We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bobby Bramhall. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bobby below.
Bobby, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
After devoting the majority of my life and start of my professional career to playing professional baseball, I committed my next chapter to join what brings me fulfillment with ways I’m able to provide and maximize value to others. This led to establishing two wedding and event venues, building vacation rental properties, founding an NIL licensing company for athletes, becoming a professor of Sports Law, and publishing a book for baseball players and their parents.
In business, everyone is offering something, but what it takes to be successful remains the same. It is important for me to lead in each new venture with the core principles of self-awareness, fortitude, persistence, honesty and integrity, focus and prioritization, consistency, trust, and allowing space for failure. These characteristics require intentional development.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
I am a former professional athlete, entrepreneur, sports attorney, and author.
After owning residential rental properties for several years, I enjoyed real estate and understood the basics of property management and hospitality, which is where the understanding of wedding and event venue management began. I transformed a horse farm into a wedding venue and utilized a historic log cabin to create The Stables at Strawberry Creek. 5 years later, construction began on a glamping campground called GlampKnox and a second venue called Holston Springs, which also offers an overnight residence to meet the demands of the growing weddings and vacation rentals market. The property continues to offer horse boarding and vacation rentals along with weddings and events to create an all-inclusive guest experience.
When I wrote my book Who’s on First? Everything Baseball Players and Their Parents Need to Know with my co-author Nate Headley, our goal was to inform and educate upcoming baseball players and their parents about the parts of the baseball journey that matter most for their success, but are not discussed until the athlete reaches a particular level, whether that be little league, college, or professional baseball. It is the ultimate baseball career advisor. Competing in America’s pastime not only requires skill development and willpower to meet the challenges of the game, but also the wisdom to navigate the industry and exercise sound judgment with every decision. Combining expert baseball knowledge with first-hand accounts from Major League Baseball players, Who’s on First? explains how to succeed and find fulfillment in the baseball journey – on and off the diamond.
In my real estate ventures: The Stables at Strawberry Creek, Holston Springs, and GlampKnox, I am most proud that I created businesses that brings unique experiences for clients and guests in their most special days, and out in nature. There is a noticeable difference in mood between the interactions I have with clients in an office setting and those out under the trees in the rolling hills of East Tennessee, hanging out with the horses, or setting up at the venue for a special event. Finding a healthy balance often requires flexibility and creativity, and I encourage others to assess their surroundings often and listen to their gut, because life is too short not to and finding peace in your purpose is powerful.
Fortunately, I get to continue to be involved in sports. After retiring from baseball, I attended law school at the University of Tennessee, where I will serve as an adjunct professor of Sports Law in the spring of 2023. This year, I co-founded Athlete Licensing Company, which provides administrative support to athletes, universities, agencies, and collectives for NIL. These platforms allow me to impact others through the lens of my sports journey, stay involved with the community, and stay current on current events in the sports and legal professions.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
The most impactful resource on my entrepreneurial philosophy has been Tim Ferriss and the guests he has interviewed on the Tim Ferriss Show over the past eight years. At a time when I was searching for the beginning of a new identity after my playing career, his interviews with the world’s leading performers, thinkers, and teachers gave me a “real world” MBA, and entrepreneurial education while I was starting my companies in Tennessee. To understand which habits and practices lead to success, while comprehending the “why” in success and failure stories, formed the vision for my future in priceless ways. Prior to long-form podcasts, interviews in particular topic areas often only scratched the surface and were few and far between. The Tim Ferriss Show changed my life for the better.
Second, two books come to mind. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, and The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch. The Fountainhead awakened me at a time when I believed in my potential but the world around me wasn’t fulfilling or matching my vision for the future. Aaron Smith, a fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, said, “In Rand’s view, everything that makes man great and noble stems from an individual’s first-hand commitment to the truth and to the value of his own life and happiness. The ideal man is the man who thinks, values, and lives first-hand.”
The 80/20 Principle (based on the Pareto principle) is a fantastic resource to understand how to maximize effectiveness in business, whether fully capitalized as a business or bootstrapping a lean start up and using every resource possible. The Pareto principle states that roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. This concept will help a business owner prioritize, which is often the difference in success and failure. Equally important, leaving the causes that are irrelevant to the ultimate outcome can save time, resources, and improve efficiencies, rather than dragging to exhaustion by seeking perfection with the additional work required to finish that last, hard to reach bit of work, that is often not a key factor.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
During my professional baseball career, I was rising quickly as an MLB prospect in my organization. Unfortunately, I tore my UCL and had an unsuccessful surgery due to a poor operation and subsequent medical care, and I was forced to take my release from Milwaukee to have a second elbow reconstruction. I spent a year in rehab completely out of baseball recovering from the back to back surgeries. After a comeback opportunity with the Miami Marlins, I went on to play 3 more seasons, reaching Triple A with the Marlins, Phillies, and Nationals before retiring after playing in the Puerto Rico professional baseball league (LBPRC).
I learned that I could overcome anything if given the opportunity. This conditioned me to be resilient and cultivated grit to work through obstacles by seeking and believing in long-term outcomes. In business, the long game is most important, and persisting through difficult times, such as the COVID-19 venue shutdown, was an example of how I used what I learned as an athlete in my next chapter.
Contact Info:
- Website: StrawberryCreekTN.com
, whosonfirstbook.com, Holston Springs.com - Instagram: @
strawberrycreekknoxville, @glampknox, @whosonfirstbaseballbook - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/bobby- bramhall-aa6729ab/
Image Credits
Amanda Wilson Photography
Tennessee Law Magazine (https://issuu.com/utklaw/
Rachel Lily Photography