The world of athlete management and player representation was a space Frank Johnson III became intrigued by in an unexpected way. Upon completing his undergraduate career at Morgan State University and earning his master's degree from the University of Baltimore, Frank began his professional career as a high school math teacher and football coach. Little did he know, but this very experience would be the pathway that would introduce him in the years to come to the sports agency business. As he began working at his first high school, Frank noticed the disconnect between players' success on the football field and in the classroom. On one hand, while they were nationally-ranked with their performance on the field, he noticed that a lot of players were struggling to pass the SAT. Determined to help these athletes be successful on and off the field, Frank began working with players to prepare for this standardized test; and he did just that. After helping two of the players on the team qualify for the SAT, Frank was asked by those players' parents to continue working with their sons throughout their post-secondary education. From attending college games to meeting professionals in the industry, he immersed himself in the opportunity to learn about the ins and outs of the industry—recognizing his natural passion for scouting, recruiting and mentoring, and discovering his interest in pursuing a career as a sports agent. The rest is history! In January of 2004, Frank received his NBA agent license and officially embarked on his career in the industry. He hasn't looked back since. Over the past 20 years, Frank has experienced tremendous success with his sports agency Elite Athletes for Christ (EAC)—helping NBA and NFL athletes as well as basketball players around the globe with their professional contracts, endorsement deals, personal branding, and marketing opportunities. Keeping the pillars of faith, integrity, and trust at the forefront of all his endeavors, Frank continues to be fueled by his commitment to, as he states: "Change the world, one athlete at a time." Incredible!
Take us back to that journey early on! After you got your agent license, you mentioned you dove straight into the world of sports and athlete management. When did you know that you wanted to have your own agency and build Elite Athletes for Christ?
That is a great question. I realized early on that most of the agents did not want me to be an agent in their firm because they looked at me as competition. You know, Baltimore is a Mid-Atlantic City. We have a lot of players who will make it to the highest level, so with me being from this region, if I worked for their agency I would essentially be their competition. They didn't want me to be that competition.
As you took that next step and created your own agency, what were some challenges that you faced early on and how did you work to overcome them?
The reason why it was so tough was because I was so young when I got started, you know? You really need to be seasoned to do well in this agent world. Sometimes as a young agent, you can get fortunate and get a large client in the very beginning of your career, but most parents won't trust a very young man with such a major opportunity. So you need some time. Time is actually an asset as an agent. If you're old enough to understand what the trends in the market look like and are able to relate to the players, but not too young where the parents may not think that you have the skill set to be able to help their son navigate his professional career…that’s where you (want) to be.
Along with contract negotiation, you also do endorsement deals, player management, and dive into different areas within athlete branding and management. What was the inspiration behind diving into all of these different sections within sports?