DigitalNOW Podcast | The journey from Super Bowl to consulting

In this episode of DigitalNOW, an original podcast by Logic20/20, Matt meets with special guest, Robert Turbin, a Senior Customer Success Manager at Logic20/20, as well as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, broadcaster, and former professional athlete. They’ll chat about his journey from winning the Super Bowl to consulting, and how the lessons he learned from being an athlete have transferred over to the corporate world. Robert will also share more about his favorite projects running at Logic20/20 and the real world impact they’re having.

Transcript

Matt Trouville: You’re listening to DigitalNOW, an original business and technology podcast by Logic20/20. I’m your host, Matt Trouville. Each episode, I’ll be interviewing a new expert to learn more about industry trends, fascinating new tech, shifting customer expectations and the steps every business can take to stay ahead.

Hi everyone and welcome to the podcast. This week we have a very, very special guest with us, Robert Turbin, entrepreneur, philanthropist, broadcaster, and former professional football player (Super Bowl winning football player) and now senior customer success manager at Logic 2020.

Robert Turbin: Calendar, calendar… managing the calendar. The cool thing is, the broadcasting stuff is mostly on the weekends, games are played on the weekends, and with Logic, you’re off on the weekends. So, I’m able to manage it that way and and then with the philanthropy stuff, it’s here and there throughout the year, it’s not an everyday thing for me. Plus, I’ve got a great team around me to be able to handle a lot of the day-to-day stuff so keeps my keeps my schedule somewhat free.

MT: And I know that stuff’s important to you right. When you talk about that sort of stuff, you’re very passionate and you can see it in your eyes, so I know that’s never going to go away, right?

RT: No man, giving back to the community has always been the most important thing for me. I believe that, you know, that’s how you leave a legacy. I think… I don’t think actually, I really believe, truly believe that. It’s all about what you give. The definition of greatness is what you’re able to leave behind and not what you’re able to gain. And so that’s where my philanthropy work really comes into play.

MT: Nice. Well, I want to stop there because you’re quite an interesting guy, right. So, you do all these things you know, you’re many different things to many different people. But I do want to talk about the journey you took from Professional sports into the more corporate world, in consulting specifically, with Logic20/20. Can you tell us a little bit about it and sort of why you chose that journey?

RT: Yeah, when I was done playing ball, all of us, we kind of go through a really tough time. And it’s not just that the pro level. I mean there’s guys who their last play might be in high school, or college I’ve even seen it, where you just kind of go through this period of, “what do I want to do next?”, “what am I passionate about?”. And for me, broadcasting is where my passion is, television.

But, with the experience of being an athlete and being in that space for so many years of my life, your kind of don’t get the experience of a normal work cycle or work life, for lack of a better way to describe it. You don’t get any experience in the corporate world of business, whether it be tech or finance or any of those type of industries… healthcare. And so, for me it was about, “OK, how can I?”.

Now that I’m done playing ball, I have all this athletic background, I have the television background, I have entrepreneurial background. How can I continue to diversify my portfolio and just help myself grow as a human being, as a man, and just continue to grow overall in life?

I wanted to get a job and I didn’t know it was going to be tech. Tech was the most interesting part for me, but I was interested in finance as well and could have dabbled into some other industries. Logic20/20 came with an opportunity, and I loved everything about the company, just the versatility of it, the multifaceted ways of doing things that they do here. I just saw it as an opportunity to learn different things in one place, and that’s really what I was seeking. And so, I did. I learned a lot about tech while I was here… still learning. And I learned a lot about the corporate structure, how things work, how things are organized. And as I continue to grow into my entrepreneurship and things that I’m doing, whether it be the community with philanthropy, work, or whatever, I’m now better at operational stuff because of my experience here, right?

MT: I get you. And so, it’s obviously a big jump right from the locker room of professional football to corporate America consulting. What do you think you took away from your time as an athlete that that translated directly to this world?

RT: Well, the number one thing would probably be team, and to learn how to work within a team. To learn how to work through tough moments. As a team, you gain a sense of empathy for other people. You gain a sense of leadership when you’re when you’re working with the team as well because somebody is going to need someone at some point on every team. And you may not be the captain or something like that, but at some point, somebody needs a shoulder to lean on, and that shoulder might be yours. Or needs a bit of advice and that young person may come to you for that. And so, you learn how to communicate in those realms, and you certainly learn how to work amongst the team.

You definitely learn how to overcome circumstances from being an athlete as well. Whether it be losing or having a bad season or personal things like injuries and stuff like that, because even in this space, you may go in with a proposal and you guys may put in a great proposal, but the company may go a different direction. Is that a fail? Not necessarily. It’s more so a lesson.

But it can be a heart breaking… A heartbreaking situation that you didn’t win. Now at the end of the day, you want to win, you want to win that proposal. And so, in sports, you learn how to compartmentalize and move on to the next opportunity.

MT: Yeah. I think that’s so valuable too, because there’s so many people who, like you said, I mean, the percentages from high school to college to professional football… they really get narrower as you go. I think it’s below 1% that make it to the professional leagues, right. So, they’ve got all these things they’ve learned in their sporting world and things they’ve accomplished and then there’s nowhere else for them to go sport wise. They’ve got to then dig deep, take that stuff, and then bring it to the world that they choose next, right? So, I think that’s super important lessons.

One thing I want to double back to, as you said, sort of what we’re doing here at Logic20/20. There are so many different things… Is there a project that sticks out to you that is the most exciting to you or the one you sort of lean towards the most?

RT: I do have a favorite, and it’s ironic because I’m a West Coast kid. I grew up in the Bay Area, and I know that we do some work down in in San Diego using predictive analytics to predict wildfires and essentially prevent them from happening, and it’s really near and dear to my heart. Not only because it’s the West Coast, but I have friends that have been friends with me since, like, high school and junior high that are now firefighters and have worked those fires that we’ve seen in California and I know families who have had to evacuate their homes because of some of those fires down there in California.

So, the fact that this company is able to be involved in preventing those from happening in the future, I think is a really big deal.

MT: Yeah, I mean, I’ve got friends who are Sacramento firefighters as well and coming from Australia, where bushfires are eating half the country most summers… It’s pretty touching to know that we can be a part of a solution like that and we’re doing some things that actually impact people.

RT: Yeah, you know, this is this is their livelihood. That’s their homes. It’s their family. So, I think that’s a great one and we are doing fantastic things down there.

MT: Alright, so what’s on the docket now? I know you’re doing broadcasting. You’re obviously still with us here at Logic, but what’s the day-to-day life of Robert Turbin?

RT: It varies, man, it really does. But it’s mainly focused in television. There’s a lot of studying that goes into having to evaluate film and different teams and players so I spend a good chunk of hours just studying guys, studying teams, they’re tendencies. Schematically, what they like to do in different situations and in the game. And that way when I’m on air, I’m able to engage with the audience with knowledge in a way where I’m able to predict what’s coming or I’m able to give reason of why a team made this decision. And it could be because, well, this is their go to play on 3rd down or they like to give the ball to this player at this part of the field, whatever it is, whatever the reason may be.

It’s something that I truly love to do – engaging with the audience, talking about the game, and trying to help simplify it. So, if you don’t really understand the true ins and outs of the game, hopefully the way I explain it can kind of simplify it for you and you stay engaged.

MT: Yeah. I mean, when I watched you on the NFL Network, I love when you talk about the nuance of the game because I come from a different sport. But knowing sort of the tactics and what you’re thinking about, that’s always super interesting for me.

I have to touch upon it. HQ, he’s here in Seattle. There’s probably a lot of Seahawks fans that might be listening to this and I’ve got to ask you… What’s it like to hold the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season? It’s at the end of a long career where you’ve been grinding for that one moment… What is that actual moment like?

RT: Well, it’s really touching. It’s a surreal moment. And I know it sounds cliche… People ask me what’s your favorite moment of your entire NFL career? Man, and I hate to sound cliche, but it’s winning the Super Bowl.

MT: Makes a lot of sense.

RT: I mean, listen… You might go to the confetti and all that kind of stuff there but there are so many reasons for me why that night was just so special. Number one, being in New York City, which is a place from childhood that I always fantasized about. I have always wanted to go. I’ve always wanted to be there, right. Broadway. And I think it was really Home Alone 2, that solidified it.”

MT: Was that your first time there?

RT: That was. That was my first time there.

MT: Wow, that’s awesome.

RT: We played the Giants one time before, but I mean, the stadium is in New Jersey. So, we never really got to go to New York and really see what it was, what was going on out there.

But after eight seasons, in the NFL, you really appreciate having the opportunity to be in that situation. You don’t really understand the impact it has as a young player. It’s only my second year. I was 23, right? And so, you automatically think that it’s going to happen again, and you feel like it’s going to come easy.

And then for me, you play 6 more seasons, and I played in the game one more time we lost to the Patriots, but after that, I don’t know, I was only in the playoffs… one other time after that? Five more seasons you know what I mean.

And so, it doesn’t look that hard because somebody wins it every year, right. But you meet players… I’ve met players who have played eight, ten, 12, 15 year careers. They have all the stats in the world that you could ever imagine. They’re going to be future hall of farmers one day, but they never got that title. And they get emotional about it. And they would talk about how they would trade all the statistics in the world just to have the ring, just to be able to have the confetti falling on them on that night, you know what I’m saying? So then you start to realize how delicate that opportunity really is. And that’s really it from that perspective, why that’s the most special thing to happen in my career.

MT: Did you know that when it happened or is it that’s looking back retrospectively? That opinion you have of it now.

RT: I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, man! And it’s even more impactful because it’s the first and only one for the Seattle Seahawks franchise. Man, people are fickle… fans or fanatics or whatever you want to call it. And sometimes it’s fake love. They cheer for you and it’s like OK, now it’s over. But that love has remained because of that that Super Bowl title. And it’s genuine and it’s real.

And I mean if any of us guys come back to Seattle, there’s not a place we can’t go. I mean there’s a ton of people we’ve been able to meet and connect with and network with and develop relationships with. And that’s where the real value also comes into play when winning a title. And so yeah, man, it was a magical night. And as I grew older in my career, I became more appreciative of making that accomplishment.

MT: Well, mate, listen, I wish we could talk about this for hours, but we’re going to cut it there. Excuse me, listener, while I go run through a brick wall real quick. But thank you for taking us through your journey, your experience… it’s just cool to see. I think to see someone like you, who’s reached the pinnacle of a previous career, step into something that’s heading back towards rookie status again, right? And then growing and continuing to grow and taking on that challenge… it says a lot about you. Appreciate you as a teammate and thanks for doing this podcast for us.

RT: No thanks for having me, man. This is this has been awesome. And that’s one of the takeaways you get from playing team sports is you learn to challenge yourself. Coaches talk all the time about being comfortable with uncomfortable. And that was part of the process for me, especially when I was first starting out here. But the experience has been more than I could even ask for, and I’m super grateful for everybody.

MT: Well thanks, mate. Speak to you soon.

MT: You’ve been listening to Logic20/20’s podcast DigitalNOW. To learn more, visit our website at www.logic2020.com or follow us on social media. See you next time!

DigitalNOW is an original business and technology podcast by Logic20/20 that is released on a monthly basis. In each episode, host Matt Trouville interviews a new expert to learn about industry trends, fascinating new tech, shifting customer expectations, and the steps every business can take to stay ahead. Check back here for future episodes, OR you can find us on all major podcast sites, including Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and more.