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Repost Series: Exploring Careers Beyond the Field w/ Kathleen Waddell Coyle
11 Plays2 months ago
In this episode of The Goode Guide, Shanarra sits down with Kathleen Waddell Coyle, VP of Sales for the Minnesota Vikings, for an eye-opening conversation that pulls back the curtain on the business of professional sports—and the powerful lessons it holds for all of us, no matter the industry.
From her early career navigating sales roles across the NFL and NBA to building a life and leadership legacy back in her hometown of Minneapolis, Kathleen shares what it means to grow your career in male-dominated spaces, lead with purpose, and build inclusive workplaces that walk the talk.
You’ll hear how she's reshaping the fan experience, empowering the next generation of women in sports, and redefining what it looks like to be both ambitious and grounded.
✨ Expect truth, laughs, insights, and a reminder that success doesn’t always mean “what’s next”—sometimes, it means being exactly where your feet are.
Timestamps:
Getting into the Business of Sports
[5:14]
Kathleen walks us through her start in sports—from an NBA job fair to rising in sales across the Cavs, Jets, and 49ers—and how the stars aligned to land her at the Minnesota Vikings.
Life at the Minnesota Vikings
[11:48]
She shares how her role evolved with the opening of the new stadium and what “game day experience” actually means behind the scenes.
Climbing the Ladder (Without Losing Your Balance)
[18:25]
Shanarra and Kathleen dive into navigating a sports career, being a woman in a male-dominated field, and creating authentic paths to leadership.
Diversity, Equity, and Impact
[27:42]
How the Vikings became a leader in DEI efforts—and why it matters for retention, culture, and community connection.
Breaking the Mold in Women’s Sports
[38:59]
A powerful discussion on the rise of women’s sports, gender bias, and why women trash-talking on the court is long overdue.
Sales, Seasons, and Work-Life Flow
[47:30]
Kathleen gives a real look at what balance means in a high-stakes sales role—and how seasons of business mirror seasons of life.
Leadership That Uplifts, Not Micromanages
[55:46]
She shares her coaching-forward approach to management and how to give feedback that empowers.
Career Advice to Her 22-Year-Old Self
[1:04:12]
Kathleen drops a mic-drop mantra: “Be where your feet are.” A grounding reminder to anyone chasing goals while juggling it all.
🎧 Subscribe to The Goode Guide on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app—and share this episode with a woman who’s defining success on her own terms.
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Transcript
Introduction to The Good Guide Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey there, welcome to The Good Guide, your ultimate career companion. I'm Shannara Good, and I've been on quite the career roller coaster. From the trenches of entry-level positions to the boardrooms as a now more seasoned professional.
00:00:15
Speaker
Believe me when I say i have been there and know that I've acquired some wisdom over the years that I cannot wait to share with
Addressing Career Challenges
00:00:22
Speaker
you. Ever felt like you're on your career journey solo?
00:00:26
Speaker
Or maybe you're curious about conquering career plateaus, overcoming imposter syndrome, or leading with unwavering confidence. Well, I promise you are in the right place.
00:00:38
Speaker
Every week, my guests and I will share our own challenges and successes. We'll talk about everything from career development to leadership to even work-life balance. Expect a healthy dose of authenticity and of course, our tips and tricks that will have you navigating your career with a newfound confidence.
00:00:58
Speaker
Don't miss out on the knowledge drop, y'all.
Subscribe for Career Insights
00:01:01
Speaker
Hit that like, subscribe, and follow button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Trust me, you won't want to miss an episode.
00:01:12
Speaker
Because this is the good guide, where we're not just chasing success, we're defining it. Are you ready to elevate your career game? Let's dive in.
Introducing Kathleen Waddell Coyle
00:01:27
Speaker
On today's episode, I am so, so, so excited because I finally feel like in this episode, I'm learning something new, like not just in the sense that I'm getting to know someone in a new way, but I'm genuinely learning information for the very first time that I never knew previously. I sat down with someone that I actually know from eons and eons ago. So Kathleen Waddell Coyle is a friend of mine that I actually met back when I lived in Minneapolis, probably around 2015 or so.
Kathleen's Career Journey
00:02:05
Speaker
We were both in this organization called the Junior League and it was an organization for women We came together, did a lot of different volunteer work um within the Twin Cities. And so I met Kathleen. She had recently moved back to Minneapolis, which is where she's from.
00:02:23
Speaker
And she was working for the Minnesota Vikings within their sweet sales world. And I remember at the time learning a little bit about it. Minneapolis was a couple of years out from opening a brand spanking new stadium right in downtown Minneapolis. They'd had a stadium that was pretty old. And I think at one point it even like had caved in because of the snow or whatever. But so Kathleen was within the sweet sales world.
00:02:53
Speaker
And over the years, even as I left Minneapolis and as I've worked in my various jobs, I've always kept tab on the work that she was doing with the Minnesota Vikings.
00:03:04
Speaker
And she is now the vice president within the organization within sales.
Women in Sports Industry
00:03:09
Speaker
And I really wanted to sit down with her because, as I mentioned, like me being in the retail world, me having been in the CPG space, like I know so much there. I know a lot about the world of which I'm in.
00:03:22
Speaker
Right. But I don't really know much about the corporate side of certain industries. And sports is one of those industries that I'm like, obviously, there's a corporate side. Obviously, there's the side of the business that has nothing to do with the actual team side.
00:03:37
Speaker
physical athletics themselves and there's the marketing and there's the PR and there's the sweet sales and so I wanted to sit down with Kathleen today to understand a little bit more about her world but also talk about her being a female in a predominantly male dominated world that is sports.
00:03:58
Speaker
So I came to learn a lot about the industry that she's in and I'm really excited to dive into this episode and allow you guys to hear a little bit about her story, her journey, and we end on such a good woo-woo quotable note. So make sure you stick around to the very end.
Kathleen's Sales Career Progression
00:04:18
Speaker
Enjoy.
00:04:21
Speaker
Welcome to the podcast, Kathleen. I feel like the last time i saw you IRL or even spoke with you, you were Waddell. And now you're- I was. Right. I was. Am I pronouncing it correctly? Oh my gosh. You are. Well, there's been a lot of life changes. And in general, though, I feel like when we last were around each other, knew you worked for Vikings, but like never really fully got a grasp of even like what you did for them, how you got into it. So like walk me through your background up until the role that you're in today.
00:04:55
Speaker
Sure. I played soccer in college. I went to Brown University. That really got me interested in sports. When I finally started thinking about what I wanted to do for a career, it was my senior year spring.
00:05:08
Speaker
And that's when I stumbled upon the opportunity to go to an NBA ticket sales job fair. And that started me with you know working for professional sports team. So the New York or the Cleveland Cavaliers, then the New York Jets, then the San Francisco forty nine er And it was around that time I was in my early 30s.
00:05:29
Speaker
I wanted to move home. And I also was interested in jumping up in my career to a new opportunity and sort of new level of sophistication and what I was selling and moving into sweet sales and premium sales.
00:05:43
Speaker
And so both personally with wanting to move home and professionally with wanting to advance in my career, the stars aligned.
Impact of Minnesota Vikings' New Stadium
00:05:50
Speaker
where a job with the Vikings selling a new stadium opened up.
00:05:54
Speaker
And so that's what led me back to in 2013, 14, come back to Minnesota and start working for the Vikings and more of a consultant role. And now I've moved into a role on our leadership team 10 years later.
00:06:08
Speaker
So first of all, I didn't realize that you had moved around so many different times. What was your favorite city? And Minnesota will not get offended if you don't say Minnesota. Yeah. I don't know. if People don't forget. ah I enjoyed my time in each city for different reasons. yeah When I was in New York, I had a ton of college friends that were also working in Manhattan. So that was really fun. Okay. When I was in the Bay Area,
00:06:31
Speaker
I made some really great friends through work and the 49ers made it to the Super Bowl. So that was incredibly incredible. bowl In Cleveland, that was my first stop. That is where I was surrounded by a lot of people that have later on in my career really helped me out and also have become some of my best friends. So.
00:06:51
Speaker
don't know. It is tough to beat coming back home. Yeah. And so, and you know, and and thinking through more balance in my life in general with personally being around more family, being around more folks that I grew up with, as well as having different opportunities to move up in my career, that harmony has been really fulfilling.
Teamwork and Game Day Experience
00:07:12
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. In 2013, because when did they announce the creation or the building of the new stadium? Because I was in Minneapolis 2013 to like 2017.
00:07:25
Speaker
And I feel like they had just really started something like that on the new stadium before it was the Metrodome, right? Am I remembering that correctly? Correct. Correct.
00:07:37
Speaker
Yeah, it was the Metrodome and leaders at the Vikings were working on getting different bills passed to approve a new stadium for the decade leading up to us actually starting to sell it in 2014.
00:07:51
Speaker
Got it. So I knew i started to sell before it was even open. Right. Right. And so we kicked off and opened the gates of the stadium in 2016. Right. Okay. And I remember, I do have vivid memories of us being at like a junior league meeting and you kind of talking through like, yeah, we're selling sweets and like, you know, just kind of talking about the new stadium and whatnot. So that's crazy that it's like now it's a fully functioning, fully open stadium. Like, what does that feel like to kind of see it all come to fruition?
00:08:22
Speaker
It's the evolution of the stadium as well as our front office has been really interesting. Before my career, I was doing two year stops at different places and really meeting a bunch of different people living in different cities.
00:08:38
Speaker
gaining a variety of skill sets and relationships and now being in one place for 10 years. It's sort of the two parts of my career. It's to see how it affected our fan base and built that community of folks. And now we're the number one stadium in the NFL in terms of game day experience. No way.
00:08:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Really? so what does that mean? Like, okay. So also taking a step back, one of the reasons why I'm really excited to even chat with you today is because like, no, I know so much about the retail industry, the CPG industry. Like I know what it means to like move along in my career or in a career within like, I guess retail or, or whatever, but like, I have zero idea of what it means to like move in your career on the non actual athletic side of athletics.
00:09:25
Speaker
And so it's just like so interesting for me to understand, like, how do you even like kind of move throughout your career? But what is so when you say that it's like a top rated game day experience, what does that mean?
00:09:38
Speaker
It means a lot of collaboration. Yeah. Both for our Vikings organization, we have our football side of the house and we have our business side or front office side is what you'll hear teams referred to as. Yeah. So our front office side,
00:09:53
Speaker
We're at the stadium on game day, but we're only about 175, 200 people. okay And it takes thousands of people to bring game day to life. And so that includes our concessionaire, Aramark. It includes our security provider, Best. It includes a whole bunch of game day staff that provide the philosophy of service that we want to give to the folks coming to cheer us on on game day, we call it our or school service level experience for any guests that's coming to the stadium. And so that takes a lot of different constituents working together to pull off a unified experience of welcoming people, creating that experience from our marketing production team, creating the hospitality vibe where people are really pleased and having unforgettable experiences yeah in their seats or in their suites.
00:10:44
Speaker
So sort of ah goes across any sector of collaborating with others, constant communication to make sure we're executing something that people are proud of because our product is so tied to the fabric of our region and our state.
00:11:00
Speaker
Right. And then even when you look at the way in which for our season ticket members or just people who have a ticket and they're coming to the stadium for the first time, yeah we want to make sure they leave having an enjoyable, positive, memorable experience that ultimately helps them feel like they're a part of something bigger than themselves.
00:11:19
Speaker
Yeah.
Career Motivation and Relationship Building
00:11:20
Speaker
I love that. Okay. Let's dive into like your career. So you went from kind of so team to team. Was that what you had to do to kind of progress in your career?
00:11:31
Speaker
Or was it just kind of sheer like, oh, I want to try something new? Like what prompted you to make those different moves? A mixture of the both, I would say. When I was with the cabs, I was in a sales role, then I shifted to a service role. And when I was in that service role, it helped me really understand that I really and more meant for a business development type role. And so at that point,
00:11:56
Speaker
On the personal side, I was thinking of like I've enjoyed my time in Cleveland. I've been here about a year and a half. And through relationships there, I was introduced to the person leading the project at the New York Jets.
00:12:09
Speaker
OK. And then I moved on to having roles that were more project based. And that was just six years of really cutting my teeth and getting good at doing the in the weeds stuff of B2B sales, B2C sales.
00:12:25
Speaker
And these projects typically last two years. So at the end of those three roles that I had with the Jets and the 49ers, and then moving to the Vikings role, I was also a contract consultant employee for two years.
00:12:38
Speaker
And so I wasn't guaranteed full time role with the Vikings. And so I really leaned back into it the the things I like about the type of role, at you know, salespeople or revenue generator, a business development is your ability to create relationships, grow relationships, and really have the intellectual curiosity to find out what really truly matters to people. And so it was important to me to establish relationships with folks on the Vikings team and also be transparent with my band manager and folks on the Vikings team being vulnerable on one side to say, I'm not interested in staying with this agency long-term.
00:13:21
Speaker
Yeah, my roots are here. My goal is to stay here, which I remember having this conversation with my then boss who sort of laughed like, OK, like you don't want to stay with us. I get it. But at the same conversation, I was saying, I'm going to work so hard for you in these two years. yeah So the relationship was good there. And then separately, the folks that ultimately hired me on on the Vikings team and still to this day, my manager who's our chief revenue officer, John Penhollow, started creating the relationship there of collaborating, of try asking him for advice, intentionally making sure he knew about me and I was going to him when I needed support or resources.
Gender Diversity and DEI Initiatives
00:14:03
Speaker
And so that ultimately ended up working out, but it was intentional, making sure this wasn't something the job was posted and then I'm knocking on his door. Yeah. What is the demographic like makeup of the quote unquote, it's called, you said front office, right?
00:14:19
Speaker
That's kind of like the corporate side. What does it look like from a gender kind of penetration? I hate to use that word when I just said gender, that was odd. But anyway, what does it look like? Like, are there a lot of women that you work with? Is it predominantly male dominated? Or what is that like actual makeup of who you work with?
00:14:38
Speaker
On the football side, it is dominated yeah by men. And then there are more and more women that are joining that team. So maybe on the football ops side where they're helping with everything related to making sure our team can perform well on game day. So they do things like transportation, hotels, logistics, that sort of stuff.
00:15:00
Speaker
On the business side of that 200 ish folks, we are more we have more women than men. okay And so It didn't used to be that way in my career. you know, when it started with the calves, there were more men than women, especially in roles like the sales team. Sales, yeah. It was very much dominated by men.
00:15:22
Speaker
I think at the Vikings, it's been intentional to make sure that we have gender diversity and also diverse in a whole host of different areas of socioeconomic background. Yep.
00:15:35
Speaker
what type of races are incorporated at the table, where is everybody from. There are all a lot of people from Minnesota, but there are also people represented from across the country. We were the first team in the NFL to have someone dedicated to DEI. And now we've you know just launched ERGs this year. It's been the first time done ERGs. So we've been involved in you know pride or tried to support you know women's groups in the past, but rolling these out is really welcome around here. So there's a women's ERG, there's a working parents ERG, and then there's a yeah ERG specific to African-American folks at the Vikings. And so, you know, we're a small, I think for being such a
00:16:21
Speaker
globally recognized brand. yeah We don't have a lot of people that you do have at you know retailers like Target. yeah And so, but it also is still important to recognize what are resources given to especially marginalized groups that are yeah that want to make sure that feel supported and included in different ways. And are we intentionally setting aside areas where those folks can get together. And so I'm excited to see those up and running and getting off the ground.
00:16:49
Speaker
Yeah. Do you feel like that was something that came at a request of the employees or do you feel like it was something that leadership kind of said, this is what we need? Like which the chicken or the egg, right? Like which one came first in your opinion or being a part of the organization? What would you say?
00:17:07
Speaker
So we've had a DEI committee for the last couple of years, and I believe it really came through that group. They've done a great job of spearheading different things. I mean, if you go back to 2020,
00:17:20
Speaker
Yeah, the de committee was put in place just a few months before George Floyd's murder, yeah which thankfully they were then able to consult with. There's a group every year. Our players put together a social impact committee, and so they were able to advise that committee on what's the best way that we can show up in this moment. And so it wasn't a fire drill because those folks who already want to contribute in the workplace in that capacity were already put in place. And so Ann Deppner has been the leader. She is on our people and culture team, full-time committed to DEI. She also was a founding member of a group here in the Twin Cities that's across the country, but
00:18:01
Speaker
of founding a chapter here. It's called WISE, which is Women in Sports and Events. And so she has really done an excellent job of putting together these spaces for folks yeah to come together, both in like the greater Twin Cities community, as well as in the organization. And other NFL teams now are all coming behind this trend of How do we put together our own DEI, either full-time staff member or committee?
00:18:29
Speaker
and it's interesting on our revenue side, it makes business sense to do it because we have current partners or potential partners, many of whom are Fortune 500s in the Twin Cities. We're also raising their hand.
00:18:42
Speaker
Like we want to get involved in DEI in a meaningful way, but we don't want to do it. And Vikings, we see that you are a leader in this space. We want to work together and become sponsor because you're doing that. right And so, yeah, I think that companies, it takes a good amount of the conversations I've been a part of vulnerability in that space, especially for white men and women who just need to be like, we don't know what we're doing here. How we do that?
00:19:08
Speaker
sickally how do we do that Yeah. Number one, you want to know something actually really crazy. I'm just putting this together. Anne is actually a friend of a friend of mine, someone that I actually used to live with, an older roommate.
00:19:19
Speaker
And a couple years back, we were at an event that he did for like the Golden Globes and I met her. And i now remember her even like talking about these things. So it's actually kind of crazy that like I didn't even put two and two together. Anyway, I think what i have really appreciated, I mean, ive I used to live in Minneapolis as well. Obviously, I'm not from there, but i think At this point, we've had what, like two pretty significant murders in Minnesota between Philando Castile and George Floyd.
00:19:48
Speaker
And I think that... organizations, what people don't realize like there's actually a lot of companies in Minneapolis that have you know a pretty big stance in whatever industry that they're in And I will say I've been really proud, it's weird to say that, of Minnesota and the organizations for them like so taking ah significant stance in diversity and inclusion conversations, like racial injustice that's happening across the country, but obviously, especially Minnesota. And so I think it's it's been really humbling to kind of see them
00:20:20
Speaker
raise their hand and say like, hey, we've got a problem that we need to solve and put, you know, the money and the kind of conversations behind like being the the solution, essentially.
00:20:30
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. yeah It's important. I think, you know, the Twin Cities make up racially such a small amount of folks who are people of color, especially identifying as Black or African-American. the business side, we're making a conscious effort to make sure that we're being incredibly racially inclusive of yeah who it makes up our business side. On the football side, it's majority African-American players.
00:20:58
Speaker
yeah And so they're leading the way in terms of how they operate and in that regard. What we need to do be cognizant of is, well, when we attract African-American Black talent, are we retaining them? And and do they feel supported and welcome? Or are they here a few years and then leaving because- Right.
00:21:18
Speaker
Because they don't feel that level of support. Yeah.
Work-Life Balance in Sports
00:21:20
Speaker
Right. Yeah. yeah so that I think has been a really recently a topic of conversation of Are we just saying that we want black folks to come work for us?
00:21:28
Speaker
And then being Minnesotans, being really friendly at the water cooler, and then I'm never inviting you over to my house or come on boat. And so that is really when you're authentically creating relationships and people feel like they have their welcome and that they matter and it's not just at a surface level.
00:21:48
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So I feel like any organization or any any individual that I've known that's been in sales, like work-life balance isn't necessarily a thing, right? Because if you're not selling, you're not or you know you're not making commission or you're not working essentially, what does work-life balance look like within your organization still being within like the sales kind of pillar of your organization?
00:22:09
Speaker
Mm-hmm. This spring for us, we you know it's, it's a cyclical team. It's a cyclical industry of of any professional sports league on the sales side, the off season is our busier time of making sure with suites, making sure we're sold out.
00:22:26
Speaker
We also sell support our corporate sales team. So putting together sponsorships. And so right now is when we want to make sure maybe the brands that we recording throughout this past season,
00:22:38
Speaker
We're now providing proposals to them and getting those deals done to make sure we're in a healthy place revenue wise, actually in the next month or so. yeah And so, you know, sometimes it'll trickle a little closer to kickoff in August, September.
00:22:53
Speaker
so right now that is important
Post-Pandemic Sales Strategies
00:22:55
Speaker
you know for us. When we came out of the pandemic and hit 2021, saw in terms of sweet sales, a lot of companies that maybe we've worked with in the past, but not as significantly as this you know small to medium size private companies that were, you know maybe they weren't affected or they were positively affected by the pandemic. yeah yeah A lot of those come on board, which traditionally weren't the types of buyers we saw.
00:23:22
Speaker
And then separately, we saw a buyer type that was just affluent individuals, which we've always had maybe a couple, yeah but affluent individuals that were sort of like, okay, this has always been on my bucket list. I just survived a pandemic.
00:23:35
Speaker
I'm going to do it. Right. Exactly. no When now is either now or never or whatever that's right. ah Yeah. And so that's also a fun part of what we do. sounds cheesy at times of helping people's dreams come true. Yeah. It is incredible. The type of experiences that you can have on game days and And so we got the business to a really healthy place and we've maintained it.
00:23:57
Speaker
So in terms of selling, we're really now more focused on making sure our clients are happy, supporting our premium experience service team and looking forward to future renewals of how can we continue to raise the bar?
00:24:10
Speaker
Yeah. What does career progression look like in terms of how long do you do people usually stay in role? And then like what are like the different levels? Is it like you know kind of normal and then manager and then senior manager? like What does that actually look like in terms of trajectory? Well, you know most sports teams have roughly the same amount of people as we do on the front office side, maybe a few folks more than we do.
00:24:38
Speaker
And so can be dead ends in terms of upward mobility once you reach maybe a manager or director level. And so that's why you see careers in our industry that could be similar to mine, where in order to move up, people have moved to different opportunities at different teams.
00:24:57
Speaker
yeah The teams I've been a part of, the more the relationship between team members and their managers, where that's that level of transparency, of understanding the roadmap of here are the things that you know are your strengths, here are areas of opportunity,
00:25:13
Speaker
Are you motivated by upward mobility? If so, here are the things that we can do to get you to that next stop here at our team. If there's not going to be like, for example, the director run on on our team, we're I'm very open with her of saying, you know, if you want a VP role, as long as I'm here, we can't get that for you. So do you want that? And if so, we can make some moves to make sure that happens.
Career Movement in Sports Organizations
00:25:39
Speaker
And in turn, it's a much more grateful conversation around, actually, I really love my job and I feel supported and developed. So I've seen it and heard about where people feel like they have these golden handcuffs where they can't openly talk about that. But I've always found, okay, especially salespeople, if they're motivated either by money or upward mobility or purpose, let's talk about it. Come work for us for...
00:26:06
Speaker
you a couple years, help our team, and then we can pour into you. And then it's only going to look good, you know, in the industry for that person to go out start raving about their experience they had with our team members or what the organization in general.
00:26:20
Speaker
Yeah. And is it common for people to, for example, like, could you easily go from a football organization to a basketball organization to a baseball organization?
00:26:30
Speaker
Or are the inner workings like still too different between the different sports that like, it wouldn't make sense to make that move? It does make sense between a lot of different types of departments to shift to other teams. Yeah. And then, you know, get woven into, you know, if it's, it's in sales, their sales philosophy, their sales style, what their value proposition is.
00:26:54
Speaker
I mean, in the twin cities, we're lucky to have great sports teams and everybody. And we're also my peers at every other team. We're all connected. And we each know, and even when I'm talking to a prospect, you're going to get different things at different teams. So we compete for the local dollars in some ways, but in other ways we don't.
00:27:13
Speaker
Because if you're talking to us about a sponsorship and you really, really want high impressions, yeah we we're going to get more impressions with the twins because they have 80 games and we have 10. Fair. Okay. And so that's where you're really understanding who we are and what we offer, which we can offer a lot. It just might look a little different.
00:27:30
Speaker
But yeah, we keep close ties there of you know knowing opportunities at other teams. Specifically, for example, we have an associate program, That's for graduating college seniors and it's just one year.
00:27:43
Speaker
our new class will come in following graduation this year. And the last two associate classes, we've had team members go to the Timberwolves and join their sales team. And so that's been great for their careers.
00:27:57
Speaker
They're happy about what they've learned in terms of selling and servicing here and then they can bring that to the Wolves. And then in turn, the Wolves are thankful that they have some trained sales folks that can come and make an impact immediately.
00:28:09
Speaker
Yeah, that was going to be my next question. Like I'm straight out of college, right? I want to get into the front end of the Timberwolves or the Vikings or whatever sports team.
00:28:21
Speaker
How do I make my way in? Like, are there internships? You said there's the associate program. Is that common across the industry? Like, what is that first kind of way into an organization?
00:28:31
Speaker
Well, there is a website called teamwork online. Okay. And that is how I got my foot in the door in sports and whole lot of people work in sports. They, they look to that job board and that recruiting firm who has their finger on the pulse on all sorts of types of jobs in sports.
00:28:48
Speaker
A lot of people get their foot in, in a ticket sales type role and inside sales role where your expectation is high call volume or high email.
00:28:59
Speaker
to sell season tickets or sell group tickets, single game tickets. And then from there, you're either looking at an account executive role or a service role, sort of like I did years ago, or you're understanding, okay,
00:29:12
Speaker
Sales and isn't for me, but I've been able to observe our PR team who sits down the hallway or I've been able to see what our youth marketing team does or and and then that's their way in We have found for even our associate program students who are heavily involved either as a student athlete or they have done work with our athletic department or they have interned for maybe a minor league team in town.
00:29:37
Speaker
that helps them stand out or if they've and hadn't had specifically sports experience, but they've been involved in student government at their school. What we're looking for is people who have positive attitudes, want to work hard and have that curiosity. i think for any associate, but specifically if they're interested in a career in sales and service, you can teach a lot, but it's hard to teach those things.
00:30:00
Speaker
And that's what consistently has stood out about the students who are looking to
Women's Sports and Visibility
00:30:05
Speaker
come. They, obviously are excited about the fact they could work for a sports team, but then separately, what is the attitude that you're going to bring to work every day?
00:30:14
Speaker
It's similar to what makes a standout athlete. yeah yeah that Is that person resilient? Are they gritty? Do they want to hustle? Can they be a good team player? That all translates to what we do on the front office side of the house.
00:30:28
Speaker
Yeah. So I think like what's actually really cool is that there's a lot of, again, this is me like learning for the first time, the world that that you work in, but there's a lot of similarities. I think and that's a little bit more surprising to me of organizationally, like there's always that kind of entry level program, right? That thing that gets people into the doors that teaches the foundational elements of either an organization or or like the career path, et cetera, et cetera.
00:30:56
Speaker
And from there, that's kind of becomes your your springboard into whatever field that you want to be in. But it's really, again, kind of cool for me to even just like learn the the business side of the sports world that I have zero exposure to. I barely even know much about professional sports outside of what I see on TV, but.
00:31:13
Speaker
Okay, speaking of professional sports, or maybe this isn't professional, but I want to talk about just kind of like how, especially, I mean, we just had that the NCAA championship last week.
00:31:25
Speaker
I think I saw a statistic, like even just yesterday, that the women's championship. basketball championship was like more aired or had a higher viewership than the men's, which I'm like, for me, I went to Syracuse University, like men's basketball was all we lived and breathed.
00:31:42
Speaker
So to hear that I was like, wait, what, what is happening? So like, what is, guess being in the industry, like, why do you think that women's sports are now becoming so popular versus even what they were like three years ago? What's what's been doing it for viewers?
00:31:59
Speaker
Yeah, I loved watching the women's tournament this year. Got super into it. One of my favorite parts was actually watching the commentary team on ESPN. Yes, yeah. They were...
00:32:11
Speaker
ah so informed like they they're basketball players so that they know their sport research on players and so enthusiastic and a lot of the times before the games they would just give shout outs to the women that were sleeping on buses or had hotel rooms or had nobody in the stands but just had a love of the game and so i love to see that i mean for me watching the tournament with my three-year-old and Her you know cheering on Caitlin Clark was like a full circle moment of being a student athlete and no not getting the same recognition as the men's teams got and not having as many professional opportunities to play after school and how hard that was of something I've dedicated my life to and yeah my identity of who I am to just end abruptly. So to see the opportunity now and the fact that
00:33:01
Speaker
The first athlete's name my daughter knew wasn't Justin Jefferson. It was Caitlin. It was awesome. There's always been a strong level of play. There's always been that commitment. I think it's just taken some generational talent for people to really pay attention, like Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark and Paige Beckers. Yeah.
00:33:23
Speaker
Camila Cardoso, like, I love the personality they're also bringing to it of I can be a woman in sport and I can also trash talk.
00:33:34
Speaker
Yes. Oh, my God. Yes. It's polite on the court or on the field. I'm an athlete and I'm competitive and I can show up that way. Femininity can mean a lot. Yeah. And so i love seeing that. I think that, you know, the money is now following. You saw all the cards.
00:33:51
Speaker
So true. And it's just making more and more business sense. So I really hope that translates to the WNBA of to more sponsorship dollars and viewership and people showing up at games happening there because That's an exciting level of play as well.
00:34:08
Speaker
So the catalyst has really been this tournament that it reached this sort of fever pitch. And now it's just about continuing it. I mean, you know, locally in the Twin Cities, there's a in Minneapolis, it's a bar that just opened up called a bar of their own.
00:34:22
Speaker
Oh, it's in the Seward neighborhood. okay yep, yep. So it's dedicated to just so showing women's sports. And so, and dad yeah, it's awesome. And Wise is hosting an event there in a couple of weeks. So I'm going to go.
00:34:38
Speaker
But our DEI team and Ann Depner just hosted a panel of and business owners. And so the owner of a bar of their own came and talked to us. And her story was incredible. She came from nonprofits and then was just like, you know what? I see a gap in the market. There's nothing I feel like.
00:34:55
Speaker
the odd man out when I always go out and have to ask for the women's game to be put on. i want space where this is, it's dedicated to women's sports. And so the trickle down effect of not only is the sport excelling, there's more eyeballs on it. and it now it's affecting local communities.
00:35:12
Speaker
It's affecting small businesses. It's also affecting the next generation of female athletes, yeah including my daughter. So that's what I'm excited about. Yeah. I loved what you said, even talking about like the trash talking aspects, like just even throughout the season or even last year. What's the player from LSU? Angel Reese.
00:35:34
Speaker
Yes. How much shit she got, excuse my French, about doing like the the ring like gesture or whatever. And I'm like, yeah here's the thing. Men do that stuff all the time, all the time. If not that worse, you know what i mean? Like they're in each other's faces, they're calling each other out and we're like, oh, they're just being an athlete. You know, that's just the game. That's just the game.
00:35:56
Speaker
But as soon as a woman does it with the same level of intensity, it's like, oh, she's not being sportsman. Like I'm like, what about that? Isn't sportsman like, I'm sorry, but part of sports is like kind of getting under each other's skin.
00:36:09
Speaker
ah Yes, I would agree. Like just that kind of we can be aggressive and still be respectful and still be respected. and we shouldn't be held to like a different level of kind of what is right and what is wrong just based off of us being, you know, female athletes.
00:36:26
Speaker
So.
Gender Dynamics in Leadership
00:36:27
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that transitions to the workplace too. 100%. How do women show up as leaders in general, regardless of title? yeah Are you going to bring up that topic that might be the elephant in the room?
00:36:40
Speaker
Are you going to be the person that pushes back on something. And is that considered bitchy or is that executive presence? Right. Exactly. yep You know, so I've had conversations recently of just almost giving people permission to act a certain way.
00:36:55
Speaker
And maybe it is because of their gender and being female. Maybe it's not. I have to reread it, but I love the book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving Blank. Oh, yes. Yes. I love that book. Yeah. Yeah.
00:37:06
Speaker
I just this morning was recommending that someone read it of just understanding it's not you don't care about anything. You know what you do care about. And that's what you really lean into. You know, I enjoy those types of discussions around how to work together, how you show up, how you can push back on things. yeah And I think a lot of that comes down to like how you're coached too, of who is that person that's in your corner that is going to make sure you're living up to your talent and your potential.
00:37:37
Speaker
Yeah. How would you describe like your leadership style? Like, what do you feel like it's morphed into at this point in your career? As I mentioned, really coaching-esque of trying to be ah sounding board for people. First of all, starting with who's on the team and getting really good players and a bench of folks and developing them.
00:37:58
Speaker
yeah providing them the resources and the direction on things, checking in, but also make sure they have the autonomy to go out and do things, including fail, because yeah yeah that's really how you're going learn something.
00:38:11
Speaker
And then the part with people managing of addressing the elephant in the room first started people managing in 2019. So over the course of the last few years, I've learned bringing things up right away,
00:38:26
Speaker
is key because something might be hypersensitive. How do you hit it and move on? Leave space for people to address it rather than coming down on them right away.
00:38:37
Speaker
And then, you know so those are the moments of correcting or coaching and then separately, how do you just celebrate people and encourage them of, I think it's like the four to one or five to one of positive to maybe one negative at one. Here's an area of opportunity.
00:38:52
Speaker
So, I mean, we're a sports team. We're supposed to be having fun. That's what, especially on the sales side, we try to do, because that's what we're trying to go out and sell is yeah excitement and memories and fun.
00:39:04
Speaker
Once you want to bring your client to this, and this is what it could be. And really, when I listen to your podcast, she knows how to tell a story. Oh, how do we tell a story? like Because that's what people helps you lean into. Yeah, that okay, I'm gonna lead with, okay, here's what I'm trying to say.
00:39:19
Speaker
Then here's the start middle end in the clincher. Yeah, wow they they know how to tell a story. They know how to really lead a conversation. i feel comfortable investing with them, you know, yeah, and all these things together. And so that's what is at the heart of the coaching, hey, help me out.
00:39:36
Speaker
see a lot of potential in you. Here's an area we can learn and and really improve.
Team Dynamics and Leadership Style
00:39:40
Speaker
Help me out. What do you think? Yeah. That type of even like scripting in terms of how I'm managing has helped me make sure because those conversations are really impactful on someone. I've sat down with people and see them do it really well. And maybe other areas where I left the room and I i felt deflated and I don't want people to feel that way.
00:39:59
Speaker
Yeah. I think that's my favorite part. It's funny because I, again, I'm constantly even just checking in with myself of like, why do I enjoy staying in corporate? What about it keeps me here?
00:40:11
Speaker
And I think it's that team element. It's like it is that foundational, you know, we all grow up, we're on some form of a team. whether it bit be big, whether it be small, but it's like that kind of community, that familial experience that you only get to experience with people in a group and versus the the doing it solo. Like as much as I i enjoy being a ah consultant at times and I enjoy kind of working on my own and being an entrepreneur,
00:40:39
Speaker
I'm also like, God, I miss having people around that kind of like we've got this one goal that we're marching towards and we could only achieve it together. Like for me, that's that ultimate reason why like corporate feels like the right space for me because I can't get that alone. You know what i mean? There's only so much you can kind of go at alone. ye So i add that to the list of what's hard about being an entrepreneur.
00:41:03
Speaker
i know. Yeah. It's lonely work. it is. It can be really fulfilling, but acknowledging that it's lonely work. Absolutely. I'm like, it's there there, again, there's pros and cons to both sides of it. I think I was talking, I can't remember who I was talking to.
00:41:17
Speaker
Oh, no, last night I was at dinner with a girlfriend of mine. And I was just saying, I was like, you know, right now it just really feels like I'm in my corporate girl era where I'm just like, this is where I like to thrive.
00:41:27
Speaker
In 10 years, it might be something totally different. Maybe I get that spark to like do the entrepreneurship again. But for now, I'm like, no, this is my space. This is my element. I feel at home and at peace in this
Embracing Contentment in Career
00:41:39
Speaker
realm.
00:41:39
Speaker
so Okay, so the question that I always end every interview with, because I ask myself this literally on the daily, is... If you think back to being 22, 23 years old, you have your first corporate job and you're ready to hit the ground running.
00:41:56
Speaker
If you knew then what you know now, what is that piece of advice that you would give yourself? When i was first starting out I was very focused on what is the end game?
00:42:07
Speaker
so where am I going to end up? and And how do I get there? What are all the different moves that I can get to be president of a team? And I got really good advice early on that I think of constantly. And even right now, my sort of mantra for the the year is be where your feet are.
00:42:23
Speaker
is you only have control over. Yeah. you only of And also becoming a parent is you sort of, I heard the term matriessence, sort of like adolescence.
00:42:34
Speaker
Yeah. When you become a mother, you become a whole different version of yourself. And I've really felt that. And so now being a mom your thoughts are even more all over the place than I felt like I was before of making sure I'm taking care of my child, making sure I'm doing my corporate thing, making sure I'm checking in on my family and my parents, making sure I'm going out with my girlfriends, whatever it is. So it's easy to feel really scattered brained and not pregnant.
00:42:59
Speaker
And so I really had to check myself this year of, yes, I want to do all these things. I also need to just be present where I am. if I'm with my child, if I'm with a team member, if I'm with my father, whoever it is.
00:43:12
Speaker
And so the advice I got way back then was you only have control over your next step. And so I think a lot about that of I also feel like I'm in an area of contentment.
00:43:25
Speaker
It's taken me a while to get to a place where I say that word without cringing, because I think as someone who's used to, you know, what's next. Even my daughter always says that of what's next, what's next is, well, being content is a failure.
00:43:41
Speaker
But also being content is I feel really good about the balance of my life and the era that I'm in. and I really want to be present in it. And, you you know, you sort of lose some of that joy if you're always just like, well, I'm going to forget about right now. I got to look to tomorrow of like what's next.
00:43:57
Speaker
And so that sort of be where your feet are is continually reminding me every day of like, OK, what's today? What's this meeting? What am I doing right now? Am I really present on it? Yeah, that's what I would tell my past self. I'm just like, we get day by day and give your best each day. It's sort yeah it's what I did when I was a soccer player of like, take it.
00:44:16
Speaker
each practice, like prove it, go out and prove it on the field that you deserve to get that starting spot. And it's like, it's all you can control. Yeah. yeah Go ahead and have big dreams and big goals and do it day by day.
00:44:29
Speaker
I have never, first of all, chills because literally I've always said, and this is probably the first maybe year, two years of my life that I've been able to agree with you in the sense of like, I'm finally okay with saying that I'm content.
00:44:47
Speaker
and not feeling like, to your point, that's a failure of a word. I used to tell anybody and everybody that would listen, I never want to be content in life.
00:44:58
Speaker
I think contentment in life is like, it sounds horrible. like I would say that because to me, it felt like it was. It felt like the only way to progress in life was to always be doing something, always be reaching for the next goal, always be just like on the move.
00:45:13
Speaker
until I basically crashed and burned and was like, i can't keep functioning at this level of like do, do, do, do. do Because something always then feels like a failure when you don't reach whatever that goal is versus finally kind of being steady and content it like there's like this sense of like relief and like ah I don't even know how to explain it. Just like a lack of weight for the first time ever. And I'm like, wow, what was I running away from this whole time? Because I like being content.
00:45:46
Speaker
ah m I
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:45:48
Speaker
know. So yeah, I definitely agree with that. That's a really good one. I like that one a lot. You said- Be where your feet are. where your feet are. I'm literally going to write that down because I'm obsessed.
00:45:58
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you so much for taking the time this, I guess it's but afternoon for you, but taking the time this afternoon to speak with me. i rarely get the chance to like truly, again, learn about something new or something that I don't know about at all. So I like kind of being a student and I liked being able to learn a little bit more about your world and all of that. So I just thank you so much for for spending time with me this afternoon.
00:46:23
Speaker
You're welcome. This was great. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Good Guide, the podcast dedicated to guiding you through every twist and turn in your career journey. If you loved this episode, make sure to leave those five-star reviews and share this podcast with a friend, loved one, or hey, even a colleague.
00:46:44
Speaker
If you have a topic that you'd like for me to tackle, check out this week's show notes for links to where you can submit your question. It might even be featured during the Q&A segment of the next episode.
00:46:55
Speaker
But first, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a beat. Take care, y'all.