This "Swifty Lifty" Reps in the Gym AND on the Roster! | Alexy Posner

So, Ric Flair?

How did that happen?

I gotta hear the story in this one.

"Tricky Ricky," as I like to call him.

One of my other clients is Jaleel White, who very famously played

Steve Urkel in Family Matters.

Long story short, we were at a cannabis convention in Chicago It

was Rick, Mike Tyson, and Jaleel.

And so I met Rick that way.

He kept calling me Young Brooke Shields and said he never got a chance to kiss

Brooke Shields, so could we change it now?

And I said, [[laughing]] [[laughing]] "No."

"Slick Ric."

"No, we can't. [[laughing]] But thank you for the offer. Thank you

anyways." most of these stories start with me mouthing back off to these people.

I think that's kind of the common theme of it.

Intro Band: Lean in closer. This is your time.

Hit record on your crooked

life. What's your story?

(Hey!) Say the words out loud!

Mike & Scott gonna crack that crowd.

What's your story? (Hey!) Turn it up, let's go!

Every voice. Every scar.

Every road. What's your story?

Mike and Scott.

Let's talk.

What's up, everybody?

Welcome to another episode of the What's Your Story Podcast.

I'm Scott Leese.

This is my good friend and co-host, Mike Lindstrom.

I'm here.

Representing the USA today?

Baby, 250 years

- Scott Leese: Atta boy.

…this country.

Big game coming up.

Big pro - I know, I know.

Big game.

All my Aussie friends are trying to give it to me right now.

They think they're feeling pretty confident.

It can happen.

I don't think it's gonna happen.

It's gonna be like 5-0.

5-0?

5-0.

We'll do four

- Scott Leese: You heard it here first.

We got four goals.

I mean, that's great, right?

You heard it here first.

You did hear first.

Yeah.

Wow.

Pretty pumped about today, by the way

- Scott Leese: Yeah?

Who we have here.

Well, her name is Alexy Posner.

Yeah, she's great.

Tell everybody what she does.

She's, I don't even wanna say influencer,

agency, brand manager, badass.

Do you think that we're big enough where she would manage

- Mike Lindstrom: Swiftie

- Scott Leese: …she'd manage our brand, do you think?

She might be able to do that.

I mean, that, we could talk about that off camera, but she knows how to do

We'll have to

- Mike Lindstrom: The

- Scott Leese: Maybe we'll give her the pitch.

Yeah, I'm pumped.

I'm pumped.

But we're excited to have her.

Alexy Posner, welcome to the show.

Thank you guys for having me.

That was quite the spastic intro.

I loved everything about it.

That's how we operate.

That we do it.

That's how we roll.

I loved everything about it.

Thank you guys for having me.

It's so fun to be here with you both.

Well, we start off every show by just trying to get to know people.

That's the whole

- Alexy Posner: 'Kay.

Basis of our podcast is ""What's Your Story?"

Awesome.

Right?

You can take that question whatever direction you want.

But who is Alexy?

How did you get to where you are today?

It's a very open-ended question.

Yes.

…but I'm here for it.

On purpose.

So originally from Philly, I grew up riding horses.

I was a professional athlete all the way up until 21 when my parents

decided that my expensive habit was no longer needed to be funded,

because horses are quite expensive.

But my whole existence was tied to my riding and to my sport.

And so when that ended, I went through a very deep, dark depression, and so many

people who tie their identity to something outside of their control can experience.

And I had no idea who I was, because for 20 some years, I had introduced

myself as, "Oh, I'm Alexy. I ride horses." that was who I was.

And so, knew I wanted to stay in something that was gonna have my back against

the wall in kind of this uphill climb.

And I'm like, "It's gonna be sport." So, was able to move into working in sport.

I worked for a minor league baseball team, minor league hockey team, no soccer,

but minor league baseball and hockey.

and really quickly found that my story was not a very unique story that

the individuals that I was working with on these teams, I started at

the Lancaster Barnstormers, which is an independent baseball team.

So I had these guys that were playing for the team and they had won a World

Series, had been MVP, had Daryle Ward hit the longest ball ever out of PNC Park.

And I'm like, "Why are you playing in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the

Atlantic League, making 1,700 bucks a month?" And every single story

was "I don't know what else to do.

This is all I know.

This is all I know." And this was in 2012.

And so at that point, social media was starting to creep up.

We started to see Facebook.

We started to see Instagram came forward.

And I was like, "I think my calling is working with athletes to help build their

brand while they're actively playing, that when they're done playing, this

doesn't feel like some rug got ripped out from underneath them, but that it

actually is a brand based on passion and purpose that they step forward into."

And so, yeah, started AP Brand Group 10 years ago and have been lucky

enough to work with amazing athletes and talent building their brands

based on their passion and purpose.

There was no sport specific though.

Your baseball were there, but was there anything that you were like, "I

wanna go into football or baseball."

Was there any

- Alexy Posner: No.

Calling there or was it

- Alexy Posner: No.

…just natural?

I am a very big believer in following what windows open.

I never, I don't think some big wide door ever really flies open

for you, but just being attuned and available to "Ooh, that window's

there," and kinda following that lead.

And so I've just, every single client has been word of mouth

and have grown, from there.

But baseball is my first love.

I love, love baseball.

Watching Doc Halladay pitch, as a young, younger person, he was probably my

favorite baseball player ever to play.

So fell in love with baseball a long time ago.

Love it.

Now, weirdly, don't work with any baseball players.

I just work with all NFL guys, but

- Mike Lindstrom: Is that right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I have no baseball players.

But I love my NFL boys.

They're easy.

Is that strategic on your part to only work with NFL, or is that

just the way that it's happening?

The way that it's flown.

I mean, you guys said you may need representation.

All of a sudden, I have a former soccer player that I'm working with.

it's all just kind of word of mouth and how it's all flowed together.

So how did you make the leap

This is a wild story.

so worked for the Barnstormers, got fired from my job there.

I've always been very loud, opinionated, and I, this idea of not being

able to enact change is something

- Scott Leese: Yeah.

…that is really

- Scott Leese: It's hard.

I really struggle with.

and I don't love authority either.

I don't work well for other people.

[laughing] So I got fired from the Barnstormers, and I was devastated.

Then went and worked for very quickly for a nonprofit for, like, a month and

got hired on by the Fightin' Phils.

So then worked for the Phillies, and then was scooped up out of there

to go work for the Reading Royals, which is the ECHL hockey team.

And I basically was working on all these jobs, straight out of college, I'm

making, like, $24,000 a year, 26,000.

Finally, for the Royals, I was making 31,000, and I'm like, "This is, I'm

crushing it, you know?" Bananas.

My brother, side note, went into finance and made, like, 150 out of college.

My parents were like, "Good job, you." I'm like, "What the fuck are

you doing?" [[laughing]] But yeah, so I was working for the Reading Royals,

and there was just, it felt like doors were constantly slamming, and I just

was like, "This doesn't feel right.

something isn't.

I'm constantly being misunderstood." I don't know.

Yeah.

I just couldn't quite, wasn't the right spot.

And I'm like, "I am working my frigging tail off, making no money, building

something for someone else. Why am I not just betting on myself? if I'm

gonna make no money, I might as well make no money for myself, not make

no money working for somebody else."

And, I have never been financially driven in that way, but it just, logically,

the bank isn't that full right now.

So, "I think it's really time to kinda bet on myself." And so, I ended up

getting a job after the Reading Royals, with Lee Steinberg, who works, as, the

- Scott Leese: I know who that is.

yeah, yeah, yeah.

So Lee, very famous sports agent, his younger agent ended up texting me right

before I moved out to California, so broke the lease on my apartment, packed

everything up, was moving out to LA.

and I got a text from him saying, "Opportunity off the

table." My spirit number's four.

It was four words text message on my 26th birthday.

And I was like, "Yeah, okay, so clearly I'm not getting the signs loud enough.

This is the loud enough sign from the universe saying, "Go bet on

yourself, start your own thing." And I just kept hearing in my

head, "If not now, then when?

If not now, then when?" And so, I called my parents.

I moved back home with them.

I left my house when I was 16, 10 years later, I'm moving back in.

And, I basically asked them if I could live there, and they said,

"We'll feed you and we'll house you, but you gotta go back to school.

You gotta go do something.

this is no shot.

Is this ever gonna work out.

you're basically a loser and a failure." And I kinda said, "Watch me."

Yeah, I love that.

And now 10 years later, here's AP Brand Group.

So what's your relationship with Lee these days?

Do you

- Alexy Posner: He, you know what?

I see him at the Super Bowl every single year.

Yeah.

I always give him a hug.

I have no hard feelings, and I am honestly so grateful for him and for Chris, because

if I would've taken that role and moved out to LA, who knows where the path

- Scott Leese: Yeah.

…would've gone?

It was the exact perfect thing that needed to happen.

In the moment, I was sitting at an Eagles game, had had many a drinks,

and it was a Sunday on my birthday, and I'm like, " "Holy smokes.

I now am actually unemployed.

what the hell am I gonna do?" [[laughing]] So, in that moment, if you would've asked

me, I'm not sure what my answer would've been, but no, I'm so grateful for him.

Chris is unbelievable what they've built, and yeah, it's, it's

exactly what needed to happen.

So, yeah, so Nick Lowry, who's been our guest on the show, he'll

be in here today, he always comes on the show, loves being on the podcast.

Lee wrote his foreword to his book

- Alexy Posner: Amazing.

That just came out.

Amazing.

So much respect for Lee.

And I hear all these great stories about Lee.

Yeah.

I grew up in Northern California.

I went to law school in San Diego, but some of my sports agent

friends are always talking about.

He's the godfather of

It all.

Let's be real.

I mean, he's the guy that kind of built it all back.

Jerry Maguire based on his, yeah, yeah., yeah.

That's cool.

That's a good story.

Yeah.

Yeah, so that's where it all started

All right, so we have to go to this other thing real quick.

Cuz, like

Okay.

You have to bring this up.

Okay.

It's a little Swifty thing.

this is

- Alexy Posner: Buckle up, here we go.

No, but everyone's

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

…everyone said, "You, know about her, the doing this, and

doing this, and doing that." And then I pull up Instagram, and I'm like, "What's

going on here?" I see her over here.

She's with these athletes.

She's at these games, and all of a sudden I see her at some place doing yoga

and doing stuff with the Swifty group.

I gotta hear the story.

how'd this happen?

Sure.

Yes, absolutely.

It's part of who you are, right?

Part of it?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So AP Brand Group, athlete and talent management firm.

Three years ago, I added a production arm to it, so we also produced

large scale events and activations.

my personal passion, I love fitness.

Obviously, growing up an athlete, that is what has always been a huge

contributor to keeping my mental health in the best state possible.

So, I started coaching.

I was in yoga, and then I coached at Rumble, I did cycle.

And, anyway, a little over a year and a half ago, I started coaching an amazing

place here in Phoenix called Groundwork.

And I was like, " How am I gonna, differentiate myself?"

And Groundwork is, it's dope.

It's dark and sexy and moody and everyone's so hot.

And I was like, "I'm kind of pink." that's sort of my brand, bubbly and pink.

and I love Taylor Swift, and I was like, build a brand off of her music

and attract that group of people in."

And so, started doing these Swifty Lifty events once a month.

And then in January of this year, I officially launched Swifty

Lifty Club, which has kinda become this viral sensation.

So we're taking it all over the world and

- Mike Lindstrom: That's crazy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's been really, really crazy and so fun.

And it is my favorite thing, honestly, having people come up to me during

class or after class and be "This was the once a month I moved my body.

I didn't know I could do that.

Thank you." That brings me so much joy or seeing people that came to my January

class, and then they were just at May, and they're like, "I've been going to the

gym every day." And I'm like, "Oh my gosh, that makes my heart so happy." So we get

women, men, kids, I have little girls that come to class that are six years old, all

the way up to, like, 85-year-old women.

All shapes, sizes, capabilities, and that there's one rule of

Swifty Lifty Club, which is if you know the words, you gotta sing.

Outside of that, I could care less what you do.

That's it.

That's it.

That's the only rule.

So, I'm fascinated with this.

I mean, this

- Alexy Posner: Okay.

I'm really fascinated by this.

Right, because she's the greatest marketer

of all time, Taylor Swift.

100%.

100%.

Yes, yes.

I'm a big fan.

What is it about that though?

You're a brander.

So let's talk about branding.

Let's put your, your expert hat on.

Yeah, yeah, 100%.

What is she doing?

there's people who may not like her, certain men or football

- Alexy Posner: Sure, sure.

Or whatever, but she's done something amazing.

what is it about her?

I think this is where we've seen the success with Swifty Lifty Club.

We say it's, has nothing to do with the actual workout, right?

anybody could get up there and play a Taylor song and grab some bands and

tell someone to do jump squats, right?

It's not that.

It's that we've tapped into the ethos of the community.

That is what she has built.

She's built this incredible network of humans that all they wanna do is

just connect with each other, right?

And it's so positive.

In the Swifty world, no one's looking at somebody else and being "Oh,

that girl this, or this guy that."

It's all about connection and community.

And I think at our deepest human core, that's truly what we all want, right?

We wanna have that common ground.

We wanna be able to just genuinely be like, "Oh my God, you love

Taylor? Here's a friendship bracelet. Okay, I'll take one too." And it's

just this really positive piece.

So yeah, her genius comes from the ability that she's built this amazing community.

Is there an athlete out there

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

…doing something

- Mike Lindstrom: Great question.

…similar?

Or

- Alexy Posner: Ooh, oh my God, such a good

- Scott Leese: Or is it even possible

- Mike Lindstrom: Yeah, how do you

- Scott Leese: …for an athlete?

How do you translate that?

'Cause you know this.

Mm-hmm.

So, I mean, the obvious answer would be what the Kelseys have done, but that's

still part of the Swifty effect of it all.

One of my own clients, Mack Hollins, is probably my favorite

example played for the Bills.

Oh, yeah.

Mack hasn't created quite the same insane fandom, but what he's done

really well is stick to his authenticity.

Yeah.

What you see with Mack is what you get.

He says no to more deals.

I don't think anyone else could manage him but me because he turns down so much.

[[laughing]] But he is what you see on camera, the eating with your hands,

the not wearing shoes, that sort of caveman-y vibe, and when the cameras are

He is one of my favorite players on the Bills.

Gritty, the best.

And when the cameras aren't on him, he's the exact same person.

The mad scientist thing, totally him.

All of it.

So, I think what he's done a really great job is build a brand.

I mean, obviously, we've built it together and have been working together

for a long time, but on authenticity first, ability to say no second.

He's been really unapologetic about what he stands for, and I

think that's a really cool thing.

And kinda similar to Taylor Swift, she is who she is., and stands in that lane.

And I think that's where you can kinda see that translation.

So how'd you meet him, by the way?

Oh.

Mack, yeah.

So Mack and I have been working together for nine years, so pretty much his whole

entire career, which is really cool to build everything from the ground up.

He came out to set of American Ninja Warrior.

My first client is Akbar Gbaja-Biamila 10 years later.

Wow.

We're still working together.

And Mack came out to the set of American Ninja Warrior with a bunch of other

NFL guys when we were taping in LA.

And I was wearing knockoff Balenciaga sneakers, and he made fun of me and

was "Oh, I see you big money with your Balenciaga sneakers." Me, being from

Philly, chirped immediately back at him.

And he was like, "Oh, you're funny." And I was like, "Ah, yeah, whatever."

And so we exchanged information.

I said, "If you wanna get together, I live in Philly." And at that

time, he was playing for the Birds.

We had dinner and kinda started talking and it snowballed from there.

Yeah.

But yeah, he's a character.

He's the best.

Yeah.

Best, best, best, total character.

I know you're a big fan of him, right?

My whole family is, originally from Buffalo and

Yeah.

Niagara Falls area.

And my kids and I were devastated when he left Buffalo to go to the Patriots.

He hopefully doesn't get too mad at me, but he's not a superstar wide receiver.

He does a lot of the unsung, dirty things.

Yeah.

And he's a high character

- Alexy Posner: Hell yeah.

…contributor to the team.

And he's a good blocker.

And, we were just crushed.

And of all things, he went to the Patriots, which was just dude

- Alexy Posner: And then they went to the Super Bowl.

Yeah.

Well

but they lost.

Like how she just stuck that in there.

I know.

I know.

Everybody has to.

Everybody has to.

It's fine.

I get It.

No.

So Ric Flair?

[[laughing]] All right.

All right.

First of all, I met Ric Flair.

Ricky.

True story, man.

I met him in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

In 19, I remember I was in college.

Yeah.

'Cause my uncle used to live out there.

We were at this little rinky-dink bar on the beach, and all of a

sudden, we hear this background, woo.

[[laughing]] Out of nowhere.

And we're "What the hell is it?" And I looked him.

I knew who he was, and I knew that sound.

Yeah.

And I look back, my friend Paul Shield and I looked back and they were "Oh

my God, that's Ric Flair." No one in the bar really knew who he was.

Yeah, yeah.

And we went up to him and he was the coolest guy.

Best.

Took pictures.

Best.

Just the nicest guy.

So how did that happen?

I gotta hear the story in this one.

Oh, goodness.

So "Tricky Ricky," as I like to call him.

One of my other clients is Jaleel White, who very famously played

Steve Urkel in Family Matters.

Jaleel's gone on to have a huge acting and hosting career.

but we started a cannabis line together, Jaleel and I, called Purple Urkle.

Long story short, we were at a cannabis convention in Chicago, and Rick was there.

It was Rick, Mike Tyson, and Jaleel.

And so I met Rick that way.

He kept calling me Young Brooke Shields and said he never got a chance to kiss

Brooke Shields, so could we change it now?

And I said, [[laughing]] [[laughing]] "No."

"Slick Ric

" Alexy Posner: No, we can't.

[[laughing]] But thank you for the offer.

Thank you anyways." So anyway, I found him just so funny and amusing.

I didn't really grow up a WWE, WWF fan.

he's iconic.

Everyone knows who Ric Flair is pretty much.

Of course.

But I wasn't one of those things where I was "Oh, some super fan."

And most of these stories start with me mouthing back off to these people.

I think that's kind of the common theme of it.

That's the ra - where the rapport, uh

- Mike Lindstrom: That's 100%.

Yeah.

I wanna ask a business related question.

You talk about Mack

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

Kind of declining offers

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

And all this kind of thing.

It's interesting when you represent people because obviously the more

deals they do, the more you earn.

Yeah.

But you have to get away from a transactional

- Alexy Posner: Yes.

Mindset and mentality of

- Mike Lindstrom: 100.

Oh, cool.

Here's a million bucks in my pocket today, versus you took that and it just cost

you 30 because you took your brand in a

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

Different direction.

how do you manage that with your clients?

Mm-hmm.

Athletes, actors, and whatnot?

Do you struggle sometimes with them wanting this money now

versus having a long-term vision?

Or is it the opposite?

Yeah.

Where they have that vision more and you're like, "No, I want it now."

So I kinda made a commitment very early on in my career

that I was never gonna chase dollars.

I think from a vibrational and energetic standpoint when you're constantly

mining if it's must get more money, must get more money, you're gonna

start to make the wrong decisions.

what you put out there is what you get back.

I deeply, deeply, deeply believe that.

And whether people wanna call me woo-woo for that

- Mike Lindstrom: We're big believers in

that.

Truly,

- Scott Leese: Yeah.

… Alexy Posner: What you put out there, right?

It's kinda like dating, right?

If I'm walking into a bar being like, "Oh my God, I have to find my husband.

I have to find my husband." Men are going to walk very far away from me.

But if you walk in and you're confident and cool and just know who you are

and stick to that, that's what starts to attract the right people in.

And so I very much so have that same mentality when it comes to business.

With that said, all of my clients also have that same

- Scott Leese: Yeah.

Commitment.

And I will tell people I get calls.

I feel very lucky.

I get calls all the time, people wanting me to work with them.

And I'm like, "Listen, I probably am not gonna make you the most amount of

money in the next six months, but if you give me a year with you in a year and a

half, you're gonna be like, "Oh, shit.

I have a brand.

I really have created something awesome."

So I've always tried to kinda be more on the long game of it.

But yes, Mack does drive me crazy every once in a while.

There are certain ones where I'm please, please let's just take this.

This really, really does make so much sense," [[laughing]] but

- Scott Leese: Yeah.

He's my very opinionated, and he'll be the first to admit it.

That's a good way of putting it.

"This makes so much sense."

Yeah.

"This makes so much sense." I gotta do that.

You gotta steal that phrase.

That's good.

So I was thinking about when you were talking about that.

I have this thing that I use in my work.

It's called the G-A-S Factor.

Yeah.

"Give-A-Shit Factor."

Mmm.

When your Give-A-Shit Factor is really high, you

really want something that's pure purpose-driven, you're passionate

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

…about it.

But there's also the opposite of it.

When you just don't give a shit

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

It's like, yeah, whatever.

Yeah.

So your concept of, "Hey, I don't really think about the

money and the deal because I don't really give a shit about that."

Yep.

I care about the purpose, The brand and what you're creating.

So there's always this toggle between is the G-A-S Factor high or low?

Yeah.

But the fact that you're able to attract things in your

life, because just even the vibe that I've, in the last hour that we've met,

I can tell, she doesn't give a shit.

She's just gonna be herself.

Yeah.

Take it or leave it.

Yeah.

And that's attractive to people.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I really appreciate that.

you know, I think it's also standing for your worth, which is something

for me personally, I've battled with when it comes to my own, what

I should be charging for something.

And as I've gotten older, I've gotten a little bit deeper in my own roots of

being able to kind of stand for that.

But it's very funny how brands, you're like, "Nope, sorry, we're not gonna do

that." And, Mack and I laugh all the time.

We're like, "Well, I guess they really wanted him" because they'll

come back and actually pay the values that's supposed to be paid.

And so, yeah, we're, I'm kinda constantly juggling in in that realm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Who are some of your big influences outside of there's some of the names

you've mentioned already, but parents

- Alexy Posner: Sure.

Those things that you were taught at a young

age that you still live by?

Standards, values, rules, influences that you have?

So my mother is incredible.

She is a neuroradiologist, runs a residency program at Penn, has

out-earned my father my whole life.

She's a badass.

Not the most warm and fuzzy human you'll ever meet.

So some of my more spicy qualities also come from her.

But from a very young age, her work ethic is I've never seen anything like it.

So I attribute pretty much all of this to her of her she

always had my childhood room.

I didn't have pinks and unicorns and anything.

I had pencils and books, and so I had to be top student.

And she was always like, "You're gonna be the ruler of the universe." And I

think hearing that from her at a very young age was really instrumental.

Is that what

- Alexy Posner: So

- Mike Lindstrom: She would tell you that?

Oh yeah, 100%.

Wow.

She's like, "You can do anything. Just keep…" Yeah.

So she's definitely a huge contributing factor.

She's very, very, very spicy and tough, don't get me wrong.

I'd get a 98 and she'd be like, "What happened to the other two points?"

Wow.

So, there's the other side of the sword, but I also.

I have three incredible older sisters and a little brother who's my best friend.

And my older sisters were more of the warm, fuzzy mom side.

And then my mom kinda taught me how to be a badass.

So the brother, how far are you apart in age?

So he's 33.

He's my best friend in the whole world.

And then my sisters are a little bit older than me, so

there's, like, a 10-year age gap.

And then it starts my three older sisters.

Yeah.

So what's the biggest thing your brother's taught you?

Just about-

Oh, God.

…boys, men

My my little brother, oh my gosh.

He is the funniest, quirkiest guy.

He's incredibly smart.

He started his own private equity firm and is unbelievably successful.

What's the biggest thing he's taught me?

He honestly is the most unapologetic of who he is.

He's so quirky and weird.

He may slightly be on the spectrum.

He is who he is and is totally okay with that.

And I think that's something I've really admired about him, even if it makes people

feel a little like, "What is this guy up to? He's just quite an odd bird." So.

Well

- Alexy Posner: [laughing]

I can't remember where I first heard this,

but everybody has a brand.

Yep.

Yes.

You have it whether you think you do or not.

Yep.

Not everybody does something with it.

Not everybody kind of controls that narrative.

So let's say there's fledgling athletes out there.

Yeah.

At what point do you think somebody should start

to take control of a brand?

Mm.

Is it, before you're getting recruited, before

you sign, before you go pro?

Yeah.

Is there a certain level of notoriety that you've already

received, certain number of followers?

How does somebody know, "Oh, shit, now is a time I should

actually do something about this?"

Yeah.

I mean, I think at any, like you said, everyone has a brand.

And so, your son is a great example.

I know he's starting to look at colleges and is a star athlete.

Right now, even having those workshop moments with him, and one of the

first things I have any athlete do is do you remember in elementary

school where you do a word bubble?

You do like, your name in the middle.

Yeah.

You do something in the middle and then you do this spiderweb.

And so, one of the first things I do with any of the athletes is I'm like,

"Let's make a spiderweb together.

I want you to tell me everything you love, do, care about,

passionate about, think of, eat.

I don't care what it is.

Let's just get everything in one spot." 'Cause I think sometimes

people get a little paralyzed at what is their brand, and it

- Scott Leese: Yeah.

…actually can be right on the page in front of you.

And so, then, once all that's down there, you can start to pull and be like, "Oh,

you know what? This…" And this is the other biggest piece I could say is,

some things are part of a public brand.

Some things are part of who you intrinsically are, but you don't

need to share that publicly.

Faith is one that is a. I see people toggle back and forth all the time.

Faith may be something so deeply important to you and your core, but maybe not

something that publicly gets talked about.

So

- Mike Lindstrom: Mm-hmm.

…as you look at that spiderweb and start to kind of figure

out what is there, then the next question is, "Okay, now what do I

actually want someone to know about me?"

'Cause that's ultimately what building a brand is.

It's creating an emotion through consumer engagement platforms, right?

So if we look at all those consumer engagement touchpoints, that's social

media, that's media relations, that's public relations, et cetera, brand deals.

What do I want those consumers to know and ultimately feel about me?

If it's, "do I want them to giggle,' whatever that is.

I hope people leave a conversation with me and they're like, "She was just a bright

light of wacky energy." And, that's… I have hot pink in my brand for a reason.

So to flip back to your point, there's no, age or moment or followership.

It's really just, "Hey, I'm now really serious and dedicated to doing something

bigger than just showing up every day."

And is there a particular platform

- Alexy Posner: Hmm.

…or process that's right for each person?

Or is it more generalized, no, everybody should attack it this kind of way?

if you were gonna build a brand for me

- Alexy Posner: Sure.

And then Mike separate

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

Is it, this is the roadmap?

Or is it, "No, no, no, no. Scott goes this way, Mike goes that way."

Yeah.

Here's the reasons why.

Yeah, I think it depends on who the consumer is

that you guys are trying to reach.

For YouTube specifically, we would dive into what's your listenership

and where are they living and where are they consuming that information?

But the short answer is, only do as much as you're gonna do well, right?

Mm-hmm.

So, Brandon Cooks, worked with him for a very long

time, and he's like, "Ooh, should we start a YouTube channel?" And we've

got all these really cool ideas.

We really wanna start a YouTube channel.

Now we're sitting down and going, what does that actually mean to be successful?

And can we can make a commitment to the success of that?

Can you do it right?

And if not, let's not do it.

I would rather somebody only run a TikTok or an Instagram or

- Mike Lindstrom: Yeah.

A Facebook or whatever that is.

You gotta do it right, you know?

Yeah.

Versus, it's that very simple concept.

I'd rather dig a 100 foot hole than 100 one-foot holes.

I have a little bit of Brandon Cooks' PTSD right now.

A little bit.

He's the one that caught the ball.

HE *CAUGHT* THE BALL.

Let's double down on that statement

- Scott Leese: Very clearly caught the ball.

…please.

Thank you.

But, uh

- Alexy Posner: Very

- Scott Leese: The referees in Denver decided otherwise.

I watched the camp.

Yeah.

It's tough.

There's a lot of PTSD.

There's a lot of Buffalo PTSD happening.

That week, after we were filming, this guy was a mess.

I couldn't even talk to him.

I couldn't even look at it.

That was

- Scott Leese: That's fair.

That game, I sat there and I was just in shock.

Tell Brandon I'm with him.

Tell Brandon I'm with him.

I will let him know.

Well, fingers crossed, maybe we end up back in Buffalo.

That's where I look at some leagues and go, "Hmm.

Just wondering how that happened." You know in the NBA, everyone

wants game six, game seven, because NBA wants to make that money.

Yeah.

Yeah.

They don't wanna sweep ever.

Yeah.

So you always question it.

Yeah, you're always hmm

- Mike Lindstrom: That was a catch.

That was a catch, by the way.

That was a catch.

All right.

So, podcasts.

I'm curious.

Yes.

So that's, I mean, we started ours six months ago.

Yeah

and it was something we've talked about for a long time, and

we've done it in our own independent ways.

We said, "Let's do this. Let's push all in."

That's awesome.

Somebody comes to you and says, "I wanna do a podcast." Or

you, by the way, you're an amazing brand.

You should have your own podcast.

[laughing]

Right?

I'm not coaching you, but you could.

You could easily do it.

Thank you.

You could bring all these famous people in.

You have a great personality.

Thanks.

What's your stance on that from a branding marketing perspective?

Once people are coming to you and saying, "Hey, I need to do a podcast,

because everyone's doing a podcast."

My first question would be, "What's your social look like?

'Cause I think podcasts in general now, what we've seen across the

board is there's less consumption of a podcast for the entire episode.

And more the strategy is, can you create 10 to 12 clips per episode that

live successfully on Instagram and TikTok specifically and YouTube shorts

that give people the understanding of what has just happened in that episode

without them actually watching it?

And honestly, that's where the brands are also looking at.

I think once you want the brand engagement in terms of the money

side, it's like 200,000 downloads, 100,000, 150,000 downloads.

But really where someone who's wanting to start a podcast could move the needle,

I look at our Swifty Lifty Club account.

We have 5,000 followers.

I started it January 1st.

Wow.

We have really focused on that.

And in the last three months, the views are like 850,000 views.

Our engagement is bananas.

Yeah.

And so, because we've put a lot of focus and energy

and attention on building that.

And so I think if you wanna do a podcast, my first question is, how's your social?

What's your social and what's your plan on social?

'Cause that's really where you're gonna see actual success for the time.

Otherwise, you're just talking for an hour.

Yeah, I think people don't realize how hard it is.

So hard.

I mean, you, Scott and I didn't realize that.

Well, I think people don't realize there's a strategy behind it all.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's not what you do.

It's more than just, "Turn the camera on, record something.

- Mike Lindstrom: No.

…and then let's see what happens." Like, "oh, that one went off.

It went viral.

We're onto something."

Well, the challenge is you got people like Gary Vaynerchuk,

who I love Gary V, he's awesome.

Gary's always "Just record it, put it out there. Record it, put it out there.

You need content, content, content."

And I think people were just getting brainwashed with that

with Instagram and TikTok.

Yeah.

And they were "Oh, I can do it. Gary Vaynerchuk said I

could do it." But there's more to it.

There's

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

…there's gotta be a person like you behind saying, "Team,

time out. There's a strategy here."

Yeah.

We're not just because you can catch a football, it doesn't

mean you can go have a podcast.

Right.

You have to have something behind it.

So I was just curious, your take on that.

I mean, It's a super saturated market as we all know,

but there's always room, right?

And I think that was the biggest thing for me even when I was starting my company.

I made a commitment to, if you, again, walk through the world thinking,

it's already full up top and there's no space, there will be no space.

And so kinda same thing.

Yes, podcasts.

we know it's a super saturated market.

So figure out where the space is.

What's the window there for you?

And what's a little different that you're gonna take what lens are you taking there?

Yeah.

And then have an actual strategy on execution behind it.

Yeah.

last piece is, a continued commitment to that

strategy because you're gonna fail.

We have videos that flop on our Swifty page.

And I'm so excited.

I think this is gonna be the best video ever.

And then it totally flops.

there are moments where I have to be "Okay, recommit. Let's go." So I'd say

that also with the podcast side too.

Well, we've had that same thing, where we

- Scott Leese: The opposite happens.

We post some stuff.

Where you post something

- Alexy Posner: Oh yeah opposite of course.

Just Completely random.

And I'm like, "Oh, that's gonna go nowhere." And next thing you know, it's

like, "did we get a million views on this thing?" I'm like, you know the one,

Yeah.

Last month that you did.

I'm "What the hell?"

Yeah.

Boy, I gotta check this out.

But you're touching a nerve.

Gotta check it.

You touch a nerve with people.

I mean, but you never know.

Yeah.

So when you overthink it and you try to be over strategic

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

Those are the ones that usually backfire.

Yeah.

And sometimes the algorithm just doesn't work in your favor.

Yeah.

Don't listen to this phone.

I'm like, let me just block my phone while I say that

- Mike Lindstrom: [laughing]

I'm like, "I love you, Instagram."

[laughing]

"Keep, keep favoring my videos."

[laughing] I gotta ask you about horses.

So how'd that come into your life?

My dad owned horses in California.

Cool.

Standardbreds or thoroughbreds?

So thoroughbreds, yeah.

Okay.

He was in Bay Meadows, Golden Gate Fields, Del Mar, some

of the West Coast, Santa Anita.

How'd that happen?

It's so crazy.

This feels like a lifetime ago, so we've been talking about it.

It's so bizarre.

But my grandpa put me on a pony when I was three years old, and

I basically just never got off.

He bred standardbreds and raised standardbreds and against my

mother's want, I was three and he literally popped me up on a pony.

And he bought me my first pony, Molly McButter, and I fell in love.

So, yeah, I love, love horses.

And it was the best way I could have ever possibly grown up.

And then became very competitive and would spend my summers in Europe

competing, my winters in Wellington, which is why I graduated really young.

I graduated at 16 from high school.

And then, thankfully, I went to Franklin and Marshall, and they were

a little flexy on my class schedule.

So, during the winter semester, I would take class on Monday afternoons,

Tuesdays, and Wednesday mornings, and I would be in Florida the rest of the week.

So, I was flying back and forth and I've kinda lived on an airplane.

I still live on an airplane.

Seat 1F or 8C are my two seats on American.

I'm still waiting for my sponsorship.

That's funny how you have certain seat slots.

Oh, yeah.

You have certain seats?

If I don't sit in those two seats, I'm like, "What's up?"

Feels weird, right?

It's very strange.

When you fly as much as we probably all do.

Yeah.

[laughing]

Yeah, so that's where the horses came from.

Do you still go out and… is that your solace?

Is that where you

- Alexy Posner: No, I technically retired when I was 21 and I rode for

a private family up until about 25.

And then, actually, when I was starting AP Brand Group, I knew I needed to

make money, so I bartended, and then I worked on a farm, and mucked stalls

to kinda just keep money coming in as I was starting AP Brand Group.

But yeah, the plan, maybe when I turn 40.

Right now, I'm 35.

I've got a lot on my plate, and I don't know… if I could get back into it

and not be uber competitive with it.

So, I think I would really struggle not being good.

So, yeah.

You seem like the kind of person that you're all in.

Yes.

I'm it's a zero or it's a hundred.

Yeah.

I'm trying to work on the middles.

[laughing]

Yeah, we all are.

Not my strength.

[laughing]

Not my strength either.

Not my strength.

[laughing] Either all in or all out, you know?

Yeah.

[laughing]

I've been told many times you have two speed Scott

dead stop or full speed ahead.

Yes.

That's it.

And honestly, I'm kind of okay with that.

I have been okay with it for most of my life, but now I'm getting

to an age where I'm maybe that's not

- Alexy Posner: How old are you now?

Only way.

I turn 49 at the end of the month.

Okay.

I got you, I Got you.

I'm 53.

At the end.

Yeah

That's one of the hard things about scaling your

own business, which I'm sure

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

…you're running into is, how do you scale yourself?

And, and how do you make these decisions in terms of "that would make sense

for the business, but I don't know if that makes sense for me right now."

Yeah.

I think sticking to the non-negotiables, for me, I wake up at 4:44 every morning.

I have to work out every morning, first thing.

And so really knowing what are my non-negotiables that set

me up personally for success.

I stopped drinking two years ago, so just kinda being in environments that

I know maybe are not kinda conducive to where I'm at personally now.

Yeah.

Really sticking to the non-negotiables has helped me a lot.

So that, even if I'm waking up in Austin or I'm waking up in London, having

my set morning non-negotiables is.

And first thing I do, even if I stay in a hotel, is make my bed.

Before I put my contacts in, I'm so weird.

I always make the bed because I start the day with an accomplishment,

and then it's a really positive moment, and I'm like, "Hell yeah."

Gotta win, not

- Alexy Posner: Good job.

Gotta win on the books before I can even see a darn thing, you know?

Do you make your bed when you wake up?

I don't.

You don't.

Dude, what are you doing?

Are you serious?

I don't.

I'm with her.

You have to start your day.

100%.

'Cause it automatically gives you that dopamine

- Mike Lindstrom: Every day.

…hit where you're

- Scott Leese: I understand the psychology Behind it

- Mike Lindstrom: Even at a hotel.

I do.

Even in a hotel.

Even in a hotel.

Always reorganized nice.

And then I'm like, "And now, lt's start the day!"

When I leave a hotel, the maids must come

in and go, This dude's nuts.

'Cause it's clean.

Towels are in one little pile over here.

I put the tip by the TV.

Everything's in the order of which I came in.

Right?

Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm a little more chaos, but in an organized way.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So what's the next chapter?

I'm thinking ahead, because

- Alexy Posner: What's the next chapter?

I'm a little bit older.

I'm a little bit older, right?

Okay.

So I'm thinking, okay, when I was her age,

what was I thinking about?

I always think about life in fives.

The 35, 40, 45, 50.

Next stop for me is 55.

Yeah.

So what's the next chapter for you?

I gotta get this.

I mean, I'm definitely trying to find my husband,

so if you guys know anybody

- Mike Lindstrom: Okay.

Let me know on that.

[laughing] On a professional side, it's been really cool.

I have an amazing VP, Ashley.

She's been with me for three years, and she has grown and developed

into such a powerhouse herself.

And so that is allowing me to scale.

It's allowing me to kind of pursue other passions.

It's allowing me to send a step in other directions, and actually explore

a personal life for the first time ever in my life, which is really,

really nice because I've kind of built and poured everything into

- Scott Leese: Yeah.

The business side.

But yeah, next five years, keep growing AP Brand Group.

We've got a very, very, very exciting project for Rick on the books right now.

So we are working on a movie for him with Seven Bucks.

I did the deal with Dwayne Johnson's team, and

- Mike Lindstrom: That's great!

So we'll have a movie that is gonna be a grand success.

You will see that in that five-year plan, hopefully in the year and a half plan.

Yeah.

We're, we're big fans.

So we had Mark Kerr, who at the Smashing Machine

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

Sat on that couch

- Alexy Posner: Cool.

…with his wife, Franci, last year.

And

- Alexy Posner: Cool.

He told so many cool stories about Dwayne Johnson.

He calls them DJs

Yeah, DJ, yeah.

The best guy and this, that and the other.

But to picture somebody's life story, Rick or Mark Kerr for that example.

It's been an honor of my career, for sure.

But to be a part of that.

That's so cool.

Yeah.

It's been a long road and has taught me a lot of patience, but has definitely

been an honor in my career being able to move that across the finish line.

And the coolest moment was two years ago when the deal was done

that I did with Seven Bucks.

F irst of all, the press release came out, and it was my name was at the

bottom of it, "Done by Alexy Posner and AP Brand Group." I was like

- Mike Lindstrom: So good.

…I made it.

But DJ sent me and Rick a voice note and was like, "Hey, Lexi.

Hey, Rick.

It's The Rock here." And I was like, "Do I have his personal cell phone number?

This is insane!"

[laughing]

So, yeah, it's been

- Mike Lindstrom: Who's gonna.

Do you know who's gonna direct it?

Nope.

Is it Safdie or?

No, not yet.

We've got a lot of very cool things in the works, and I'll give you guys an update

when we get to a place that I can - Yes.

Well, before we wrap up

- Alexy Posner: Yeah.

Tell everybody about the next Swifty event here

So sweet.

I mean, please cheer for all of my clients during the football season.

so Mack Hollins, Brandon Cooks, fingers crossed.

I don't know where he's landing yet.

Well, we do, but I can't say anything yet.

Okay.

Jake Martin.

I've got some amazing clients, Rucci Brothers.

They're really cool.

Yeah, so please cheer for all of them.

In terms of upcoming stuff, Swifty Lifty Club is on the road.

So coming to a city near you, please follow us on Instagram.

We are heavy in the Arizona market, but we do stuff all over now the globe.

So our next one is in London, and then we got a couple here in Arizona.

We go to New York, Charlotte, Nashville, Chicago.

So, yeah, follow me on Instagram.

What's your Primary social?

Instagram?

Yes, Instagram.

What's the handle?

so either AlexyPosner on Instagram or SwiftyLiftyClub on Instagram.

If you're a Swifty, go there.

If you want sports, go to Alexy Posner site.

All right.

So I always love asking this question.

Favorite book that ever influenced you in your life?

[laughing] These are two separate

- Mike Lindstrom: Okay.

…answers.

Favorite book is Harry Potter.

I've read them all 20-some times.

Wow.

22 times straight through.

Stop looking at me like that.

The amount of judgment that I have gotten from this man, he is sitting here like

- Scott Leese: Well, to be fair she, she walked in and had a

she's

Soccer shirt on and she's like, I don't like soccer."

[laughing] I was like, "I just don't get it. I

don't get it. I gotta get in on-"

I don't get Harry Potter.

It's all good.

All right.

Don't get Harry Potter.

We're just gonna take him out of the conversation for just a second.

We'll, we'll deal with this in post.

We'll just delete that part.

Holy moly.

No, so I'm Harry Potter.

The book that influenced me the most, it's two books.

I couldn't narrow it down.

The Four Agreements and The Alchemist.

Yes.

Yeah.

Alchemist.

So both of those,

you're an

Alchemist.

Yes.

Big, big, big, big, big fan of The Alchemist.

I recommend reading it in book on tape.

Jim Dale, who also does the Harry Potter books, narrates it on the

audiobook, and it is magnificent.

And then of course, The Four Agreements.

Yeah, Four Agreements are great.

Life-changing.

Love it.

Go stuff.

Well, we thank you.

Yes.

Thanks for having me.

A lot of fun.

It's good.

Absolutely.

The banter was great.

Yeah.

Has a little bit of Philly, a little bit of New York,

going back and back and forth.

I like Philly, man.

Come on.

Well, thank you everybody for joining us on this episode

of the What's Your Story Podcast.

I'm Scott Leese.

That's Mike Lindstrom.

That was Alexy Posner.

Follow her on Instagram.

Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, all these places that we are.

And we'll see you next time.

Peace.