By John Ingoldsby
Engagement Insider
Faith, Family & Football have long been the foundation of NFL Player Engagement, and for the first time spouses experienced the family commitment first-hand by recently attending an NFLPE Boot Camp.
The innovative approach to invite players’ better halves kicked off at the Franchising Boot Camp at the University of Michigan, and also applies to the NFLPE’s Hospitality & Culinary Management Workshop and the Transition Assistance Program.
Sophia King, wife of former player Eric King, said,
“The Boot Camp was extremely informative, and I felt like we used the time wisely. It’s very valuable that we have franchisors speak, and also have the spouses involved since not only is franchising a family thing, it’s a teamwork thing.”
With teamwork so ingrained into current and former players, this new opportunity was perfect for the pairs in attendance.
“To be on the same page with your spouse is so important,”
said Mrs. King. “I remember Eric came home after one of the previous Boot Camps and was really excited about franchising. He was trying to explain to me exactly how it works, so it’s very helpful for me to be here with him so that we can take notes together, and actually work together because that’s what’s going to happen when our franchise opens. So it’s very valuable that the spouses are involved in such a great program.”
Working together will be one thing, but for now learning together during the four-day course was an important ingredient, according to Mrs. King.
“Eric and I are actually moving forward with a pizza brand, so we are here to get more information on how to run the brand and the franchise properly, and make sure that we’re doing the right thing for the franchisor as well as ourselves.”
To ensure that happens, togetherness is clearly the key.
“We are here every step of the way together, every morning were picked up at 7, eat breakfast, go straight to the class at 8, and we’re done between 8 and 10 at night,” observed Mrs. King in discussing the rigorous Boot Camp. “It’s been an intense schedule, but it’s very informative especially because Eric and I are opening up our own franchise, and anything we had questions about, we got answers to while we were here.”
Those answers came from the program’s curriculum covering all aspects of the industry from franchisees, franchisors, professors, former players and executives at the International Franchise Association (IFA), all of which resonated with participants.
“It’s important to do programs like this because sometimes transitioning players are not exactly sure what to do, and what is next after football,” stated Mrs. King. “This event allowed Eric to realize that it’s not just about football for him. He can actually be a business owner and have the support that he needs to make sure that the business runs smoothly.”
That support was appealing to all in attendance, Mrs. King added.
“Of the 21 players who attended, eight were couples and I spoke with all of the spouses. They stressed how important it was for them to be a part of it, and they were as excited as me to be there. We couldn’t go with our husbands to practice, but we could come here. It’s extremely important for spouses to be involved, since we all need help learning everything from keeping the books to keeping our franchise clean.”
Help came in many forms during the event, including from peers that could relate to the players and spouses.
“Speakers like Jamal Lewis (former player and current franchisee) told us exactly what to do and not to do and explained that his main focus was that you have to be in the store, you have to work, and have to support each other,” exclaimed Mrs. King. “It was valuable for spouses to understand that we couldn’t help on the football field, but now we are going be there to help. It’s a lot of responsibility, and some spouses might need to ask themselves questions such as, ‘Do I have to stop what I am doing now and be a part of this?’ ‘Is this for me or not for me?’ ‘Can we do this?’ It answered a lot of questions that a lot of spouses had, so we became informed.”
Information that was not only learned in the classroom, but out in the real world as well.
“What I enjoyed most was attending franchise locations, such as a UPS store and a Qdoba, two totally different franchises, both of which reassured me that we are getting into right business for us,” said Mrs. King. “Everyone’s different, some people like to sit in the office and like a calm atmosphere with a computer. But I’m a physical person who likes to move around so the franchise we chose to go with was more cooking and cleaning. That fits our personalities. So, it was important that the program had onsite visits to franchises where we could all see what a day in the life will be like as a franchisee for various types of businesses.”