admin

This interview was a a fun one for me to do, not only because it was my first posting from a Mom in collegiate athletics; but, also because this Sports Biz Mom is also my former boss!  When I was a young, naive,  Marketing Intern with Nebraska Athletics (#MarketingWinsChampionships) Corrie Schantz was the Director of Athletic Marketing and we’ve fortunately kept in touch as she’s progessed in her career through some of the largest athletic departments in the country.  I was also excited because Corrie is expecting her first child (at least as I write this – the clock is ticking for this small human) and I thought it would be valuable to gain perspective from a soon-to-be Mom in the sports industry.  It’s no secret that college sports can be a grind and I hope Corrie’s experience can provide encouragement to women in similar positions.   Thank you, Corrie, for sharing your story during such a busy time in your life. I can’t wait to do a follow-up once the little one arrives!

Corrie Schantz is in her second year as the Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Marketing and Fan Engagement at the University of Connecticut.  She oversees both the marketing and video services areas of the Division of Athletics and is a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Corrie joined UConn after serving as the Assistant Athletic Director-Marketing at the University of Texas. She also served as the Assistant Athletic Director-Marketing at the University of Minnesota from 2013-16 and had oversight of the marketing, new media, video board production and spirit squad units. Schantz was the department’s daily liaison with Gopher Sports Properties and developed a student ticket sales campaign that saw a 118% growth in three seasons.

From 2011-13, Corrie was the Assistant Athletic Director-Marketing at Virginia Commonwealth University and developed a brand marketing campaign for VCU to capitalize on its run to the 2011 NCAA Men’s Final Four.  Prior to joining VCU, Shantz spent four years as the Director of Athletic Marketing at Nebraska and from 2004-2007, she was the Director of Marketing for Nelligan Sports Marketing at Colorado State University.

Schantz was a member of the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators Board of Directors from 2015-16. She took part in the NCAA/Women Leaders In College Sports Institute for Administrative Advancement in 2014.

She received her bachelor’s degree in sports administration and business administration from the University of Nebraska-Kearney in 2001 and her master’s in sports administration from the University of Northern Colorado in 2003.   She lives in Connecticut with her husband, Adam, and is expecting her first child this fall.

What are your day-to-day responsibilities with UConn Athletics? As an administrator, my primary responsibility is to provide leadership and management to the units and individuals for the various departments I oversee, including our marketing department, which includes marketing, social media and graphic design, our video services department, which includes live production and content creation, and our men’s and women’s tennis teams as their sport supervisor.

I serve on our leadership team, the senior administrators on our staff, our external team, and I serve as one of the primary liaisons to IMG, our sponsorship rights holder.  Strategically on a day to day basis, I am primarily responsible for revenue generation, ticket sales and attendance, fan experience, fan engagement and strategic partnerships.  All of those encompass a myriad of things including sales and branding campaigns, student engagement, gameday experience and presentation, etc.

To date, what project or career accomplishment are you most proud of? I think there are several moments I could reflect on and be incredibly proud – including a campaign at VCU that ultimately helped capitalize on a Final Four run the season prior that really helped leverage the VCU Basketball brand.  The end result was a very successful campaign that garnered some national media attention but what stands out the most from that particular experience is the relationship that was built with the coach and program from that effort.  I think the key factor for any level of success is the ability to build relationships, which I’ve found stem from a foundation of trust, accountability, communication and transparency.

I mention the above example, however, I think the accomplishment that stands out the most to me personally is the ability to be in a leadership position as a female in college athletics and be a resource and a mentor to encourage, motivate and inspire other females and young professionals pursuing careers in this field.  I truly feel it is a personal responsibility, and something that I’m obligated to give back simply from my own experience and journey.  If I had had a mentor earlier on in my career to help build confidence, perhaps help me find my voice and overall how to be better positioned and prepared to face some of the challenges that we do, such as being the lone female in a meeting, how to balance being direct but respected, etc., I don’t think I would have questioned myself as much as I did.  I’m fortunate now that I have several females that have helped me tremendously and that I look up to, but I think the early years are so critical in terms of your outlook, attitude, approach, etc., that having that network and support is key to long-term success for us as females.  I’m very intentional and passionate about how I can impact other females, whether they choose to stay in this field or not, but a couple of years ago the term “lift as we rise” became a working order for me personally.

The sports industry, and in particular collegiate athletics, is notorious for its demanding schedule and long hours.  As a leader in your organization, how would you suggest women and/or parents approach the subject of flexibility with their supervisors? With the advancement of more and more females in leadership roles, either as coaches, administrators, executives, etc., I do think there has been some progress in making better accommodations and willingness to be flexible to better position women with children to be successful long-term for higher retention of females in this industry.  However, ultimately, it is up to the leader of your organization and while we’ve made progress, not all are making such accommodations which to me inevitably means we’re going to unfortunately continue to lose some very talented and valuable women in this field.  There’s substantial room for more male leaders to be advocates, proponents of and supporters of advancing women and help position them for long-term success.

Let’s be honest.  I literally found out I was pregnant from an unexpected phone call from my doctor as I was standing outside in March putting our women’s basketball team on a bus to go to the airport for the Final Four in a send-off party on campus.  From that moment it became “real” that two worlds are inevitably colliding!  What I have been transparent about to my supervisor is as a first-time mom (and a tad bit older one at that!) is that I don’t know what or how this is going to look or work for me and my family, that I can’t sit here today and say yes, I’ll still be in the office from 8-5, I’ll still be at most of our events and accessible on my cell phone 24/7.  There’s inevitably going to be some change and we’re both going in anticipating and being prepared for change – even though right now we may not know exactly what that looks like or how it will work.  I’ve been very transparent in reassuring him that my goal by making small accommodations and flexibility is that I will continue to be accountable and reliable, and that I’m confident that not only can I continue being an administrator, but also continue to grow professionally and have a sustainable future in college athletics.

Sidebar:  I met my husband a little later in life, so up until meeting him I just kept forging forward with my career – moving wherever and whenever the next right opportunity came up.  However, when I did meet him my priorities, albeit surprisingly, naturally started to shift, then we got married, then we got a puppy and I saw them shift even more (never thought I’d be “that person” – a dog mom!).  Early on in my career, and this will totally sound cliché, but I had an epiphany.  Mentally and emotionally I was bringing work home with me every single day and I was questioning if I could see myself doing this longer-term.  At the time I thought that as a female if I didn’t show the same level of drive, passion, grit and work ethic day in and day out that I wouldn’t succeed or thrive in this field.  I decided literally in that moment that by choosing instead of letting this career define me, to simply be a part of me, that I could still be all those things but still be “me”.  I can’t even begin to express how such a simple decision changed my outlook on life and on my career.  Over time and particularly in most recent years I’ve been more okay and comfortable with not giving every project 110%, or accepting that anything less than 110% wasn’t deemed a “success”, or feeling obligated to say “yes” to every task, challenge, etc.

My husband and I had to have some serious, sometimes tough, and honest conversations before we dove into this process (not only planning for a family but commit to a process to get pregnant) and to be honest I had to have a lot of conversations with myself.  It was important for me to “bare all” if you will, so that along with all of the joy, happiness and excitement building a family would bring, that he also knew my fears, my anxieties and my concerns and just as important – that I processed them myself.

The emotional planner in me had to be prepared for some very real scenarios – am I ready to sunset my career if unexpectedly I’d rather stay at home?  If I continue working can I truly be the mom I want to be or envisioned to be?  On the flipside to working, can I continue to be the driven, committed and passionate professional that I’ve been?  Ultimately I think I felt I would be dis-servicing someone or something.  Additionally, we’re still relatively new to Connecticut so we don’t have a huge circle of friends or a “village” established, our closest family is 650 miles away, my husband travels fairly significantly for his job, etc. so there were a lot of other factors that were also leaving me a little nervous and anxious.  Ultimately, I needed to know that as partners, my husband heard me and understood me, but that I was prepared myself.

Did I overthink it a little too much?  Probably, but when you work in an external unit where most every decision you make plays out in some fashion on a public pedestal it’s just natural!

I think what’s been tough in having this conversation with other women and moms, and the response has repeatedly been “you’ll find a way to make it work”.  I think I’ve always known that, have always operated that way, and have embraced that approach.  But after what feels like the 50^th time you’re like okay I get it, but I was hoping to find more women or perhaps hear more encouragement or words of advice – perhaps at the end of the day it truly is as simple as that.  But I am hopeful that if you ask me that question a year from now that I can say “lean in” to other women and colleagues, be realistic and prepared for your career to change in some fashion, recognize that it will be different and accept you may “mom fail” at some things, it will be normal to question if you’re a good mom or spending enough quality time with your kids.  So far I’ve gotten one response that makes me tear up now thinking about who it came from, I said “I’m going to need some tips from one of the best moms I know”, and her response was “You already know the answers.  Starts with L and ends with E.  It all starts and ends there.”

You’ve worked at Texas, Minnesota, VCU, Nebraska and now Connecticut.   Were there other Moms in those athletic departments? Can you recall how they integrated their families into their work life? Most definitely yes, there were other moms, but did I pay attention or learn from them as much as I should have?  Definitely not!  What I recall most is almost fascination – as in how are they doing this?  How is our director of ticket operations working every single Saturday from late August to January, travelling half of the season – leaving on Fridays for away football games and getting back in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday and then fully functioning on Monday all over again back in the office?  I think what I probably wasn’t in tune to was the support system behind them, at both work and home, and likely how they adjusted their work schedule to better accommodate their family but changes that were fairly invisible to colleagues.  Of course having families at athletic events or other events such as community outreach or fundraising efforts has almost always been the case – which is one of the things I love about college athletics.  I think I learned a long time ago that it was no longer about balance – it really doesn’t exist anymore – but integration as you mentioned.

You’re currently part of the senior leadership team at Connecticut.  Do you think your experience as a new Mom and the flexibility you may/may not be afforded would be different if you would have started a family at an earlier point in your career? That’s a tough one for me to answer as I honestly don’t know.  But again I do truly think it depends on your leadership.  There was a video that was viral of the Florida volleyball head coach, and how if it had not been for her athletic director to allow her to bring her kids with her on road trips and travel with her, as well as doing the same for other athletic support staff members such as athletic trainers, or make accommodations or help find resources on campus to help, is the key to retaining women in this profession.  My athletic director feels strongly about females in our industry and finding and creating opportunities to advance women is important to him, so I’m confident that he truly believes flexibility will be key for me to continue to be successful and continue to progress in this field.

I think if I were true to myself, I could probably say if I had had children early on in my career, I’m not so sure I would have kept pushing myself to progress in this industry, but that’s only something I can say in hindsight knowing what I know now.   Perhaps it is better not knowing!

Can you tell us about your conversation with your boss when you told he/she you were expecting? Is there anything you would have done differently? Like some other women whose stories I’ve read, I was absolutely petrified to tell both my boss and athletic director that I was expecting.  In full transparency I shared this with them after the fact, but I, like many others, had absolutely no reason to substantiate this fear from them personally.  I’ve known them both for quite some time and knew they would be nothing but supportive, excited and happy about our news.  My overall experience as a female in this industry is what I feel built that fear and not necessarily just for moms, but females in general.

Was I going to start being overlooked for opportunities or additional responsibilities? Or, are they going to pass on me now due to my “situation” so as not to put too much on my plate?  I’ve always felt I’ve had to work harder, smarter, take on more, etc., either from self-pressure or from true experiences.  I think the only thing I would have done differently is communicate my commitment more and desire to continue working. I think I was so focused on just getting the news out itself that I didn’t put much thought into my future plans.

What are you doing to prepare for maternity leave? I don’t know that I’m the best example – as I still feel totally unprepared and that’s not me at all.  I feel like I’m failing both at home and at work, the nursery still needs A LOT of TLC and work, I’m still wrapping up plans that probably should have been done weeks ago.  But, I have faith and confidence that everything will be fine.  My sister keeps telling me as long as I have the essentials to bring a baby home (car seat, diapers, etc.) to not worry and I’m confident that when I’m gone at work there will be a new norm for some but nothing that drastic.

Have you discussed your transition back to work with your boss? Definitely, because it’s my first and because I do have a great relationship with my boss I’ve been transparent in managing expectations – which I know can be difficult conversations.  I don’t know how things will change, what will be realistic, etc., so we’ve talked about a different work schedule in terms of hours, possibly working from home one day a week, etc.  I think the biggest takeaway is the ability for both of us to be flexible and expect the unexpected, that what we plan may change.  I intend to check in at some point when I have a better sense and realistic idea of what our new reality and day to day looks like so we can both be on the same page.  We have an understanding that while on maternity leave I may start to check in occasionally, but if I don’t that’s okay too.  My husband and I are very blessed and fortunate to be in this position at all (being pregnant), so the priority is definitely being focused and present at home and not have guilt or concerns while I’m away.

Have you and your husband determined what type of childcare you use when you return to work? We are going to be using a childcare facility located within the community of our campus.  Unfortunately we live about 45 minutes from campus, for anyone that’s ever been to UConn, Storrs is very unique in being fairly remote!  We wanted to live somewhere we felt we could build a community or “village” so sacrificed a little on having a commute.  For the first year I felt it was important to be close to the facility for the times my husband will be travelling, I definitely needed that peace of mind although I am struggling internally with having to force our baby join in on the commute with me.

SPORTS BIZ MOM KEYS TO THE GAME:

1. You already know the answers.  Starts with L and ends with E.  It all starts and ends there.
2. You don’t have to let your career define you, it can be a big, important part of your life; but, it’s not what makes you, you.
3. Even if you don’t yet have or want children, pay attention to the Moms in your office now and how they manage their home and work responsibilities.  Their experience can speak volumes of your employer’s willingness to support your life outside of the office, while also helping you determine what you would like that experience to look like for yourself.