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Nice Kicks: How was making the move from Nike Basketball to Beats by Dre?
Paul Rivera: Making the move was hands down the toughest decision that I’ve ever made professionally. A theme throughout my career is that I’ve always been very happy with where I was at. I’ve never looked for a job in my life. When I left Nike it was the high of highs, and I wasn’t looking to leave. You’d be crazy, right? But at the same time as a man, as a professional, you have to at least look at opportunities that are presented to you.
Nice Kicks: How did the opportunity come about?
Paul Rivera: When Beats came to me, my first response was, “Thank you, but no thank you. Humbled and honored but I’m very happy where I am.” That conversation led to another conversation. It was probably a three-month conversation. Some of the people at Beats had worked at Nike before and I had worked with them so it was an ongoing conversation. It was never about money. Money’s money, and it’s honestly the easiest conversation when dealing with these transitions. It’s more about the philosophy, team, and vision. What I saw at Beats was that same passion that you talk about at Nike only at an earlier stage. Nike’s had 30,000 some employees, [but Beats only had] 130. It was exciting to think what that could grow into. Again, the hardest decision that I’ve ever made in my life. I talked to Lynn Merritt who gave me some honest advice that I’m forever grateful for. I talked to Maverick Carter. I talked to some of the higher ups at Nike. I talked to all types of people. It was never a conversation of “Hey, I’m leaving,” but more of “This is what was presented to me.” In any conversation no one ever mentioned money—it was just about the move. Making that move was exciting and scary, but it was the right move– and that’s no knock to anyone.
Nice Kicks: What made Beats exciting to you?
Paul Rivera: Going to Beats, I saw that passion. You had young people that lived it. People that are literally just out of college that bust their ass all day. They’re in the office all day, leave at 9PM, and out till 4AM. Then they go to sleep and they’re back at work and they never complain because they love it. They’re living their life. When you talk about Beats, it has lots of the same qualities as Nike because it’s authentic. The founders are Dr. Dre from NWA. You can’t get any more authentic then that! And Jimmy Iovine, he’s a living legend in the music world. That’s not stuff that’s made up, that’s not marketing strategy. You can’t fake that, that’s in their DNA. I saw a lot of that [in Beats] which made it an easy transition.
Nice Kicks: How does working with artists differ from working with athletes?
Paul Rivera: A lot of people ask me that and there isn’t much of a difference. What I’ve found in life is that there’s a reason 99% of the people who are successful are successful, and that’s because they busted their ass. Maybe 1% got lucky, but the other 99% busted their ass. Whether it’s LeBron in the gym shooting 1,000 jump shots a day when he’s a millionaire and already won a championship or Dr. Dre who’s arguably the greatest producer of all time is in the studio working with a new artist. Those guys don’t have to work. They could ride into the sunset today. Those guys do what they do because they’re passionate about it and they live it. One of the surprising things and it shouldn’t be surprising is the similarities in work ethic, passion and authenticity. There aren’t many differences at all to be honest with you.
Nice Kicks: What advice would you give to someone looking to make it a dream industry?
Paul Rivera: Experience trumps all. To this day, if I’m going to hire someone and I’m looking at two resumes– one of the people went to the best school you can think of and has a masters from there and the other person went to a community college but has worked the last four years at music festivals and volunteered at events– that race is a hell of a lot closer than you think it’d be. The best advice I can give anyone trying to get into a field is to get as much experience as you can get. Some of the most successful people I know didn’t graduate from college. That’s not to say you don’t need it or that it’s not important, I’m just saying that if you’re hustling and grinding, it doesn’t matter. The best advice I can give is volunteer as much as you can, don’t take no for an answer, and if you’re passionate about something, you’ll never work another day in your life. Kids are growing up in such an amazing time right now. In my time, when people said ‘you can be anything you want to be’ you didn’t really believe it. Today’s generation can really be whatever they want to be.
I look at friends in the industry that I’ve been fortunate to work with that are DJs, graffiti artists and dancers that were told they could never make a living doing what they do. I know people that are making an extremely good living doing all of that. What they all have in common with the LeBron’s and Dr. Dre’s of the world is that unrivaled work ethic and unrivaled passion. If you do what you are passionate about I truly believe that you’ll be great at it because you’re doing it for the right reasons. If you’re great at it, you’ll find a way to make money, you’ll find a way to have a great career and in turn you’ll never work a day in your life.
Nice Kicks: Any recent examples of that at Beats?
Paul Rivera: I was just in China with LeBron, Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar. I was cracking up to myself, like, I’m not working, this isn’t work. I don’t want to say that too loud because they might not pay me next time, but that’s not work. I’m living the dream being able to work on passions of sports, music and my relationships with my friends everyday. I’ve been truly blessed, but I believe all of that is from the passion and the work ethic.
Lead image photo by Delphine Diallo, Dime covers via Dime Magazine, Jason Petrie photo via Nike, Inc. & Dr. Dre & Jimmy Iovine photo via USC
