Transcript of From Super Bowl to Setback to Success ft. Setema Gali | Coffeez for Closers with Joe Shalaby

Welcome to another episode of Coffees for Closers. Today, we're sitting with a very special guest, former Super Bowl champion, the founder CEO of Gamechanger, Mr. Satima Gali. Welcome to another episode of Coffees.

Big Joe, good to be here with you. Thank you for having me today.

Thank you. I know you get this a lot. You're almost the Rock's twin.

That is a compliment, and I'm grateful for his success because it makes it easy to break the ice with people.

Yeah, it definitely does. Yeah. So, Steve, I'd like to start this show off. What's your morning routine?

Morning routine, it consists of, as soon as my feet hit the ground, gratitude. I got something I call conscious self-creation. It's a visualization exercise in the mirror while I brush my teeth and broom up. Then I do something called the Daily Focus, where I gratitude targets for the day, electrolytes, protein, food, and I'm off to the gym. It's pretty dialed in. I mean, it's clock where it's easy for me. I don't know how much... I mean, That's it in a nutshell, but that's the morning routine, man.

Now, give the audience a 10,000-foot overview of what is it that Game Changers does.

Game Changer, in 1995, I was a missionary for my church, 19 years old. My Mission President, the leader of our mission, gave me a book called Seven Habits by Stephen Covey. He's like, I think you should read this. I opened the book and started reading it. Rocked my world. He talked about a paradigm shift. As I'm reading the book, this thing in my heart said, You are supposed to do what Covey has done for you. You're supposed to do that for others. Back then, there was no programs and there's no courses like there are today. But in my mind, I'd see Jim Rohn, Zig Zigler, Tony Robbins, Darren Harding, these big speakers. I'm like, I'm supposed to do that. I'm supposed to change lives and inspire and breathe life into people, move their heart and soul. So Gamechanger is a culmination of the last. The Big Joe, good to be here with you. Thank you for having me today. Of coaching, mentoring, leadership, results for clients. In a nutshell, I would say, if you feel called to do something significant in the domain of changing lives, of sharing your talents and gifts with the world to make the world a better place, game changer is for you.

That's what we do. We help you become the person who breaks generational curses, who shifts the trajectory and changes the entire future. Of course, makes your ancestors proud who are watching from wherever they're at, like he's doing it or she's doing it.

I love that. Now, you do that in one speaking session, a series of courses. How long does it take for that transformation to occur?

We have two-day seminars, three-day seminars. I wrote a book called Game Changer. We're just releasing that right now. People can get their free book. They just pay for the shipping. I have a podcast called Game Changer, and there's a number of ways, just depending on where someone feels comfortable investing, time, energy, and money. But I love just, even if I can speak one time and have someone feel and see and hear, experience a shift, then I've done my job. Now, if I get an opportunity to work with people longer term, like I've had clients stay with me for four or five years, then that's what we do. But curriculum from a keynote speech to a podcasts such as this, I'm grateful, Joe, all the way to spending four days with me and/or one or two, three, four or five years.

Wow. Do you do them in Vegas? Do you do them local here?

Yeah, we do them in Vegas. We used to run everything out of here right in Southern California, right? The Cliffs Laguna. That was our spot for a long time over down in Dana Point. And then I was in Destin, Florida, and now I'm in Vegas. So we run everything out of Vegas now.

Nice. Now, what was it like growing up? Are you from a football family like The Rock?

Well, I'm from just a family of musicians and entertainers and dancers, and I'm the only one that played football. And so, again, coming up with the family of nine kids, grateful for my parents who came from the islands of Samoa. So grateful for them. We just figured out everyone has their own path, and I early on wanted to play football. I loved it. I was like, I'm pretty good at this game, and I think I'm going take it to the next level.

Nine, eight siblings? Yeah. Wow. Some Owens are all pretty there.

I'm not the biggest dude in my family. I'll put it that way. Really? Yeah. I'm the most handsome. I'm kidding. Not kidding. But I'm not the biggest one in my family. But all my brothers are all size 15 shoe, 6'4, 6'5, 6'4, 6'3, 6'4. Big boys, 300 pounds, give or take.

Well, and your parents are big like that, too?

My parents are tiny, man. My dad is probably, I don't know, 5'7. My mom is maybe 5'7. They're not tall. Really? Yeah.

That's crazy. Now, how do you think your roots shaped you to become who you are today?

That's a great question, Joe. Polynesian people, we are warriors, and we sail the seas, and we're guided by the stars in the heavens. So family, culture, Every time I talk about my parents, I'm grateful. So grateful for their sacrifices, for their work they put in, for coming to this country, for giving me a shot. So family first, hard work. There's nothing given. You got to go earn it. Putting, again, respect for your elders, respect for your parents. Even to this day, I'm almost 50 years old, and I still, one of my drivers that drives me and pushes me is to make my mom and dad proud. I want them to just be like, That's our boy. That's our son.

That's amazing. Even to this day, are they with us still?

Yeah, they live in Utah. They divorced, both remarried. I have two sets of parents who are amazing, and so much love and respect for my parents. I'm grateful. As you get older, and you look at your parents, and a lot of people want to blame their parents. Blame their mom and dad for whatever. I'm like, Our parents did the best they could with what they had, because I'm a parent, and I'm doing the best that I can with what I have to help my sons be the best they can be and prepare them for life. My family, my culture, my Polynesian roots, I'm so grateful, so, so grateful for the way that I was raised.

It's incredible. So all nine kids were from one mom? Yeah. And then she divorced?

And then we divorced. And then I have two more from my stepmom, a younger sister and brother. She's 11.

And then how about for your dad? My dad- Did he have more kids?

Yeah. My dad and my stepmom had two more. But my mom, once she had her, she was done.

And then she got married, she was like, I'm done.

Yeah, because he already, again, blended family on my mom and stepdad's side.

It's a lot of family.

A lot of kids, a lot of food. Big food bill.

Yeah. What city did you grow up in?

I grew up in Utah. Orem, Utah, Provost, Utah.

So you guys are Norman?

Yeah, yeah, Norman. I may not be your average Norman, but I believe in God, believe in Christ. I love the Book of Norman, I love the scriptures. I love serving people. I love making a difference for people and really trying to live my purpose on this planet. So when I go, I empty the tank. I've lived my life. As the apostle Paul says, I fought a good fight. I fought a good fight, I finished my course, kept the faith. And again, I do the best that I can every single day.

God bless you. Thank you. Now, before football, who was Satima Gale.

Who was Satima? I grew up physically weak. I was never strong. I was never really coordinated and athletic. I mean, I was big, but I wasn't strong. I loved the dance, Polynesian dancing. I loved singing and music. I feel like I always was blessed to have this positive mentality. Again, I credit God to that. Then as football came in, football was that vehicle, as you know, that allowed me to work hard, to set goals, to have ambition, to overcome adversity, and to become just a stronger physically and mentally and spiritually person, more or spiritual person. So again, I love music. I do a lot of singing. We sing in church with my boys. I used to do a lot of luaus, entertaining, guitar music, harmonizing. But I think that my favorite thing to do is, I don't think my favorite thing is just really making a difference for people, lifting someone's life, helping them smile, helping them see something they couldn't see, helping them solve a problem that's getting in the way.

And what did What did the young Satema... What did you believe was possible when you were young?

That's a great question. Growing up, it's like I knew, I had this concept of, if you work hard, you can achieve. But when I became... My freshman year of high school is when I wrote in my journal, I'm going to get a scholarship to BIO. I wrote it down, and I had this conversion to the Lord at age 14. Started to pray, started to read the word of God. Church meant way more to me. I started to strive, again, to keep the Commandments and do what's right. I started to see blessings like crazy. My life was better. I was happier. There was more purpose. I started to walk, as they say, the straight and narrow path. So I love... I say this often, I am the man who loves his life, and I do. Absolutely do.

What a blessing. Now, what was the moment you realized that football was more than a dream, even after you were being underdrafted and injured?

From my sophomore to junior year in high school. So again, I wasn't very good. Seventh and eighth grade was horrible. Hated practice. I didn't like it. I tried to get out of practice all the time. I was like, I don't want to do this, but I never wanted to quit. We We start it, we're going to finish it. But from my sophomore to junior year, I became addicted to the weight room. I started lifting. So I was a skinny, 170-pound kid, 6'4, 170 pounds. And I hit the weight room, didn't play basketball, and I put on 30 pounds of muscle. So in eight months, eight, nine months, I was about 205. And you hit the gym and confidence increases. And when you work out, as you know, we were talking jiu-jitsu earlier, when you do physical things that are hard, everything changes. And so for me, that, going into my junior year, confidence to the roof. And I was like, Okay, I'm going to get a scholarship. I was offered a scholarship from a few different universities, and I went to BIO. And I mean, football has been such a blessing for my life.

Yeah. What are the top three things it's done for you, you think?

Number one, it has taught me how to overcome adversity. I've had five shoulder surgeries, a fracture, multiple concussions. But in football, you get knocked down, you get back up. So number one, you're going to face adversity. You've been there. A lot of everyone faces adversity. A loved one passes away, loved one gets sick, financial turmoil. That's the first one. Second one, it's just sheer work, hard work, smart work, consistent work. It shows you, if you want something, go in the work. And then the third thing is, find your gifts. I'm not an MBA basketball guy. I wanted to. I would have rather played basketball. But I got a football body, and I got athletic ability, and then I put in the work. I put in the time. So again, there's people who are musicians, who are artists, who are podcasters, who are influencers, to help people find your thing. And I believe there's more than one thing. So find your gifts and find your vehicles and tools, and then go. We only got one life, so go get it. Go get it.

Now, selling your Super Bowl ring must have really eclipsed a lot of the tough moments. Yeah. What was Going through your head that day, you did that.

Oh, man. We did really well in the mortgage days. Back then when it was, as you know, easy to print money. State an income, state an asset, no income, no asset, refive, option arms. And in 2008, when the recession hit and the economy turned, we just got crushed, and I wasn't ready. But I was also on my way out to do what I do now. So can't put food on the table. We downsized from our brand new home that we've built on the hill, on the benches of Provo. We're in this tiny, 900-square-foot townhome. We had built an 8,000-square-foot home. We had the cars we We lost the cars, we lost everything. And by the time, I went to sell my ring. I'm yelling at my... He's like three years old. I'm yelling at the top of my lungs to not waste cereal. And he's crying. I'm like, What am I doing? Couldn't pay the rent. Rent was like 1,200 bucks. I was like, Oh, my gosh. So I knew what I did. I knew what I had, and I was crying my eyes out on the way to New York City. Got on the plane, I'm bawling like a baby.

Get off the plane, give him the ring. He gives me cash, he inspects it. I told him, I'm going to come back and get this. And he's like, They never do. I'm like, What do you mean? He's like, I got hundreds of rings, hundreds. And so I actually went back to him to go get my ring, and I offered him a big chunk of cash. He didn't sell it? He wouldn't sell it. He says, Not yet. So I text him once a year. We stay in touch because I'll go get the ring. The moment he's ready to sell it to me, I'll get it. I'll give him the cash.

How do you sell it? Just the collectors?

Collector, yeah. Just a collector. Brother, it's one of the hardest things I've ever done. I want you to imagine you work your whole life for something, you get to the pinnacle, and then maybe Five, six, eight years later, you got to give it up. I cried because 50, 60 guys a year get that.

What's it even like winning a Super Bowl? Walk me through the feeling. Oh, man.

So you take something you work your whole life at all year, lifting weights, running, conditioning, eating, watching film, injuries, the surgery here, surgery there, winning, travel, and all of a sudden, you get to the NFL. So it's one thing to get to the NFL, right? It's another to win in the playoffs. It's another to get to the Super Bowl. But to win it? I mean, grown man, we walked into the... It was in New Orleans, we were playing the greatest show on Turf, the Rams. A grown a man crying. My heart was filled with joy. Imagine the pinnacle, if you wanted to be the best-selling author or a musician who plays on the biggest stages or whatever that thing is. Everyone's got a Super Bowl. Everyone's got a Super Bowl. And this was the literal Super Bowl. When we won, Vinatari kicks the field, go, We're hugging, growing man. We're like, We did it. We're hugging, we're crying. One of the top experiences of my life for sure. And the reason why is because I worked for it. If someone just hands you, Hey, here's your Super Bowl ring, there's no joy in that. But as you know, when you work to build something, when you work hard and you put in the time and the energy, the sacrifice, the grit, the grind, the determination, it's just something so gratifying and so fulfilling.

And I'm like, Thank you, God. Thank you so much for this great opportunity that I have.

Incredible. Now, after that low point that you went through, what sparked the turnaround? Was it faith? Was it a conversation? Was it a moment of clarity? Was it just the feeling of rock bottom? How did you really get out of that?

So, 2008, 2009, sold the ring, 2010, filed a bankruptcy, 2011, four years in what I call the pit of despair. The jaws of Hell, wide open, depressed. It's in this deep, deep chasm. And in my heart, I always knew. I knew, September, this is just a setback for the comeback. This is just a moment. You have to overcome this. You have to because you know what you want to do. My heart always desired to change lives, to transform hearts and souls, to shift paradigms for people. I always wanted that. So even in the darkest moments, and from between 2008 and 2011, there was something that was like, Tell me you're supposed to do this. I remember praying to God. I'm like, God, please. I will do anything because everything I did in those four years, nothing worked. Nothing worked. And then I continued to pray to God. I was like, I will do anything to get out of this hole and to get back on top. If you go to the Lord in a prayer like that, and you're sincere, and you're serious about it, you better be ready when he sends you the opportunity.

Now, honestly, I was like, Just send me someone with like, Let me win the lottery, or let me just easily get back on top. Send me a suitcase of gas. My mind was playing weird games on me. Then I got recruited to go knock doors as a door-to-door salesman. I'm in my mid to late 30s, and I get recruited to go knock doors. I'm like, Really? This is it? I I got to go live in an apartment, live in hotels, six days a week, 22 to 26 weeks a year of knocking doors? I'll never forget, I'm in Eastley, South Carolina in 2011. I'm out there, I can see the clouds and the wind's on my face and the sun's on me. It's my first week, and I was so angry. This is it, hon. This This is where I'm at. This is what I'm doing with my life. I remember just praying. I was like, I asked for this. Okay. I'll never forget, I'm carrying the clipboard. I got my lanyard on. I'm in this neighborhood in Eastland. I'm like, Okay, God, I did ask for this. I'm all in. Boats are burned. I'm all in.

I'm not going home till this. I'm going to hit my goal. I put my shoulder on the wheel. I put my head down. I put my blinders on, and I went all in, and I didn't stop. I was like, the movie with Arnold, Terminator, the first one where he just didn't stop. That was me. I could've seen the faces of my family, the faces of my parents, my children. That was my why. I was like, I'm going to be the best door knocker ever. And there were days where I was sick, and they were like, Oh, just take a day off. I'm like, Take a day off? You don't understand. These young kids were 19, 22. I'm like, 36 years old. I'm like, Now I got time to do that. I'm Red Bull, some Dayquil puking. They're like, Put me on the doors. I remember just knocking and hit my goal. Work like a dog that summer. I mean, I had never worked. I had worked so hard before. As we're driving home, so we went from South Carolina to Georgia, and Augusta. It's the middle of September, end of September. I'm driving home, and we're in Tennessee, I'm just like, look over.

My boys are in the back. I'm like, We did it. We did it. I think I slept for three weeks when I got home. Just slept straight because I was filled with caffeine from the whole summer. Just potato chips, caffeine, McDonald's, hit the doors, work like a dog. But I promised God I'd do whatever. He sent me to the doors, and I knocked, and I never stopped knocking.

Were you not going to sell in solar or were you selling- Security for Vivint.

It's It was crazy. I was 2011, 2012, 2013. I still have people that will find me on social media, no kidding. They'll say, We always knew you were destined to be great. You were such a great salesman. I'm like, I love it. I remember. I was a different salesman. I really enjoyed the doors. I embraced it. I was proud of it.

It changed my mind. That's why you crushed it. Yeah. That's why you crushed it. Now, when you finally spoke your story publicly for the first time, and I've noticed this about you're super vulnerable, how did that vulnerability really change your mission?

I grew up a lot of emotion, so I would cry. If we lost a game when I was in elementary, I'd cry. I'm like, Why am I crying? I never understood. I hated it. I prayed to God, God, why did you make me this way? I was in high school. We lost in the semifinals, I'm bald like a baby. I'm like, No one else. I'm like, Why am I so emotional? Why does my heart feel so much? And I hated it until in my late 30s, when I figured out, Okay, God, you gave this to me? Cool. I'm going to use it. I'm going to be real with people. I'm going to tell people the truth. I'm not going to live this fake life, this pretend life. If I feel it, I'm going to share it. Sometimes I go from very loving or with my clients, when I'm in coach mode, I got to punch someone in the throat, punch him in the face, figuratively, of course. But it's been a blessing. It really has been an incredible blessing for me.

I'm in the mortgage space, obviously. We run a big mortgage company, and it's been a tough year for a lot of guys, raising in the sevens. We're finally catching a break now after the first break we got was today. Ironically, you're here. We have a conference coming up. A lot of people are discouraged. I feel like What would you tell people right now that are feeling discouraged, whether in real estate, in mortgage, in any financial sector? Because many people are down.

I would say this. I'm like, remember exactly what it is that you want and why that matters. And people can remember. For me, again, my why. What did I want X amount of dollars back in my bank account from that first summer? My My why, my family, my children, my parents, my duty to God. You got to have a back. You got to have those whys. You have to have the reason why you're going to get up and push. For some people, it's their children. I didn't want my boys to say, Oh, my dad was a football player. I'm like, Football? That was in the early 2000s. I want my boys to be like, My dad's my hero. I wanted that. I want my parents, my loved ones to look at me and say, Man, he inspires us. I also knew that there would be people that one day I could share this, and they would be touched. So to anyone who's going through feeling discouraged and feeling doubt, here we are. Moment of truth. You're going to get up and fight and slay the Are you going to go on a dragon, or will you cower and go live the safe route and give up and tuck your tail and throw the towel?

And I just tell people, it's a moment of decision. It's a critical decision, and you can do it. If you look in the history of mankind, The greatest people face the greatest adversities. And it's hard. I tell people straight up, It is so hard, but you can be better than... You can do hard things. And this is something that's pretty popular today. It's hard to be broke. It's hard to run a business. It's hard to be overweight, out of shape, unhealthy. It's hard to work out. Choose your heart. And I just believe that. I'm like, Look, at the end of the day, you are responsible. You better figure out what you're really made of. You better decide every day you wake up, you look yourself in the mirror, Do I want the path of regret? Or do I want to come out victorious and conquer? Let's tell people, get knocked down, get back up. And so many people, then they quit. So I tell my boys, if you were to say this to my boys, get knocked down. They say, get back up. Get knocked down, get back up. If you were to say to them, you can have anything in life, and they will fill in the blank if you pay the price.

We have a ton of those fill in the blank phrases. So that's what I would tell to someone. Tough times don't last, but the best people and the tough people do. So keep pushing, keep moving. Remember your why. Get mad if you have to. Wait wake up and go fight and go slay the dragon. If you want the top prizes and you want the dragon blood all over you, you got to slay dragons. Got to slay the dragon.

Now, what is it? How do you define results? Now, when the stakes are personal and they're not just professional.

How do I define results, whether it's a professional or personal? Look, results, I always tell people, there's two things, man. What is it that you want? Why does that matter? And the what you want has got to be specific, measurable. It's got to belong to you. And I would tell people, Look, whatever it is that you want, that you think you want, go get it. If it's more money, and I don't know, there's always the people out there that say, Oh, money can't buy you happiness. I'm like, Don't listen. If you feel like having more money is going to help you, which for most people, it does. Let's be real. It does. And I'm like, Go get it. Go become the type of person that can produce. If you feel like being more fit and stripping fat off your body is going to help you be an example to your kids, give you more energy, more confidence, go do it. And if you build up all this financial success and accolades, but you leave your family behind, that is not success. I don't know anybody who wants to be at the end of their life alone, even if you have all this stuff in the world, no loved ones, no wife or husband, no kids, no grandkids.

To me, success is what you achieve and who you become. Together. So if you achieve something, but you're a jerk, or you're crude, or you're mean, that's not success. At the same time, if you're becoming a great person, but you can't pay your bills and provide as a man, hey, dude, that don't fly. That doesn't work. So success is what you achieve and who you become in the process. And it takes both. It takes both of those.

That's very true. Now, what is the legacy you hope people carry forward after hearing your comeback?

I love this question about legacy. A lot of people talk about generational wealth and leaving a trust fund. I want to do those things. I want to leave behind resources, which I want to. But more than the trust fund or whatever money, God, I want to leave inside of my boys. I want to leave it in them. I heard this, it's not mine, but legacy is not about what you leave with people. It's about what you leave in people. I want my boys to have trust in themselves, trust in God, trust in other people, more than just the trust fund. I want them to not have the lottery mentality, where it's like, Oh, my dad left us all this stuff. No, I want them to learn how to set goals and achieve goals. I want them to have alignment before the achievement. I want them to be kind and to make a difference and to leave people and things better when they found them. So to me, that's the Legacy. I want to be, whenever the time comes when I graduate to the next life and I leave this planet, I want to be surrounded by my kids and grandkids and loved ones.

I want people to be like, My life is better because that guy took a chance. My life is better because he said something, or he wrote it, or his book, or his podcast, or just being around him changed me. Legacy is in here. And what it allows, it gives people permission to go do something, not just, I know something. It's like, they go do what? They go build, they go create, they go change, they go make a difference.

I love that. A couple of last questions for you. This is about What goals? What's a personal goal that you have for yourself? A family goal that you have for your family, and a goal that you have for a game changer.

You got it. Personal goal for me, I have a bodybuilding competition coming up. My goal is to win the overall. Now, I'm a true novice. This will be the first show that I ever do, but I want to win that.

You're just a winner.

I want to win that. I'm not going to compete. I want to win. So I got literally I got food in my car. I pulled up here about 12: 45, like 15 minutes. I'll be on time, and I'm scarfing down lean ground turkey rice. It's my third meal of the day. I had my oatmeal, Blueberries, egg watch this morning. I got my workout in. I already got cardio plans tonight, so I want to do that. A family goal. Man, I got teenagers right now. Anyone who's got teenagers, it's work. It's challenging because it's hard. Hard because I want so much for them to see things and to get it. Sometimes I want them to work harder or to be more responsible. So one family goal is that we learn... I'm working on this, to communicate more clearly, be more patient. And then one goal for Gamechanger is I I want my book called Game Changer, I want that to get into a million people's hands, a million people to get the book, because the book, it is a game changer. It changes lives. The book came from 10 years I've run in a program called Immersion, where people would come for four days.

We transformed their world. Intense tears, like bury the old person, new person rise, the rising of a Phoenix. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of men and women who the book is on. I want this book to be in their hands and change lives.

Last question for you.

Yes, sir.

When you're in front of the curly gates, what do you think God's going to tell you?

Well, I hope I hope he tells me, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You have been a great steward over a few things. Now you get to have it all. And he'll hug me. He'll say, You did it. You did what you were supposed to do. So that's my goal is when I meet God, he's like, I did. I gave it everything I had. I did what was required.

God bless you, Satami. It's been such a pleasure, such an honor to have you on the show. If people want to connect with you, how do they find you?

Obviously, my website is my first and last name, S-E-T-E-M-A-G-A-L-I. I'm on Instagram, Facebook, Facebook, follow me, and just connect with me. I love... I respond to people in my DMs as much as I can. I respond and leave voice messages, so connect with me on social, pick up my book. It's free. I cover the shipping and I love people, and people love me, and we're going to go do this thing the right way until we die, man.

Let's go. God bless you, man. Thank you. It's been a pleasure to have you on the show.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.