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Lucky me : a memoir of changing the odds / Rich Paul with Jesse Washington.

by Paul, Rich, 1981-

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Roc Lit 101, 2023.

796.069092 P324L

Paul, Rich, 1981-

Paul, Rich, 1981- -- Childhood and youth.

Sports agents -- United States -- Biography.

9780593448472 (hc.)

Alternate title:

Memoir of changing the odds

xix, 242 p. ; 22 cm.

"There’s a story about Rich Paul that everyone knows: A twenty-one-year-old kid from Cleveland who sells sports jerseys out of his car meets a high school basketball phenom named LeBron James at an airport -- the two become friends and forge a decades-long partnership that reinvents the business of sports. That random meeting might seem like the lucky break that changed Paul’s life. But a moment of good fortune means nothing without the struggle that gets you there. And the truth is, Paul had always been lucky. Rich Paul became a gambler at an early age -- his fast mind and gift for finding an edge made him a devastating dice roller who could hold his own with grown men, win big, and walk away alive. Shooting dice wasn’t just a pastime; it was a way to earn money for his family as his mother struggled under the weight of drug addiction. He learned the secret science of dice in the same place he found all the lessons of his young life: the corner store his father operated, the center of the neighborhood’s frantic action. Paul’s father had another family but kept his son close working at the store. Paul dreamed of becoming a star athlete, but the streets were where he thrived, building a lucrative enterprise on shaky ground. When he found himself at a dangerous crossroads, he summoned the teachings of his past to create a different future. Readers will follow the riveting journey of a young Rich Paul narrated by the Paul of today, who looks back with wit and insight, drawing out the lessons he learned at every stage -- about business, people, and the values that lead to success. It’s the inspiring story of the luck that’s all around us, if we know where to look."--Barnes&Noble.

"The CEO and founder of Klutch Sports Group recounts a life up from the streets and into the big time. Paul is known in sports circles as the head of Klutch, which has signed more than $3 billion in contracts. There are those from the old neighborhood, to say nothing of rivals, who write off his success to luck, as the title suggests. However, notes the author, “those who call me lucky don’t realize what kind of assembly line I was built on.” That line ran along mean streets where drugs and violence were rampant. Paul learned early on to rely on himself and not expect much from others. Some of the lessons he imparts in chapter-opening principles (“Discipline your approach”; “Build an ecosystem of empathy”) he owes to his father, a storekeeper entrepreneur who tried to keep him from the worst Cleveland had to offer; others were hard-won through experience. In the anecdotal narratives that follow his slogans, Paul builds on his ideas while recounting successes and failures. “Ain’t no stumbling your way through life,” he writes. “Black folks don’t have enough margin of error for that. Most of us have no margin of error at all.” The author adds that even if you possess an abundance of self-discipline, -training, and -control, it behooves you to roll with whatever punches come your way—“you have to plan with intent but always be ready to improvise.” Particularly well taken are Paul’s frequent reminders that the life he knew is not, in the end, so different from the cutthroat world of business, save that “in the business world, it’s harder to see who’s trying to kill you.” Though there’s plenty of braggadocio to go along with his well-intended admonitions, Paul is never too full of himself—and full of good advice. An aspirational, often funny, and always sharply pointed tale of winning against the odds."--Kirkus Reviews.

Rich Paul is the CEO and founder of Klutch Sports Group, the powerhouse agency representing some of the biggest athletes across all major professional sports.

Autobiographies.

Washington, Jesse, 1969-

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