Remaining World Class: How athletes can proactively transition their personal brand into retirement

I know I’m not the first person (or will be the last) to congratulate you on a successful career. Your many years of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice now affords you the right to peacefully ride off into the sunset.

What I don’t need to remind you is that you’re still young with many more opportunities still ahead of you. Before you completely transition away from your playing days, allow me to share with you some personal branding tips that will help you prolong your celebrity status.

Extending your celebrity is about more than just ego. As I’m sure you know, 80 percent of your earnings will likely come from 20 percent of your career. Establishing a strong personal branding during your playing days will allow you to maintain your celebrity status when you’re in the private sector—and help provide greater visibility and likely more income.

First, let me clear up that not all is lost if you have long since retired and are now deciding to tend to your personal brand. You know what it means to hustle and I can help get you up to speed.

Second, if you’re thinking to yourself, “I am years from retirement, I don’t need to be thinking about this.” You’re wrong. Now is the perfect time for you to begin thinking about this. A longer runway always allows for a smoother takeoff, so five to 10 years before you plan to retire is an optimal period to transition your brand from superstar athlete to superstar (fill in the blank).

Below is a step-by-step guide I use to help my clients transition their brand.

Find your (new) passion

You’ve spent so much time focusing on sports that you’ve likely haven’t had much time to sit and ponder what could be next. So where to begin? Start by thinking about what you’re passionate about or are interested in. Take meetings with successful people in those industries and find out what makes sense for you. Don’t get overwhelmed with the idea that this next career move must take you all the way to your grave. There’s always more time to pivot, but you should at least select a destination post-sports to focus your brand.

If at all possible, start working on or in your new industry prior to the end of your playing career. Take an internship or job shadow in the off season so that you can truly get your feet wet in this new industry. While on the job, capture and document your experience as that content will become helpful later on.

Update your message

Once you feel like you have a post-sports destination in mind, now comes the time to start crafting your message. For so long your narrative has been “(Insert name) the athlete…” Now you need to redraft your narrative to include your new endeavors—and develop simple but powerful language that lends credibility as to why your audiences should believe that you are—or will be—a thought leader in this new industry.

Introduce new content to your current brand

Once you’ve identified your new venture, have a little knowledge under your belt, and have updated your message, it’s time to start integrating the “new you” content in with your existing brand. If you’re still playing, you’ll want to introduce content slowly so as not to confuse your audience

The content created for your new role should not try to oversell your abilities or influence in this new space. Be authentic and allow yourself to talk the talk and walk the walk. Create content pieces like blogs, video, articles, and social media posts that differentiate you from your peers and demonstrate why you’re passionate about your new endeavor. But most importantly, show that you’ve done your homework and are educated about and engaged in your new career.

Transitioning from your life as a professional player to that of a coach, business person, philanthropist, etc. will be one of the biggest transitions—emotionally and financially—that you make in your career. If it all seems too overwhelming to think about on your own then seek the guidance of a professional to walk you through it. (I’ll be glad to help.) There’s too much earning potential on the line to simply hope it all works out.