Aaron Pridmore spent 26 years at Best Buy as a district manager and territory manager, 

ran the youth Banana Ball tournament operation for the Savannah Bananas, hosts The Slide 

Podcast (700+ youth baseball and softball players interviewed), and is now VP at Global 

Nation — bringing black light sporting events to complexes and stadiums across the country, 

including the first-ever black light event at the Field of Dreams MLB stadium in September.

What he covers:

→ 700 kids interviewed on The Slide Podcast — and what you learn when you actually let kids talk

→ Why more kids said they'd rather play with their friends than win a championship — every single time

→ The Field Reporter program: 22 kids, 11 states, retired jersey numbers, and a kid named Banana Jake who went from robotic intros to interviewing coaches at major tournaments

→ Getting invited to Grayson Stadium in August 2022, watching a Bananas game, and telling his wife he wanted to move to Savannah — she was already calling realtors when he got home

→ Writing a "future resume" as his Bananas job application: not what he'd done, but what his dream role would look like in 5 years

→ Running the first Banana Ball youth tournament in Cincinnati/Cleveland — 75 teams, 48 states, voted #1 youth tournament of 2025 by Newsweek (beating Cooperstown, Triple Crown, and PG)

→ The tournament that got hit by weather every single day in Savannah — and still beat all the competition in the Newsweek poll

→ A kid who said "this was going to be my last season ever, but now I'm coming back" — because there was no pressure

→ Stu's DoorDash driver who walked up to the front desk and asked where to apply — and is still there 6 years later

→ Pivoting from Bananas to Global Nation: black lights, experiential sports events, Field of Dreams

→ The Field of Dreams event: first-ever black light event at the new MLB stadium, home run derby, celebrity softball game, and a country music artist opening the night

→ Why the future resume is a "cheat code for hiring" — and what Best Buy taught him about putting people where their hearts are

🔗 CONNECT WITH AARON PRIDMORE

Podcast: The Slide Podcast (YouTube, Apple, Spotify — search "Slide Podcast")

Business: globalnation.com

🔗 CONNECT WITH STU

Instagram: @stu

Website: https://startupswithstu.com

📌 CHAPTERS

00:00 – Aaron intro: VP at Global Nation and host of The Slide Podcast

03:00 – What 700 youth baseball interviews taught him about what kids actually want

07:00 – Why kids choose friends over championships — every time

10:00 – The genesis of The Slide Podcast and the Field Reporter program

14:00 – Banana Jake: from robotic intro video to interviewing coaches at Prospect Wire

17:30 – The Savannah Bananas game, the wife calling realtors, and the future resume application

22:00 – The future resume explained: dream role, 5-year plan, and what Jared Orton said

26:00 – First Banana Ball youth tournament: 75 teams, 48 states, Cincinnati/Cleveland 2022

30:00 – The kid who climbed the backstop dancing to "Rodeo"

33:00 – 2025 Savannah tournament: weather chaos, damage control — then #1 in the Newsweek poll

37:00 – Pivoting to Global Nation and what black light sports events look like

40:00 – Field of Dreams: first-ever black light event, September 26, Eric Sim, Rachel Garcia, and barbecue chefs with 6M followers

44:00 – Founder takeaways: future resume, building culture people want to join, spousal support

47:00 – National Parks Baseball Resort + Global Nation crossover possibilities

⚠️ Note: Timestamps are estimated from transcript flow — swap to actual timecodes before publishing.

#entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #baseball #savannnahbananas #youthsports #bananball #globalnation #slidepodcast #founderstory