Feeling worthless after retiring as a Premier League footballer, Jermaine Jenas was betrayed by relatives during his early years as a businessman, the ex-England international revealed on Thursday.
The former midfielder, who has since become a regular daytime presenter and football pundit on The One Show and Match of the Day respectively, talked about his life after retirement and revealed some of the personal struggles he endured as he co-founded and ran his business .
Aquino Education offers football tickets to truant students at underprivileged schools if they can attend 100%. The company started in Nottingham and has since expanded to London schools.
Becoming an entrepreneur was one of the projects Jenas undertook after retirement to escape the feeling of worthlessness at home.
Having enjoyed a storied career with Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers before hanging up his boots, Jenas initially struggled to find a goal after his playing days.
Jermaine Jenas has admitted he felt worthless after retiring as a Premier League footballer
But business, television presentations and knowledge helped Jenas rediscover his purpose in life
“I felt like I was just worthless around the house. I had gone from Jermaine Jenas to the football player who came in every day with your chest out to nothing, he Scott Thomas Learn as I go podcast.
“As a young footballer I was fearless. I’m in the tunnels with like (Patrick) Vieira, (Robert) Pires, (Thierry) Henry and I’m like, “This is crazy! I was literally watching these guys two minutes ago”.
“But one of the things I’m proud of is my good friends. I have two best friends and we’ve always been close. One of them is Vaughan, he’s fresh out of the military, and the other is Craig Anderson, who I started my business with.
“He came to me in 2008/2009 and I was at an age where I was already thinking about life after football. He came to me for an investment – it wasn’t necessary, I had given him the money for free – but said he had an idea about education. And I thought this was great because I could go back to schools and give something back.
“And over time I started getting into the business side of things and really liked it, how you develop a business, how you grow it and how you become a people person. My buddy even sent me to a school as a teaching assistant once!’
Despite enjoying the new challenge of running a business, Jenas has also endured many personal struggles as a co-founder of Aquinas Education.
Jenas talked about his business and revealed that he has been “betrayed” by people close to him
“You won’t make it that long unless you’ve had certain experiences,” Jenas added. “We’ve had almost all the experiences.
‘People who want to rob us blind, people who also worked for us. I have had people who have been very close to me and betrayed me. And yes, it was very hurtful at times, that side of it. I’ve lost family members along the way, which has been one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with.
“For me, a nice people person, I try to bring people along. I’ve taken people out of difficult situations in their own lives where they weren’t so lucky, and I’ve brought them in, trained them, paid them good wages – and it was pretty hard for them to stab you in the back in those days.”
Being a high-profile figure in football and television, clients and business associates have also questioned his role as an entrepreneur, the former England star revealed.
“The biggest question I still get to this day is, ‘What are you doing here?’ Any kind of investor that comes in will ask, “What brings you to the table?”. But I think it’s a fair question,” he continued.
Jenas (above left) left football and became a regular presenter on The One Show
“They think, ‘I’m in an education recruitment agency and I have Jermaine Jenas sitting in front of me. He won’t be in the office every week, so what does he do?
“I just tell them the story, my interest in the company, my value to the company, my daily involvement. Me and my best friend talk about the company every day.
“I’ve had imposter syndrome so many times in my career and life that I now know how to deal with it.
“I feel quite calm in my life and quite peaceful now. And I think, if you have that, you’re rich.’