Mike Zamora- Collegiate Athlete

THE OFFICIAL HOME OF TEXAS SOUTHERN ATHLETICS

MICHAEL ZAMORA

• POSITION Utility
• HEIGHT 5-10
• WEIGHT 185
• CLASS Junior
• HOMETOWN Brooklyn, New York
• HIGHSCHOOL Alvin CC

2021 Season Statistics

Season Highs

Season Highs (Hitting)StatisticValueDateOpponentHits | 2 | 2/28/2021 | at UIW
Doubles | 1 | 2/28/2021 | at UIW
Triples | 0 | 4/6/2021 | at Kansas
Home Runs | 0 | 4/6/2021 | at Kansas
Runs Scored | 1 | 2/28/2021 | at UIW
Runs Batted In | 1 | 2/28/2021 | at UIW
Bases Stolen | 0 | 4/6/2021 | at Kansas
Assists | 0 | 4/6/2021 | at Kansas
Putouts | 2 | 3/2/2021 | at Texas Tech

Your hosts: Colton Cockerell & Trisha Stetzel
Click for more about your hosts:
Colton Cockerell
Trisha Stetzel

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Transcript

Colton Cockerell: 0:05

Hello and welcome to another exciting

episode of Bridge the Gap: 0:07

Connecting Business Perspectives with your hosts myself, Colton Cockerell and Trisha Stetzel. Our goal is to bridge the generational, gender, and life experience gap in business through our unique styles of gathering information from our guests. now let's get it started. All right, what is going on everybody how you party podcasters out there is Colton Cockerell here another Wednesday and I got a awesome guest today and it's gonna be a little bit different than normal. Colton Cockerell. Here I am a Certified Financial Fiduciary and independent financial planner with Share McKinley Group, and Trisha Stetzel, my co host could not be here today, probably the first time in a long time. So just to give her a shout out Trisha Stetzel. She is with

Mike Zamora: 0:53

Colton. Thank you for having me.

Colton Cockerell: 0:53

I was waiting for the applause. I guess we Now, man, don't Don't sell yourself short.

Mike Zamora: 0:53

You know, no big deal the guests. Results Xtreme Business Solutions and she is a don't have studio audience today. It's okay, gotcha, It's cool to be able to have a collegiate baseball player on the show today. And so we're going to I want to ask a lot of gotcha. COVID. incredible business coach. I want to make sure I give her questions. Obviously, we're going to talk about sports. props but today I get to introduce our guests. It's just We're going to talk about, you know, kind of your journey. But him and I we're gonna have a blast. I got a collegiate I also really want to understand the mindset that goes into being athlete with me a baseball player for D-1 school. His name a baseball player. So let's start there growing up in New York, what got you into baseball. is Mike Zamora and just a little bit about him. So he plays he's been playing baseball his whole life. He grew up in New York moved down to Houston to play for. Oh, goodness. What is it Tw? Tw? Texas State? Tsu, Texas State? Yeah, Texas Southern. That's right, Texas, Texas. University. Right. And so he's been like I said, and playing baseball for a while he loves it. He eats he eats, breathes baseball. It's it's pretty incredible actually to watch. So today without further ado, Mr. Mike Zamora. Growing up, you know, my older sister Shelby, she's four years older than me, she started playing softball. And then my mom and dad just both like we're baseball fans. So I remember we lived in a one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, New York. And I learned how to play baseball on the on the sidewalk right in front of the apartment. And it all started when I was three years old. My dad threw the ball, which seemed to be like 300 feet at the time. And I close my eyes, I was terrified and just reach my glove out. Luckily caught the ball somehow. And ever since then I gained the confidence to give it a go.

Colton Cockerell: 2:50

That's so then really, that's pretty. That's pretty cool. So let me ask you this, what got you really playing though, and really getting into it? Because I know, especially like high school, junior high, it's kind of starting to ramp up, you know, you're making decisions on Well, I want to make this a career or I want to I really want to go to the next level. I want to go to college and play baseball. So what was the mindset? Really? What What took you to that point of plan America sport on a collegiate level?

Mike Zamora: 3:17

Yeah, it's it's been an incredible journey, man. Uh, you know, it all starts from just loving the game, I grew up and I just love playing couldn't wait to play. Like I said, my dad came home every single day. And I begged him to, you know, go outside and play with me. And as that progressed, you know, you have to get better. And my dad was a was an athlete growing up, he played tennis, so he knew what it took to become good at a sport. And when I was eight years old, I started taking professional hitting lessons. And so my hitting coach at the time, you know, played a few years of pro ball, and he was a phenomenal coach. And I remember going to him for my first lesson. And I might have even cried dude, because he just critique absolutely everything I ever known, every single thing I did was wrong. And I remember dreading going to those lessons, because I'm like, What am I going to do wrong now, you know, but that really laid the foundation down, where I really developed the work ethic that it took to get here. And from eight years old, I started playing travel ball. And I travel, you know, all over the Northeast pretty much every single weekend. It's a huge commitment for my entire family. And as I continue to climb the ranks, you know, you get little motivations and glimpses of what you can be. And that was enough for me to keep going and I went to high school. And ever since high school, I'm like, I want to go play in college and it was kind of just like a ripple effect. The more work you put in the more progress that you see, the more motivated you are to keep going.

Colton Cockerell: 4:55

So I mean, there's definitely a you love the game. I mean, that's definitely part of it. But it can't just be the love of the game. I mean, you have to be a certain person to really I mean, yes, God given talent is part of sports, it just is what it is. But still, just being you know, an athlete doesn't mean that you can make it to college. So, you know, let's let's kind of unpack what you just said, because I think a lot of people whenever they regardless of the sports, if it's a venture that they want to go into, a lot of people hate being criticized, they hate being critiqued. So for you to go and to be in a position where Hey, you suck, you cannot hit. That's not how you do it. And to be able to show up every single day or every single time and to go and work with that coach who was, you know, tearing you down to build you back up? I mean, it takes a special person. And that's, that's why our military, that's that's exactly what happens in the military. I think a lot of people can't take criticism, what do you think about that?

Mike Zamora: 5:46

I completely agree. You know, a lot of people shy away from criticism, and you can't blame them, because I feel like that's human nature. You know, it's, it's not a comfortable feeling. Of course, no one ever wants to be told they're not doing anything, right. But if you're really looking for growth, you need that third party to kind of chime in sometimes. And now, let's also also just throw it out there that there is a fine line between criticism and just like kind of being a hater, you know. So if it's from someone that you trust, maybe like your parents or your coach, or you know, someone that you may look up to like a mentor, I believe the criticism can be very beneficial. But if it's from camo, someone that you don't really respect, there may be someone that's not as qualified in their field to give you advice, like for me of baseball, if I was at a game, and some random fan just blurted out, like, Hey, you stink, you know, I'm not really going to take that into heart. So I think it's definitely align yourself with the right people and then go from there. You got to be humble enough to point out where you can improve.

Colton Cockerell: 6:51

Absolutely. And I mean, there's no doubt I mean, obviously, you know, being a collegiate athlete, you are a millennial, right? You're, you're your mid 20s. And you know, a lot of me, gosh, Millennials get the rep of, they don't take criticism. Well, they don't you know, they don't really they do everything to the beat of their own drum. They don't listen. You mean, I've heard that a lot. You know, both of us are millennials. So So what really what, whenever you went back to those lessons, you know, in your mind, I guess you were just looking at the end goal of Hey, I want to make I want to make it to the pros, right? You're not thinking you're just going through the process that is that correct?

Mike Zamora: 7:25

Exactly. That's exactly what it was, you know, it's, it's when you put your goal over yourself, you know, like, you feel bad in the moment, you may be tired in the moment, you may, you know, not be comfortable, like I said before, but you're like I'm willing to suffer now, to achieve that, in the in the long run. So it's really just how bad do you want it?

Colton Cockerell: 7:48

No, I love that. And so what what were things that motivated you, you know, growing up, and you know, going next level next level next level,

Mike Zamora: 7:56

believe it or not, the biggest motivating factor to this day was always, you know, support my parents. And it's funny looking at it now, you know, as a little kid, you don't really have a concept of money, you know, I bought did grow up in a, an apartment. And for some reason, I always wanted to own a house. And now it's funny looking back on it, because my parents have always, you know, been very supportive, and they're not really in a position where they need me to buy a house for them, you know, but that was always a big motivation to where it transcended into, okay, maybe I won't buy him a house per se. But when they're older, I want to be able to take care of them. And for them, not to worry. And then on top of that, to, I always told myself, you know, from a young age I want to make out of Brooklyn. And that could be misunderstood as well. It wasn't like I had a rough upbringing or anything. But the people that, you know, I saw growing up in Brooklyn, they always stayed in Brooklyn. And there's nothing wrong with that. But with baseball, it's kind of hard to get that recognition. Because it's not like Texas, where you have 1000 scouts at every single, you know, game you're at. For me, I had coaches telling me that they couldn't come see me because it was too cold. And, you know, compared to Texas, we play year round. You know, there's four or five months out a year in Brooklyn where you can't go outside because it's too cold to even play, you know. So that was my big motivation to try to go somewhere beyond Brooklyn. Now, this

Colton Cockerell: 9:26

definitely sounds like a motivator. If you're limited to only seven months out of the year in Brooklyn, I understand that completely. And congratulations, you got out. Now I will say it's probably a whole lot more realistic to buy your parents at home in Texas versus New York. So you're saving a whole lot of money,

Mike Zamora: 9:47

of course, but you know, like I said, you're you're young and you don't really have a concept of money. And, you know, it was just it was something that helped me in the long run, but obviously I understand it a lot more now. And I won't be hit by In the house anytime soon, I'll tell you that,

Colton Cockerell: 10:02

Oh, yeah. Well, if you if you did, we would definitely have to sit down and talk because you got some disposable income that might need to be invested. But besides the point, let's talk about this because again, you know, going to go into Junior High than playing in high school, you know, it gets harder and harder. So then go into play college ball, you know, D, three, D two D one, you know, so you made it to D one. So really, the next step for you is, you know, go into the show where I mean, go into the minors and then go into MLB. And every step of the way, there's more and more people competing for that position, right? There's way more way more junior High's and high schools and there are colleges, and there are the the pros, right? So what right now, what is motivating you to keep going because it just gets more and more competitive, the higher you go up.

Mike Zamora: 10:50

It's funny, you say that because I'm, you know, I'm 22 years old now. And I'm actually kind of questioning do I want to keep going, you know, because I believe I can do it, I'm very confident in my ability to keep going. But the aspect that a lot of people don't realize is once you get to college, you know, it's great. And competition is you know, very high, like you said, but once you go to Pro, you know, the competition is the best of the best, but you're not getting paid top dollar to do that, you know, and I'm I'm currently wrestling with the idea of I'm 22 years old, I want to start, you know, establishing my future financially. And I am do I want to make, you know, very low pay for all the hours I'm putting in for baseball, or do I want to start my career in finance and start you know, saving up for a family one day?

Colton Cockerell: 11:46

Oh, that's actually real, I feel this is just again, my perception. I think a lot of athletes, they go blinded, and they don't they just in their mind, they are going to make it to you know, whatever MLB D League, whatever it may be, and they don't think about you know, potential, you know, doing something else. Now granted, I get the whole idea of you know, if you put your mind to it, you can make it happen. That's not against that at all. It's just having a plan in case it doesn't happen. So let me ask you this. Because you have to have a good work ethic to be where you're at now, what do you say to yourself, whenever you get to those days, you're working hard you're working out, you're you know, you're catching, hitting whatever it may be? What do you tell yourself, whenever you just wake up in the morning, it's 5am, you're like, I don't want to do it.

Mike Zamora: 12:32

I see those are, those are the toughest days, of course, you know, and everybody faces those. But what I always say is, those are the days that build character. You know, because it's easy to do it when you want to do it, and you're feeling good, and you're excited to do it. But when you're tired, your body's hurting and your mind just not there, and you have no desire to do it at all. I always told myself growing up that when you do it on those days, that's what makes you great. And, you know, it's it's again, it goes back to what I said earlier is always just putting your goal above yourself, you know, being committed to something despite how you feel in the moment. Because you know, if you if you take off, as you know, Colton, if if you take off every day at work every day, you don't feel good. You probably miss like every other day out of the year, you know, like, it's just human nature, you're not going to feel your best every day. So it's kind of just keeping your goal in mind knowing what you want to do and then persevering. I think that's always helped me

Colton Cockerell: 13:32

that setting those goals are definitely definitely important. No, and that and that spot on and I hope that our listeners they take that to their personal lives as well. Because I mean, I know everyday people don't just jump out of bed ready to get going. They you know, they struggle with I can sleep for another hour. No, that's I mean, that's, that's really, really interesting. So let me ask you this, and we'll kind of we'll kind of wrap it up with this question. What's next for for Mike Zamora? You're at Texas Southern right now. Are you staying? Are you going somewhere else? What's your what's your plans moving forward?

Mike Zamora: 14:02

Moving forward, these next few weeks will definitely be probably the biggest weeks of my life to this point because I'm deciding whether to continue this childhood dream or to start the the real world as like I say cuz you know, it's baseball is a game at the end of the day. Um, like you said, I just graduated from Texas Southern with my finance degree, actually. And I have one more year eligibility to transfer somewhere right now. Unless I get a very good scholarship. I don't plan on going back to college for a master's degree or anything at the moment. So right now currently, I'm deciding do I want to start a pro career or do I want to start a like a corporate world business career, man, I'm so I, the biggest thing too, has helped me get through all of it. And those tough days, like you said, is just my faith in God like that, that has made the difference and that's the only reason I'm here today. So during times like this is when I needed the most and just praying and just trying to see what's the next step.

Colton Cockerell: 15:08

Now I can I can, I can respect that. And so really, I hope our listeners today, I mean, regardless if you're an athlete or if you're just in business, I hope people understand the importance of, you know, being motivated, you know, accepting criticism, obviously, healthy criticism and, and also making sure they're setting goals and, and doing the hard thing. So that was that was great, Mike Now let me ask you this totally random off the wall question. Has nothing to do with baseball. If you were stranded on a Island, and you can only bring three items. What would it be?

Mike Zamora: 15:38

Man, that's tough. I right off the bat. I probably say my phone but I probably wouldn't have like a connection. You know,

Colton Cockerell: 15:46

I'll give it to you. Let's say you do. Okay, so your phone,

Mike Zamora: 15:49

Bring my phone? Hopefully, like a gallon of water. You know, maybe I could find a place to refill it. And then do to baseball. I don't know.

Colton Cockerell: 16:01

Are you gonna you're gonna go hunting and just chunk the baseball at something to go on it.

Mike Zamora: 16:05

I'm probably going to just see how far I can throw it. Walk over there. Pick it up and just keep doing that to keep myself entertained?

Colton Cockerell: 16:13

Why you got your phone? So unlimited Netflix, maybe doordash? Maybe a boat can come and drop off some food? Who knows? Okay,

Mike Zamora: 16:18

that's a much more logical thinking right there.

Colton Cockerell: 16:23

Fantastic. Well, Mike, I kind of already gave it away. But you are a millennial, you know, this show is all about generations. So let me ask you this. Do you identify as a millennial, or do you identify as another generation?

Mike Zamora: 16:34

Honestly, I don't even really know the different things like the different generations I at one point, I'm a millennial than another point on Gen Z. I don't know if that's the same thing. Honestly. I am an American. That's where

Colton Cockerell: 16:49

you go, man and I and that's what a great way to be identified as well. Mike, I really do appreciate the time you took today. Well, let's do this here. Usually, this is the point in the show where we ask people to give you their contact information in case people wanted to reach out to them. I don't know if you want to do that. You know, I know you probably have you know wisdom that you can give people but do you have Would you like to give your contact information out in case someone wanted to contact you?

Mike Zamora: 17:16

Oh, definitely. I mean maybe you could attach my email or something but you're my phone number two let's not have your phone number. I

Colton Cockerell: 17:24

don't want all I don't want all your your fangirls to be to be hitting you up. So let's let's go with email. what's what's a good email and spell it out? For me?

Unknown: 17:31

It's a Michael M I C A E L dot Zamora Z A M O R A 7@gmail.com.

Colton Cockerell: 17:40

And this guy can put away some pizza. I'll tell you that. I've seen it. firsthand. Man. Well, Mike, what's up?

Mike Zamora: 17:47

That's the Brooklyn in.

Colton Cockerell: 17:48

You know what, man, Brooklyn pizza. Something else? Hey, Mike, thank you for being on the show today. I really appreciate having you on. It's always good to have a good friend who has spent majority of his life working his butt off to Thank you again for tuning in to this week's episode of Bridge getting to where he was. So it's always good seeing Yeah. Thanks

the Gap: 18:13

Connecting Business Perspectives. If there's a certain professional or profession that you want to hear from leave a comment in this week's Facebook posts. Please for being on the show. And thank you for tuning in to this week's subscribe and share this podcast. Colton Cockerell with Sharer McKinley Group, LLC is located at 820 South Friendswood episode of Bridge the Gap where we're connecting business Drive Suite 207 Friendswood, Texas 77546 phone number to 281-992-5698. Securities and investment advisory services perspectives. We will see you next Wednesday. offered through NEXT Financial Group, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC Sharer McKinley Group is not an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group, Inc.