From Athletics to Business: Transitioning Athletics Skills to Business Success

Darius Allen was born in Detroit, Michigan, the 3rd to last of 6 siblings and the child of General Motors plant workers. He began his football career at the age of 7, and over the years grew to love football, basketball, and track. Darius relocated with his mother and 5 of his siblings to the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex in 1993. It was in Texas where his passion for sports grew and he developed personal relationships with athletes and coaches. When his family relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, he decided to stay behind with a high school friend’s family in Texas. He eventually relocated with his family to Atlanta, and finished out his high school football career. He then went on to play college football. Darius did not receive a full scholarship; he worked odd jobs to pay for tuition and eventually started a landscaping company. Frustrated with the rat race of competing for a position, which in turn was your ticket to fame and fortune, he realized professional football was not the only way to become wealthy and he decided not to forgo his senior year of football to focus on academics. Darius did not go on to play professionally, but he did use the tools he learned in sports to foster a successful career as a millionaire entrepreneur. He has been a part of many successful startup businesses ranging from Real Estate to Restaurants. Through Darius’s experience, he realized how smooth the transition from athletics to business can be when you focus on the tools and knowledge you attained as an athlete and how tragic that transition can be if you do not recognize and utilize those tools. This inspired Darius to write a book which can be used as a teaching mechanism for athletes making this transition presently or in the future, and share his knowledge through motivational speaking. In addition to being a successful entrepreneur, Darius also coaches and develops athletes’ post-athletics careers.