The Cavinder Twins on Entrepreneurship
By Kristi Dosh
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Last Updated on November 13, 2023
I recently had the opportunity to interview the Cavinder twins as Haley was preparing to announce where she’ll play basketball in 2024 when she returns to the court without her sister. (She announced today she’ll be playing at TCU.)
Check out my piece over on Forbes about how NIL changed their paths and how they’re planning to approach their brand now that they’re taking different forks in the road.
You can check out the full video interview below, but I wanted to share more of our conversation around entrepreneurship, because it’s one of the most exciting parts of NIL, in my opinion. There’s no doubt NIL changed their trajectory, allowing them to become entrepreneurs long before graduation.
What Do the twins each think the other is better at as an entrepreneur?
I thought it would be fun to ask the twins what they each think the other is better at, and their answers illustrate why their brand is so strong.
“Hanna, she’s better at everything in the NIL space,” Haley said. “Honestly, her mind, and the way she’s wired, and how she thinks creatively to work with these brands and kind of bring our uniqueness to fit their idea for their brand, is something I haven’t seen.”
She continued, “I honestly learned from her in the NIL space more than anyone just because of like her mind and her creativity. Whether it’s a TikTok or she’s a huge planner . . . So, I think that’s like the reason we’re so successful because she makes it so unique and also makes it so organic.”
Hanna says they’ve learned even more since basketball ended for them last spring (prior to Haley announcing her return) as they’ve had the time to step into being entrepreneurs full-time.
“One thing that Hailey has definitely taught me is how she makes relationships . . . Like she can get into a room and just be able to hold conversations with people, and I think . . . some people do lack that, but Haley has it, and she can build relationships and be able to talk to anyone.”
Hanna also says Haley is the more patient twin.
“She doesn’t like to jump at things right away . . . I’m more like, ‘oh my gosh,’ Hailey’s more . . . laid-back. So, we definitely balance each other out.”
“She won’t make a decision,” Haley joked about Hanna. “I’m impulsive.”
What does a typical day look like for the twins right now?
Weekly, we do travel a lot right now,” said Hanna. “We’ve been traveling to LA, Arizona, Texas, and Florida is basically where we try to do most of our work just because we do have some family in those states. But typically a work week, we definitely do Betr Media at least once a week. We’re on calls with Jeff and Alexi [note: their agents at Everett Sports Management] at least once a day just going over our plans.”
“But then other than that, we kind of just try to focus on things that we can do and control ourselves, whether it’s TikTok videos, YouTube videos, being able to connect with our audience, being hands-on. So, it honestly looks different each day. So, we’re super grateful for that. Honestly, it’s a dream job.”
Asked how much they plan out their content versus doing it in the spur of the moment when an idea strikes, Haley says they mostly plan things out these days.
“I think it’s changed. I think we plan out every content, whether it’s TikTok, YouTube, our podcast—everything is planned because we look at things as a business and social media is a tool for us. So, Hanna and I want to maximize as much as we can. So, definitely plan it out weekly.”
Did the Bella twins give them any tips?
The Cavinder twins are far from the first set of twins to work with WWE, so I asked the Cavinders if they got any advice from the Bella twins about where to take their brand from here or how to maximize the WWE experience.
“We actually met them at the ESPYs, and they’re so awesome,” said Haley. “I think they gave us such good advice and knowledge of just honestly being in the business world as twins, the WWE and just what they’ve learned. They’re super supportive and so nice, and every time we reach out to them, just giving us good advice. And they’re great mentors for Hanna and I because they’ve been so successful, too, in the business world. So, someone we definitely look up to.”
Where does their brand go from here?
Although they won’t be playing basketball together next year, Hanna says they’ll still be building their brand together.
“I think honestly it provides a different unique storyline. You can have somebody in the NIL space, and an athlete that’s not in the NIL space, but we obviously are always going to work together. It’s always going to be a brand of us together just because that’s how we started off and, honestly, that’s just what worked for us. Our niche is ‘the twins.’”
There’s far more entrepreneurial and brand insights from the Cavinder twins in the full video interview below and over in my piece on Forbes.
