Stop fidgeting with your hands, just start writing
alternative headlines included "is this thing on?", "let's try this on for size," and other cliched introductions
My rookie post
I pursued an undergrad degree with the whole-hearted intention that I was going to become the next Erin Andrews, but with a sporty spice twist. What’s a sporty spice twist on an already sporty-job as a sports reporter? Couldn’t tell you, but it’s what I envisioned as my distinguishing trademark - I had been athlete my whole life, so now I’ll use that to set me apart from the pack while I get to work on my dreams.
That dream really drove my agenda of extracurriculars while at Madison. No medium or outlet left untouched by me during those four years. I worked for both of my school’s newspapers, The Daily Cardinal and The Badger Herald, as beat reporters and copy-editors. I interned with the local college sports broadcast, The Badger Sports Report, as well as ESPN Madison. And I concluded my undergrad journalism journey by winning my final strategic communications course and getting to ask the PGA Commissioner the first question of the 2017 U.S. Open held at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. A robust and rewarding journey which surely left me headed straight to Bristol, CT, into ESPN’s offices, right? Well, not quite.
Shocked as any naive 22-year old would be, I had minimal opportunities upon graduation to enter the sports journalism professional world. I took a couple of internships which were sports-reporting adjacent in the PR/ad sales media world, one which had me working out of a WeWork at its peak popularity pre-crash, which were fun but just filled my time while trying to land a gig in the sports world.
My first professional opportunity came from The Big Ten Network in programming. I learned the ropes of working for a big corporation with that desired sports media lens. I nudged myself onto one of BTN’s podcasts and spearheaded the “Coll for the Culture” segment, animated GIF and all. My ego was not large enough to think any one of the 10,000 listeners - besides my mother - was there for a pop culture segment on a collegiate, specifically Big 10 conference, focused podcast. I shortly left BTN for a sales role at NBC Sports Chicago, which I had the time of my twenties attending games and concerts, making great work friends, and learning the broadcast advertising sales world. No content was needed for me, and even less selling was really needed for me unfortunately, which led me to take a role with the Chicago Fire Football Club on their partnerships team. I accepted the role not only for a sans-training wheel sales role, but because my boss was someone I immediately knew I wanted to be like one day. My first day was March 16, 2020. You can guess how the rest of this role played out as an arena-based sports operation. I don’t still have that role but I do still have the boss in my life, and she even attended my wedding.
Amidst looming reorgs and a losing Fire record, I took a leap and went to the agency side of the business. Client billable hours, RFPs, H2 planning, award submissions, scopes, staffing plans. In another life, where I could have been in a traditional office role, putting in hours next to teammates, seeing the interweaving relationships of an agency, I would have loved this. Being a remote worker in a satellite office, with her team primarily in a different city, and a ton of other circumstances - it just wasn’t my job. This role is the first role I didn’t know how to master. I didn’t leave this role because I was bored. I left because I felt like prey constantly worried her scope would run out, or my clients wouldn’t return. I was constantly in a state of panic. Some may call my departure cowardly, I branded it as self-preservation. So when a recruiter left a note in my Linkedin inbox, I knew I had to pursue it. Nearly 12 months later, and I am employee 13 of that sports-media fantasy football and sports betting startup that recruiter reached out about. Am I boasting about being in a role for nearly a year? Well, maybe a little. I still am figuring out how to do my job, I am still figuring out to be an employee on an incredibly small but nimble team, and I am still figuring out what I want to do with my life.
Melodramatic paragraph cliffhanger aside, I felt like I wanted to start writing down how I got here. Here as in 29, wife, dog-mom, transplant Austinite, sports-reporter wannabe turned the next sports venture tycoon. I’ve tried to keep journals in the past but the lack of accountability quickly makes them obsolete. May I regret this post and any hereafter as much as some of my Facebook statuses from 2010? Certainly. Do I feel a sense of personal accomplishment finishing even one, small, narcissistic post? I honestly do.
A weekly post sounds healthy, realistic. I can hold myself to a weekly post. The topics may bounce all over, they may be elementary, but we will figure it out in time. If anyone has any life advice - across the spectrum of topics you’ve scraped from this I accept with an eager ear.
That’s all for now.
Coll
