"What's past is prologue" is a quotation by William Shakespeare from his play The Tempest. The phrase was originally used in Act 2, Scene I. Antonio suggests that all that has happened before that time, the "past", has led Sebastian and himself to this opportunity to do what they are about to do.
If it’s in your past, it’s most likely going to be in your future.
Over the last three decades, I have been blessed to have an exciting career in sports. It’s the only thing I have ever wanted to do, going all the way back to when I was a kid going to football games every weekend with my Father.
I was never content to just be a fan, even when I was in my teens, so when I was in the 7th grade, I started working for my hometown radio station (keeping stats and doing tape duplications) & the local newspaper (taking photos, writing up high school games, and physically inserting ads).
When I went to college I played football (Guilford College / NCAA Division III), worked in the sports information office, served on the Faculty Athletic Committee as the student representative, and, if I was not busy enough, started the sports department of the campus radio station (WQFS-FM) so I could begin my career as a play by play broadcaster.
Following graduation in May 1991, I worked in intercollegiate athletics (10 schools / 3 with the same boss) in most every external job there is from exciting folks as radio/tv talent, to generating revenue selling sponsorships and tickets, all the way up to being Director of Athletics and running the whole show.
Along the way I’ve also been the marketing & game operations catch-all guy for a professional ice hockey team (Greensboro Monarchs / ECHL), a Vice President in NASCAR (Richmond Raceway) and most recently the President of professional football team in the Alliance of American Football (AAF/Orlando Apollos). #TakeAim
In short, Elaine & Lewis Waddell’s only child has never sat still, has always had ideas, has always needed to be overly busy, and has definitely been most happy when he was around anything to do with sports
My Mom is the oldest daughter of a Family Farmer, and she never, ever let me stay in the bed past 7 am, when she knocked on my door. I was usually already up, but if for some reason I was dragging, at 7:01 am she was back, and she was carrying one of those sturdy LIONS CLUB brooms to motivate me to get moving.
As anyone I have ever worked with will share, I sleep about 4 to 5 hours a night max. My mind is usually always racing with ideas, some good, most off the wall, and I love to be in a room filled with open-minded, creative people bouncing thoughts off one another until that one, magic concept reveals itself.
One thing is for sure about working in sports, at some point, if you are out there making waves and getting things done, there is going to come a time when change swings against you in a negative way.
On April 2, 2019 at 12:35 pm, that happened to me when I got word, via Darren Rovell’s Twitter feed, that my employer, The AAF, was suspending operations, effective immediately. This meant that the 24 people that I had hired over the previous 9 months, and myself, were all out of jobs. Ouch.
Over the next month I worked hard, alongside with our Orlando Apollos leadership team, to help our staff all find jobs. On May 1, I woke up and thought to myself…. “Self, what are YOU going to do now?
Good question.
I had been doing some consulting, and brainstorming, and basically keeping myself busy, but nothing really motivated me. Nothing was speaking to my soul. My family had just moved to Orlando and I felt a lot of pressure to NOT MOVE AGAIN. The first week in October I cut the cord and decided to do what my family, and closest friends had been telling me to do for the better part of the last 5 years. I moved Brentwood Partners from a part-time hobby to a full-time consulting business, engaging a variety of different projects, Short Term, Long Term, a little of this and a little of that. Two of my former employees now own their own multimedia companies, so in a fun twist of fate, I now look to them for professional guidance on how to start something, from nothing.
The best thing about this idea is that I get to work with great people. I am blessed to have a solid group of innovative businesses who have welcomed me into their collective worlds. Together, we are building new things and influencing other brands on a daily basis. Pretty exciting stuff.
"What's past is prologue"
I’ve always wanted to be busy.
I’ve always wanted to be involved in a lot of different things.
I’ve always wanted to be creative.
I’ve always wanted to help people.
I’ve always wanted to be out and about engaging people.
Looks like I am doing what I want to do.
Yay me.
I appreciate your dropping by and reading this blog. Check back every week for another walk on the wild side, memory lane, of whatever seems to inspire me to battle the keyboard and generate something worth reading.
Spread the word and if you can, drop me a line and bring me in on your project. No one will put more into it. I’m ready to roll.
Until next time, Wad Out.
#GoWithBrentwood
My Father, Lewis Waddell, Jr, Me, and My Mother, Elaine Adair, circa May 1988