54: Stumbling Forward For The Win with Basketball Star & Motivational Speaker Jesse LeBeau

Summary: “You have to take 100% responsibility for your life…your attitude, your own personal attitude, is going to be the key to success or failure in your own life.” – Jesse LeBeau The Bucket List Life Podcast Episode #54 - Jesse LeBeau In this, episode #54 of The Bucket List Life Podcast with Kenyon Salo, we meet the inspiring Jesse LeBeau. At an early age he became one of the premier basketball trick artists in the world. As his name grew he began appearing in commercials, TV shows and movies with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment. His experiences led him to write a book “Among the Giants”, which hit the best sellers' list. He is also known as “The Teen Coach”. He travels around the world inspiring kids and shares his underdog journey, growing up on a remote island in Alaska where basketball wasn’t the easy route to take. Highlights of their podcast conversation: 4:35  We learn that Jesse had a passion for basketball as a kid. He saw a movie about Pistol Pete Maravich and it inspired him. Not that pursuing basketball on a remote Alaskan island was easy when he had to take a boat to school everyday and it was usually dark, rainy and cold. It may have been out of the ordinary but it led him on a path to follow his dreams. 6:50  Jesse realizes that he is never going to be in the NBA and playing overseas didn’t pay much but he was not going to give up on his dreams. He decided he wanted to do commercials and movies. During an audition “I realized after I did a fancy [basketball] trick the director got excited, and they yelled on the sidelines.” He started learning Globetrotter style tricks. At the beginning he was awful but trained hard and found the thing that made him different. 9:35  We learn why Jesse says “At the end of the day what sports are meant to do is teach us how to be better people and how to win at the game of life.”  He tells us “The harder I work the luckier I get.” 10:45  Once Jesse is proficient at his new skills he auditions for Kobe Bryant. He isn’t exactly what they are looking for but he ends up impressing the director so much that they use him in commercials and movies. He doesn’t know what he is doing and stumbles forward on his new path and just went for it. He explains that there may be someone better than you at something but they may be afraid to take action. If you are willing to work and learn as you go it can make all the difference. 13:35  Jesse is a stunt performer in the movie ‘Thunderstruck’ with basketball star Kevin Durant. In one of the scenes the kid beats Kevin at a one-on-one basketball game. “It wasn’t a true one-on-one battle, talent vs. talent, but any way you can beat Kevin Durant, even if he has to let you win, I’ll take it!” 17:00  Jesse loves to give back and enjoys visiting schools around the country. He finds it exciting to share his story with young people. Jesse understands that it is harder now to be a kid with all the modern pressures they face and he gives them tips and advice on how to get and stay on the right track. He shares the struggles he faced as an underdog and tells us “I really believe every child is one caring adult away from being a success story.” 23:35  We learn that in Jesse’s book ‘Among the Giants’ he shares 30 Life Lessons. The key lesson is “You have to take 100% responsibility for your life…your attitude. Your own personal attitude is going to be the key to success or failure in your own life.” You have to face situations in your life that are beyond your control and you can see it as an obstacle or an opportunity. It’s all in the attitude. Without that, none of the other 29 keys matter. 31:00  Jesse tells us about his celebrity youth program “The Fab Four Take Over”. It’s all about spreading a positive message with kids and entertaining them with basketball. He and some of his celebrity friends put together a basketball show with a motivational message. The first show was telecast on Fox and the CW.