Alex Simons was named the Director of Partner Services & Community Engagement for the Cincinnati Bengals in June 2018. She has worked for the Bengals since 2015 and previously held the role of Suite Services Manager & Community Relations Representative.
A graduate of Miami University (OH), Alex has also worked as a Private Events Manager for Paul Brown Stadium and a Marketing & Communications Manager for Resident Home Corporation.
Alex lives in the Cincinnati area with her husband and four sons, Tyler (9), Bentley (6), Bryson (5), and Hig (2). Connect with her on LinkedIn.
What are your day-to-day responsibilities with the Bengals?
My primary responsibility is overseeing our partnership activation team, entertainment and activation on game day and establishing our community engagement strategy. While no two days are exactly the same, my crew and I ensure that our partners’ expectations are met and exceeded. We want their brands to be one of the top five things our fans remember when they leave our stadium, website, social channels, etc. Our activation team supports about 160 partners with five full-time employees and three interns.
Can you describe a typical day in the life for you and your family during the season?
We say teamwork makes the dream work all the time at home! There are 4 kids and 2 parents— everyone has to pitch in! The typical day means getting up way too early! My alarm goes off at 5:15 AM. Getting a full night’s sleep in our house is typically easy—we’re blessed with four boys who LOVE TO SLEEP. I fully anticipate a future of boys who, if they had way cooler parents, would sleep until noon.
We’re very boring. We stick to the routine every day. The kids need the structure – we all thrive with it. Once the boys are up, some get our help in the morning, some don’t. If you’re in school, Mom doesn’t need to help you brush your teeth, get dressed, etc. If you forget to put your library book in your book bag – I hope you’ll remember next week. My husband takes the younger two to daycare shortly before 7:00 AM and I take the older two to school by 7:30 AM.
You were promoted to your current role prior to the start of the 2018 season. Has this new opportunity required any major changes to your schedule with your family?
I get home between 6:00 or 6:30 PM and dinner is usually on the table (thanks to my amazing man). Some nights half of us are out the door for a practice of some sort. And now that we have two in school, we have to find time for homework, reading, doing flashcards, etc. Then, because they’re boys and they’re disgusting, we will do baths if they have time – but, sometimes it’s just a baby wipe bath. We try to have the kids in bed by 8:30 PM, and then it’s doing dishes, laundry, and getting ready for the next day. By the time we are able to slow down its after 10:00 PM and we just want to fall in bed.
I’ve been very fortunate, because for the most part, it’s been very similar – or at least now it is. When I took the new role it was less than a month before our season started, and I took on a role that really, I felt I had no business taking. I don’t have a sponsorship background, other than working alongside those in sponsorships at the Bengals, and I still have a lot of learning to do. The first few months I wasn’t at home much. I was working a lot of hours to keep all the balls in the air at work. I had to rely on my husband a lot to help. We’re kind of back to normal now which is really appreciated.
Previously, I was on the suite services side, which at our organization, is tied to the corporate partner world. It [Suites] still aligns somewhat with our ticketing department, but our corporate partnership team is responsible for selling those spaces. It makes a lot of sense in my mind because you don’t have a lot of individuals or families purchasing suites. It’s the business community.
Do you have a favorite event or project from your time with the Bengals?
One of my favorite things about working at the Bengals is that we’re a tight knit organization. This affords many of us the opportunity to be involved in things that we’re interested in or those areas outside your wheelhouse. So, when there are unique one-off projects going on, you’re able to engage.
2017 was our 50th season, and we focused on engaging our longtime season ticket member base and reengaging our Legends (The NFL has started calling former players Legends). I felt very privileged to be tasked with managing the Legends portion of our 50th season. I had the responsibility of finding out a way to connect with the 800+ former players across the country. How could we connect with them and encourage them to come back?
We honored fifteen to twenty-five Legends at each home game that season. We held activities and events with them the day before that also engaged our fan base. The night before every home game, we had a Legends Storytelling Dinner. We invited Legends, their guests, season ticket members, and corporate partners. These were small – never more than seventy-five people.
The Legends told stories the whole night and engaged with the guests directly. I swear, there must be some unspoken requirement that you have to be a good storyteller to be a Legend! They were phenomenal stories, and as a football fan, I was able take off my work hat and just enjoy the evening. These dinners will be memories I keep forever! On game day, we created opportunities for just the Legends to just enjoy themselves and each other’s company. It was such a memorable season! Definitely one for my book!
Do you have other “Mom Mentors” or Moms working in sports to help guide you through parenthood and professional life?
This was tough question for me. I have mentors on the business side. I never really looked at them as mentors because of being parents – more for their business savviness or their reputation in the community.
There is a woman I work with and while I’ve never officially thought of her as a parent mentor, she’s always been an industry mentor. She and her husband have two adult daughters, and she’s been with the company for over 20 years.
I know how hard she works; I see her there every day for hours. As Moms, we put self-inflicted guilt on ourselves, because we work so much. That guilt is relentless. I choose to work in an industry that isn’t 40 hours a week. I’m constantly wondering if the time I’m spending here at work is going to lead to my kids resenting me. I don’t play with them as much as other Moms, or go to the zoo, classroom parties, or on field trips.
I’ve had the opportunity to experience my colleague’s daughters over the years and they’ve always been close to their Mom. I look at the girls now, as adults, and how close they still are with their Mom. They don’t live in Cincinnati anymore but when they’re home, they’re always here at the stadium or taking their Mom to lunch. They just want to hang out with their Mom.
I see this and know I don’t need to feel guilty. As much as two people work, you can still have a close relationship with your kids. I think your kids will respect you for it and love you regardless.
One of my goals for the blog is to be a resource both for working Moms but for sports industry leaders who work with or manage Sports Biz Moms. What advice would you give to someone managing (or who works closely with) a Mom or soon-to-be parent – particularly one who is not a parent themselves?
The first thing that came to mind for me is offering grace; because, life is messy. Especially when you have two parents that work. Kids get sick and you have to adjust schedules. There’s already enough self-inflicted guilt. As a manager, offer grace and don’t add to that already self-inflicted guilt that your staffer is inevitably feeling.
Sometimes that can be hard to do as a manger, because you’re thinking , “I need you here to get your job done.” When you’re busy in our own world trying to lead and get done what you need to do, if you’re a (wo)man down it can be so easy to forget that your employees have stuff too.
What sort of example do you hope to set for your kids as a Mom who works?
Hard work pays off. I want to instill in my kids that you have to work hard to be successful. The world will not give you what you want, just because you want it. I want to see my kids work hard and reap the rewards. They know the toys in their room are because their parents work hard (Santa doesn’t get all the credit at the Simons house).
We want our kids to know life is not easy and you do not get things handed to you. You have to earn them and work hard for them – whiners are wieners comes out of my mouth at least once a day! You don’t get anywhere in life by bitching about your situation. If you don’t like what’s going on…change it.
Do you have any final thoughts or additional questions you’d like me to ask other women that I speak with?
I always feel like I’m hearing Moms talking about the guilt. I hate that word. It’s there and it sucks. At the same time, I think it’s important to not feel guilty when you just have a day when you want to come home, feed the family frozen pizza, watch TV and just veg out (and maybe force one of your kids to cuddle on the couch with you). Nope, Mom needs time for Mom, I haven’t had any time for myself and I don’t feel bad about it.
Your kids need you to be mentally healthy – whatever that means to you.
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SPORTS BIZ MOM KEYS TO THE GAME:
- Offer Grace: Kids get sick, schedules change, basements flood – life happens. We should offer grace to all employees, regardless of their parental status; but, those of us who have personally experienced the unpredictability of children should be especially careful to not pile on to anyone’s personal guilt party.
- Teach Accountability: I LOVED that Alex’s school-aged boys are responsible for getting themselves dressed, brushing their teeth, packing their bags, etc. As parents, it’s so hard not to try to manage every part of our child’s lives, because, well, we could certainly do it faster. However, I think it’s important to remember that our job is also to raise capable adults who understand how to learn from their mistakes. This piece of the interview stuck out to me in a big way, even though my 2 year old isn’t quite ready for it…
- If You Don’t Like It, Change It: I think this is another important lesson for our kids, and one that I still have to remind myself of on a regular basis. We have to work hard for the things we want/need in life – whiners are weiners!
What a great story about how the real world works. Great job to you both.
Thank you, Sandra!