difference, right? Like, you know, do you have that ability to put other things aside and then, and then, kind of go for it, when you're thinking

Jeremy Booth  12:07  
about, even then, the guys that separate themselves, it's just, it's the ones that will do those type of things and don't ever regret the outcome, right? I mean, now in the future star shows, we talk to players, and I say, you chew against you. And that's not I'm not new, but people say that it's you against you. That's not something that I just came up with. People know that, sure, but it really is you against you. It's way more than the same. And you get up in the morning every single day, you gotta look yourself in the mirror. You go to bed at night look yourself in the mirror. You know when you're 1617, you're 18 years old, if you're lucky enough to have your parents down the hall. You can see your parents in the morning. You can see them when you go to bed. You know they're paying your bills for you. They're doing some things that you can't do yet because you're of where you are in your developmental time in life, but you're still the one that's got to compete. You're still the one that's got to go out and achieve and you're still the one that has to make decisions. And the funny thing about decisions is that the minute you make one one decision. No matter what is one decision, there's another spider web of decisions and outcomes that comes from that one choice. And we're all focused on on the big decisions. Oh, it's the big decision. The big decisions take care of themselves. I find it's the little decisions along the way that did I get out of bed today? Did I have that extra tortilla? And I'm saying tortillas, because I love tortillas, but I eat packs of tortillas. But you know, did I go to bed on time? Did I get my rest? Did I write my reports? Did I did I do my analysis I need to do? Am I the best that I can be today? Did I show up prepared? That's me against me. Those things are me against me. And if I come in one day and I fumble the ball, so, you know, wrong sport, but if I fumble it, somebody else is looking for my spot, right? I had to come in and displace somebody myself. Didn't matter what it is. I had to come buddy and move somebody out. So if I have to do that, somebody else is looking at me to do it in those small decisions and the discipline to accomplish that are how you can achieve at anything, let alone, you know, let alone sports, but anything, that's how, that's how it gets done,

Todd Arkell  14:02  
consistency, for sure. So as a former Scout, how much, I mean, obviously, you got the tools you're looking at with players, but how much, how much weight did you place on players, mental attributes, resilience, focus, coach, ability, stuff like that, like when you're identifying talent, how do you kind of assess that when you're sitting in the stands? Well, first of

Jeremy Booth  14:21  
all, it's more important than the physical tools, right? Because the physical tools, when you show up, they identify themselves pretty easy. And guy can run, or he can't, guy's got some power, or he doesn't. Guy can project, or he doesn't, how good you are projecting those things and developing those things as a separator. But as far as what the actual tools and raw talent is, that's that's pretty evident, right? It's there. It's actually after that raw talent. It's the neck up that separates it. There's a ton of guys who had excellent, top of the scale raw athletic ability that never played an inning because they just didn't have the focus, didn't have the ability to harness, harness that ability to something usable and valuable. So what'd Yogi Berra say? The game is 50% physical and the other 100% Mental, other 90% mental. Some of that, it's the same thing. You know, it's, it's, everybody's going to meet their talent equal at some point. I've said this a lot to the kids, everybody's going to meet their talent equal at some point. What separates you is what, from the neck up, and guys that are exceptionally talented oftentimes don't happen. A lot of guys who are less talented oftentimes do. When it becomes the Holy Grail is when a guy that has top of the scale athletic ability and raw talent has that top of the scale mental ability, then you get guys like Ken Griffey Jr, and you get guys like Derek Jeter, and you get guys like Barry Bonds, who impressive, right? You know, you get some of the stars, right? You get a Kyle Tucker who can put it together, which wasn't that way when he got to the big leagues, right? You get a guy like Aaron judge who can put it together, the Jays signing Guerrero. Guerrero can put it together guys like that, or a springer, or a Gossman. That's when stuff gets fun, right? But it's all, it's 90, 90% of it 100. It's, it's doubly important from the physical

Todd Arkell  15:53  
ability. So this is, this is going to be an interesting this next question is going to like, this is going to go, it's going to be a long setup here. I want to talk about the business of youth sports, and what I call the professionalism of youth sports. Maybe I'm not the only one that coins it, but that's that's how I talk about it, because, and maybe not just solely in the baseball world, because up here in Canada, lots in the hockey side, right? And there's a huge investment by parents in the sport and development, one of your competitors to future, future series is, you know, perfect game. Rob ponger, who's the part one of the partners there I was, I'm reading. He tells sportico that in the spring of 2025 perfect game revenue is up more than 400% since 2018 we will top $100 million this year. They went from 200,000 annual participants to 2 million in the same time frame. So that's a huge number when you when you kind of think about that, like for just youth baseball events. And so the New Balance baseball future stars series, you guys emphasize player development across all economic levels, right? So, you know, you're balancing a business and also giving and trying to give an advantage to everyone, regardless of their their economic situation, right? So how do you contrast what you guys do? And it's not a competition, you know, like, not like, Oh hey, don't I know, and I know you're not going to put down perfect game, because it's not about that. It's more about, how do you contrast what you guys do versus what some of the others do?

Jeremy Booth  17:31  
I took my hat off for this question, because it's, I gotta get more flexibility. Perfect game is, is is interested in exactly what Rob said, Okay, as many players, as many dollars, as much, that's what they're interested in. Okay, we're interested in guys with a future. We want families to understand that there are different tiers of future. And some, some of that's being scout. So that's being an analyst, Scout, data, you know, media. I got a kid who, um, tread Hubbard stone, he's gonna start shouting me in the media side, right? So there's some of that's on the on the media side. Some of that is on the field. We want to focus on people going to be impacting the games, and go back into their community and help where perfect game gets off the rails. And this isn't a shot at PG itself, a perfect game itself. This is just a statement of fact, is it so big that it's hard to control culture? It's hard to control performance, meaning, as far as who you're playing against, it's hard, it's hard to control the the flow of the right type of money. And if you're only focused on $100 million in the use space from what was it? 2 million participants that you said

Todd Arkell  18:40  
yeah, 2 million, 2 million participants. That's a lot in a year. Well, let's, let's do

Jeremy Booth  18:44  
the math on that. If you have 2 million participants and $100 million how much is every family spending? $5,000 so if you got every family that's spending on average, $5,000 family just to play in the events, not travel, not focus, not holistic things, not data, understanding five grand. How many families across the country can do that without mortgaging something else, literally right across across the United States, Canada matters, especially today. By the way, political climate. I don't care what side you're on, we're in a different era right now. I think everybody has to know that we're in a different spot. And no one can disagree with that. Okay, sure, with that being said, how can you look yourself in the mirror? I can't and have families pay me $5,000 to play bad baseball and not get any better without any kind of approach. Now, this isn't a travel organization problem. This is a systemic problem. Does that make sense? Yeah, I'm not saying I'm not single now, that's just their model. Our model is, let me go find the players that that are good. Let me go give all the players some kind of feedback to grow, and real feedback, not just like your exit velocity was 79 or 906 you know? Just real feedback. Okay, let me try to find a way for you to model something, show you where you should see your level of focus, and if I never see you again because you're you don't like my honesty, or we're not you're not around here because it doesn't fit for you to advance, at least Mom and Dad, no, we're not trying to take your money just to sell you something. We're telling you the truth. Okay, we're trying to help you be as good of an understanding if you come to me and say, Look, I get it. I'm not gonna be a big leaguer. I don't think I'm gonna be a big leaguer, and I may go to a lower level college. But can you help me? You know what we're gonna say, yeah, we can help you. We will do everything we can to help you achieve your goals. And so when I look at that carving out of the space, the major players in the amateur space are all have somewhat different focuses, perfect game, their competitors, PBR. If you looked at PBR numbers, I bet they're pretty similar. Okay, maybe not necessarily participants, but they're pretty similar. Okay, our numbers are a little bit bigger than USA, and they're bigger than area code. They're certainly bigger than Team Canada, right? And Team C, and they're bigger than East Coast Pro, because East Coast Pro, because East Coast Pro and area could only have 150 kids in the event that's it, right? We have about 5000 a year, and with some of the coming initiatives, I'll extend to 10 to 15, but all 10 to 15,000 will be prospects of some kind, whether they make it. I don't know.

Todd Arkell  21:16  
That's a conversation people say to me all the time, and those who listen to the podcast know my son plays a higher level of baseball and has aspirations to play at least at college, you know, you take it one step at a time and see where it goes. People say, so is he going to play at college? And I go, I don't know. It's up to him. Partially, you know, like, I don't know, right? Because it's not a guarantee, right? That everybody that's out there, there's a lot of kids looking for spots, and it is all you can do is, I think, go to events or work with people that help you get there.

Jeremy Booth  21:47  
To that point, though, like we talk about Noah, who we've had the fortune of having, okay, you know, it's even when, like, when we connect, when we reconnected, about, you know, doing the show, you know, you introduce yourself to me again. On my side, I know who you are. I got you you know. And when it says, you know my son play, I know who know is, I got him. And then when the leaderboard came out from tangible, which is a mental leverage deal, right? It's how do you perform in leverage situations? He's on the leaderboard. He's there, right? So he has value that separates beyond the tools. I like the tools because to be in that in that environment, you don't even take the test without the tools qualifying. You take the test, right? The second level deal. So he took, he takes the test. He's got metal he's got the mental skills, he's got the tools, he's got the ability. There's something there. How we hone that together is going to be his choice, right? We're gonna give him the roadmap and puts it we'll put the guidance formula together. You guys with an organization we work with. So the ingredients are there, he's got them himself, and then we got some outside support, and we'll see what happens. But I'm more interested in that than I am in the 2 million players. There's not 2 million players on the planet where I could have stayed in Major League Baseball or gone back at this point. Believe this or not, I'll say this here publicly, because I've said it on other women who haven't asked or not necessarily this this, clearly, I've had jobs come my way of being a senior vice president of player personnel from Major League clubs. I've had assistant GM jobs come my direction. I've had all kinds of stuff at this point, and the reality is I don't want to do that. If I have to stop making an impact. I could have stayed there, and I could have been just as impactful on baseball as a whole, as 2 million players would be through my door. You think those guys know who's walking through their door? No, they're collecting their money at the turn style, they're playing the game and they're leaving. And you know what? There's a there's a place for that. There's clearly a place for that. It's just not my place. It's not what we do, right? And it's not what a USA does, or Team C, or some of these other initiatives that are more focused on talent, playing against other talent and trying to achieve so the business of baseball, there's other ways to monetize it without having to get it from the family. Okay, there's gonna have something in it. Everybody's gonna have something invested in it. We all, I gotta have something in it. You gotta have something in it. The kids gotta have something in it. Other sponsors have to have something in it. That's how you can make it work. It's not, you know, jamming it down one person's throat and then gouging everybody else. And if you do that, am I going to leave some money on the table? Probably. Am I going to change 1000s of people's lives, or is our system more to the point going to change 1000s of kids lives? Because they're going to pay it forward to the next group, and they're going to fall in love with the game the right way and understand how to approach it. Yeah, and I value that because of how I grew up in it and the lessons that were taught to me that never quite allowed me to celebrate my own glory. That makes sense, just it makes sense not allowed to celebrate. You know, you were good today. That's great. That's over. What are you doing tonight? Right? What about what about tomorrow? Oh, you were three. Had three hits today. Tomorrow's another day, bud, right? You got, you know, and then, oh, did you? Did you write a book? Did you write a book? Yeah, I guess I wrote a book. Great. It was a number one best seller. Where's it linking now? When's your next book coming? Yeah? And so that's, that's the mentality that I want to infect on people, because I believe that. Much is learned through this game, so much learned throughout sports as a whole about life. None of us play forever. None of us play forever. And so if you're a perfect game, nothing against Rob ponger, who I've had some experience with, and certainly nothing against Dennis Gilbert and and the guys that are over there. I challenge you to say you're making this type of impact on players because you don't know who they are. You don't have any idea how who they are. You can't get there. You're not You're not getting support. You're getting a lot of people coaching teams who are fighting umpires. You get people coaching teams who are throwing these meaningless championship rings at 10 years old for one one weekend of baseball. There's throwing them at other people because they want to boo and dads and moms who always, by the way, have their own memories and live vicariously a little bit, even just a little bit, through their kids, because you're doing it, you're in it with them. You're invested. Nothing wrong with that, if they have, we have seen youth sports turn into a platform. I'm not blaming perfect game when I say this, youth sports turn into a platform that tends to celebrate the wrong things, bad etiquette, bad approach, bad character, because that's what people talk about, instead of the right things that create leaders in the in the sport and in life. And I want nothing to do with it. So that's how you separate it. You have to look yourself in the mirror and realize that you just feel good about the dollars that you're making in it, have good, right, like minded people around it, and try to pay it forward for the right reasons. The Money takes care of itself

Todd Arkell  26:20  
after that. That's a good pivot to you know, one of the things that I find even along along the lines, and you brought in, you brought it up, right? How, how the behavior is, what's being celebrated, the miked up moments, the all these different things. So, how do you, how do you feel social media, and I'm going to call it, you know, the FOMO perspective, right? You're, you're a player trying to make your you're doing your work, right? Like, imagine back when you heard teenager if you had social media, and you see, oh my god, that guy's doing this, and this guy's got that. Like, how do you think that's affecting young players as they try to kind of make their way in the game, seeing all this stuff,

Jeremy Booth  26:55  
I think social media has hurt our society as a whole. I'm not, I'm not going to pull any punches on that. I think that what we're seeing in our in our life as adults, the things, the battles we got to fight, right that our kids are going to have to deal with later, and their kids have deal with later, because none of that stuff is four years now. It's not how it works, no matter where you are, no matter what country you're in. So four years, eight years, things are generational. We're dealing with generational changes right now. All of that that we're dealing with right now is driven by social media. All of it because if you take those guys who don't deserve a mouthpiece out of the equation so the adults can actually talk at the table, you might get something done right now. Let's take that down to kids. If adults can't behave themselves, how do we expect 13 year olds to do so? Right? They don't understand etiquette is goes out the window because people hide behind these avatars and they say what they want in keyboard warriors, right? And they don't stand up for anything that's got any kind of point. They're just yelling at people. Well, little Johnny's behind you watching you do that. He's watching you yell at somebody on your phone. He's watching these things happen, and you end up with Johnny thinking that's the right way to behave himself. He goes out and he pays that part of it forward into the communities and the rest of it. And it's just same in baseball. If you are a kid who wants to achieve, I will tell you, from an evaluator standpoint, the minute I see the extra hand towel and you're not catching 110 degrees, I got questions. Okay? The minute I hear walk up music at nine years old, I'm completely out. I want I'm good if I never see you play again. Okay? When I start hearing swearing at 15 for no reason, what's I mean? I mean none, not like, you know, I did this with an expletive because you're frustrated. I get that. I get that when I start hearing disrespectful stuff, I'm out right when someone tries to talk to you, even if you don't have any use for what they're saying, and you big league them, or you don't give them the time of day, I have nothing to say to you. I'm not interested. There's a character component to it. And on social media, what I would say is, don't pay attention to what they do. Use it for yourself to promote what you're doing, and stop watching what the Jones has got. It's like watching your neighbor and neighbors lying to you. Man, social media is made up entirely. Okay? You want proof. Here's proof. The amount of stuff that I've had to go through in the last 36 months of my life. Okay? It's epic. We're talking about, like eating tours and epic things that have just changed me permanently. But you never know it. You never know it on social media, you never know what I'm fighting day to day, man, I'm out there doing what I do, and that is I'm speaking with you. I'm on television. I'm trying to grow the game. I'm running a few companies. I'm dealing with good people. I'm keeping my private life private, and whatever comes along that I got to deal with, I'm gonna deal with it, but I'm sure not gonna go ahead and tell the world I'm doing it. I'd rather promote the kid in double A or the 15 year old who just showed up, or whatever it is, to help them move on and use my platform to do that than talk about myself and care what somebody else is doing the amount. People I have on mute, on on x, and on these other platforms is more than I got followers. You know, it's, I just, it's on mute. So, you know, that's what I would say to a kid that's watching social media, is, understand what you're looking at, man, you're looking at a created world that doesn't necessarily exist. And when people get into trouble, it's when they start buying into that's real, and it's not,

Todd Arkell  30:20  
and it's, it's funny, we here in Canada have a current election, election cycle going on, and there's a lot of political things at play, as we know, between both countries. And I've literally got to the point that, you know, say, on a Facebook or whatever, because they talk about Facebook being for old people, but, you know, I probably live more on Instagram for Business and everything else, and, you know, doing research. But you know, those are usually people I know on Facebook I have hit the three little dot buttons to the right that says snooze for 30 days on so many people. And for those of you who are just like, I can't even read this crap from you anymore, thank you. Click, and it's not, and it's not because I don't, it's not even that I don't agree with their values or what I'm like, I'm okay, like, you can have a difference of opinion with me, and that's okay. I'm somebody that I can hold two thoughts in my head at the same time. You know, it's like, and this is going to be really, oh God, the hashtag this and clip it. I'm going to put a mark on this and the thing, but it's like, Trump bad. Everything Trump bad. Okay, that's, that's one view, and the other is, Trump great. Everything Trump great. But I think that, I personally think there's Trump middle, some good things, some really not good things. Would like to see more good things, right? And it's no different in our politics here, right? Like, there's, there's, there's leaders that you're going like, I'd like to see more. I'm kind of that centrist, but

Jeremy Booth  31:54  
see but most people, most rational people, I hate to say it this way, most rational people, and I don't care who you are, they hear this, understand that both sides usually have a point somewhere, right, and there's a little there's value on both sides. There's value in in being a little bit progressive as time evolves. And there's value and not forgetting the things that helped you to get where you are right. And that's if you think about it, that's progressive, and that's conservative, conserving the past and keeping things where they are the present. And progressive is moving it forward. Just leave it at those two things, and we may be able to find out that the progressives in our country anyway, because I'm, you know, I make it a habit to only speak about the things I'm living and involved in, right? And I live in the state of Texas, the progressives in our country may have gone against the will of the voters a little bit, maybe a little bit in a few areas, okay, and I don't think that's that's private, but the conservatives who are now in party are losing points rapidly. And in the state of Texas, where we had something yesterday, for example, that the voters didn't want, but that our president interfered in by enforcing His will in the Texas Senate, it's going to cost them, right? So we probably need to listen to more reality and more balance in what we're doing and the social media stuff, even when I open my phone up to look at x, I've got just extremists everywhere. There's not any anybody that's just like talking about normal stuff. It doesn't matter what side it's on. These guys are way over here and these guys are way over here. And you're right, it's this is good and this is bad, and there's nothing in between, instead of probably a little bit of good on this side, little bad on this side, a little both. And let's just maybe we can figure it out. And so what I would say to young players and young athletes and people who are watching this is, remember, social media is designed to sell, and that's what they're doing. They're selling. They're selling. And I hate to tell you this, man, because even though I'm genuine, I believe I'm genuine on social media, because I don't know how to not be genuine. They're I'm selling too, because whatever is actually really going on in my life, it's private standard. And so you're seeing you talk about baseball players, and you're seeing me do what I do that the public needs to see, because that's when I'm on, and all these other people on social media are on, and that includes perfect game, that includes any other group that's out there. And so none of that matters. What matters is you, and what matters is how you go about your business, because your career is the one you have to live. Into your career is the one you have to have. You don't have to live anybody

Matt Cundill  34:19  
else's life. Now, more of the mental approach. With Todd arquell, we've

Todd Arkell  34:23  
gotten to this point where a lot of people go, if you don't, if you don't believe what I believe, you're against me. And that's not really how the world works. It's like, Hey, man, I can take something from from you. We have a cousin, and he lives in America, and he was super humble guy, incredibly wealthy. And, you know, I talked to him about, how did you do this? I got lucky, you know, like, he's totally not about, you know, sure he, I know he put in a lot of work, but he talks about things that went his way and to to help him there. And, I mean, we're going back George Bush second term. And I said, Okay, I know you're kind of, you're a Republican. So I. Are you going to vote for George Bush again? And his comment was, he goes well, he may go down as the dumbest president we ever had. However, the Republicans policy on estate taxes means that if I pass away, and he was an older guy, right? If I pass away, you know, I want my family to be taken care of and and not lose so much money. And that was, that was a long that's quite a long time ago, and it, it just kind of struck me as, you know what? There's a guy who he doesn't necessarily align, like we all have something we want out of, from our government, from our friends, from our whatever it is, right? And, and we're going to probably focus on our self interest in a lot of cases, but, you know, you could still be a realist about how all that is, right? So social media is what it is.

Jeremy Booth  35:50  
It's a marketing tool, and we have to remember that everybody's marketing, everybody's watching, right? The amount of followers you have is not the amount of views you have. There's plenty of things that I put out there. I got 26,000 I think, something like that. And I'll put posts out there, and they'll have, you know, 200,000 views on it. That's not that's more followers than I got, more people seeing it than I got followers. So you got to remember, it's a marketing tool. It's a way to communicate, seven communications tool, which is good and also scary at times, you know, and that anything, the minute you put it out there, people are going to change it. They're going to edit it to fit what they're trying to say. So you got to be careful with what you what you do out there, and how you go after it, but it is your brand that's being represented. So understand that and stop paying attention

Todd Arkell  36:29  
everybody else. There you go. Who knew we delve into politics. I didn't think we were going to

Jeremy Booth  36:32  
go there. We kind of, kind of lightly touched. I would call common sense, right. There you go. And sense

Todd Arkell  36:37  
deal perfect. So I do one of the things I thought was, was cool, and you brought it up, it's intangible, right? Is that what the service is called, correct? So tell me a little bit about, kind of what's entailed in that, and then what that sort of, what that's drawing out for people, like with the players, and where you're kind of getting behind, behind the tools and kind of into the mind, like, how does, how does that work for your for your players in

Jeremy Booth  37:05  
your system? So tangible is actually a Canadian company. It's up there in Toronto, you know, really based in Toronto, and it's, I didn't even know that Dan Connor is the CEO will Carroll, who I've worked with several times in different initiatives, both twice for the Major League clubs. And then, you know, health and science and physicality and mental so will is the COO, and it tests your response and leverage situations. Now, my favorite story about intangible is this. I've helped them tweak it. My just minor tweaks, like, you know, this score means this, and this is how your strain should be, stuff like that. Nothing major. This is all pretty. This is all their IP and and what they've done with it, but what comes out is, and it kind of speaks true to the guys that we've had. What comes out is I took this test to to test it right, to make sure it was going to work. I took it and I scored whatever. I scored seven high, sevens, wherever the heck that was. And you know how you think when you take a test, once you kind of got it, go back there, you do better. Yeah, scored worse. Okay, because I answered it in ways. I thought the test wanted me to answer it that would be more a higher scoring. And because it wasn't, I was wrong. I didn't answer. I need to answer as myself. When I did that, I knew I had something. I knew we had something that could measure it. Because you can't fool it. You have to, you have to take it five times to get to fool it. And if you do that, then you're not improving. You're just just trying to fool a system. So yeah, what I've learned with intangibles, that's usually the players, which is the end result, who aren't made famous too early, because they're the ones that got to work harder. They're the ones that are at getting after it, because they want to be noticed, they want to be seen, they want to be evaluated. They want to be on that on that prospect circuit. And so to do that, you have to be in a situation where you have something to shoot for. If you're anointed already, you're not worried about any stuff. Your parents aren't taking you through it. You think whoever's ranking you, 157, whatever it is. It's got you in a place where you're good and you've got it made, and I want $9 million in ale money. And you know, all these different things that are out there now, you know, and those aren't the players that make it, not the players that make it. Nothing against this, the kid from Tennessee, that will Southern California.

Todd Arkell  39:16  
Kid, right? I was, I was just gonna bring that up. I go, Yeah, speaking of wanting more money, right? Nothing

Jeremy Booth  39:21  
against that kid. I mean, go ahead and run your business, if that's what it is. But you just lost, you know, two and a half million dollars by going back to SoCal, Tennessee's got no state tax, and UCLA, California does, I'm quite certain of that. So worldwide income. So you lost some significant money by trying to outplay out kick your coverage. And those type of guys don't show up later, and so don't, they don't score well on test, like intangible, because they got dad pumping them in their ear. Oh, you're this, you're that. You're better than this, you're better than that. Every but he needs you. Man, nobody needs you. The game. No matter what sport you play, the game is going to move on without you. It does not. Care proof. Tom Brady, how's he? One of the best quarterbacks of all time, if not the best, right? NFL still kicking. Is the NFL still kicking? Still going all right? Barry Bonds, one of the best players of all time. We're still good, right? We still got games tomorrow. You're I mean, so I don't, we're not. We're not. No one's crying for this. And so to achieve in this, what I want is the guys that understand how hard they have to work. And this intangible test will show you how a guy responds when his base is loading two out. It'll show you how a guy responds when you're down by one. It'll show you what he needs to do if he's going to do the work to achieve on the higher level, to to push his team over the top. Because ultimately, if you're not helping me win games, you're helping me lose them. So you have to help me win games if I'm in a position of evaluation, because that's how I get paid. That's how fans are in the seats. That's my business. Is winning games. And if you can't help me win games, I got no value for you on the field. And so when it comes to this up, I want to know how you respond when it's two, two and this fans are, you know, two, two game in the ninth, and bases are loaded and you're down by a run. I want to know how you're going to function. I want to know how you're going to respond early in the game. Are you mailing stuff in? Are you focused? I want to know what your what your preparation is each day. How does that? How seriously do you take that? And so when I look at intangible usually find the kids who are talented but not so far ahead of the curve at 16, talented that pass those kids every time. And I do me every time those kids catch up and they pass them. You know how I know? Because I was that guy on the front side. I was the guy at 16 years old that hit 562 and set records all over the state of California. I was that guy. I was a guy that was rumored to go in the top 15 picks of the draft me, okay? And I didn't have a career as good as half the guys, or 90% of the guys went behind me. Okay, that's just how that works. So when it comes to when you're looking at the players, intangible has shown me a way to measure the just as it's named intangibles. So when it comes from here up. That's what it's got to me. It's one of the best tests we that we've been able to use, and we're implementing it even further in 2025

Todd Arkell  42:06  
Yeah, that's cool. I mean, I remember years and years ago, I had a place I was working they, I think it was the Wonderlic. I can't remember. There's all kinds of those ones. And they, they wanted to promote me, but I had to take this test. So I took the test, and they go, this is a really weird result. I go, What are you talking about? They said, Well, it came back and said, the subject is under too much stress to get a proper reading. And I started laughing. And they go, what? And I go, Well, right. We just had a baby. We got an we got a family member living with us. We got this that, you know, all these things going on. I go, is probably right. Anyways, they waited a month, gave me the test, and I passed through on it, right? So it was kind of, or whatever they wanted to see, they saw, but I thought that was funny. I'm going, you know, and again, I was just trying, you know, I I didn't try to beat it or because it's kind of, it's a very weird test I get. I haven't seen the intangible, but I would imagine it's a very similar thing, right? So the

Jeremy Booth  43:02  
Wonderlic was more of a like a blob, right? Remember that? I was like, yeah, yeah. This is, this is questions. And, you know, it's, it's derived from psych, from psych tests. We take a regular psych test too, you know, we have great we have a guy named Tyler paci who has helped us design something with the NBA style, and it's an excellent test. And we put that in our model to measure personality and measure character. And then we have the other part that measures results. And so you put the two together, you get a pretty good picture of a player, not

Todd Arkell  43:27  
to blow too much smoke, but, I mean, you've got, you know, you got regional events. You go find kids, you identify kids, you bring them into a bigger setting. They kind of play against, you know, people kind of along those same abilities. And then you take some of those kids, and they go to an even bigger setting, kind of bigger stage. And you know, how do you what strategies, you know, you've kind of pushing these not pushing them, but pulling these kids along and putting them in bigger pressure situations, right? Lots of scouts, lots of people. What strategies would you recommend to to young athletes to manage that kind of pressure. Be it a combine, be it a big game. You know, there's all these scouts, man, if I just have a great day, how do you help them build that? The

Jeremy Booth  44:09  
simple concept that I used to live with that seems to have gotten away from it with some of the other groups we've talked about, is the game isn't played in front of you. It's not behind you, and so it doesn't matter who's watching you. Someone's always watching someone's always got a phone, someone's always got a text or a tweet ready to go. Doesn't matter who's watching you. The game's played in front of you. You have to perform in front of you. You see the focus and take care of your own business. And if you do that, then what's happening behind you will amplify what you're doing on the field in front of you. Right? So to me, pressure is a social construct of your own mind. That's all it is. Pressure doesn't matter. There's a lot of times, and there's times that I want. I get up in the morning, I'm like, how am I gonna How am I gonna get this done? Right? What's, what is this day gonna look like? And you figure it out. You just figure it out. Sometimes you have deadlines and things you have to get into, and you find a way to prioritize, and you excel and you move ahead. And then you just get it done. And pressure is just is self made. It's not about anybody else around you. Because bottom line, man, is, if the scouts like you, they don't, you can't control that. You can't control anything other than what you're doing. So if I like you and I put you in that environment, it means you have something to offer, okay? And if you have something to offer, if one person believes in you, somebody else is going to as well. Don't worry about what's going on. Take care of your own business, and let's just follow they may just as much as somebody will believe in you. Leads to the next person. If somebody doesn't believe in you and me, somebody else isn't gonna right? So you have to, you have to forget the eyes that are on you and focus on your own and what you how your own and what you how your own performance is going to be. The rest of it doesn't

Todd Arkell  45:43  
matter. Yeah, it is interesting, right? I mean, think there's a kid I coached in baseball for years, great athlete. He's actually a prospect for the NHL for this year's June draft. He's a goaltender, and he played for Team Canada in the in the World Juniors, and we were watching the game, and my son played, played alongside him, and, you know, they went into a shootout. And I think it was a seven or eight player shootout, and there's 20,000 people losing their minds. And my son goes, Wow, how the fuck does Jack do that? Great. Like, he was like, like, that's like, pressure. Like, that's even, I don't know, I mean, it's, I think baseball is a lot of pressure as well. There's a lot of, there's a lot of things going on, because you can do everything right and still fail. That's the crazy part about baseball in hockey. There's, there's a lot of different things anyways, but he was still, he was like, going, Wow, I go, Well, you go to school together. Just ask him, right? Like, how did he do that? But it's like, it is, you're sitting there going, here's a 17 year old kid and places going nuts, right? And I guess, you know, it is one of those things. How do you, how do you kind of put yourself through that, right? So

Jeremy Booth  46:46  
it becomes difficult to process and difficult to imagine, you know, but the OHL and the juniors and all they remember, but played in Canada a little bit. And so I went to a London nights game, right, years ago, and I was blown away by the arena and the speed of the game. It was fights happening. These kids are 16 and throwing punches, you know, and and it's just it was so intense, and what was going on. Hockey is a sport that I love watching live, but I'm impressed with the athleticism those guys have and the focus they have. They're incredible athletes, is what they do. So it's something that that when the pressure and the moments are on when the lights are on. The easiest way to think about as many walk outside your door the lights are on, somebody's watching, somebody's paying attention. And so if lights are on, always, you can't ever be bothered by the lights.

Todd Arkell  47:33  
Yeah, it's that's a good way, good, good way to put it. I mean, I just think, you know, part of what where i i see it is, if you put in the work and you've done the preparation and you've done everything you think you can do, you got to believe you're able to, able to kind of pull it off, right? It's it is one of those things, right? And sometimes you're not, and sometimes you will, but you've got to believe you can, because you've prepared for it. If you didn't study for the exam, you're going to be crapping a brick when you sit down. No doubt, right? So, no doubt. Same thing,

Jeremy Booth  48:03  
preparation is everything, but that's that goes back to that discipline and that you against you, and that sacrificing to do what others won't you know anybody, the friends and the parties and the the extracurricular activities will be there the rest of your life, right? We get, you only get certain moments in time to achieve before the moment's over and pressure is a good way of saying led me to this. Pressure is often felt by lack of being prepared. And if you're prepared, you should, you shouldn't have any pressure. If you know the lights are on, you shouldn't have any pressure. And and you know, if you if you're not, you know, ready for either one of those things, if you're having done the work or the background, or, you know, you think you're living in a bubble or focused on social media, you're gonna have a lot of have a lot of anxiety, a lot of pressure,

Todd Arkell  48:44  
and that's how you feel. Yeah, and I think in a lot of ways, I feel I've had situations where I've spoken to very large groups, and it's almost excitement, as much, you know, it is. It can be confused that you're freaking out, but it's, it's excitement, it's kind of exhilarating. There's, you know, it's just different things, right? You kind of, you take from it. I, you know, I think I, I heard Rory after the Masters after, you know, I not even a big Rory, Rory McIlroy fan, but, you know, I really was cheering for him to win. I go, okay, man, just, just get it over with. You know, you've, you've struggled enough. Now you've gotta, you gotta have an opportunity to kind of get it back on the rails. And I think that last round was a really good if people that watched it like he made such a bad shot, and then you go, Oh, my God, it's over. And then he'd, Oh, he did something else to kind of claw back in. And he just kept fighting. He may not have been his best that day, but he just kept fighting. And then, you know, actually gets it. But he made some comment just about, you know, if you're not nervous, you know, then you're probably not, you're not, you're not really into it, right? You know what I mean? Like, if you're not feeling some sort of excitement or nervousness, then you're, you're probably not even, not even prepared to perform, right? So it's just, it is interesting. I think everybody you know, it's, I think it's dealing with it. And. Think it's also preparation of if you're going through the process and you're accelerating from level to level to level, each level you go to, it's just, it's a level up, right? Yeah, for sure. And then you got to learn to deal with that, no doubt. In your book, let's talk about the parent factor a little bit. You kind of get a little bit about you're trying to ease the anxiety of players and parents in the scouting process. So how do you advise parents to support their athletes mindset without adding unnecessary pressure to their child? Relax,

Jeremy Booth  50:31  
relax. They're the ones that gotta play. Yeah. I mean, you know, are they gonna do that? Though? Yeah, you know, it's, I think, I think parents relax with honesty. You know, if you, if you if you're directing, you give them the truth, and they understand that it's come from a good place. You're not trying to run the kid down or over hype him. There's nothing in it for you besides just being honest. I think people respect the integrity and they relax. If you parents, a lot of families, get the false hope and expectations, because it sells right in baseball, and I don't know about the other sports, but I do know, obviously about this, that the prospect is inherently more valuable than the big leaguer. Now I'm not talking about from a contract level. I'm talking about from a promotion marketing level, right? Big leaguers get eyes with their highlights. The money is in the prospect hype. Does that make sense? And so if families are trying to be hyped, or players are being hyped inaccurately as prospects, or even some of the generic social media posts I see from from what let's call it scouting services, we're one two, we're different, but let's call it scouting services. As far as what goes on, I might be misled, and then wonder why Johnny doesn't have a scholarship. I wonder why Johnny isn't a number one pick. Because hey, so and so said he's doing this. Well, he's not right, and the any the attitude and the focus of what really goes on in the industry needs to be relayed. And so, hey, this is where he fits. This is what he does. Is how you can get where you're trying to go. This is probably the best way to spend your dollars. And oftentimes, sometimes that means us, sometimes it doesn't. If families are able to find honesty. You know, keep in mind, I wrote this book a couple years ago, right? But the overriding truth is that a family is able to find honesty. They're able to relax and be the bright support system for the for the boys

Todd Arkell  52:09  
playing. Maybe you need to do two Dotto new thoughts on the subject, right? Maybe, I don't

Jeremy Booth  52:13  
know. I mean, the next one's coming, might be a life story they'll find out.

Todd Arkell  52:18  
There you go. You've worn a lot of hats. You're still wearing a lot of hats. What would you say has been the most mentally challenging for you personally,

Jeremy Booth  52:27  
without question, the two jobs I had in life, neck and neck, and one of them passed it recently. The one job, my first job I ever had was the hardest job I did till recently, was being a student athlete. That was I was being a pro athlete was the best job. I mean, 48 years old, I like what I'm doing now. Sure, you settle in a different place, but it's time up to very recently, being a best athlete. Best job ever had was being a pro athlete, and the hardest job ever had was being a student athlete. That's college, college student athletes, tough building the series and withstanding, let's call it attacks from all different angles, unforeseen stuff, stuff that when you go start this and just help players, you can never imagine, like, never imagine. You can't imagine you're gonna deal with 100 year pandemic. You can't imagine to deal with nine month flood. You can't imagine you're gonna deal with people internally behaving inappropriately. You can't imagine that someone's gonna put you in a video game without permission, right? And so you start doing all those type of things, and it becomes challenging. You have to navigate, take care of people. Still move yourself forward. Move the game forward. Not forget your core mission, take care of your membership. That's tough to do, and so challenging, wise, mentally, that has been extremely difficult. Now the good news is, I'll share with you, we're out of it a couple days away, but we're out of it. We got through it collectively. And when we talk about culture and we talk about mental focus and resilience and all the things that go on, culture and buy in and integrity and being genuine with each other is how you can surpass those tough moments, right? And so there were days you wake up and you don't know how you're going to pull it together, and that is challenging. There's personal stuff you got to deal with. There's my son in the military, my you know, there's family issues in California. There's stuff you gotta deal with, you know, day to day, personal. There's a company you got to run. There's players that need their stuff. There's people advancing. There's events to put on. There's people gunning for you just because you wake up that day. You know people who think, why you? I had somebody say to me, why you? Why is it you that gets I don't know. I don't even deal with you no more, but I don't you know, like, that's all I know. But why me? Because I earned it. That's why, because I continue to earn every day. That's why I look at it. And I might be wrong, but I don't think anybody's given me anything. I've had some advantages, but I've had to earn them. I've had to make the most of them, and putting all that together. Since the last five, six years especially, has been the toughest time and the most transformative time in my life, and there's probably been four where I look. Back, and I realized I really grew and I really evolved, right? One of them was when I was about 14. Another one was probably in college. Another one was I was into my playing career, and then now, and this has been about as difficult a time evolution wise, to get through, but we made it. And so I say that to only to answer your question, is that that's been the most challenging time in life. And I'm a different cat now, man, I'm a different dude than when I started it, in a lot, in all the ways that I hope to grow. And so the next challenge I'm looking forward to, looking forward to the next one is whatever that's gonna be, gonna try to kick me in the teeth. Let's go,

Todd Arkell  55:41  
you know, I've always felt like, when you're when you're in it, you don't realize you're growing, really, it's when you kind of look back and you go, Oh, this is different. Or I'm thinking different. You know what I mean? Like, I think that's, that's really true, like, when you're in it, it's just, it's like, the storm, okay, where's the where's the horizon, when's the storm gonna end? Right? And then you realize, Oh, that wasn't so bad. Or I'm, you know, I've got some different tools in my toolbox now,

Jeremy Booth  56:06  
Sean, Sean Travers said to me one time, and you know, comfort is the enemy of great, right? You may have heard him say that before, comfort is the enemy of great. And then my grandfather used to say things my dad too, you don't grow when you're comfortable. You don't you don't grow when things are going real well, right? When things are going too well. You might want to watch out something's coming. Something's coming. You got to look and make sure you stay a little more grounded. The answer the question was a difficult that was difficult, that was the hardest challenge that we've had, and we're turning the corner into a good place for all the people that are here, and that's what's gratifying, because it's not about me. I'm the one that's at the front. I get the face time, but it's not about me, it's about what happens. Is there something that's built here long after I'm gone, and I think that the the the time we just completed, well, there's still new challenges to be had, and still new things to, you know, Wallace knocked down and run through. I think, I think we, we accomplished that goal. So you know that that was the hardest time, and I'm happy we made it. I'm happy I got through the different and, yeah, that's that, was it.

Todd Arkell  57:08  
So I always wrap with five rapid fire questions. So let's have a little fun with this one. What's one book people should read right now? Art of War. Ooh, good one. I like that one. It's a long you know? It's funny, I would ask these questions. People bring up some books, and I go, shit, I have it on my shelf. I haven't read that in a while. I should. And then I'm like, how am I going to read all these books at the same time? But anyways, it's that's a good book. It is. What's one small change somebody can make to their daily routine that you think would make a big difference in their life? Get

Jeremy Booth  57:39  
up out of bed and don't look at your phone, go to work, get moving.

Todd Arkell  57:42  
It's like the universe is telling me a story. I've been this has been something I've been trying, you know, I do the same thing because I wake up, I go, Okay, what do I gotta I'm trying to do. What do I gotta do when I go to before I go to bed, right? So that I know what's my first cue, what's when's my first I gotta be on here, right? You know, that's right, you know. So try to try to change that up. By then the universe is speaking through you to me. There you go. One piece of advice you'd give 14 year

Jeremy Booth  58:10  
old. You enjoy the moment, because you got the rest of your life to be an adult. That's true,

Todd Arkell  58:16  
best advice you ever received.

Jeremy Booth  58:18  
It's not about you, it's about the impact you can make, so make sure that's your focus. Who

Todd Arkell  58:24  
provided it? My grandfather. And finally, if you could suggest one guest for us to bring onto this show? Who would you suggest?

Jeremy Booth  58:34  
Rapid fire. It's real rapid I'll give you one. Chris English. Bring Chris English onto the show, and he's done a lot of things in the game. He's Canadian. He lives in the States. Now goes back and forth while he lives in states, but he's done a lot of things in sports, in general, and in the business world. And it's a I talk to him, I bring him on, and I'd ask questions.

Todd Arkell  58:53  
Cool. Let's man, I like to manifest that stuff at the universe happened Jeremy, it was every every bit as enjoyable as I thought it would be. Thanks for taking the time. I know you're a busy guy. You got a lot of hats.

Jeremy Booth  59:03  
I appreciate you asking me to be on, man. Thank you. I enjoyed it.

Matt Cundill  59:07  
Thanks for listening, for more, including resources and more about the show. Go to the mental approach.com. A production of the sound off media company. You.