Building for Impact (Stephen Curry Pre-Recorded)

Steph, thank you so much for being here.

We are missing you in person at LiveWIRED,

but we are so grateful

that you could make the time to talk to us

in the middle of what I am sure is a very busy NBA season.

Even though you can't be here in person,

we're excited to talk to your executive team

a little bit later, but let me first start by asking you,

what was the genesis for Thirty Ink?

What made you want to move forward with this endeavor?

Oh, I appreciate you having me and my team.

I think this is a great opportunity to kinda share

what, you know, Thirty Ink is

in respect to understanding the platform

and the reach that basketball

and just all the different opportunities

that have come my way over the last 15 years,

really since I've been in the league,

and the doors that it's opened,

to have kind of a collective mindset around

how I could leverage that impact and influence

in a positive direction to create opportunity

across different business ventures and entities.

But in a way, using all of those to help

what we call elevate the under, and the underrated,

underrepresented, underestimated,

across, you know, different interests,

being able to, you know, create a,

at that inflection point of where, you know,

purpose and profit really, really align.

And I think for us, it's been an amazing journey

to really create a hyperfocus around the ways

that I know I can move the needle

and create, you know, lasting impact.

So you've always said social responsibility

is closely tied to your mission as an athlete

and an entrepreneur.

Why, talk to me a little bit about the

underrated aspect of this again.

Why is that so important to you?

I think it just stems from how I was raised

and the idea that understanding how blessed I am

to be able to do what I get to do for a living

and the, you know, the spotlight that you're under

and knowing if you, you know, you say something,

you show up somewhere, you do something,

it does move the needle.

And I think for me there's always a perspective of,

you know, it's not just that title

of being able to give back,

but it's a way of thinking outside of yourself

on how can I galvanize collective change

in these different interests that, for me, whether it's,

you know, in the golf space, in the lifestyle space,

in the media space, how I kind of take my learning lessons

and give it to the next generation of athletes

that are coming up, for them to find their own voice.

I think that for me has always been a way to,

my dad always used to tell me, you gotta leave the game

in a better place than you found it.

And I'm trying to do that in basketball,

but also trying to do that off the court.

And that's the way of, you know, making that a priority.

I'm gonna grill you on this a little bit.

You're talking about having an impact,

but where might that focus be?

Is this about impacting policy,

building community, philanthropy?

What are the specifics, Steph?

It's across all of those.

I think it's creating meaningful opportunity

amongst the underrepresented

and especially from a diversity perspective.

I know that's a hot topic

across, you know, all different sectors,

but we have a certain discipline around

how we hold our brand partners, our investment partners,

anybody that's related to Thirty Ink

in terms of holding them accountable to, you know,

you know, creating access and opportunity and equity.

And if it comes down to policy,

we do a lot of that stuff with our foundation,

with Eat.Learn.Play,

when it comes to just the ability to walk into a room

and see that reflect, you know, what the world looks like

and create opportunity for people to

do meaningful work and be connected to us.

I think holding everybody accountable to that.

And that's something that when you show up on a set,

when you show up in a meeting,

that's what the room should reflect.

It should reflect the world.

Well, that's great. My last question.

In the NBA you don't really get to pick your teammates,

but with Thirty Ink you're recruiting

for a entirely different skillset.

Who's helping you in this endeavor?

Yeah, they, the one thing about my success, I guess,

on the court is, you know, I've had some amazing teammates

and we've all lifted and elevated each other.

And to your point, you know,

you're only as good as your team

and the leadership that you have.

And so I've been blessed to have gone through that process

to find, you know, my all-star team

and the the ones that, you know,

while I'm out there on the court,

you know, trying to put the ball in the basket

for as long as I can,

I'm right there in lockstep with these four individuals

who will be on the stage with you,

you know, speaking in a minute.

And that includes Suresh Singh

who's the chairman and secretary of Thirty Ink.

Tiffany Williams, who's the COO of Thirty Ink.

Chris Helfrich, who is the CEO of Eat.Learn.Play,

our foundation.

Eric Peyton, who's the co-founder, co-CEO

and Chief Creative Officer of Unanimous Media.

So they are the representation of a great team

that I've been able to put together

to represent everything that I am about in business

and I can't wait for you guys to hear from them.

Well great. We're super excited

to welcome them to the stage.

We're sorry you can't be here,

but thank you so much for joining us, Steph.

And I appreciate you having me.