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Sponsorship Sales

Sports Biz Mom: Megan Eisenhard, Learfield IMG College

August 28, 2019 by admin

Megan Eisenhard is the Vice President of Campus+ at Learfield IMG College, a position she has held since July 2018, where she is focused on creating best-in-class university partnerships for Learfield IMG College clients.  She also plays a vital role in the Learfield IMG College female-focused initiative – The W.O.W. Factor.

Previously, she served as the VP of Talent Acquisition for Learfield and oversaw the development of the company’s new talent acquisition structure. From 2014 to 2017 she held the title of West Region Vice President, providing senior leadership and guidance to select collegiate partners. 

Before her VP appointment, Megan spent five years as General Manager leading Learfield’s Buffalo Sports Properties team, representing CU in Boulder.  Her experience prior to joining Learfield in 2009 includes working with UC-Berkeley and Cal State-Sacramento.

Megan resides in Plano, TX with her husband, Eric, and sons Owen (6) and Henry (4).  Connect with her on LinkedIn. 

Can you tell us more about the Campus+ program and your day-to-day responsibilities at Learfield?

Campus+ is a division that started three years ago because we were receiving questions from both our university and brand partners about ways we could use our experience in the sports space to develop partnerships and generate revenue for their institutions.  In higher education there are a lot of federal and state funding cuts right now. Costs are escalating and universities are feeling a lot of pressure to reduce costs and increase revenues while still providing a meaningful educational experience for students, faculty and staff.  Lately there have been more business minded people who realize they need to sharpen the pencil and be more creative when it comes to revenue generation.  

We also heard of the need for campus-wide partnerships from our sports division – eventually our local sales team may run out of inventory to sell.  So we started to think about how we develop broader and deeper partnerships and expand what we have available to offer. When our company started Campus+, I was a Regional VP, overseeing the sales staff, so I saw the need and the value of campus-wide partnerships.  There was a change in leadership in Campus+ about a year ago, and in July I joined the Campus+ team because I missed the sales side of the business.  We are a small, nimble team, with only three people running the program.  With over 200 properties, we have to think carefully about what we’re prioritizing and how we are managing our time. I work with a portfolio of over one hundred schools, as well as our partner brands, to help to clarify and develop our Campus+ strategy.  My priority is anything that generates revenue. 

The fact that we’ve been on some of these campuses for ten to twenty years means we have a great connection.  The brands want to be on campus, market to students, faculty, staff, and alumni beyond game day. We were already able to do that socially and digitally, but we as a company decided to develop a campus-wide marketing program to navigate through the waters of campus.  Campuses are siloed and are not set-up to manage sponsorships, and brands need help to navigate those waters. Two examples of Campus+ partnerships are AT&T and Wells Fargo.

For AT&T, we’re not exactly doing marketing campaigns for their brand on campus, rather we’re making introductions so they can grow their business there.  They’ve been a long standing partner of Learfield and they were looking to expand their campus sales. So we discussed their key markets and priorities, and then I worked with the local Learfield General Managers to get the campaigns up and running. 

Wells Fargo sees the value in sports marketing and also being the official bank of the selected universities, including the University of North Carolina.  Their presence on campus includes doing financial literacy programs, recruiting students, and creating meaningful relationships with students, faculty, and staff to best support them financially as they transition throughout life.  Our team helps Wells Fargo decide what schools they work with, what those packages look like, and how they will execute.

You’ve helped to establish the W.O.W. Factor (Winning Our Way) at Learfield IMG which is focused on highlighting the success and sharing the stories of Learfield IMG College women.  Can you tell us more about this program and why you decided to become involved?

I always had a passion for women in sports.  When I became a salesperson I realized we needed more female sellers and I’ve been especially passionate about that.  As a General Manager at Colorado, I was always looking to help on a grassroots level and I often put together calls with the other women GM’s and would mentor sales coordinators who may want to get into sales roles.  When I moved to the corporate office as a Vice President I wanted to continue to do some grassroots things, such as meeting monthly or quarterly with women within our office.  

The actual program hasn’t been specifically defined, as we’ve never really had an official person to manage it.  However, it’s been a mix of networking, mentorship, camaraderie and professional development. Now that we’ve merged, we’re revamping that program so there’s more structure behind it.  I’ve enjoyed it being grassroots and some of it’s just what the women involved want it to be – whether it’s coffee or just telling someone about being a parent. I’ve also been very vocal about our maternity policy – it seems as though whenever someone gets pregnant in the field, they call Megan!  I love inspiring women and believe if you love to work, you’ll love to come back. 

I’ve found that routines are key to keeping the family on track, no matter the time of year or the demands of work. What routines have you set for your family to keep things moving when life gets crazy?

I wish I had more routines and structure.  Lately, what my husband and I have worked out is that I tend to get the kids ready for school and do the morning drop-off.  My husband does the pick-up from school. A lot of time I have happy hours or meetings in the office that take a bit longer; however, my goal is to be at home in the morning and then back by 6:00 PM.   

Our kids do have a routine at night: they take a shower, watch a little TV, brush teeth, say a prayer, and then go to bed. 

It’s taken awhile for us to come to this place.  I became Vice President when I was pregnant with my second child.  It was December and I was due in March. I traveled a bit, then I had a baby, and three months later we picked up and moved from Colorado to Dallas.  I had a two year old and a 3 month old and then I was on the road and gone a lot. We didn’t have any family in Dallas and it was really hard.  

Eric, my husband, was in a career transition, so when we first moved here, he didn’t have a job lined up.  He was taking care of two kids in a corporate apartment and then we rented a house for a year. It was a crazy, hard, time on our family, marriage and workload.  But, it’s interesting, because I was so into climbing the corporate ladder. I was a seller, then a General Manager, and finally Vice President. I wanted to prove that a female could be a VP with a family and kids.  That was my mindset.  

After a year of it, I took a step back and was wondering if it was really worth it.  I love being a leader of people, but I also needed to lead my family, so I shifted to a VP role in Talent Acquisition, which was just as challenging but didn’t require as much travel.  It’s funny, the higher up you get and the more you think you want something, you realize it’s not always what it seemed as you sit there in that position.  

When I was in Talent Acquisition I was in all these leadership meetings and in the know with what the company was doing.  However, it was super intense, and while I loved the opportunity, it was stressful and not where I saw my future career path headed.   So, last summer I moved to the Campus+ team and am back in sales.  

I love being back in a sales leadership role, but this time it’s different.  My boss is not based in Plano, I don’t have a team to manage and I’m not going to be in all these leadership meetings.  I was okay making another lateral move and I’m sure at some point I’m going to want to get back up there and have a seat at the table.  There are times in your career where you can take a step back and take a break. 

What project or professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

One is my time leading the Talent Acquisition team.  I’m proud on one hand because the leadership of the company thought I’d be a good fit for a role outside of my background and that was flattering; but, I had to build an entirely new department.  This included the team, our processes, figuring out metrics to measure, and managing up. It felt like I was building a plane while it was flying in the air, as recruiting never stops. There’s always turnover and jobs that need to be filled.  It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had. I’m glad I did that, and no one probably knows what went into that. I was glad I was able to do something totally outside my comfort zone, and do it well enough to leave it in a good place when I moved to Campus+.  I was able to hand it off to someone that I hand-selected to run the program. There aren’t a lot of times when you’re able to do that within a year and a half. 

In addition, while at Colorado, we developed a partnership with Safeway to increase breast cancer awareness at a football game.  It’s been done a million times since, but it means a lot to me because my Mom died of breast cancer when I was eighteen. Anyone who sells sponsorships has put together an idea, executed, and seen it come to life – it’s an amazing part of our job. I was able to sell the game, activate, and have survivors meet the team and be on the field.  I have a picture of all the survivors lined up on the end zone and it’s an experience I will always cherish.

Do you have other “Mom Mentors” or Moms working in sports to help guide you through parenthood and professional life?   

I wish I had more.  I’ve actually talked to my husband about this.  I have a few mentors, but they’re more like colleagues.

I am on the executive board of the WISE (Women in Sports & Events) chapter here in Dallas.  There’s a group of us that have been meeting unofficially for two years. There’s a few Moms on our board, and when we meet every month, I’ll end up talking to them about life and work outside of WISE.  They’re becoming my sports Mom group. I’ve met some really cool Moms working in sports that I wouldn’t have met without my involvement on the WISE board. 

Within Learfield there are a few women’s leaders in Director or VP roles.  They’re dealing with the same challenges, so we do sometimes get together in a safe space to talk about what it’s like.  

I love seeing women thriving in sales.  I think it’s a very big corner of the industry most women don’t automatically gravitate toward.  Have you seen more women starting in Account Executive and General Manager roles since you first started? If not, how can we encourage more women to pursue this track?

From a global perspective, Learfield IMG is involved in Women Leaders in College Sports, and we’ve developed a revenue generation track for their convention.  We make sure to focus on telling women there are opportunities other than being a SWA (Senior Woman Administrator) in college athletics.  The goal was to get more women to understand the opportunities available in revenue generation positions – including sponsorship sales, ticket sales and fundraising. It’s such a necessary skill if you want to be a leader.

I personally encouraged two women within Learfield whom I love dearly to take sales jobs – I saw a lot of my younger self in them. Originally, I didn’t think I would be in sales.  I was comfortable in activation, but someone pushed me outside my comfort zone and I’ve been in sales ever since.  Women are great salespersons. So these two women in our corporate office left to take sales positions at two of our Power Five schools; however, neither of them liked it. One came back to corporate and one took a job elsewhere.  I then realized that sales is not for everyone, but I’m going to keep encouraging others to try it. 

We absolutely need more women in sales and I know there are many that could be very good sellers.  You do have to like and enjoy sports and be excited about the sales process. I took the Talent Acquisition role because I wanted to hire more women in these roles.   

How has being a Mom made you better at your job?

Number one, I’m more protective of my time, and that forces me to be more efficient and prioritize better.  Number two, I love working. Being a Mom has forced me to not work so much. It’s given me the balance to have a happy home and a happy marriage, but it’s helped me realize that value in my life.  You can still be really good at your job, but you don’t always have to be working all the time. 

What non-traditional benefits do you think would help to make the sports industry more family-friendly?

It’s all down to your leader and how they’re going to set that expectation.  It’s about flexibility and autonomy. I’ve been so blessed that my bosses have given me the flexibility to do my business.  Whatever the case may be, having a culture of flexibility, autonomy and trust is extremely important. If you have that, I don’t think anything else matters.  Clearly, maternity leave matters, or maybe providing some additional perks like a housecleaning service for a newly returning mom; but, I think a boss that trusts you and knows your family is most important. 

No matter what industry you work in, that’s going to make it more family friendly.  The ability to bring your kids to a game and have your boss come over and meet your family, and really get to know them.  That’s why I’ve stayed at Learfield for ten years. I’ve been lucky to have great bosses and work at a company with a great culture. 

Being a Mom who works is not easy, no matter the industry.  However, the competitiveness and irregular hours can make sports extremely challenging for parents.  What motivates you to continue to pursue professional growth amidst some of these challenges?

Feeling like you’re making a difference and having sanity because I’m not dealing with six and four year olds all day.  God Bless the stay at home Moms! It is not in my DNA to stay at home. 

It’s also about doing something bigger than yourself and trying to teach my kids the right thing, especially with everything going on right now between the male and female culture.  I’ve always thought I’d be a cool girl Mom and now I have boys. It’s so important to tell the boys (if not more than the girls) that your Mom is working in a really cool industry because she can do what she wants.  This is what a healthy family looks like and you can have two jobs in your family. When you find your mate he/she can have a job, and you can treat women like the equals they should be.  

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Filed Under: Sports Biz Mom Interviews Tagged With: College Sports, NCAA, Sponsorship, Sponsorship Sales

Sports Biz Mom: Molly Wurdack-Folt, Detroit Red Wings/Detroit Tigers

April 12, 2019 by admin

Molly Wurdack-Folt was promoted to Vice President, Partnership Activation in March 2019. In her new role, Molly is responsible for leading the Corporate Partnerships’ activation group across the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers and Entertainment arms of the business; ensuring world-class experiences for partners through exceptional service, cutting-edge activation plans and flawless execution.  She also drives renewal sales efforts and developing cross-venue, multi-platform deals that leverage the sports & entertainment group’s unparalleled portfolio of properties.

Previously, Molly held the role of Director of Marketing Strategy for Olympia Entertainment. In that role, Wurdack managed the Corporate Partnership Marketing department, which she oversaw for more than seven years as the Director of Ticket Service and Corporate Partnership Marketing. She also sought out new opportunities for Red Wings sponsorships, working closely with the NHL and fellow NHL teams to grow revenue and expand relationships with key partners. Additionally, Molly managed two departments within the Marketing & Communications umbrella – Community Relations / The Detroit Red Wings Foundation and Guest Experience, which oversaw the Guest Connect Program focusing on guest experiences at Little Caesars Arena, the Fox Theatre, Comerica Park, and three outdoor amphitheaters.

Wurdack started with the Red Wings in May 2008 as the Manager of Ticket Service and Retention. In that role, she developed and implemented a new business unit, the Ticket Service and Retention department, which assisted in growing ticket retention and increased season ticket holder satisfaction. Wurdack was promoted to Director of Ticket Sales and Corporate Partnership Marketing in 2010 and oversaw client retention for all Red Wings season ticket holders, providing servicing, retention and upselling to these clients, along with overseeing the corporate partnership marketing team to fulfill and execute all sponsorship contracts. Prior to joining the Red Wings, Wurdack served as a Marketing Partnership Staff Assistant for the Miami Dolphins where she assisted in the execution and fulfillment of marketing partnership contracts.

Wurdack earned a Bachelor of Arts with a major in psychology and a minor in business from Ohio University and went on to earn her Master’s degree in sports and business administration from Ohio University as well. Wurdack currently resides in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., with her husband, Jason, son, Beckett and is expecting her second child this spring.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.  

Can you describe a “typical” day in the life for you and your family on a game-night or event day?

Every day is different for me.  A lot of that is driven by my husband’s work schedule. He’s a physician and his hours vary greatly – it could be afternoon, morning, or night shifts – so we are in constant communication about who is picking up, taking to preschool, swimming, etc.

I’m normally the one that gets Beckett up and makes breakfast in the morning.  I am more of a morning person than my husband and it’s nice to spend the time together.  We’re only ten minutes from daycare, so if I am dropping him off we leave around 7:45 AM. Then, I’m off on my thirty to forty minute commute to downtown Detroit.

On game days my husband normally picks up my son, and then I’m home around 10:00 PM.  There are times we have to get a sitter who picks Beckett up from school and watches him until my husband or I get home.  We don’t have family in the area, so that makes it a little more challenging. However, we’ve found some really great sitters who can pick-up [Beckett] early if need be.  

What project or professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

Being a part of the construction and opening of Little Caesars Arena. We worked really hard in the years leading up to that date to make sure the building was ready when the doors opened in September 2017. I was involved with both season ticket and corporate partnership planning throughout that process.

With season ticket holders, I played a significant role in the relocation process, pricing strategy, and go-to-market plan. Our process for relocating season ticket holders was very different than other new arenas or stadiums. We elected to bring every single season ticket holder, individually, through the preview center over eighteen months – all 3,500 accounts.  A lot of times when buildings are preparing to open, the organization sends out a link with information about comparable seat options and pricing. Then, season ticket holders have the opportunity to electronically accept or decline the offered seat location. However, we needed people to understand how drastically different the new building was; so, we felt we needed to have those (sometimes) difficult discussions, and talk about their options, prices, and benefits in person.

For sponsorship, I worked very closely with the Director of Partnership Sales to develop new rate cards and assets, our go-to-market strategy, and then tier the partnerships accordingly.  At the Joe we had a lot of a little with no differentiation between a $1 million and $50,000 partners. We established a hierarchy with Landmark, Cornerstone, and Foundation partners, worked with outside agencies to evaluate those numbers, and then developed the strategy to ultimately go to market. Our staff was also trained to ask for dollar amounts that our team had never even imagined we could ask for, and we created talking points to help with the justification behind that ask.

When you open a new building, you have the opportunity to learn the good, bad, and ugly from previously opened stadiums and arenas. We made countless trips to other areas to research things like wayfinding, concession stand branding, etc. It was a two to three-year process. Ironically, I was on maternity leave with Beckett when we first broke ground in 2014. I can recall sitting in my bed while he was sleeping next to me and I streamed the groundbreaking. We’ve come a long way since then!

What is next for the Red Wings and Olympia Entertainment now that Little Caesars Arena is open and started to find its place in downtown Detroit?

Little Caesars Arena 2.0 – which is continuing to build and improve upon year one within the building and the additional development opportunities in and around The District Detroit.

As we continue to host events in the building, we’ve realized that there are things that aren’t working or that need to be adjusted for one reason or another.  We’re constantly looking at how our building operates; how sponsors are integrated; and how we interact with season ticket holders.

In the sponsorship world specifically, it has been a learning process since we opened. Many of the deals we executed were sold 2+ years in advance of opening the arena. Therefore, we didn’t have a full understanding of how everything would come together. We are proactively working with partners to continuously improve upon their activation, integration and overall experience.

The guest experience is also a huge area of focus because that’s such a controllable element in all the venues we manage (Little Caesars Arena, Comerica, Fox Theatre, and our outdoor amphitheaters).  We’re thinking about what the overall guest experience means across all our venues and how the feedback of our guests drives business decisions. We have a lot of insight into what guests are saying and are trying to build consistency across venues.

There is also a strong focus on development in and around The District Detroit, which is a fifty block area around the arena. You’ll start to see a lot of groundbreaking in the next year to year and a half, led by our sister company Olympia Development.

How has being a Mom made you a better employee or leader?  

Being a Mom has given me more patience, better listening skills, and a stronger appreciation for the differences that everyone has in their life and what they may be going through.

I think back to my younger professional years, before I had Beckett, and it was all about just getting the job done and I don’t think I appreciated the true sense of living in the moment.  It was just about checking the box, and maybe that was a function of having a large workload. I worked endless hours, went in early and left late, and always questioned why people needed to leave early.  Untill I walked in their shoes, I didn’t understand the need for flexible hours. Now, due to my responsibilities outside of work, I spend much more time being strategic and thinking things through.

Have you noticed more or less difficulty in being away from home now that Beckett is older?

I may be unconventional, but I didn’t have a hard time going back to work. Of course, the first day was tough but I feel as though I am a better Mom because I work.  However, as I look to the future – the next year and beyond, I do struggle with what happens when school gets out at 3:30 or 4:00 PM and activities start to happen between 4:00 and 6:00 PM. How do you manage it all?

Do you have other “Mom Mentors” or parents working in sports to help guide you through parenthood and professional life?

I have had some tremendous female mentors in the sports industry but only a few of them have been moms themselves. There have been so few who have been moms, and while I have learned a ton from their leadership and guidance, it’s probably a major contributing factor as to why I waited longer to have children. I had a strong focus on my career in the early years.

Even over a decade after starting my career there are still not a lot of female mentors who are moms that I do business with in the industry. Hopefully, the next generation of women can have more females to emulate within the business.

What advice would you give to someone managing (or who works closely with) a Sports Biz Mom or soon-to-be Mom – particularly one who is not a parent themselves?  

Your employees shouldn’t be treated differently whether they’re a Mom, an elderly person who doesn’t like to drive at night, or a millennial.  We need to change our approach to how we look at colleagues. Of course, not every exception will be applicable to every individual; but in my opinion, we don’t need to approach work hours as we have historically within sports and entertainment.  

A year ago we [Olympia Entertainment] rolled out a flexible hours and work from home policy.  Not everyone is eligible and not everyone can participate – for example, someone who works at a box office window. However, our company is conservative and the fact that Olympia Entertainment was able to look at things differently and determine that this is the way of the world and it’s where companies are going is a great thing.

It’s a great benefit.  It helps in recruitment when we’re looking to attract talent and it allows for unconventional ways to get the job done.  There may be someone who works really well at night compared to in the morning. I’m probably getting more out of that person allowing them to work 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM than 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.   If you’ve done your job as a manager to hire the right people and be the best manager for them, they will go to work for you.

What non-traditional benefits do you think would help to make the life of a Sports Biz Mom easier?

The first thing that stands out is that companies need to have better family leave.  Just because I’m a woman and I deliver a baby does not mean the person next to me who adopts should not have the same benefits.  This also goes for fathers and paternity leave. The partner’s responsibilities at home after bringing home a new baby are just as important as those that delivered the child.

One other benefit that would make life easier is an at work concierge program. One of our sponsors provides this service to their colleagues and has seen tremendous returns and gratitude from colleagues.  The company fronts the cost of two employees who are concierge specialists, meaning they do errands for the colleagues that work there. They’ll pick-up the dry cleaning, make a return at Target, etc. Outside of work, the time spent on minute tasks is endless.  If I had someone to do those things while I’m at work it would be priceless.

Lastly, I believe companies need to do a better job of training Moms to go on maternity leave.  There should be a process in place to educate both men and women on preparing for leave. For example, basics on paperwork, what to expect when you come back, and what services the company provides when you return. This would alleviate a lot of stress for new parents.

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SPORTS BIZ MOM KEYS TO THE GAME:

Molly was one of the first people I approached with my idea for this blog, and I am so excited to finally share her story. Her encouragement helped give me the boost I needed to make this site happen and I hope her story helps another Mom believe that exceling in her career and growing her family are not mutually exclusive. Here are my key takeaways from our conversation:

  1. We need more family leave training/education: This idea seems like a no-brainer to me for most companies, but is one that is often overlooked. The process for filing for maternity leave, short-term disability, signing your child up for benefits, etc., is confusing and often comes with tight deadlines. We can help parents better prepare for a major life transition by providing full support and instruction. I also think it’s important to make sure anyone with supervisory responsibilities is trained in how to best support a new parent at the office.
  2. No family nearby? You can make it work! Having little to no family nearby is a challenge many parents in the sports industry face and has been something that I have personally had to overcome. I was encouraged to hear Molly’s success in finding sitters to pick-up her son when she and her husband are both working late. If this is cost prohibitive, consider an “babysitting swap” with a friend or other parent you trust. When you’re able, their kids can come over for a play date so they can also get a break. It may take some planning, but you can make it work!
  3. There’s no shame in wanting to work: I loved that Molly so honestly shared that she didn’t struggle with going back to work and that it’s helped to make her a better leader. If you’re excited to go back to work after leave, that doesn’t mean you don’t love your child, and that you should feel guilty. It means you’re going to set an awesome example for your family of what hard work and passion can accomplish. We have to quit “should-ing” on ourselves!

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Filed Under: Sports Biz Mom Interviews Tagged With: Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Family Leave, MLB, NHL, Sponsorship Sales

Sports Biz Mom: Amy Weinstein Flynn, CertifiKID

October 8, 2018 by admin

I was (and am) excited to share my latest interview with Amy Weinstein Flynn.   She contacted me right after Sports Biz Mom launched in June, and while I recognized her name from my graduate program’s alumni directory, we had never previously spoken.  Amy has an extensive background in sponsorship sales, and she’s also incredibly funny and creative.  In fact, I now have some great ideas for future crowd sourced blog posts (Funny pumping story? Please, hit me up!).  I appreciated her openness about her experience as one of the only Moms within her company when she had her first child, and it really drove home how important it is for all managers – no matter their gender or family status – to be educated and comfortable talking about family life with their employees.

After 15+ years in the traditional sports business world, Amy Weinstein Flynn joined CertifiKID in October 2017 as a National Account Executive, helping the team bring on new major partnerships and offers.  CertifiKID is a trusted resource for over 1 million moms, bringing them exclusive local and national offers on family entertainment, attractions, products, services, and experiences.  She came to CertifiKID after nearly 5 years as the Director of Sales for Inside Lacrosse, managing all advertising and event sponsorship sales for the largest media outlet in the sport.  

Prior to that, she held senior sales positions with IMG College/ISP Sports as General Manager at George Washington University and Assistant General Manager at Villanova.  She got her start in the sports industry on the agency side, with both Octagon and Velocity Sports & Entertainment (now part of MKTG), on accounts such as AT&T, FedEx, P&G, The Home Depot, and AutoTrader.com.   

Amy is a 2005 graduate of Ohio University’s Sports Administration program, with a dual Masters in Business Administration and Sports Administration.  She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2001, where she also served as a captain and 4-year starter for the Women’s Lacrosse team.  She resides in Columbia, Maryland, with her husband Dan, daughter Hannah (4.5 years), and son Bennett (2.5 years). Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Can you describe a typical day in the life for you and your family?  For the first time ever in my career, for almost a year now, I’ve been working from home – which is fantastic.  I’ve had some miserable commutes in past jobs. Traffic in the Washington/Baltimore area is horrendous, no matter where you need to go, so that has opened up so much time for me personally and professionally.

We have an au pair living in our home, which seems so extravagant, but it’s actually extremely affordable.  She’s been with us since shortly before our second child was born and it’s about half the cost of having two non-school aged kids in full-time daycare.

Our au pair gets the kids up in the morning, gets them dressed and gives them breakfast.  It’s amazing to just enjoy some time together in the morning, and I’m grateful we don’t have the stress and rush to get out the door.

Once my husband leaves for work, I go upstairs to my office.  The kids will go out on play dates or to school. Sometimes they’re around the house and doing things and its awesome to be able to join them for lunch when they’re home.

My office in the home is pretty secluded from their play/napping areas and they know when Mom’s working that she’s working.  We try to have family dinner every night and spend some time doing something fun together before everyone goes to bed.

You have 15+ years’ experience in the industry and in the past year decided to move to a role outside of traditional sports business world.  Can you tell us your thought process behind that decision? I had no intention of ever leaving the sports industry.  I always thought there was nothing I could be more passionate about in a career than sports and in particular, lacrosse. That’s why I thought I’d be in my spot at Inside Lacrosse for a very long time.

What I came to realize after having kids, was that I had changed a lot more professionally than I expected to.  Although I still loved my job (and couldn’t imagine doing anything else), I found myself starting to be less relevant, and less connected with the industry trends than I had been before.

Ever since my daughter was young, I’ve been a CertifiKID subscriber – most of the moms in our neighborhood are.  I’m very particular about spam in my Inbox, and delete and unsubscribe from just about everything, but I would always open my CertifiKID e-mails daily to see what that day’s deal was.  One night last year, I opened my daily CertifiKID e-mail, and instead of a local offer, it was an announcement that they were hiring full-time sales staff.  I remember reading that e-mail and thinking that the opportunity to work from home AND seek out local family deals sounded amazing – I mean, I was already spending much of my free time trying to find great deals on things to do with my own kids, so what could be better than doing that full-time?  It was the first time I’ve ever just blindly sent in a job application without having some kind of foot already in the door.  I didn’t even know where to find my résumé in my files, and I think it was in a version of Word that was so old I couldn’t even open it on my computer!  I honestly didn’t think it would lead to anything, and I didn’t know much about them as a company, other than being a customer myself.  After I received a response from my application and started to learn more, I knew I had to go all-out and give it a chance.  It was a leap of faith on many levels, but I’m so glad I made it.

What I’m really loving is that there is a ton of crossover into the sports and entertainment world.  I was just back and forth with some old friends at Octagon and the NFL this week because I’m trying to pitch a partnership with Home Depot for their kids’ workshops, and the NFL for their  Women’s Marketing Initiatives. I’ve also worked with a bunch of the local college and professional teams – some of our best-selling offers are for family ticket packages, sports camps, and other family events run in the sports facilities.  I probably have a more relevant and valuable partnership opportunity within the sports and entertainment industry now than I did at Inside Lacrosse. It’s the women and moms that make all the purchasing decisions for their families, so they’re a desirable target, and we have a super unique platform to reach them.

Do you or did you have other “Mom Mentors” or Moms working in sports to help guide  you through parenthood and professional life? I really didn’t, and I think that’s such a shame.  I’d be curious to hear what kind of answers you’re getting from other women you’re talking to.  I was with IMG when my daughter was born and it was kind of an office of one. I was running the property for George Washington. I was surrounded by co-workers in GW’s Athletic Department and none of them were Moms. Nor were there any in my immediate IMG division.  In fact, I remember when I first called to tell my boss I was pregnant, he was ecstatic and thrilled for me…but then told me that he had absolutely no clue what to tell me in terms of maternity leave policies, next steps, logistics, etc. He was an SVP and had been there since before ISP became IMG (probably 15 years), and this was the first time any of his employees had needed to take maternity leave.  At the time, with the seventy or so properties that IMG managed, I think there were maybe three female General Managers.

How has being a Mom positively impacted your career? Two things: I didn’t realize how capable I was of multitasking and being able to get a lot of shit done when I needed to until I became a Mom.  Over the course of the baby taking a short 20-minute nap, I could manage to feed myself, shower, put the laundry away, and unload the dishwasher.  When I returned to work after maternity leave, I think I was able to get through the daily, mundane tasks in about half the time it took me before.

Before having kids, we all work such long hours, have great coworkers and a fun energetic work environment, and aren’t in a rush to leave at the end of the day.  Now, I’m also more motivated to end work on time.  I was able to really compartmentalize work and focus more on my work-life balance.  Those of us that have chosen a career in sports, we’re so passionate about what we do, that we never stop working.  We get into bed and respond to emails, are constantly working on our phones and laptops, and find little time to focus on much else.  However, I realized in my first few months back from maternity leave, that once you get home and see that little smile on your baby’s face, all the stress from the day goes away and you realize what’s really important.  I’m now able to manage any stress from work much better, and be more present when I’m at home.

The sports industry is always going to have irregular hours that are difficult to manage with a family.  If you want to work in the industry, that’s just a fact.  What can we in the industry do to make it a more family-friendly place to work?  Education and support.  Before I was a mother, I had absolutely no clue what the early stages of motherhood entailed. When someone in the office came back from maternity leave, I just treated them like I did before they left, thinking they has been out for some glamourous, blissful extended vacation.  Now I know how far from the truth that is, and it infuriates me anytime maternity leave is compared to “vacation”.

I think we need to educate younger coworkers (or co-workers without children) about what new mothers returning to the workplace have been through and will continue to go through both physically and emotionally.  I also think breastfeeding education for managers is key.  We need to make it a welcoming environment for mothers to come back.

What advice do you have for women coming up in the industry, particularly in sponsorship sales, who also know they want to someday have a family? It can be done. It can be a harder transition coming back to work in sports as compared to other industries, but I feel that being a mom provides a unique and valuable perspective to your work once you do come back.

Because there are so few Moms in sponsorships sales, it almost gives you a professional edge in speaking to clients.   There are many female decision makers out there who are Moms, and it’s refreshing for them to speak with or work with someone who gets it.  Even men – whether they’re coworkers or clients – if they are dads themselves, they’re going to understand and appreciate what you’ve been through.  You’ll probably see a side of clients and coworkers that you didn’t before, which can definitely help strengthen your relationships with them both professionally and personally.

Do you have a funny or embarrassing Mom moment you’d be willing to share? While I was gone on maternity leave from IMG, the Athletic Department at GW got a new copier/printer – a huge monster of a machine – and they put it right smack in the middle of my (private/single) office. It was the hub for three different departments for printing, scanning, copying, faxing, etc.

My boss texted me a picture the week before maternity leave ended, saying “This is where Marketing put their new printer.  Welcome Back, Mom!”

So, every time I had to pump, I had to announce it to the entire office, to make sure no one had any immediate printing needs or needed to pick up anything from the printer  – it definitely was not a welcoming environment.  When I voiced concerns about the privacy/conflict, I was told that I should be using one of the GW lactation rooms that were spread across the campus.  The closest one to my office was at least 4 large city blocks away, and I was returning in the bitter cold of January, so that just wasn’t going to happen.

 

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Filed Under: Sports Biz Mom Interviews Tagged With: Au Pair, CertifiKID, George Washington, Inside Lacrosse, Pumping, Sponsorship Sales

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