“If Idon’t use it, if it doesn’t apply to me, I’m out. I like to be authentic in everything I invest in and get involved with,” the third baseman tells Boardroom.
Is there any player in all of Major League Baseball with a personal brand more clearly defined and utterly unique than Justin Turner’s? Even from the nosebleeds, the red-bearded Dodgers third baseman is instantly recognizable.
But of course, he’s not just here to be seen. As a two-time All-Star and reigning World Series champion known for slick fielding on the hot corner and clutch hitting in the postseason, he’s here for the long haul — and with over 1,200 Major League Baseball games to his name and counting, he’s made a few dollars along the way, most recently re-signing on a two-year, $34 million deal in February.
And as he explains on the latest episode of Boardroom’s “Brick by Brick,” Turner’s approach to investing is as personalized as his signature look.
As Turner explains to Boardroom:
“I’ve always kind of noticed how archaic and cheesy the marketing side of baseball was. There was a lot of one-off offers: ‘Show up to this, get a check.’ ‘Post this, get a check.’ You look at NBA guys, and they’re starting their own TV shows and game shows and getting [into] ownership of the shoe companies that they’re in.
“That was always interesting to me, and once my longtime agent, Greg Genske, partnered up with Gary Vaynerchuk, it kind of opened up a window to be more creative and to look into bigger deals than just these kind of cheesy, old, one-off marketing deals.
“If I don’t like it, if I don’t use it, if it doesn’t apply to me, I’m out. I like to be authentic in everything I invest in and get involved with. I like to make sure that it’s something that I actually like, it’s something that I actually use, it’s something that I actually have on a daily basis.
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“My wife [Kourtney Turner], she runs marathons, and she got me on a Whole30 diet this year in Spring Training. For the last eight, nine years, my goal was to get under 200 pounds, and I’ve never been able to accomplish that — ever — and I lost 16 pounds in 30 days. It was incredible, I got down to 192 and I feel great.
“I’m recovering faster, I’m sleeping better. And so applying that into the business world and the investment side, it just made sense to look into companies and businesses that fit our mold of healthy eating, healthy choices.
“We just did our deal with Fresh N Lean. It was awesome going in, working with them, heaving these conversations about Whole30, what it’s done for me, and seeing them get excited about it. And now, getting meal deliveries with Whole30-compliant stamps on all the packaging, I’m thinking, wow, Kourt and I did this. That’s pretty cool.“
