The Work in Sports Podcast - Insider Advice for Sports Careers

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Joan Lynch, WorkingNation on the Future of Work – Work In Sports Podcast Nov 04, 2020

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Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… One thing I’ve noticed throughout my career managing people and working through varying situations is that there are two main ways people respond and react to change. There is a massive group of people who get angry at change, blame it, get frustrated, refuse to adapt because they like the way things have been. There is another group who owns the change. They adapt, innovate, adjust their strategies and approaches, and fit in with the change rather than expecting the world to come to them. They recognize, change is inevitable. In 2020 - change isn’t just inevitable, it’s an in your face, punch you in the gut, steal your lunch, and laugh at you while it walks into your future. It’s trite to say, this year has been a roller coaster - it’s been a roller coaster in a tornado, hit by a tsunami and shot into space. BUT, people, businesses, organizations, groups, non-profits -- have adapted. Not all, but many. They’ve taken personal responsibility for their growth. They have not only recognized change is here, they have accepted it, adjusted to it, looked for opportunities, and re-branded themselves. Change is good. It may not feel it at the moment, but looking back through history it is sometimes the worst events that spark the biggest sea change toward our future. I’ll give you one example, In 1965, at the height of the modern civil rights movement, activists in Alabama organized a march for voting rights, from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, the state capital. A march. Not an armed protest, not a riot, a march for voting rights. Around 600 people assembled at a downtown church in Selma Alabama, knelt briefly in prayer and began walking silently, two-by-two through the city streets. They crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge and were forcefully pushed back by police. Beaten, trampled, attacked - for marching. You’ve likely heard of this event, but at some point you should watch it. I did, again recently with my kids, and they were horrified. BUT, and here is the key. Think about this… What if police hadn’t attacked? What if there wasn’t a video? What if there wasn’t outrage? What if the 600 people just peacefully matched to Montgomery? Would we be talking about it today? Would we be considering the civil rights movement and its importance to our history as we do today? Would John Lewis be as impactful a character in US History as he has been? Rest his soul. I don’t know… maybe not. Just to be clear I am not justifying what happened that day, I am not declaring it a good thing -- just pointing out, that we don’t often see the end result in the moment, because the future is unclear and we don’t allow ourselves to comprehend anything but where we are right now in the moment. Bringing it back to today, it is hard to see how 2020 will be a positive -- but what if you learn a new skill that is more applicable to the new workforce? What if you meet people you otherwise wouldn’t have reached out to? You learn social media advertising, or photoshop, or salesforce, or data analytics, or eSports. I don’t know the right answer for you -- all I know for sure is, our world is changing, you need to change with it. No one knows this better than today’s guest - Joan Lynch, Chief Content and Programming Officer for WorkingNation. Long time fans of the show probably remember Joan on the show last year, in one of our most popular episodes ever. Well, buckle up - Joan is dropping some serious knowledge on our changing workforce...right…. Now… Questions for Joan Lynch, WorkingNation 1: Before we get deep into the weeds on hiring trends and the prospect for the job market – give the audience a view into the purpose and mission of WorkIngNation 2: Let’s start off with a big topic – women in sports –

Should You Include Your GPA on Your Resume? Work In Sports podcast Nov 02, 2020

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Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… Look this is going to be a stressful week, election week is important in our country and I can’t stress to you enough, young, old, and somewhere in the middle like me, get out and vote. When you vote, you shape not just your world today, and next month and next year -- decisions like these impact your entire future. Democracy works when everyone votes, so get out there. This is not the time to be sitting on the sidelines. Ok, let’s look at the Stat line, get a picture of our sports industry -- OK, three stats to help you better understand the health of the sports industry. On WorkInSports.com the number one job board for the sports industry, we currently feature 17,226 active sports jobs! 1715 new jobs added this week -- down a little bit from last week… But that is still an average of 245 new jobs posted every day... Now trend analysis -- lots of internships posted this past week, which makes sense, this is the time of year you start to see companies post their spring internships. If you are a college student making your plans for spring - check out last week’s podcast, some really good info in there on internship prep. OK -- three fresh jobs on the job board the really caught my eye -- Job #1 -- Associate Manager of Social Marketing for Athleta -- now, this is a great example of a category of job that has been growing -- retail/lifestyle - you’ve heard me talk about this in the past, but brands like Athleta, Puma, Nike, Adidas are doing quite well right now, and are hiring for a lot of roles. If you are into sports marketing or social media, don’t limit yourself to teams -- look to the big brands too! Job #2 -- Sr. Editor, NHL at The Athletic -- senior role contributing to comprehensive editorial oversight of our NHL coverage, using data analytics to optimize performance, and partner with stakeholders across the editorial organization and business teams on a range of initiatives. Interesting that it’s not a strictly journalism role, using data to optimize performance -- keep that in mind all you journalism types, it takes more than just sports knowledge and writing skills to elevate in today’s sports media. And job #3 -- Athletic Director at the College of Saint Benedict -- here’s why this job stood out to me -- The College of Saint Benedict is a women’s college with 11 intercollegiate (varsity) teams and 8 competitive club sport teams. The program seeks to reinforce the college mission of preparing women to think critically, lead courageously, and advocate passionately through sport. I like that mission a lot -- sounds like a great stepping stone role for someone who wants a lead role in college athletics. Alright -- that is the stat line! Ok, before we get into today’s question -- I got called out by a fan last week, and i want to address what they brought up. Just to remind everyone, I like it when you call me out, I have zero problems with it. And I have already spoken with this person directly… BUT if they are thinking it, you may be too, so let’s talk about it. I’m all for transparency, Got an email last week that said “Hey Brian, I’ve heard you rant and rave about how all internships should be paid, and that it is unfair to create a system that requires experience ot get jobs, but the only way to get hired is by gaining experience through internships… but no everyone can work for free. I agree 100% with your sentiment, this fact has bothered me for a long time, I’m glad you’ve given it a platform… BUT, you also work for a site that charges money for people to apply for jobs. How is this any different? I’m not trying to be confrontational, just would like to hear your rationale since generally speaking, I find you to be on the level.” I’m not mentioning this person’s name because I don’t think they expected or wanted m...

Moving Forward Part 4: Breaking Down Barriers to Entry – Work In Sports podcast Oct 28, 2020

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June 2014, just 6 years ago, the Atlanta Hawks finished their season 38-44 and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Their General Manager, former NBA player Danny Ferry, was in a conference call with team owners and organizational stakeholders outlining his off-season plans and possible targets in free agency. Luol Deng, was a free agent. Ferry, during the call, described Deng as a player who “has a little African in him” and “a guy who would have a nice store out front, and sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back.” The comments became public after being leaked. Ferry claimed he was only reading comments from a scouting report compiled by someone else. The team concluded from their own commissioned investigation that Ferry’s remarks did not include offensive language, and were not “motivated by racial or ethnic animus.” You can judge that for yourself, with or without a commissioned investigation. But that wasn’t the end of the Hawks problems. At the same time, the franchise’s controlling owner Bruce Levenson reported that he sent out a racist e-mail two months earlier criticizing the Hawks predominantly African-American fan base. The e-mail sent to Ferry detailed Levenson’s belief that the Hawks’ fan base was “overwhelmingly black” and the “black people scared away whites” from attending games. Levenson also wrote that the Hawks games were attended by a 70 percent black crowd with predominantly black cheerleaders, hip-hop music, 90 percent black patrons at the arena’s bars, and fewer fathers and sons at the games. He added that concerts at the games were mostly hip-hop or gospel, thus attracting more African-American fans. Levenson sold his interest in the Hawks upon revealing his e-mail to the NBA. October 7th, 2014, just a few months later, Hawks CEO Steve Koonin, seeing a need for change in his organization, posts a job listing for a chief diversity and inclusion officer. We so often think roles in diversity and inclusion are the norm in sports. That there are people and staff dedicated to the process of equality in workplace, culture, hiring practices, benefits, deeper cultural awareness, education, and sensitivity – and they have always been there guiding the ship of cultural equity. But when Steve Koonin and the Atlanta Hawks hired Nzinga Shaw to be their Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer in the fall of 2014, she was the first in the NBA. Amazingly, when Zing Shaw left the Hawks in 2019 to join Starbucks as their Global Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer, she was also the first to hold that role at Starbucks. 5 years ago, Diversity and Inclusion roles in sports didn’t exist. And while it is important to note that Diversity Officers and D&I executives are now being included in every sports organization's corporate structure, the fact it took this long, and this big of a problem to make it happen, is sad. The Hawks, in case you were wondering, during Shaw’s reign, turned their image in the Atlanta community around. They created all-staff service days with six service projects in the city, accumulating 1,000 combined hours of community service. They had a float in the Atlanta Pride Festival, with current and former players and employees riding on the float and throwing 2,000 basketballs to the crowd with pride and Hawks logos on them. They became an organization focused on fairness, equity and inclusion. I won’t list all the actions they have taken to change their image, but suffice it to say, it is meaningful. This is a great turn-around story. We love stories where characters find a new truth and are reformed and changed – they’ve always been popular in our culture. But what if this happened at a smaller, lesser profile team or league or sports connected organization? If a minor league baseball team’s GM talks about a player in the fashion Danny Ferry did, it doesn’t become national news, it doesn’t spark change,

How to Stand Out When You are Applying for Sports Internships – Work In Sports podcast Oct 26, 2020

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The Work in Sports podcast is brought to you by EMPOWRD This is the most important election of our time. Period. It’s is incredibly important for you to see through the noise, the chaos, the misinformation -- and VOTE. Your VOTE matters. I have already returned my early ballot, dropped it off in person at a designated official dropbox...and you know what happened. Rainbows. Immediately. If you want to stay informed, engaged, and ready to vote, check out the EMPOWRD app -- super powerful full of local information, tons of resources to help you. Download the app today at EMPOWRD.com Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast... Before we get into our new favorite segment, the stat line, quick note -- the final part of our four-part series on social justice in sports told through the eyes of our young diverse aspiring sports professional panel...is Wednesday. I hope you have been listening. If not. Do it. Start with part 1. After this series is complete we’ll get right back into our weekly sports industry interviews -- with a returning champion, Joan Lynch. Joan is the Chief Content Officer for WorkingNation, which means she studies the job market and has incredible advice. Her first podcast episode, last year at this time, was one of our most popular of all-time. Like, way more downloads than Leigh Steinberg, but not quite as many as Mailynh Vu. Which puts her in rockstar status. We’ve already recorded this interview and I have to say, I think it’s some of our best work -- Joan knows her stuff, and I get all fired up, and then she brings insightful data, and I rant and rave -- we are like a perfect yin and yang. So plan on tuning in, next Wednesday. Alright… let’s get into The stat line… The total number of jobs on WorkInSports.com -- the number one job board for the sports industry -- 17,286 -- pretty much flat week over week. We added 2,093 new jobs in the last week, an average of 299 fresh sports jobs per day during the last week. That’s a lot of fresh activity. Three cool jobs -- #1 The South Carolina Stingrays are hiring a Marketing Coordinator - great entry-level job -- I’ll wait a few seconds for you all to google search to figure out what sports the South Carolina Stingrays play. If you guessed Minor League Baseball as I did, you’d be wrong, this is an ECHL hockey team - minor league sports are a great career starter, check this one out. Go, Jamie Harrison! #2 The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs are hiring a Director of Digital Media and Communications -- The Iron Pigs President and GM Kurt Landes was on this show...and the Iron Pigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies are just 20.8 miles from my house. So if you get this job, let’s hang out. And job #3… Fox Sports in Charlotte is hiring an Associate Producer for Marketing -- so this is the creative side of marketing, the process of developing on-air promotions, in conjunction with the marketing team and creative directors. Very cool Check those three and 17,000 or so more, on WorkinSports.com right now... And that was the stat line… So, rifling through the email, the LinkedIn, the private Facebook group...looking for great questions, and rising to the top this week is Jemele from Florida -- I wish this was Jemele Hill, I’d love to have her on the podcast, but alas, I don’t think this is. “Hi Brian, I’m Jemele and I’ve been listening to your podcast for the last year, the advice you share is so easy to act on, so logical, but at the same time are all things I definitely was not doing, so thank you. I feel like I’m making smarter choices now that will prepare me for my future… on that subject, I’m a college junior and I’m trying to get my internship set up for the spring semester. Obviously, these are weird times, but let’s forget that for a second and just focus on standin...

Moving Forward Part 3: A Voice from Inside the Sports Industry – Work In Sports podcast Oct 21, 2020

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The Work in Sports podcast: Moving Forward is brought to you by EMPOWRD This is the most important election of our time. And let’s be honest, voting during a pandemic is a little confusing right now. There is so much misinformation out there aimed toward making you believe your vote doesn’t matter Well, your vote does matter. Voting is the most important responsibility of citizens. Don’t give up that power or that right! Get engaged, informed & ready to vote - all with ONE app. All of these top athletes are out there supporting this great app that will make it easier for you to get all the information you need to vote! Download the app today at EMPOWRD.com Welcome to Part 3 of our 4-part Moving Forward mini-series analyzing social justice through the eyes of ten young, diverse aspiring sports professionals, I’m your host, Brian Clapp from WorkinSports.com. Social justice in sports, the idea of communicating anger and frustration based on racial inequity, took a few decades off. NBA Hall of famer Bill Russell, five-time NBA Most Valuable Player, 12-time All-Star, 11-time NBA championship, Olympic gold medal winner, NCAA Champion -- used his platform to fight against the racism and inequality that plague our country today. Russell believes you should stand up for your beliefs, no matter what the cost - and he has always lived that way. Fans were violent toward him, the FBI surveilled him, fellow pro’s criticized him -- but he persevered. He spoke his truth without fear of reciprocity because his goal was to do more than win basketball games, he wanted to change the world. This was the 60’s - the energy and fervor to fight oppression and inequality slowed down in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and early 2000. 40 years of silence from our sports stars, the leaders and most powerful voices for change, unfortunately shut up and dribbled. Michael Jordan, Lawrence Taylor, Charles Barkley, Barry Bonds -- they were all outspoken, but rarely is ever about social change and inequality. The voice from within became silent. Glitz, glam and excess became the voice. Love him, hate him, respect him, admonish him - it was Colin Kaepernick who woke up the sports world and brought the athletes back down to the people. Others followed suit with power and passion -- but it became clear, it was no longer a shut up and dribble world. That voice, the one that comes from the inside, has so much power. In 2017, Bill Russell posted a photograph of himself on Twitter, in which he was taking a knee in solidarity with NFL players. Wearing his Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the image was captioned with "Proud to take a knee, and to stand tall against social injustice." In an interview with ESPN, Russell said he wanted the NFL players to know they weren't alone. This conversation, part three of our moving forward series, isn’t about the merits of taking a knee, it’s about using your voice from the inside to affect positive change. Everyone here listening doesn’t have the benefit of a platform like Kyrie Irving or Bill Russell, but change can come from listening, and using the platform you do have inside our industry. To help me through this conversation, join me in welcoming Devin Walker, Miguel Garcia Espinoza and Caitlin Wallen… Thanks to Caitlin, Miguel and Devin for joining me in this important conversation about change and using your voice. I’ll finish up by quoting historian Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States “We don’t have to engage in grand heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can change the world.” Thanks for listening.

Emphasize These Skills in Your Remote Interviews – Work In Sports podcast Oct 19, 2020

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The Work in Sports podcast is brought to you by EMPOWRD This is the most important election of our time. And let’s be honest, voting during a pandemic is a little confusing right now. There is so much misinformation out there aimed toward making you believe your vote doesn’t matter Well, your vote does matter. Voting is the most important responsibility of citizens. Don’t give up that power or that right! Get engaged, informed & ready to vote - all with ONE app. You know who is engaged, informed, and ready to vote with EMPOWRD - Trey Flowers, Detroit Lions Whitney Mercilus, Houston Texans Justin Reid, Houston Texans Anfernee Simons, Portland Trailblazers All of these top athletes are out there supporting this great app that will make it easier for you to get all the information you need to vote! Download the app today at EMPOWRD.com Alright, let’s start the countdown… Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning for WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast… Happy Monday everyone -- struggling a little getting things rolling this morning… but I’m ready to bring the energy now. Last week we published episode 2 of our four-part Moving Forward series highlighting 10 young, diverse, aspiring sports professionals on their journey to employment and facing the challenges of social justice. I am very proud of our conversations thus far if you haven’t listened yet, please do so, the discussions are eye-opening. This week we publish part 3 - on using your voice from inside an organization. I’m joined by Miguel Garcia Espinoza, Caitlen Wallen, and Devin Walker for a great conversation -- please tune in and download! Alright -- time for the Stat Line What in the world … I must have hit the wrong button. Randy Just our director of customer service just have gotten into my music playlist. Let’s try this again… time for the stat line.. Ah much better… it’s Monday morning, I’m not ready for EDM, dubstep, trap beats yet… man, do I sound old. Ok into the data we go… The total number of jobs on WorkInSports.com the #1 job board for the sports industry… has 17,124 jobs - we’ve crossed 17k, which is awesome. I was just looking at one of our competitors… they have 689 jobs, total. You tell me where the best chance is for you to find a job. In the last week, we’ve added 2,236 jobs to our job board - an average of 319 jobs posted each day of the week. That is opportunity. Ok, our most popular category right now is retail/lifestyle with just over 7,000 job opportunities -- but i want to better explain this category by highlighting a few really cool jobs. “Lifestyle” are all the brands and products that enhance your sports and active life… So let’s check out a few jobs here: Fitbit Environmental Sustainability Program Mgr - now this as just one gig that stood out to me, because I’m way into the environment and sustainability, but fitbit is one of the sports adjacent companies that is in the lifestyle category. They also have a product manager for audience engagement, and program manager for wearables -- pretty cool stuff. Alright, another brand in the lifestyle category -- Patagonia -- one of my personal favs - is hiring an Equity and Performance Lead, you will be responsible for instilling a mindset and culture of equity & inclusion, ongoing learning, and professional development by designing and implementing organizational and culture change efforts, performance management processes, training, and tools across the company. Another big one - have you heard of XOS Digital? When you hear of coaches directly after a game jumping on their iPad and watching cut-ups of game video… or sitting in a dark room watching video and scouting -- they are using XOS digital, they are the leader in sports performance analytics? Amazing company - they are hiring a senior product manager. If you want to work in coaching, scouting,

Moving Forward Part 2: Everyone Has a Role Oct 14, 2020

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The Work in Sports podcast is brought to you by EMPOWRD This is the most important election of our time. And let’s be honest, voting during a pandemic is a little confusing right now. There is so much misinformation out there aimed toward making you believe your vote doesn’t matter Well, your vote does matter. Voting is the most important responsibility of citizens. Don’t give up that power or that right! Get engaged, informed & ready to vote - all with ONE app. You know who is engaged, informed, and ready to vote with EMPOWRD - Trey Flowers, Detroit Lions Whitney Mercilus, Houston Texans Justin Reid, Houston Texans Anfernee Simons, Portland Trailblazers All of these top athletes are out there supporting this great app that will make it easier for you to get all the information you need to vote! Download the app today at EMPOWRD.com And the Work InSports Podcast Moving Forward is brought to you by High Point Gamer: High Point Gamer is Central Florida’s premiere Esports consultant for forward-thinking gamers, brands and organizations. They help you add gaming to your marketing strategy. Their custom gaming-centric activations are tailored to support your business goals. Visit High Point Gamer dot com for more information. Welcome to Part 2 of our 4-part Moving Forward mini series analysing social justice through the eyes of ten young, diverse aspiring sports professionals, I’m your host, Brian Clapp from WorkinSports.com. The sports industry has long been our nations main source of entertainment. Look no further than the most popular tv series of 2019-2020. Sunday Night FootballThursday Night FootballMonday Night FootballThe Masked Singer The Last Dance Ahead of the bachelor, survivor, american idol, grey’s anatomy, this is us and a bevy of other highly dicsussed shows. If you look at the most popular individual TV shows - 19 out of the top 25 most watched shows of 2019 were sports. And not just football. The World Series, The NBA finals, The College Football Championship, the NCAA Men’s basketball championships. Sports dominates. With that in mind, you would hope and imagine that the industry itself would be representative of the stars in the games that have become so popular. It is not. For example, more than 45% of college football players are black, but black men only represent 9% of athletic directors and 8% of head coaches. We can play these numbers out down the line in all facets of the sports industry - women’s sports, men’s sports, college, pro, media companies, leagues. The disparity is real, and tangible. Progress only comes when the majority aims to help, support and advocate for the minority. If the majority persists as if the norm they are living in is what they want to see continue, things will never change. But, if a large enough group of allies from the majority are mobilizd and activated for change, they can hold the power and the key to stimulate positive change. As award-winning diversity, equity and inclusion leader Sheree Atcheson wrote in Forbes, Allyship is: a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people.not self-defined—work and efforts must be recognized by those you are seeking to ally with.an opportunity to grow and learn about ourselves, whilst building confidence in others. This is an important step for all listeners, to understand what minority groups, whether it be women, LGBTQ, or People of color - need, and how they need it. To be an ally, requires an ability to listen, support, self-reflect & change. Something all of us can and should do. The Work in Sports podcast Moving Forward is a 4-part discussion with 10 young, diverse, aspiring sports professionals sharing the issues that confront them every day as they attempt to embark on their sports careers and change the world.

Highlighting Your Transferrable Skills – Work In Sports Podcast Oct 12, 2020

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The Work in Sports podcast is brought to you by EMPOWRD This is the most important election of our time. And let’s be honest, voting during a pandemic is a little confusing right now. There is so much misinformation out there aimed toward making you believe your vote doesn’t matter Well, your vote does matter. Voting is the most important responsibility of citizens. Don’t give up that power or that right! Get engaged, informed & ready to vote - all with ONE app. You know who is engaged, informed, and ready to vote with EMPOWRD - Trey Flowers, Detroit Lions Whitney Mercilus, Houston Texans Justin Reid, Houston Texans Anfernee Simons, Portland Trailblazers All of these top athletes are out there supporting this great app that will make it easier for you to get all the information you need to vote! Download the app today at EMPOWRD.com Alright, let’s start the countdown... Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkinSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast…. Before we get into the stat line, last week we published part 1 of our 4 part series titled Moving Forward, and I just want to say thank you for all the really positive responses we’ve received. Equality is an important subject - sports should be the ultimate meritocracy, both on the field and in the offices. The best should rise, no matter what they look like. No matter what their gender. But that isn’t always the case. We need to fix that, and so often that starts with conversations where our eyes are opened. I’d like to consider myself a pretty empathetic person, I put myself in the shoes of others often. BUT, to hear someone else’s experience in their own words is so powerful. When Gerald Taylor explained in episode one just how much it meant for him, a young black man, to have Jason Wright named team president of the Washington Football Team because it helped him see that it is possible-- you could feel it. When Jalen Mitchell, 19-year old Howard student, explained that not everyone has to be on the front lines for the fight for social justice, but everyone does have a role - the maturity, vision, and passion of this 19-year-old man gave me chills. It makes a difference to hear the conversation, hear it in their voices. Go back and listen. I’ll admit, I put a lot of effort into this series, and wanted to see it be successful. But I had an epiphany last week, thanks to some friends, you know who you are, and I don’t really care how many downloads we have. The people who do listen I know will be impacted, and even just one set of ears that are opened and maybe the conversation shifts their perspective a bit, and opens themselves up to their role in progress - that is the marker of success. Part 2 comes up this week with Destiny Jones and Alex Rodriguez. Now its time for the stat line… The Stat Line - Understanding the Week in Sports Careers We’re going to jam through the numbers pretty quick here because I have a very important message to get across… On WorkInSports.com - the number one job board for the sports industry, there are currently 16,493 active jobs, which is up about 1% from last week, so basically flat. We added 1,889 fresh new active jobs this week an average of 270 a day -- which is awesome, lots of reasons to come back to the site daily and see what’s up. Ok - now I have a quick explainer to get into -- for the last few months, I’ve been telling ya’ll about media/creative. I’ve been speaking in college classrooms around the country, and on this here podcast and I get asked all the time, where are the jobs in the sports industry, where is the job growth. My answer -- media/creative, tech/data, and retail/lifestyle. Those are the categories we’ve seen growth. BUT… just this past week you may all have been seeing headlines saying ESPN is on the verge of laying off hundreds of employees.

Moving Forward Part 1: Using the Power of Our Voice Oct 07, 2020

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The Work in Sports podcast presents Moving Forward, a 4-part series highlighting the sports industry's role in influencing change for people of color, the LGBTQ community and women. We will discuss representation, allyship, having a voice on the inside, fearless communication and inspiring steps for our future. Join us in this conversation with an open heart and mind. One of the best ways to begin a career in the sports industry is through Minor League Baseball, it is the ultimate platform to do a little bit of everything and gain invaluable experience. In 2016, MiLB launched the FIELD program, which stands for 'Fostering Inclusion through Education and Leadership Development' a landmark program designed to provide an opportunity to sports career-minded individuals from diverse backgrounds. This is a wonderful program - we need more like it. Alumni of the program point to it as the launching point of their career and it has clearly added to the diversity amongst minor league organizations. But, this past June, just days after George Floyd was murdered by police officers in Minnesota, Minor League baseball was noticeably silent. As other leagues, teams, athletes, and organizations condemned the actions and called for change, Minor League Baseball said nothing for days. The silence as they say was deafening and didn’t go unnoticed by those who had been part of the most recent FIELD program cohort. The group banded together and released a joint statement professing their profound disappointment in Minor League Baseball and their belief in the need for progress in social justice and equity while acknowledging the positive role sports can play in changing the world. In the coming weeks, we will be joined by members of that FIELD cohort, young, diverse people, sharing their voice and thoughts as we watch the sports world continue to grapple with its role in social change. In week one we’ll be focusing in on using your voice to force change with Jalen Mitchell and Gerald Taylor. Questions for Moving Forward Part 1 with Jalen Mitchell and Gerald Taylor As young people in the sports industry, how was it that you and your group felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak out in this instance? What was the response like after you and your group posted your statement? What were you expecting, and what actually happened? Was there any fear of repercussion? And frankly, has there been any? When I was coming up in the industry, the biggest personas of the era - Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Mia Hamm - didn’t really speak up about politics, race, gender equality – but now, not only are the athletes using their voice, so are the young people, which is great progress – but where do we go from here? Sports has a unique ability to reach people, and in the last few years many organizations have started using their voice and brand to support social justice efforts and battles for gender quality– is it enough just to use their voice and platform, or should they be doing more? (hiring practices, executive positions, equitable pay etc?) One of the more inspiring stories for me personally, was hearing how Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics drove from Boston down to Atlanta to be part of the peaceful protests in his hometown. It doesn’t always have to be dramatic action, sometimes it’s just being present for the fight and aligned. As you’ve seen this all transpire, what or who has inspired you? What about you, what or who has inspired you and made you feel more powerful in this moment? Recently we saw the Washington Football team hire Jason Wright, to be their team president. How did you feel about this transaction? Nelson Mandela famously said, “Sports has the power to change the world” – do you agree? And if so, how? How will you continue to use your voice and push yourself and others to do more for positive change? Listen in to learn more from these two impressive yo...

Mental Health and Burnout at Work – Work in Sports Podcast Oct 05, 2020

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The Work in Sports podcast is brought to you by EMPOWRD This is the most important election of our time. And let’s be honest, voting during a pandemic is a little confusing right now. There is so much misinformation out there aimed toward making you believe your vote doesn’t matter Well, your vote does matter. Voting is the most important responsibility of citizens. Don’t give up that power or that right! Get engaged, informed & ready to vote - all with ONE app. You know who is engaged, informed, and ready to vote with EMPOWRD - Trey Flowers, Detroit Lions Whitney Mercilus, Houston Texans Justin Reid, Houston Texans Anfernee Simons, Portland Trailblazers All of these top athletes are out there supporting this great app that will make it easier for you to get all the information you need to vote! Download the app today at EMPOWRD.com Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast… First things first - it’s Monday, time for the stat line... [stat line] If you need a reminder, the Stat line is when we jump into the data of the past week in sports industry employment -- since WorkInSports.com is the number one job board for the sports industry and the industry leader since 1999 - we have lots of data. And we’re using it! First -- the total number of active jobs in the sports industry -- we’re up to 16,350! That’s a lot of opportunities. Just to put this in perspective, if you lived within 25 miles of Portland, Oregon, you’d discover there are 333 active sports jobs in your area. Pretty cool right? If you lived in Portland Maine, 33 active sports jobs -- not as many, but just proving… WorkInSports is everywhere, and so are sports career opportunities. Side note - I love both Portlands. OK, next data point -- the last 7 days we added 2,755 active sports jobs to our board -- which is an average of ...divide by 7, carry the -- 393 jobs added each and every day. That’s a good reason to come look at our job board every day. The top category of the week is…. media/creative! This area continues to thrive, lots and lots of jobs related to content. Seems like everyone nowadays is starting a podcast...so there is that too. Ok, top three jobs of the week -- my personal favs. Revenue Operations Analyst with New England Sports Network -- this is the business analyst job. Associate Director of Digital Engagement -- San Antonio Spurs - two parts of this job really stood out: Collaborate with a diverse group of internal partners across Content, Marketing, Broadcast, Game Operations, Global Partnerships, Sporting Operations, and Communications to grow our global digital audience and optimize organic digital content performance.Enhance revenue-generating campaigns, and improve data-capture opportunities LuLuLemon -- VP of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity -- And that is the stat line! Which dovetails beautifully into promoting our new series coming up this Wednesday and running through October… It’s called Moving Forward - we’ve brought together 12 young diverse sports career-focused professionals to discuss their experiences and perspectives growing in the sports industry. We’re talking about the sports industry through their eyes -- is it representative? Do they feel included? How important is allyship? Having a voice inside an organization. These are young men and women who either are just breaking into the sports industry or aspire to. You will listen and think to yourself, wow, this is just like my experience, or you will be enlightened and awakened to the knowledge that your sports industry is quitedifferent than theirs. I’ve been awakened in these convrsaations and I’m a pretty eyes wide open guy... So please, listen with an open heart and mind. This is important and valuable content! Alright let’s jump into today’s fan question --

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