Welcome to Knight Talks, the University of Florida Colleg of Journalism and Communications talk show, produced by students for s I'm Reighan Sheppard, a junior studying journalism.

And our guest today is Keith Tri an alumni of the CJC who worked for the University of Athletic Association, the Orange Bowl Committee, UCF Athletics and mor And now he's the founder and man partner of Tricom Management Gro Hi, Keith.

Thank you so much for being here It's my pleasure.

Something I found really interes and I think it's a great way to start this chat off; while you were at UF, you played offensive guard for f that went on to win Bowl games.

When you graduated, did you aspire to play in the NF You want the truth or you want m to just make this sound good?

The truth.

Ragan Just briefly, I knew when I went to college and was fortunate to go to University of Florida that football was a means to an And if I had a chance to play pr football, been great, you know, only 1% of those who play colleg get to make it to that level.

Whereas I was a, I would say an to decent football player.

I didn't think that I would have the opportunity to So I did what you're supposed to I studied, got my degree and four years are fortunate that they allowed me to come to the school of journal And I never regretted it.

And so that's a long way to answer your But I did not.

The spark that that was going to the end goal to be to play profe I just wanted to compete at the level at the highest level possi And coming to University of Flor gave me that opportunity.

Even if you didn't go on to the you learn so much here in colleg in the sport of football in itse Yeah, no question about that.

Probably too much.

But, you know, but I enjoyed it.

So piggybacking off of that.

Your degree is in public relations and marketing.

What inspired your focus toward sports journalism and sports pro Probably because we didn't have sports protection and we had very limited things, you know, in terms of what we can go into.

And originally I wanted to go into business and unfortunately, as a student athlete, we generally practice in the aft And at that time, most of the cl that were in the business college were in the afternoon.

So it would be impossible for me to be in two places at one time and considering I was on a football scholarship.

You, of course, you know which one I had to had So the College of Journalism, particularly PR, was the closest thing that I saw to business.

It gave me an opportunity to to learn the craft.

And, you know, I thought that th of anyone in particularly in my is that you try to get into a fi that you're comfortable with.

And I was always comfortable with having conversation, talking, expressing myself.

And so I saw PR as a way that I a long term career and something I enjoyed doing.

And I hope that everyone, all st would look at when they go to co A major is something that you be that you may be in that for the of your career, because if you don't, you know, if you don't like it, eventually, it's not going to wo So that's that's why I chose tha And of course, if we'd had sports journalism, I probably would have done that, But we didn't have that at that Yeah, the colleges have changed so much over the years, and as t on, they just keep implementing And it just shows how like with just so much more.

And I think that your words of w of like going to something that you enjoy is something that a lot of people should thin when they're applying to schools and stuff.

Because you're right, it is it becomes your life and it's your passion at that po That's exactly right.

That's why I say those who who like to be doctors and t the medical field might go on th That's great.

We need doctors.

Same for lawyers and so forth.

So I think if you if you enjoy the particular area of study and or whatever you want to call it, it's going to be a career in mos Very true.

When you graduated, you worked as associate athletic director of the Univers of Florida's Athletic Associatio What did you do in this role?

Anything they asked me to do.

Ok No, seriously.

I had the opportunity to come ba the University of Florida and working as as a socially aid I was in sales for a company and I was re And ironically, I was asked to c to Orlando to shoot a segment of show of a former player that gon to into the business world and as a player, I never, you know, never knew that.

I never knew that existed.

I didn't know they did that.

So I fell in love with I said, this is something that that they Maybe that's something I look at and behold.

I was contacted after that by th then athletic director, Bill Car and he said, Would you mind comi and working for the university?

And I said, So what will I be do You know?

And he said, You will be working with the pro and working with our facilities and things of that nature.

I love the University of Florida At that time, I was married and, you know, my wife is also a CJC alumna asks and she's in adverti Okay.

And so we said we want to come b And that started my career.

And I started where, you know, I and was an assistant A.D..

So how might that like be interp our viewpoint or the students vi Like, how can they see what you' understand it from their perspec Well, I think when you take on you know, you come to come to a and you choose a field of study, the same rules apply, you know, making sure you are attentive to making sure you understand the p making sure that you give your b Sometimes the knowledge we learn is is more than just the books.

I think the books give you that foundation, but the application of what you and what it teaches you to do, s being persistent, those are the things that help y when you go out and what I call the real world, because the books are helpful.

But no one's going to ask you about what you read in that book They're going to ask, How did you prepare yourself?

I want to see how you prepared y to get ready for that test.

Is it are you going to do the sa in their particular industry?

In business, so everything works But the secret I tell those who is that find that passion, that that you really want to be in pr through your whole career, and then your career will be sat when you, you know, you get to be like me and, you k you have all those days are gone But that's what I would say.

Street smart versus booksmart.

But you need both.

You need.

Bot You need both.

And it's importan I agree.

After us, you held brief leaders with Broadcom management group S Football Festival, Arcade Blockb and the University of Nevada, La Tell us about what you did for e Or each one of those roles.

You know, I was fortunate to serve in a capacity of leader I was the CEO of it, managing pa managing director.

And a lot of that was because of the experien I got and other responsibilities University of Florida, you know, I was basically starting my care and working with great people, you know, learning some of the things that they wer to be successful in the industry And I was just just blessed to b in a lot of different positions.

I never went to seek a job.

There were always opportunities folks, you know, approached me a And I wanted to do things that were going to really change the landscape, be transformation I'm a big person on being, you know, setting a standard, high standard, sometimes too hig and never afraid to to push for excellence.

And so I had an opportunity, a lot of the places I was in my early career to real and independent because I was I was calling the shots.

So hopefully, I hope that, you k when when history looks at it, they'll see that those places are better today than they were when I had that b you know, I had some some slight in making that happen.

Something you said really caught You said you never went out seek for a job, but they always found The opportunities always found y And an idea that's kind of going today is like, you know, the energy that you pu is what you're going to attract.

Of course, somebody.

Do you think that your mindset in terms of your career and what reality you wanted to become yours, do you think that is what allowe these opportunities to come in?

Because your mindset, you were more focused and you were intentional with things that you were doing.

I think you said all of it.

I mean, I believe that in my whe I can can really look back at th that I've had over my career is that I put all those together You know, I was very practical, believed in excellence.

Intentional about what I did.

What was really important, a critical part was relationship because success in any business or any operation or whatever you want to call it based on relationships that you You create, you develop.

And we're a people business and no matter what we do with machines and what we we need people.

And people need to feel good about what they're doing.

They need to feel wanted.

They need to feel appreciated.

And I always believe that I have the opportunity or t I was blessed with trying to dem that in any organization that I was a part of staying.

Staying status quo was not somet that I that I can thrive in.

And so and I know again, I just this just how I'm wired, Top to not number two.

Yeah, that's right.

That's exact And then in 1993, you began with the Orange Bowl C Were you hired as CEO or did you work your way up to t I started there as an executive and eventually was promoted to the CEO position That was a good example of going back home to a communit had some difficulty in bringing back homegrown talent, especially in the black communit The Orange Bowl Committee is probably one of the prestigio committees in the country, and I had a chance to to be, you know, in charge of it.

And so I think if you look back, a lot of credibility to to me and gave a lot of credit to those who who chose me at the at the Orange Bowl Commit And we set about, you know, making that organizati one of the top organizations in the country, as it is today, one of the top bowl and in the postseason.

So I'm very proud of what we were able to accomplish.

Something you said you talked ab especially in the black communit how those become successful and sometimes they don't come ba and help revitalize those areas.

Is that something that was important to you?

Is that something you always kne you wanted to do?

It was critical for me.

You know, when I took the job at the Orange Bowl committee.

And one thing that people did kn about me, that I if I believed in and especially there's a right in the wrong.

And I always believed in trying to do it right.

That doesn't mean that people are going to ac It just means that if that's who you've have to stand behind that You want to do it right to the best of your abilit And I made a statement.

I remember the opening when I was being hired and I sai I want to make sure that this co is represented in this committee, meaning we ha Well, then, of course, if you kn Dade County, you have a lot of H and large Hispanic African-Ameri obviously Anglo White.

And we all need to be represente because we we all have to do things to move this community along.

And so the organization didn't r that when I took over it.

It did not represent the communi in terms of and so I set about s that I would do that.

Now, that was dangerous in the s that, you know, I just taken the job and I decla that I'm going to change the str But that's what I believed in.

And I always my whole thing is that if that b is not good enough for this orga then maybe I shouldn't be there.

And I was okay with that.

And I was fortunate, fortunate e to stay there, I think, 13 years So I guess I did something, something right and changed.

The narrative starts with the be that you can change narratives.

Yes, yes.

Very true.

As CEO of the Orange Bowl Commit what did your job entail?

What were some of the biggest im and biggest challenges you faced Well, I think the probably the biggest challenge that we ha was staying relevant in the bowl That was always an issue, is tha we have enough resources to stay And being relevant was important as important to our community.

Everything else was was was doab It's just that that that importa because if you're not in it, then you cease to exist.

And so that had to be an importa that we always we always kept ou How what do we have to do?

What was needed to remain releva in this whole system?

And that's it's funny that you s because as a journalism student, that's one of the things that they teach us is relevancy.

When you're reporting on things irrelevant is irrelevant and it's not relevant.

Report is aren't going to report and it's not going to get out th into the world.

So that's exactl You have this amazing position in your hometown of Miami.

What lured you to Orlando to tak You see us as executive vice pre and director of athletics.

I think in every one's, you know you look at a career that everyone has and they look at their progressi There's those checkboxes.

You say, well, I've I've had this opportunity.

I've done this and I've done tha And when the opportunity came was in the state of Florida which I love, and there was a very new budding university, b I was looking for a way to find and I had contacts and relations So it was a it was a good fit.

It was a good fit for us.

And again and again.

And then being in the state of F being closer to Gainesville, whe I can go to Gainesville every no and then, that didn't hurt at al So speaking of UCF, what are some of your accom while there?

Well, I think one of the things that, when I got there, there was a un that was very well still young, but it's a university is very yo and there were among giants.

When you talk about, you know, o our college, University of Flori you talk about Florida State, you talk about Miami.

Those are established iconic universities in this stat I mean, it's and so you ask yourself, where do we where do we fit?

Yes.

South Florida was was was h but they were in a very rich area of Orlando between Miami and Gainesville and Tallahassee.

So they wanted to find their nic and find it.

And then, of course, as the success of schools in Flo even though academically there v especially University of Florida their sports teams are the ones you know, they're known for.

So the challenge was there to get the sports team to a point where they have a cha which they now have.

They're going into the Big 12 to you know, the big the big level.

So being able to raise the profile of the program particularly the student athlete experience, the student athlete academic, you know, when we were there, ea one of the sports averaged about 3.3 GPAs.

And that was important because a 90% of them will not play any kind of professional, even though some of, you know, f and basketball, we're looking to try to do that.

They didn't, but they had to hav something to fall back on.

So I think that was that was one of the pride to get and to a point where they can ge into a big conference facilities you know, new football stadium, basketball arena, which had never been done by any or any university in the state o but had to do things that were a little different.

I actually have to close friends who are on the track team at UCF whenever I go to visit them, I w campus and I'm like, I like it.

Like they have a lot of like coo structures.

The campus is very pretty and th athlete population is growing as I've seen.

And the arena and the stadium, which you played a part in raisi For both of those?

Yes, it.

Was something I think that reall put the cherry on top for the co in attracting more students.

It was the two things that I think that that really the students loved it and I think other unive follow them on this is that they built the dormitori in the north section similar like Disneyland.

It's that that that's what they it Disneyland because they've ha apartments.

And that's when everyone was hav I guess, a fabulous memory.

Four bedrooms and a unit and and and the arena was built and the was built and it was brand new.

And so students loved that.

And so even today, at that point they were over 45, 50,000 studen And I think they're close to 70, students and students now.

So it's a huge university.

And unfortunately, athletics, at at that time wasn't the universi was growing faster than athletic And that's the case.

Athletics, you know, if you're not one of the top in tier conferences, it's hard for you to grow quick.

And but I think they've they've that turn that corner completely And it's it's one of you know, it's it's a top university now in the in the state of Flori So, I mean, Florida State needs to look out not just, you The knights are coming.

For the gators never have to wor about the Florida State minute.

We're good here.

Yeah, we're goo After leaving UCF, you became the president and CEO of Jackson Health Founda What does this organization do and did your background with sports organizations prepare you for this role?

It did, but more or less my ability to f in every one of these jobs, you that I've had even from the day I took a Cincinnati job at UF back in my early caree the ability to fundraise, the ab to go out and get sponsorships.

I like to just put it in one cap The ability to generate revenue.

It's the key to success of any e any CEO, whether you directly or indirectly do it, the ability it's got to be important.

And so I think when I had a chance to talk, to run the foundation at that point in my career, it was very personal.

My sister, unfortunately, was a kidney recipient and unfortunately passed at the hospital, which I was a C and I was determined to raise mo not on behalf because of her, but other folks who needed money, who needed opportunities to have treatments or things of that nature and couldn't affo So it was personal.

And I guess at some point in everyone's care especially if you had a long car you really start doing things that are more personal to whatever you believe in because at that, you know, at th usually know I said of the fourth quarter of you you've accomplished most of the things you want to a You've done most of the things you want to d and now becomes what what personally is importan And so I did that for a number o I was able to raise I guess we r 60 or $70 million over a period And then it was time for another challenge.

So but you can do that when you're in a fourth career, fourth quarter, you know you get to go to another challen And they say that our loved ones they can motivate us to bring ou our greatest achievements and they strike a light bulb inside your brain sometimes It's amazing.

You were able to, you know, turn something that im so deeply into something so amaz So that's amazing.

In 2011, you founded your consul Tell us about Tricon Management and the service you provide.

Well, that's probably one of the three that I run my o And what I wanted to to to close out the working career back in sports and entertainment and consulting, because as you c imagine, being the number of yea that I've been in the space, I had, a lot of people across th would call me for advice or call me to do this.

And my wife, because she's she's the brains in the operatio she said you should be charging for this advice.

And so I said, you know, you're And so that's what I did.

And I And I think it it it, you know, I've always had the company Tric but I really got started in term of really right in that night 2020, 19, 2020, right during the when it was just one of those th you have to reexamine what you're doing and saying, am I going to just, you know, go 95 to an offi or do I do something that at the end of the day, you you know, make a living but yet help someone?

So my whole career has been base I'm fortunate.

People say, you know, you just help too many people.

Well, I can't.

I have to.

That's just how I'm w And so in just as this this particular time now at the in terms of my career, I said, w if I'm going to help, at least I you know, make it a business of And I've I've enjoyed every minute of it and it's going extremely well.

And it allows me time to do shows like this.

And but I appreciate it.

And I also think that now we're to where people are actually actually asking for more and.

Yes, to ask for help.

Yes.

And we need people like you, tho who are willing to give the help And like you said, if you are pa about something, you're willing We need people in every area.

So You know, cautiously.

Appreciate.

It and I enjoy it.

What advice would you share with soon graduating and heading out into the world?

Enjoy life.

You know, in most cases you're going to be working for a very long time somewhere, somehow, someway, 30, 40 years.

Enjoy what you do.

Enjoy your craft.

Don't chase money.

When you chase money, you always fall short Chase your happiness, chase your assignment, Chase changing.

I'm I won't say changing the wor but change you making a change towards something positive, making a difference.

And if you do that with passion, you'll have the resources.

Is those who give up and choose choose not to be relevant, not to to, you know, stake their claim and I am going to be successful.

And success is this is really defined in the in I you know, I can't determine if you're succ You have to make that you have to know what that threshold of success i Thank you so much for your insig and for everything that you talk talk with me about today.

And I think that what you said about being passionate and following your passion is so that resonated with me and I'm p resonated with all of our viewer because, like you said, if you're not in the field of yo field, that's interesting to you It's going to be boring and you're not going to enjoy it You're not going to thrive.

And I think it just sheds light like you said, don't chase the m because money will come if you'r what you're supposed to do.

And money is not the end all, be And I think in societies like in our society today, like all we see on social media is mo money, money.

Yes.

It's not about that.

It's about the real connections make in life and these conversat Now often tell people what's wha They have all the money and be m Right.

That's not a life so.

Well, I appreciate I appreciate the opportunity and and any time you know, I love the College of Journalism and I will do you know whenever well within reason whatever they ask me to do.

But thank you.

I appreciate it.

Thank you again for joining us.

And thank you to our viewers for joining us.

Until next time, goodnight.

Goodnight.