Paul LeDoux – Part 2
Magic of a Soccer Ball
Episode 071
Paul was born in Taos, New Mexico, and lived in Eastern Europe for two years from the age of 9. His family then moved to Dubrovnik, Croatia, for a year and a half. When Paul was 19, he moved to Los Angeles with the dream of becoming an actor.
After a year in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he left acting to become a youth soccer coach.
At 30 years old, he started his own business teaching children. Paul continues to work with children between the ages of 2 and 16. Paul has started a non-profit organization for underprivileged children. Recently he wrote and self-published a children’s book titled ‘The Magical Soccer Ball.’
Non-Profit: Better Today Better Tomorrow
Phone: 626-376-0684
Paul LeDoux – Part 2 Takeaways
- Paul LeDoux is a soccer coach and self-published author
- Paul LeDoux wrote the book The Magical Soccer Ball, which came to him at 4 am randomly one night
- Paul coaches children in soccer and hopes he has made a lasting impression on them
- Paul hopes for his book to be turned into a film, as he is working on the screenplay and has additional book ideas.
Paul LeDoux – Part 2 Quotes
- “Where are these kids that I taught when they were four years old that are now 20 years old? I wonder if they still think about me or remember my jokes?”
- “I started to get it rolling. I found an illustrator at Art Center College, sent her a text, and put it together. Found a printing company. It took about a year and a half from start to finish.”
- “The morale that I was going for is everybody has magic inside of them. Passion, drive, whatever you want to call it. It’s about finding that passion and letting it flourish.”
- “It’s just realizing that everything anybody did, they – didn’t do it to me, they were just living their life. How do I deal with that? I really value being there for kids, being that positive voice in their ear.”
- “There’s a lot of books and movies, and there’s messages in there for adults if you’re open to hearing the messages.”
Show Notes
What is the name of the book you recently published and what is the inspiration?
The name of the book that Paul Ledoux recently published is “The Magical Soccer Ball.” There are many different inspiring factors. For 16 years, Paul has taught tons of kids soccer.
So, one day, he was just thinking about how these young kids he taught are now in their 20s or older. So, the book became getting morals and values down on paper, things that Paul wanted to share with the world.
When did Paul start working on the book?
This idea came to Paul randomly at 4 am in the morning. He woke up with this idea, rolled over, and wrote this story from beginning to end in his phone’s notes.
He put it away for a little bit of time, but during the pandemic, he had more free time, so he went back to this book idea.
He started researching how to publish a book. His mom’s friend had self-published in the past, so he reached out for suggestions and assistance. She recommended not messing with big-time publishers. It was all vanity. Instead, she strongly suggested that Paul self-publishes his book.
What is the moral of Paul Ledoux’s book?
The idea is that every person has some sort of magic or passion inside of them. In Paul’s book, the main character’s best friend becomes this soccer ball and eventually begins to believe that it is a magic soccer ball.
However, the coach informs the main character that integrity, passion, drive, and all of the sacrifice are the character’s traits, not the ball. So, the moral is that everyone has that inside of them – just waiting to come out and flourish.
Did Paul have a positive force or coach in his life?
Paul had many positive teammates and coaches. He believes it’s just a culmination of being involved in sports. It instills that love and passion into your craft; in Paul’s case, it is soccer.
What was Paul’s childhood like?
Paul had no brothers or sisters. He had step-siblings, but they seemed to find their way in and out of his life. He was often alone, outside with his dog, playing soccer by himself and practicing his skills. Despite a more lonely childhood,
Paul wouldn’t change it for the world. He’s proud of who he has become and how he was raised by his mother.
Paul’s coaches were like father figures to him, so that inspired how he chose to coach and lead his players.
What made Paul get back to his book idea?
It was trauma and pain, essentially. He had a breakup, and the fear of abandonment issues arose again. However, Paul wanted something to focus on to keep his mind busy, and he remembered the book idea.
This was his opportunity to focus 100% on getting this book created and published and start a nonprofit.
The main goal was to take action during this time. He also credits REM sleep for the book’s creation. He believes this is a very uninhibited creative stream of consciousness that allows creative-minded individuals to gather ideas.
What was the process after the book idea was in Paul’s notes?
Paul LeDoux had no idea how he wanted the book to look initially. He reached out to one of his clients to figure out how to get the book printed and asked another client about finding an illustrator who works for Disney.
The client suggested putting a post up at Art Center College. One artist that reached out was too expensive, but he found the perfect illustrator, and they sent the designs to the printing company.
Getting the book printed was what took the most amount of time. The printing process was long and stressful for Paul. The company took four months longer than expected, ordered the wrong number of books, made Paul pay for the difference, offered a refund, and then shorted him on the refund.
As of the recording of this episode, Paul is still waiting to finalize everything with the printing company. He has considered reaching out to the Better Business Bureau.
Later on, Paul had a book signing at Little Flower Bakery. He found that having his book stocked at local bookstores was pretty expensive, and he didn’t want to go the Amazon route.
So, he asked friends and clients he knew if they would like to buy the books at their stores or buy them wholesale, and Paul started having his books donated to children’s hospitals and to kids who could benefit from hearing the story.
What is the plan going forward?
Paul would love to see “The Magical Soccer Ball” turned into a screenplay. The game plan would be for the film to come out in 4 years when the World Cup is in the United States.
Paul also has ideas for a football and a baseball book, too. Now that he has done the self-publishing process once, he is confident he will be able to tackle it better going forward.
