The SportsGrad Story

Happy Saturday, friends!

I've got news... for the first time in 5 years, I own 100% of my company again :)

When SportsGrad evolved from humble beginnings of just myself for 3 years, to myself and five business partners (four of who were investors), I thought we were on our way to the moon.

But instead, it left me miserable.

So I quit… then found a way to buy it back.

It buried me in debt for a while, and when the business model couldn't keep pace, Mum's couch was looking pretty good.

But after 2+ years of running in front of a boulder, avoiding being squashed... I'm relieved to say, that's all sorted.

Below is the story of growing, quitting, and buying back SportsGrad. If you want to hear more, listen to my chat on The Pay Off Podcast with Sylvia Jeffreys.

Things are much steadier now, but the real reward is feeling like even if I lost everything and had to start again tomorrow... I feel confident I'll work it out.

That said, I could not have done it without Jai Agarwal and the SportsGrad team. Extremely grateful to everyone who's been on the journey.

But this is what it took to get my baby back.

Strap in.

In 2017, I started SportsGrad as a YouTube channel during uni to learn about jobs in sport. I'd ask people what they actually do in sport.

Straight after graduating, I landed my dream job at Cricket Australia. People started asking me: "How did you do it?" So I evolved from YouTube to career coaching students after hours. I was extremely nervous the first time I asked for $50.

Eighteen months into the job, I was sexually assaulted by a colleague at Cricket Australia. It would take six years and two trials to resolve.

I was given the week off work, but still did a pre-planned interview with Nathan from Tennis Australia. He asked me, "How's your week been?"

I stopped making videos, and my 30 subscribers wondered where I'd gone.

I was given 10 weeks off, and I poured all of it into SportsGrad. After three years of no traction, I still believed it could become something. So I sub-let my room and used the money to move away to Lorne to lock in. The plan was to re-launch SportsGrad career coaching with a podcast, alongside my job in sport.

Then COVID hit, and everyone was stood down.

"Reuben, your role has been made redundant."

In the week before the re-launch, I got the call from my General Manager at Cricket Australia.

The SportsGrad Podcast — about how to get jobs in sport — then launched in ironic fashion and hit #1 for 'Careers' on Apple Podcasts within two days.

I'd lost my job, but I'd validated an idea. So I dived in further and created a $7/month membership for students to help their careers. Then I held a meetup, and 110 people showed up on a rooftop in Richmond.

But it still wasn't enough to live off.

That's when a sports marketing agency offered me a $120k salary — double what I was on at Cricket Australia. I was tempted to keep the safety net of a salary, but my heart was in SportsGrad. So I said no. And in the next 30 days, SportsGrad made $350.

That's when investors approached me. They loved what I was doing and wanted to be involved. I was living off $500 a week, plus $150 cash if country footy wasn't cancelled due to lockdowns. I thought the investment and the partners would fix everything, and I jumped at it immediately.

On the day of the investment deal, my gut was saying this isn't right. Yet I still shook hands. I was now locked in.

For three years we tried to make it work, as I smiled through it, pretending I was happy. Something had to give. I was about to turn 30, and I couldn't imagine being 40 in the same situation.

So I quit. And I walked away, prepared to do something else.

I took a photo straight after telling my business partner I was leaving. But leaving didn't feel good either — it felt like I was running away from the problem.

That's when a mentor said the words that would change my life:

"Reuben, you've worked too hard on SportsGrad to give it away. Why don't you buy it back?"

I had no money and no idea how to buy a business. But I started to think — maybe it was possible.

So I started researching and found an online course for $400 on 'how to buy a business.' By 2am that morning, I knew how to buy a business.

So I turned around to my business partners and told them of my backflip. It wasn't easy, but after a lot of back and forth, SportsGrad was mine again. And that gut feeling of this is right that I thought the investment would bring me — it came flooding in.

After quitting, I couldn't believe I'd be getting my baby back.

Now I was in a shit load of debt.

I figured this would either fail spectacularly, or the pressure would force me to figure it out. So I isolated myself in a forest for 10 months and worked day and night until SportsGrad was out of the hole.

My first strategy: re-model the membership.

The re-model almost sent me broke. The five-figure monthly repayments were crippling, and the product didn't keep up. I was down to $554, still with a massive debt to pay.

But I had one more Hail Mary to throw.

And I still had to deal with the sexual assault case.

Despite the business battle, I was called into the County Court to give evidence on the same day I was pitching for a podcast sponsorship that would keep SportsGrad afloat. So I asked the judge to pause the cross-examination, walked across the city, arrived at the pitch, and said:

"Apologies if I'm a bit scattered… I've just come straight from being cross-examined in court."

As an entrepreneur running out of cash, and a victim seeking justice, I had to compartmentalise things quickly.

But finally, things clicked.

I ditched the membership and launched a new offer in the last week before Christmas 2024. There was nothing on the website or on social media. It was just me, calling people with a promise that I'd help them get a job… and it worked. 25 people jumped in at the new price point of ~$2,000. It was the most I've ever celebrated any success.

That was the start of The SportsGrad Method Program. Eighteen months later, 245 people have joined, we've helped land over 850 roles in sport… and the final payment for my company has been made early.

Now, for the first time in 5 years, I own 100% of SportsGrad.

I got my baby back. And we can finally put the repayments into growing the business.

The best is still to come.

Thanks for reading.

Show notes from The Pay Off with Sylvia Jeffreys:

SportsGrad founder Reuben Williams quit his own company — then figured out how to buy it back.

But that’s only part of his story.

Reuben has gone from landing his dream job at Cricket Australia, to redundancy, entrepreneurship and almost losing the business he built.

He’s helped close to 850 people find jobs in sport, travelled the world chasing some of its biggest events, and rebuilt SportsGrad after a buyback deal left him under enormous financial pressure.

At the same time, Reuben spent six years navigating the legal system after taking a former colleague to court over a sexual assault. The experience led him to speak publicly about what happened and become an advocate for survivors.

Reuben joins Sylvia Jeffreys on The Pay Off for a wide-ranging conversation about ambition, resilience, work and what happens when life doesn’t follow the path you expected.

In this episode: