Former NFL player, Atlanta Native Finds Fulfillment Through Home Building

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From the Atlanta Business Chronicle: https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2020/06/12/executive-profile- daniel-wilcox-finds-fulfillment.html

Executive Profile: Former NFL player, Atlanta native finds fulfillment through home building Jun 12, 2020, 9:57am EDT

Daniel Wilcox had no choice but to reinvent himself. After playing nearly 10 years in the NFL, Wilcox struggled to get his broadcasting career off the ground and channeled his energy toward starting a home renovation business. He made the leap of becoming an entrepreneur, but later decided to take a hiatus as financial losses piled up. The former Baltimore Ravens tight end and Super Bowl champion bounced back two years ago by reviving his passion and creating a niche business, Wilcox Custom Homes, with more emphasis on custom building.

What led you to your career? I’ve always been into architecture, since I was a kid. I used to ride by houses and point out different architecture to my mom. So, when I got to college, I decided that I wanted to be an architect. When I first got to Appalachian State, I declared architecture as my major but then I realized that I had to go back to school to really make the big bucks. I really wanted to focus on football because I only had two years to play since I transferred from [Georgia Military College]. As soon as I finished [my NFL career], I already had three properties. When I retired, one of my tenants finally moved out. It looked like crap. I realized that I couldn’t put someone else in this apartment with it looking like this. So that became my first project.

Who’s the biggest influence in your career? I didn’t meet my dad until I was 17. My mom was a surgical technician. She’s been outside of Atlanta a little bit, but she’s worked at Grady Hospital her entire life. She didn’t have the influence or know-how, but she’s so technically inclined. She builds stuff all the time. She was a huge part of my influence as far getting into this stuff. But when I met my dad, he showed me my first real estate agent. I think he helped me get back into the architecture part of it, because he was an engineer in college. That’s when I started noticing the difference between really quality work and really bad work.

What’s the biggest challenge of your job? Every project is a different challenge. Every renovation is a different challenge. I think that’s what makes it so cool. When I played football, every week was a new challenge. Every team has a different offense or defense with different players. I think taking on a house is the same thing. I love going to a house that had bad work and doing phenomenal work.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job? I think it’s the clients and the people that you meet. For instance, I had a client who brought me in. She had been living in her house for six years and wanted me to [redo] her staircase. It was hideous, just bad. We put in a new [oak stair tread] for her, sanded it and all that type of stuff.
And she called me when my guys finished up. She was crying. I thought something had happened that was bad. She said they were the most beautiful stairs she had ever seen. I just busted out laughing, but at the end of the conversation, I felt like I was doing the right thing.

What’s the hardest business lesson you’ve learned? I don’t want to work with a client that doesn’t understand what we do or know the quality of work that we do. When you get a client that brings you in and wants to do basic stuff, then you have to say no, because that’s not us. It’s really important to me that I don’t mess with the integrity of what I want my company to be this second time around. It’s important to me that the people that we work for truly want the work that we’re going to do and not just come in to do basic stuff. I want to surprise you with something cool that you’ve never seen before.

What’s the difference from this second time from your first venture in home building? I think the first time I had no real vision. I just knew I wanted to do it. I kind of just fell into it the first time. This time around I know exactly what my vision is. I've got real goals. I've got real plans and I’m trying to go get it as hard as possible. So, things are going to be a lot different this time around and I’m extremely confident in that.

Is there a similar camaraderie between working with your employees and teammates on the football field? It’s the exact same thing. I treat it like I’m the head coach and treat all my [subcontractors] like they’re players. I don’t go in like, ‘I’m the boss; do what I say.' I tell the team, ‘Hey, this is the next project and this is the game plan and here’s how we conquer it.' We’re able to execute that game plan to a tee, so by the time we get to somebody’s house or property and finish it, it’s amazing. We do it in record time too, because everybody knows their roles. I don’t bring anyone in your home who isn’t specialized in what he does.

What was the transition like after you retired from the NFL after the 2008 season?

It was horrible. I think 99 percent of us go through it. There’s very few of us that don’t. It’s kind of like a veteran leaving war, not going to battle anymore, just needing something to keep you grounded. We come from being physical every single day to not being able to be physical at all. You go from preparing, having everything plotted out for us to not being able to do that at all, and the adjustment is horrible. I’m still struggling with it. I’m still finding out who I am outside of football. I learn something new about myself every day.

What lesson did you learn from that special Super Bowl season in 2003 that translates today? Everything. Football is all about character, structure and being organized. You can’t falter or stray away from your game plan if you want to be successful and win. You have to stick with the game plan no matter what. With everything that we do, we have to stick to our guns. We have to stick to what we originally said we were going to do. We can’t change up in the middle of it, because it throws everything off. Communication is key. You learn from football that you cannot win without communication. Everybody has a job to do so we have to pull together.

How has Covid-19 impacted Wilcox Custom Homes? It picked up like crazy. My renovation business never stopped really. I started to get more people calling me when Covid-19 started. I guess people were just off work and had nothing but time. I’ve been renovating kitchens, bathrooms, basements — people call me for everything.

Daniel Wilcox

Born in: Atlanta
Lives in: Brookhaven
Age: 43
Current job: CEO, Wilcox Custom Homes
Previous job: Director of player personnel and recruiting, Georgia State Education: Appalachian State University
Family: Wife Shauna, sons Tristan (age 15) and Julian (age 10)
Hobbies: Drawing, woodworking, spending time with family

Eric Jackson

Sports Business Reporter Atlanta Business Chronicle

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