How I helped give 14 kids a quarter million dollars.

rain·mak·er  (rnmkr)   n. 

If you’re reading this, you know me as a professional speaker or a radio host or an author. But there is another aspect of my identity that I’m especially proud of today: I make highlight videos for high school athletes that result in college scholarships. So far, 14 of my clients have received nearly a quarter million dollars in free education as a result of a their athletic abilities and proof of it on video.

I started doing videos out of necessity in 2011. My son was a high school football player and I wanted to find him a scholarship. I looked around online and found that the prices for highlight videos were incredibly high.  And if I used one of those services, I would not have as much control over the details of the video. Since I have pretty good chops on the computer, I decided to give it a try on my own.

My son’s video turned out so good that a teammate’s father called me and wanted one.  He was so satisfied that he referred me to three others.  And it just kind of blossomed from there.  Just this week, one of my clients, Emily Smith, received a full-ride basketball scholarship to the University of South Dakota. Here’s her highlight video 

The average cost of one of my videos is $250. The value of scholarships my clients received ranges from $7,000 to $43,000!

Each video is very time-consuming, but time I enjoy spending. I have to go through the entire game and mark the highlight possibilities.

I work out of my bedroom in my house.  I edit the plays together and then invite the kids and their parents to review it. Together we decide which plays to include or discard, and determine the order of the plays.  Absolutely nothing beats the thrill of looking into the eyes of one of my young athletes and watching their facial expression as they realize, “Wow, I’m pretty good.”

These kids earned the following scholarships based on their tremendous athletic abilities. The only thing I did was collect video proof and show it to the world online.  But the feeling that I get from having played that role is quite thrilling!

1. Dillon Batia – Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College – $9,852
2. Lynsie Byrd, Birmingham Southern – $43,130
3. Romario Cobb, Southwest Mississippi Community College – $10,040
4. Tripp Clearman, Malone University – $34,352
5. Matthew Hicks, East Central Community College – $7,270
6. Alex Horn, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College – $9,852
7. David Howell, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College – $9,852
8. Ishmel Morrow, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College – $9,852
9. Kenneth Paxton, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College – $9,852
10. James Richards, University of South Alabama – $25,992
11. Tyrin Spencer, Southwest Mississippi Community College 10,040
12. Donovan Smith, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College – $9,852
13. Emily Smith, University of South Dakota – $15,129
14. Antwon Wells, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College $9,852

The name of my business is Rainmaker Highlight Videos. You can view my entire body of work on my YouTube page.  If you need a video done for your athlete, please contact me.  Let’s make it rain!