From Celebrity Agent to Recovery: Darren Prince’s Untold Story with Sean Callagy

22:45Sean Callagy:Yeah, I agree. And I'll just share this from my heart to anybody out there. I, Darren, we're up to a lot of things in the world, as many of you are listening. And some of you have even more present struggles of paying the rent or paying the mortgage and meeting payroll for your business. And what I'll share from my heart around this is when I put endorphins in my body 12 times a day, micro dosing, I'll just get on the ground, do pushups. I'll be in my office not to make a public spectacle out of it. In fact, I don't want to do that at all, as Darren was saying, but how that feels when I'm done, I feel like I just took drugs.

23:21Sean Callagy:I've never taken drugs, but I feel like I'm high. High that doesn't have any negative side effects. So I really give you that. That's part of how this man stays as healthy, as strong, as abundant, as masterful as he does. And that could be very practical. Do that today. 12 times there you go, wait, what? Yeah. Just like after every phone call, once an hour, drop on the ground, do a set of pushups for 60 seconds, do some bodyweight squats, as Darren said, do some crunches and see how that feels. Align, brother? 100%. You could totally shift your brain frequency patterns just with a consistent daily routine of doing that.

23:58Even after a week, you're going to notice the difference. Your brain will actually start craving. Yeah.

24:03Sean Callagy:I feel addicted. And when I don't do that, I feel bad. And I feel myself reaching for something. And for me, it might be sugar. Well, I'll be reaching for more sugar. And when I put the endorphins in my body, and I'll just feel so much better. So practical takeaway now um here you are you sell your business for a million dollars you are how did that feel when you sold the business for a million where were substances in your world at 19 like what was life like at that moment um it it felt like almost um that it was a long time coming because at that point i was building for five years and i knew i wanted to make a transition out of the card industry into i already had my direction because i i was noticing all these legendary athletes signing autographs at trade shows so I wanted to dabble into that so it was more just an excitement and reinvesting that money into growing and building something else.

24:58Sean Callagy:Very cool and were substances yet tipping into a problem at 19? They were but I was highly functioning at that point. There wasn't really any ramifications I would say probably to about 21 when I was arrested four times in six months. And that was for possession, is that correct? Yeah. So not I was making money to sell because I didn't need to sell. I was making plenty of money to use and for my friends. I thought I was the cool kid that was buying all the drugs for everybody. And for me, we could go down that road for an hour and just tell stories and I don't really see value. So the bottom line is that Darren Prince went through an extraordinary journey starting at 14 years old in substances and had challenges all the way through to 2008 and we'll come to that in a second.

25:41Sean Callagy:But as you're highly functioning and on the successful side of what's happening in business, how do you begin to build relationships with massive people of identity? You might call it fame. In my language, you say identity in the world. You create these unbelievable relationships. What was that journey? So the first one I went after was for a mutual friend. I knew a guy named Perlin Warner. It was Muhammad Ali. Me and Echin. so he was the first guy I contacted start doing with and for and fucking body dress on each from Muhammad Ali so I went right to the top from there I'm in magic you didn't start small yeah the most recognizable athlete in the history of the world yeah right so and then from there I got introduced no the magic and I went you know Chevy Chase and then you know Pamela Anderson and smoking Joe Frazier and so that's how the business started out the first few years Sean I I developed relationships with them from a business that had nothing to do with sports and entertainment marketing.

26:45It was basically booking them in certain autograph signing appearances.

26:50Sean Callagy:Got it. And so you would bring them into an environment with these set events or you would - It was either an event or they would go to a hotel conference room for a few hours and sign a thousand different items. And you would be promoting that yourself? Exactly. Wow. Exactly. And why did they say yes to you? I mean, weren't there other people seeking that yes from them and to do that? Because I want everybody to realize this narrative. It's not that easy to just call up Muhammad Ali's people and have them say yes. What was it you think about you that made people comfortable, these icons, to say yes to you at such a young age?

27:29Number one, I mean, I credit my dad with a lot of the way he wanted me to behave and act around that and make it more about the person than the business. He always said, you know, that's the biggest mistake in business. Too many people, you know, care about the sales and the contacts and the dollars. When we should be caring about the person. And I also think in a way, not to pat myself too much on the back, but I think I was somewhat a visionary for that market taking off back in the early 90s. I timed it so well that it gave me such recognition for being aligned with these people. There was no internet back then.

28:08It was all done by fax machines marketing and running ads in a magazine called Sports Collectors Digest. So what I'd do is I'd run photos of all the signings, and I think it put me so far past everybody that they just said, oh, well, we've got to go to Darren Prince for this person. that person and this one's going to do a signing. And that's kind of how it all happened. Wow.

28:30Sean Callagy:And so for everybody out there, a foundational principle of Unblinded and this podcast is that influence is the only human attainable superpower. And what you're hearing from Darren Prince is that thanks to his dad and the innovations that followed him along his journey, this man became a master of influence. And interestingly, and I think a master of integrous influence because from my experience and how you built your relationship with these people is you did what you said you were going to do and it went the way you said it was going to go am i hearing you correctly darren yeah yeah and until i was 25 and then i had a little bit of a setback and that setback was so i was selling um from another contact michael jordan was one of the other biggest athletes in the world some authenticated Michael Jordan product and this forensic document expert that was retired from the FBI was being praised as the guru of authentication I know you have collectors that watch the original PSA there was no Beckett back then and after about a year or so selling it I'm getting investigated by the FBI and I went from this by the way that's not fun No.

29:45I went from this 19-year-old kid on top of the world to more or less losing everything. But you talk about relationships. At the time of the sentencing, I got a felony charge for making a false statement to the FBI during the interview. Never went to prison. Magic, Chevy's team, Muhammad Ali and Lani Ali, all wrote letters to the judge about my character. and I wound up getting probation. But I had to rebuild. And that's where I have two more unbelievable stories with my dad and my sister can have that happen. I was on a fly fishing trip with my dad. The last three grand to my neighbor went to Alaska.

30:28I was so pissed that I spent...

30:29Sean Callagy:So you have the last$3 ,000 after you sold your card business for a million. 26 years old, 1996. And you've had all these massive celebrities. Now you're down to your last$3 ,000. So this is another moment where we'll talk about ring and bench in, let your past make you better, not bitter, have a vision for what you want to do. And we're on this beautiful stream, and my dad said to me, what's my next move? And I said, you know, Dad, I want to be an agent, but I don't have eight years to go to law school. He drops the fishing pole and says, law school. He goes, life is a matter who you know, not what you know.

31:03Any lawyer would kill to have the relationship with that. You can go to Joe Montana's house. You can go to Bahrain Springs and see Muhammad. you can go to my hall and drive in you know beverly hills and see pam and tommy or magic in beverly old so he goes what i would do is next time you see magic tell him your vision the sean true story i've talked about it before three weeks later i'm with magic in michigan he we had a corporate event i go into his hotel room his hotel suite and if he was here he would repeat the exact same words it's 30 years ago and i told him my vision he's like you're a good dude you made a mistake I made a mistake this was four years after his HIV announcement and he goes and I love your family who do you want to start with as your first client and it was one of those moments I'm literally a 26 year old kid I got one shot to ask him my heart's palpitating my hands were sweating and I got up the nerve and I go I would love it to be you urban you know I call my general name and he goes okay he goes I'm gonna give you two years to represent me.

32:07But if you don't use me to knock down every door to bring in all the celebrities you can, I'm going to fire you before these tears are up. Because in life, Darren, it's not, he said, I'm going to become a success they've never seen before in the world of sports and entertainment. Fast forward is a million dollar brand. Because it's not how successful I become, it's how successful I make you and everybody else around me. So when you get there, it's your turn to bless other people. And Prince Mark Inigo was born after that. and everything changed. I went to every single client and said Magic signed on.

32:41Sean Callagy:The superpower of yes. That's what happened. He had the heart to do it, of course, but the mastery, the grace, the humility, the rapport with Magic Johnson, and he caused yes. And then once he had Magic Johnson, he had the opportunity. It's still not easy. You could know incredibly famous people and have nothing happen. Many people know famous people and nothing happens. What Darren Prince became incredibly masterful at, and you can too, is once you build a relationship with the right person, it doesn't have to be a famous celebrity in the world. If you're an attorney, an accountant, a financial service provider, a local realtor, you're trying to get your coaching business moving, anything, who is ecosystem famous in your world?

33:27Sean Callagy:Maybe it's a local attorney, an accountant, a financial service provider. If you're an accountant, it's an attorney. If you're an attorney, it's a financial service provider. Who is it in your world that you're a Magic Johnson? Back to you, brother. So once you had Magic, what happened from there? I never hired a publicist before I did. It basically wound up in all of our trade papers and the trade magazines that he signed with us. It made it so much easier for me then to go to all the other celebrities that we were clicking on autograph signings. So I'm like, look, we're starting to do a lot more bigger things now.

33:56We're going to start bringing new speak engagements and licensing deals and commercials and all sorts of different branding opportunities and but it's like you said knowing these people is one thing like my dad would always tell me the same thing he goes having them as friends and associates are good darren but can you actually put real projects together for them can you bring real opportunities because now you get the benefit of both it could be a business together with your dear friends at the same time and it took a little bit but once i found that sweet spot i would say within like six to eight months it's kind of like we never look back I mean I think relationship capital has been sort of a strength before I even knew that was a term my dad was like I said of matchup with the New York City always make sure that you have food coming to his hotel suite from his favorite restaurant or you know bring him to his favorite restaurant and make sure the bathroom is blocked off so we can go there in peace and silence and enjoy himself and every done chill So Frasier was in town, Mahama was in town with his wife, Lonnie, you know, bring a certain food to the Essex house, whatever hotel he was at.

35:07And I think that really created a foundation, Sean, to show that I was different. Find out about their birthday, their family, their likes, their dislikes, their hobbies. Where the business part was important to a degree, but it wasn't the priority.

35:22Sean Callagy:And my experience with this Mandarin Prince and something for you to really consider as you experience this, is truly loving people. So what you could mistake what you're hearing from Darren to say is, hey, do a lot of nice things that seem like you care? No, no, no. That's not what Darren's saying. This man cares. He loves these people. When Hulk Hogan recently passed away, Darren was devastated. I heard it, felt it, saw it. When he speaks of Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, these icons who are no longer with us, the resonating power of love come from his heart and soul of these people is genuine.

36:04Sean Callagy:So what if the great opportunity there and for folks out there is to find a way to truly love people? And how have you done that? Because that is very present for me, that you're such a loving soul. Was it always that way? When you were 14, 15, 16, 17, did you love people or did you learn to love people? I think I picked up on my dad's philosophy, but I also think I did it for a large part of my life to be accepted out of, you know, insecurities and wanting to be validated. And then eventually I started my spiritual sober journey seven and a half years ago. It was coming from a different place.

36:38It was coming from a place of I can do this. I can provide. I am worthy of the world that I'm in, the respect that I have. Now, let me bless and put a smile on other people's faces where there's absolutely no transaction whatsoever. And think back to two of our things, the Sugar Ray Leonard dinner. That was completely unplanned. Yes. And you said some words to me, which I'm not going to announce on the podcast because it was a little bit of a curse word. I was like, you're a sick mother effer there, Prince. You maniac. When I told you that Sugar Ray Leonard's coming to dinner, one of your favorite parties, that Steve so graciously and beautifully coordinated for that event.

37:14And I mean, it was unbelievable. You know, Ric Flair a couple of weeks ago, when I got him to FaceTime.

37:21Sean Callagy:Here's the great advice I got from Ric Flair. Ric Flair. He said, now listen, I'm divorced four times. He goes, I'm divorced four times. I'm like hearing from Nature Boy. Thanks to Darren Pratt's phone call. I'm sitting by the fire in my home, like watching a movie with my daughter, who's four and a half years old. And he's like, here's the advice. Now I'm divorced four times, so you can take it from where it comes. He goes, but ask for forgiveness, not permission, and get on an airplane and come on down and hang out with me and Barrett. So yes, thank you. So anytime you and your crew are down in Tampa, it's done.

37:54But yeah, moments like that, that gets me so much more excited. Business is fun and great and we do it and it's nice, but you gotta, you know, the money only means so much at a certain point. It's how many people are getting blessed from experiences. You know, we saw from your event in October, how many people just lit up from who you had there because you were blessed to have it to provide value for your audience, for your team, for these people that are looking for that shot in the arm, whatever it might be, to reshift and repivot their belief system itself and business and whatever it might be.

38:26And you understand that you can't put a price on that. It feels just, it's euphoric.

38:31Sean Callagy:Yeah. And so now, from that place of euphoria, from identity, let's talk about identity so it lands for people, not emotionally, but but intelligently, intellectually, strategically, with integrity. Muhammad Ali, the most iconic athlete in history. And you can't be Muhammad Ali unless you have other icons that you are embroiled with. Joe Frazier is one of those folks. And Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, two of the greatest athletes and champions in the history of American sport and certainly in boxing, And they have this incredible rivalry. They're on two different sides of the world. Joe Frazier is representative of the right, Muhammad Ali of the left.

39:21Sean Callagy:They didn't choose that. It's how it broke out. Joe Frazier is this American, for the American patriot, and Muhammad Ali becomes the progressive civil rights movement and change and disruption and anti-war movement. All of these things are going on. Muhammad Ali doesn't go in the draft. 1971, they have this iconic fight. My dad was there, by the way, in 71, Madison Square Garden. Yeah, I was one. And Darren and I were on the same year, just out of a fun fact, a few weeks apart. And so all this is going on. And as their rivalry builds, Muhammad Ali, this incredible communicator, starts to move in directions that would be very painful or are very painful or very disrespectful.

40:07Sean Callagy:And those that love him find it to be humorous, as we often do for the people we love. And for those that don't like him think he's a monster, a devil, right? So this creates this massive rift in this greatest, arguably the greatest sports rivalry in American history. And certainly I believe in history of boxing. And this is this rift that's there. They have three fights. Joe Frazier beats Muhammad Ali the first time. Muhammad comes back and beats him the next two times. and it is the foundation of Muhammad Ali's career and Joe Frazier's career. Now, Darren gets to know these fine folks a little bit later down the line and there is a tremendous seismic rift that exists between the two of them and can you pick it up from there and you're rolling all the further.

40:53So we tried many a times to get them together. Lonnie, Ali, and Muhammad graciously offered to fly me, Joe, and his son, Marvis, out to the Ali premiere where Will Smith starred in Ali as Ali and they wanted us to ride in Muhammad's limo to the Hollywood premiere. Joe didn't want to do it. I mean that's when I realized how deep the emotional wounds were and Joe just said Prince the only man I'm doing something with him is if you see on my turf in Philly. So it's about a year and a half two years later I got a call from Harlan. I talked to my dear friend that ran Ali's game that Lonnie wanted to call me that Muhammad's in town with her for the NBA All-Star weekend in Philly.

41:35And they would love Joe and you and Marvis to come by their hotel suite that night for dinner. So I'm now, like, shaking. Like, I can't even believe this opportunity is coming. This is in February 2002. And I called Joe up. And without batting, and I, no delay, no pause. He goes, all right, man, call up Marvis. Let's do it. It'll be good to see him tonight. So the second part of that, Sean, is I'm still in active addiction. So I can't even believe this happened. So I'll have to go back to those, Al.

42:06Sean Callagy:Okay, just freeze-frame. So Darren Prince is about to be the orchestrator of a reunion of the greatest friction in the history of sports between two of the most iconic athletes in history. Back to you. and he said a perfect so i'm back in the hotel and marvis and joe are heading over to get me because then we had to go to ali's hotel and my best thinking was that you know i just how am i even worthy of the situation right now and the only thing i could think of when was to get high you know because you're sitting there talking to me so many people are in awe of this situation so many people cannot believe it happened there's photos there's videos there's documentary you see me with these two games.

42:56Anyway, I made the best of it. And we go to Muhammad's suite. And Lonnie opens up the door. And I'm out of my mind. Like, I cannot believe she's finally here. And Joe walks over to Muhammad, who's on the couch. And he was a little bit bloated and overweight at that time in his life from not following the proper diet, the Parkinson's medication. But some moments I remember was Joe kind of lifted Ali up and Muhammad kind of fell on Joe's shoulder as Joe locked in his back leg and literally just had tears in his eyes, Ali, as he was on Joe's shoulder, hugging him. And Lonnie looked at all of us and said, you know, Muhammad really just found real peace.

43:35Thank you for coming. Thank you for coming. And then we sat at this huge dining room table and had dinner. And Muhammad starts doing the legendary font. He does start biting the bottom And he looks at Joe at the other end. He goes, gorilla, we got to go back to Manila. And Joe drops his fork and knife in his food. He goes, man, we just made up back there. I'm going to have to kick your ass again for a fourth fight. And I'm like, there's no way I'm watching this right now. It was unbelievable to just see that they just could not help themselves. It was just in the fabric of their DNA. because here's a private moment with six of us in a hotel suite and it was still going now quickly because we can get into the next subject when it's going to keep talking no please please mba surprised us the next day joe and i were planning on going with my my boy nicky c to the all-star game and the mba called and said we understand joe and muhammad got together last night of course i denied it i go no i said we were just you know joe and i just had to relax and they said okay that we're asking because we'd love to put Joe near Muhammad somewhat near Muhammad at the game today so an NBA all-star game is the star of all-stars I mean it's like next level especially out of all the all-stars yes and so we get there and we have to see three four and five center court within 15 minutes I start hearing that chant Ali Ali Ali I look to my right coming out of the tunnel with security is Mohammed and his best friend Howard Bingham the famed photographer obviously neither are longer here and Mohammed sits in seat two and Howard's in seat one now mind you Sean center court is Howard to his left is Ali right next to Ali is me and next to me is Joe I've never been selling I have never been so uncomfortable I have never been so uncomfortable and felt socially awkward in my life that I'm like, how do I get Joe to switch freaking seats with me right now?

45:42He starts elbowing me with his big strong arm and he leans over and he goes, boss man, because that's what he used to call me. I said, yeah, boss. He goes, switch with me. And I said, I'd be honored. And I got up. I now go to Joe's left. Joe sits down next to Ali. They're holding hands. Alicia Key comes out to sing America the Beautiful. The place goes ballistic. I mean, the entire arena was standing up applauding what was going on with Joe Muhammad. So that was just as special, having Elton John look at them during halftime and Kobe and Michael and Iverson. Everybody knew what was happening. This was a piece of history at the NBA All-Star again.

46:20Sean Callagy:That is unbelievable. And to think that, just to go back half a step for a moment, that part of the deep rift, the pain, the rage that existed was Muhammad Ali saying these things about him beating the gorilla in the thrill in Manila, which is obviously a racially derogatory attack on Joe Frazier. And then he says it at the table. So that is absolutely nuts. And then what Joe Frazier had been saying in response, because this is such a hangar over time, He's like, yeah, look at Muhammad Ali making fun of his mental Parkinson's condition saying, who do you think won those fights now? Look at him, look at me.

47:00I won all three.

47:00Sean Callagy:Yeah, like all of this conversation. And then it's happening at the table. And the next day they're sitting back together. So when Muhammad Ali was saying that, what were you feeling at the table? Like were you, well, I know you had substance, but was there any part of like this is going to completely devolve? No, I actually got nervous for a second. And I was like, damn, they just made up. And Joe's putting his fork and his knife back in his plate. I'm like, I hope he's not going to get up and walk over. But then Joe was like smiling at that smirk. That's when he just dropped it. And he hit up with, man, we just made up back there.

47:35Am I going to have to kick your ass again for a fourth bite? And Muhammad literally starts spitting his food out. He was laughing so hard. He was hot like this. And it was a beautiful moment. Like I said, they just couldn't help themselves. So that's who they were.

47:51Sean Callagy:Ali, Ali, Ali, as he's walking in, walking down with Hulk Hogan or Joe Frazier or Pamela Anderson. Can you explain to people as slowly and methodically as is appropriate the power of identity, the power of fame, so people can truly appreciate what happens and what you've experienced traveling with these people? Yeah, I mean, I've been blessed to be with the kings of kings or queens of queens. And I mean, I've had De Niro, Pacino, Trump, Lionel Richie, Denzel Washington at dinner with Joe and I. I mean, I mean, Leliska Spielberg, literally in awe at a March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C.

48:37that my friend Scooter Braun coordinated, maybe 2018, 2019. The biggest athletes and celebrities, just Joe Frazier walks into a room, man, and it's regal of another level. It's a different association. Bono, Bon Jovi at the MTV VMAs. I've seen it. They are like little kids. It's Beyonce had a magazine cover party for Gotham Magazine. My friend Jason Binn sent a car, and Beyonce and her dad wanted to meet Joe. Joe came up in Philadelphia. It's something so different, especially when you go back to that generation, Sean. I'm not saying there's certain athletes that haven't had it the past 20 years, but they were different.

49:26They were like, they affected the world politically. They and them were stopped the night of March 8th, 1971 for the fight of this entry. You know, they had such power. That was Ali Frazier one. They had such power, their voice, what they stood for. Long before social media, long before the internet, they had this level of global fame that they're not sending out tweets to build up their image. So what happened is, you know, generationally, you know, the grandfather taught it to the uncle, the uncle taught it to the father, the father taught it to the son. And Hulk Hogan was that way too. Hulk Hogan transformed.

50:04at least 30 to 40 different generations. And I think when I look at like Magic, the Dream Team really took him to a level that the Dream Team is so incredibly impactful.

50:15Sean Callagy:Let's go Hulk Hogan for a second. WrestleMania, they called it WrestleMania, not WrestleMania I. I was there at Madison Square Garden. This man gave an unbelievable autographed poster from WrestleMania to my dad. We'll get to my dad and Dwight Good and Mookie Wilson in a couple minutes. and being there and just Hulk Hogan coming out and the place going nuts, right? People literally losing their mind, like Elvis Presley taking the stage, Ed Sullivan. When you have that, when you're walking around Hulk Hogan and people there, lawyers, accountants, financial service providers, doctors, what you mentioned, feeling some of these iconic celebrities looking at Joe Frazier like they're a little kid looking up to Joe Frazier, what's it like?

51:02Sean Callagy:How would you describe how disrupted people become in the presence of a Hulk Hogan or in the presence of some of these others? What is it like as people are mobbing him for autographs and adult professionals and successful people? How would you describe what happens to people? I mean, I think over the years I've just come to accept it more. Early on it was like excitement, but it's also I have a job to do with their security to make sure they get in and out whatever situation might be safely. But I think Hulk was the one that humbled me. I was down in Clearwater Beach where he spent the last 20, 25 years of his life in Florida.

51:44And me and a couple of my boys went to the same. We went for sushi for lunch. And Hulk gives me his valet ticket. He goes, brother, do me a favor. He goes, can you just go have them pull up the car so we can get out of here? I turn around I'm not kidding Sean there's 50 people behind us just waiting they could tell the bandana is on the cut red shirt from behind the blonde you know hair they know they know it's him and so I look at all these people I say oh this is gonna be like a half hour let's get out here I go get the car I'm waiting in the parking lot for a half hour with the ballet guy he comes out he goes brother what's going on you know click something bad I'm like you know what I I called him Terry, but I was really like Terry.

52:26I'm like, Terry, we finally get away from the craziness of the traveling and all the fans and, you know, the Hulkamaniac craziness just to kind of get a lunch with you. And all this is still happening. And he looks at me. He puts the sound on my shoulder. Good brother. These people still treat me like I'm heavily a champ of the world, and that's a blessing. Because let me tell you something. We might be friends, but we wouldn't be as good friends as we were. because you wouldn't be calling with all these business opportunities if these fans disappeared. And that made me never say another word about it because he understood it.

53:00He understood the power of being there for their fans, like that none of them are who they are without the love and support of that.

53:09Sean Callagy:And while this may resonate so powerfully emotionally, let's also think about it. We live as people in a hierarchical world. And I'm not talking about the way we wish the world would be, but it is. So if you build a relationship with the president of an association, this is how I built my entire business originally. I had the president of the Northern New Jersey Chiropractic Society 29 years ago bring me in to speak. And once that person said, hey, Sean's okay, then everybody else said, he didn't say Sean's okay. He said, Sean's great, masterful at what he does. It changes everything. And that's the power of identity.

53:50Sean Callagy:And so if you're entertained by this, you're enjoying this, I mean, I would love to talk to Darren all day, all night about these stories. But what I hope is there for you, at least some of you, is to take this away and realize that you too can be a Darren Prince. And you can build relationships with people with identity in certain ecosystems. Maybe it's a medical society, a legal society, accounting society, whatever it is that's going to transform what you do. And maybe for some of you out there, you want to be calling Darren Prince and saying, hey, can I bring some of these people? Because I assure you, you start bringing people like Darren's got to bring to your situations.

54:26Sean Callagy:That's not an easy thing to do. This is not just about money. It's like this has got to be the right situation with the right people of integrity. But the power of bringing celebrity identity is game changing all day, every day. So from that place, brother, how do you leave the world of addiction? So you have these iconic moments. You struggle to feel them, experience them as deeply and meaningful as you want. This is in Darren's book, Aiming High. You want to read a heartwarming, soul-touching, entertaining as heck story of a journey into the power of celebrity. aiming high is there for you. And if you want a pathway out of some of the challenge you're having, it's there for you.

55:12Sean Callagy:And I know how and why, and I've read the book multiple times now, but aiming high, 2008, you finally have had enough. And please share with people that powerful moment that may serve some folks out there or prevent them from moving down that same path. My late uncle still was dating a woman, Andrew, at the time. And I don't know, I just connect with her and Steve who's sitting here, you know, was there to witness it. And I was just ready. I mean, she started asking me all these questions. And I told her I was sick and tired and I was just done. And she pulled a coin out of her pocket. We talk about GNCs, as I call them, God-managed coincidence.

55:51She just celebrated five years sober. And she said, I can help you. So she put me on a detox plan. And the next day was July 2, 2008. and um i went into my apartment bathroom at the time that i was living with my my then wife and uh thought i was taking like a non-narcotic anxiety pill and two vicodents came out which was one of the three opiates and i thought it's what i needed sean but i had first time in my life uh a white light moment you know i fell to my knees and i screamed that take the money take the business take the notoriety if you can give me a single day of freedom i'll go and go back can tell one day at a time they take other people's out other people out and I had like a lightning bolt on my right shoulder because it was a feeling I never had before and I never had it since and I heard a voice that got you when you're ready and there was no uber I went downstairs into a taxi cab after going online found a 12-step meeting in the upper 80s in a church basement in New York City with 150 plus addicts and alcoholics were all once hopeless state of mind ego fresh most importantly, knowing that I was going there to get the help that I needed and surrender for the first time in my life.

57:01And that day, what I thought at that time was the worst has now turned out to my very best.

57:07Sean Callagy:Well, congratulations, my brother, of course. And for folks out there, Darren, that maybe are not in a terrible place of addiction, but they're just looking for ways to have fun at a higher vibrational level. This is a man that rolled with some of the wildest, craziest characters ever. What would you say to people about how you have fun now? Because, you know, I surf, I ski. I said before this, I surf, ski, and scuba dive this month. I'm a blind guy. And I love it. It makes me feel high. You know, I've never been actually high, so I can't be sure I really feel high. but it certainly makes me feel at a much higher vibrational level.

57:49Sean Callagy:How do you have fun now? And for the folks that may be thinking, yeah, man, but like if I stop drinking as much as I'm drinking or stop, you know, getting high sometimes, I'm just not going to have fun. But I think your life says something very different. Yeah, I mean, fun for me is not to find the way that it used to be. You know, it's just being around the right energy people. You know, you and I have a series of a magical connection where we're together. just around people that are as spiritual as possible. I think when you talked about individuals that are listening and watching that doesn't necessarily need to be a celebrity, but there is somebody in their world of impact that's probably doing the next right thing every day of their life to build, scale, give back, be in integrity, that if you latch on to people like that, you're really going to start realizing what life is about and get a new definition of fun.

58:45You know, it's a different time. And I think people are starting to understand that it's not about nothing could happen when you're at a bar till 11, 12 o 'clock at night. You know, my level of fun and joy and happiness now comes from helping other people that are struggling. You've been a blessing to my Amy High Foundation. I scholarship anywhere from 30 to 40 people a year when those calls come in. it is the greatest most exciting time in my life when something like that happens we we have somebody that comes in that doesn't have the resources that we can help them if somebody wants mentorship in sports management or celebrity marketing like i drop everything my office makes sure i set that stuff up because it you can't even you understand it but for people that are listening and I haven't experienced it, you can't even put the feeling into words on what it's like every single time I'm having.

59:42Sean Callagy:Amen, brother. And fun. So here's what's fun for me. Having lunch in California in Hollywood with Darren after we've just gone to an amazing home in the Hollywood Hills, which I'll keep confidential for what we did and what was happening there. We'll be able to announce it soon. And then having lunch and just enjoying pizza and laughing and talking about the future and possibility. What also is fun is when I had the blessing and privilege of first meeting Darren. It was on Halloween. 2024. 2024. And Darren comes in with one of his incredible business partners, Ammo. And Ammo's there to like, check me out to make sure I'm not some maniac.

1:00:27Sean Callagy:We're like 20 ,000 square feet here, right? And I had the blessing and privilege of making a contribution to Darren's Amy High Foundation. That's fun. But the reason that happened is because we did things not like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier exactly or Hulk Hogan or Magic Johnson, but not completely unlike it. We faced challenge and friction. Darren did. I did. We built business. We build abundance and only from that place of abundance could a contribution come for people to get free. And so that happens, we begin to develop a relationship. It was fun running a thousand person event in New Jersey and having all these incredibly iconic celebrity people come in.

1:01:09Sean Callagy:It was really fun and magical to sit down with Charlie Sheen and not to exploit him, but to lean in on his incredible influence, charisma, magic that this man has brought to the world and also to be present to the fact that he's had some extraordinary challenges as well and Darren represents him and what was fun and magical was my dad's 80th birthday my dad's really sick and this just happened in 2025 and my dad couldn't have his 80th birthday party and I was heartbroken he was heartbroken and we began a conversation with Darren the mutual you know teammate of ours Mike Vesuvio and said you know my dad is an enormous Met fan and Darren causes Dwight Gooden and Mookie Wilson along with this incredible team, right, Steve and, you know, partnership, and they come to the hospital.

1:01:58Sean Callagy:And I'm able to surprise my father, and nothing means more to him than the New York Mets, and have Mookie Wilson and Dwight Gooden walk into his hospital room. I got the computer set up, and the most meaningful moment my dad and I have ever shared was 1986 being in box 113A for the New York Mets, and watching the ball roll through Bill Buckner's legs that Mookie Wilson hid. We rewatched this moment in the hospital room with my father, with Mookie and Dwight Gooden, watching the whole thing. And they're there in the hospital room for like two hours-ish, like an hour and a half, two hours. We have a Mets cake and a James Bond cake for my dad's birthday.

1:02:39Sean Callagy:Mookie Wilson and Dwight Gooden are asking for second pieces. I'm thinking they're being nice taking the first piece. Like, no, no, that's really good. Grab another piece. Then we come into this room and do a podcast with Dwight Good and Mookie Wilson telling the story. I'm crying. They're all emotional. Grabbing pizza and wings in the office till God knows what time. But that's fun. But that fun only comes because of the sacrifice of this man, his partner, other people have made to build these relationships with incredible people. And also, humbly, the abundance I've had the privilege of creating with partnerships and teammates myself.

1:03:13Sean Callagy:So what if it's fun to build things and from that abundance do magical things? So brother, first, from my heart, my soul, and I've shared this already, but I want to say it right here on this podcast, we wouldn't be here without you, number one. Number two, thank you for one of the most meaningful moments of my life and my father's relationship. You know, we all have challenges with our parents and all have interesting moments. But like Billy Crystal, well, the movie set in City Slickers and one of his co-stars said, you know, we feel like he can't talk about anything. Like we could talk about baseball.

1:03:46Sean Callagy:And it was the heart and soul of our life. My dad cried more than 10 times that day about this. And he's cried at least 25 times since. Every single human being my father knows has heard this story about Dwight Goodman and Mookie Wilson being there. and if my father was in this room with us right now, he would be crying, tears pouring down his face and the mention of his 80th birthday, he cries instantly. You did that. And that, I hold no judgment. I've had plenty of people with addiction challenges in my life and my family. I hold no judgment. But I know for a fact, there's no way that there could be a greater high than that.

1:04:28Sean Callagy:and I hope that can penetrate your heart and soul, brother, because you've done that for so many people, but you did it for me and my father and my children, all my children. I have four kids. I have a 26-year-old. My son, dad, and my four-year-old daughter were all in this room together with my dad for his birthday, and what was going to be this beautiful party at the Capitol Grill and 100 people and friends turned into just us in that room. Tiny, small family collection, and it was the most memorable day of my father's life. And you did that, brother. I hope that high-resist. Yes, sir. You know who my favorite athlete is of all time?

1:05:05Sean Callagy:Mookie Wilson. There you go. And anybody will tell you that. That's known me since I was a little boy. So that made it even more magical. Thank you. And yet how many people have you brought moments to like that? I mean, you did it for, I can't even imagine with the relationships you have and the power that these celebrities can have in people's hearts and souls. Brother, you're like George Bailey. It's a wonderful life. Are you present to all the lies and the ripple effects of everything? Not just that these people do, that you do, brother. How present or not are you to that? I am. I mean, it's like I brought up earlier to you about your band in New Jersey.

1:05:46I see it. It's not, of course, there's a business side to things, but we don't want to be just a transactional business. We want to create experiences. We want to create mind-blowing moments. We want these events or keynotes, whatever it might be, of whatever that business project is, to just really impact others from the energy and the frequency of whoever that celebrity is that they're around. Because transactional, one-off, shake somebody's hand, maybe deal with them again. No, we want to just make sure we maximize every single thing we're doing at this point because that's where the magic is.

1:06:20That's when it becomes, you know, you're reaching back and giving back and people are in that moment of just taking every single thing in just like you were with every single person, every celebrity you had on stage. You changed so many lives that day just to be behind the scenes with Steve and watching it with Matilda and like knowing we had a very small part of that helping to put this roster, it took such a good feeling there. Thank you, my brother.

1:06:46Sean Callagy:So what does it go from here? as a beginner, round the band home, you have hopefully another 100 years on this earth. What is it? I know you take one day at a time. I know you meditate, love life. But if you could fast forward 100 years to your final day, what, if anything, would you want to bring forward that you haven't brought forward yet? What, if anything? I think I'm just so passionate about the younger generation and the mental health and this whole word that everybody's considering, narcissist and, you know, unhealed. Like, I would love to be somebody, and I even spoke to them at the White House about this when I went, that can we, like, you know, start creating, like, a course in grammar school about self-right and self-love?

1:07:35Yes. I want to be a part of that. That has nothing to do with business whatsoever, and I can care less. it's been giving me blessings and relationships that are incredible I've said it before when I'm gone I want to be known as the man that went deep into hell came out on the other side and sprinkled hope and recovery across the world to make people's lives better and that's something that would change mental health addiction substance abuse bullying that if the jocks and the nerds that are eight nine ten years old and the geeks and whatever little stereotypes you want to call them all sat in the same room we talked about how they feel on that given day everybody be on the same thing feel amen brother and

1:08:16Sean Callagy:it's a small token of gratitude and this is like fun for me I'd like to make a fifty thousand dollar donation but my mind Cali Christian fan this was not at all part of like Darren being here we didn't say this but a fifty thousand dollar donation from my count more lives on my Cali Christian foundation to aiming high that's fun and a massive gratitude like that that's how I get high So thank you, my brother, for everything you've done. I love you. Anything you'd like to share with these incredible people in Final Final? You've shared so much already. Is there anything left on your heart that we have not yet attended to these folks?

1:08:50I just think sort of how we opened it up, man, because you live in a frequency that's just so unbelievable. And I do it as often as I can that it's about finding fulfillment. You know, don't be blinded by all these people with the cars and the jets and the houses. like that's getting great and it's important to some and it's nice to have the ability to live a life but it's about integrity it's about relationship building it's about giving back it's about finding that fulfillment in here and in here and in here and when you get it let it spread like wildfire to people that need to hear it because when you get to that place um you want to know that you're as happy as you possibly could have been because i know a lot of people that have gotten to that place off the top of the mountaintop that are just miserable.

1:09:36And, you know, I think the younger, middle-aged generation needs to understand that there's a different way to go about it. Yeah.

1:09:42Sean Callagy:And what I would love you to take away from this time with Darren Prince is that what if we are all a mouse? What if Muhammad Ali was a mouse? Joe Frazier is a mouse? Darren, myself, you, what if we're all mice looking for lions? And what if the lion that Muhammad Ali pulled the thorn out of the foot of were people that felt oppressed and challenged and limited and fearful and concerned about what was happening? What if Joe Frazier was for people who thought there was change coming that was hurtful? And what if there's thorns in the feet of ecosystems? Sometimes ecosystems are large groups of people, sometimes they're individuals.

1:10:18Sean Callagy:And what this brother stands for is he took lions, found the thorn, and removed it and created massive value. and that's how he integrously built these relationships. So my takeaway is what if we all, Darren, myself, you, all of us, and these iconic people, just kept looking for ways to build relationships with integrity. Darren wants to help more people. I have financial abundance. Here I am to do it. Darren's gracious enough to come in and he brings gifts for me, my dad, all these things. What if we just keep realizing it's not a zero-sum gain, but there's value to expand and share and to find people's pain, they may be way bigger than you, way bigger than you in many ways, but if you could remove that thorn and create massive value for them and build lifelong relationships, that is what this brother has done with the likes of Hulk Hogan and Magic Johnson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Pamela Anderson, David Goggins, people, the list goes on and on.

1:11:17Sean Callagy:We can do it all day long. And if this man that was classified in special education in the great state of New Jersey, we also share that in common, if he could do it why can't you Darren Prince I love you my brother we're in this life together forever so much more to do I thank you for being on the Sean Kelly Unblinded podcast and it wouldn't be here without you so thank you Darren Prince it's an honor my brother love you