By Dre Baldwin

Most people assume sales start when you have a product to sell.

Mine started when the only thing I had was myself—and a dream nobody else believed in.

A Dream and Not Much Else

I played my college ball at Penn State Altoona. Division III. No scholarships. No national rankings. No NBA scouts. Just me, showing up every day with a dream of going pro. Not “hoping” or “trying”—I’d decided I was going pro.

And that decision meant I had to sell the toughest product in the world: me.

No big name. No resume. No agent. No buzz. I wasn’t even the best player on my team. But I had something that couldn’t be measured on a stat sheet: a Bulletproof Mindset.

I went into full-blown prospecting mode. I found every overseas team, every league, and every agent I could locate using Google. I packaged up my highlights and sent them out. And this was pre-YouTube. My “demo reels” started on VHS tapes, then moved to DVDs, and eventually made their way onto YouTube once that became a thing.

It was hundreds of messages, emails, and cold calls. Most went ignored. Some came back with “no.” A lot came back with nothing at all, just silence.

But I wasn’t waiting for someone to validate me; I was creating my own opportunity.

You Only Need One Person to Say ‘Yes’

I would go to the campus computer lab and spend hours sending emails from burner Gmail accounts, because too many messages from one address would get flagged as spam. 

• I bought blank DVDs from Walmart and burned my highlight reels on school computers. 
• I packed them in manila envelopes.
• I walked to the post office.
• I shipped them to places I couldn’t pronounce.

It was hustle. It was strategy. But more than anything, it was mindset.

Eventually, one of those messages landed. One person said yes.

That single yes turned into a 9-year pro basketball career. That career became the foundation of the Work On Your Game philosophy and everything I do today.

Selling Belief

But here’s what most don’t understand:

Before I ever sold a product, a service, or a brand—I had to sell belief.

Belief in my value, even with no results to point to.

Belief in my game, even when no one was checking for it.

That belief is a mindset. Not motivation. Not hype. It’s your inner contract with yourself that you will find a way. It’s not conditional. It’s not soft. It’s not emotional. It’s locked in.

I didn’t have a road map. I didn’t have an “in.” I had to build the road map myself.

Quitting is Not an Option

I remember training on concrete in Philly in the dead of winter because I didn’t have gym access. Fingers numb. No rebounder. Just repetition, over and over. I had to outwork the situation. I couldn’t let the environment define my ceiling.

The reason I didn’t quit? Because I never gave myself the option. I wasn’t interested in Plan B. I wasn’t interested in safety nets. I burned the damn boats and committed to getting a contract.

It’s easy to believe when people are clapping. It’s easy when you’ve got the gear, the team, the attention.

But when it’s just you, your dream, and silence?

That’s when the real players show up.

Don’t Quit Until You Make It

Years later, I spoke at TEDx and told the story of how I went from the end of the bench in high school to playing pro. The crowd was full of entrepreneurs, executives, and students. But the story hit not because of basketball—it hit because everyone knows what it feels like to be overlooked and underestimated.

Everyone’s had a moment where the world told them they weren’t enough.

The question is—did you believe them?

That’s why I created the Bulletproof Mindset course, available now on Sales Gravy University. It’s not about basketball—it’s about the foundation that every top performer needs.

Because in sales, people don’t just buy what you’re selling.

They buy you.

They buy your energy. Your certainty. Your presence.

And if you haven’t sold yourself on you, there’s no way you’re selling anyone else.

I’ve pitched 5-figure deals from my kitchen table. I’ve sold coaching to strangers from across the world through a camera lens. But those sales always started in the mirror. 

You have to know:

• Do I believe it? 
• Am I sold? 
• Do I trust my value?

Confidence isn’t a personality trait. It’s a performance result.

Mindset Comes First

If you haven’t done the work, you won’t have the presence. If you’re uncertain inside, it bleeds into your pitch, your posture, your pricing.

This is where most people lose the sale before they ever make the call. They’re selling from doubt. They’re negotiating from neediness. They’re asking for deals with a voice that screams: “I don’t believe this myself.”

That’s why mindset comes first.

• So if you’re walking into sales calls with shaky confidence …
• If you’re questioning your value before your prospect ever does …
• If you know your skills are solid, but your self-belief still needs work …

It’s time to make your first and most important sale.

You.

Sell yourself on your own value. Sell yourself on your own game. Sell yourself on the vision you have, even if nobody else can see it yet.

You don’t need hype. You don’t need rah-rah speeches.

You need clarity. You need reps. You need a mindset that doesn’t blink.

Start with your mindset.

Work On Your Game.

Find mindset courses with Dre “DreAllDay” Baldwin at Sales Gravy University.