Paul “PR” Rivera is a mover and shaker in the world of entertainment. The New York native has worked at the intersection of sports, business, and fashion for more than two decades. He is the chief marketing officer for Spring Hill Company in partnership with NBA superstar LeBron James and Maverick Carter and the co-founder of The Robot Company, a brand and culture consultancy.
Rivera is also the co-creator of the Emmy-winning show “The Shop,” which features some of the biggest names in entertainment for “unfiltered conversation and debate.”
For his latest endeavor, Rivera has released his new book “The Shop: Where Culture Shapes Up.” Inspired by the hit series, the book chronicles athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs such as Fat Joe, Bad Bunny, Tom Brady, Teyana Taylor, Rich Paul, A’ja Wilson, Pharrell, and Chloe Bailey just to name a few.
Rivera spoke about how his love of basketball led him on his current path and his early connection with James.
“Many people don’t know that I played pro ball in Puerto Rico. During the off-season, I would play at West 4th, Dykeman, the Rucker, and all the leagues. I formed a lot of great relationships with other players, tournament directors, and I caught the eye of people at Nike,” Rivera told HOT97.com. “I was actually in a couple of LeBron’s sneaker commercials. You have to be very quick on the pause button to catch me. It’s the one with Bernie Mac when he rest in peace.”
Eventually, he became the Global Director of the LeBron James Brand at Nike where he discovered his gift for branding, marketing, and entrepreneurship.
“I learned so much at Nike, and then I formed a relationship with LeBron. Then I left Nike to work at Beats by Dre, and then we started our own company,” he said. “It’s really about having good relationships and delivering on what you say you’re going to deliver.”
“I got this from LeBron: It’s about keeping ‘the main thing, the main thing.’ I’ve had a ton of opportunities but it wasn’t in my sweet spot or what we call my “area of brilliance,” he continued. “So I think that focus on my career has allowed me to go and build something that hopefully people can appreciate.”
Along with his partners, Rivera has built some of the most recognizable brands today encompassing sports, TV and film, fashion, and more. He said that he’s able to flourish because of the team that surrounds him.
“There’s nothing better than not having to look any further than to the left and the right of you for inspiration. Randy Mims is kind of the unsung hero. None of this works without Randy as the Chief of Staff. He makes the thing go,” Rivera explained. “Rich Paul has built himself into the most powerful agent in all of sports in my opinion. And Maverick Carter is a brilliant mind. He’ll tell you his best quality is that he’s infinitely curious.”
After seven seasons, “The Shop” has become an acclaimed series where conversations about sports, music, art, fashion, and more take place. As Rivera’s brainchild, he expressed his gratitude for the love the series has garnered.
“It’s been an honor to see how “The Shop” has been received by the culture. What’s special about “The Shop” is that when we created it, it was never about trying to create a hit show. It was about creating a platform that was entertaining, inspiring, and aspirational,” Rivera said. We tried to make sure we put together entertaining and inspiring conversations with diverse people that have been received in such a way that the culture decided that we could go beyond the show.”
“We just did an HBCU tour last year where we were in Atlanta DC, New York, and the community really came out. It was a beautiful thing,” he continued. “We now have a Men’s grooming line, that’s available at Walmart that’s doing extremely well. And we did a collaboration with Nike for the LeBron 21 “The Shop – Metallic Gold” sneaker.”
For his latest endeavor, Rivera is releasing “The Shop: Where Culture Shapes Up“, his new book chronicling the history of the series. He spoke about how it was a labor of love to bring the book to fruition.
“We had a lot of arguments in the office but it was a lot of fun, man. The show’s our baby so for seven seasons, eight to 10 episodes per season, and five to six guests per episode, there were a lot of gems in those conversations,” Rivera said. “We wanted conversations that you have inside of the barbershop that are important to us. From jokes, sports, entrepreneurship, and politics, over the past seven seasons, with hundreds of guests we’ve had, we’ve had so much great content. It was cool looking back and reminiscing on some episodes. I’d forgotten some of the quotes and things said. It’s been dope to put together.”
Above all, Rivera wants “The Shop” to continue pushing the culture forward and the book is the latest iteration of the trailblazing brand.
“I hope that people that get this book will go back to it time and time again because it’s something that I think will stand the test of time,” he said. “It will show and prove its value today and 10 years from down the line.”
”This book feels like a culmination of everything we’ve built. It’s a culmination of all those incredible conversations we’ve had and what the brand of the shop, has grown to be,” Rivera added. “I’m really passionate about it.”
Leave a Reply