Winning in Entrepreneurship

Sam Acho is an author, a public speaker, a humanitarian, an in-studio analyst for ESPN, a nine-year NFL veteran and a committed Christian. He’s also currently an ambassador for the International Justice Mission.

Sam was recently inducted into the University of Texas Athletics Hall of Honor, having played college football at the University of Texas at Austin, where he received the William V. Campbell Trophy for being college football’s top scholar-athlete. He also won the NCAA Top VIII Award, which recognizes the top eight student-athletes in all of sports, and was named the 2010 Big 12 Sportsperson of the Year. In 2011, Sam was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals and played four seasons as a linebacker with the team. He then signed with the Chicago Bears for the 2015–2016 season and played four years there before spending the 2019 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In 2016 and 2017, Sam was the Bears’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, the league’s only award that recognizes both civic and professional contributions. Sam served on the leadership committee for both the Cardinals and the Bears. He was also vice president of the NFL Players Association, an organization in which he served since his second year in the NFL.

Having grown up in Dallas with parents who emphasized scholastic achievement, Sam was named by Sporting News as one of the twenty smartest athletes in all of sports. He received his MBA in 2015 at Thunderbird School of Global Management, the #1 ranked international MBA program in the world.

Sam is the founder and president of Athletes for Justice, an organization that works to unite professional athletes and everyday athletes to fight injustices around the world. He has been featured in Super Bowl commercials highlighting his social justice efforts in the city of Chicago.

Sam’s first book, Let the World See You: How to Be Real in a World Full of Fakes, was released in October 2020. In it he shares lessons from his own life as well as stories from others to reveal how you can overcome your fears and discover your true selves. His second book, Change Starts With You: Following Your Fire to Heal a Broken World, was released in March 2023.

Linda Lindquist’s greatest passion is creating success in others.

Over 25 years she has facilitated 100’s of CEOs, entrepreneur leaders and their teams to achieve strategic clarity, break through conflict and create alignment. She ferociously stands with people to do the hard work of asking tough questions in order to shine a light on the truth.

As a world champion sailor, Linda has blazed trails in the all-male world of offshore yacht racing, sailing on more than 100 teams in the past 30+ years. Making history as a member of America3, the first and only All-Women’s team to compete for the America’s Cup, she simultaneously competed as a team member ands spearheaded their highly successful sponsorship program.

Linda thrives in high-risk, stretch-goal team environments. Combining her athletic and business expertise, she knows that getting the team together to identify and solve problems is the only path to continuous improvement. It takes courage and vulnerability and trust, but the payoff is worth it – winning.

Linda embraces EOS because when people commit to Vision, Tractionand are Healthy they are unstoppable and live more abundantly meaningful lives.

Learn more about the Entrepreneurial Operating System and Linda here.

Connor Carrick has been driven from day one, and it is that inner fire to improve every single day that has propelled him both on and off the ice. Now in his 9th season in NHL and AHL, he is defenseman current playing for the Providence Bruins. Throughout his career, he's focused on finding every edge to compete at his highest levels and provide the greatest contributions to his team. From his diet and training regimen to meditation and self-reflection, Connor takes a holistic approach to optimizing his performance.

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It is this curiosity about continuous growth that also fuels his passions off the ice. He started the Connor Carrick Podcast in 2020 to not only speak with some of the world’s highest performing people to dive into their best practices and daily processes, but to also empower others to better themselves and find inspiration to realize their own goals. And Connor has a profound love of coffee that finds him spending as much time on crafting it as he drinks it.

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Finally, Connor is a mental health advocate who actively works to help erase the stigma associated with it. By talking openly about his own well-being journey and inviting others to come along, he hope to encourage everyone to play offense in their own lives.

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Lauryn Williams competed at the elite level in two Olympic sports – track and bobsled - earning one gold and two silver medals over a 12 year athletic career. She holds the distinction of being the first American woman to earn medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

After realizing at age 20 that she was financially illiterate - despite earning a 6 figure income - she hired a financial planner, but didn’t feel informed about her whole financial picture or how to make financial goals.

Finding fellow athletes also felt only enabled by their financial planners or left in the dark, Williams realized a gap in the market and founded Worth Winning after retiring from sport. 

Today, she is a certified financial planner, author of The Oval Office: A Four-Time Olympian’s Guide to Professional Track and Field, a podcaster and motivational speaker. 

In her spare time, Williams volunteers for US Track and Field, managing youth teams, and she’s on the USA Bobsled Foundation Board where she raises money for current athletes. Outside of sport, she volunteers for Our Friends Place (OFP), which teaches life skills to young homeless women.

Residing in Dallas, Texas, with her husband and Great Dane, Lauryn says she is on a mission to impact as many people as she can in her lifetime.

What did you learn through sports that helped you thrive in the business world? And how did it prepare you?

The biggest thing is perseverance. When competing you’re sore but you’ve got to go to practice the next day anyway. You’re building on a foundation of what is eventually going to become a great race, which then becomes a championship opportunity. But along the way there’s hard times and you just have to keep showing up, so persistence is a big deal.

What are you doing today that you would love our athlete network to know about (current projects/partnerships etc.)?

In October, I’m hosting a 12-week online money school-type program, for people to learn the financial foundational pieces of the puzzle in adult life, because so many of us don’t know the basics. (www.worth-winning.com)

But my main focus this year is my financial retreats. I’m taking 8 women for a vacation plus financial planning advice – first to Columbia and later on to Bali. Everyone wants to go on vacation so why not learn something on vacation?!

What advice would you give our Uru athlete community as they're looking for 'what's next?' and seeking to build meaningful careers off the field?

People always say is ‘your network is your net worth’. But many athletes don’t capitalize on the people who like to be around us. The people who always say ‘Nice to meet you, is there anything I can do?’ and give you their card. 

Follow up with them now, while you’re competing so you can build a relationship. Because I guarantee you won’t feel comfortable reaching out to them in life after sport, when you need something and you’re lost. Invest time in building relationships now, even if you don’t know the point or don’t know what you’re going to get out of it. Focus on having the relationship because you’ll always get something out of it in the form of value or friendship. 

Also, financially prepare for what comes next, because you won’t be earning the same as you when you’re an athlete. I founded Worth Winning because I felt young professionals deserve something better. We’re getting better and better earnings for our age group but if you don’t know what to do with it you can end up broke. 

Why are you excited about Uru's mission and what made you get involved?

I just really love the Uru Team, especially Patty. They have been awesome in living out what they want Uru to be. Patty has helped me multiple times as an athlete in transition, by reaching out to me to see how I’m doing and introducing new opportunities to see if I’m interested. I can see Uru's vision for helping other athletes on a larger scale because Patty's already been true to living that out via me. It’s always nice to be tied to something where you can believe the people behind the scenes are really thinking about the athlete’s interest.

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Years of experience as a professional athlete and brand ambassador, with a respected reputation as an effective leader and communicator, have led to a career promoting brands, products, and people from an authentic place. Experienced in the process of creating and bringing products to market, launching brands and mentoring people with their personal brands. Athlete management, brand direction, product development, product marketing, creative direction, sports marketing, events, partnerships, copywriting, and social media activation are all time honed skills and day to day responsibilities at Mervin Mfg.

José Calderón is a star both on and off the basketball court. 

His 14 year career in the NBA included a run at the NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018, and three Olympic medals. He still currently holds the record for the highest free throw percentage in an NBA season at 98.1%.

After retiring in 2019, Calderón successfully transitioned his career off the court by securing roles including Player Advisor with the NBA Players Association, Front Office Advisor for the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise, and Global Advisor for a large tech company. 

He is also an active investor in multiple tech startups and an ambassador for many brands that align with his commitment to being involved in helping to make the world a better place. He counts humility and sacrifice as the two most important factors that have stuck with him throughout his career, along with honesty, effort, passion and empathy.

The combination of Calderón’s burning curiosity, commitment to educating himself, and mentoring has helped him gain valuable business experience. Keenly aware of the importance of being prepared for his next chapter, Calderón pursued certifications including the ‘Harvard Crossover Into Business Program’, which has made his transition from the court to the boardroom that much smoother.

Calderón’s experiences and his own business method encourages preparation, surrounding yourself with the right people, and embracing the athlete network as a resource.

‍What did you learn through sports that helped you thrive in the business world? And how did it prepare you?

There is one big part that you sometimes learn sometimes without knowing - work as a team, understand your role, and accept feedback. All of this happens daily in any sector.

What are you doing today that you would love our athlete network to know about (current projects/partnerships etc.)?

I'm doing a lot of things! The reason is because I want to keep exploring different opportunities, learn from them and see which ones I like the most or where I can help the most. I work in the front office with the Cleveland Cavaliers, I'm a Global Advisor at Sngular and a talk show host for UNIQ, a radio station in Spain. I have my own foundation and also serve as a Brand Ambassador for Unicef, plus I’m actively involved with all my investments.

What advice would you give our Uru athlete community as they're looking for 'What's next?' and seeking to build meaningful careers off the field?

Keep learning and knowing what you like the most. Keep connecting with people and listen to others who did it before you. But the most important thing is to really enjoy what you doing and try to find new challenges.

Why are you excited about Uru's mission and what made you get involved? ‍

Because Uru is helping athletes. We athletes sacrifice a lot to pursue a dream, and we know what sacrifice and teamwork mean. Being part of this community is great.

Listen to more of Calderón’s story, plus his insights/tips on his podcast episode ‘Adjusting To New Roles’ here.

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