Brent Grablachoff

Prioritize your high-level goals with supporting tasks.

 

Brent Grablachoff is the Owner and Coach of Kicking World, LLC the leading football kicking, punting & snapping instruction provider in the world that he founded in 2008 and incorporated in 2012. He left director & management level positions at technology, financial, and software sales companies to focus on running the startup. The national football camp company makes stops in over 20 states and 32 major cities, reaching over 1,500 students a year. The company trains specialists from ages 9 through pro and has multiple NFL kickers under their tutelage.

In 2013 He authored the ‘Complete Guide to Kicking & Punting’ Book and ‘Complete Guide to Kicking’ DVD and in 2016 released the ‘Step by Step Guide to Punting’ DVD which are all available at Amazon.com. Brent Grablachoff also launched the first ever kicking app which allows kickers and punters to track, analyze & share their statistics. It’s available for iOS and Android.

Previous to Brent Grablachoff founding Kicking World his experience includes a versatile array of sales & marketing positions at Fortune 500 companies including CDW, Honda, and Merrill Lynch as well as Director of Marketing and Business Development positions at 2 different online video tech startups.

Brent’s passion is growing Kicking World and positively impacting young men across the world through his coaching expertise. He received a B.S. in Marketing from Montclair State University in New Jersey in 2003; where he was born and raised before moving to Southern California in 2007 where he spent close to 9 years in San Diego, CA. In 2017 he moved to Texas and now lives and works in Austin, TX where Kicking World is headquartered. Brent enjoys fishing, golf, dining, travel, the outdoors, fitness, and technology.

Where did the idea for Kicking World come from?

After college I spent a few years in various roles in sales & marketing and really enjoyed working at large corporations, but the itch to do my own thing was always there. I also missed playing football and being involved in organized sports and felt like that was missing from my life. On the weekends I would give private lessons to younger kids around my town and I really enjoyed coaching, teaching, and giving advice. After a couple years of doing it part time for fun, I went all in and took a risk and quit my corporate job and began doing private lessons and scheduling camps by day, and slinging drinks as a bartender at night to help make ends meet.

It took a few years to stabilize and ultimately it was able to turn it into a full-time venture for me that took off and has continued to grow year over year. I’m proud to say that every year we’ve grown since inception, which is a real feat, especially considering most businesses don’t make it past the first year.
I’m very fortunate and blessed, and do not take it for granted. I attribute the business getting off the ground to a few main things – lots of hard work, trusting my gut and intuition, focusing on the details, following through in everything I do, and giving each customer 100%.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

Being in the sports camp industry there are seasonal swings, and certain times of the year can be absolutely chaotic, while others tamer which gives me much needed rest and relaxation to make up for the flurry of camp travel season. When I’m not out on the field running a camp or administering private lessons, I wear lots of hats doing marketing, social media posts, blog articles, keeping up to date on our students’ performances and letting people know about it. I personally reach out to college coaches about our top students and help get them get recruited. I enjoy speaking at coaching conventions and making surprise visits at my students’ games.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I get epiphanies late at night or in the shower. It’s the craziest thing. I previously kept a waterproof crayon and paper in my shower so when creativity struck, I was able to quickly write my ideas down (lol)! Now I speak it into my Amazon Alexa device.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Cloud services. I feel it’s poised for extreme growth over the next 5 years.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

At all times I’ll have a hit list of prioritized items on my desk that I want to accomplish today, this week, this month, this quarter, and this year. I write out high level goals, with more micro bullet points that I need to complete to bring the objective, roll-out, or goal to fruition.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Loosen up a little. I’ve always been so intense and while it’s a great attribute and goes with my drive and determination, it can also create stress & tension. It’s very difficult to run on high octane continuously without crashing. There needs to be some buffer time to help reset your mind and body. I would tell myself to enjoy the moment a little more.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Having purpose in what you do, and satisfaction with where you are in life and what you’re doing for others is massively more important than how much money you make.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Ask for reviews. Send emails to your most loyal customers asking for their nod of approval via a testimonial or online review.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Realizing that direct mail is not dead. We invest heavily in this, as well as in the typical marketing mediums.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

We launched a new service that I really thought was going to take off quickly. It wound up being a dud. We pulled back and re-marketed it, and half a year later re-launched and it was a success. Sometimes in business, just as in life, timing is everything.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Virtual Consulting. It can be a new revenue stream with minimal time and resources committed, and allow you to reach customers anywhere, regardless of geographic boundary.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I bought 2 tickets to a College football game and surprised one of my long-time students by taking him to a big game. His mom said it was one of the best weekends of his life.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Absolutely love Dropbox! It’s the easiest cloud storage software out there and we use it for sharing large video files with our students, having our photographers upload camp photos, and much more. I also am a big advocate of Amazon’s Audible which I try to download and listen to one book whenever I’m in the air. I can truck through 4 books a month with ease through Audible. I mostly stick with business, marketing, leadership, and self-development books.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo. It will help spark your creativity and get you thinking in new ways about your business and people.

What is your favorite quote?

“Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.” (Thomas A. Edison)

Key Learnings:

• Trust your gut – intuition is a powerful trait.
• Prioritize your high-level goals with supporting tasks.
• Be resourceful and don’t be afraid to ask others for help.
• Show your top customers know how much you appreciate them.

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