From NFL to Bankruptcy to Success: Marques Ogden's Journey of Discipline and Innovation

In this powerful episode of The Nathan Newberry Show, former NFL player turned entrepreneur Marques Ogden shares his remarkable journey from professional football to losing everything in a construction business failure to rebuilding his life as a successful business owner, bestselling author, and speaker. His story offers valuable lessons on discipline, leadership, and innovation that can help anyone overcome setbacks and achieve high performance.

The Foundation of Discipline: Lessons from a Single Father

Marques Ogden's journey begins with the powerful influence of his father, who raised him and his brother Jonathan (now an NFL Hall of Famer) as a single dad in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"I got to see firsthand a dad in this is like in the late 1980s early 1990s when it was not common for dads to be single dads with primary soul custody."

Growing up in a single-parent household where his father juggled work and raising two boys taught Marques invaluable life lessons. His father demonstrated extraordinary dedication—working full-time, picking up Marques from school, taking both boys to practice, and managing all household responsibilities.

One of the most profound lessons Marques learned from his father was discipline, which he considers fundamental to his success today:

"One thing I learned... it's discipline. Great quote by Abraham Lincoln: 'Discipline is the bridge between where you are and where you want to be.' So I learned how to be disciplined in school, in athletics, in showing up, and if you get beat, that's okay—get up, try again, never giving up, always showing focus, always showing hard work, always being dedicated, and that's who I am now."

This foundation of discipline was tested during Marques's junior year when he quit football out of frustration for not starting. His father's counsel proved pivotal: "If you want to quit, that's on you, but I'll love you regardless, but you're gonna feel really bad if you quit. You'll never know what you could have become."

This advice motivated Marques to return to the team the next day, setting the stage for his future NFL career—a decision that would ultimately shape his entire life trajectory.

NFL Career and the Construction Company Collapse

Marques's discipline and perseverance led him to a six-year NFL career with four different teams: Jacksonville, Baltimore, Buffalo, and Tennessee. While his athletic abilities got him into the league, he acknowledges that he struggled with the mental aspects of professional football:

"In the NFL, I got challenged... I didn't learn how to talk to my coach, I didn't learn how to make adjustments, I didn't learn how to do all those things, and because of that, it really put me in a bad spot."

After his football career ended, Marques faced the difficult transition many athletes experience. He eventually found his footing in the construction industry and built a successful business between 2008 and 2012. However, his success led to a fatal flaw:

"Unfortunately at the beginning of 2012, my ego and my bravado caught up with me. I became a self-centered egotistical maniac, and I end up losing absolutely everything that I owned—my home, my cars, all my money, everything in 2013 because I was just so focused on money and fame and notoriety, and I didn't focus on taking care of my team, our clients, learning the business."

The loss was catastrophic—he went from having a thriving construction company to arriving in Raleigh with just $400 to his name. This dramatic fall taught him the harsh consequences of losing sight of what truly matters in business: serving customers, developing team members, and continuously learning.

Rebuilding Through Innovation and Teamwork

Today, Marques has completely transformed his circumstances. He now owns or co-owns eight to nine different businesses, including:

• A media company he's been building for 11 years
• Grind Oral Care, a toothpaste brand in over 600 Walmart stores
• Tuagoi, a natural hemp-based protein powder drink
• Zanzan, a technology app in the multifamily real estate space
• Limit Lex and Deflect Tech, among others

Additionally, his podcast "Get Authentic with Marcus Ogden" ranks in the top half-percent of most popular podcasts worldwide.

The key to managing this diverse portfolio of businesses? Teamwork and delegation:

"Without our team, there's absolutely no way I could do what I'm doing, none... We have the best production company in the game, Multiformat. Our team is the best. They handle the website and structure. We brought a new consulting company helping us with planning... Without the team that I have around me, who I am would never be."

This emphasis on teamwork represents a complete reversal from his earlier approach that led to his construction company's failure. Marques credits several sources for this transformation, including coaching from renowned speaker Mel Robbins, training at the National Athletic Professional Success Academy, and books like "The Go-Giver" by Bob Burg and "The Breakthrough Code" by Tom McCarthy.

He's also learned a crucial lesson about how people make decisions:

"Remember this in life and in business, but especially in business: people don't move off of knowledge, they move off of emotion. If they see it, they like it, they feel it, they want it, and that's what it's all about. People move off emotion, not knowledge."

The Five Vs of High Performance

When asked about his principles for high performance, Marques shared his framework of the "Five Vs of Success":

1. Visualize

"Visualize—you have to see it in order to achieve it. If you can't see it and you don't believe it, you will never achieve it, period."

2. Vocalize

"Vocalize—speak good about yourself. We all have challenges, we all go through hardships. The people that come out on top are the ones that speak good about themselves at all times."

3. Vote

"Vote—cast a positive vote every single day. Get on a podcast like we're doing now, listen to a great podcast, read a chapter of a book, do something positive, make a phone call, send an email, whatever—just move towards the goal."

4. Venture

"Venture—venture out and find your tribe. Your vibe attracts your tribe. If you're not willing to get out and go and do these things, you'll never create the fifth V of victory."

5. Victory

The result of consistently applying the first four Vs.

Beyond these principles, Marques emphasizes the critical importance of innovation in today's business landscape:

"If you want to be successful as a leader, master innovation, master creating a way to stand out and not blend in. In business, you have to stand out—hence Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs. These are all innovative people who created something, did something that almost everybody thought was impossible."

This commitment to innovation is evident in his creation of the Marcus Ogden app, designed to foster connection with his community.

Conclusion: Lessons in Resilience and Leadership

Marques Ogden's journey from NFL player to bankrupt construction company owner to successful entrepreneur and speaker demonstrates the power of discipline, continuous learning, and teamwork. His story provides a roadmap for anyone facing setbacks or seeking to reach higher levels of performance.

The key takeaways from his experience include:

1. Discipline is fundamental - As Abraham Lincoln said, it's "the bridge between where you are and where you want to be."
2. Ego can destroy success - Even after achieving success, focusing on fame and money instead of team and customers can lead to catastrophic failure.
3. Teamwork enables scaling - Surrounding yourself with the right team and delegating effectively is crucial for managing multiple ventures.
4. Continuous learning is essential - Through coaching, mastermind groups, books, and experiences, Marques continuously refines his approach to business and life.
5. Innovation sets you apart - In today's competitive environment, finding ways to stand out rather than blend in is critical for long-term success.

Marques's transformation from having just $400 to his name to running multiple successful businesses and being selected as the only male speaker among eight keynotes for the Wonder Woman Network event in Long Beach, California, stands as testimony to the power of these principles when consistently applied.

His journey reminds us that failure, while painful, can be the foundation for extraordinary success when approached with the right mindset, discipline, and willingness to innovate.