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From Field Hockey to Fan Experiences — Jennifer (Paonessa) Cunningham’s Journey
26 Plays2 months ago
In this inspiring episode of Valiant Talks, host Frank Furbacher sits down with Jennifer (Paonessa) Cunningham, a dynamic force in the sports and entertainment industry. From her early days as a field hockey standout at Manhattanville to leading VIP fan experiences at REVELxp, Jenn shares her remarkable journey through sports, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Hear how a blizzard recruiting trip changed her college path, why being the “Red Bull girl” was a game-changer, and how she’s now shaping unforgettable game day and concert experiences across the country. Packed with wisdom, laughs, and powerful advice for young professionals, this episode is a must-listen for anyone chasing big dreams.
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Transcript
Intro
Meet Jen Pionessa Cunningham
00:00:27
Frank Furbacher
All right. Well, today I'm joined by a very special guest. We have Jen Pionessa Cunningham joining us. Jen, how are you?
00:00:35
Jenn Cunningham
I'm doing well, Frank. Thanks for having me.
00:00:38
Frank Furbacher
Thank you so much for joining. So, Jen, we have a lot to discuss, but wanted to start out. Tell us where you're living now. Tell us what you're up to professionally.
00:00:47
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah, so I, well, I've lived in lot of cities since I've left Manhattanville. I've actually lived, I moved from New York to North Carolina, to Atlanta, to Miami.
00:00:58
Jenn Cunningham
And now I'm officially in Nashville, which is what call home.
00:01:03
Frank Furbacher
And which city
Exploring Nashville and Personal Background
00:01:04
Frank Furbacher
has been your favorite or some of your favorites so far?
00:01:08
Jenn Cunningham
I would say I love North Carolina was there for a very long time. but probably here, you know?
00:01:14
Frank Furbacher
Great.
00:01:14
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:01:15
Frank Furbacher
Nashville is one of those places I have yet to visit. And I am hoping that whether it's a client or a trip one day lead me there. So I've heard great things. Have you attended a hockey game yet?
00:01:28
Jenn Cunningham
yes, I have, I went to the Rangers game, of course.
00:01:32
Frank Furbacher
Nice, nice.
00:01:33
Jenn Cunningham
It's awesome. You should come. We'll be your tour guide.
00:01:36
Frank Furbacher
Perfect, perfect. So, Jen, tell us about let's start early on. You know, where did you grow up? Tell us about early life heading into, you know, into high school.
00:01:48
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah. So I grew up in New York, actually not too far from Manhattanville, but in Putnam County, Northern Westchester, Putnam County. Went to Putnam Valley High School there.
00:02:00
Jenn Cunningham
my plan was not to go to school so close at the beginning. but there were several reasons that it ended up being the option. my dad was actually a professional
College Decision and Sports Journey
00:02:09
Jenn Cunningham
golfer.
00:02:10
Jenn Cunningham
and he was the golf pro at Maplemore, which was literally down the street from Manhattanville. so I grew up golfing and going to the golf course all the time. And my dad would always take me to that campus.
00:02:24
Jenn Cunningham
He was like, oh, maybe one day you'll go here because it'll be right around the corner from where I work. So, know, totally forgot about it. know, years went by and I was a high school athlete, played soccer and field hockey going to play field hockey in college.
00:02:39
Jenn Cunningham
So I started all my recruiting visits. know, i think think it was like junior, sophomore, junior year or whatnot, had all these other schools in mind. And then I ended up speaking to the coach at Manhattanville.
00:02:52
Jenn Cunningham
And so my dad was obviously very excited. i had a whole other choice, like a whole other idea of where I was going. And it was far away from home. So I was like, you know what? Like they seem really great. got offered a scholarship. So that was also good. There was like a lot of benefits, which happened later. So I decided to take the recruiting visit.
00:03:14
Jenn Cunningham
And it was during a blizzard, absolute blizzard, Purchase was like shut down. My dad was determined to get me there.
00:03:24
Jenn Cunningham
So I still go. And I'm like, dad, what are you going to do? He's like, oh oh I'm just going to go stay. Like, I'll just go stay at the golf course. It'll be fine. This is literally a true story. I'm like, how is this possibly going to be fun? Like, I can't go to the bar. I can't use like do anything.
00:03:37
Jenn Cunningham
What is this team possibly going to do? mind you, I'm coming off of another recruiting visit at another school. And it was just like wild. I was like, this is not even to be able to top it.
00:03:49
Jenn Cunningham
I had the best time ever. The girls, like the upperclassmen at the time were amazing. And they were like, we're going sledding. We're doing all this stuff.
00:04:01
Jenn Cunningham
There was a a party. Somehow we still ended up going to a bar. That's when I knew that they would do whatever it takes to get out, you know? it was just super fun experience. Loved them so much that it felt like a natural fit.
00:04:14
Jenn Cunningham
And all in a blizzard. So for that to happen and make a decision based off of that was pretty was pretty crazy. So my dad picks me up and I'm like, Dad, I love this team and best out of every team that I've even met.
00:04:28
Jenn Cunningham
I think that this is a great a great option. And I said, and it would be really awesome for you to be able to come to to a lot of the games. So ended up getting a scholarship, ended up being, you know, really excited about it, was a great decision on my part.
00:04:42
Jenn Cunningham
Wasn't too far from home, but got to be away and also got to see my dad and, you know, hop over there as well. So that's really the backstory on how I got there.
00:04:54
Frank Furbacher
So it was the the recruiting trip and like the bond that you formed with your future teammates that really sealed the deal there. and you had it in your mind, you were definitely playing field hockey in college.
00:05:07
Jenn Cunningham
Yep. Yes, 100%. I had made that decision pretty early on that it wasn't going to be another sport because I did play another sport. And I was like, no, it's going to be field hockey. I'm going to play field hockey.
00:05:21
Jenn Cunningham
What's going to be next? The other the was is that I had come off like a very serious ankle injury the year before.
College Life and Athletic Achievements
00:05:29
Jenn Cunningham
So I broke it. had missed part of the soccer season, things like that. It was a tough recovery.
00:05:34
Jenn Cunningham
So coming you know, I was hustling, you know, our last year in high school and had started making those decisions pretty early on. And I thought to myself, you know,
00:05:45
Jenn Cunningham
do I want to do something? Do I want literally sacrifice my entire life and go to a bigger school and play for, you know, a division one school or anything like that and take the risk of my body and health? And I said, think that I would be able to live really great college experience, but still get to do what I love and, and know that it wouldn't be as, you know, as big of a pressure,
00:06:14
Jenn Cunningham
going to like a Division One school and taking that risk. So that's sort of where i narrowed it down to going to a smaller school.
00:06:21
Frank Furbacher
Did you think about trying to play two sports while you're in college?
00:06:25
Jenn Cunningham
Well, interestingly enough, soccer and field hockey were the same season at Manhattanville. Soccer, for me, for high school team, was in the spring. It no longer is, but it was. We were like the last year.
00:06:38
Jenn Cunningham
So I played fall soccer on another team, spring soccer for the school, then I played field hockey in the fall. So there there wasn't an overlap. And then there was...
00:06:49
Jenn Cunningham
it's a random time. it was, was, it was Jess Rick who, ended up, she was a senior, when I was on my recruiting visit and then she ended up becoming the GA and she ended up coaching lacrosse and tried to recruit me to play lacrosse.
00:07:06
Jenn Cunningham
I went to one practice. I was like, yep, this is not happening. I'm out of here. Yeah.
00:07:10
Frank Furbacher
That's funny. That's funny.
00:07:11
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:07:13
Frank Furbacher
So you did you have anything like academically in mind that like you knew you were going study a certain subject going in?
00:07:21
Jenn Cunningham
So funny enough, I was actually a pre-med major at first. I had left high school. Science was my thing. Went into it. was like, going to do pre-med. I'm going to do, going to work in the sports side because, you know, I had a lot of injuries, came off a very bad one,
00:07:38
Jenn Cunningham
got into understanding the sports orthopedic side was set. I'm like, I'm going this is going to be the best of both worlds. And then I quickly realized that that is not at all what I wanted to do was I wanted to do nothing with the medical field, but I wanted to do something with sports.
00:07:54
Jenn Cunningham
And so i ended up switching, which was like a shock because later on there was another, I almost went back, but
Internships and Career Beginnings
00:08:02
Jenn Cunningham
it was a switch. And then I ended up going into, i was like, you know, I'm going business. So I did math. I was a management major with a minor in communications.
00:08:14
Jenn Cunningham
and ended up having take obviously all of the standard, you know, business classes and things like that. And I was like, I really enjoy this. Like, I think like a ah ah born businesswoman, you know, like, I think this is like kind of my, my bread and butter. So dove heavily into that and started thinking way ahead. Like, what am I going to do with this?
00:08:34
Jenn Cunningham
was like, I'm going do sports marketing. Didn't really even understand what that entailed, but I was sort of like on this, you know, had this vision. but I knew that it was going to be on the business side of sports. And so that's the direction that I went and stayed.
00:08:51
Frank Furbacher
So growing up, who were your sports teams?
00:08:54
Jenn Cunningham
The Giants, the Knicks, the Yankees.
00:08:58
Frank Furbacher
That's awesome. That's awesome. Those would be mine as well.
00:09:01
Jenn Cunningham
What about you? you? or
00:09:02
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, same. And just adding the hockey of the Rangers. But I imagine that's your team as well.
00:09:05
Jenn Cunningham
Oh, yes. Rangers is like my brother's a diehard. I kind of watch it by association, you know.
00:09:11
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, I like to take credit for making a number of the baseball guys my teammates hockey fans to this day. We still have a group chat that are specific to Ranger fans.
00:09:22
Frank Furbacher
So yeah, got got to convert them to that.
00:09:23
Jenn Cunningham
Nice.
00:09:26
Frank Furbacher
You get into Manhattanville. You're you said field hockey was a fall sport, right?
00:09:32
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:09:33
Frank Furbacher
So you get to go on early right onto campus. You're beginning training, getting into the season. Tell me about what you remember feeling as you go on. Obviously, you're a little bit more comfortable because you've got a group of friends automatically, right? Just from having teammates.
00:09:50
Frank Furbacher
But tell me how that whole process went.
00:09:52
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah, so funny that you're bringing this up. I literally was talking to my husband ah about preseason and the first day of Manhattanville the other day, which came up because saw girls playing in August and we were like, wow, I guess it is back to school. And I said, I would have already been at school.
00:10:09
Jenn Cunningham
then I just went down this rabbit hole talking to about it. And ah for some reason, it's one of the most vivid memories that I have. And really like the whole beginning of freshman year,
00:10:20
Jenn Cunningham
living in Spelman, I got very lucky. So when ended up having a roommate, I went back outside of field hockey and all the orientation for that. I went back for the scholarship orientation that I got, and I ended up meeting my freshman roommate there.
00:10:37
Jenn Cunningham
She was a non-athlete, and we roomed together. All of the freshman field hockey girls, like I think like I would say 75% of us were all on the same floor with non field hockey roommates, all back to back next to each other.
00:10:48
Frank Furbacher
Thank you.
00:10:55
Jenn Cunningham
The other ones were like around the corner. So we were all by ourselves all in the beginning with no roommates at the, at the time. And so that's how like that bond automatically started because we were literally right next to each other. So it was awesome.
00:11:09
Jenn Cunningham
And then those became, you know, we were all immediately super close.
Career Growth and Entrepreneurship
00:11:14
Jenn Cunningham
Then we had soccer. So that the men's soccer team was like around the corner.
00:11:20
Jenn Cunningham
And I remember that's how the crew, the first crew ever started was soccer and the field hockey girls that we were all there together. And then women's soccer. So all of us sort of became this group of friends, like right off the bat, we were on the same floor, right around the corner.
00:11:35
Jenn Cunningham
And so we had built this whole thing. So by the time school started, felt like I had best friends already. Then roommates came and everyone got along and it was like the best, it was like this best group of like athletes and non athletes, right? So you kind of got the best of both worlds, yet we were all still around each other.
00:11:56
Jenn Cunningham
So I think we formed like immediate bonds right off the bat, like just having that group there. We all vibed extremely well. lived right next to each other. was amazing.
00:12:05
Jenn Cunningham
And I was kind of talking about it being like, yeah, I remember the first day and just how it felt like supernatural to be with all those girls at the time.
00:12:18
Frank Furbacher
That's great. That's great.
00:12:19
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah. Yeah.
00:12:20
Frank Furbacher
And, you know, then obviously you go through trading classes starting. Tell me about like, you know, it could be a a class, but it could be whatever. know when I was on campus, you know, especially freshman year, you're like, there's class.
00:12:34
Frank Furbacher
There's sports, you know, you've got your training that you do in the off season. there's just like hanging out unless you had like a job on campus or something like that. Tell me about like what your life was like, being busy with sports at first, but then what else did you dive into?
00:12:48
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah. So, you know, I don't like on a, on a personal note, like something that i like, I like to highlight, even when I talk to like some of my mentees that I, that I have and, and stuff about the growth is that.
00:13:01
Jenn Cunningham
I came from being like, quote unquote, perfectionist in high school, had to do everything perfect, had to do everything a certain way. Top grades, that that whole vibe, you that will paint the picture.
00:13:14
Jenn Cunningham
And when I went to Manhattanville, I sort of was like, I'm not, I'm not going to be that person anymore. You know what I mean? And so I was navigating like how to be, be different, less of that type of person, have a good time, but still take field hockey extremely serious.
00:13:34
Jenn Cunningham
And It ended up kind of kicking me ass in the beginning, you know, and it was like a little bit tough because I thought that because I had cruised through high school that ah I would be able to navigate it and do that.
00:13:46
Jenn Cunningham
And I learned really fast that that was not the case. So. It's funny, like field hockey was great. We were doing awesome. We had a great team. I was playing, loved it.
00:13:57
Jenn Cunningham
I just was like, oh God, I'm going to have to like figure out what I'm doing over here. And I'll never forget after first semester freshman year, came home and and my dad was like, that is absolutely not you. And I was like, you're 100% right. And it will never be me again. And I went back, it was just right back to like, school was very serious. My grades like skyrocketed up. I was like, that's, that's something that I can't be.
00:14:20
Jenn Cunningham
Right. So it was, I tell people it's okay to like mess up in the beginning to try to figure out who you are and how you want to be and try to balance doing sports and, and making friends, new friends, being a different person than people know you before doing well in school. So it's like, figure it out really early on and then don't make the same mistake again, you know? And I tell people that a lot because that's something that stays with me all these years.
00:14:47
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, there's like this unspoken adjustment period that just has to happen.
00:14:52
Jenn Cunningham
Mm-hmm.
00:14:53
Frank Furbacher
And you have all this time on your hands and how do you fill it? And you're navigating ah ah bunch of different things, most likely for the first time on your own. And it's, it's, you got to prioritize things.
00:15:08
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:15:08
Frank Furbacher
And what are you going to prioritize? to prioritize? Now I have to bring up your freshman year, you guys were conference champions.
00:15:17
Jenn Cunningham
Yes.
00:15:17
Frank Furbacher
Or sophomore year.
00:15:18
Jenn Cunningham
Sophomore year, my sophomore year.
00:15:20
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:15:20
Frank Furbacher
And you guys wound up going to NCAAs that year, and you actually scored a goal in the championship game versus Kings, which you guys wound up winning in overtime, I believe.
00:15:24
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:15:28
Jenn Cunningham
I did. Yes. Correct.
00:15:32
Jenn Cunningham
Yep.
00:15:34
Frank Furbacher
Tell me about...
00:15:34
Jenn Cunningham
Yep. And my dad was there, which was amazing.
00:15:37
Frank Furbacher
That's awesome.
00:15:37
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:15:37
Frank Furbacher
Tell me about like you remember, because I know, especially for our
Fan Experience and Networking Insights
00:15:43
Frank Furbacher
athletic program, while I think it's... a really great athletic program. It's not every season that we have teams going to the NCAA tournament, but what do you remember about that experience?
00:15:53
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah. So you know what's interesting? i want to touch upon that. When we were in school, can we just talk about how far Division III sports have come and what's being produced out of high school and going into Division III now and just the whole thing? And I work in the sports world, so it's so crazy to see the difference. So going back and looking like You know, it wasn't, I don't know if really we were treated like it was, like we were important team at the time. and And I know we were, I'm not saying in that regard, but it was sort of like, I don't think we realized like how good we actually were.
00:16:33
Jenn Cunningham
in the beginning. And then what really created the dynamic was that one, upper class and were amazing and they created this really powerful motivational time.
00:16:45
Jenn Cunningham
we all lived together sophomore year we had to have, we were with upperclassmen in Tenney. And so we were with them all the time. We built this, this, that year specifically, because those were, they were seat juniors and seniors,
00:16:59
Jenn Cunningham
And I was a sophomore that year specifically. we just built this crazy team that had an an incredible bond. Like I've never seen before. I don't even know if it ever happened again after that year. And I know we all, we'll talk, we, you know, we have those memories.
00:17:18
Jenn Cunningham
And so I think it made a very big difference on instilling passion to the to younger ones that are playing and starting and making and have to be and valuable and make an impact on the team was like, I'm going to do this for them.
00:17:34
Jenn Cunningham
Like, I want to do this for them. Like, this is their last year. They're incredible. this is a big deal. You know, like, we got to come out of this. This is the best team ever. So I think they...
00:17:45
Jenn Cunningham
I will say, i know for a fact that that class of that group of girls is literally the reason that I loved that year so much and playing.
00:17:58
Frank Furbacher
Yeah. Yeah. The bonds that you form. And it's funny too, because you're all teammates, right? But you also have this, this, uh, underclassmen feeling of like, well, I'm regardless of whether we're teammates or not, I'm going to look up to these people who are older than me, who have been here for longer.
00:18:17
Frank Furbacher
And it's crazy to see that the influence that those kinds of people have on you.
00:18:23
Frank Furbacher
And I'm not even sure if like, getting to be, you know, a junior and senior that I even realized the influence that I could have on the underclassmen, but it's a big responsibility.
00:18:34
Jenn Cunningham
It is.
00:18:35
Jenn Cunningham
And I think Looking back, hate to say but you know it's true. Freshmen and sophomores are punks. have attitudes. They come in. They think they're hot because they were at their school, that kind of thing. And so there's attitudes flying around. You've got kind of you learn your place. And I think that it was really nice to have this type of This group of females specifically who have been there, lived really be able to coach you and navigate you without it being, you feel like you're being pushed or changed. And I think that was motivating. It was like allowing you to be who you are with just the right coaching.
00:19:14
Jenn Cunningham
And when they saw that in you, you're motivated automatically. You're like, I'm going to, I'm coming. You're right. I'm crushing it today. Like drop the attitude. Like today's going to be a good day, you know? And and think about that a lot.
00:19:27
Frank Furbacher
Did you ever, looking back, were there any, and it could be a professor too, but whether was coaches, staff, teachers, was there anyone that really like left a mark with you you look up to?
00:19:43
Jenn Cunningham
Well, when I think when Keith was the AD that, you know, had a really great relationship with him post-college. And I think, you know, that with, you know, developing the Hall of Fame, I was very like involved in those conversations and he was a big mentor and person that I spoke to a lot because I ended up moving ahead and working next door.
00:20:04
Jenn Cunningham
he and that I look back and even looking at the coaching transitions and the complaints and the things that we all went through winning that, you know winning the conference championship, going to the NCAA tournament, he was always like a, the guiding light for us and was so supportive and had our back. And I, I truly believe like he was one of the best and someone that I will, I remember in the athletic department so much that we, you know, we taught, we continued that all the way to after that, before he left.
00:20:36
Frank Furbacher
That's awesome. Yeah.
00:20:37
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:20:37
Frank Furbacher
Love Keith. Great guy.
00:20:39
Jenn Cunningham
Yep.
00:20:39
Frank Furbacher
Such a great guy. Tell me about you had one of the more interesting internships while you're on campus. It made popular.
00:20:48
Frank Furbacher
ah can recall having a a request to you. Tell us about your internship experience.
00:20:49
Jenn Cunningham
yes, I,
00:20:54
Jenn Cunningham
I'm like, I think everybody knew that I was the Red Bull girl. So I actually saw two separate things. So that was first. So that was really cool because um was a marketing. It was marketing specific. And I had run into them somewhere and I was like, this is so cool.
00:21:12
Jenn Cunningham
And they're like, we're actually starting a team in the Hudson Valley And it's going to be doing all these marketing, you know, marketing of Bull and all this stuff, you know, drive the Red Bull car. And I was like, this sounds great. Like, I'm going to do this.
00:21:26
Jenn Cunningham
By far, one of the best jobs I've ever had in my life. Long- Forever friendships. It's crazy because I meet girls that did the same thing from other states. Like I have a friend here and she was one and she's like, it's a special bond. Like nobody gets it. I'm like, I 100% agree.
00:21:45
Jenn Cunningham
so it was really nice to kind of like be doing this new job, learning the marketing side of the business, event activations, all of that for a very well-known brand who was on the up for doing these very one-off unique events that became extremely popular later on.
00:21:59
Jenn Cunningham
So meeting new people, working with new people that were going to different schools than you and being together and really like improving social skills on a business level was really exciting. And so that was I kept that job.
00:22:15
Jenn Cunningham
you know, all the way through college. And even if I could only do one day a week or here or there, because I didn't want to lose hold of But I highly recommend, because I see those girls out here now, I saw them in Nashville.
00:22:29
Jenn Cunningham
I highly recommend any young female that wants to break into marketing and and have fun while doing it, but also learn a lot, look at Red Bull and try to get in with them because is a very special job.
00:22:43
Frank Furbacher
Did you know at the time that you were building up those social skills while you were going through it?
00:22:48
Jenn Cunningham
You know, it's crazy. Like, I think, yeah, like started seeing like the confidence and understanding like how to to sell a product because we had to go through very extensive training and take tests that we could like sell you on can of Red Bull.
00:23:05
Jenn Cunningham
such as it equals the size of one, you know, one small cup of coffee and the same amount of chocolate in a Hershey bar. Like we had these tips and these marketing skills and sales skills and sales was like not really what I was thinking about ever doing. So looking back, and like, yeah, we, I learned how to sell a product ultimately and do it really well, which led me to getting opportunities to be on the East coast team with girls from all over the U S And I went to the Soapbox Derby, Flutog.
00:23:37
Jenn Cunningham
I ended up going snowboarding, jet skiing with the packs on, snowboarding with the packs on in Mountain Creek. Really, really cool stuff.
00:23:46
Jenn Cunningham
And then ended up touching into the sports space, which is how, you know, I kind of found my my niche there.
00:23:54
Frank Furbacher
And these activations that you'd be attending, would just be a a an event and it was like Red Bull was going to send a whole crew there basically?
00:24:03
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah. So like some of these big events, they'd like, hey, this is where you guys are going to go. This is going to be your mission for today. And this is what you got to do. You're targeting these people, this audience.
00:24:13
Jenn Cunningham
We need to make sure that you guys are capturing 30 to 45 year olds today. so we had to really be strategic about where we were going and providing product to. So the big events were... were huge but then they're like oh you know hit the college kids i'm like all right guys you guys want some red bull and drop them off but yeah then the larger larger events were was the only one for my team that went so they picked somebody from each region and they flew those girls there to these national events they got you got kind of do things together learn interact with other other groups and to be completely honest there are girls that i met during that time that i still am connected to today
00:24:52
Frank Furbacher
That's awesome.
00:24:53
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:24:53
Frank Furbacher
That's so cool. What other internships did you have?
00:24:56
Jenn Cunningham
Well, so I ended up doing semester in New York City. I lived in the city Manhattanville. And I ended up, because at that point, I had done all my classes that I needed to do for my major.
00:25:12
Jenn Cunningham
So I was like, I'm going here, have have some fun, do something cool. And it ended up, it was honestly very amazing. And I said, I needed to get an internship.
00:25:25
Jenn Cunningham
I had made an introduction to somebody that was like, hey, I know you're doing events in and you're going to laugh at this one. You should work for this PR and entertainment group out of Manhattan.
00:25:37
Jenn Cunningham
It's small, but he's looking for somebody help him, you know, do all these major celebrity events at clubs and all this stuff. I'm like, Sign me up.
00:25:48
Jenn Cunningham
So the first day I literally got credit for this and everything. And it was probably such a beneficial experience looking back and, and, and how I am now. I, the first day i go into an office, there's like four people in it. It's a very boutique agency. And he's like, here, Jen, like, I need you to these, all this information. Here's what we're doing.
00:26:07
Frank Furbacher
Thank you.
00:26:07
Jenn Cunningham
Gives you the rundown. And he's like, and then tonight I need you to be at, This club marquee when it was like popular because we're doing Leonardo DiCaprio's departing movie premiere party. And I was like, what am I doing?
00:26:21
Jenn Cunningham
He's like, you're going to just check off names on the guest list. I was like, okay. I had no clue what nightlife and these types of events were and where the PR and the marketing came in.
00:26:34
Jenn Cunningham
And so I went and I was like, what is actually happening right now? This is is insane. I experienced a whole level of the social scene on the entertainment side that normal people can never touch, right?
00:26:48
Jenn Cunningham
Very exclusive, all that stuff. And so I did that I did events once a a week and went to the office during the day, walked around the city, meeting with hotel concierges to pitch the events, meeting with all these other entertainment groups. He just sent me out. He was like, here's what you're going to do.
00:27:06
Jenn Cunningham
And I did it. And i did it on my own and went to all the events, met a ton of amazing people while doing it and probably had the best, best semester of my life.
00:27:18
Frank Furbacher
That's awesome.
00:27:19
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:27:19
Frank Furbacher
That is so cool. I love how your internships, too, were just kind of like, we'll just throw you into the wild and like, go talk to a bunch of people and make it work.
00:27:21
Jenn Cunningham
hmm.
00:27:28
Jenn Cunningham
Yep. And I got to live in, I lived in Brooklyn Heights, which was amazing. There are, there were other, there were kids from other schools there. So I made friends with people from Pace who became longtime friends later on.
00:27:40
Jenn Cunningham
did a lot of history and art classes and things like that while I was there. So it was just really interesting. And I really, really enjoyed it. So I don't even know if they still do, do they still do that program?
00:27:54
Frank Furbacher
I don't know.
00:27:55
Jenn Cunningham
If they do do it, do it.
00:27:55
Frank Furbacher
I'm not Yeah. One of the things too, like, I do wish I did some sort of a semester abroad.
00:28:04
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:28:05
Frank Furbacher
Being an athlete, you're always like, oh, well, you know, I might miss out on something.
00:28:07
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:08
Frank Furbacher
And you only have one semester to do it, right? You have kind of pick and choose. But that is, you know, i a lot in college, but like that's one thing where I'm like, oh, that would have been really cool. So anything, I don't know, anything to like get out into the world is going to benefit people as we know.
00:28:28
Frank Furbacher
So you're approaching graduation, right? And you're trying to figure out what are you going to after college?
00:28:31
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:28:34
Frank Furbacher
What do remember about that part?
00:28:35
Jenn Cunningham
So was really stressed during that time. And a piece of advice is that you need to live in the moment. I think that there's a lot of pressure coming out coming on to graduates at that time to get jobs and especially hardworking, motivated people who are very eager to jump in and dive you start to kind of rush through the process, like rush through your last semester and maybe not enjoy it as as much as you should, se, because you you're just freaking out. It's ah ah another big step. You don't know what going You have no money, all those kinds of things.
00:29:10
Jenn Cunningham
Mind you, I graduated in 2008, and graduated There was a recession. So jobs were really hard to come by. the interviews were far and few between, they just weren't hiring, hiring anybody.
00:29:27
Jenn Cunningham
So lucky for me, I still had my right coming right out of, out of graduation. And while I was interviewing, still had my Red Bull job, which I was doing really well with. And I also was a a waitress.
00:29:41
Jenn Cunningham
and I also did, alcohol promotions through a company that were, I got paid a really good amount of money. So I worked three jobs because I was like, I'm saving up for an apartment because as soon as I get a job, like I'm out of here, you know?
00:29:55
Jenn Cunningham
I had, done research on ANC sports. Like I had to come across them multiple times and was like, this is right up, right up my alley. This is like exactly like what I, what I want to do.
00:30:08
Jenn Cunningham
So it's cut, things are getting a little bit better at this point. It's, I started in, in September. So think about, I think it was September of that following, you know, after graduating So I ended up going an interview as an account coordinator position and never, I will never forget Jen. She was my first boss, such an inspiration to me throughout the rest of my career and ended up getting the job.
00:30:36
Jenn Cunningham
And I was so excited. I was like, this is like, this is my dream. I'm like gonna, I'm gonna take this so very seriously. did just that. And was part of the largest, at the time, LED screen displays in the world. I was part of the Indiana Pacers, which was foul line to foul line.
00:30:58
Jenn Cunningham
The Dodgers, when they put up the two diamond ones that were, was part of that. I had a piece of the pro space that kept growing and ANC was growing massively at that time.
00:31:09
Jenn Cunningham
And then I also had the college space. So I got to experience all of that on on the big power five division one level and ended up making crazy relationships with all of the multimedia rights holders for a lot of those colleges. So I got to see the sponsorship side of the business, the creative side of the business, the tech side of the business, all of that.
00:31:31
Jenn Cunningham
The industry was changing rapidly at that time, so it was fast moving. like were going from physical signage to digital signage. We weren't even a big company at that time. ended up moving up the ladder pretty quickly and from an account coordinator to an account executive an account manager.
00:31:49
Jenn Cunningham
senior account manager. And then I was managing the entire client service division and building a team at that point. And I was still really young. It was, it was crazy. I was traveling all over the country, going to pro sports venues, being part of all the pitches, all the creative pitches.
00:32:05
Jenn Cunningham
And like was really coming in as like, you know, helping account management, organizing, becoming efficient, And I have to note that my boss was the most organized person to this day. And I literally do the exact, I'm the exact same way now.
00:32:22
Jenn Cunningham
And so kind of moved real fast, moved up real quick, got to experience all these things, realized that I was crushing it on the sales side. I was like, man, I'm like, I think like sales, like to be in front of everyone. I like the pitch.
00:32:37
Jenn Cunningham
passionate about what I'm selling. And I had been living in New York and I got a random call from a company in Durham, North Carolina, sports media technology, SMT.
00:32:48
Jenn Cunningham
And I was like, i wonder what, like what this is. And so that was moving into like the TV side, the TV trucks, all of that technology, the down and distance feathers, yellow lines, all of that stuff was amazing.
00:33:00
Jenn Cunningham
you know, coming in hot at that point, all new technology. And so I fly down there and I'm like, ah I'm going to do this. I'm taking this job. So I pick up and move my life to North Carolina. And from there, it just took off. Like it was just, I just got in, started building all these relationships, ended up going to the Durham Bulls.
00:33:22
Jenn Cunningham
That was my first sponsorship sales job. And the reason I went there was they were the first minor league baseball team to ever have digital signage. So learn that space came in for two seasons. Then I was, I was contacted by IMG college to move into the collegiate space, selling sponsorship.
00:33:41
Jenn Cunningham
So, I did that for, went to two schools, finished up with IMG College at Georgia Tech, did that. And then I got contacted for another job that was, literally they said, your background is exactly what we're looking for. It's different. You've touched upon all these things.
00:33:58
Jenn Cunningham
Do you want to come in on the technology side and sell all the in-venue technology to college and minor league control rooms and that run the displays? You understand sponsorship. You can sell that.
00:34:10
Jenn Cunningham
Came in, crushed it, took over that venues division, on ended up working in the pro space, brought in a whole new concept of integrating sponsorship, inventory, finding new revenue.
00:34:22
Jenn Cunningham
That led me to multitude of other opportunities. COVID hits. I moved to Miami and I'm like, you know what? I'm going to, at the same time, I'm going to launch my own business. I've made so many connections. I have so many big ideas.
00:34:35
Jenn Cunningham
Launched a consulting business, got clients there.
00:34:37
Frank Furbacher
Thank
00:34:38
Jenn Cunningham
contacted for a job in Nashville. I'm like, you know what, it's time. I'm still doing this. I come to Nashville. I did some work with PBR, professional bull riding.
00:34:50
Jenn Cunningham
And then and then I ended up reconnecting with all of the IMG college people and and owner who had sold it to Learfield.
00:35:00
Jenn Cunningham
And he's like, yeah, we're building a new business. This is what it's called. It's called Rebel XP. know I want you I like, I would love for you to meet everyone. I meet them. It's just getting off the ground. I'm, you know, working my in sponsorship and NIL is launching. So I'm part of that.
00:35:17
Jenn Cunningham
And then finally a job opens up and I make the move. And so now I'm back in the college side at Rebel X Page.
00:35:27
Frank Furbacher
So tell us, what does Revel XP do?
00:35:30
Jenn Cunningham
So we, so ultimately we are changing the way that the fan experience and the tailgating experience occurs. Uh, we are a, our bread and butter is offering a turnkey, a turnkey tailgate tailgating solution at a VIP level.
00:35:46
Jenn Cunningham
We work with, you know, 70 plus power five schools across the country. We own our tailgate space. We have an entire team out there. We set up the tents, provide the entire VIP experience prior to game day.
00:36:01
Jenn Cunningham
And we execute literally probably the most VIP experience you can get. Nobody, they show up, they get their food, they get a TV, they have fans, air conditioning, whatever they want.
00:36:12
Jenn Cunningham
And so that's really where this concept started. We've expanded out very high level premium experiences. We have an official partnership with the College Football bowl Championship.
00:36:23
Jenn Cunningham
We do some work with Super Bowl, the bowl games. We have some, you know, we have access to the master's you name it, any premium event, we have an entire team that does that.
00:36:35
Jenn Cunningham
And then we also have officially have branched into the music space, which is ah part of major part of what I'm doing. So we are really kind of expanding the fan experience altogether to create the most unforgettable VIP experiences across the board in sports.
00:36:57
Frank Furbacher
So essentially college football fan could call up or book a, Hey, I'm going to be at this game. don't want to do all the lugging of all the stuff.
00:37:07
Jenn Cunningham
Yep.
00:37:09
Frank Furbacher
So they basically show up and you've got a tent, you've got food and drinks waiting for you. Is that how it works?
00:37:15
Jenn Cunningham
Yep. So you go online, you go to the school page, you submit, you click, click the offering you want you book it. And then we have, a lot of amazing major national catering partners that I brought on this year.
00:37:29
Jenn Cunningham
So we have all these major brands, food offerings. They click the dropdown, they get their whole menu, that order sent directly to them. It is there and delivered to them on game day with anything else that they want.
00:37:43
Frank Furbacher
That is so cool. It's we were talking before this, but about the college game day experience and how, um you know, while we didn't have a college football team going to Manhattanville,
00:37:50
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:37:57
Frank Furbacher
we've both kind of grown into understanding the ins and outs of the passion that exists at some of these big schools and how big of a deal it really is.
00:38:04
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:38:06
Jenn Cunningham
Oh, it's, it's a, it's a lifestyle. That's what we say. It is an absolute lifestyle. And that is why this business is just so amazing. And that, you know, that we are really the number ones to do it and do it the way that we are doing it.
00:38:21
Jenn Cunningham
And I think that, you know, the inside experience is we also do a ton. We do that as well, right? We're, we're offering the most VIP stuff there. And, you know, meet and greets, field experiences, all that.
00:38:34
Jenn Cunningham
But the before experience, think about anyone that talks about tailgating when they go to a concert, all of that. The before experience is just as important as the inside experience.
00:38:47
Jenn Cunningham
And sometimes could be better depending if the team's doing well, you know? So it's just such a it's so awesome to see like, and ah you're gonna go to Rutgers and check out our scene there. But if you ever get a chance to go to like one of our major schools, like Texas or Arkansas,
00:39:03
Jenn Cunningham
It is the most insane setup and experience that I've ever seen. And these guys sell out. Like these are, we sell out and they come every season.
00:39:14
Jenn Cunningham
They have regulars. It's ah a really amazing experience and opportunity and really cool to be a part of because we're always, we're just coming up with new stuff, better things. We're continuously growing.
00:39:27
Jenn Cunningham
it's been, it's really been amazing to be a part of.
00:39:30
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, can I look back at like, even going to like the country concerts, whether we in college or afterwards, and it was almost like we were so fired up for the tailgate beforehand, more so than we were for the actual concert, even though that was fun too.
00:39:46
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah.
00:39:47
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, it's such a lifestyle thing too of ah ah understanding that, hey, like this is what we do, you know, for those big college football teams.
00:39:55
Frank Furbacher
This is just what we do on Saturdays. Like this is our tradition.
00:39:59
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah, and like in with that, you know, like I came from the traditional college space and selling sponsorships in venue and all of that. And so kind of coming out of that, this is requiring a lot of creativity and really working with the right brand partners that make sense for this type of experience ah ah nationally and want this particular experience and reach at a different level and a different approach than just getting in front of the regular fan.
00:40:25
Jenn Cunningham
So that's been really successful to watch the growth of that over time. you know, we're, we're doing bigger and better partnerships every year. that's, that's kind of adding a whole nother level to what I know and can do on the sponsorship side.
00:40:38
Jenn Cunningham
And then we, you know, we partner with other organizations that want sponsorship expertise that are really providing cool experiences that align with what we're doing.
00:40:42
Frank Furbacher
you
00:40:47
Jenn Cunningham
And so, We we've broken into the country music scene and festival scene and we doing stuff there that ultimately led to this relationship led we should be doing concerts at these schools.
00:41:02
Jenn Cunningham
And so we are doing mass like mass produced huge concerts with country artists and other artists at these schools during the football season. Now that we've kind branched into this.
00:41:14
Jenn Cunningham
And so now I'm also kind of expanding my own network in the country music scene. And I've brought on some of my own clients and expanding my skill set of sponsorship, sponsorship strategy into that space. Because be completely transparent, it it it just wasn't something they were ever focused on like they are now.
00:41:33
Frank Furbacher
So not only are you focusing on the existing games and doing that, but you're actually taking a part in creating the events and the concerts that can then be added on to as well.
00:41:37
Jenn Cunningham
Mm-hmm.
00:41:43
Jenn Cunningham
Yep. Yep. The experience around it. So, you know, is it, is the concert going to be pregame? Is it going to be the night of before? Is it going to be after like creating an entire weekend experience? And we've sort of expanded on that already with our premium ah event and sales division where they are creating tailgate experience weekends, hotels included round of golf at one of the top, you know, country clubs. Those are the types of things we're building and and providing for people.
00:42:11
Jenn Cunningham
give them the ultimate best experience they could have. And so music is a natural fit and add on to that, to that experience. And all the years of, of working in sports, I come to Nashville, I marry ah someone who works in country music and it was like a light bulb went off. And I was like, this, this is just such a great alignment that isn't happening as much as it should.
00:42:34
Jenn Cunningham
And we need to kind of start bridging this gap and we'll start on the college side.
00:42:38
Frank Furbacher
That's so awesome. What's like the coolest event you've attended?
00:42:42
Jenn Cunningham
attended? Like for a concert or?
00:42:46
Jenn Cunningham
So I went to the country, I went to the CMAs, the actual CMAs, country music awards.
00:42:50
Frank Furbacher
Oh, that's cool.
00:42:52
Jenn Cunningham
And I also went to the Superbowl, in Miami. So whatever that was, I mean, those are pretty, those are pretty awesome. I'm sure that there's some others that I'm thinking of, but
00:43:06
Frank Furbacher
Have you been to the masters?
00:43:08
Jenn Cunningham
I have not. And it's funny. i said that we had like a ah poll at work and it was like, would you rather go to the Masters or the Kentucky Derby? And I was like, Masters.
00:43:20
Jenn Cunningham
Masters.
00:43:21
Frank Furbacher
Same. That's so awesome.
00:43:22
Jenn Cunningham
was like, absolutely. I was like, is this like a foreshadowing, guys? I'll get there. I'll get there soon.
00:43:27
Jenn Cunningham
But yeah.
00:43:27
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, yeah.
00:43:28
Frank Furbacher
All right, we only got a few minutes left. So I want to give you a few quick hits, Jen. Want to start with a piece of advice that you wish you had before graduating.
00:43:41
Jenn Cunningham
I think a piece of advice that I probably learned on my own and really never received that I do truly believe in is network, network, network.
00:43:54
Jenn Cunningham
If I can tell you a really quick story that is relevant to Manhattanville, I would like to. I'm going to shout out, I'm going to send it to Melissa, but Melissa Concalvis, now Davis. was a field hockey player and lacrosse player younger than me. We were never in school at the same time.
00:44:10
Jenn Cunningham
I came, was organizing the alumni game the first year that we ever had it. And Keith was still there at the time. Melissa was very heavily involved, knew Keith as well, and was telling him she wanted to work in sports. And he's like, you need to talk to Jen, who's coming, to the alumni game. You need to set a time to meet her.
00:44:31
Jenn Cunningham
that has happened a lot. People say it, they don't really pursue it. Melissa, Melissa was the most persistent, motivated person I had ever met in my entire life. She's like, I just need an internship, like an internship.
00:44:45
Jenn Cunningham
I was like, all right, let me, let's talk. Brought her on as an intern, ended up getting hired, ended up taking my position when I left and stayed there after me and just like stayed in my footprint and guidance. And it was all because she literally did not stop contacting me.
00:45:01
Jenn Cunningham
She did not. She went out of her way to build the network. She contacted me. It was really what it's it's how she did it, what she did that inspired me. I'm like, this girl's a hustler. She's going to work hard. Like, definitely going bring her on.
00:45:13
Jenn Cunningham
I've never seen anyone so persistent. And she ended up, you know, doing the same thing and and moving on and working in sports. And we had this great we have we still have a very great relationship. We still talk.
00:45:25
Jenn Cunningham
We're still great friends. never went to school together. But it was that kind of network and bond. So my advice is if you are Manhattanville getting out, reach out to people from Manhattanville who have already graduated that might be in a field that you are interested in working in and build that relationship very early on because it will go a very long way.
00:45:47
Frank Furbacher
That's great. That's so awesome. That's a ah ah powerful alumni, you know, just a built in tool that that's there and people should use it more often.
00:45:57
Jenn Cunningham
I agree.
00:45:59
Frank Furbacher
Favorite place on campus?
00:46:01
Jenn Cunningham
The pub, like the chicken figure Sammy, is it still there?
00:46:06
Frank Furbacher
It is. think they've renovated it since so it looks a little better.
00:46:08
Jenn Cunningham
man, I gotta be back.
00:46:10
Frank Furbacher
But yeah, yeah. When was the last time you on campus?
00:46:13
Jenn Cunningham
I have no idea. Oh, probably the alumni game that, that year that I was still living in New York. I don't think I've been back since I've lived out of the state. It is on my, to-do list. Like I have been talking to him my husband, Ryan. I'm like, I'm taking you there because you got to just see, you know, I talk about it a lot.
00:46:29
Jenn Cunningham
It meant a lot to me. And he's like, I want to see what it was like. So we'll be back.
00:46:34
Frank Furbacher
All right. Well, Jen, is there anything else that you want to share?
00:46:36
Jenn Cunningham
No, but this has been great. I'm so glad that you're doing this. It's really nice to and and also see other people doing it. Like, I love it.
00:46:44
Frank Furbacher
It was great chatting with you, Jen.
00:46:45
Jenn Cunningham
Yeah. Thank you.
00:46:46
Frank Furbacher
We'll talk soon. Thank you.
00:46:46
Jenn Cunningham
Okay. Thank you.
00:46:48
Frank Furbacher
Bye.