Former NBA Player @JamalMashburn Is Now The Owner Of More Than 80 Franchises

Success on the court doesn’t always lead to success off the court for many professional NBA players who retire from the sport. But for this former NBA player, it lead to owning 80 franchise locations and five car dealerships.

Jamal Mashburn, now 43-years old, played for three NBA teams and the Kentucky Wildcats in college. Although he was a very good basketball player, basketball was not his only goal in life. This amazing young entrepreneur had dreams at the age of just 15 to build a business empire of his own. It was not a dream to fall back on if basketball didn’t work out, but a dream he planned to fall forward to.

Career goals beyond sports

Setting goals has always been very important to Mashburn. He worked hard at being a good basketball player, but he also looked into the future and had career goals that went beyond sports. Now he owns more than 80 franchise locations and five car dealerships, including 40 Papa John’s, 38 Outback Steakhouse restaurants, and 4 Dunkin’ Donuts.

Mama knows best

Mashburn attributes he mother’s good advice to his success, always encouraging him to pursue education “because you want to have something to fall back on in case basketball doesn’t work out.” Basketball did work out, but he never forgot his mother’s advice. So, in 2013, he and former NFL player Winston Justice started a venture capital firm, Mashburn Justice Capital Partners, for investing in high-tech startups. In 2014, he started a marketing agency, Mashburn Sackett, with locations in both Chicago and Miami.

As Mashburn explains it:

“I wanted to leave the game with a healthy quality of life and an ability to step into something. It’s almost like not falling back on something, but falling forward to something.”