Interview with David Meltzer, CEO of Sports 1 Marketing

Had the pleasure of meeting with David Meltzer recently. David is a legend in sports marketing. After successful stints at various tech companies during the dot-com boom, David served as legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg's right-hand man as CEO of Leigh Steinberg Enterprises. Today, he is the CEO of Sports 1 Marketing and works alongside Hall-of-Fame quarterback Warren Moon.

David just released a new book titled, "Connected to Goodness: Manifest Everything You Desire in Business and Life." Just before he started Sports 1, David realized that in order to revive and thrive in life, he needed to blend spirituality with business. In Connected To Goodness, David reveals his proven principles for success that will bring you the same peace and balance he now enjoys in both business and life, which allows him to live his mantra: make a lot of money, help a lot of people, and have a lot of fun.

Enjoy insight from a conversation I had with David below and be sure to pickup a copy of Connected to Goodness here.

 

(Left to Right) Steve Costello, author of My Father Never Took Me to a Baseball Game, myself and David Meltzer, author of Connected to Goodness.

Brandon Steiner: The premise of your book Connected to Goodness focuses on the connection between spirituality and business. When did you make that connection?

David Meltzer: I started to make the connection after my wife, who was a spiritual person, and my old friend, Rob, pointed out the downward spiral I was on. This led to self-reflection and an awareness that something else was out there. Shortly thereafter, the connection really came to me when I had a chance encounter (but I don’t believe in coincidences) with Dr. Sangeeta Sahi on a flight to India. A complete stranger, she turned and looked at me on that flight and told me that I was full of light, but that my energy was way off … that I was blocking my energy and “in my own way”.

It blew me away that not only could she read my energy, but she used language identical to what I had heard from some of my spiritual friends who I was beginning to learn from.

Dr. Sahi turned out to not only be a medical doctor, but also a holistic accelerator of healing, and a practitioner of Quantum medicine. She offered to work with me. She indicated that she had a workshop where I could learn about Theta meditation and healing. As I learned, I began incorporating my spirituality into my business practice.

BS: For all of us attached to our smartphones, you joke in your book that we can blame you for bringing them to the U.S. following your work with Samsung. People know you now as a sports executive, but you have had a diverse career and played an influential role in the dot-com boom. What’s the secret to success across multiple disciplines?

DM: There are a few “secrets”. Detach yourself from the outcome. Imagine all that you desire and take action to attract it to yourself. Be kind to your future self, and be more interested than interesting. Ask a lot of questions and do a lot of research because you never know what opportunity may present itself or what you can manifest. Finally, remember to use the “Ben Franklin Effects” and ask for and give help!

BS: One of the key elements under the Discipline Principle in Connected to Goodness centers on Performance. Moral = Performance. As a manager of people throughout your career, what are your best practices for connecting and understanding the make-up of your team?

DM: Effective Communication which includes “over communicating”; as the great Lou Holtz said “it’s not what you say, it’s what they hear”. This is the way you learn about your team … about life. And you connect by empowering them … putting ego aside and accepting their suggestions and feedback especially in the areas of their strength … as well as showing them gratitude and empathy. People need to know that they are appreciated for the effort they’ve made. And, naturally, I will offer constructive criticism as we always strive to do the best job possible and figure out how to do things better, but empathy – the idea of forgiveness – demonstrates that it is okay to make mistakes; we all make mistakes and without mistakes, we’d never learn. Morale and performance are at their peak when people feel good, and I try my best to make people feel good.

BS: What’s the best lesson you’ve learned in life from a failure?

DM: That there is no shame in failing. My mentors – from Albert Einstein to Walt Disney to Steve Jobs – all failed. Carl Fisher, who created the Indianapolis Speedway, the precursor to the interstate highway system and developed Miami Beach, was the wealthiest man on earth three times … and bankrupt in between. But none of these individual gave up. Instead, they picked themselves up and with imagination and inspiration were able to rise back to the top.

BS: A recent blog post you wrote about, “It’s not enough to go through the motions,” (Readers can check it out here: http://bit.ly/MeltzerMotions) states that top athletes stay engaged in every aspect of their day. That’s something that so many people today seem to struggle with, particularly the younger generation because there are so many distractions. So, take me through a day at Sports 1 Marketing. How do you focus?

DM: I focus by way of meditation. I meditate early every morning for twenty minutes. It brings clarity and balance to my day as I mentally run through the Principles in Connected To Goodness … which, in turn, brings me the focus to attract with confidence what I want to manifest. When I finish meditating, I’ll often send emails or otherwise notate things I’ve thought about lest I forget them.

I also engage in what I call the “Power of 64” in the book. You need to be focused in order to stay efficient, effective, and statistically successful.

BS: You’ve now been in sports marketing for years. How has technology changed the industry?

DM: The devices, applications, bandwidth and battery life have all advanced to make the technological sports experience one that’s now real time and extremely interactive. Sports have become the last Reality Television that must be experienced live, not recorded. This is because the ubiquity of information nowadays makes it impossible not to know a score (or watch the highlights) from a game before you’ve had a chance to watch that same game recorded via DVR or TiVo. Technology has become a necessity, not a luxury for sports.

BS: What’s the best advice you could give to a sports marketing student trying to enter the field?

DM: Contrary to what you may have been told, don’t believe for one minute that you can’t get a job in this field. There is abundance in the universe and if you believe in scarcity – that you won’t be able to get a job – that’s exactly what will happen. All it takes is your conscious Imagination Principles leading to inspiration from your personal “12th man” in order to take concise action using the other Principles to manifest all you desire in sports. Find out everything you can regarding the place or places you’d like to work and the people who work there. You never know where you’ll discover a connection. Everyone should have at least three mentors and surround themselves with the circumstances they wish to create. And finally, use internships.com to find your best start to your professional endeavors

BS: “Make a lot of money, help a lot of people, and have a lot of fun.” When did that become your mantra? How do you live it every day?

DM: When Warren [Moon] and I decided to spin off from Leigh Steinberg Sports and Entertainment, we sat down for hours trying to figure out what our objective would be for our new business venture. We came to a concise, clear agreement that our entire business would be based off of three key objectives - making a lot of money, so that we could help a lot of people and have a lot of fun.

I live this mantra by meditating on it and running every business opportunity presented to us through this simple qualification process. Will this opportunity make us a lot of money -- which in turn will help a lot of people because we can only give what we have -- and then it needs to be fun because what’s the point otherwise? When asked to describe Sports 1 Marketing, it’s the one thing that I can point to as a constant.

BS: Now that you’ve released your book, is there anything your readers have taught you?

DM: They’ve taught me that the Principles are divided into two – three Imagination Principles and three Action Principles – and that in looking at our Destination, happiness is truly our only mission.

BONUS QUESTIONS:

BS: Any more golf courses in your future?

DM: Only if I can be the third owner.

BS: How many times have you watched Jerry McGuire?

DM: If I was better looking and shorter I could be the under study for Tom Cruise.

BS: Thank you, David.

--

Pick-up a copy of Connected to Goodness here.


1 comment


  • So I saw a testimony online about this spell caster who help people in getting back ex husband and wife together and I decided to get back my long lost relationship. I am happy today to have been helped by Dr. Odunga in helped me get my ex boyfriend back after 2 years of separation. My name is Kayla Darwin from Arkansas, USA and I am fulfilling my promise to Dr. Odunga to give my own testimony after he have helped me. I never thought I would have my ex boyfriend Justin back after he left me 2 years ago and Dr. Odunga helped me cast a love spell on him to bring him back to me. Thank you sir and I pray this testimony helps anyone who reads it to get their ex back also. His email is odungaspelltemple@gmail.com OR Whats-App +2348167159012

    Kayla Darwin on

Leave a comment