Retire Like a Champion - The Athlete's Playbook | Empowerd
Attention Current & Retired Athletes: Build Wealth That Lasts Beyond Your Playing Days
Empowerd
The Athlete's Playbook - By Jordan Staude

New Book Reveals The "Income → Asset" Method Taking Athletes To Lifelong Ownership.

Without leaving sport early. Without gambling on startups. Without trusting the generic financial advice that wasn't built for athletes.

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Introducing
Retire Like a Champion - Jordan Staude
173 Pages · Instant PDF

Retire Like a Champion

The Athlete's Roadmap to Financial Freedom Through Business Ownership.

Yes! Send Me My Copy →
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Welcome to life after sport in 2026

The system you trusted is about to disappear.

Sport gives you a complete system - calendar, identity, income, purpose. It feels permanent. Until it isn't. Below: the four traps every athlete walks into.

01
Only 9% of athletes build wealth that outlasts their career
The income is real. The structure underneath it usually isn't.
02
Most athletes spend 95% of their time competing - leaving zero hours for planning what comes next
By the time you make the time, the window has closed.
03
The cost of bad financial decisions compounds faster than ever
One wrong investment in your peak earning years can wipe out a decade.
04
In a noisy financial market, athletes are still being sold the same generic advice
Save more. Diversify. Be careful. None of it built for your timeline.
But I've developed a

Way out of this mess.

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Flustered by the endless financial "advice"?

From index funds to crypto to property to "just work harder."

Generic finance gurus telling you to save 10%. Friends pushing you into property. Agents recommending the same managed fund as every other client. Or maybe you've been grinding away, hoping that if you just earn enough during your career, it'll all sort itself out.

We are here to tell you - THIS is what you've been searching for.

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The Real Game

There has never been a more uncertain time to retire as an athlete.

!
Career windows are shorter and more competitive
!
Trust in financial institutions is at an all-time low
!
Cost of living is higher than ever - assets are pricier than ever
!
Going "viral" rarely converts to long-term income security

The pressure is coming at athletes from every angle, on every front.

The questions you keep asking yourself

So how do you build the life you've always pictured - beyond sport?

01
You probably feel overwhelmed by all the financial advice you're told you "must" be doing.
02
Your calendar is already packed with training, games, and recovery - leaving little time for planning anything else.
03
You wonder if there's a way to build wealth without trading the time you have left in sport.
04
You may ask yourself if there are other options - or if you just have to earn harder and hope for the best.

The world of life after sport is so different from just a few years ago. The challenges athletes face now are new, unknown & overwhelming. And at the heart of it all - you just want to be free to live the rest of your life on your terms.

[ Jordan photo
placeholder ]

...Back when my playing days ended

I did what most people do. Got married. Got a normal job. At the time, that felt like the responsible next step. I had a family to support, bills to pay, and responsibilities that didn't care what I used to do on the court.

I knew I wanted freedom. I didn't yet understand how to build it.

Like most people, I started experimenting with business. My first business broke even. I didn't lose money - but it wasn't going to feed my family long-term or give me real freedom. It was work, not ownership.

Then I discovered business acquisition. That discovery changed everything.

Instead of trying to build something from nothing, I realised you could buy businesses that already worked. With customers, systems, cash flow, and history. Businesses that didn't need hype - they just needed good ownership.

Once I'd done a few successful acquisitions, something unexpected started to happen...

The conversations that changed everything

My brother-in-law (a pro basketball player) started asking serious questions.

So did his teammates. So did old college friends. Different leagues. Different sports. Same conversation. After years of watching this pattern repeat, I noticed something every successful retired athlete had in common.

×
They weren't chasing the next investment fad
×
They weren't constantly switching strategies
×
They weren't grinding into the ground for "one more contract"

Instead, they had ONE clear principle - and ONE proven structure for building wealth that lasted.

For many of them, that structure was ownership of cash-flowing businesses. Not stocks. Not crypto. Not yet-another-property. Real, boring businesses that quietly compounded into real wealth.

What the framework has produced

A system that creates:

80%
Acquisition Success Rate
vs 10% for Startups
$10T
Of Businesses
Changing Hands by 2030
Day 1
Cash Flow From
Your First Acquisition

And to do it in a leveraged way that fits around your training, your season, your family. Quietly. In the background. Without disrupting the sport you've given your life to.

Testimonials

What athletes are saying about Jordan.

3 short videos. 3 different sports. Same outcome.

[ Athlete Name 1 ]
Pro Basketball Player · First Acquisition Completed
[ Athlete Name 2 ]
Retired Rugby Pro · Building a Portfolio
[ Athlete Name 3 ]
Pro Tennis Player · Acquired in Year 1
Real outcomes

From income-only to ownership-first.

From
100% income-dependent
to
First cash-flowing acquisition
[ Client name ]
From
"What's next?" anxiety
to
Clear 5-year plan
[ Client name ]
From
Generic financial advice
to
Owned portfolio
[ Client name ]

Want results like this for yourself?

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What's inside

I'm going to show you everything & hold nothing back.

Page 8
The "Income vs. Asset" curve every athlete should see before signing their next contract.
Page 23
Why "performance is conditional and security is structural" - and how to build the structural side quietly.
Page 41
What business acquisition really is (stripped of jargon, hype, and guru-speak).
Page 58
The Educate · Find · Fund · Buy framework - the exact pathway Jordan used to build his own portfolio.
Page 79
Plain-English glossary of every acquisition term you need so brokers can't talk over your head.
Page 96
Why "boring" cash-flowing businesses build more athlete wealth than any flashy investment ever will.
Page 118
Creative deal structures that let you acquire with minimal upfront capital - and why retiring owners love them.
Page 140
How to own a business without working in it - the structures, hires & decisions that protect your time.
Page 159
When the whistle blows: the transition every athlete eventually faces, and what it looks like when you're prepared.
Page 170
The Empowerd path forward - from reader to owner, at your pace, in your timing.
The Framework

In the book, I break down the 4 Core Pillars of Acquisition for Athletes.

Each pillar with the exact action steps to implement straight away.

01
Educate

The mental shift from income-thinking to ownership-thinking. Master the language of acquisition before you walk into any room.

  • Why every Forbes 100 individual has made at least one acquisition (and why nobody talks about it).
  • The exact mental model that separates owners from earners.
  • The acquisition language you need to walk into a deal and not get steamrolled.
  • How to think in cash-flow multiples instead of monthly income.
02
Find

Source, screen and shortlist businesses with strong fundamentals - and walk away from the ones that look good but break under pressure.

  • Where the real deals live (and why most aren't on Bizbuysell).
  • The Deal Box framework for filtering 100 listings down to the 3 worth looking at.
  • How to evaluate cash flow, customer concentration & owner dependency in 15 minutes.
  • The seller signals that mean "ready to walk" - and the ones that mean "run."
03
Fund

Creative financing that protects both you and the seller. Acquire without draining your career savings.

  • Owner-financing structures that make sellers more likely to say yes.
  • How SBA-style and bank-backed funding actually works for first-time buyers.
  • Earn-outs, vendor notes & deferred payments - when each makes sense.
  • The one number that determines whether a deal is fundable or fantasy.
04
Buy

Take the keys. Bring the elite mindset you've built in sport. Run a business without losing the life you have.

  • The first 30 days as new owner - what to touch, what to leave alone.
  • How to retain key staff & customers through transition.
  • Hire-and-systemise so the business runs without you sitting in it.
  • Scaling quietly while you're still competing - or going full-time after the whistle blows.
That's not all

You'll also find inside:

→
Why the most successful retired athletes don't rely on financial advisors - and what they do instead.
→
How one client turned a $9 book and a 30-minute call into their first cash-flowing acquisition.
→
What separates athletes who keep wealth from those who lose it (hint: it's not income).
→
Why traditional retirement advice quietly destroys athlete wealth - and the shift that changes everything.
→
How to acquire a business without ever quitting your sport.
→
When to ignore "expert" investment advice if you want to retire on your own terms (page 47).
→
The truth about scaling beyond one acquisition - and why most coaches and gurus get this dead wrong.
→
The "Ownership First" approach creating quietly wealthy retired athletes faster than ever before.
→
Why owning a profitable, boring business beats any "passive income" course you've ever bought.
→
The "Calm Decisions" mindset that helps athletes compound wealth without burning out their identity.

Curious how this could change your next chapter?

Yes! Send Me My Copy →
$29 Get The Book For Just $9
Instant Digital Access · 30-Day Refund Policy
Now you may be thinking...

Let me handle the obvious objections.

I don't have time to think about this while I'm still competing
That's exactly the trap. If you don't make time now, the window closes when the whistle blows - and by then you're reactive instead of prepared. The framework in this book is designed to build quietly in the background of your career. It will save you more time, money & second-guessing than you can imagine.
Is this really worth my $9?
What's the price of staying where you are? One chapter alone is worth 100x the cost of the book. If you can't risk $9 on something that could change how your post-sport life looks - this book probably isn't for you.
Who is Jordan to be giving me advice?
I'm not special. I'm an athlete who figured this out the hard way after my playing days ended. I broke even on my first business, failed a few times, and eventually built a portfolio I'm still actively running today. I'm not here to tell you what to do - I'm here to show you a proven framework that's worked for me and the athletes around me.
To be clear

This book is NOT for:

×
People looking for a get-rich-quick scheme.
×
Athletes not willing to make calm, intentional decisions.
×
People chasing the next shiny crypto / dropshipping / AI bot trend.
×
Anyone who doesn't actually want to own something real.
FAQs

Still got questions?

Is this only for current athletes?
No. The book is written for athletes and for anyone with an athlete's mindset - discipline, coachability, long-game thinking. Current, retired, or simply wired that way, the frameworks apply.
Is this too advanced for me?
Not at all. The book is built for athletes at every stage - from "I've never thought about owning anything" to "I've already bought one and want to scale." It assumes nothing and walks you through the logic step by step.
How long will it take to start using what's in this book?
You'll have the framework after one read. Implementation depends on you, but many readers move from "interest" to "intent" within 30 days, and into their first deal evaluations inside 90 days.
Do I need a huge bankroll to use this?
No. A whole chapter is dedicated to creative financing - owner financing, vendor notes, structured terms. You'll see exactly how the funding side works before you ever look at a deal.
Is this only for US/AU athletes?
No. The framework is jurisdiction-agnostic. Specific funding programmes (e.g. SBA in the US) are covered, but the core mental model and deal structures apply globally.
What if I read it and it's not for me?
Email us within 30 days and we'll refund you - no forms, no friction. Keep the book either way.
[ Jordan portrait
placeholder ]
About the Author
Jordan Staude
Co-Founder · Empowerd

Jordan is an Australian business acquirer, former competitive athlete, and the co-founder of Empowerd. He's been acquiring businesses since 2022 - building a portfolio that includes successful exits and ongoing holdings, and he's still buying today.

He co-founded Empowerd alongside his brother-in-law - a professional basketball player - after the same conversation kept repeating across different sports and different leagues. Athletes were earning well, working hard, and had never been shown how to turn that income into something that would last beyond their playing days.

Empowerd was built to close that gap. Today Jordan works directly with athletes and ambitious individuals through the Empowerd consulting and education programs - and lives in Australia with his family.

Built by athletes. Backed by athletes.

How long will you wait?

The whistle will blow. The only question is whether you're ready.

The truth is, if you don't make time to build the next chapter now, you'll keep saying "later" - until later isn't an option. There is no time like the present.

If you read the book and don't love it, email us - full refund within 48 hours. No questions asked.

Yes! Send Me My Copy →
$29 Get The Book For Just $9
Instant Digital Access · 30-Day Refund Policy