148 | From Pro Athlete to CEO: The Science of Reinvention with Idris Haroon

This is becoming undone. It was tough, right? Because there were highs and lows, you know. I was always a tweener, right? Like, I was always a guy that didn't really have the stats of a Johtafoyer or a Teddy Bruski. I had a solid year. I was all conference. But the NFL didn't really know, didn't really see where I fit in. But in the end, you know, draft day came and it went. And, you know, nobody was calling over a free agent contract. So the first call was the Canadian Football League. So I had a lot of success. And then, you know, the cold came and then the injuries came. I didn't know how to play with everything's turf in Canada. It's on natural field. So it was just the environment, my body. It was just a combination of things. I got hurt. And then eventually, you know, they kept me around on the practice roster. But then they eventually signed some more guys. And then, you know, they kind of weeded me out. No, I'm different. I tried to quit every day. The difference is, what people need to understand is having multiple voices in your head is a healthy. You're not crazy. I encourage everyone to have multiple voices in their head. And this is for me, this is what works. I have a voice in my head that says, Dries, what the heck are you doing? Quit now. Go back to your corporate America job. Please, then I have another voice in my head that says, Dries, don't quit. Don't give up. Don't ever give up, right? And that's the coach told me, right? And that's the coach told me that was the mentality. But for me, I think I was able to treat the real world like my NFL. And once I was able to switch that mentality, like, you know what? I'm tired of saying, I should have been, I should have did, I should be there. I'm going to switch my mentality and say, you know what? I'm going to treat the real world like it's my NFL. And this worked out for me. I am Dries Haroon, and I am Undone. Hey, friend, I'm glad you're here. Welcome to yet another episode of Becoming Undone, the podcast for those who dare bravely, risk my deli, and grow relentlessly. I'm Toby Brooks, a speaker, author, professor, and performance scientist. I spent much of the last two decades working as an athletic trainer and a strength coach at the professional collegiate in high school sports setting. And over the years, I've grown more and more fascinated with what sets high achievers apart. And now failures that can suck in the moment can end up being exactly the push we needed to propel us on our paths to success. Each week on Becoming Undone, I invite new guests to examine how high achievers can transform from falling apart to falling into place. I'd like to emphasize that this shows entirely separate from my role at Baylor University, but it's my attempt to apply what I've learned and what I'm learning and to share with others about the mindsets of high achievers. You know, over the years, I've been blessed to work with lots of athletes who were not only great players. They were great people too. If you've listened to the show in the past, you know I did a deep dive on the life lessons and legacy of the late coach Dick Tillman. And I didn't know it at the time, but I got to work with the team as a graduate associate athletic trainer in what would be coach's final season at Tucson in 2000. Although that team never quite lived up to expectations, it was the season I'll forever be thankful for. Although I got to Tucson in 1998 and I helped out with the team for the 98 and the 99 seasons. In 2000 was my first full season assigned exclusively to a major D1 football program as a certified athletic trainer. And there were some cool perks that came along with that, at least in my mind. The travel, big bag full of Nike gear, tons of learning, but above all else I got to serve a talented group of people who genuinely cared for one another and a coaching staff that loved them and loved us. Team had several players who would go on to pro careers during my time in Tucson. Now familiar names like Lance Briggs and Dennis Northcut, Marcus Bell and Drunk Kennedy, Brandon Mally-Mallyuna, all played in the NFL. And there were others who played in other leagues like Paschus Brad Brennan who played in Japan. And today's guest, Idris Haru, who played in the Canadian football league. How cool it was for me just a few months later to be teaching in a college classroom at UTEP, telling stories about patients I'd worked with just a season before who were now in pro sports. Not violating any hip-hop at the time I promise. I loved it. However, not every transition is a smooth one. I missed my team. I missed my coworkers. I missed being under the leadership of a head coach who was one of the finest leaders I'd ever be blessed to serve. And it wasn't just me. From coaches to players to staff members, it's safe to say that everyone from that wild cat team that I've spoken to since has described a similar feeling of grief for the loss of what was. And for all involved an incredible part of our young lives. When Idris Haru first stepped onto the University of Arizona campus as a young defensive lineman, he carried the weight of expectations. His own, his families and his systems that had promised football could be a golden ticket. And for a while, it was. From the brotherhood of Dick Tony's locker room to the cold, hard fields of the CFL, Idris chased the game with grit, heart, and humility. But what happens when the roar of the crowd fades and the jersey no longer defines you? In this episode of Becoming Undone, we talk about what it means to let go of the only identity you've ever known and how to build something even better in its place. From humble beginnings in inner city Houston to founding a thriving logistics company, built on purpose in people, Idris shares the brutal truth of transition, the power of discipline, and the quite heroism of not quitting. Even when the voice in your head tells you you should. This is a story of reinvention, resilience, and redefining what it means to win. I hope you'll enjoy my conversation with Idris Haru in episode 148. Let's get into it. Greetings and welcome back to Becoming Undone as a podcast for those who dare bravely risk myodily and grow relentlessly. Join me Toby Brooks, design by the new guest each week where we can examine how high achievers can transform from falling apart to falling into place. Today's guest knows what it means to chase a dream, to live it, and then face the question of what comes next. I first met Idris Haruun when he was a standout defensive lineman at the University of Arizona and I was a lowly graduate assistant athletic trainer, but Idris has carved out a name for himself not only on the football field but as an entrepreneur. But like so many high performers, his journey didn't stop at the final whistle. Today he owns and operates a business, his husband, his dad, he's redefining what strength looks like on the field and navigating everything off of it. So without further ado Idris, thanks so much for joining me today. Thanks for having me Toby. This is a great platform. This is a story that needs to be told and there's something heroic about it. Everybody needs a hero especially in today's climate and I think you're providing a platform for athletes to really tell their story but give hope to a lot of athletes out there that are going through this tough transition. Well I appreciate that. You're looking sharp in your U of A gear so that's where our past first crossed. Let's take it way back even before then though. What did you want to be growing up and why? I grew up in the inner cities of Houston, Texas. You know fortunate to have a beautiful mother and father in my life throughout my whole life and a big family. Siblings, two older brothers, younger sister, all in a small space, all in a small little space in Houston and we didn't have much but we had each other. You know we had discipline from the pops and loves from the moms a good balance and so you know it was really the skies the limit. You know our parents told us we could be whatever we wanted to be and you know to be quite honest you know with limited resources and a lot of siblings. There was a lot of angry issues that I had growing up fighting with my siblings and mad because of the conditions that we had and I was just a mad kid angry and until I found football, football was my cure, football was my savior and it just gave me an outlet, a place to release a lot of the aggression and so once I put the helmet on at you know 10 years old it was hard to take it off and so you know I just did it as something to do as you know as to keep me busy and to stay out of trouble but when I started getting those letters from schools my sophomore junior in high school I was like oh I could probably go to college and get an education with this and so focusing more on that in high school and then you know people telling me how good I was and you know the NFL is I'm destined to be in the professional right I'm destined. You know from a young age people tell you you're going to the NFL you're going to the NFL so of course it's like for young kids it's like I'm going to be a NFL player right and that's just what I told myself I'm going to be NFL player and all the way up until high school and through college until I wasn't in a NFL player. Yeah I think that's such an interesting perspective because that drive to be at the highest level would take you further than if you just I want to be a standout on my high school team but the darker side of that is if you don't achieve that no matter how far it takes you it can still feel like failure and so we'll dig into that a little bit later but first of all in my introduction I didn't include all of all of your flower so to speak I mean you were there for the best season in school history in 1998 you were also there for coach Tomi's final season and kind of his unceremonious let go and that season was just so close to being a great season but it ended up being a disappointment so when you first showed up in Tucson I spent a lot of time on this show kind of dissecting Dick Tomi and what he means to people and how he connected people from all different cultures you know we got this this little fiery white guy from rural Indiana and he's bringing together Polynesians and you know a guy from inner city Houston and Clay Hart from Tucson I mean people from all of them walks of life and they are a brotherhood they are connected in a way that I don't think we see anymore in this day and age but 18 year old Dries showing up in Tucson what was the aesthetic what were you listening to what were your teammates and friends say about young you on campus at U of A I was I was very young and I was there was a what's interesting is I didn't know that Arizona was ranked 10th in the country in playboy as one of the top party schools right so I came from a very religious household I came I was raised Muslim in the Muslim household very strict and so going from a very strict Muslim household to the 10th rank party school in the country was oh it was awesome right well being being 18 everything was so new everything was so green to me the landscape right the mountains and the heat and it's just the palm trees and it was just all of it was different I mean I had a chance to stay home I was recruited by a Texas and I was recruited by Kansas State University I took trips there but there was just something about Tucson that attracted me and I'm a southern boy I like the heat so you know the heat was was where was and you know 12 months out of the year walking around the shorts and flip flops but it was told me it was told me like it was it was you know the recruiter for Texas and I'm walked into my house you know the recruiter from Kansas State walked into my house but when coach told me walking to my house it was different and it was different because coach told me new how to relate to those kids who had dads right I had a fan he was walking in houses a single parent moms right so he knew he was walking in you know all kinds of houses a lot of Polynesians on our team he was walking into a lot of households so he knew how to deliver the message to the dads right moms the message to the moms they just want to know that their boys taken care of right fed or they they can they clean their clothes are they eating right but dads right he knew how to touch the dads and he did he he sat out with my dad took his shoes off he sat in the living room he explained to my dad the benefits of Arizona but you know the culture and the brotherhood and you know all the things that dads want to hear right yeah and then he got all to the bells and whistles and all that all the perks all that he he didn't spend a lot of time on that he talked out he talked about the brotherhood he talked about the coaching staff the family oriented atmosphere and you know and that was it that was it and and for me family was the biggest value I grew up in a big family in a small space so family was everything for me and so to ask you a question arriving in Tucson and being in that room with 120 guys and everybody was just coming out of the same type of environment right you know intercity kids all in Asian kids three star four star scrappy kids we didn't really have a lot of five star kids right there wasn't egos we didn't have coach told me didn't if you had an ego you're not coming there as on you know if you're a flashy guy you know I mean yeah we had out LA guys are flashing we had you know I'm not gonna name their names but we yeah LA guys are like wow they know who they are right they know who they are you probably out of my soul but no egos right and so just that that day we report I remember my parents we packed a five little Toyota Cam we drove the Tucson and I just remember being dropped off at the hotel like right off of on the corner there off a Campbell and we all just reported there and from there we went to Camp Co. Cheese and we spent three weeks in the middle of nowhere in the desert and like what the hell are we doing here it was like Mars for a dream Tucson was a stark departure from his modest upbrings in inner city Houston the mountains and the heat of the Tucson desert were a far cry from the sweltering humidity and near sea level of home but they provided a lease with two things that were critical to the next stages of his growth opportunity and community Arizona was only a few seasons removed from the famous desert swarm defenses and their peak in the early 90s but those Arizona defenses of the late 90s were serious too and regularly ranked in the top 10 in the nation statistically but also the Wildcats offered community dare I even say family part of the reason for that success on defense was the way the defense swam to the football and not only created turnovers but celebrated them famously one of coaches five keys to victory was to win the turnover battle and as a defensive line when a Dries was on one end and future NFLer roommate and friend Joe Tafoya who you'll hear about a minute brought the pressure from the other side and while sometimes a bit uncomfortable at first and sort of awkward at times the way that coaching staff built community and brotherhood 20 plus years ago is something I've heard players on those teams reference how they lead in their homes their workplaces their businesses and their communities today for a Dries it was exactly what a young talented and impressionable young athlete needed but it didn't always mean that it was easy or enjoyable but it was I mean it was I was just I was just very open very green and you know and then the competition right like these guys were big and fast and hit and so it was you know it was a learning experience really quick right it was definitely a different era in college football and you show up on campus and you're you're there for the duration you're gonna grow and you're gonna enter as a wild cat and hopefully in as a wild cat and coach tomi's famous for a lot of tomiisms but one is the team the team the team and so for a young kid coming out of Houston from modest means who has dreams of playing in the NFL the team the team the team maybe a little bit different and he was able to kind of take those personal aspirations and mold them into team goals you were there to witness the high and the low really of his career and and and the release and after that 2000 season you get an opportunity to play professionally what did that seeing him navigate those ties and lows and those extremes and and the energy he brought to to practice and what did that teach you as a man that you've seen kind of carry over into even your work today so I have a lot of stories coach tomi stories but one of my favorite is when I was freshman sophomore year so your point of the team the team the team this is this is when I learned that lesson so my freshman year I think it was my freshman year and I started skipping classes and so I thought you know hey skip class go hang out go do something else no big deal but it was a big deal and it was so much a big deal that I show up the practice one day and we line up for our normal warmups and there's a 120 guys out there and coach tomi gets up and he says hey guys before we start warmups today I need to point something out to you guys Dries Haroon come up to the front oh no I'm looking around like oh okay did I win something or to get called out about to win an award I get up and fight and he's like Dries Haroon thinks it's cute to skip class so what we're gonna do is and they brought out a chair and put it right in front of me the Dries is going to sit in this chair and watch a hundred and nineteen of you guys pay for him skipping class oh no and then next thing I know I'm looking around and everybody's looking at me and then there's these things call up downs right and so you're jogging in place and then the coach blows the whistle and says hit and you hit the ground and do basically you're doing like a burpee or something you're hitting the ground and popping back up hit up and down up and down and it's it's the worst and after about 50 or 60 of those you're you're gone you're done and coach is going and going and I'm I'm trying to do them with the guys to show I'm like oh I'm so sorry guys I didn't need to put you in this situation coach Tommy gets me puts me right back into the chair and to the chair he says no you don't watch you don't watch this and so a hundred and nineteen guys paying the price of me skipping class was the first lesson about being a man that he taught me he taught me many lessons but the first lesson and after that it was a one and then afterwards he got up he hugged me and he was like we're one fail all fail Dries one fail all fail mentality this is how we're going to operate one fell off feel and I never forgot that yeah I skipped a couple classes here and there I got you know I learned the system I figured it out but that was the first lesson that coach told me really taught me about life because when he coached us he coached us he had to perform on the field but he was preparing us for life and that's that's what I love about it. It's tremendous that's a powerful lesson and and one especially that young in your career to see seniors and and fifth year guys have to pay the price for for you certainly left a mark so that 2000 season ends unceremonious defeat I don't I we're on the road at ASU I think that was a home game I was a home game yeah we two years in a row we we lost to ASU but either way your career at Arizona is done what's your mentality like not necessarily in that locker room but you're you're still firmly committed to this goal of playing professional football talk me through what the closure of your college career was like and where you were at mentally it was it was tough right because because you know it was there were highs and lows you know we played in the very unique defense it was a eagle flex defense we had we had you know you see a lot of it in the in college and in NFL now where these guys are kind of jumping in the gaps and coming up on the linebackers are in the gaps you know in between the center and the guards and then they're moving Michael Parsons you know they're moving back and forth we were doing that in the 90s and you know the the scheme we were in Teddy bruski when I was getting recruited they showed me highlight tape to Teddy bruski everybody knows Teddy bruski so when coach told me was like getting to the football portion of it he was like hey you could be like this guy this is the guy you're replacing you're coming to Arizona to replace this guy and so I was like hold that that this guy is getting 22 sacks a year like this guy is an all-american you know like yeah I want to do that and so when we got to the Arizona our scheme was a little different and it really was built for our linebackers right and we and and that was the humbling part is when I got to when you want to Kansas State and Texas and ever recruit me they're like you're going to be the guy when we got to Arizona they were like no Lance Briggs he's going to be the guy Marcus Bell the sound Pope and Tony O'Pierce everybody knows and Tony O'Pierce we were a linebacker you like our linebackers went to the NFL hey bruski was different we had defensive lineman that went to the NFL but primarily it was our linebackers were supposed to go to the NFL and they let it be known and so with our scheme it was very unique and so we had a lot of success in our day we even know we had losing seasons the defense was always top 10 we were always top 10 even in our last year that you're you're speaking about we were top 10 defense and so we got a lot of recognition my roommate in college Joe Tafoya which made my college experience ever even better because he was on one end I was on the other right he had the the wide side I had the short facade we used to flip off he was my roommate he was my best friend and we competed against each other we fought against each other we fight over cereal in the house you know like we were just so competitive and in the end he got drafted to the NFL and so you know testament to just you know you know the hard work and dedication that we put into it but I was always a tweener right like I was I was always a guy that was didn't really have the the stats of a of a Joe Tafoya or a Teddy bruski I had a solid year I was all conference but the NFL didn't really know didn't really see where I fit in and so I had a lot of interest from like Tampa Bay coming out my senior year I had private workouts with them they were the team that was most interested the Cardinals but in the end you know draft day came and it went and you know nobody was calling over a free agent contract so the first call was the Canadian football league and it was thanks thanks to our defensive line coach Marty Long coach Long wet connections up there and it was the Hamilton Tiger Cats that signed me to her you know a free agent contract there's a thread here that if you've joined me on this journey with other guests you've heard before and I think it's one worth pulling it because it can teach us a lot about the razor's edge between high achievement and the darker side of disappointment the Dries has in his own words a pretty good year which concludes a pretty good career at Arizona a bit undersized to be an NFL defensive lineman a little too big to be an NFL linebacker scouts gave him a look but ultimately pass on him come draft weekend and the flurry of free agent signings that tend to follow so that's the bad news but the good news is that defensive line coach Marty Long who had himself coached in the CFL previously made some calls and a Dries got an opportunity to play in the Canadian football league and that's the good news you'll hear me rattle off some stats in a minute but what you hear in the interview is a man conflicted on one hand he'd failed to achieve the goal he'd been working for since around the age of 10 to play in the NFL on the other he was a professional athlete playing the game he loved and getting a paycheck to do it so often when we set our sights on the highest goals even when we get remarkably close it can feel like defeat maybe you just missed out on that dream job you were hoping for or maybe your manuscript didn't get accepted in your dream journal but it was picked up somewhere else the world would try to tell us that even we try to tell us that we failed when the truth is that we've done like few others could ever even climb for a Dries it was the bittersweet feeling of achieving a goal but also not all at the same time but it wouldn't keep him from making the most of his opportunity up north of the border despite it all it was a wise decision made during the spring of a senior year that would lead him to not only play pro football but also graduate from the U of A and so you know as disappointing as it was for me I took I looked at it as another opportunity to compete and I took my talents up north and for that first six months I was destroying those guys and then this no-k but but it was a transition where it allowed me to continue to play it allowed me to chase down my goal my dreams I met a lot of guys in the same on the same path as me and you know there were guys that I played with that ended up transitioning back to the NFL so they had great careers in Canada and transitioned back into the NFL but for me I did two years and then I was done I injuries I dealt with injuries I didn't understand the cold in Canada and I didn't know how to play in it and so luckily for me you know I want to even back up a little bit Toby I graduated right and that's one of the things I brag about the most was I remember I remember specifically being in the locker room with Antonio Pierce Brandon Mollimaniuna Joe Chafoya and there was another there was someone else coming out that year and we were trying to figure out do we want to finish class or do we want to just go all in and pursue the NFL it was a real discussion with us and you know Antonio Pierce and those guys Brandon Mollimaniuna Joe the four there you know they all went to the NFL obviously but some of us chose to stay in school and commit and some of us chose to pursue the NFL right and and so those that chose to pursue the NFL obviously they they they had great careers but for me I didn't have that I didn't have that strong commitment for many NFL teams so I had to play it say so I had to finish school and so I was still carrying a full load but I graduated right I walked across the street walked across the stage with my degree so when Canada was over for me I didn't have to continue to chase Canada Canadian football arena football I felt so bad for my guys I was chasing it right because they didn't have their degrees and so I didn't have to chase a arena football and all that I was like you know what I have my degree I'm going to enter the workforce yeah so many high achievers that I've had on this show have told me about their regret of not giving themselves even just a moment to kind of take it in I mean for you to pull that Tiger Cat jersey on for the first time and think I'm a professional football player those dreams that that young adress had back in Houston had come true maybe not in the way you thought maybe not in a Cowboys uniform or I don't know who your team was back in the Oilers or Texans or whatever to take that in in some ways is almost like it somehow delutes or pollutes the striving to be your best like you're not going to rest on your laurels okay so so taking a moment to take it in in that moment seems counterproductive but being so consumed with that next level can kind of eat you alive less than I did a little research before less than 8% of high school players play collegially at any level that's not to say pack 10 and D1 8% less than 2% of them play professional football so by any metric you are the best of the best what was your mindset in Canada did you feel like you had achieved long held goals were you trying to get back and prove people wrong to to make it into the NFL or where were you at psychologically with this some would say like I made it but there was like an asterisk in my mind that I didn't quite make it yeah exactly exactly you know you want to be grateful you do you want to be grateful but it was like you know you knew this wasn't it and it was a pass-through and so you know lucky for me I came from a pass Russian conferencing the Canadian football league is it's patch rushing it's three downs first down second down punt and so you're likely gonna pass on first down you're likely gonna pass on second down so it's you know it's you're doing a lot of pass for so for a defensive and a pass rushing and it was actually a great opportunity and so immediately and then you know with with our our style of defense at Arizona and having Teddy Bruce key we had these we have martial arts instructors at where at our practice teaching us different hand placements and things and so I brought that to Canada and they never saw that before and so very quickly I separated myself during the preseason and then I made the team as a practice squad player and then the first game the starter got hurt and here I go and then so as soon as I step in Joe Munford was the top defensive and in Canada at the time he's a Michael Parsons right like he's a Michael Parsons of the Canadian Football League and he happened to be on the opposite end of me and so very different right he didn't care about me he showed me nothing he was he was like it was very different from like coach Tommy's experience he was like you stay over there you get your own sacks I'm not helping so but I was competing really against him I wasn't competing as any of the other defensive ends in the CFL I had the best one on my team and so that in my competitive nature my performance that when I stepped in as a starter my first game I had two sacks against Toronto and then went over to Winnipeg another sack another tackle for loss I was doing stuff that they never saw before you know these little Canadian running backs are running around and they got the ball hanging all out trying to be cute and I just knocked the ball out pick it up and take off running like you know like it was just to me Canadian football like I want to be respectful but it's not American football right right and so I went up there and I let them know like you you know Canadians don't start playing until high school like I was playing since fourth grade and so you know Americans excel in the Canadian football league because of that we just have a we have an earlier start and so I had a lot of success I had a lot of success and then you know the cold came and then the injuries came I didn't know how to play with everything's turf in Canada is on natural field so it was just the environment my body it was just a combination of things I got hurt and then eventually you know they kept me around on the practice roster but then they eventually signed some more guys and then you know they kind of weed me out and so you know it was psychologically having to you know move back home and live in your parents house after having all of this success was devastating right it was it was my first I'm 48 years old now so from the time I left Canada to now I've had devastating moments in my life but I don't look at them as devastating but blessings because it was always a transition period I was going through yeah and because of what I experienced in the coach told me era allow me to get through these devastating situations but this was one this was one where you're on such a high and then you have to go home and live with your parents and here we go like you know like nobody's petting you on the back anymore right you know your dad's like son you can still play go out there and run some laps and I'm like that I'm done right but dealing with that transition was difficult but luckily I was able to start my career in the workforce and start transitioning into a whole new life yeah that's a great segue into where I want to go next when I reached out to you I said I was looking for an ed rusher with entrepreneurial skills and you transition from the field to business I think for a lot of folks whether it's collegiately trying to make it into professional sports or for professional athletes trying to get one more contractor one more extension it can be kind of a blurry end you don't know for sure that I'm done I'm officially done they're always kind of holding out hope that there's another opportunity for others it's just a clear break like I'm done and I'm moving on to the next thing you've transitioned from the field to business you've earned your MBA along the way you've started multiple businesses so kind of talk me through what those years following profile was like for you and how that experience up to that point helped prepare you for the journey ahead for what people would say on paper like how is how is playing professional football going to help you start a business but in many ways there there are some skills that definitely carry over so talk me through that transition for you lots of transferable skills lots lots of transferable skills and it's and it's and it's interesting because now I'm at a level where you know I'm at an executive level in my in my my my real full-time job I have a full-time job and I have a business I know we'll get to that but I'm at the executive level my full-time job and I'm sitting in the room with other executive level folks who graduated from Harvard and Yale and Princeton and all these fancy schools sat in front of the class raised a hand a lot but I wasn't that guy right like I was the athlete but I outperform these guys and I've always tell the people that I've managed over the years might tell them all the time it's not you know book smarts will only get you so far you know me like and I'm raising my kids the same way like book smarts will only get you so far like yeah we want A's and B's but C's you know that's okay right like C's are okay but at the end of the day it's you know common sense that gets you to the executive level to the C sweet level right it's um you know it's discipline it's grit's tenacity and that never give up attitude and I mean all those things that we experience in college all those things we experience in sports I don't care if you're swimmer or golfer I don't all of those highs and lows waking up at six in the morning the training the effort the blood sweat and tears all of that gets you to the C sweet not because you made A's and we're on honor roll yeah that that that that helps that does but fortune 500 companies want leaders and decision makers right they don't care if you were on this on the C honor roll if you were leader and a decision maker if you could lead people leading people is the most unrecognized skill there is out there and that's what companies want can you lead people and leading people comes from your coaches right like that comes from you know your parents if you have parents but it comes from your coaches the beauty of having coaches in your life you see great examples of leaders at a young age you know our coaches they're yelling and screaming coach told me used to yell and scream and he was a little guy he's to grab me and shake me and you know he used to come up to this high but he used to yell and scream and you know and throw things but at the end of the day he'll come and hug you you know sit down with you you know what I mean so like we learn though we learn those things early on and so when it's time to transition into the real real world you don't forget those things and so you know I think for me as I started transitioning into the workforce I've always remembered that and so yeah I had to start off with these little jobs and then eventually grew into these larger jobs but I'd never forgot I'd never forget that right I always treated people with respect all the things that coach told me talked about I always treated people with respect giving respect receiving respect you know working hard and everything I do first first in the first in the gym last to leave right first in the office last one to leave you know I've always you know just tried to do the most try to show value from the very beginning right I just all these lessons I just carry them through and before I looked up I was 20 years into corporate America and I really found a niche right I found a niche there's you know facility operations the workplace operations now it's called workplace experience but managing the day-to-day operations of commercial buildings that's the space that I've been in for the last 20 years and I really scaled and excelled at that space and so you know and that's just because it's a people you you're managing your managing buildings and systems which I'm good at and you're managing people which I'm good at and so building effective teams I've been able to do that but you know I think over the course of my career what led to the entrepreneurship was over the course of my career I noticed managing these commercial buildings I noticed that there was really a gap missing right and so I'm managing these vendors I'm managing the electrician the plumber of the moving company I'm managing all these different vendors and I'm paying out these invoices hundreds of thousands of dollars of services and I see the people doing the work they look like me you know they black and brown people are doing the work but when I'm writing these hundred thousand dollar checks they're going to white owned companies and I've noticed that and so I was like you know this is interesting I started paying close attention to it and especially the moving component we companies do a lot of moves and our moving vendor was taking a lot of money from the company because we were doing a lot of relocations and I learned the business I learned the moving business and so at some point in my career which was about three years ago I think you're leading up to this is at 20 years into my career I made a decision to take a leap and start my own commercial relocation company there's a lot to unpack here but I love how Adrice frames his transition from the conclusion of his athletic career to the start of his professional and entrepreneurial journeys although tempted to go all in on combine prep and work to improve his draft stock as a college senior he decides to say the course and he gets that degree and after injury and even the psychological toll not to mention the bitter coals and that rock hard turf in the CFL his pro career concludes after just two seasons and while many in his position might struggle to hang on for one more shot somewhere else Adrice is armed with that degree and a plan so he decides to intercorporate America and he finds that the very same skills that he honed in the locker room in the weight room in the playing field carry over nicely in the board room and above all else he discovers that he's learned from some of the best examples in the form of his coaches how to build teams how to lead people he pays off and he quickly climbs the corporate ladder however after a while he does what many entrepreneurs do he notices something an unmet need and within it a seed of opportunity the corporate relocation space is one that is needed but lacking particularly when you consider the lack of minority on businesses in the space it would take bravery and grit hard work and perseverance and a willingness to bet on himself but those were all things he'd mastered already only this time it wasn't a game it was real life and uh what a leap it was you know my wife loves me and she supports me but she didn't support this idea okay so I did it against my wife's wishes I did it against my bosses and my mentors wishes everybody told me not to do it but what they didn't know what's coach told me knew is they don't know me right they don't know this they don't they don't know the measure of the heart of the man right they didn't know and so I took a chance and I jumped out there and risk everything and started this business um and we've scaled tremendously in the last two years and we've had a lot of success I've seen tremendous success I fall down on social media and certainly big contracts with whether it's higher education or hospitals I mean these these places you're not just talking about loading some some junk in the back of a u-haul this is highly specialized you know six seven figure equipment that has to be moved just perfectly and they don't give those contracts to just anybody with a truck there's a lot of steps to that and you've navigated that space well and you've kind of created that niche for for your business so knowing that and knowing what you've been through as an entrepreneur I see a lot of parallels between competitive athlete who are looking for the edge and you know sometimes wrestling with doubts and fears and and trying to prove people wrong sometimes and in the entrepreneurship space it's been said that within five years 90% of all startups fail and within another five another 90% of those that succeeded the first five fail so it is not for the faint of heart talk me through what surviving that doubt and that fear and whether that's naysayers from the outside or sometimes doubt from the inside what did that teach you about yourself and if you had it to do over again what might you have done differently well you know a lot a lot of business books tell you when you start your side hustle keep your full-time job right build it on the side you know some of the most wealthiest you know most successful people in the world tell you you know hey you know keep your full-time job and then build your business on the side well I just felt I needed to be a hundred percent all in so I did the opposite I quit my full-time job I quit my high salary six-figure executive job to start my moving business all in right and so that was scary in itself because they're going six-figure salary there goes the benefits all of that is gone and I didn't really have a solid business plan I knew I needed to get into the commercial I knew I had relationships I knew I had the the knowledge and the know-how but I I just really didn't have a solid business plan I thought I was just going to be able to jump right into the commercial space with my network and that was in the case and so the the reality was when we started the moving company it was residential household goods moving it was hey pick up this you know excuse my language pissy mattress lug it down three flights of stairs put it in your truck you know pick up these trash bags full of whatever it was humbling it was a humbling and it was me in my business partner jibari Moore graduate of Rutgers played football at Rutgers he was a linebacker him and I you know he we were we were in these trucks doing these low value low margin residential moves and it was it was it was humbling it was so humbling losing money we're not making money we're losing money right and so luckily for us it didn't last very long but we were so committed to it yeah we were sleeping in trucks because we couldn't afford hotels we were sleeping at gas stations because trucks were breaking down on the road stuff was getting stolen from us I mean it was just all the horror stories but we committed like we committed we committed we committed you know back breaking work in the Texas heat you know like and and and to be honest with you Toby I tried to quit see people tell you people you know you know you know I seen this documentary on Arna Swater Naga and he was like I never I never told myself I was going to quit I hate plan B because we have so many doubt us but when you start doubting yourself that's very dangerous because now what you're basically saying is is that if my plan doesn't work I have a fallback plan I have a plan B and that means that you start thinking about plan B and every thought that you put into plan B you're taking away now that thought and that energy from plan A and it's very important to understand that we function better if there is no safety net because plan B becomes a safety net it says that if I fail then I fall and I get picked up and I have something else there that was that will protect me and that's not good I was like no I'm different I've I tried to quit the difference is I think for what people need to understand is having multiple voices in your head is a healthy thing you're not crazy maybe if you're talking to yourself I'll allow maybe that might be a little weird but I encourage everyone to have multiple voices in their head and this is for me this is what works I have a voice in my head that says you Dries what the heck are you doing quit now go back to your corporate America job please then I have another voice in my head that says Dries don't quit don't give up don't ever give up right and that's the coach told me right and that's the coach told me that was the mentality coach told me in our meetings we used to be in situations we it was tough to kind of to give us a visual in our meetings he used to throw his little body against the wall we should say guys are back to her against the wall the he'll throw his body against the wall he said we gotta fight our way we gotta fight we gotta fight and I just remember those stories and as I was like going through top times like what a what a coach told me do right now what what my dad do my dad passed away some time ago what my dad do right now what what my dad tell me so eventually you have those voices you have a voice that tells you to quit and then you have a voice that tells you to keep going over it over the years and this needs to start at a young age you need to feed that positive voice feed it right and there's certain strategies and things you can do to feed it we don't have to get into that now but this is what I tell people youngsters all time feed that positive voice and a lot of times this wins right accomplishments athletes we get a lot of paths on the back that feeds it but when you get into a situation where you want to quit there's gonna be a voice that says quit but there's gonna be another voice that's been fed that's been fed over the years that's gonna outweigh that other voice and at the end of the day I was like I'm not quitting I'm not quitting and I just kept with that I kept with that that voice in my head that I'm not gonna quit voice was stronger than the other voice and it overcame it and one thing led to another like compound interest you know compound interest if you invest like compound interest apartment move turned into a house move house move turned into a high value house move high value house move turned into an office move and here we go right and next you know we're moving research labs and years that's this growth path for sure there's as you're talking I'm kind of thinking okay yeah I think you're absolutely right that it tells you to have those two voices it sometimes it's damaging to just you know if my goal was to play in the NBA that's a fool's errand like no amount of work is gonna get me to that level so there's there's wisdom in being able to check yourself sometimes our dreams are are just not attainable for us maybe even in that season but other times it's that that willingness to go the extra mile to be the first to arrive in the last of leaves that it makes all the difference so I'm not one that blindly follows just the you know just grind and grit and and everything will work out that's not necessarily true and I think that can really be damaging to some people but the flip of that is don't give up on yourself too soon like if you don't give this this dream and this business a chance to build some roots and grow and compound success after success you don't get to where you are you you you quit before the fruit is born again we're talking with the drissa rune farmer defender at the university of Arizona played in the cfl now with dwd moving services a drissa i've heard it said that when words aren't enough you sing a question I asked of all my guests is if we were to watch a montage of your life what song would you pick to play in the background and why oh man that's a good one that's a good one oh man I don't know I mean the way I'm feeling right now it's probably it's probably some real explicit rap music right like like I just that's that's where I'm at but if you would ask me you know I mean it just kind of depends right it depends I mean you know like there's sometimes where you know I I want to put some loot loot the vandals on you know it's just kind of mood I'm in or you know some shot a right or you know sometimes I'm I'm listening to some you know some country music some garth Brooks depending on but I'm just it just changes all the time like and that's in my truck I'm in my truck and depending on my mood I'll switch the channel around but right now it's just you know it's it's any music that's motivating to me right now brother if I may be so bold as to suggest let him know as it's been on repeat all week in my headphones right they call it ballin we just call it livin because it's just there's a lot going on and whatever keeps me motivated and energized that's really what's on my playlist that's great I create a playlist for all my guests it's like a mixtape of all my guests that I put on Spotify I had a Garfield bright from shy on the show if you remember them yeah I've had some other artists because artists like athletes I mean your time to shine is fairly short and people move on to the next one pretty quickly but what they don't realize in that is you know when when you got replaced on that roster someone's dream came true someone else's dream just ended and and it can be a very narrow window of success in the arts and in athletics this maybe one area where entrepreneurship definitely has a leg up is that it's not like you know you get one or two years and your career is over as an entrepreneur hopefully you're learning and you're growing what for a driss haroon remains undone that's a great question you know there's still a lot for us to accomplish in this space you know we we found something special you know my business partner jibbar and I found something special you know we made it we we found a niche within a niche you know the movement moving industry is saturated in Texas is saturated in Dallas is moving company throw us throw a rock in any direction hit a moving company but what we did is we took a saturated industry and made it less competitive and we found the niche and that niche for us right now is we're moving research labs and then what what we're also doing to be we we have a new revenue stream that we're that we're starting we're moving college coaches man and so this is what I'm really excited about this is the part of the business where I think there's a lot of potential for us because here here we go again here's another niche area what we're finding out is there's a lot of money being thrown around in colleges you know that's a whole different segment but there's coaches that are getting hired and fired a lot quicker than in the past and these coaches are relocating at exponential rates and who's relocating them who's moving them well obviously a moving company but why not why can't that be us why can't that be dad's with daughters moving electricity DWD stands for dad's with daughters by the way mm-hmm love it built a company for like it we built a business to build a legacy for our dollars but why why not us right and so what we've done is position ourselves to get that opportunity so in a week in a week neck on the 31st we have our first one we're moving an assistant coach from Texas A&M to Kansas State University which is ironic because I had college visits the most and then how the world circles back around but our first is Kansas State I'm sorry Texas A&M to Kansas State the following week we go to UTEP and move an assistant coach from UTEP to a program they're building out in Texas Arcana and so this is the beginning and what I love about this opportunity is the time of the year is from January to March where coaches are getting hired and fired you can say you know November to March right because football season is kind of ending but that's a revenue stream for moving companies moving is in seasons and so from January to March it's typically a slow season so if we can tap into that market relocating coaches not only is that a revenue stream in a slow season but it's niche it's very niche because the schools pay for those moves so it's the coaches the coaches wives really but the coaches that select the mover and then they figure all that out the coaches are busy recruiting and doing what they're doing the wives have to organize figure out the move and so what we're able to do is build those relationships with the universities and they're hiring us to relocate their coaches and so we want to position ourselves to be the top mover in all of the all of the conferences in the United States we want to be the primary mover for for coaching the locations that's all and basketball it's such a great it's it's one of those great ideas it's like why hasn't anyone else done that and so like if I put it out there almost fear that someone else is going to try to jump into that space but man that's a genius idea another thing that comes to mind is a turnkey service like this you know white glove because people see that man it drives me crazy and in this world and I think back to you know how long would coach Tommy survive in an era like this where nobody's interested in growing players they just want the best roster they can have from year to year and if we sign a bunch of portal guys that are 22 years old then we win a national championship right we're not recruiting 17-year-old high school kids but what people don't realize in the hey let's fire the coach because we didn't make a bowl game is the the trickle down results of that the entire staff gets let go well they've got wives they've got kids there are staff members who are oftentimes like go strength coaches even academic folks athletic trainers and those people struggle with that adjustment as well my wife's a counselor and we've talked about this like you know high-value clients who come and go into town here in wake-o oftentimes are coaches from Baylor and and those kids may struggle with a new school those wives may struggle with they don't have friends at church or they you know they're not connected and so if I know anything about people it's that turnkey services especially for people with means is way easier than going out and trying to allocart your way to this new transition so I want to applaud you that's such a great idea and and maybe even trickle down is college athletes have money now too NIL means you could do a niche with with with 20-year-old athletes as well so I'm sure that's on your radar but a man what a great idea and definitely need it yeah I mean it's a great idea we've thought about college athletes but you know with moving it's like they're not gonna have much right I mean yeah you know coaches coaches like the the the family we're moving next week this is her this is her six move the family we're moving in new tap this is her 12th move 12 move right yeah and so like I think we found something special especially if we can build those relationships with the wives because you know the wives they're gonna share your information they're gonna brag about you worry about your business will spread there but we're just excited about the opportunity because also we're athletes like we're we're college athlete guys and so this is the space we need to be in I mean I have this vision right we're touching research labs and we're touching college coach relocations right now and I just have this vision that you know you say university Arizona or Baylor University where you are you know I'm I'm going over and meeting with the head of the life sciences department or the bio bio lab department and we're talking about a potential lab relocation right and we're going over the scope of work and we're talking about you know logistics and how things work and then I shake his hand and then I leave and I walk across campus and I walk into the athletic department and I walk into the coaches office and we start talking about relocating his staff members right like that's my vision that's where we want to be that's very nitchie high value high margin work and that's the spaces we want to be in and we're minority owned and there's no black and brown companies doing that yeah and that credibility that you bring from your professional and collegiate pedigree is something that no one else can compete with and so for any athletes out there I always just want to shine a light on the fact that you don't you don't really understand the impact of just being on a roster and and that immediate credibility and and that recognition that people have is it's impossible to replicate no matter I'm working on my sixth college degree but I've never played college sports and there's there's no amount of work or one or hope that would ever allow me to be able to compete with you on that so that that's certainly something to be proud of and to lean in on well at least if let's just want to connect with you of you know if they want to check out the business or you know follow you on socials work and I point out yeah well you know we're on LinkedIn you can just look up you know I'm on LinkedIn I had a profile I'm more of a LinkedIn guy a DWD moving on logistics as a LinkedIn we also have Facebook you know we're on Instagram you can find us we're easy to find but you know you can just always email me edrees.haroon at DWD moving services but yeah I'm easy to find I'm easy to connect with you know opportunities like this Toby have brought more business for me so I really appreciate this platform I did a I did a show I told you with the one of our best leaders that I was on a history kelvin e-phon and as soon as I got off the show I got a couple calls so you know you never know who's listening you never know who's listening this we're in a relationship business right and that's at the end of the day athletes need to understand we're in the relationship business and so as long as you can understand that treat people with respect leave with empathy be a good human being like all of these things that we've learned from Coach Tommy like as long as you can do that then you'll be fine right psychologically the transition from sports to the real world whether you're transitioning from sports to corporate America or just forcing to the real world it's gonna be hard right it's gonna be tough um but I think athletes need to realize being a professional athlete that's not reality right like that's not reality you shared you shared the percentages like it's it's it's it's it's not reality those who make it it's a gift and a blessing from God but the majority don't the majority end up having the transition and be part of the normal workforce and live your day-to-day and that's fine too you know but for me I think I was able to treat the real world like my NFL and once I was able to switch that mentality like you know what I'm tired of saying I should have been I should have did I should be there I'm gonna switch my mentality and say you know what I'm gonna treat the real world like it's my NFL and this worked out for me the Dres has been a real treat I appreciate the chance to reconnect a Dreserrone I am undone awesome as we close today's conversation with a Dreserrone I'm struck by just how clearly the coaching of Dick tell me still echoes in his life it's more than memory it's more than nostalgia it's legacy what coach told me instilled any young defensive in from inner city Houston accountability grit humility brotherhood those are all the same values that drive the executive the entrepreneur and the leader that adresses today the lessons adress learned under that desert sun one fail all fail don't skip reps lead with heart not with ego the team the team the team those have all shaped the way he shows up in boardrooms and business strategy sessions and on the front lines of relocation projects that bear his name whether he's managing a high stakes lab move or relocating a division one coaching staff the ethos is the same come in fully respect the team and own the result even though it's been a minute since I finished the coach told me documentary this interview alone tells me that coach told me built men not just football players and adresses just one more example living proof adresses journey from Tucson to Toronto to Texas is more than just a pivot it's a purpose in motion it's a life that continues to echo that formative phrase the team the team the team a dream is done in fact he's just getting started and thanks to the seeds planted by a coach who knew how to reach both the mom and the dad the heart and the head the boy and the man those lessons are still leading him forward today I'm thankful to a trees for dropping in today and I hope you enjoyed our conversation for more info on this episode be sure to check it out on the web simple go to undonepodcast.com box-ep148 to check out the show notes images links and even the raw video of my conversation with a Dries Arun some quick updates about the show with your help the numbers keep climbing we recently hit global top 5% for all shows on listen notes it's kind of a general marker of show reach and we continue to do especially well on Apple podcasts where we're currently sitting at number eight in the world in self-improvement and education we snuck back into Apple's top 200 briefly this week charting at number 172 on Wednesday and Thursday before dropping back out for those of you listening who helped make it happen thank you if you want to follow along and see the progress you can now go to undonepodcast.com backslash for rankings are 8nk i m g s and cheers on my goal for 2026 is to get back in that top five within the education category and hit the top 100 for all shows across the board with your help we can do it if you enjoyed this episode if you'd be so kind to share it with a friend maybe leave a comment or a review all that would help and would be sincerely appreciate coming up on the show next week you will not want to miss my conversation with former high powered a list entertainment business manager Jonathan Schwartz who previously worked with acts like Linget Park a lot of more set Beyonce and Halsey before he was imprisoned for embezzling over seven million dollars due to crippling gambling and substance use disorder since then he's completed a prison sentence and then turn his life around and is now a counselor who helps others dealing with substance use disorders and gambling addiction themselves check this out more coming up on becoming undone becoming undone is a natural hub creative production written and produced by me tobi Brooks tell a friend about the show follow along on facebook instagram linked in and becoming undone pod and follow me at tobi Brooks PhD on facebook instagram linked in and x check out my link to it link tr.de backslash tobi Brooks PhD listen subscribe leave me a review and apple podcast to Spotify iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts till next time keep getting better