Episode 393: Your Money Playbook For Winning in Life and Finances with NFL Veteran Brandon Copeland

Brandon Copeland 0:02

The more we can share the different lessons of like how you are teaching your children, so that I can teach my children that way and take notes and all that stuff. I think that that's just going to help make sure that we are we're better off as a society, but also as a culture. We don't hand our children something that breaks them.

Jamila Souffrant 0:23

Welcome to the journey to launch podcast with your host Jamila souffrant as a money expert who walks her talk, she helps brave journeyers like you get out of debt, save, invest and build real wealth. Join her on the journey to launch to financial freedom 54321,

if you want the episode show notes for this episode, go to journey to launch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this episode in the Show Notes, you'll get the transcribed version of the conversation, the links that we mentioned, and so much more. Also, whether you are an OG journeyer or brand new to the podcast, I've created a free jumpstart guide to help you on your financial freedom journey. It includes the top episodes to listen to, stages to go through to reach financial freedom resources and so much more you can go to journey to launch.com/jumpstart to get your guide right now. Okay, let's hop into the episode. Hey, hey, hey, journeyers, welcome to the journey to launch podcast. I have a exciting guest, Brandon Copeland, who's been on the podcast before he was on episode 267, but he is more than a 10 year NFL veteran. He's also the author of the new book your money playbook, and a visionary CEO leading the charge@athletes.org the Players Association for college athletes. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and his journey has taken him from the gridiron to the forefront of financial education and entrepreneurship, and I'm so excited to have Brandon back on the show to update us on what's been happening since he's been on to talk about his amazing book, your money playbook and all the things. So welcome back to the podcast, Brandon. Thank you. Thank

Brandon Copeland 2:16

you. Thank you for having me. Episode 267, I'm I can't even imagine what episode you're on now. This is gotta be crazy, yeah?

Jamila Souffrant 2:23

Well, definitely over 300 I, you know, I should know, but it's been a bit, so we've been trucking along. But one thing, not only did you launch your book recently, you also added to your family. You had your third child a day before your book launched. Is that correct?

Brandon Copeland 2:39

Yeah, day before. So he was originally due the day after. We weren't pregnant when we had the book date, and then obviously he came the day before. And it's just been a whirlwind ever since, in a great way, right? Like it puts all of the things that you talk about in the book, that you think about in the book, all the reasons why you hustle, why you do all those things, and then you, you hear that, that first cry that you like, oh, it's real. Alright. We gotta, you know, make sure the budget is the budget, right? We good. Okay, cool. Cool. Cool. You good baby, alright, cool, alright. We good. So, yeah, it's been a whirlwind, but it's been a great whirlwind. God is good.

Jamila Souffrant 3:15

I mean, props to your wife. First of all, because this is, this is you guys' third child. So, I mean, that's a lot, but I think also, you handling being able to bring into the world this book, and then, you know, now having a new child, and you're still in deep promotion mode for your book, like, how are you able to handle that? And, you know, I'm thinking back to your NFL career and all the work you had to put in to get to the NFL. And I'm thinking, Do you like look back at the training and all those things and see the comparisons of what makes you be able to sustain in times like this, where you have to have a lot of energy?

Brandon Copeland 3:50

Yeah, I think, you know, first, it's an amazing team. Frankly, I mean, I've been blessed beyond my wildest dreams with a brother who's my business partner and friend and everything like that. He just celebrated his 31st birthday, so shout out to him. Shout out to Chad. But yeah, then the folks that we've been able to surround him with have just all stepped up and just been so gracious of being able to pull a little harder or push a little harder when they need to step up, because my attention is called elsewhere. And I think that when we built the A team that feels the wins right, like when we win, they understand, you know, it's funny, a lot of people are like, you know, cope. You say we a lot. We're doing this, we're doing that. We're doing this. We're going here. I'm going, you know, and they're like, You come with somebody. I'm like, no, no. I just when I say we, it's like, my team, like, if we're doing this, it's a US thing. I'm just smart enough to know that doesn't happen without great people. But on top of that, it is just that the lessons that I learned in the NFL, of like, I. Waking up every day, just maxing yourself out, trying to create a dream, create a goal, and then just block out all the noise and all the things and reasons why it won't work, why you won't get there, and just going for it, and just figuring out, you know, you might not see the fifth step in front of you, but you just, you see the next two, and just taking those next two and just hoping that by the time you take those next two you see the third step. Okay, cool. Let's go for that one too, right? And so just consistently doing that, as has been, what has led us here. But like you said, it was amazing time we had a baby on a Monday. Launched a book on a Tuesday, hit number one on Amazon on Wednesday. I'm like, oh, man, it's a good week. Can we run this back next week? Right?

Jamila Souffrant 5:44

Divine, divine timing too, right? Of all the dates and of all the ways that it could happen, I think that's a beautiful way to welcome in the new baby into your family and the book. So first of all, I love speaking when I get a chance to speak to men, especially black men, on the podcast, because I feel like my listenership is very diverse. You know, definitely a lot of women, definitely a lot of women of color and black women, but then I have a lot of like men that listen, and then like husbands who tell their wives about it. And so I love when I can have like a voice where I'm like, All right, now you can listen to someone who can relate to and on top of that, you're sports minded, which having a husband who's also very sports minded. I love it because then you're talking like the language that you guys like to talk,

Brandon Copeland 6:25

yeah, eagles, what's your team?

Jamila Souffrant 6:28

Well, see, I'm not a football so he's like, we're basketball. I'm basketball just because I understand that sport the most. But he's into football and all that. But we're primarily like basketball, like he played basketball in college, and our sons are starting to play competitively, so we're kind of in that mode, you know,

Brandon Copeland 6:44

okay, what's your team? If you don't mind me asking, Well,

Jamila Souffrant 6:47

I'm, I'm one of those fair weather fans, so I like, kind of like people based on, like, who's on the team and whatever. But my, you know my kids, you know the boys, you know who they like, Steph, curry, LeBron, James, all the popular people,

Brandon Copeland 7:01

awesome, awesome, awesome.

Jamila Souffrant 7:04

But I love how in the book, you kind of break it down into sports talk. So you break down life, a life changer, course into five digestible quarters. Like most you know, sports playing quarters, the art of the hustle, the power of growth, the commitment to smart spending, and the promise of legacy. So I wanted to go over some overarching themes out of each one that you think was important to share, and how it's been impactful in your life. So for example, the art of the hustle. I know you had the hustle to get into the NFL. You weren't drafted as what I remember when we talked, right? And you had to hustle to get there. But then relaying that to how do we do that with our finances? And we can start

Brandon Copeland 7:41

there in order to create the life that you want. A lot of times for most people, that means it's going to cost something as well, too. So you got to be able to earn something right? And everything that you do, whether it's school, is studying, is taking a trade or whatever is to get that job, to earn you money that you can then put and apply to your life. So the art of the hustle we talk about, one, just doing that, but then two, trying to expand beyond that and creating you, finding you those passions that you're you're blessed enough to monetize. And I say that specifically is passions you're blessed enough to monetize, because, unfortunately for a lot of us, we are trading in our happiness to earn that salary or that paycheck that we can go apply to our lives. Well, if you're able to you, you may have to trade in that time. There are a lot of things that I did for football with training, and there's literally middle of workouts. You just look at yourself like, why am I doing this? Like, I don't understand why I push myself to do this every single day. There's so many other things I'd rather be doing right now than to be going through this workout. But you put in that work to give you the ability to live differently. And so while you're earning, one of the parts that we're talking about the art of hustle is like identifying things that you just genuinely enjoy, genuinely love, and going out and figuring out, is there a way for you to monetize that? Hey, I enjoy art, I enjoy graphic design. I enjoy copywriting. Okay, well, I enjoy it. Is there a way that I can actually generate some income, generate some revenue off of that. And then now I'm enjoying it even more because I'm doing what something that I love, and I'm also now getting a double added benefit for it as well, too. So the harder to hustle is just looking at your life, taking things and seeing if there's ways where you can extract even more value from it financially, and now you can then go and apply to creating the life that you want.

Jamila Souffrant 9:45

And how would you advise people who maybe think that if they do monetize something they love, it takes that passion away from it, it takes the joy from it, and how some things maybe shouldn't be monetized. But you know. And I know there are different schools of thought, right to that, where it's like, but if you're so good at it and you can make money, why not? But what do you say? What is that fine line in keeping something that you're not trying to hustle or make money from?

Brandon Copeland 10:12

Yeah, I think if it's going to take the love away from you, it's something that we all have to decide for ourselves. Frankly, right for me, I get added joy when I can do something I love and make money from doing it, because then it doesn't feel like work, as they say, right for others, as you're thinking about drawing, and then now you got a deadline over you, because somebody is now pressing you to hurry up with it. Yeah, it could detract from it. So either you need to set some healthy boundaries and guardrails of like, Hey, I'm still going to have this quiet time on the weekends where I'm just drawing just for me, right? Or you need to say, let me not actually try to monetize this at all. But I think ultimately, all of those things are going to be up to you as the individual to determine what makes the most sense for you? I don't want you to sacrifice your happiness just to monetize something. But again, you just have to look at your life and determine, am I going to be happier with the extra cash in my pocket that I can now do X, Y and Z with? And again, that's just like you said. It's a different answer for everybody,

Jamila Souffrant 11:19

for you as you were, whether it was growing up, working out into your NFL career and then pivoting to doing what you're doing now, more entrepreneurship and financial based business where you're helping people financially. What was it for you? Was it following a passion that you know? Did you always love talking about money, or something you developed out of need, from needing to manage your money when you were in the league. What did that look like for you that that balance?

Brandon Copeland 11:44

Yeah, I think one, I had to learn about my money, and I had to learn about it extremely well, because my biggest fear, my biggest pet peeve growing up, when the last time I've used the term pet peeve, but my biggest pet peeve growing up was when people thought that they were smarter than me, right? And it's not that I don't want to be the it's not that I'm saying I'm the smartest person in every room I go in. But it's, you know, those people where they talk to you. And it's kind of like that era of like, you know, you kind of like, bro, you think you're smart hold up, or you think you're getting one over on me. You think you're manipulating me, right now, when really, I know what your game is, and all that stuff. And then now that was my biggest fear growing up. And now you go into the NFL, and now you get a bunch of people in the world who genuinely great people and want to help you. And then you also get a bunch of people in the world who see the target on your back and say, let me go ahead and come after you. Right? So for me, it was crucial to learn about my money as much as possible to be as hands on as I could with my money. And by doing that, it opened up a opportunity for me to say, Okay, well, this is unique. I actually enjoy helping people. I enjoy I talk a lot, so I enjoy talking to people as well, too. So why can't I just help people with their money as I learn, let me share it with people, and let's see if we can help some people while we continue to grow ourselves. It also, frankly, it also holds me accountable to to what I'm saying and what I'm doing right. You know, it's hard for me to talk about estate plan if I haven't gotten my stuff in order right, and I was late to the ball on it, but I'm getting it in order right. It's hard to me to talk about retirement investing if I'm not understanding the vehicle and contributing to it or using it. So as I continue to evolve, the conversations in the classroom and beyond, got better as well, too, and we just found a way to scale it, digitize it, get it out to high school students and other adults as well. So, so yeah, hopefully that answers the question. It's another passion that I just monetize is really helping people. Yeah.

Jamila Souffrant 13:55

Now let's go to the second quarter, I guess you'd say, as it relates to your book, where it talks about the power of growth, which is such an important part of attaining financial flexibility and freedom and getting to that next level with your money, like, beyond just getting by and saving, it's investing, and, you know, understanding how money really works, like how you really get ahead. And so tell me a little bit I'd love to maybe get like, a story from you in terms of your when you first got some, like, money, money and like, what were your first investment decisions versus, like, now how you view investing, and any advice you have for people looking to start,

Brandon Copeland 14:35

yeah, so when I First got, like, my first real, real game check in the NFL, which didn't happen until three years in because I was undrafted practice squad fired a bunch of times. You're not good enough kid get out of here. By the time you have all that happen, you realize like, Okay, y'all will fire me if I got a bad cough. Let me uh, let. Save As much as I possibly can. But I do remember the first game check that I got. It was about 27,000 is what it was supposed to be. And by the time I got it, it was like 12 grand after taxes. And I remember being pissed. I remember being like, hold up. And the thing is, it's not that I was, I've, I've worked my, I don't wanna say, my entire life, but since high school, I've had a job. I understand taxes, I understand that they're gonna take x and all of that type of stuff, right? But to see it hit on that scale, and to see fed and Detroit and Michigan and all this stuff, and then union dues to the PA and this and this and this. You just like, hold up. I remember being on the phone my account. I was probably mad the first five hours of the day. I was just like, hold up. What's going on? We need to claim something different. I don't know. I don't know why they think that they could take over 50% of my money, you know, and that I just will always remember that. And there was a guy in our team, his name was Calvin Johnson, nicknamed Megatron Hall of Famer, and I remember him sitting by his locker. I came into the building early. I was just there early, and he was sitting by his locker. He had, like, a long piece of paper, and he was just sitting there looking at his stuff. And I'm like, Oh, he must be looking at his paycheck, because he was paid like, 18 million that year. I'm like, Oh, he must have a lot of deductions on his bad boy. But I just will always remember that moment, and I think because I had the up and down first couple of years financially, and then that experience as well, too, of that money just shaking me, and that that tax hit just hit me. It just forced me to say, Okay, well, let's let's save this. Let's stack this. Because I also just don't know when my career is going to end. I've been fired in the middle of the season. I've been fired Week Four the season, Week Six of the season. Just random times. So for me, it was always like a race to just hoard as much as possible before they decided to get rid of me and find somebody else to do the job, fortunately, we were able to outlast that and build beyond that. But you know, especially those early years, it was just like this thing isn't promised. I will say, this is a long winded answer, but I will say I told myself if I made the active roster for the whole season. So every single week, at that time, it was 17 week season, 16 games. I was like, I play every single week and don't don't get fired, don't lose check. Then at the end of the year, I'm gonna go to Miami and I'm gonna get me a yacht and not buy it. I'm gonna rent it for the day, right? And that was because my first trip ever to Miami was the year before the NFL did a wealth management workshop. My then girlfriend and I went, and I was just like, you know, if we make it this year, then then I'd be dope to come back here and and not to be and be in a different financial situation. And the next year, I proposed to her on Memorial Day weekend, on a Friday, flew down. We had an Airbnb. Our roommates from college were all there. Surprised her there, you know, I set it up to, you know, I was in romance, yeah, romantic. And then we went out, got a yacht for the weekend and everything like that. And that's money well spent. Would do it 10 times over, because it's the experiences of memory I could talk about, like it happened yesterday.

Jamila Souffrant 18:29

So you with the NFL check. So I'm assuming you get paid per game that you play when you said you got your first game check? Yes, okay, and because you didn't really know there's no guaranteed, like, minimum amount that you make. So once I

Brandon Copeland 18:41

got to a certain point in my career, my career, there was a guarantees in my contract and things like that. But at that point in my career, it was week to week. Every Tuesday at four Eastern, I could be cut and not make any money that week. I've been cut at Tuesday at 3:56pm Eastern, like, literally, after doing community service for the team, I'm like, hold up, how you have me do community service? And I like the community, right?

Jamila Souffrant 19:06

You're just about to fire me. But I feel like anyone can relate, if you have a job, or even as an entrepreneur, you can relate to this, because that's like, you know, when you walk into your job, you work the whole day, and then they fire you. You're like, I could you could have just, I could have just not come in or just, like, as an entrepreneur, right? Like, especially if you don't have like, guaranteed like gigs or contracts, like, you eat, what you kill, so you don't know money or your income. And I talked about this on the previous episode, for me, right now it's fluctuating, like, there's no guaranteed income. And so I think when you're like that, it kind of if, if you're if you're, if you're not thinking financially sound, you can get yourself in a lot of trouble. And if you are, it kind of causes you to go into, like you said, this hoarding mode, if you're smart about it, because you just want, you want to save because you don't know where the next check is coming or if you can depend on it. So I think it's interesting, because at some point, either you live like that. For a while, and you just get comfortable kind of living in this, and then lack mind, yeah, like a lack mindset, or just, okay, I don't know what's coming next, maybe some financial anxiety. Or you get to the point where there's things that are more secure for you, which it seemed like it got but at what point then, even when things do become secure, did you find yourself getting back into those habits of, I still don't know, or did you get more comfortable with I'm not going to save, I'm going to maybe invest and take more risk here with my money. Yeah,

Brandon Copeland 20:28

I think the money anxiety disorder is something that I'm always battling with and and just unlearning Right. Like, on one hand, it's good, it's great, because it keeps you in a position of, like, I need more. I gotta chase more. I don't know if I can count on this, so I gotta go out and earn more and all that stuff, right? But on the other hand, it doesn't allow you to live. It doesn't allow you to actually, like, enjoy your hard work, because you're afraid to enjoy your hard work here and now it's going to keep you up all night, because you're going to be thinking like, Oh, I gotta go make more. I gotta go make more. I gotta go make more. So it's one is something that I've had to I'm continuously battling with, and I probably will always battle with it, because it's just my nature is how I grew up. It's who I am in terms of, like, being conscious of my spend, right? But it's also something that I'm evolving as well, too, to be more and more comfortable with treating myself or making a purchase and not necessarily worrying about the ripple effects of it, right? And these aren't purchases like like, it's not me at the grocery store or anything like that. It's more so for me, the spending on myself, it's easy for me to spend on my kids, spend on the missus, but my mom, my wife, doesn't really ask for any of that type of stuff, either. She's similar to me, but that's one thing that I'm trying to continue to evolve. And I think, I guess, to answer your question of, what are the things that can help you with that is what I've done is I've also just built a small group of people, and it's really like a couple. I have a financial I have a financial team, but I also have, like, one, maybe two friends, but one in particular that I is like, he's like, my polar opposite in spending and mindset. I'm a risk it. Let's bet it all. Let's figure it out. Like, Hey, we got here doing that. You know, football player, I'm gonna shoot the gap and I try to make the tackle, make the play right, or I'm gonna sit back and hope the world makes the play for me. I'm gonna shoot the gap. He's more of a conservative. Hey, let's just let the market do the work for you. Let's just not go too crazy or anything like that. And so I meet with him every once in a while. We just update each other and make sure that we're staying on track to our goals. And it's not just our financial goals, it's also our life goals. Like, Yo, you said you wanted to do how many date nights this month? You only did one you only got a few days left. You got a date on the plan on the calendar. No, yes, come on, man, you said this. I didn't say this one of my college teammates. So I would say that if there are certain things that you feel like are hindering you from your own growth, then there is nothing wrong with finding you accountability buddy, buddy or partner or group to help guide you and push you to where you want to go. That's what we did in football. You train a lot of times. You train with other folks, because now you can talk trash, you can push each other and all of that type of stuff. And that's what we need to continue to do in our finances to continue to

Jamila Souffrant 23:40

grow. Hey, journeyers, if you are loving this podcast, then you will love my book, Your journey to financial freedom, a step by step guide to achieving wealth and happiness. I wrote this book for you. This book is for you if you want a clear and enjoyable path to having more money options and a rich life. This book is for you. If you hate your commute and the fact that you need to seek approval or permission from a boss, I hated that when I worked. This book is for you. If you weren't born into wealth, you didn't marry rich or win the lottery, but you still want freedom. This book is for you. If you're at a crossroads, a major decision or event is imminent, maybe a career change, marriage, starting a family, pressures are reaching a tipping point, and the discomfort and the desire for more can no longer be ignored, and this book is for you if you find yourself zoned out at meetings, looking out the window or daydreaming about the life you truly want. So go pick up your journey to financial freedom.com. So I can show you how to map out how to get from where you are today to where you ultimately want to be. And enjoy the journey. While you're on the path, head over to your journey to financial freedom.com to see where you can pick the book up. It's available on Amazon, bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble, your local bookstore. Or everywhere go to your journey to financial freedom.com to get the book. Now, I think to you bringing up if you have someone close to you, but it's a little different, maybe in terms of spending or mindset. And I have a couple like that, people like that around me, but you have this mutual respect and love for each other. So even if you're telling each other different things, or would go about things a different way? You're communicating it in a way where it's not, you know, disrespectful or, you know, but it's a way in which to challenge each other, where it's like, wait a second, like, did you think of, you know, you could pull someone back a bit if they need to be pulled back, or you can get put or someone can push you further past your comfort zone, or vice versa. I think is actually a great way to think about it's not like, if you have a friend, like, if you're super conservative with spending, you have a friend that, like, seems to spend a lot, doesn't mean that you can't, you know, talk about money. It's just like, how about you talk to each other and learn a bit, and maybe you can help each other in both sides of how to, you know, spend a little bit more versus saving, if necessary.

Brandon Copeland 25:58

Yeah, and if you do that too, don't take it personal. Like I don't go into those calls my friend and think that I'm I'm I'm trying to tell him how to live. I'm, no, the goal is for us to just share and just check in with each other, right? And and by doing that, naturally, you're going to know if you feel guilty, because last month, you told them you want to do something different, and you I was going to cut my spending last month, and then you see, I'm spending more imma feel guilty. So I think it's also like a it's a personality thing too. Please, if you take advice from this podcast and you go do it, don't get into those groups and start trying to tell your friends how to live and where they should spend and blah blah, and act like you the financial advisor, right? Like, don't do that. It's more so an opportunity for you know, what we say is, there's two, two rules, is for us to hold you accountable to the goals that you set for yourself, and to provide a space for you as a grown man, to be vulnerable and to share. Hey, I'm, I'm actually scared about this, like, we got this big purchase coming up, and I don't I know about it, right? Like, I gotta make sure that I'm getting these things in order, type of thing which most of us, we keep all those things to ourselves, which also causes its own anxiety and fear and festering, and things of that nature. And a lot of times, there's another thing I've learned wealthy people. A lot of them, they have their friends, they have their mentorship circles. Some of them have groups that they pay to be a part of. And when they come to these groups, some of them are networking groups. And they come to these groups and they help each other with their problems. They share all these different things. And what happens in those circles is, you know, somebody will come in there, like, Man, I'm going through this, and my business is this, and it's not transforming the way I needed and blah, blah, and but somebody else in the group, like, Man, I dealt with that in 2007 that in 2007 and

Jamila Souffrant 27:43

or I know a guy, I'll introduce you. So, like, that problem's fixed right there

Brandon Copeland 27:47

exactly. So a lot of times for us, we go through it by ourselves, and because we haven't been able to pick up the phone and call anybody. One, sometimes that's our pride. But two, now, in this day and age, there are more people than ever that you can call and get advice from if you're willing to reach out. Yeah,

Jamila Souffrant 28:11

I think something that's probably not we're not like, even probably saying outright, but I think it's such an important part of the financial process and journey and how successful you can be, is like the like, this commodity called trust, like, like, how, how well you can trust people. And I know that's in the you know that's individual, because it could be of any race or background. You can just have a hard time trusting people based on how you're raised or who you are. There might be some cultures who are raised with more like, mistrust of whether you know it is with good reason for the powers that be and systems, and then just, you know, I would love to see, probably, a study in which, you know, outside of finances, but just like, trust within, like, the black community, of like, with each other and in communities, how that impacts us sharing, and how, like, that lack of sharing because we don't trust the other person, or that, You know, like, well, I don't know what that person what that person's gonna they gonna tell my business they don't have good intentions all these things. You know how that all dwindles down and eventually does impact our economic abilities, because we're not sharing, because we do have a lack of trust in our communities. And again, I'm, that's a blanket statement. I'm not saying that's every, you know, community of color or black person, but I'm, I'm wondering the that tie how, how it does impact us in that way?

Brandon Copeland 29:26

Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and stamp it as, like you said, it's not everybody, yeah, but the majority of us, and it also is people as well, too. I used to tell people, I um, every Super Bowl, they do this thing called Radio row, where they got all the different radio and TV networks in the convention center, and it's just bunch of people walking around, athletes, interviewers, hosts, fans, just walking around, not necessarily fans, but like people walking around, agents, etc. I remember one year in Miami in 2020 right before the pandemic, it was like, I. 800 people in the room at one time, and I was doing an interview, and I told somebody, I'm like, listen in this room, out of all 800 of us, 400 of us are probably making the same financial mistake right now. And if one person said, Hey guys, you know what I'm messing up here right now, please, don't ever do this with your money. It would save 400 of us the headache of ever having to go through it, right? And so just by talking and having these conversations and being comfortable putting yourself in a vulnerable spot, sharing your wins and your losses again, delivery is everything right. I think that it can help move the conversation forward. And there's even people who, I mean, you've I'm sure you've had it as well too. There's probably rooms you've gone into where there's been somebody there that probably has not said anything while you were in that room, but they send you a message or something later, or they come grab you afterwards, and they tell you how something that you said resonated all through conversation, right? So sometimes it's not even necessarily a back and forth. And I will say this for other folks, for folks who are like, hey, you know, I look at my friend group and my friend circle, or I look at my I don't want to share these things with a co worker or anybody random. You can look at different one you should be, I mean, you're already tapped into this podcast, so shout out to you there, but there's other mediums as well too, that you can look at to determine how you can structure your own self, or getting that information that you can take and then apply to your life,

Jamila Souffrant 31:34

right? So important, but the community, the team around you being vulnerable, sometimes you might have to be proven right that someone is mistrustful, but it's like you have to take that risk in order to find the ones that are worthy of your trust and or the people that you can then connect with deeper. So I love all that the third part or third quarter you have in here with the commitment to smart spending, so saving on major expenses and reducing everyday cost. So do you feel that when you were in NFL, making, you know, your checks, versus now as an entrepreneur? Do you look at that differently now versus because of maybe your income, or when it fluctuated before? And then, how can someone who does want to live, I called it guac levels in my book, like, you know, Guac, level one is the most basic, you know, you're not trying to spend a lot of money. You would never buy guacamole outside guac. Level five is, you know, you you own a guacamole farm, or whatever you know, like, in terms of your spending habits or what you like. And so I think for people who naturally don't like to spend money, it's easier than with this topic of spending. But then, for people who like to spend, want to, you know, live more lavishly and have nice things, that part is hard, like this part, no matter how much you earn, is hard, because spending can be an issue. You're going

Brandon Copeland 32:54

against your nature. Yeah, you're going against your nature. So for me, I've always been conscious of my spending. I am more conscious now than I was while playing. But even when my first year, my rookie year, while playing, I decided to do a budget. And I decided to literally keep receipts in my pocket, my back pocket, and every time I would come back in, I would literally just put them on the table, put them on the table, and then every Monday, sometimes Sunday, Sunday I was practice squad, so I wasn't playing. So it typically was Sunday. I'd be watching the game, if it was away game, and I would just literally go through and I put my actual numbers in. So I've always been conscious of how much I'm spending, right and eventually, once I started making bigger checks, I didn't do that, but the exercise that I did early gave me guardrails to understand where I was spending more and where I should be, not falling victim to my own human nature and overspending in places. With all that being said, I'm more conscious of it now, one, because I have the time. Two, because there's more on the line for me at this point in time, because now there's three boys that I want to make sure they have all the options in the world at their disposal. I want to make sure my wife is just never has to worry about certain things. And I also want to make sure I don't have to worry about certain things ever again. And so I'm really conscious of it, because we're we're looking at it, I'm seeing it, and I just want to get there right. And then as soon as I get there, I'm going to want to go beyond it as well too, which is cool. You have to figure out what your own nature is. And I think that the biggest thing I would tell everybody, though, is to do a budget, to figure out how much money cost you to live every single month. And by doing that, then you're going to end up bucketing different categories. I have a budget worksheet that you can go get on life 101, dot io, the book points to it as well too. You can go get this budget, and you're going to see the different categories of spending, and you're naturally probably going to say, Yo, I did not know I spent that much on my. Subscriptions every month. I did not know that this was taking money from my bank account every month. I did not know that the kids been buying video games every single month on this thing, right? Like Roblox, Robux, they've been getting all the robux in the world, right? And so by doing that exercise, though, regardless of who you are and what your nature with money is, you'll at least make sure that the money that you're spending consistently every month is money that you're comfortable spending, money that you're you're happy spending, and if not, then you'll be able to put in the work to adjust it, and

Jamila Souffrant 35:35

I think ripping off that band aid or be having the courage to confront the numbers. Right? So many people actually know that they should do that, but like, you know, I don't want to know, because if I know, then it's on me to change it, and they might not be ready to change yet.

Brandon Copeland 35:49

Absolutely, a lot of people say I remember people, so we'll bring the football analogy in here. Is like when I was a rookie with the Baltimore Ravens, Dean peas, the D coordinator came in and said, Listen, Congratulations, you made it to the Baltimore Ravens defensive locker room. We only bring in dogs. We don't bring in anybody that can't play ball. Now, what will separate you and determine whether you make the team or not and whether you play on Sundays or not, or whether you can actually apply the information on the football field? I can go, he literally said, I can go upstairs and get somebody in the front office who has never played football to learn the playbook and learn what they're supposed to do, and tell you all the things that they're supposed to do, right with their money, with their playbook, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. But can you actually take the playbook and go onto the field and actually use it? That's what we're talking about here. Who can actually take the information, we all know what we're supposed to do, right? But who can actually take that in and apply it right? You're you're hitting the nail right on the head. It's like ripping off the band aid. And then the next step is like, okay, cool. Can I go dig myself out of this hole? Can I go climb this mountain, so to speak.

Jamila Souffrant 37:00

But I'm so glad you brought up the difference in the people who kind of make it further, like even in that situation in the NFL, who actually play with that it's like the application, like the knowledge you have, and you can know it, and you can even do it as a player. I mean, you wouldn't have gotten that far if you can't, but it's like performing and applying it and doing it in that moment when it needs to be done is really important. And so I think that's where a lot of people come in to, where it's not like they don't know what they shouldn't be doing. It's not why, it's not the what, or that they don't know. It's the why, why aren't they doing it? And I think if you can figure out what's holding you back from the why, and even if it doesn't really cause action, like but you at least know, okay, I am afraid to do this because I'm scared, or actually don't want you know you can at least be honest with yourself in that regard, in any area of your life. I think helps a bit, because that acknowledgement of it puts you in a better place to at least then take action when the time comes. Now I think the last part of your book the promise of legacy and, you know, talk about insurance and wills and estate planning in your book, your money playbook is important, and you now expanding your family and having your third child. I know for you, legacy is important, and not just money, not just leaving money behind, but also that intangible part of it that we want to leave our kids. So let's talk a bit about that.

Brandon Copeland 38:18

Yeah, like you said, I mean the please get the book, get your money playbook, and you can spend time reading about wills, insurance and estate planning and that process, but also consult with the team that you have or that you're growing in order to set yourself up properly. But for me, especially having my third boy, now I'm thinking about, how do I get more time with you, each of you individually, but also as a group? And how do I empower each of you to be able to manage everything that's going to be, I want to say, handed to you everything that you'll earn. You're going to have to earn it, right? But you know, Tyler Perry talks about this, so I'm going in a little tangent. We we talk about how you know you if you don't have a friend group that you can talk to about certain things, you can look at other mediums to learn how they deal with things. And I do that with heart to heart. Kevin Hart, interviewing Tyler Perry, Will Smith, Chris Rock, Ice Cube, J Cole, etc. But Tyler Perry talks about how the pressure of some of this stuff can crush people. I literally was watching an interview with him. Makiki Palmer talking about how he had to realize that when he was trying to bring people up to a certain altitude, certain altitudes will kill folks that aren't equipped to handle it right. And how much of a shame would it be if I was out here in this world talking about, I'm hustling, I'm building, I'm generational wealth. I'm gonna pass it down to my children, and I passed them down a curse, because they had no idea how to actually deal. Deal with it, right? How to deal with certain people in the world who only want to talk to them because they have money? How to deal with the pressure of entitlement around you and things of that nature, right? And so, and then, how to also take it and flip it and go grow it and not feel like you're just, you just been handed something by by your pops and your mom, right? And so for me, that is where I'm spending time now. And my kids are are five, soon to be three, and brand new, fresh out the womb, right? Still got the new new baby smell, right? But I'm already talking with my kids about investing. I'm already talking about my with my kids about piggy bank. I'm making them feel the money. I'm making them understand the money. My kid, my oldest, comes in, it's like, Daddy, you said we're gonna buy some stocks today. Let's buy some Okay, which one do you want to buy? Right? And so we're having real conversations about these things early, because the goal is for them to see me hustle so they know how to hustle. It's not foreign to them, and then for them to be able to apply it themselves as well, too, in the future. The final thing I'll say, if you look at team owners, and again, I it's it's something that hopefully others have heard. Maybe you've heard just on it, other people interviewing and talking about it, but a lot of team owners end up having their families around the team. They have their kids come around the team. The Giants owner has been noted multiple times of having the kids who spend time with the equipment managers. They spend time in the cafeteria, they spend time with the front office like they've literally spent time with all these different groups and what people aren't may not really be putting together is like, that's really them training them early to start to understand the business, so that one day they can actually own and run the business, right? And so what can we all be doing in our own individual lives? How can we be bringing our children into some of the decisions that we have to make and still let them be kids, right? You don't have to show share everything with them, right? But how can we bring them into some of the decisions we have to make that we pray they will have the opportunity to make one day, and guess what? One day, they'll be sitting thinking about how, you know, my son and I, we were literally sitting over there. He was sitting on my lap, and we were going through the different screens and looking at the different stocks. One day, he'll remember that and think, oh, man, I remember the first time I bought a stock with my pops. Let me teach my children as well too. So that's what I'm on right now, is, how do we make sure that we are actually teaching them how to fish? Yeah,

Jamila Souffrant 42:36

that training part. I mean, it's so important, and it really comes through conversation and transparency. And like you said, like you don't have to share. You know, kids talk a lot. So, you know, I tell them every single thing they go tell their the teachers all your business, say their friends. But I think, you know, even just the regular decisions, because you want them to have also discernment, right? Like, yes, what we both talk about, money. You know, money focused, financially focused, but I think it's deeper than that. It's bigger than that, just like the power to be able to make just a good decision, like this decision on who your friends are, or should I stay in this park? Or should I leave right now, because there seems to be something happening, or all these little things that are not necessarily money related, but they will impact their opportunities and future and who they're around and and so when we're able to share with them, you know, hey, you know, like, what do you think about this? In what do you think about this? What would be your advice to me? Because, you know, I'm doing that with my kids too, where I want them to share what's going on in their world, in their school. But also, okay, mom, like, I'm training for a half marathon now, so I'm bringing them into that and where, this is what I'm doing. And you know, today I'm thinking I'm going to run this many miles, and then Wednesday, I'm gonna do this, you know, and it's not easy, but here's how I'm pushing myself, and not just decision making, discernment, but like when I ask you to push yourself physically because you say you want to play basketball, this is how I'm also pushing myself, because I said I'm doing this thing, and here's how it's hard for me, but how I'm getting through it. And so I think being able to talk to your kids, even if it's not just money, but just in terms of your life, brings them into understanding, you know, more and more like your world. And hopefully then you they can make those those other decisions as they come.

Brandon Copeland 44:21

Well, I think what you just mentioned is so key, because you are really showing them how to chase a goal, right? Like you're showing them like, Hey, Mommy wants to do this. This is how I'm gonna do it. It's not me just waking up one day and just getting to it. You're really showing them. Hey, you can do anything in this world that you put your mind to. And let me show you how I did this. And one of the most powerful moments I had in my career when I was with the Jets we were losing. But there was a quarterback, Josh McCown, who was like the vocal leader. Of the team. And one thing he said, I didn't have any children at the time. But he's he asked everybody in the room, we had lost a couple games in row. And he's like, Listen, how many of you want to have how many of you have children? Cool people raising. How many you want to have children? Almost everybody raised their hand. He's like, Listen, I have children. He played for like, 18 years or so, he's like, I have children now. They're like, teenagers, right? And one day you're going to your child is going to go through something, and they're going to come to you, and they're going to be like, Dad, how do I deal with this? Or, like, how do I just want to quit? I want to give up, Baba. And you're going to have to give them that speech. You're going to know, you got to keep going, son. Or this, this, you got this, let's go. And one day, your child is going to get old enough to look you in the eyes and say, Well, what did you do when you were in this moment? What did you do? Did you fold or did you step up to the plate? Right? And what you're actually showing them in real life, like they'll actually be able to say little you never have to question my mom. She she stood 10 toes down, right? And so I just think that those are those lessons that, like, you can't put a price on at all, and the more we can pour time, effort and energy into that, and also share the different lessons of like, how you are teaching your children, so that I can teach my children that way and take notes and all that stuff. I think that that's just going to help make sure that we are we're better off as a society, but also as a culture. We don't hand our children something that breaks them.

Jamila Souffrant 46:30

Yes, oh my gosh. Brandon, love this conversation. Please tell everyone where they can get your new book that's out right now.

Brandon Copeland 46:37

Yeah, go to yourmoneyplaybook.com yourmoneyplaybook.com yourmoneyplaybook.com as simple as that, you can purchase the book on wherever you like to get books from, but yeah, one I appreciate you for having me on. I appreciate this conversation as well, too, and and congratulations to you on all of the amazing success. I remember seeing you launch your book and everything like that, and I was hitting you up and, you know, I'm just going to put it out there to all your fans and stuff like that. You know, you could have easily been like, Nah, right? Like, nah, I got time. Don't do that, right? But she you set up time to discuss it with me, to walk me through the process and everything like that. So it's really cool to have it come full circle, but then also, even better, to be able to have this conversation with you, and good luck on your half marathon as well, too, because that's better than me tell you that much.

Jamila Souffrant 47:30

It's tough, it's tough, but I'm doing it. But thank you so much Brandon, and congrats to you again on all the exciting things happening in your life. Thank you so much. Don't forget, you can get the episode show notes for this episode by going to journey to launch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this and you can still grab your jumpstart guide for free to help you on your journey to financial freedom by going to journey to launch com slash jumpstart, If you want to support me and the podcast and love the free content and information that you get here, here are four ways that you can support me in the show. One, make sure you're subscribed to the podcast wherever you listen, whether that's Apple podcast, that purple app on your phone, your Android device, YouTube, Spotify, wherever it is that you happen to listen. Just subscribe so you are not missing an episode, and if you're happening to listen to this in Apple podcasts, rate review and subscribe there. I appreciate and read every single review. Number two, follow me on my social media accounts. I'm at journey to launch on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and I love, love, love interacting with journeyers. There three, support and check out the sponsors of this show. If you hear something that interests you, sponsors are the main ways we keep the podcast lights on here, so show them some love for supporting your girl four and last but not least, share this episode, this podcast, with a friend or family member or coworker, so that we can spread the message of Journey to launch. All right, that's it until next week. Keep on journeying. Journeyers. You.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai