We'll keep you up to date on what's happening or breaking in the news now, but we'll take somewhat of a break and talk to Molly Fletcher, renowned sports agent and world top 50 motivational speaker. She's got a brand new book out called Dynamic Drive, the purpose fueled formula for sustainable success. Molly, welcome.
It's good to be with you. So, so tell everyone what got you into you were a walk on college tennis player, right? And and you hurt your knee. But you still you're still competing high level athlete. Yeah, I mean, I wish I could say that the knee is the reason I didn't go play professional tennis.
But the truth is, man, I wasn't I wasn't even close to that level, to be honest. But yeah, I was a walk on at Michigan State, loved the business of sports, truly, sort of all my life. And and then I wanted to get into the business of sports. So I moved to Atlanta because the Super Bowl was coming. The Olympics was coming, moved to Atlanta to get into the sports business. And, you know, it was an unbelievable journey, almost two decades as a sports agent.
How did you break in? You know, my first job, I answered the phone to Super Bowl 28. And then through that, my whole philosophy was, how do I get people to like and respect me enough to hire me or help me?
And essentially, after about six months or 12 months, I got an opportunity with a small agency. And I was in charge of driving Lenny Wilkins around through the Olympics. And then at the after that finished our men's team coach, men's team coach is a very good player, too, right? Totally.
Oh, unbelievable. And Hall of Fame coach. But after I finished, I thought, man, like, how are we going to grow? We had a couple NBA coaches, a couple baseball players. And so I literally went in and said, you know, what's our growth plan?
How can we get more guys and more athletes, mostly men at the time? And so I started by going down to Georgia Tech because I wasn't going to go start out of the gates with, you know, A-Rod and Jeter. Right.
So I'm down at Georgia Tech trying to pick off top round projected baseball guys. That progressed. And then one of our guys, John Smoltz, said, hey, Molly, you know, do you have any interest in golf? He had a golfer buddy that was needed an agent who was top 25 in the world. Right hand a pitcher for the Braves. Yep.
Yep. He was a starter for the Braves at the time. Now he's outstanding Fox Sports broadcaster. Unbelievable. Yeah, he's great.
He's great on the air. So, you know, it was about 300 athletes and coaches later. And then I started writing books about what I saw to be the common thread between peak performers, the way they think, the way they behave. And then I started getting asked to speak.
And so now I speak about 100 days a year and write books, have a podcast. I'm trying to be like you, man. Well, absolutely.
And it's a goal like everybody. So you have you have baseball, you understand basketball. You obviously grew up in tennis. And then you and you. So, you know, a variety of sports in golf.
Sure. So what was it like? What kind of golfers would you did you represent?
So, you know, Matt Kuchar, Franklin Langham when he played, we had a I had about nine guys. I mean, it's an interesting space because traditionally you're with those guys or gals. But when you're standing on the range on a Tuesday with your players, kind of helping them as they prepare. I mean, you can't be running back behind like seven golf bags, right? They kind of they're a little territorial.
So I had about eight or nine at the at the peak, maybe, which was super fun. I mean, they're you know, they're people that wake up every day like you. And they've got to perform.
They've got to deliver. I mean, they're generally only as good as their last pet pot unless you've won a tournament or a major. Right. So as you start covering them, they wanted to realize they had some something in common, despite the difference in sports. Yeah, that's so you know, Doc Rivers, Ernie Johnson.
You know, Smoltz, a bunch of my other baseball guys. And I started to go, wow, these guys, they recover from adversity the same way. They they deal with obstacles in a similar way. They embrace them. In fact, they love and embrace change.
They welcome feedback. They're insatiably curious people. They're the kind of people that are eager to get better every day. And so what I started to see is this every day they wake up and want to get a little bit better. And the truth is, it's because if they don't, they literally lose their jobs because there's there's people right behind them dying to take their spot.
So when I started to see that, I thought, this is this is really cool. And that's what Dynamic Drive, my book that released this week, is all about is is how when we anchor what we pursue in life to be anchored against our purpose, it aligns with our actions and in turn our outcomes. Because I think what I saw as an agent is, Brian, what so many people don't see. I you know, the world sees the trophies and the actions. The accolades and the big contracts and all the all the big moments of achievement.
But I saw the relentless effort every day. The laser focus. What do they do after they win? What do they do after they lose?
And the way they step into that. And that's what really is is the culmination of this book, which is threaded with purpose and anchored with seven keys to unlock the best version of ourselves. Do you think the reason maybe you get to the bottom of it is they don't have a maybe they they don't they have a miscue misdiagnosis of success? What success looks like? A hundred percent. I mean, what I worry about truly right now, more than ever, is that the world sees all these moments of achievement.
There's so many superficial sort of likes that are happening in the world. And and the truth is that won't fill you up. I always say that achievement doesn't bring fulfillment purpose does.
And so to me, it's incredible. It's incredibly important to recognize what are you chasing? You know, a lot of times with with companies that I work with and speak is what are you really chasing? What what are what are you in pursuit of? So do you? Is it money is what would go on purpose could be money.
I will. I mean, dynamic drive is about this is an inside out pursuit. If you're chasing something external to fill you up, it you're going to be sorely disappointed. It's like if you want to feel good for an hour. Right.
You can achieve or for a couple days. But but at the end of the day, you're going to be disappointed. And at the end of that, it's who are you becoming in that pursuit? And that's what I think is important for people to recognize is who are you becoming in the pursuit of the daily rituals that you're embracing relative to getting better every day? Because the truth is achievement is fleeting. And I believe that complacency, ironically, which is the opposite of dynamic drive, is highly sort of ripe to set in actually after you achieve.
And part of what I saw with coaches is like I'd see I had a coach once when the national championship, Brian, the next morning at 830, he was on the phone with a kid begging him to come play basketball for him. Right. And that's the mindset of people with dynamic drive. The traditional definition of drive is about achievement, the sole pursuit of unachievement. I believe we need a new definition at some level, which is ever changing in side of us and anchored in something bigger than the outcome itself.
So how do you do? Divide that from obsession. What do you mean you don't you don't think balance works? Well, balance is I truly believe I've been married for 25 years.
I have three daughters and and to me, the pursuit of balance, whether you're a man or a woman, is is completely unattainable. It's about saying what are the things in my life that matter most personally, professionally? How do I want to show up in those roles in my life and then saying, how can I be better? How can I be better? How can I be better?
How can I be intentional about what I say yes and no to my husband? I had three kids in 12 months. We had one and then we had twins and I was trying to balance it all. And what was happening was I was getting totally exhausted and fatigued. And we live in a world like, are you kidding me that we're going to wake up, go through our days with the amount of demand coming at leaders and people today. And then at the end of the day, the teeter totter of everything physically, mentally, personally, professionally is perfectly balanced. No, I mean, to be the best, to do what you do.
Yes. So you have to pull back and say that what worries me is I think sometimes people are compromising things in their life that matter most to them without intention. So what it was so sports for you is not just about that Scotty Sheffler winning a winning a PGA major is what everybody else has done. Sports gives you an instant verdict relatively quickly. But everyone in life is waiting for that, is working towards that trophy in some respect.
I believe so. And I think we need to shift the lens to be how can I ensure that the decisions I'm making, the actions I'm making are aligned with who I want to become in that pursuit? Because if the sole focus is on an outcome, I mean, when you think about it, if all you're focused on is winning the U.S. Open. Right. And then you do it. And then you do it. Then?
Then what do you do next? I mean, the truth is, if we're in the pursuit of better every day, when we after we win, we keep going. Right.
We know what we're pursuing, which is truly a never ending journey to become the best version of ourselves. So one of the hottest players in sports is Kaitlin Clark. Yeah. And she comes in WNBA and immediately she everyone knows who the Indiana Fever are of everyone fight going to Liberty Games in New York, even though they've been around for 20 years. Right.
And there's some legitimate resentment from the other players, even though she's proven that she is already an elite player. So that's my assessment. Correct. Sure.
Yeah. I mean, I think I think, look, I'm not inside of it. I certainly don't represent Kaitlin Clark. I don't know her. But I think she, at some level, is a perfect example of dynamic drive in that she I believe in our heart of hearts, thought, you know what? I don't know that I can get better at Iowa right now, like, I don't know her, but I think she thought I'm just on a journey to become the best basketball player I can become.
And this, I think, is the place that I can continue to get better and get pushed and get challenged. I think, look, I mean, she's this new young girl that's shown up in the league and she's getting a whole lot of attention and there's a bunch of vets that are like, hey, we've been doing this girl. We've been doing this under the basket for a long time. Here's what Charles Barkley said. These ladies, and I'm a WNBA fan, they cannot have f***ed this Kaitlyn Clark thing up any worse if they tried. Never believe what we say on television, just because people don't like you or your personality, they can't get on TV and slander you, it's just total bull****. This girl is incredible. The number of attention, eyeballs, she's bought the cards and the pros. And for these women to have this petty jealousness, you're saying to yourself, damn, what is going on here? And the thing I love about her, she never says a word.
But these ladies who I love and respect their game, they couldn't have f***ed this thing up any worse. Your feeling on his thoughts? I mean, well, first of all, Charles, you know, he's in Atlanta quite a bit. I'm based in Atlanta. I see him a lot.
He's a absolute blast. You know, look, I think that that is part of the problem. At some level, it's not about each individual player. It's about how can we make the game of basketball better together? And so I think, yes, in an altruistic world, I wish that they would put their arms around her and welcome her and know that, look, this is about women's basketball that has now become epic and on the scene in a wonderful way. So that's a great thing.
And she's helped do that. How do you feel about what's happened in college, major college sports, where we're watching these players go up to Nick Saban and say, hey, coach, we lost the championship. If you can't get me another million dollars, I'm going to go to Auburn or I'm going to go to.
Sure. They're not going to Auburn from Alabama. My girls go to Auburn.
I hate to say that. And Saban's, you know, Saban's on the beach now. But yeah, I mean, it has changed tremendously, NIL, obviously what it's done to sports is it's a minor league system. And you know, what I worry about is that when you hand an 18 year old kid a million bucks and they're, you know, a D one quarterback, that's fantastic. But that's a million bucks and you're 18 years old. And by the way, the government's going to take a good bit of it. So what happens next?
And so that's in part what I worry about. This book is about is like, look, once you've once you get your million bucks as a D one quarterback or you get whatever it is every year as they go, you haven't made it like keep going. But you're also going to get an agent in high school and college now, right? Maybe even in high school.
Oh, I mean, NIL's changed the game fully. Now you've got agents. I mean, I think, you know, these guys can get paid, you know, in their teens and high school. They'll stay four years now. Potentially. Right.
I mean, if they can keep the deals landed and now with, you know, you can get the policies to protect your body and all that. I mean, it is college sports is not college sports. It's a minor league system.
In the middle. Yeah. To go to the next level.
Does anyone go to class? It's a heck of a time to be a college athlete. I mean, dang, man. But I mean, where was where was the money for women's tennis, Brian? I mean, you know what I'm saying?
No, I'm kidding. Well, that's true, because as a soccer player, it's a non-revenue sport. 100 percent. And you can put up the great product.
But if you're not putting people in the stands, what happens is football and basketball pay for those. 100 percent. In many cases.
Yes. So and they're willing to do it. And if you talk to Lou Holtz, the old school guys, they say, yeah, we fund the whole athletic department. Well, it's not really fair to those players is the pushback. And now the courts are involved. The NCAA has been pushed aside.
So I think the whole game has changed. And you as an agent, yes, if you decide to get back into it, you can make a lot of money off a 19 year old running back from University of Texas. Absolutely.
No, you can. And I think I believe I mean, what I always used to say is 90 percent of my job was managing their life, their career, their tomorrow, right? Not just negotiating their contract. Sure, you make money on the contract. But the truth is in my the good agents with that are doing things the right way.
They're not they're not worried about the one and done the one year that they're trying to make sure they navigate that guy's career, that gal's career into the next level in a perfect world. How do we get dynamic drive? Yeah, absolutely. It's anywhere books are sold again. It's Molly Fletcher, Dynamic Drive. And so anywhere books are sold Amazon. And of course, you can go to also get dynamic drive dot com. All right. And of course, book you as a speaker.
How do you do that? Molly Fletcher dot com. There you go. I love it.
All right. Molly, thanks so much. Congratulations on the book and all your success from the Fox News podcast network. In these ever changing times, you can rely on Fox News for hourly updates for the very latest news and information on your time. Listen and download now at Fox News podcast dot com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Listen to the show ad free on Fox News podcast plus on Apple podcast, Amazon music with your prime membership or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
