#65 - Michael Rix - From AFL footy to chief of staff in NYC

Most athletes think their playing career is the hard part. Michael Ricks proves the real edge is what comes after — and how you turn rejection, reinvention, and raw resilience into a high-performing business career.

From late-blooming AFL rookie to engineering, Shell, McKinsey, and now Chief of Staff at eGym in New York, Michael shares the exact mindset that carried him through delistings, failed interviews, global moves, and high-stakes roles across wildly different industries.

You’ll discover:

• Why Michael didn’t get drafted until 23 and how he still carved out a successful AFL career
• The “make the spreadsheet” method he used to map his next move after football
• How he trained for consulting interviews like an elite athlete trains for finals
• Why McKinsey became a crash course in preparation, commercial thinking, and influence
• The transferable skills athletes already have — and the ones they still need to build

Michael also opens up about the emotional side of transition, including the sting of being delisted, the importance of letting failure hurt before moving on, and why the locker room bond is so hard to replace in corporate life.

We also get into his extraordinary time working across Malaysia, Nigeria, and Houston, including a wild story involving a kidnapping, a British consulate rescue effort, and a Nokia phone negotiation that sounds more like a movie script than real life.

This episode is essential listening if you’re an athlete navigating life after sport, a leader looking to understand athlete talent, or anyone trying to build a career that can survive change, pressure, and uncertainty. Michael’s story is a reminder that the skills forged in sport can absolutely translate — if you know how to tell the story, do the work, and keep running toward the next opportunity.

Michael Ricks is Chief of Staff at eGym in New York and a former AFL player whose career has spanned elite sport, engineering, strategy, and consulting. His path shows what’s possible when resilience meets preparation.