Bonus Episode 2 | Jameel McCline - A Fighter's Journey Beyond the Ring - Mick Unplugged
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Are you ready to change your habits, sculpt your destiny, and light up your path to greatness? Welcome to the epicenter of transformation. This is Mic Unplugged.

We'll help you identify your because, so you can create a routine that's not just productive, but powerful. You'll embrace the art of evolution, adapt strategies to stay ahead of the game, and take a step toward the extraordinary. So let's unleash your potential. Now, here's Mick. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another amazing episode of Mick Unplugged. And today, we're going deep.

We're going deep into the realm and the story of transformation, resilience, and leadership. From relentless discipline in the boxing ring to the strategic arenas of corporate success, joining us is someone that I've looked up to for a very long time, not because of what he achieved in the boxing ring, but what he's achieved out of it.

and the man that he is and what he stands for. It is my distinct honor and pleasure to welcome my man, Mr. Jamil McClain. Jamil, welcome to Make M.F.L.A.Y. Thank you so much for having me, brother. I appreciate it. I'm very excited to be here. Thank you. Man, I am excited as well. And, you know, huge boxing fan, huge fan of yours. And I always tell people this, man, like I heard this saying, you play tennis, right? You play basketball, you play football, right?

You don't play boxing. Yeah. You don't play boxing, right? When you step into that ring, you

It's a different animal. It's a different beast. A lot of people aren't cut out for that. So for you, and we're going to talk a lot about your story, man, like what got you into boxing? Like what made you say, this is what I'm going to do. I was 25 years old. I just gotten out of prison. I was in a gym in Staten Island, New York, working out. It wasn't a boxing gym, which is a regular workout gym. Some guy comes over to me, this German guy, he's in his mid to late forties, Ron Ruther.

hardcore German, you know, and he came to me and he said, hey, man, you want to be a boxer? It's a true story. So I was like, I don't know. I mean, who knows? So he gives me his card and says to me, hey, give me a call and...

We'll talk about it over steaks at Peter Luger's. So I go to the guy, I say, okay. And I go to the guy who ran the gym and I said, Hey, that guy wants to take me to Peter Luger's talk about being a boxer. And all he said to me was, Hey man, Peter Luger's is one of the best steak houses in the city.

So I thought to myself, I just got out like not a few months ago. I couldn't afford a steak and I didn't have a steak those five years I was in. So I literally only went for the steak dinner. The man convinced me to move into his basement and live on a cot. And that man made me everything I am today.

Wow. That's amazing. That's amazing. The next day I was on his basement floor sleeping in some, Hey, listen, you know, I was in solitary confinement for years. So sleeping in the basement on the floor in a car and it was all weights. It was like a weight room and not just where I lived. I lived in the weight room for years.

six months. I love it. You know, we talked offline about transitioning out of boxing and how some of your peers and some of the people you looked up to didn't handle the transition right. And I know that there are a lot of forget boxing. There are a lot of former athletes, right? That don't handle the transition because when you retire from, from professional sport,

you're still a very young person in society. But a lot of times we don't look at it that way. And these are my words and not the words of Jamil, right? Some people hang on way too long and they try to live on that glory instead of saying, I've mastered this.

Let me go master something else. Like, what was that like for you? What was that spark for you that said, okay, I need to go master and be the person I'm supposed to be not this athlete. Well, I'll tell you now, you know, it's honestly speaking, it is as frightening as starting a boxing career transition.

that you have no idea where you're going to end up is frightening. But for me, it always boils down to belief and these God-given attributes that made me who I am. You know, I didn't become a fighter because of who I am. I am a fighter because of what's inside of me, you know, Link? And I just transitioned that into, don't get me wrong, I mean, just like boxing, you know, I lost my ass many, many times.

I've been beat by other people many, many times. You just learn. You learn how to bob and weave and stick a jab when you're supposed to. Yeah.

You know, I just picked it up. So what separates me, I think, is that, you know, just like boxing, you know, I started my career at the age of 25. And by the time I was 30, I was already in the top 10 in the world. That's right. And back in those days, in the top five was still Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. So for me to fight to claw my way in five years from the time I put on a pair of gloves, I'm destined to do whatever I want to do. That's right.

That's right.

X amount of, you know, assets, you know, now it's like, no, there, there really is no limit. You know, it's just a matter of time. You know, I just need more time. That's all. You know, again, I've told you this before and I opened the podcast by saying it, you're one of the people that, that I looked up to and admired. And here's why, man, because you have so many things that are not supposed to be going well for you. I mean, you think about it again, these are the words of Mick and Mick only boxing today, getting in the top 10.

probably isn't that hard. But when you got there, bro, like getting in the top 10 was not I mean, you had to go through beast in the heavyweight division, and then you transition out of boxing, and you go into the corporate America world, but your past is your past. All of that is stacked up against like,

Jamil is not supposed to win, but you're a freaking winner. And that's what I love, man. And that's what I think people need to understand is most of the time, you just got to keep going. Like, you're going to have bad days. You're going to have bad moments of days. Like, every day is never going to be perfect. You just got to keep going and you got to have purpose. And again, that's what I admire about you is that. Thank you so much. You know, I'll tell you, you're right. It is just a matter of keep going because what other choice do you have? Like, I leave myself at...

Oftentimes I'm thinking, okay, so...

What's next? How do we do this? Like, how am I going to figure out this? And I remember when I was in the league, you know, I call it the league. You know, it sounds cool. I remember when I was in the league, you know, I would say I got a big show on the table and I'd say, I have no idea how I'm going to do this, but I got the next 12 weeks to figure it out. And that's when I would start training camp, 12 weeks out. I was a 12-week guy. I was one of those guys that needed to be in camp forever.

for 10 to 12 weeks. So just like in my professional life, you know, I really didn't know how we were going to get to the next level and then to the next level. But I did know that

that if I stayed with it, it would just appear, you know? And just every day, chopping wood, chopping wood. So it's been a real experience because there is no doubt that it's frightening going into a new-- no one knows you, no one cares. No one cares that you were once, you know, fighting at Madison Square Garden, Mandalay Bay, Caesars Palace, HBO. They could care less when you're in a boardroom.

Oftentimes, I wouldn't even talk about, if I'm doing a presentation, I wouldn't even talk about my past, what I did. I just felt that no one really cared. Once in a while, somebody would recognize me and say something and I'd speak to it. But if your deal wasn't a good deal, they'd pat you on the back, maybe ask for a selfie and send you on your way.

I've seen it happen many times. So when you decided to transition and retire from boxing and then go into corporate America, like what was your thought process? What were the things that you had to put in place? Because there's a lot of people listening to this podcast right now that are at that stage. Again, they might not be professional athletes, but they're at that defining moment where I need to change my career for the better. What were those first steps like for Jamil? So it was really difficult because first of all,

you know, think about it. I was big time McCline. I mean, Jesus, I had my own parking spot, you know, next to the garden, you know, they made sure I had my own park. Even when I wasn't fighting, they, "Oh, that's Jameel McCline's spot."

And then all of a sudden, you know, I'm thrust into this world where no one could care less. For me, it was a traumatizing experience because I was no longer judged on my name and my skill set. I was now judged on my performance in a new realm.

in a new arena with new players, new rules, new bars to hurdle. So for me, it was traumatizing. I will admit that it was debilitating in terms of depression. I fell into deep depression, fell into drug use again after being clean my entire fight career, picked up

cocaine and drinking. And it was terrible for me. But I just woke up one day and just realized that, wow, you're a champion, Jamil, and you were a champion for a reason. So let's get it together. Let's step forward and see what we can make happen. And here I am a decade after I retired and things are just absolutely phenomenal. Jamil Cunningham: That's amazing. And there's people listening that are right there.

There are people that are in depression, that are in despair, and, you know, they think that or they feel that they can't get out of it. What's some encouragement you would give people? Because again, I know that there are people that are battling this right now. What's some encouragement you would give? So it's really hard to give encouragement on depression. Depression is absolutely debilitating. I mean, you can go into a room and not leave that room for 48, 72 hours.

Only to eat and to use the bathroom because of depression. So as soon as I was able to find my way out, like as soon as I saw like a bright day, you know, in my mind's eye, you know, I would seize on it. I would just run. I would get out of the house. I would...

you know, they call that the manic stage when I would just call people, Hey, what's going on? I got this, I got this going on. Hey, I'm looking for this. I got this. Hey, would you, you know, and just, I just kept pressing forward. So it, giving someone advice on how to come out of depression is really hard. You know, um, I did a lot of mental, uh,

I did a lot of yoga and a lot of psychotherapy with my therapist to be completely honest. That's awesome. And again, I think those are things that people need to hear. And I'm just going to say this, especially people that look like Jamil and I, right? Like sometimes we're,

our egos get in the way and we don't want to seek help or we don't want to call our buddies and let them know we're going through dark moments or I just need someone to talk to. So for people that are listening, I'm going to say this. Number one, pick up the phone and check on your people. They probably need you.

And then number two, when you receive that call from a friend that maybe you haven't heard from in a while, there's probably a reason they're calling. Pick up the dog on the phone because you never know that moment when just a simple hello, how are you doing? I wish I had given that advice because that's so true. Because I tell you, when you're in that depression, sometimes

Picking up the phone is a huge step because people are trying to check on you. They haven't heard from you in a while and they're wondering what's going on. And you're sitting in your hole going, what was me? What was me? When you actually have people reaching out to you. So to your point, I actually started, you know, that was the first thing like that. As soon as I saw a slither of light and I got a phone call, okay, hey, how's it going? Hey, Jamil, hey, I'm looking for this or I got this going on. Sure, I'll show up.

That's the first step, just being brave. And that's one of the things that set me apart in my career as well was that I was absolutely courageous, you know, sometimes to the point of psychosis, you know, I was crazy. I was so brave. I was like, I didn't care. Okay, you want to put me in with Lennox Lewis? I got 12 fights, had no amateur career.

Okay. You know, and you know, a hundred rounds later, I started winning a few, you know, a few, I want to make that clear. You won more than a few brother. You won more than a few. I'm talking about sparring sessions with Lennox Lewis. Oh, I got you. That's awesome, man. And you hit on a couple of things that, that my mentor talks to me about. So Les Brown is, is my personal mentor and in our podcast, he, he announced to the world, this phrase called the Mick factor.

So M I C K. So mastery, imagination, courage, and keep going. And you've actually hit on all of those because that's, that's what you're talking about, right? You had to master something in boxing. You had to master something outside of the boxing world.

You just talked about the imagination to say, okay, I'm going to go spar with Lennox Lewis, right? Like I'm going to, I have the imagination that I can be a top 10, top 10 fighter. I can be a contender. You've hit on courage so much. And we opened the podcast talking about keep going. It's just amazing how like your story transcends into me and what I do too. And I'd love to hit on mastery because I think that's something that's really important for people. You had to master a lot.

in the ring, you have to master a skill. You just don't get in and just box, right? Like there's a lot of things that you need to master. And then outside of the ring, you had to master something else. So I'd love to do this twofold. Like how did you learn mastery from a boxing perspective? And then how did that translate over into your corporate world? Attrition. That's how I learned mastery, attrition. We just stayed with it day after day, year after year. You know, we just...

Back in my career, I remember, you know, the old German guy, Ron, was like, listen, you have to do something every single day. And then when you get in shape, you have to do something twice every single day. So I took that exact format into my professional career. You have to do something significant every day, every

And then when you get your feet under, you have to do something significant twice every single day. And it's really hard to...

to keep that momentum going. Just like in life, you know, some days you have it, some days you don't, some days I got nothing done. But my goal was to do something significant twice a day, every day, even if that significant was just as little as getting a commitment for a meeting, you know, getting two commitments for a meeting, that would be my two. And then what I had to master was in corporate America, I had a very, you know, just, you know,

big, happy, strong, outgoing guy. You know, I have zero to prove and that comes through in my personality and my energy. People are just drawn to me. I was very fortunate to be around some of the smartest people here in South Florida and I was able to connect them through my network nationwide and worldwide as well. I had to learn how to do that

I had to learn how to up-manage, down-manage, and cross-manage. I really had to learn how to manage egos. I had this one guy, he's a billionaire, and I was talking to him, and he says to me, you know, Jamil, you got this thing about you. You see how you speak low and you make me pay attention to you? I'm like, I wasn't trying to speak low. I wasn't trying to get you to, I was just talking to you. But

Thanks for telling me that, you know, like the guy was basically what he was saying was that, you know, you have command. So when he said that to me, things kind of clicked in my mind's eye. I was like, wow, I have the ability to hold someone's attention. Even this guy who, you know, he wasn't listening to me because I

I was Jamil McClain. He was listening to me because he thought I had something really important to say, you know? And I did, and I did, and I got him interested, and I got him happy, and I got him excited, and he understood where I was going with the idea. And, you know, we got together, and we made some really great things happen.

That's awesome. Again, one of the things that I also love about you and I could talk to Jamil McClain, big time, a client all day, right? Like we could have a 20 hour episode, but I won't do that to the people in boxing. Bouncing back is as important as the actual fight itself.

Right. Because there are moments in the fight where you've got to make quick decisions or this combo that you thought you're going to be able to get off because you practice it forever. You can't. How did that translate into your corporate world, too? Because, again, bouncing back, having strategy and being able to adapt quickly, I think, are big facets. If I look at every power leader, that's what they do. Adaptability. You know, we talk about that often, my partner and I.

and adapt or die. You know, I am in artificial intelligence now. And, you know, just yesterday, NVIDIA came out with some, you know, and also Elon Musk this past weekend was saying that, you know, jobs...

are going to be gone by the wayside tip, you know, because of AI, it's going to take so many jobs. And my partner and I weren't a phone talking about it. And we were like, well, what's going to happen next? He's like, we already figured it out. We've already adapted. You just showed us how to adapt because we're in a different, you know, we made some incredible things happen that took a

We'll talk about that in a little while. It's all about adaptability, just like in the ring. You know, just like you said, you're getting ready to make a move. He counters with something. You got to have the ability to adapt. And we've been able to adapt. When I say we, I mean me, you know, my family, my loved ones, my partners. We've just been able to adapt like on the fly and make sure that we're bringing value.

to whatever service that we're trying to provide to our client base, especially in the ever-changing world of technology. Moore's law says that technology changes every 18 months. Well, that's gone. Now it's every six months technology is changing. Correct. You really have to be on the cutting edge of whatever it is you're thinking of doing or whatever it is you are doing. You have to be on the cutting edge because A,

AI, automation, iteration is here. And I just feel that all enterprise level organizations that are not prepared will be swallowed up by organizations

by organizations that are prepared and the smaller ones that are prepared will become the bigger ones. - All day. And you hit on a phrase that I just wrote down and I'm gonna give you a lot of props, adapt or die. You hit on it, this world is ever changing at a much faster pace than we've ever seen in the history of life. And if you're a business leader,

and you're not adapting, like I can't tell you how many folks I talk to that have a three-year plan or a one-year plan and it's a piece of paper that they review once a year. I'm like, if you review your strategic plan once a year, you're set up for failure and you're probably not gonna be in business in the next three to five because the world is evolving that much technology, AI, they're coming for us.

Right. And for those that don't want to embrace or that don't adapt, you're going to not be here from a business standpoint. So I love that thing. Correct. You know, I oftentimes have, you know, powwows with my partners and I. And if we just feel that to be a true leader in any vertical, it doesn't matter to be a true leader, adaptability of the technology now.

and learning what that technology is like again you know I'm really fortunate because I have God-given attributes that allow me to transition and adapt and I've had that since I was a kid when I went into uh orphanage at seven years old you know I adapted very quickly to being alone I was a I was able to tolerate I remember it was very stressful at the beginning you know uh

nightmares as a young kid, but then I just adopted and I'm just a happy kid all the time. And even though I was separated from the family, it's just who I am. And yeah, adaptability. All right. I'm going to rapid fire a couple of questions for you before we find what Jamil is doing now. So toughest fight? Toughest fight I had, I won. It was a 12 round fight.

against Shannon Briggs. Every time the man hit me, he hurt me. When I say hurt, I mean I was concussed. Every time he hit me, I was concussed. I got concussed maybe 12 times in that fight. Big time McClain's favorite punch or combination to throw. So the...

The right uppercut to the body, the left hook to the head, the straight right to the head. I had to sit back in my chair for a moment just in case you were about to throw it. That's the right uppercut, the left hook, and the straight right down the pike. It was just my fastest, most effective punch, and it got me out of a lot of trouble in my career. Because I always caught guys on my shoulder when I would throw it. It would be right on my shoulder, and I'd just hit their belly, hit their chin, and hit their chin again. Good night. Mm.

That's deadly right there. That's deadly right there. All right. So we talked about your toughest fight, easiest opponent that you ever faced. Michael Grant. All right. I stopped him in 43 seconds.

Okay, yeah. What was the knockout? What was the move? Okay, so it was actually, it was a very, very, very first punch of the fight. I came out. We're in the middle of the ring. We're going back to the ring. My trainer said, everything we worked on, forget about it. Go out, hit him with a left hook. I looked at him. I was like, what? He goes, go hit him with a left hook. I walk out, hit him with a left hook. He goes down. Later, we talk about it. I say, why? He goes...

He goes, I said, Jimmy, why'd you do that? You changed it right at the end there later. And he goes, son, it was all Jimmy Glenn. He goes, he always called me son. He goes, son, I saw his legs shaking and I didn't want to get, I didn't want him to get any courage. So I wanted you to hit him with the left hook.

Let it be known early. All right. And then last rapid fire, any camp superstitions? I've heard some stories of boxers and their superstitions in camps. So when I went to camp, I went, I was celibate. Once, once I went to camp, that's it. I'm celibate to the fight and that's it. So a lot of guys say it's a superstition, you know,

You know, I experimented a couple times and I didn't believe it was a superstition because I didn't have the same legs the next day. So it's a little bit through the fight, but after the fight, it was on. It was on. Always right there ready for me. I'm getting in trouble. I'm getting in trouble. All right. So what is Jamil McClain? What is Big Time McClain doing now? Like, where can people find you? Like, where are your passions? What are you doing with work? So really, you can always find me on LinkedIn. Jamil McClain on LinkedIn.

So I kind of stay away from the other social media currently. But because, you know, when I ran for United States Congress, I had tens of thousands of followers.

but it just got overwhelming so i got away from it too many opinions too many people yelling at me for no reason so i got away from it namaste peace in my life right but uh yeah so now i'm in artificial intelligence uh we developed the product the first we're first to market with a amazing product we're able to hyper personalize video from data so in other words if you give me a data set i can turn that data into video

uh, at scale by the millions on demand immediately. So I can put out maybe a million, I can put out a million videos for a company, uh,

And, and I can do that just using data in less than an hour. Any type of data set. So you're talking PDF. Any type of data set, like, uh, like name, number, address, uh, the car they're driving, the car they like, or the car they have, or the trade-in. So we're, we're specifically in the automotive industry. Now, um, we have, uh,

In the last three months, we've had an incredible run. We've been able to bring on about 70 million in new business in just three months with the product. The product, no one else has it in the world. We're the only ones in the world that can render 1080p video at scale on demand immediately using only data. So if you go to my website, our website, Techpedal, T-E-C-H-P-E-D-A-L,

Like technology, pedal, P-E-D-A-L dot I-O. It'll give you some because it moves so fast. Like I said, the industry was, like I was saying earlier about adaptability and changing. The industry was moving so fast. We had to come up with a product. We were doing well. We had about 400 different rooftops, automotive rooftops that we were servicing with some technology or another coming into production.

September of last year. We sat down, had a post-mortem after a meeting, didn't like how it went, really understood the position that we were in, came up with a product that no one else in the world has. And yes, we started in the automotive industry, but we're moving very quickly into the healthcare, dental, any other industry. It's really a tool for marketing agents and ad agencies. Wow.

I mean, I've been, obviously my ears perked up the entire call, but $70 million in three months? So we put on new business. Yeah, we've been able to sign some of the largest automotive ad agencies in the country from Affinitiv to Solara to Vista. Vista, you know, that's the $96 billion fund. We've already been offered a buyout. Of course, we're not going to take it. Yeah, we've been able to get an IR.

iHeartRadio is one of our new clients. I mean, I can just go on and on in just three months because the technology is so timely. No one else has it. So if you're an ad agency, think about it. You're sending out all these videos and all these emails and no one's clicking the emails or no one's watching your videos. So we just have the ability to take your entire data set, let's say your Home Depot,

You have a special on wood this week or barbecue grills. We can hit your entire database nationwide. Hyper personalized. Hey, Mick, thank you for checking out this video. We got a great offer. Come on down to Home Depot. Show them this QR code and get 30% off the next grill you buy or whatever.

And that's where the world is. Personalization. That's what people want. Like I tell people all the time, I just taught a class on selling to the modern buyer. The modern buyer, like the generation younger than you and I, they want quick and they want it personalized. They want it personalized. And 70% of all content on the internet now is video based, right? So everyone is watching videos of

Facebook came out with reels to compete with TikTok and Instagram. But it's all videos. So we've just seen sometimes a 14% to 30% increase in engagement.

And really that's in marketing and advertising. It's really about engagement, getting your client base to just pay attention, brand loyalty. I'd like to say we finally got, we got a great company that Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennessy, LVMH. That's, I mean, that brand, I mean, I'm not a Louis Vuitton, I'm not a brand guy.

Because that brand is so that Louis Vuitton, the Hennessy, the Moet brand, we got that brand. We're doing marketing for that company as well now. And actually, we don't do the marketing. They're using our tools in their platform. Wow. So, you know, we had a meeting recently with some guys and they were like, so you guys are. And I was telling them, listen, we're the best in the world at what we do. And he was like, he didn't know I was a fighter. He didn't know I was amongst the best in the world.

And I was like, listen, this is just what we do. This is how we are. This is what we believe in our souls. We believe that we are the best. Even when we weren't, we believed it, right? Now we came out with this product. Four months later, we're 70 million in new business. And he was like, wow, you guys really are the best in the world. And I was like, well, what made you see that now? He goes, I see that you guys believe it. Yep.

That's where it starts. Amen to that, brother. Amen to that. Ladies and gentlemen, Jamil Big Time McClain. My dude, my dude, my dude. I appreciate it.

I appreciate you more. Techpedal.io. I know that there are a lot of business leaders listening. Go have a conversation. Go research them. They have a solution to the problem that you have. I promise you, you have this problem. I don't care the industry. They solve the problem. Video and distribution. You can't beat it. Video distribution at scale on demand. There we go. Everybody remember, your because is your superpower. Unleash it.

Jamil, I love you, brother. Thanks for listening to Mick Unplugged. We hope this episode helps you take the next step toward the extraordinary and launches a revolution in your life. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast and be sure to check us out on YouTube at Mick Unplugged. Remember, stay empowered, stay inspired, and stay unplugged.