#21 - Keontay Gaines: Overcome Adversity by Building a Strong Social Circle

Chris Miller: Okay. And with that, you are officially live. You made it.
Keontay Gaines: Let's go.
Chris Miller: You made it to the studio, and you got to see all the behind the scenes when we were setting up.
Keontay Gaines: Yes, sir.
Chris Miller: And Sonny, the studio mascot, was walking around checking up on everybody.
Keontay Gaines: Yes, he was.
Chris Miller: But how does it feel to be here?
Keontay Gaines: Man, it feels amazing. It feels surreal. Uh, to be honest, if this was a couple of years ago, I'd be super uncomfortable.
Chris Miller: Yeah.
Keontay Gaines: Because talking to people in this capacity isn't the most comfortable. But what I've learned is you only grow when you're uncomfortable. So let's go. Let's go.
Chris Miller: Let's go get it. What changed from a couple of years ago to now?
Keontay Gaines: Practice, practice, practice. And life.
Chris Miller: Yeah.
Keontay Gaines: Life has been lifeing, as they say.
Chris Miller: Right? So where'd you come up, man?
Keontay Gaines: Shoot. Well, could I pause real quick?
Chris Miller: Go for it.
Keontay Gaines: I want to pray. Yeah, let's pray. Let's do it before we officially officially start.
Chris Miller: Okay.
Keontay Gaines: I'll lead us in prayer.
Chris Miller: Yeah, leave me in prayer also.
Keontay Gaines: Dear God, thank you for another opportunity to, um, give you glory, give you praise. Uh, thank you for my brother, Chris Miller, for this wonderful opportunity to speak on his podcast. Um, I pray that you allow this segment or episode to reach people all over the world and help them become more effective, communicators help them better ah their relationship with you, and help them become better versions of themselves. Uh, in Jesus name, amen.
Chris Miller: Amen.
Keontay Gaines: Amen.
Chris Miller: Okay, now, are you officially alive?
Keontay Gaines: Yes.
Chris Miller: Now you are officially live to the Talk to People podcast. Dining room, studio. Sir, you made it. So how does it feel to be here?
Keontay Gaines: I feels great. It feels surreal. And I'm excited and humbled as well that the great Chris Miller, my dear brother and friend, has welcomed me to his home studio.
Chris Miller: Well, we were excited to do this. We've been trying for a while, but we live in different states now for a little bit. We were in the same state, and now you are in a much different state. So let's start there. Where are you at now, and what are you doing? Las Vegas.
Keontay Gaines: The great Las Vegas. City of lights.
Chris Miller: What, uh, are you doing in Vegas?
Keontay Gaines: So I work for UNLV Athletics as Assistant Director of Student Athlete Development. My job basically entitles me helping student athletes with everything life after sports, jobs, internships, community engagement, um, literally everything. Graduate school, the whole nine.
Chris Miller: I like to say, after they get done with athletics yeah. What are they going to do? And that's a big question, right? Because whenever you're a college athlete, in order to get there, your world had to be myopic focused on sports, because you're not going to get a scholarship unless you're obsessed with it. So having to switch gears from being, oh, I'm going to have to go from sports to something else could be really tough. So your role is important.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah. And I truly believe that I'm living my purpose because I'm allowing the student athletes to not only hear my story, but I'm, uh, a walking testimony that it's possible. And your sport doesn't define who you are. You have other talents, and you can.
Chris Miller: Do it because we got two athletes at the table right here.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah. Very competitive.
Chris Miller: You are a bit more let's see here. Recognized because you played football for Valley.
Keontay Gaines: Forge Military College and then went on University of Tulsa.
Chris Miller: Shout out, uh, to the Hurricane.
Keontay Gaines: Yes, sir. Rain Cane went, uh, on to receive my master's degree at the University of Kansas Rock. Chalk Jayhawk.
Chris Miller: So this is all exciting to hear about. You got this cool job in Vegas. You used to be playing college football, catching some deep passes. Now you got all these different degrees. But it wasn't always that way.
Keontay Gaines: No.
Chris Miller: Yeah. So let's start at the beginning. What does that look like? Where are you? What's life like, man? A lot of questions.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah, that's a great question. Uh, so I'm originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Um, inner city kid, west Baltimore. Grew, uh, up public housing, section eight. They call it food stamps. Uh, it was rough. It was rough growing up. Uh, to be completely honest, a lot of my childhood friends or the people that I grew up with are either dead or in jail. There's about 1% that I grew up with that's actually doing something, uh, with their life. Um, yeah, it was tough growing up, man. And being on this podcast, like I said a few years ago, it would have been very uncomfortable for me because I was not good with speaking to a diverse group of people. The inner city Baltimore, it wasn't too diverse. Uh, so when I went off to junior college, it was very uncomfortable for me. But I adapted quickly, and I came around, and years later, man, communicating with people just became so easy.
Chris Miller: Yeah.
Keontay Gaines: So easy.
Chris Miller: So what was your favorite part about your childhood?
Keontay Gaines: Being outside, as you can imagine, the inner city. Uh, there's always something to do, and there's always something going on. Um, being outside, you just saw a little bit of everything. I grew up kind of fast, so I matured really quickly, I want to say. Uh, but also playing football, obviously, that was my passion. Had a dream to go to the NFL. Um, football was all I knew. That wasn't all I knew. I mean, I knew I was blessed with many talents, and I've always had a nag for communicating with people. But at that moment in inner city Baltimore, it was like just my people, like, black people. Uh, I was not comfortable talking to people of different races, uh, until I got to junior college. And that's where a lot of stuff shifted.
Chris Miller: So what did being gifted at talking to people look like? Whenever you were a kid in baltimore.
Keontay Gaines: Oh, man. So a lot of people don't notice you're getting exclusive content right now. So, in high school, I sold snacks. I was a walking convenience store. So I had everything you can eat, uh, everything you can name. Candy, honey buns, sodas waters juices. Uh, so I would get to school really early in the morning with a huge duffel bag full of snacks. I would put, uh, the drinks in my locker. They, uh, were cold already, and they would stay cold. I would be sure to make sure I would just make sure I finished my assignments early. Asked a, uh, teacher to go to the bathroom, and then I'm just walking the halls, making sales. Walking the halls, making sales. And from there, man, I felt like that's a form of customer service. And I got a lot of reps with talking to people. And I think that's what sparked my nag for just being good around people, being personable, because I had to make sure they were buying my snacks.
Chris Miller: So how were you setting your prices?
Keontay Gaines: Oh, man, I think chips were like, $0.50. Honey Buns were like a dollar. I even had airheads that were like a quarter.
Chris Miller: Oh, those are good.
Keontay Gaines: Sodas waters were like a dollar.
Chris Miller: Did you ever eat into your supply?
Keontay Gaines: Yeah, because I used to go to Sam's Club and buy everything.
Chris Miller: Okay.
Keontay Gaines: So I always had, like, an extra set aside for myself, obviously. That's awesome. But, yeah, I made a lot of money back then. A lot of money. On average, probably $200 a day, monday through Friday.
Chris Miller: I'm in the wrong business.
Keontay Gaines: And that was a bad day. That was a bad day.
Chris Miller: Wow.
Keontay Gaines: So that was me. And like I said, I clocked in a lot of hours talking to people.
Chris Miller: So did the school ever put a kibosh on you and your business?
Keontay Gaines: They tried.
Chris Miller: Uh, so you were kind of rogue.
Keontay Gaines: Naturally, a lot of people started copying because they saw that what I was doing was I was making money. I didn't have to work a job. Um, I wasn't too smart with my money back then, admittedly. Um, I bought a lot of shoes, hats. Uh, I was a swag champ. I like to say swag champ, but those are expensive. The school noticed that their vending machines weren't making as much money, and they noticed the amount of people walking around with duffel, uh, bags trying to sell snacks. So they put a rule on it. You couldn't come inside of the building with a duffel bag. They had these, uh I can't think of the name I'm blanking right now. Um, the things you walk through when you're going to a sporting detector. Yeah, they had the metal detectors. So, uh, mind you, I lived in West Baltimore. My high school was in East Baltimore, which was a little hike away. Uh, I would get up really early, maybe like, 5530. I would get to school by 630, nobody was there. But there were people in the gym playing basketball. So I would get into the school through the gym door, watch them play basketball in the morning. And after they played basketball, guess who they were buying snacks from? Me.
Chris Miller: They knew you because you were there.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah. A honey bunny tastes really good.
Chris Miller: After practice.
Keontay Gaines: After practice, or just after hooping, and you put it in a microwave for 30 seconds. It's a pastry, essentially. And then I would just walk upstairs. I'm already in the building. And then by the time everybody else got there, they had to walk through those metal detectors or go through all these different, uh, mazes just to get in.
Chris Miller: So you pushed your schedule up. That way you could accommodate.
Keontay Gaines: Very strategic.
Chris Miller: Very strategic. So you start selling snacks, and then the school starts cracking down, and you got to just like any great business got to adapt. And then what else does it look like? Whenever you're younger, you get involved with football? What's that like? How'd you first get involved with football, man?
Keontay Gaines: I think it was like maybe seven or eight.
Chris Miller: Yeah.
Keontay Gaines: Uh, Pop Warner.
Chris Miller: Okay.
Keontay Gaines: And I just grew up watching a lot of people. Barry Sanders favorite, uh, player was Tavon Austin. He's from West Baltimore as well. Uh, I just always I don't know, it was the footwork behind it. The celebrations, scoring, uh, touchdowns, things like that, that really excited me. And like I said, the dream was to go to the NFL. And it's crazy because now I work with student athletes and I'm teaching them how to do what I did. Basically how to leverage your education, your connections, and still be good life after sports. Because we all have this timeline. Everybody's timeline looks different. Everyone is not Tom Brady or LeBron. You can't be playing for 20 plus years due to injuries, mental health, all these different things. And you need a backup plan. I don't even want to call it a backup plan. Let's call it a parallel plan. You could be playing sports while also working on some of your other things. So, me, I'm playing football, selling candy. That's entrepreneurship, you know what I mean? Mhm. So it's about perspective and also just diving into your other interests. That parallel plan.
Chris Miller: Yeah. So how'd you pick this JUCO that you went to, man? Because it was much different than what you were used to.
Keontay Gaines: Yes, it was much, much different. Um, so one of my mentors, uh, named Michael Thomas uh, let me go back a little bit.
Chris Miller: Yeah.
Keontay Gaines: Uh, so my dad, he was incarcerated. Mhm. And he basically missed from maybe, like 7th or 8th grade all the way until the end of junior college or maybe the end of Tulsa. One of those. I'm trying to think on it, but anyways, um, my mentor still in contact with him today. He met my dad in jail. He was like a speaker or something.
Chris Miller: Wow.
Keontay Gaines: In jail. And he said that he reached out to me because a lot of the inmates there, they were just only concerned about how much time they had left. And he said my dad stood out to him because he was like, man, I got a son. He goes to this high school. He's looking into colleges, and he's not sure which direction to go in. He's good at football, he's good at this, this and that. I just need you to help him. That's all I'm worried about.
Chris Miller: That's awesome.
Keontay Gaines: And he said he told my dad he would contact me, and he did. We met up, started looking into schools, and we came across Valley Forge Military College. And I was like, uh, I don't know about that. We took a visit, and I felt like God was telling me, like, this is the place. And I was like, all right, I bought in. And that was that.
Chris Miller: What are the odds to go from, uh, that JUCO to playing D One? Pretty rare.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah, it's pretty rare. Yeah, it's pretty rare.
Chris Miller: But you were fairly driven, man.
Keontay Gaines: I was not going to let anything or anybody stop me from experience in Division One football. I was not going to allow anything or anybody to stop me, because one thing that I've always done was I believed in myself. Mhm. And it's crazy to see how much your belief in yourself could actually allow you to get better. Because my junior college highlights were better than my high school highlights. I didn't play much in high school. Wow. Um, but I always knew I was good, and I was way better in junior college than I was in high school. Had I stopped in high school, I would have never tapped into what junior college looked like.
Chris Miller: Did you feel like you had a lot to prove?
Keontay Gaines: Yeah, a lot to prove to myself and just people. I mean, life is tough, man, and you got your fair share of doubters and your fair share of people who believe in you, but the only thing that matters is your belief in yourself. So if you believe in yourself and you truly feel like God is pushing you to that and do it, you got to find a way to do it. And even talking about it right now, uh, it gives me chills, because I get to talk about it in a different capacity, and it helps me at my job because student athletes or athletes, they naturally gravitate towards me because I'm someone who's been through it. I'm someone who's been doubted. I'm someone who hasn't had much of a high school career. And then it just turned around and man, uh, it's crazy just talking about it, bro. I got so much better mentally, physically, spiritually. And that's why I wanted to pray in the beginning, because as I mature as a man, as a professional, as a father, husband, I'm learning more to acknowledge God in everything that I do and everything that I've done. Because without him, I wouldn't be here. And that's the honest truth. He's the reason for the creativity, the sense of direction, the productivity. And I don't want to forget in my busyness that he is the reason why I'm here. So I'm trying to make sure that I acknowledge him in everything I do, or before every meeting, before a big assignment. Shoot, before we even started, man, I was in the bathroom just like, thank you, thank you for another opportunity, because to me, this is a big deal, and I'm very appreciative for you allowing me to be on here. So thanks again.
Chris Miller: I'm grateful you're here. I mean, from the jump, whenever we first met one another, I was like, this guy knows what he's doing. And you may not always feel that way, but you are driven. And I'm interested in that. Like, why are you driven? Where does the drive come from? But one of the things that I enjoy the most is despite our different backgrounds and despite the differences and what we're doing now and what we were doing in college and there on out, we still are very similar in this idea of we love being able to build relationships with people. And where we are at is largely dependent on all of the generosity and the strength and wisdom of the council all around us. From the get go, I was constantly thinking about Mr. Keante Gaines in the flesh. In the flesh. So as far as connecting with people goes, who taught you how to do it?
Keontay Gaines: Uh, man, like I said, growing up selling, uh, candy in high school, I feel like I had a lot of reps, and back then I didn't notice it. But now, looking back, I'm like, man, that was my practice. That was my 10,000 hours. And for the people who don't know what I'm referring to, outliers. Uh, you read the book, right? Mhm, uh, by Malcolm, uh, Gladwell, basically, uh, a book that talks about how successful people became successful and some of the traits that they have and things like that. Um, one of the things that really stuck out to me is it takes at least 10,000 hours to be good at something. And I don't know the math right now, but 10,000 hours is a lot of hours, a lot of days, a lot of weeks, a lot of months, if I so can't. I started selling candy in high school with 9th grade through 12th grade. So that's four years, mhm four years of customer service, talking to people, convincing my teachers, uh, that I have to go to the bathroom and I'm just making money. Uh, that's four years of that. So I know how to deal with people. And I met, um, one of my teachers, I think it was junior year, senior year. He saw something in me and I'm still in contact with him to this day. So shout out to Koran Lee. Mr. Lee. I think he was teaching social studies, but he, uh, recommended two books. I think it was the Little Red Book of Wisdom by Mark Damas and, um, the Art of Dealing with People by Les Gibbling. And sorry if I'm butchering your names. Yeah, not good with names.
Chris Miller: We can put all of these books in the show notes so that people can check them out for sure.
Keontay Gaines: But, uh, The Art of Dealing with People, 39 page book, not a big read. He, uh, talked to me one day after class, and he was like, listen, I think you should get these two books. I see you got your little business going. You're entrepreneur, you're making money. Uh, but I know you have a nag with being around people, talking to people. I know you could take it to the next level. So read these books. So I bought the two books. Um, first one I read was The Art of Dealing with People. Just because I was like, man, this is a little skinny book. I don't read unless it's classwork or for a test. Um, so he's asking a junior senior in high school to read books on his own. And I'm like, man, I'm making all this money. I ain't got to read this. But I did it. And, man, that book changed my life. It changed my life. It talked about how to connect with people, how to become a better communicator, how to get what you want, uh, like, literally everything within those 39 pages. And once I read that book, something clicked. It was like, man, this is a skill. This is a skill. And this is a skill that I can use to not only make good friends, better friends, but to actually become more established and help more people as they try to navigate life, uh, as they try to become a better communicator and things like that. So I just started tapping in, tapping in, reading more books, talking to more people. Man, honestly, I used to practice talking to strangers. This is the first time I've ever admitted this, too. Honestly, just walking, like, wherever I went, I'm just giving compliments, man, I like that shirt. I like those shoes. And they're genuine compliments. But sometimes I feel like people just are so in their head about things. Like, they they're so afraid to say it because I don't know that person. I don't know if they're nice or mean. But I didn't care. I was just like, man, listen, I'm walking down the street. I'm going to tell that girl, she has nice hair. You have nice hair. It even go two ways. It's going to go good or go bad. If it goes bad, it doesn't matter. She doesn't know me. If it goes good, sparks a conversation. Maybe, uh, SAJA's always taking that approach, like, we're human, we weren't made to be in our own shell. We weren't made to be alone. And I think also the first indication of that is in the Bible. I mean, you're familiar with the beginning, right? The Book of Genesis, god mhm created the trees, the grass, the water. He created Adam. What was the one thing well, wait, he said all those things were good. Right. What was the one thing that he said was not good?
Chris Miller: To be alone.
Keontay Gaines: Exactly. So what did he do?
Chris Miller: Created Eve.
Keontay Gaines: Exactly. So, to me, I think that was the first indication that us as human beings, we weren't made to be alone. We weren't. And I know that's different because we're talking about community and talking to people. But if you don't talk to people, essentially, you're alone. You're doing life alone. Right. And I'm, um, so passionate about that because I know what it feels like to be alone. And I know how powerful and effective a good community is, how powerful and effective communicating and knowing how to communicating is. Because I'm living proof.
Chris Miller: So when did you first taste like healthy community?
Keontay Gaines: Although Baltimore was a pretty rough city, I think I still was able to find great community there and mentors. Uh, obviously I'm going to be pretty biased to Lawrence, Kansas, because I've lived in Lawrence, Kansas for three and a half years. Uh, Tulsa. I have great community. Valley Forge, I had great community. But it was something about being here in Lawrence that really it was like, man, my wife and I are in a friend group with married couples from ages, what, 23, 32? We were like, what, one of four or five couples? And you don't find that everywhere. That's something you hear of in a movie. So I think that community was definitely a game changer for us. Um, not only that community matters. And not just any community, but the right community. Um, are you familiar with the saying you are who you hang around? Yeah. Or the, uh, people you spend the most time with is basically who you become.
Chris Miller: Right.
Keontay Gaines: And I hate to say it, I found that to be true. And if I think back to my life growing up, I've avoided a lot of bad lot of bad situations. And if you just look at life, I mean, you watch different shows, there's a lot of people who are guilty by what?
Chris Miller: Association.
Keontay Gaines: Exactly. And that association comes from what?
Chris Miller: Hanging around.
Keontay Gaines: Hanging around the wrong people. The wrong people. So if I am a married man who's a professional, who's looking to become an athletic director and things like that, and I'm hanging around the wrong crowd all the time, what do you think is going to happen naturally? Their habits are going to rub off on me, mhm, because that's all I know. That's all I'm around. And don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean cut off all your friends that you think are bad influences, but you may not want to spend the most time around them, especially if you're aware of where you want to go and where they're at currently in their life.
Chris Miller: Yeah. We've been talking about atomic habits, and one of the cool parts from that book that I'm thinking of right now is how our environment affects our behavior.
Keontay Gaines: Yes.
Chris Miller: There were a couple instances that James Clear, the author, had mentioned. One was a company had a lounge for all their employees, and the way that they had spread their food out, it was easier to get soda than it was to get water. And what happened was more people drank soda than water. They went in, they switched it out, and they made it to where water bottles were more accessible and more people started drinking water exactly. Resulting in less soda. I was reading this book in grad school by Laszlo Bach, and he talks all about the power of a nudge and just how that changing the position of the water in the soda. That's a nudge. And it nudges us to do water instead of soda because it's easier. That goes right with what you're saying. With the people all around us, our behavior is impacted by the close, the many and the powerful. So the close, the people, the five closest people to us, the many, what everybody else is doing, we feel like we got to fit the crowd. And then the powerful, the people we really admire, we want to replicate their behavior, and we have an opportunity to adjust the close as much as we want. Ah, it's hard to adjust the many, but it's good for us to be aware of that. And then the powerful, we can determine who gets to be the president a little bit, but for the most part, the close is what we can adjust. So all of the people around us, we get to pick. Yeah. That's why we're hanging out.
Keontay Gaines: That's good.
Chris Miller: Yeah. And then one other thing. You were talking about the importance of reps and getting those snacks and Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hours. So from that same book. I'm reading it right now, so it's top of mind. He talked about a photography class. The photography teacher split the class into two groups at the very beginning of the semester. One group was a Quantity Group, and one group was a Quality Group. He told him, I'm going to grade you two differently. The Quantity Group, I'm, um, going to grade you by how many pictures you turn in. For instance, you turn in 200, you get an A, you turn in 180, you get a B. The Quality Group, you only have to turn one thing in. But I'm going to grade you on how good it is at the end of the semester. The group that was the best was the Quantity Group, which I was surprised by, because with the Quality Group, you only got to do one thing, just, like, do it really well. But what he observed was that the Quantity group was like, well, I need to get 200. Well, let me knock out ten. And on number ten, they're like, oh, that lighting's weird. I'm going to adjust that. Then on number 20, they're like, the way the subject standing could be a little better. So just getting 200 reps, getting going, allowed them to get good. Versus over here, they thought about getting good, yet they never actually got going.
Keontay Gaines: And you only took one photo.
Chris Miller: And you only took one photo. So talking about improving building communities, improving building those relationships, you were willing to initiate conversation by saying, hey, nice shoes, all the time. Hey, nice hair. Yeah, after a while, you get pretty good at it. I'm right there with you. Uh, but I'm still trying to get better. And COVID did not help us. It didn't COVID those social muscles atrophied. So now you and I are trying to get back to where we were, and a lot of people can identify with that.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah, that's good. I mean, like I said, those reps, they became better because they had more practice. And naturally, the Quality group, they said to themselves, man, listen, it's just one photo. I can take one photo and go enjoy the rest of my day. I'm done. And then they look at their grade, and it's like, man, all right, next time, maybe I'll take two photos. But you're still not getting those reps in. I got in four years of reps, plus some after I read that book, because that book was that life changing to me. I was like, all right. I ain't ever read many books outside of just classwork, homework, projects, whatever the case may be. Let's see if my teacher knew what he was talking about. Mhm in public, going out to parties, going out to dinner, exploring Baltimore, wherever. I'm just randomly talking to people, and I notice that it works. It works. Mhm but not only that, you don't want it to be fake. You got to be yourself. I've always been myself. And I think that's also something that people love about me, maybe, is that I'm genuine. Like, I'm going to joke around. I may say something that's just random, but it's me. I'm being me. And I think it's so easy to identify genuine people. It may not be sometimes, but you know what I mean?
Chris Miller: Um, yeah, you can feel it.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah, you can feel it. So I was just always someone who was eager to learn. I asked questions. I asked a lot of questions to this day. Um, good and bad thing. Um, and I was just always willing, I'm going to try. I'm going to try. And I failed a whole lot of times.
Chris Miller: What's one of your biggest failures?
Keontay Gaines: That's a tough one.
Chris Miller: That is a tough one.
Keontay Gaines: That's a tough one. I've been told. No, a. Lot.
Chris Miller: Yeah.
Keontay Gaines: I've been looked at like I was crazy just because I'm speaking to a stranger and they're like, who are you, dude?
Chris Miller: Yeah.
Keontay Gaines: I was like, okay, I try to rub it off, but it also has, uh, given me perspective because I'm like, what could I have done better? What can I do better the next time? So the next time I'm talking to a stranger, I'm even better. And if it doesn't work out that time, okay, I'll do it again. So I was always daring to continue to do it. Mhm. And now, man, I can go to Walmart Target. Shoot. I just went to go get my teeth clean today at Car Valley. Shout out to Car Valley.
Chris Miller: They look good.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, here in Lawrence, but after getting my teeth clean, I stood at the front and I was talking to the people for like, maybe 30 minutes. Wow. It's about life.
Chris Miller: Ah.
Keontay Gaines: Her husband lived in Vegas. I'm talking about Kansas, like the community, graduation, all those things. It was natural, it was genuine. And people love that I didn't have to do that, but I just enjoy talking to good people. Mhm. And I'm not afraid to initiate.
Chris Miller: Whenever I ask you that failure question. I tried out for the soccer team whenever I was in 7th grade and I made it to the last cut and I didn't make it.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah.
Chris Miller: And I think about that sometimes. That hurt. So do you have any failures? Like, that something you really wanted to do and it didn't work out?
Keontay Gaines: Yes, I have a lot of failures. Maybe I can answer that in categories. Yeah, let's do categories.
Chris Miller: All right, let's do it.
Keontay Gaines: Are we talking relationship? Sports.
Chris Miller: Sports. Let's start there. What's one of the biggest L's you've taken in sports, man?
Keontay Gaines: Oh, uh, this is Pop Warner. So, uh, I grew up playing for Santa Warren. Shout out to Santa coach, uh, nut. Yeah, shoot, man. We played a championship game against Park Height Saints. Oh, man. And this game in Pop Warner. I'm not sure if you're familiar with Pop Warner, but it's like Little League, right? Yeah, little League. If you keep winning, you go to, uh, Orlando. I think it's Disney World.
Chris Miller: Wow.
Keontay Gaines: And coming from Baltimore, hearing about Orlando, going to Florida, you wanted that because it's outside of Baltimore City and not many of us have ever stepped foot outside of Baltimore. Um, so we will always work towards that. And this was one of the things we had to do in order to continue to move on to that championship. Um, game. Great game. We're winning. I think they needed a two point conversion or like a touchdown maybe. Uh, I think it was the quarterback. He gets the ball. I think I'll saw a lineback and missed a tackle, but I was a cornerback and I run up to tackle him and I missed the tackle game.
Chris Miller: Did you feel like it was your fault.
Keontay Gaines: Ball game. Yes. Even though there's three levels, d line, linebackers, and then secondary.
Chris Miller: Right. Or scoring another touchdown on your team, or like, there's so many different things in sports that's the funny thing about sports is like, the kicker, uh, at the very end, who's going to ice the game, he's going to seal the whole deal. All he needs to do is make this 30 yard kick and he DWINKS it. And everybody's so mad at that kicker. And it's like, yeah, the kicker could have made the kick, but at the same time, the D line could have made that one tackle that forced a fourth down. You know what I mean? There are so many different things. But you were in your head about that missed.
Keontay Gaines: I m was in my head. I went home and I still had my football stuff on my jersey, my pads. I, uh, laid on the couch and I remember like it was yesterday, bro. I was listening to music. It was that Drake song, Ashton Martin music.
Chris Miller: So you were in your head?
Keontay Gaines: Uh uh. I was on the couch listening to that over and over and over. I was crying, bro. My mom came downstairs, just looked like I was just crying because that play just replayed over and over and over and over in my head, bro. Wow. We, uh, had a great year. I was balling and it's that one play. And like I said, there were so many other people that could have made that tackle, but it was the fact that I was like, man, one of the stars on the team. I'm supposed to make that play and I didn't.
Chris Miller: So how do you deal in team big sports? Like high level. I never played d one. Whenever somebody messes up and you know they messed up.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah.
Chris Miller: Did you ever get mad at a teammate and say, like, dude, you really screwed that up? Or for the most part, is it always like, hey, you got it next time?
Keontay Gaines: I think as competitors, your first instinct is to get upset because it's all in the moment. But if you're mature enough, I think, uh, you'll go back and say, hey, bro, I was just fired up. It was just in a moment. But most of the time you don't have to apologize because people understand. There's a lot of moments when I would get upset, yell, whatever, because it's what you do. You love the sport. You put in so many hours. And for me, football was like an outlet. It was my getaway from everything that I've grew up in, everything that I've experienced. Mhm. So once it happened where I stopped playing, it was tough. It was tough. I had to figure out I knew who I was, but I had to figure out who I was because a piece of me, a big piece of me, the sport that I felt like saved my life, it was gone. And that forced me to explore my other interests. Photography, taking pictures, um, traveling, hiking. I mean, I'm into art, if you ask me. In high school, Are you into art? What type of art are you talking about? Not really.
Chris Miller: Yeah, you're like, does it have chips and skittles I can sell?
Keontay Gaines: Yeah, but now I'm, like, into abstract art. I love to travel. I love exploring. So I really love getting out of my comfort zone, because, I mean, it's growth. At the end of the day, you're growing.
Chris Miller: Yeah. Whenever you were younger, did you ever imagine that you, uh, were going to be in Las Vegas?
Keontay Gaines: No. I talk about it all the time. It feels like a dream. Every single day, it feels like a dream. And even though I go through things, I'm going through something right now. Even though I go through things, uh, I try to stop myself from being unappreciative, because at the end of the day, a lot of people where I'm from would love to be doing what I'm doing, living where I live. And not only that, like, man, my life did, uh, a total 180. Total 180. It's a dream. I can go to any of the West Coast states for such a cheap price because I'm already there. I can drive to Arizona. I can drive to Seattle. I can drive to Cali. And before, I didn't have that access. So it's accessible. It's more accessible.
Chris Miller: Um, yeah. That's wild. I'm so proud of what you got going on over there.
Keontay Gaines: Thank you, man. Uh, you came to visit me. Telling people you came to visit, it.
Chris Miller: Was awesome being able to see the facility and be able to see everything, because athletics I've been affiliated with universities, but never really on the athletic side. So seeing the athletics infrastructure, the facilities, the uniforms, so much thought goes into that. So you being on you know what's funny? Whenever I went to college, I wanted to be a sports medicine physical therapist.
Keontay Gaines: Oh, man. Clocking in them hours.
Chris Miller: Yeah. The reason why was because whenever I was in high school, I saw Derek Rose get injured, and he had just signed a big deal with Adidas. So they rebranded his whole recovery as Hashtag the Return.
Keontay Gaines: I remember.
Chris Miller: Yeah. And all the commercials with him working out, trying to get better.
Keontay Gaines: They were fire. They were fire.
Chris Miller: They were fire. Right. They were so motivating. And I thought to myself, how cool would that be to be someone who is in that process of helping athletes get back to what they love? Yeah, that's awesome.
Keontay Gaines: That's dope.
Chris Miller: So I went to college wanting to study that, and then a year or two later, I got sidetracked, and I started studying communication. But sports is so big and learning about it, and it's one of those things that I think you can really thrive, because not only have you played sports but you're genuinely interested in sports, and then you want to build with people. So it's like, okay, those three things. What can I do with them? And the answer is, a lot. It's really cool to be on the sideline.
Keontay Gaines: And, man, you said, wow, but it has to fill full circle for you because you started studying communication, and now, guess what? You're the host of Talk to People with Chris Miller. So that's wild to see all of those years back then and looking at what you do now. Like, you didn't understand it back then, but you have to understand it now.
Chris Miller: Right.
Keontay Gaines: And that was the same light switch that hit for me when going through everything that I went through, like, looking at my entire life. And now I'm in a position to help student athletes think about life after sports. Uh huh. Because I've experienced everything you can name.
Chris Miller: You've been there.
Keontay Gaines: I've been there. Even outside of sports, I've been there. I've failed. I've had no from job interviews, and I've also crushed a lot of job interviews. I've done.
Chris Miller: Well, I saw how you prepare for job interviews, and it's kind of maniacal.
Keontay Gaines: Tell the people, tell how many page.
Chris Miller: Documents I couldn't count. I consider myself a good interviewer. And then I saw your interview prep, and I was like, man, no wonder I wasn't getting those jobs.
Keontay Gaines: No, man, I mean, I showed you that because I wanted you to see a different perspective and something that I care, and I know what my life could have been like, and I don't want to live that way. And my whole thing is, if I can motivate the people where I'm from to do what I'm doing or just go into any field that they want to be in, I feel like I'm doing my job. And I think that's my purpose. I'm not going through all this stuff for no reason. I'm going through it because God has a bigger plan for me. He has a bigger purpose for me. Um, I'm also improving every day in every aspect professional, as a husband, as a father. I'm nowhere near perfect. Nowhere near perfect. I'm human just like you. I'm human just like everybody else. But I'm willing. I'm willing to go through the fire. I'm willing to go through the learning process. I'm willing to connect with people.
Chris Miller: You are what excites you about the future?
Keontay Gaines: What gets you going? Man, I think just thinking back to everything that's ever happened, seeing the progress, being able to piece together, this is ten years later, but now I understand why that happened to me at 18. Now I understand, and to me, I just replay my victories. Mhm god has done this for me. God has done that for me. He's going to do this for me on paper. If you read about who I was before it got to all the things that I do now, you could easily say that's a failure waiting to happen. Inner city kid. He's not good with talking to people outside of his race. Mhm, he's selling candy. That seems cool. First generation college graduate, all of that stuff. On paper, it looks like a failure, but in real life, that was just a situation for God to be able to use and bring more people to him. Uh, and that's why I'm so big on like, man, it's God because it is one. And two, he works best in situations that don't look like they're possible. So that's what keeps me fired up, uh, keeps me going. And it's hard because some days I'm like, man, this ain't going to happen. That ain't going to happen. But that's when my community gets around me and they continue to speak his language. And that's another thing that I've learned about community. I mean, you want a community that speaks his language and not theirs. You want them to speak his heart and not theirs, his opinions and things like that and not theirs. And that's hard to do. That's hard to find. Because naturally we judge. Naturally we can look at something and be like, uh, I don't know if you should be in that and you want to be a good friend or a person in the good community or whatever you want to label it. But I'm learning more and more.
Chris Miller: About.
Keontay Gaines: Good community, good friends, all of those type of things.
Chris Miller: Me too. Uh, what would you say some marks of a good friend are, man?
Keontay Gaines: So I could go down a list of qualities or characteristics, but I want to say maybe it was last week I was listening to a podcast that really spoke to me. It's, uh, called the Leaders Cup. The Leaders cut by Preston. Uh, Morrison or Morris. Um, and there was this particular statement that spoke to me. Hey, I have it in my phone. I don't want to butcher it, so I'm gonna go to my notes. Uh, where is it?
Chris Miller: Was this when he did it with Michael Todd?
Keontay Gaines: Uh, no. So he did it with Tim Ross.
Chris Miller: Oh, right, Tim Ross.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah. Uh, where is it?
Chris Miller: If you all are curious about a good podcast, check out in the Basement with Tim Ross. I am. Um, great podcast. Building this podcast with the inspiration of many different people and in the Basement with Tim Ross started recently, and they have grown so quickly, and it's not about rapid growth. But what's cool about this podcast is their producer did this Instagram where he said, if you want to grow your podcast like we grew our podcast, here's how we did it. And they were completely transparent about how they did it. And I am going page by page and implementing those things because I want to be able to provide quality better than what I've been providing in The Basement with Tim Ross.
Keontay Gaines: Found it. Found it. So I have in my notes here. Um, great mentors or friends point you to God's mouth or word, not their heart or words. And I think the same could be said about what a quote unquote good friend is. Um, if you're a believer and you just have to ask yourself, um, am I pointing my friends to something because of my heart and my words, or is it God's heart and his words? Because if I'm helping them hear more of my words than God's, then the voice they'll start to hear is my voice and not his. So I think that it was profound. I was like, wow, I need to become a better friend. Mhm. Not because I'm a bad friend, but sometimes you can get in the habit of, nah, bro, I think you need to leave that alone. Or, Ah, I don't know about that one, bro. Maybe you should walk away instead of, well, according to God's word, this is what you should do. Or I don't know if I should speak on this situation because I think what I'm going to say is more of what I'm naturally thinking to do as a human being versus how we're supposed to live as a Christian. And it's hard, bro. Uh, it's hard because I think there's this misconception of since you're a Christian or a man of God or a woman of God, you're perfect and you're not. We were not made to be perfect. And we can't be perfect. We can't. So will we make mistakes? Yes. Will I say things out of anger? Yes. Have I said some stupid things out of anger? Yes. But that's when we go to that person and ask for forgiveness, and we go to God and ask for forgiveness and we try to be better the next time around. Yeah. Does, uh, it happen overnight?
Chris Miller: No, it happens in two nights, though. I'm just kidding. That would be a cool fix.
Keontay Gaines: Maybe three.
Chris Miller: Maybe three. Then we're fixed. Then we're fixed.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah.
Chris Miller: Boom. Um, everything's done with, ah, one of the segments I say segment man, that sounds so official. But one of the premises I've been thinking about with this show is you can measure your life in years, you can measure it in days or semesters, but you can also measure it in conversation. We look back on life, and when we do, we see different conversations that brought us to where we're at today and that have shaped us and molded us. For instance, one of the conversations I can think of is, I'm a little guy, I'm younger. How old would I be? Mhm, I'm in high school, early high school. I think I'm eating cereal in my living room. Whenever I was in middle school and high school, I'd always walk around with, like, gym shorts on and no shirt. Yeah. Thought I was like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but I'm eating cereal and my mom comes up to me and she starts crying and she tells me that she has cancer. And I remember crying. That has changed a lot since then. But I think about that conversation, and the conversations aren't always sad. They can be happy. They can be really exciting. Mhm I remember I met with a friend my senior year of college. And every, I don't know, Tuesday or Monday, we would get together and we would pray about stuff. And we would go to a certain room and we'd be praying blessings over people or praying for people in our family or our friends or people we didn't even know. Um, and we, uh, had been praying about grad school because we both wanted to go. And I had shown up to the building and I checked my phone because I was like, I'm going to respond to stuff before we hop into our prayer session. And on the phone it says, hey, you've been selected. Not only are you not going to have to pay for grad school, we want to cut you a check while you're here. And also, could you teach public speaking?
Keontay Gaines: Yeah.
Chris Miller: I was like, what? And having that conversation with Mr. Pope, John Pope, shout out to him that I would meet with for mhm prayer. And he was really intentional about mentoring me and having that conversation with him about, oh my gosh, look at this email I just got. I remember that conversation. Yeah. So tell me about some conversations that you remember.
Keontay Gaines: Man, it's a lot of conversations. Yeah. Relationship conversations, professional conversations, sports. Um, I want to say one of the life changing conversations with, uh, one of my teachers from high school, uh, Karan, uh, Lee. He was telling me about this book, The Art of Dealing with People. If you don't have it, go get it. Mhm uh, I didn't realize it back then because I was a little immature. I m was like, mature. But when you're in high school, you're there, but you're not all the way there. Um, the conversation with my mentor, Michael Thomas, uh, who helped me navigate the whole process from high school to junior college. Um, it's funny, I was talking to one of my mentors yesterday, George Majette. Shout out to George. Uh, he was saying to me, because I told him about me being a guest, he was like, oh, what's the name of it? And I was like, talk to people with, uh, Chris Miller. And he was like, oh yeah, that's very fitting because you definitely talk to people. He was like, you call me, like, every day. He's like, I'm not saying in a bad way, by the way. We both started laughing. I was like, what, man, that sounds you're in my circle. You're in my circle of mentors. And I appreciate him. And he's been a great help. Great help professionally, personally, literally, in every way. Um, and there's a long list of people that's a hard question because there's a long list of people. Um, my grandfather, one of my professors from military college, ms. Hanscomb, she was my accounting professor. We're still in contact to this day. Um, shoot. The hall director from the University of Tulsa. We're still in contact this day. She was like my second mom. I have, like, a mom in every state that I've ever been in.
Chris Miller: That's a good tip right there. Literally get a mom in every state.
Keontay Gaines: Like a mom in every state. People that care about you, they take care of you. Mhm. And I also take care of them. Like, I sent her a card in the shirt a few weeks ago, and she said she loved the shirt. And then I was like, did you get the card? And she was like, oh, I have to go back to the package. And she opened it and she said she loved the shirt, but the card meant so much more to her than anything. And in the card I was just saying, like, I appreciate you just, uh, helping me out at Tulsa. Um, when I was making that transition from Tulsa to Kansas, trying to move and stuff, she let me stay, uh, a few more days in my dorm and stuff. That was very helpful. Care packages, whatever the case may be, it was very helpful, and I appreciated it. Outside of that stuff, I mean, we talk all the time. She checks on me. Those relationships matter. You want to continue to show people that you appreciate what they've done, but also you appreciate them as a person because it goes far beyond what they're doing for you.
Chris Miller: Yeah. One of my takeaways from this conversation is that, uh, whenever I ask you a question, oftentimes you're like, yeah, I can answer that. But you'll also think of all the people who help you've gotten to the place, to where you can answer that, and you talk about them. And that's a really good lesson, because anytime, anywhere wants to get somewhere where they aren't currently at, more than likely you're really going to need support. So you need to and when I say you, I'm talking to all of us. We need to exert energy actively to get people around us that are good people.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah. And I do that because it's so natural. And I understand that where I am right now, I have nowhere near done it by myself. It was one God and the people that God has placed in my life. So I want them to know that I not only appreciate them, but it's a natural response for me because I know I could not be where I am today without those people. And they may feel like it was a small task, I let them stay maybe two, three days, maybe four days.
Chris Miller: It was nothing.
Keontay Gaines: Dorm. It was nothing. But no, it was something. Yeah, it was something. Mhm. And man, I can't by myself. I can't. That's why community matters. Yeah.
Chris Miller: And that's such a good.
Keontay Gaines: Message.
Chris Miller: It could be that that hall director, she's thinking, oh, a room. I have to stay another week for closing anyways. We just get the students out. Yeah, it's no problem at all. But to you, it was something. And that idea of you're, nothing. Maybe somebody else is something. And I'm not talking. Everybody needs to go out and give, uh, away everything they have and give away all their time. But the people who are near to you and the people who are around you, it's something to consider. What costs me very little, but adds a lot of value to somebody else. Whenever I was in college, I was working in a church. Not on the payroll, just volunteering. And I met with the youth pastor, and he was like, hey, dad talked to me about all this different stuff. And I said, Well, I don't have any money, but what I do have is time, and I can give you that. I'm, uh, constantly thinking of that right now. It's like, I don't have X or Y, but what I do have is Z. And I can give you Z. And my Z is always changing. It used to be time. Now I feel like I want more.
Keontay Gaines: Time.
Chris Miller: I used to be making a lot of money. Now my Z I wouldn't say it's money, but I'm not making as much as I am, so it's change.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah. Dang. That's good, bro. That's good. So what have you learned, uh, throughout that whole process? Because that's a big change. And I don't want to say a lot of people are motivated by money, but it kind of is what it is. Like, money helps you provide and essentially helps you get whatever you want to get or whatever you can afford to get. Mhm. So it takes a lot of courage and it takes something different for that person to say, money is good, but I can provide this, I can give this. And to me, that shows true value.
Chris Miller: That does show true value. And one of the things I've learned is that my wife is an MVP.
Keontay Gaines: Shout out to Annie.
Chris Miller: Shout out to Annie. She has been incredibly supportive. And whenever we start talking about people and relationships, that relationship is incredibly important. So shout out to Annie. Another thing that I've learned is that we can create money. And this is going to sound funky, and people are going to be thinking that, um, I'm not going to send you a link about signing up for a course or drop shipping or something like that. But what I will tell you is that I'm also not going to ask you to so seed in my mission here. It's not like prosperity televangelism here, but I am learning that we can create money and we can generate revenue. What I mean by that is in 2022, I did not know how to podcast.
Keontay Gaines: Okay?
Chris Miller: I listened to them. I knew how to listen to a podcast. I did not know how to produce a podcast. September of 2022, I start thinking about podcasting. So I look up and I find equipment on Facebook marketplace in Oklahoma. Shout out to Braxton. He went there and we got it.
Keontay Gaines: Hey, Braxton.
Chris Miller: Yeah, I bring it back here in October. I start to learn how to use it. And I learned that I got the wrong equipment. Okay, that's part of it. No refund. No refund. Yes. Winston, that's the guy who sold it to me. He didn't mean any harm. Uh, it worked, but it didn't work. So, uh, November I get the right equipment, and then late November, I record my first podcast with my wife. Well, the quality was bad, so I have to record it again. And that's when I start branding. That's whenever I start to figure out this whole publishing thing, this distributing thing. So 2022, I didn't know how to do this. 2023 I launched a podcast. And guess what? I know how to do this. And after I release a couple of podcasts, someone contacts me and they said, hey, I've been thinking about releasing a podcast. M, I don't know how to do it. I also have all this space. Would you be willing to partner with me?
Keontay Gaines: Wow.
Chris Miller: Oh. Something I have a lot of is money. Something I don't have a lot of is knowledge, right? So all of this stuff that costs me little, this money, would you like it? Because the thing you have that costs me a lot knowledge I need. So 2022, I didn't have that knowledge. 2023 I got that knowledge and I started practicing to the point to where the thing that cost me little, like what microphone am I using? Well, you could Google that, but I'll tell you also, here's a link. Hey, how do you do this? Well, I'll tell you all that stuff I got, and that's generating me revenue. So it's such a good thing to think about. Like money, that money that gets direct deposited in your bank account, that money that pays for the lights and the food, it can be made through ways like selling snacks. It can be made through I'm, um, all about w two employment. I think most people, I think that's the way to go, and I don't think that's a bad thing. I think there's incredible organizations to work for, and people have incredible lives. But it's also something to think about is that you can generate money. You can make money.
Keontay Gaines: Man, I hope you all got your pen and pads, because this is free game.
Chris Miller: Hey, you need to be a co host right there.
Keontay Gaines: This is free game right here. This is quality game.
Chris Miller: You can boost me, you can gas me up. But yeah, that's definitely one of the things I've learned. Um, another thing I've learned is like, you get to determine who. Comes on the show, and then when they're here, you get to determine how they're showcased. So I'm constantly thinking about, I know you have so much to bring to the table. Um, and it's like, man, how do I showcase that? Uh, you know what I mean? What are the right questions to ask Tay? Uh, and I know a lot of people have pressures like that. Um, when you go on a job interview or when you're talking to your neighbor for the first time, or you go on a date for the first time, these interactions that are unplanned and you're thinking, well, what's the right thing to say? Well, what is the right question to ask? And oftentimes it's just like, well, get going first, then get good, so start talking. And then after that, like, whenever we started talking, I was like, man, I hope I ask the right questions. Uh, you know what I mean?
Keontay Gaines: Just be yourself. That's literally key. Be yourself and those reps, right? You've been talking to a lot of people, obviously. We're close friends, so, you know me. And by you just being yourself, it's going to naturally spark the conversation. Mhm. I was nervous even coming on here. I was like, man, I hope I'm a good guest and all that, but I think I'm a decent enough guest. Oh my gosh, you kidding me. Just be myself. That's all I'm doing.
Chris Miller: So here's a question for you that I like to ask every guest. Yes, sir. What's one thing you wish more people knew about.
Keontay Gaines: You? Well, I think the selling snacks thing, a lot of people didn't know. Um, this is, this is a tough one.
Chris Miller: This is a tough one.
Keontay Gaines: And you know what about that?
Chris Miller: A lot of people start by saying, I don't think there is anything, and then there's a lot I start saying something and think of, well, actually, I.
Keontay Gaines: Am into photography now. Um, I joined a small group a few months ago at, uh, City Light Church in Vegas. Shout out to City Light. And I got a camera, a whole camera kit for my birthday. My birthday is February 22. If anyone wants to know. My cash app is Tay game gifts. Yeah, send some gifts. Uh, if anyone want to contribute to my GoFundMe for my next year's birthday. Uh, but yeah, I got a camera. And Las Vegas is a very interesting place. There's, uh, more than the Strip. There's way more than the Strip. And the first thing you hear of, or first thing you think of when you hear Las Vegas is what? Sin City? Sin City. The casinos, the strip. But there's a lot of outdoors, there's a lot of everything. Some good food. Yeah. So now what I do is I just wander around Vegas taking photos, and some of my favorite places are like Red Rock, Canyon, Lake, las Vegas, which is a hitting gym. Please don't start going because I always go up there and man, it's very relaxing, but I just go around taking photos. Go around taking photos. It is so peaceful. It's relaxing. Um, it's kind of therapeutic now, mhm? And it doesn't have to be of people. It could be of art, it could be of flowers. If I like the way the grass is cut, I'm going to take a picture of the grass and then you get to go home and examine the photos. Okay? I could have done this better. I could have done that better. So it's an expression, being creative. Uh, I think I'm having a better eye for photography now, so I think that's something that a lot of people don't know. Also. I can cook. I can cook. If you don't believe me, ask my wife.
Chris Miller: The man can cook.
Keontay Gaines: The man can cook.
Chris Miller: The president's showing up to your dinner table. You get to cook one meal.
Keontay Gaines: Mhm?
Chris Miller: What are you.
Keontay Gaines: Cooking? And this is dinner.
Chris Miller: This is dinner.
Keontay Gaines: I make some really good cajun pasta, shrimp, uh, baking bacon, uh, very special sauce is all in the seasonings. I can't give you the full recipe.
Chris Miller: Oh, this is confidential.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah, this is confidential for sure, Dang. I got to keep the people coming back for more.
Chris Miller: Yeah, you don't want to talk about it on here because people are going to start mixing up it okay.
Keontay Gaines: That's too much game right there. That's too much game.
Chris Miller: That is too much game. Now, anything we missed? M. Uh, and then you got a parting.
Keontay Gaines: Message. Books. Books. Some great reads.
Chris Miller: Great reads. Give them to me.
Keontay Gaines: Let me go on my notes. Let me go to my notes.
Chris Miller: So, to anybody who's listening, one thing we recognize is that everything Tay has said, he always attributes to people who have contributed to him. And then the other thing is he's constantly talking about books. So you may not be able to go talk to the people he's been talking about, but you can read the books.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah. And a mentor of mine told me a long time ago that people often look for money and treasure and materialistic things, but all they have to do is pick up a book and they'll find that from just reading that book, mhm, which is why I said this book right here.
Chris Miller: So life changing, the Art of dealing with people. And you know what we're going to do? So life changing. We are going to get that book and we're going to do a giveaway for that book on social media.
Keontay Gaines: We might have to, uh, contact, uh, Les, because I think the sales from this book might go up when's the.
Chris Miller: Copyright can you go in there and.
Keontay Gaines: Look to see when that I'll pass.
Chris Miller: It to you when this book was written, because part of me hopes that Les is still around. Copyright 2001. All right, Les, this is a lot more recent than I was expecting. So that's great. So, Les, we would love to get you on the pod.
Keontay Gaines: Maybe there's a potential partnership right there.
Chris Miller: Yeah, that's right.
Keontay Gaines: All right, so I have my list, and excuse me again if I butcher anyone's names. Yeah. Uh, the little red book of wisdom by mark damas. Um the Art of Dealing with People by Les GIBLIN. Rich ah, dad. Poor dad. Which we talked about before. Um, a fan favorite.
Chris Miller: Yeah. Talked about opportunity.
Keontay Gaines: Yeah. Uh, Robert don't know how to pronounce his last name. Kiwisaki.
Chris Miller: Kiwisaki.
Keontay Gaines: We'll go with that. Okay. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Another book. We talked about, uh, the way of the Seal by Mark Deving. Uh, you can. You will. By Joel Osteen. Crazy Faith by Mike Todd Seneca. Uh, letters from a stoic. Um the Overthinking Care by Nick Trenton. Um, those are some really great books. I mean, this list is, like, super long, but those are some really beginner books. Not even beginner books, but books that.
Chris Miller: Will really beginning to help you begin anything. Even if you're on chapter, even if you're a professional athlete listening to this, or a senator or a CEO. That'll help you begin new habits.
Keontay Gaines: They're game changer a new life.
Chris Miller: All right, sure. Parting message. What you got, boss?
Keontay Gaines: Be yourself. Um, pray. Go do something with somebody you love. Stay cool, calm, collective.
Chris Miller: Uh, hey, you heard it here first. Yeah, thanks for being here, man.
Keontay Gaines: Thank you for the invitation. Yeah. Uh, definitely appreciate it.
Chris Miller: Let's go, let's go, let's go. We got it. Well, folks, we'll see you next.