'You've got to be a plumber first': Former NBA star Kenny Smith says he learned this 1 crucial lesson from his billionaire college roommate — now he's using it on his kids

“‘Why didn’t your father just make you an executive?’” Smith, now an analyst on “Inside the NBA,” recalled asking Kohler at the time, in a 2023 conversation with radio personality Big Boy.

“He said, ‘No, I’ve got to be a plumber first,’” Smith continued. “‘He's going to make me be a plumber and then I go through the steps so if I get an invoice as an executive for $7 for screws I know that they're really $3. So I know everything about the company.’”

Smith says the conversation changed his perspective on business, sports and life.

Practical experience

The Kohler family isn’t the only one that seems to insist the next generation acquire practical work experience.

According to researchers at the University of Louisville, St. John Fisher University and Kennesaw State University, many business families mandate external experience for younger generations “believing it to be the best way for younger family members to gain legitimacy, to learn what work ‘is really like’ and to make mistakes at no cost to the family business,” as written in Family Business.

To be clear, you don’t have to be a billionaire business family to implement these lessons, as described by Smith.

“Now, when my kids ask me for things, I’m, like, ‘No, you’ve got to be a plumber first. I’m going to give it to you, but you’ve got to go through the steps, and you’ve got it, it’s waiting for you. It’s waiting for you at the end,’” he told Big Boy.

Seeking it out

A quick brush of practical experience can help you as an investor and as a parent.