Rich Paul Says He Wasn't Taught 'How to Love the Right Way' as a Kid, Had to Learn 'Vulnerability' (Exclusive)

The Klutch Sports Group CEO and partner to Adele reflects on love and growth in new memoir 'Lucky Me'

You live and you learn, and if you're Rich Paul, you learn to love.

The wildly successful sports agent and founder and CEO of Klutch Sports Group, 42, is opening up like never before thanks to his new memoir Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the The Odds, out now. The new book covers hard lessons learned from his tough childhood in Cleveland, Ohio and how he worked his way up to the top of the sports world.

Though Paul stops short of writing about his highly-publicized romance with superstar Adele, 35, whom he began dating more than two years ago, he tells PEOPLE in this week's issue what it's taken for him to become the open and honest partner he is today.

"You start to build a wall up, day by day, brick by brick," Paul says of how he learned to shield himself from the traumas of his childhood. His mother Minerva struggled with drug addiction and often wouldn't come home for days on end. "It's like if someone growing up asked, 'What does your mom do?' " he says. "That wall was put up based upon my lack."

His circumstances at home coupled with what he learned as a kid gambling, and later dealing drugs, on the streets, hardened him even more. "I had no vulnerability," he says. "In the streets you don't ask questions. Even your significant other, they don't know anything. We weren't taught how to love the right way, how to be in a relationship the right way."

Paul, who in 2002 had a chance meeting with then-high school basketball phenom LeBron James at the Akron-Canton Airport, writes that he carried these issues with him long into adulthood.

Related: Rich Paul's New Memoir Detailing Traumatic Childhood 'Hit Home' for Partner Adele: 'It Was Very Emotional' (Exclusive)

"Years later, after I moved to Los Angeles, a woman I was seriously dating asked me about my brother," he shares in Lucky Me. "'Why are you asking so many questions?' I said in a tone that meant I wasn’t going to answer them. 'Rich', she replied, 'if I don’t ask questions, how are we supposed to get to know each other?' "

Paul says that was a turning point for him. "In that conversation I felt so small. She was right," he says. "You start to pile up this trauma and even throughout your success, it still has a place. I had to break that wall back down...I learned a lot."

Since then, "I've gotten better," he says of being vulnerable in life and in love. Sharing his new book with Adele is evidence of just that. "It was very emotional," he tells PEOPLE of her reaction to learning more about his troubled childhood, which likely surfaced sad memories of her own. “I think a lot of it probably hit home, so yeah, it was a difficult read [for her].”

Related: Rich Paul Responds to Rumors He and Adele Are Married, Says They're 'In a Good Space'

More than anything, Paul hopes that his struggles and ability to overcome them provide a roadmap to those who feel trapped in difficult situations and are seeking solace, and success.

"I've been lucky enough to manage my transitions in life and reposition myself to showcase my talents," says Paul. "But I look back on the trail and the journey and I don't just see me. I see a ton of different people. I've had a lot of help getting here to this point."

For more on Rich Paul's life and love story, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, available Friday.

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