Influencer (inflcr)

Being able to discover, interpret and communicate data is everywhere we look in the digital age. Analytics is not only a word for Google, but everywhere you look, especially in sports. The ability to not only discover statistics but interpret their usefulness and communicate it to others can be game-changing in sports – from a “Moneyball” approach to team management to building a market for an individual, team or product. As the Influencer (INFLCR) brand grows across the nation, founder and CEO Jim Cavale is taking time to speak to some of the best and brightest minds in the world of sports analytics. Cavale was invited recently to give a presentation at the Samford University Center for Sports Analytics, part of SU’s Brock School of Business in Birmingham, Alabama – the only sports analytics program in U.S. higher education. Cavale shared with these sports marketing students how INFLCR aims to organize, equip and develop the brands of college athletic departments and their teams, by leveraging technology to

In this interview, Jim Cavale, INFLCR founder and CEO, discusses his entrepreneurial journey and his passion behind founding INFLCR.

Heisman Trophy winner, All-Pro running back, entrepreneur, sports analyst, philanthropist, teacher, author, actor, husband and father are all words used to describe Eddie George, who has excelled just as much off the field as he did on the field during his time at The Ohio State University and in the NFL. Influencer (INFLCR) founder Jim Cavale caught up with George at his son’s football practice at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville to discuss winning the 1995 Heisman Trophy, and advice for others, including the 3E’s of his post-football career (entrepreneurship, entertainment, education) and his four pillars of life: the physical, the spiritual, the emotional, and the social. Ever since walking on campus at The Ohio State University, the social pillar – who you surround yourself with – has been a key for George. A native of Philadelphia, George moved from Abington High School to Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia before his junior year. At OSU, similar to his time at Fork Union, his playing time was s

Using the wisdom he’s learned from being raised by his grandparents, Lewis Neal has been paving his way to success since high school. Growing up in Wilson, North Carolina (population 49,000), Neal used his first offer from North Carolina State to gain more offers. After decommitting from Ohio State University, he landed at LSU, where he was a four-year varsity player and two-year starter at defensive end. “I’ve always been self-motivated,” said Neal. For Neal, the motivation went and still goes beyond football. He took an AVID college prep class while at James B. Hunt High School, where he says he was forced to read Dave Ramsey and learned to start thinking about investing money. After seeing limited playing time as a freshman at LSU, and again as a sophomore, Neal said he began thinking about what he would do if he didn’t see the field. He began using his self-taught business skills to day trading on the Foreign Exchange and purchased a barber shop near campus, Hair Factory of Baton Rouge. His entrepreneur

Athletes have been able to leverage their role as a college football player for decades, but some student-athletes have been left trying to figure out life when the game is over. Former Auburn University offensive lineman and current ESPN SEC Network College Football Analyst Cole Cubelic believes that is where things need to change. In this Influencer (INFLCR) athlete ambassador interview INFLCR founder and CEO Jim Cavale chats with Cubelic about the relationship and role between conference, school and athlete off the field with topics such as player payment, insurance for life, bartering each other’s brand and using social media. “There’s a big time barter taking place between brands, colleges and athletes,” Cubelic said. “They both need each other. You may be on one end or another of this one deserves more, this one deserves less, and however you want to negotiate that in your own brain is fine, but the reality is they both need each other to survive and to flourish.” Cubelic recognizes that when he gra

Being an All-Pro running back in the NFL was not Tiki Barber’s dream job. Microsoft, or another computer programming giant was Barber’s goal until the New York Giants called his name in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft. Barber graduated high school with a 4.0 grade point average, played football at the University of Virginia on an athletic scholarship. When he stepped foot on campus, he wanted to be an astronaut, but then found his way studying management and information systems (MIS). The former ACC Player of the Year went on to spend 10 seasons with the Giants, where he set more than a dozen franchise records before retiring in his prime, one year before the Giants’ victory in Super Bowl XLII. “I was very comfortable walking away from the game when I did because my dreams were going elsewhere and my passion was going elsewhere,” Barber said. He says it is serendipity that his path took him to New York. The shy boy from Blacksburg, Virginia, who was born premature, was now in the middle of the med