Emmitt Smith on Entrepreneurship
by Don Yeager
Success Magazine
Emmitt Smith has run past legends, danced with stars and posed for the sculptor crafting his Hall of Fame bust. He’s built upon his athletic talents by working hard, seizing opportunities and reaching out to others for advice when he needed it.
“Football was something that was very natural for me,” the former Dallas Cowboy tells SUCCESS. “I knew that if I did the things that I needed to do, there was a good chance that I could have a long and hopefully prosperous career on the field. And, fortunately for me, it worked out that way. Still, from Day One in the NFL, I was always preparing for life after football. I understood that football was just a vehicle to take me to the next part of my life.”
During his 14 NFL seasons, as he was racing past Jim Brown and Walter Payton to become the league’s all-time leading rusher, Smith began looking for mentors, people who could help him direct his competitive spirit into the world of entrepreneurship.
“I didn’t have to look far,” he says “Right in my own backyard here in Dallas I could learn from people like [Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones or Roger Staubach. It is amazing when you look at what Roger has been able to do with the Staubach companies.”
Smith also visited Magic Johnson, whose Magic Johnson Enterprises focuses on providing quality entertainment, products and services to ethnically diverse urban communities. “I thought, ‘OK, I can duplicate what Magic did by taking my own brand and maximizing it,’ ” Smith says.
He originally built a partnership with Staubach’s very successful property management and real estate firm, but branched off several years ago to focus, like Johnson, on the urban community. Smith co-founded ESmith Legacy Inc., a Dallas-based commercial real estate company that targets opportunities in minority markets.
“I know about the things facing urban neighborhoods and what’s happening when businesses are walking away from them. That’s what makes what we’re doing—buying and renovating property in these neighborhoods—more than just business to me. I feel like it’s part of doing something bigger.”
Building for the Future
ESmith Legacy projects have included the Zenith, a 21-story luxury residential and retail project in Baltimore; a shopping center in Phoenix; and 414 Water Street, a 31-story luxury condominium building in Baltimore, according to the company’s Web site. Smith credits many mentors as positive influences on his life and career. “It’s funny, but one of the reasons I got into the real estate business is from lessons I learned from my youth football coach back when I was 11 or 12 years old. He taught me how to read floor plans and blueprints because he was involved in the business.”
Smith even pursued architecture studies at the University of Florida. His plans changed “when football went so well,” he says, “but I always had a real desire to be involved in this business.”
Later, “guys like Roger and Magic certainly were trailblazers for me. They showed what athletes are capable of doing after they transition from the game,” he says.
Grateful for the mentorship he’s had over the years, Smith is happy to do the same for other up-and-coming entrepreneurs. He’s working with organizers of next year’s North Texas Super Bowl to help female- and minority-owned businesses become eligible for contracts related to the Super Bowl.
Originally invited to serve in an honorary capacity, Smith said he preferred to roll up his sleeves and get more involved as co-chair of the Super Bowl Host Committee’s Emerging Business Action Team. “Putting your name to something is kind of passive work in a lot of ways,” he told reporters. “But when you start talking about emerging businesses, I have a small company myself that’s trying to emerge and break from the cluster. In that position, you understand some of the challenges. I bring a different perspective to the table, outside of just being an honorary chairperson.”
Read the full story at www.SuccessMagazine.com.
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