Bryce Ellis
From promoting pay-per-view fighting events to advertising for his arcade, Mr. Jeffrey Osborne looks to take on the business world from multiple angles. Mr. Osborne, a previous UFC announcer and promoter, sat down for an interview regarding his new business, Secret Headquarters, which took a drastic turn for the fighting commentator. From promoting large fight events to selling comic books and video games, Mr. Osborne feels that he has “knowledge from all angles of business.”
What is your professional history?
“As a young man, I always enjoyed wrestling, but it was a bit more than just wrestling. I enjoyed the business side of wrestling as well. Even now as I watch large pay-per-view events on television, I know that there is more to wrestling than the men in the ring. So, after I graduated high school I went to a small vocational school for art. I was talented in many forms of art from painting and drawing to playing music. After a few months, I decided that this was not the path I wanted, so I looked further into a career around wrestling. Around the late 1990’s, UFC and mixed martial arts were becoming very popular and, soon enough, I found myself as a commentator and promoter for UFC in Los Angeles. After a few years of learning from some of the best businessmen in the world on how to promote events and market products, I decided to take on the business world myself. I moved back to Indiana which is where I am from and hosted my own UFC events under my new company Hook’N Shoot. After many years of successful events, I eventually sold all of my recordings of these events to UFC along with the Hook’N Shoot name. I then opened a business for my other passion which consisted of comic books, action figures, and video games from my childhood. My current business, Secret Headquarters, has been around for about four years at this point and is growing every day.”
What writing advice do you have for professional communicators?
“Well, considering that professional writing and communicating go hand-in-hand, I would say that I am well versed from being on national television as a commentator. I believe the best advice for communication is to expand your vocabulary. I mean this in a clear and concise manner as to not draw a thought out to where only a few can understand what you are trying to convey. You don’t want to have select wording that you use over and over again to describe something or convey a thought. Build upon what you have but not to confuse the audience you are trying to reach.”
What is your one pet peeve when it comes to professional writing?
“I would have to say comma splices as I was never quite sure when the correct time was to use them when I was younger. Looking back, I studied them for far too long to not consider them a pet peeve of mine now.”
What kind of business reports do you read and/or compose regularly?
“My store [Secret Headquarters] consists of constant buying product and selling product. The main reports that I have to file are customers looking to potentially sell video game consoles to the store. This requires a bit of research and basically leads to a report to ensure that this console was not recently stolen/counterfeited. It is definitely a longer process than what one might think. At least once a week I also comprise a sales revenue report to see how the store did compared to last year to see if I need to promote in some way to help drive sales.”
What are your writing suggestions to make that type of report successful?
“Attention to details has to be the biggest suggestion I have regarding any type of report. When filing the report for the gaming consoles, one misspelling or lack of judgement could cost my entire business. If I were to file a report incorrectly and a console were to come in to my store after being stolen from another could mean large fines, a revoking of my license, and ultimately closing my business. In terms of the revenue report, a single mistake could show over or under inflation of revenue giving false statistics for how the business is doing.”
What speaking advice do you have for professional communicators?
“The best advice I can give is to communicate clearly and be thorough with your descriptions to allow your audience to fully grasp what you are saying. Make sure to speak fluidly and try not to ramble on a single topic for too long.”
Name one thing you wish you had known about business communication prior to your professional career?
“The one thing that I wished that I would have known was how easy it actually is to speak and write to communicate in a business environment. The words that we use are basically the same as normal conversation but it is the structure that is different.”
After assessing the Burning Glass list of Baseline Skills, which skills not in the top 5 would you move into the top 5…and why?
“Detail oriented and research are the biggest two that I think should be moved into the top 5. As previously mentioned, attention to detail is something that I believe allows for a clear and concise thought process. This then allows for clear communication to your audience and would be high on my list. Research should be higher in my opinion as well and it is mainly based on personal experiences.”
“It takes time to become an expert on anything and in depth research will help get you there. As I mentioned earlier, I went to art school right out of high school and it took time to learn how to properly communicate on live television. After that, it took even longer to learn to create my own business and keep it running for as long as I have. The time that I spent studying and researching how to accomplish these tasks was astronomical but well worth the investment.”
Credit: Burning Glass Technologies
What team skills do you feel young professionals need the most?
“The ability to compromise has to be one of the top skills that young adults need to build upon their professional career. Many people consider the world of business to be very selfish and greedy but it all can be solved with people willing to work together and make personal sacrifices for the greater good of the task they are trying to complete. Many ideas do not work out perfectly and can often be expanded or benefited through ideas from other sources than just a single one.”
Key Take Aways
Through all of his endeavors, Mr. Osborne continues to be a very successful man whether it began working for a company and promoting their business or running his own brands. Throughout the interview, Mr. Osborne stressed that a clear and concise thought process and the ability to transform those thoughts and convey them to the audience is key. This leads into a speech or writing that can be understood which is a crucial part in any business communication. Considering throughout most of his career, he has focused on an audience of consumers, the ability to clearly convey messages and promote products clearly is what he considered his biggest strength. “If you cannot get your ideas across clearly, your customers cannot relate to your product and will not purchase your product. This can go for any form of communication but is especially important when it comes to any form of business and not only marketing.”
Jeffrey Osborne Biography
Mr. Osborne grew up in Jasper, Indiana and soon had to relocate to Evansville, Indiana. This came about as his mother took on the responsibility of raising four young boys on her own as their father had suddenly left the family. Mr. Osborne studied at Central High School and eventually went to the University of Southern California for only a few short months to study art. While in California, he expanded his career to his childhood love of wrestling and began working for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, as a commentator and promoter. Throughout his professional career with UFC, he made many lifelong friends that visit him to this very day. After his time with UFC, Mr. Osborne took his passion to his own stage and started the Hook’N Shoot fighting events in his hometown of Evansville. After many successful years of promoting and hosting his own events, Mr. Osborne decided to switch gears and open his business, Secret Headquarters, in his hometown of Evansville. He currently manages and runs this business and accredits all of his accomplishments to what he learned during his time with UFC.
Secret Headquarters Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/thesecretheadquarters/
Author Bryce Ellis is a current accounting student at the University of Southern Indiana.
