From Athlete To Entrepreneur: Will Bartholomew of D1 Training On The 5 Work Ethic Lessons We Can Learn From Athletes
Self-Awareness: As an athlete, you need to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses so your team can complement your shortcomings and you can train to make improvements. The same is true as a business leader. By becoming self-aware, you’ll be able to take note of the areas you excel and the areas you need support. From there, you can build the right team to help your business succeed.
As a part of our series about the work ethic lessons we can learn from professional athletes, I had the pleasure of interviewing Will Bartholomew.
Will Bartholomew is the Founder & CEO of D1 Training, a leading fitness franchise utilizing the five core tenets of athletic-based training to help people of all ages achieve their sport and fitness goals. D1 achieves this through three core training programs, Adult, Scholastic and Pro. The brand has been endorsed by the NFL Players Association as an approved training facility and is a preferred partner of the National Academy of Sports Medicine. With over 60 locations currently open and 140+ in development, D1 is delivering on its goal to train athletes who are dedicated to their fitness goals.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! It is a great honor. Our readers would love to learn more about your personal background. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in a household of athletes and military leaders.
My dad is a West Point graduate and Vietnam Veteran. My grandfather is also a veteran and played in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles. With these strong leadership figures in my life, I grew up around athletics, discipline, and structure.
My mother was an ordained minster and naturally taught me about faith and the balance of goodwill, disciple, work ethic, and the desire to be the best you can.
With such well-rounded parents, I had the privilege of having a great value system instilled in me at an early age. Leaning on these values to make decisions throughout my life has truly been an invaluable asset that I am forever grateful for.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career as a high-level professional athlete?
Family. It was really my parents who inspired me to push the limits and set high goals for myself. At an early age, I was always active, seeking out adventures, and naturally was attracted to sports. While I was blessed with great athletic genes, my parents instilled in me the importance of a strong work ethic. Because of this, I was naturally drawn to those who had amazing work ethics as well. Together, we’d push each other to achieve greatness.
As a young athlete, I really looked up to the football greats like Walter Payton and Tom Raffman. To me, these were the players who mirrored the perfect combination of competitiveness, work ethic, and being genuinely good people — the perfect positive role models for an aspiring professional athlete.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?
There have been several important people throughout my journey — whether they be coaches or role models — but my dad has played a consistent and significant role in providing me encouragement and wisdom that has helped me get to where I am today.
When I experienced my career-ending injury while playing in the NFL and signed my injury severance, I was faced head-on with an identify shift. Football had been my life and that had now forever changed. At the time, my wife and I were expecting our first daughter, and here I was, heading into surgery one week after our daughter was born, instructed to go through an eight-week non-weight bearing recovering, left with my own thoughts and fear of how I was going to support my family.
We were living with our in-laws in a makeshift bedroom in the attic. As I laid there, I hit a low point. But, with the know-how and capacity to be mentally tough, I leaned on all the knowledge and wisdom my dad provided me and committed to positive change.
I built a support system of people who I trust to help guide me in the right direction — my dad at the core — and I knew I wanted control over my future, so that’s when I started drafting a business plan for a company called D1 Training.
This provided me the bright pieces of hope I needed. By the time I finished the business plan, I was jazzed. My network supported me, signed up as investors or franchisees, and it was an incredible feeling to have all my work in athletics pay off in a new way. As my dad would say: It might not look like playing on Sunday, but it’s about helping athletes in a different way. Even now, after his passing, he continues to play a major role in the way I lead my life.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your sports career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
This might seem like a nothing story, but it taught me an important lesson that has stuck with me throughout my career.
In college, I went to the Senior Bowl, and prior to game day they would record our height and weight. I wanted to be measured in at 6-feet so badly and would stand up tall, chin up high, but they’d announce, “5–11–7.” Next time I was measured was at the NFL combine. This time, I wore five thick socks to boost me up in my cleats and thought for sure I’d reach the 6-feet mark, but sure enough, they announced, “5–11–7.”
The lesson: don’t try to cheat the system, be you, believe in yourself, and be proud.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. As an athlete, you often face high stakes situations that involve a lot of pressure. Most of us tend to wither in the face of such pressure and stress. Can you share with our readers 3 or 4 strategies that you use to optimize your mind for peak performance before high pressure, high stress situations?
- Mentality Shift: You have to approach each unique high-pressure situation with the right mentality. For me, that’s an understanding of the big picture — to know that this finite situation pales in comparison to the bigger, more important aspects of your life. This requires reflection on the ups and down of the journey you’ve been on and bringing that experience with you to navigate high-stress situations.
- Morning Routine: As a professional athlete, routine and disciple matter. I’ve found a morning ritual that has helped me set my intention for the day, equipping me to manage whatever the day throws my way. It’s a simple 30-minute practice that I’ve done every day for the past 10+ years. I get up every morning, put on an insulated sweat suit and do a 30-minute low intensity cardio workout. The first 10-minutes include breathing exercises where I clear my mind and don’t think about anything — this really grounds you. The next 10-minutes are devoted to gratefulness where I say out loud what it is I’m grateful for. The final 10-minutes are used to audibly state my wants to help manifest each of my goals. This has truly been a gamechanger in helping me control the day!
Can you tell us the story of your transition from a professional athlete to a successful business person?
I spent my entire career in the world of sports, finally working my way up to the NFL when I was then faced head-on with an ACL injury. After my second injury, I began training in hopes of making it back to the pros, but quickly found my passion refocused on business. As a side job, I began training kids back in my hometown of Nashville where I have strong ties as a multi-sport state champion and high-school football player, and later went on to play at the University of Tennessee as Peyton Manning’s fullback. My first training class consisted of only my little brother on a community field, but quickly gained attention allowing me to move to a 2,500-sqft. facility within three years. Today, D1 Training has grown into a thriving franchise with 60+ locations that has professional athletes like Peyton Manning, Tim Tebow, Jason Witten, Michael Oher, and more flocking to our brand.
I credit much of my success as an entrepreneur to the lessons I’ve learned playing as a professional athlete. The hardest part about transitioning from the world of professional athletics to the world of business is to humble yourself — to learn the skill. The intangibles are learned through the sport, but the business skills must be developed — you need the basics on business blocking and tackling.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now?
We really pride ourselves on forward-thinking innovation to meet the needs of our consumers and support our franchisees with business operations. Amid the pandemic, we accelerated the launch of our D1toU online, virtual training app and remote program in partnership with TrainHeroic, which now services over 24,000 members.
Whether it be in the gym or through the app, we continue to focus on cultivating an overall brand experience relying on the genuine, trusting and positive relationships with our members. The goal is simple: to continue to train athletes who are dedicated to their sport or their fitness goals, regardless of age or athletic background.
As we continue to put an emphasis on technology and innovation, we look forward to rolling out new initiatives that monitor and track our athlete’s performance so that we can best help them achieve their goals by mapping out performance plans based on actual data.
Do you think your experience as a professional athlete gave you skills that make you a better entrepreneur? Can you give a story or example about what you mean?
Yes, absolutely! One of the greatest skills it gave me was being coachable. As an athlete you have to get coached, go on the field, perform, and make decisions in real time. That’s business.
Early on in my entrepreneurial journey, I learned to lay down my ego and embrace learning and growing. Just like in the world of sports, you need to go study the game so you can be the best at it.
I’ve been in business for more than 20 years now and remain committed to continuous learning. I spend the bulk of my days learning vs. making decisions. By absorbing information, listening to different perspectives, etc., I’m able to make smart decisions that have major impacts.
Ok. Here is the main question of our interview. Entrepreneurs and professional athletes share a common “hustle culture”. Can you share your “5 Work Ethic Lessons That Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Athletes”? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Toughness: Whether you’re an NFL superstar or startup entrepreneur, you must accept that not everything goes your way — you’re up against a tough competitor, you lose a game, you’re faced with an unpredictable obstacle, a financial challenge, etc. The true test becomes perseverance — mental toughness matters.
- Routine Disciple: In football, you mentally prep, study film, practice, etc. Operating a business should follow a similar rhythm. By having a routine and plan to follow, you’ll be more likely to hold yourself accountable to reaching your goals.
- Self-Awareness: As an athlete, you need to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses so your team can complement your shortcomings and you can train to make improvements. The same is true as a business leader. By becoming self-aware, you’ll be able to take note of the areas you excel and the areas you need support. From there, you can build the right team to help your business succeed.
- Focus: To excel in the NFL, you must be a master of your craft. You are part of a team, but before your team can excel, you must excel in your position. Put in the hours, focus, and refine your skill. By honing your technique, you’ll be taking the necessary steps to make big moves and improve the bottom like. It’s great to have a big picture goal like winning the Super Bowl or reaching one million in sales, but to get there, you have to focus on the smaller tasks at hand.
- Celebrate: The NFL is known for its over-the-top touchdown celebrations, but don’t discredit these goofy stunts — they provide value to the team. Celebrations build comradery and generate momentum. Big and little wins should be celebrated. The strongest teams that achieve the best results are often times the teams that have the most fun, so build a culture of play that will keep your team motivated and the results will follow.
What would you advise to a young person who aspires to follow your footsteps and emulate your career? What advice would you give?
Patience — we’re all in a hurry to sprint through the journey, but know that it takes time and there’s a lot of learning to be had. Lay down your ego, be humble, and built a process or framework for everything to help guide you toward your goals.
Also, as my mentors once told me, you become who you hang around — it matters, so select your inner circle wisely.
You are by all accounts a very successful person. How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I truly believe that our franchisees and our coaches are making a significant impact in people’s lives — helping them achieve their sport and fitness goals. Whether it’s a scholastic athlete with a desire to land a D1 scholarship or the PTA mom who wants to build strength and be a role model for her children, D1 aims to bring goodness into their lives.
As our franchise system continues to grow, we’ll have an even greater impact. We’re helping make the world a better place — if you’re inspired to reach your goals, you’re going to be inspired to do bigger and better things — there will be a powerful, positive ripple effect.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Fear is a big thing to cripple people from their goals. I would love to help create a movement around not being afraid of fear.
I often think, if I could go back and play sports again, what would I do differently — it would hands down be a shift in my attitude; to be fearless.
Fear can hold you back from greatness, so the movement to be fearless would provide opportunity and open the doors for more people to reach their desired goals and aspirations.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
Philippians 1:20 — I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
I particularly love the word ‘eagerly” — there’s energy behind it, like you’re on your front foot. With this energy, this proactivity, this expectation, you have the inspiration and motivation to achieve great things. The word “hope” leads me to believe that I’m always hoping for more, better, bigger growth opportunities. Combined, it’s truly inspirational.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them
We’ve discussed a lot of serious topics, but someone I’d love to meet is Will Farrell — a nice reminder to have fun on your journey of life! It is important to take a step back and realize you don’t always need to be so serious — relax and have fun!
This was very meaningful, thank you so much!