Mark Clayton was an All-American wide receiver at the University of Oklahoma and a first round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2005. Clayton had a seven-year career, he was arguably one of the best careers out of the 31 wide receivers drafted in his class. The former NFL wideout has gone deep in his entrepreneurial pursuits and developed his own line of athletic headphones. Life after the NFL can be tough, and Clayton has experienced this first hand, but instead becoming another statistic, he’s chosen to Livv. We caught up with Clayton recently to talk about his new endeavors.
Tell me about Livv Headphones.
Livv was birthed out of my want and desire to be able to workout at full speed and have my headphones stick with me. I’m an over the ear headphone guy. I didn’t like the in-ears, they get annoying. The on-ears, they never stay on and the over ears kept slipping off. They were too big and bulky. After breaking a couple pair, I just set out to create my own headphones. I started sketching out some designs. I was able to contract out the right people to get us rolling with some cab models and 3D models. At that point we saw a potential for a headphone that could be as functional as it needed to be for me to be able to workout the way that I wanted. It grew tremendously from there. We filed our first patents in 2011. I came across my business partner Dale Lott, he runs Aurisonics, and they do great work.
Our meeting was very interesting. A friend of a friend told me that I had to meet him. He was the guy that if something needed to get done that traditional companies couldn’t do, he could do it. I took him my sketches and my idea and the concept for the headset. It was pretty cool having him tell me that he thought the idea was stupid. (laughs)
He didn’t like it?
He didn’t like the band. He thought the idea of having the band go around the back of the head was not a great idea. He said, Why would you do that to a band? Nobody does that. I said precisely, nobody does that. For me, it needed to go behind the head for it to stay on, because I know force I create, and all my headphones just fly forward. He took on the project because he thought it was challenging. Four months into it, he got it and said it was a good idea and a few months after that he became a partner in the company.
What about the name, where did that come from?
I didn’t start thinking about names until late, maybe around 2012. I kept thinking through what type of brand we wanted. What did we want to communicate to people? The idea of being able to be free from wires and be unrestricted. After looking at trademarks Live wasn’t going to work, so we just dropped the e and added another v.
When are they set to launch?
We just completed a meeting today with Kick Starter. They are actually excited about allowing us to launch on their platform. At this point we are slated to launch our Kick Starter campaign soon and it’s all contingent upon their okay. Hopefully we’ll be launching in the next week and a half.
What are you thoughts on Beats by Dre signing with Apple for $3 billion?
I think it’s tremendous for the headphone industry. It solidifies value. They set the bar. It’s almost like when a pro player signs a deal and he sets the market for his position. It’s phenomenal for something like that to happen for the headphone industry.
If they ever wanted to partner with Livv, would you be open to it?
I’m open to discussing anything that comes to the table for sure. Setting out to build this brand initially, I was creating something that I could wear personally. And then seeing and identifying that I wasn’t the only one having the issue with over the ear headphones, I think other brands will see that and look to connect with us as well.
Being a retired NFL football player, how was life after football your first year?
Getting out of football is very difficult. The atmosphere at Oklahoma, it’s like being on a pro team. The lifestyle you have, the fans, all of that. I played from college to the pros…and then just stopped. Trying to find a new routine is hard after years of playing football. Essentially, for the last 13 years for me everything I’ve done has been around football. It’s kind of like recreating and relearning who you are. I’m going on two years now out of the leauge. I’m just now getting to a point where I realize that the Lord has plan for me, and He’s allowing me to grasp a passion for something else. Having this company as a start has been a tremendous blessing. It’s just now starting to click for me, as far finding my identity and place outside of football.
Why is it so hard for athletes to find their niche in the world after sports?
I think after regardless of what’s said, you’re so engulfed in that world. And there’s nothing like it. You get used to being catered to, everything given to you, all of it. It’s not about having a sense of entitlement, but people giving that sense of entitlement to you. All that stuff works on you mentally and emotionally and that’s heavy.
Transitioning out is really all about getting used to not being catered to, going out and working on relationships, jobs, and figuring out what you want to do. Not that players don’t work at their craft of being a football player, but it’s just a different ball game that only an extreme amount of people get to do. So when you come back to the world once you retire, you’re starting back over in life. It’s almost as if you’re entering college again as a freshman.
What do you miss most about a professional athlete?
It’s a combination of things. Teammates…for sure…the locker room is awesome. The Sunday atmosphere is amazing. The Baltimore fans are great. My short time in St. Louis was great. Obviously, getting paid like we do in the NFL is awesome. There is a lot of stuff that you don’t worry about and with so many people placed around you, all you do is focus on football. It’s an amazing setup to have and lifestyle to live. Anything you want to do you just do it. And that freedom in that is unreal.
What do you prefer, NCAA or NFL?
College. The brotherhood is so much tighter. Going to class, being tight with other students, and the parties were fun. There’s no other atmosphere like college. The NFL is awesome but college is great.
What are your thoughts on athletes going broke?
It’s unfortunate for people in their mid 20s and early 30s to have attained a chunk of money that most people won’t even earn in a lifetime and then lose it all. Mismanaging money is something that someone who has never head money can easily do because they don’t understand how money works. A big part of me personally being able to maintain my principle is listening to my financial adviser. I invest marginally, nothing crazy and I really learned what it’s like to have a budget and not live beyond my means.
A lot of those situations with people losing it all is that taxes catch up to them and what’s going out monthly is more than what’s coming in. It’s just listening and learning and there’s a humility aspect to it. A financial advisor is someone who has been there before me, done it well, and knows what it takes. You just have to hold on to what they are saying and apply it.
Where do you get your entrepreneurial spirit?
My mom. She’s a grade A hustler. She sold stuff out the house, she did hair at the house, babysat at the house….we had one of those houses. She did nine or ten different things. She did what she had to do and figured stuff out. A lot of going through this process for me and hoping to build a brand and develop a product is a testament of what I call GSD and FSO – get stuff done and figure stuff out.
Who is the prototypical athlete to be an endorser for Livv?
Honestly, our boy Adrian Peterson. He’s able to bounce back and go hard, work hard, train hard and go all day. Livv is a go hard and train hard as you can brand. There is some bias with that, but A.D. is the guy.