How super agent Rich Paul stays "lucky"

What do LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Draymond Green have in common? Well, THAT, of course. But they are also all represented by Rich Paul, arguably the most driven, innovative and influential sports agent in the game.?

It didn't come easy. Rich was raised in a tough Cleveland neighborhood and his mom, who struggled with drug addiction, was frequently absent. Rich leaned on and learned from his dad. It was working in his father’s corner store (and backroom gambling area) that Rich learned lessons about how to manage hard times and how to manage tough and troubled personalities.

Inside and outside the store, Rich found that he had a knack for making money and building relationships. HIs first job was ironing clothes for people who wanted to look sharp but didn’t have time. But his real love was shooting dice. As he described it in his self-deprecatingly-titled memoir "Lucky Me," it was through dice that he learned how to take risks, how to gain small edges, and how to keep people coming back — even after you’ve won their money. Getting robbed or hurt was always a possibility; and going home to an unpredictable house was a never-ending challenge.

In our conversation, we talked about whether adversity is necessary for success.

"Yeah, I think adversity, it depends on how you look at it," Paul told me for this week's edition of This Is Working. "Anybody that's been successful — Steve Jobs had adversity, right? Phil Knight had adversity. I'm sure Jeff Bezos had adversity."

"It depends on how you're packaging the adversity," Paul said. "My adversity instilled something different in me, right… There's a fire that's built inside of you. Either you're going to do it or you're not, either you're going to make an excuse or you're not.”

Even as he’s become incredibly successful, he carries that fire with him. He said that as a Black man in America, he starts every day with a handicap, needing to establish himself in situations. “But I'm not using the color of my skin as an excuse,” he said. “I understand it. I store it. I know that there's probably going to be a lot more nos than yesses. But if I build upon the yesses, then it's OK for me. For every three nos I get, if I get one yes, then I just keep building on the yes.”

For Rich, the building has led to some pretty incredible places. Paul founded KLUTCH SPORTS GROUP, LLC when he was 32, went on to represent some of the biggest names in sports, moved into areas that most agents never thought about (like original content production). And last year, he tied up with mega talent agency United Talent Agency . It's a great success story, and you have to hear it from Paul himself. So be sure to watch this week's This is Working.

This is Working, the podcast, is another great way to experience these interviews. You can find it anywhere you listen to podcast.

?? Apple: https://bit.ly/ThisisWorkingRichPaulApple

?? Spotify: https://bit.ly/ThisisWorkingRichPaulSpotify

On LinkedIn’s video series, This is Working , I sit down with top figures from the world of business and beyond to surface what they've learned about solving difficult problems. See more from JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon , Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole , INSEAD dean Francisco Veloso , Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel , Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole , Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian , AI leader Fei-Fei Li, former US President Barack Obama , filmmaker Spike Lee , Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson , IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva , cosmetics legend Bobbi Brown , F1’sToto Wolff , and many more.