Alex Rodriguez opens up about how an NBA legend helped him shake off his imposter syndrome
Alex Rodriguez is one of the MLB players who not only became a success on the field but has remained so since retiring. However, there was someone who inspired Rodriguez to get the off-field success he has now.
A-Rod is one of the richest baseball players. He is also the CEO of AROD Corp., which invested capital in more than 30 companies. Rodriguez is also the founder of Monument Capital Management, a company that owns real estate assets. Monument Capital Management has 15,000 apartments in 13 states.
However, in a April 19 interview on the Club 30 podcast with Henrik Lundqvist, Rodriguez said that he was inspired by an NBA player to succeed off the field as well. The player he was inspired by was Magic Johnson, the five-time NBA champion. A-Rod admired Johnson's skills not only as a player but as a businessman as well. He said:
“But when I saw Magic have a Hall of Fame career, and I watched him closely in showtime. Uh, you know with that great team, Kareem, and led by Pat Riley and Dr. Buss. And then I saw him pivot to be a Hall of Fame businessman, and bring those great skills into the boardroom. And he’s a man of color.”
Alex Rodriguez went on to add that Magic Johnson was the one who helped him shake off his imposter syndrome:
“That’s the first time I said, ‘Well, why not us? We can do it.’ He’s more like me than just some you know white gentleman that runs Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan. I couldn’t relate to them, but I could relate with Magic. So that gave me the hope, that diminished my imposter syndrome a little bit"
The video timestamp for the conversation is at 13:48.
Magic Johnson had a 13-year NBA career, and he is regarded as one of the most accomplished players. He is also the owner of Magic Johnson Enterprises, an investment company.
Alex Rodriguez talked about how Magic Johnson inspired him as a child
Alex Rodriguez, on the same podcast, went on to say that Magic was the person who inspired him as a child.
Magic being of color helped inspire Rodriguez as he was able to see a player of color in a successful position off the field as well. A-Rod also talked about how he had met Johnson, who helped form his own business plan:
"He met with me and actually gave a floorplan on how he did things. I think about our life, our responsibility is to bring people of color. Men and women of all kinds and bring them to board with us."
Alex Rodriguez is the child of two Dominican Republican immigrants. When he was four years old, his family moved back to the Dominican Republic before coming back to the States.