A retired NFL player, Marques Ogden was by all accounts a success as the owner of a multi-million dollar construction business. But then the business took a turn for the worse, and he lost everything, eventually taking a job as a custodian in downtown Raleigh. In this episode of Discuss with Russ, Russ interviews Marques about his successes and failures and his rise back to the top as a keynote speaker, executive coach, and business leader.
Topics Discussed:
Mistakes That Led to Business Bankruptcy
Hitting Rock Bottom
Building Yourself Back Up
Learning from Mistakes and Growing a New Business
You can watch this video and others on the Voice Wealth Management YouTube channel.
Transcript:
Hello and thank you for joining us for this episode of discuss with Russ. I’m Russell Rivera, founder and president of voice Wealth Management. This is episode 39 And my guest today is Marques Ogden.
For those of you tuning in for the first time the Discuss with Russ series focuses on helping you start to think about all the aspects of life that can have large effects on your financial situation. We want to help you take advantage of opportunities, manage risks, and avoid pitfalls, so you are most likely to succeed. We speak with business leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals so you are motivated viewers and listeners can take charge of your situation and build a better future for yourself and your family. My firm voice Wealth Management primarily works with entrepreneurs, young professionals and their families to help them get the most out of their money. Well, I'm a chartered financial analyst and certified financial planner. Many also see me as their personal CFO and financial therapist. Recognizing the psychological power of money in addition to using short term and long term planning to help you get the most out of every dollar you earn and use.
I'm grateful to have Marques Ogden on the program today. Growing up in a single parent home with a father that inspired perseverance and fairness, Marques learned how to define his values and set goals. He attended Howard University from 1998 to 2002, where he played division one football, following his dream and his brother Jonathan's footsteps. He was drafted into the NFL in 2003, eventually playing five years as an offensive lineman with several different teams. Even during the offseason, he helped train football players in Europe, both physically and mentally after that, well, that's kind of what today's program is about.
So with that, Marques, welcome to the program.
Thanks for having me. Oh, Russ, how you doing today, sir?
I am great. Thank you very much for joining us. So since we last spoke and agreed to do this, I've learned a little bit about you and your story. Several years in the NFL. And of course, you know, like, like everybody that chapter ended for them. So tell me a little bit more about what was happening next for you. How did you decide what was going to be the next step in your life?
So for me for about six months, I got addicted to alcohol, gambling, nightlife. I lived a really, shall we say, ego-centered, self-centered lifestyle. I was all about me, me, me, me, me. Finally, I put the bottle down and I start a construction company, Kayden premier enterprises, we grew to be the largest African American in the construction field of sitework earthwork concrete utilities in the city of Baltimore, in the state of Maryland for two years. But unfortunately, as the company grew, Russ so did my ego and because of my ego and some really bad mistakes, and having to file a chapter seven bankruptcy, and losing everything I owned in 2013.
So how did that you know how did that next transition happen? Right? You have a family. You've you've been somewhat financially successful in the NFL. You've had a company and now you lost it. So what is the next kind of, you know, step for you? How do you how do you build back from that to the next thing, whatever that is, obviously, you don't go from that from bottom to where you are now, what was the next step for you?
So next step for me, I moved to Raleigh with $4 to my name house was foreclosed on both cars repossessed the same day. I ended up working at Merrill Lynch for short time got fired after two months, all my fault, went to a construction company the next day was fired from that job five days later. And I end up working Russ as a custodian in downtown Balsam in downtown Raleigh for $8.25 an hour. And then I had my rock bottom moment of clarity. So my trash and rotten meat and nasty shooting garbage got on my body, my skin in my clothes. And that was my wake up call. And I ended up saying at that moment, I gotta get my life together. And I decide I want to be a speaker. And that's the day and the month that I actually launched my speaking career was September 2013.
So it's interesting, you know, I hear you talking about ego, how much of that came? And you're, I'm just thinking of this from an outside perspective, right. You know, you've had you had such success, how much of it had to deal with the fact that at least professionally for a while you hadn't faced a lot of adversity?
Well, in question, so my ego really came about as I started to really make some things you know, happen. This is why I said I wasn't really prepared for and as a result of that, I wasn't prepared to handle success. And I have a saying if you're not prepared to handle success, it will handle you. And that's what happened Russ literally. Like, you know, I had all this money and fame and notoriety, but I didn't appreciate it. I wasn't very humble. And I ended up losing everything. And you know, to God, because I wasn't truly prepared to handle success, the way it came to me in, you know, in in that way, you know, as a construction company owner. So what does it mean to handle success? It means to be humble, it means to still work hard, it means to still show up every single day. And I stopped doing that I set a goal, I achieved a goal, and I stopped at everything. That's when PAO lost it all. And that's exactly what happened in that regard. I just, I didn't continue to work hard to grind. I didn't do the things that I did to get there. I got complacent. I got lazy, I got arrogant. And that was the beginning of the end for me.
So how did that manifest itself? Right, because I know we talked about this a little before offline, but it's, you know, being complacent, you know, what are it? What is the signs that someone has to look for in themselves? Of course, we're talking about bringing people down before we build them back up. But what are the signs that people need to look for in themselves, so that they avoid that mistake that you know, you've been through?
The minute that you stop actively listening, which means the minute you stop listening to understand people, that's the beginning of the end, if you don't make a change, because I think about all the things happening, read my route, all things happen to me, right, Russ, I stopped listening to my estimator, my General Superintendent, my operations manager, my project manager, I got so focused on what my partner wanted. And what I wanted, I stopped actively listening to people. And as a result of that, that's when things start to spiral downhill, because I stopped listening to people and I started trying to always dominate and control conversations. Okay, so, right, because I hear a couple of things that I hear active listening, right as one thing, so obviously understanding really what the other person is saying, as opposed to as opposed to kind of having going in that with a preset like that sort of was like I hear a preset goal, I have a preset thing that I want to hear. And someone else may want to say something opposite, but those two things don't job up job up. But I still want what I want. And I'm not listening. Am I getting that right? You're getting 100%? Right. Okay. So that's, that's interesting. So how did you? I mean, obviously, it's some time on, I don't know if you've figured that out in a few minutes, days, months or years. So so not actively listening will lose it not actively listening to people to customers, not actively listening to colleagues, what is what is it is it's not actively listening to the team that you've hired, I pay people a pole role at Kaden, and your show was about finances and wealth management. So basically, Ross, I was wasting payroll, I was wasting money paying people to do a job and letting them do their job. I get one or two things, either micromanage them, and or I stopped listening to them as a result of that. That's what everything just went the wrong way because I stopped listening. And I basically just was in a position where no matter what people said, it wasn't it was always my way or the highway.
Very good. So you've hit bottom. And now we're on to you starting a speaker. So how did you build yourself back up?
So as a speaker, I started trying to go after jobs and for two and a half years, not one paid job. Finally got my first paid job, April 2016. For Miller-Motte College in Wilmington, North Carolina. After that, Ross I got coached, I got developed in 2018 went to a program called nappsa, which was a basically the national athletic, national athletic scholastic sports program Association, which helps athletes learn how to utilize their former skills and prowers playing the game of football, to become better business leaders. And it was funded by the NFL former players association, the NFLPA. It was a five day intensive coaching program at Penn State. And that program changed my life. Along with me my mentor, Mel Robbins, a very successful keynote speaker. She's one of the best in the world. But that program and being coached by Brad Mitchell and his team turned me around. And the last six years now as we've worked for, as of today, 43 fortune 500 brands and speaker predominantly finance Charles Schwab more Get a JPMorgan Chase.
Oh God, no limit Mutual Insurance, Goldman Sachs, AXA equitable, you know all these big firms PNC Bank, you know, just to name a few. And we've done a lot of work when it comes to things like either leadership and our keynote, Felicia was titled self absorption causes self destruction. If it is a marketing and sales talk, we call it drop the poker face selling requires authenticity, which is exactly why our podcast is called the Get Authentic with Marques show. That's what it is. And we're all about authenticity. We're all about being real, all about just people's real life stories. And that's what we're all about.
It sounds sounds terrific. So what was it about being a speaker that what was it about that being a speaker that drew you because you're not the only NFL person, a former NFL athlete that I know who is and one of my former schoolmates has was an NFL offensive lineman as well, who's gone into speaking now on to politics, but nonetheless, right.
So for me speaking was about empowering and inspiring people to learn from my mistakes, so they can have success in their life. I always tell people learn from me, so you don't end up like me. My failures are my passions, and my war wounds and my scars that I'm able to pass on to other clients. So it doesn't become their foresight. It doesn't become their hindsight. It's like their foresight, they see it ahead of time. This way, they can avoid the pitfalls that I fell into with ego, with bravado, with not listening, you know, all these things that unfortunately cause my demise. Well, you're not done. I wouldn't call it demise. It might have been devised in that chapter. That's for sure. Oh, yeah.
So yeah, I think there's, there's something interesting about that, in the sense that, sorry, I'm gonna pause, we could edit this out.
So you know, I think I'm trying to think about how to how that kind of how that kind of issue with those kinds of issues might have to deal with a person in their personal finances, right, you've been a PI down low and up high, again, in terms of your personal finances. You know, how to those kinds of thought processes that have brought you down in the business world might keep someone down personally, with the way they do their, you know, their stuff? What do you think, very easily, if people think they know it all, and aren't willing to take advice from the experts, you're not going to succeed, you collaborate and partner better word with the financial planner, because they have the expertise that you don't that or that you don't. And that's what it's all about. So if your ego or bravado gets in the way, then what happens is you're literally going to be in a position where you're not listening. And you're not taking advice. Do I know the about the market? Yeah, I know about the New York Stock Exchange. I know if you think about stocks, bonds, yeah. And I'm gonna sit there say I'm an expert in it. Absolutely not. Do I want to sit there and watch the market all day? Absolutely not. This is why you collaborate. A you partner with a trusted financial planner, it's like if you're gonna go play football, right? If I'm gonna if I'm a rookie, oh, lime in the NFL, I have a first round draft choice. And I dominated college, and I get to the NFL, I have no line coach, am I gonna be as good a player in the NFL? Maybe, but probably not. Why? Because I have no guidance, right College and the NFL are not the same. Just because you have a little bit of knowledge about finance, and money and all that does not make you an expert, it does not make you qualified to handle your own money. Now, if that's what you want to risk and try, go right on ahead. But if things don't work out for you, you have nobody to blame but yourself. So I always tell people you want to vet and really find a qualified, really sound financial plan that you connect with emotionally because you have a good vibe, and then that person gives you a reason to hire them. And that is what's really all about Ross. So again, it's a real easy, you know, blend. If you're somebody who doesn't learn how to stop putting your ego first or if you somebody doesn't learn how to stop thinking that you know everything. Because the end of the day, you don't know everything and it's not gonna work out for you. If you feel you need to go out there and invest your money, right? You're not a qualified financial analyst or financial planner. And of course,
So I appreciate that from a professional point of view, but I, you know, I think there are a lot of people that we could teach to do a lot more, I just don't think that it's, it's something we spend time on that life skill in school for a lot of people I know. And please correct me if I'm wrong, like, it's something that they say that the NFL T taught you, at some point. And I know a lot of professional athletes kind of get that from the leagues as they enter the league. But you know, that to me is always too late. There are a lot of people who don't get that ability to to get that, that personalized coaching, that you get on that particular thing. But at the same time, I look at you and I will get me in what I do. And I'm sitting there saying, you know, we're coaches, right, you do it in terms of how you work with executive executives and leadership training, kind of that kind of coaching. I do it on the financial and, you know, what make, you know, it's, it's sort of, I sit myself, and I say, I'm a better coach in many things than I am a player. Well, how do you view yourself in that sense? And have you been on both sides of it? Well, yeah, I mean, I love being a coach, because as a coach, I can look at you and your whole strategic plan and your tackle execution strategy, and help you get it done. When I was a player, I was thinking about strategic, but I was mainly executing what I was told to execute from the play, call the playbook, how I was gonna run, run, right, run, left, pass, right, pass, left, kick, right, kick left, all that stuff. So being a player has really made me a better coach, but I enjoy much more the coaching aspect, because, you know, playing, especially in the NFL, you can only do it for so long, Tom Brady is the anomaly. And if people aren't playing into they're almost 50 years only NFL like That's unheard of, unless you're a kicker. All like kicker on a but even then, I mean, like, you know, Thomas 45. I mean, I think the only one that came close was Adam finitary, who's like maybe 4344 or something like that. But Adam shut it down. And Todd at 45 is still going. But that's rare. So coaching is something you can do for a long period of time. As long as you're humble enough, to do our typical talk, you need to have strong ideas that are weakly held, which means know what you know, but don't be so pigheaded. So stuck in the sand that you can't pivot that you can't adjust that you don't listen to anybody. And I feel a lot of people unfortunately feel that because they have a strong idea. It needs to be strongly held. Well, that's not true. Because there's always different ways to approach things. And again, doesn't mean you have to always change another trajectory, but at least be willing to listen to go goes back to active listening. If I was an active listener, Russ, I would have never went out of business because my team would have never left. And once my team left, that's when everything started going straight downhill.
Interesting. So and they left because you'd stop listening. Yep. Because they were trying to tell me things about jobs, job sites, what to bid, how we're doing work, how we were running our jobs. And I just kind of kept saying, Well, don't worry about it. I'll take care of don't worry about art, and I will handle it. Don't worry about it. We're good to go. And instead of like allowing them to speak and give their thoughts and ideas and how they could rectify a situation. I was pigheaded. I was just you know, egotistical. And we kept hemorrhaging bleeding money, day after day after day. And then $3 million later, on my best people that left the job site and finally finished it. They denied my change order. I have no team. I have no money. I'm bankrupt.
And that yeah, until we I hate to keep harping on negative. But how long was the time between? Do you think you stopped listening till the end?
Oh, man. So basically, I stopped I started to stop listening around the beginning of 2012, but that we had won awards, and we were crushing it. And then by 2013, we were done. But really that last 90 days on that project was the worst because I stopped listening to everybody. I started this going gung ho on that one job. I put all the jobs out of my sight. I was his hone in on finishing that job getting our money and getting back to normal. Unfortunately, I finished the job, but I think that's normal because the company did not repay me what I was owed.
And then of course, when you don't get paid what you're owed, that can you're gone. You're done. You're done. I certainly understand it. I don't want to end on that. That kind of negative. But the so again, you know, so how are things for you? Now, you've told me about who you've talking to? What's next for you?
So, things are going great. You know, we're speaking for big companies. Again, people like Home Depot, a clap pass client of ours, New York likes a past client, maybe Mutual Insurance, Mutual of Omaha, equitable, just name a few. And we're really blessed to have a large client base. No Carson Group is a big client of ours, the Michigan side healthcare engineers is a client of ours. And we're just excited about the new horizon going into next year, we're doing some great online coursework. And our podcast right now is continuing to rise up the charts. You know, podcasting is gonna they say by like 2030 will be like, like almost a 30 or 30 or $40 billion year earning industry. And we're now in the top 2%, worldwide, only six weeks. And we've recorded so far 63 episodes, and we published 14. So we have a ton of content in the in the queue, we're going to start publishing three or five times we can September, can we have a great schedule healthy backlog through that want to come on the show, and it's great, and we're excited. So that's our real main focus is online coursework, and then also scaling through our podcast because we've had a lot of great success so far. And we're blessed that we can do it and not be rushed in the process. We make money doing other things speaking coaching, consulting, being a brand ambassador, other business ventures, so the podcast is growing really nicely, and we can do it at a pace where we're not worried about cash because we make money again other ways. Sure. Great. So how can people contact you about speaking about coaching about whatever it is you're doing? Yeah, they can go to our website, www dot MarquesOgden, o g d e n.com. or shoot me an email Marques at Marquesogden.com. Connect with us get in touch with us. We'd love to speak with you.
Great thank you Marques for joining us on discuss with Russ today. For those who want to reach me You can reach me at Russell R Us S E ll dot Rivera ri ve era at voice wealth.com or just give us a call 646-630-0980 You can learn more about voice Wealth Management at our website www dot voice wealth.com and find old episodes of discuss with Russ at discusswithruss.net or on the voice Wealth Management YouTube channel. Thank you again for joining us and remember it's your money and your future and we can be your partner and your voice. Thank you and we will see you next time.
Russell D. Rivera, CFA, CFP® is the Founder and President of Voice Wealth Management (Voice) in New York, NY. He also likes to think of himself as a Personal CFO and Financial “Therapist” for entrepreneurs, young professionals, and their families. He helps clients make prudent financial decisions regarding spending, saving, investing, and planning while giving a voice to the individual client's financial priorities and experiences.