First, what drove you to become an agent?
I find the political climate today so divisive. My goal is to make the world a better place and I’ve given up on politics as a way for that to happen. I see sports as a great unifier though. No matter what your background, most people see athletes in the same way. If LeBron James comes in and gives you advice, no matter what your background or political beliefs are, you’re drawn to that advice. So I’ve always seen sports as a positive way to support change.
How did it all start?
My passion is where sports intersects with making the world a better place. My mom used to have meetings on Mondays – it was the one day of the week where she’d ask my dad to take care of the kids. She’d come home and see us in my dad’s arms watching Monday Night Football. I grew up loving football and told my parents I wanted to be a reporter for Monday Night Football. They asked if I would choose a job with more than one opening, so I told them I could do Sunday Night Football too!
But it was important to have a North Star to keep me focused – to have that mindset.
I ended up getting a job at ESPN working on their Women’s Initiative and handled all of Major League Baseball’s social media.
Gary Vaynerchuk – he’s like the man Oprah for social media – I worked under him. The owner of the Dolphins hired Gary to help incubate some of their startups and they had me handle a lot of their marketing. Then the RISE initiative was created and that brought together executives from across sports and media to work on racial equity. That became my purpose – to take the intersection of sports and making the world a better place.
How did that then transform into your work as an agent?
Gary called me and told me Brandon Marshall wanted help with the marketing of his non-profit and other things, and that’s where I was able to make a real difference as his Chief Marketing Officer. After that other players came in and asked for help.
Brandon Copeland was the first client I had when I started my own business. He asked if I was sure I wanted to take him on – that he wasn’t a big name. He was living off of 15% of his salary. Now, he’s the financial literacy guru of the NFL. He’s a professor at Penn and is working on a Netflix show.
What separated you from others – why you?
I looked at the landscape of players and agents. Teams had marketing departments and players had agents, but players didn’t have help marketing themselves. They are kind of kicked to the curb after their ports careers were done. I figured if there’s no one out there helping them, maybe I’m the one that should.
100% of my NFL clients have a second career. I make them build a Plan B. I see guys getting their MBA and launching careers – that’s when I know I did my job. I help them buy houses, engagement rings – I fill the gaps for them when they need help.
Brandon Lynch calls me the “Corporate Mom”. I did everything but the contracts. It made me sad when I saw that, for many agents, it was all about the money. It’s funny, everyone was a lawyer except me in my family. I thought I was the black sheep. I learned though that if you can petition the NFLPA to take the agent exam even if you aren’t a lawyer if you can show you’ve done similar work. I’ve sent them marketing contracts and letters of recommendation and got my petition approved and passed the test.
How do you get players to commit to a Plan B? I’ve spoken to many who felt like doing so was accepting failure.
That’s a really good question. I don’t explain it as a Plan B – as a replacement for Plan A. I just tell them that it’s reality – no one plays forever. I know Tom Brady is trying to break but at some point your career will end – and likely sooner than you expect.
You can’t control what happens in the front office. You can give it your all during a game and play well but sometimes the politics of the game may mean you get cut. My job is to help them maximize their time in the NFL. It’s also just unhealthy to put all of your eggs in any one basket. I help them amplify who they are in an authentic way.
Of course, as one of few women in the business, have you experienced a lot of push-back? And do you want to be mentor for other women who want to become agents as well to follow?
Absolutely. No matter what happens to me I want it to be easier for women who come after me. Right now I’m often the only woman in the room. I’m asked what I’m doing there not infrequently. At the combine I had a player I was working with get asked by another player if he was still being represented by that “Girl agent”. I told him that the last time I checked, the test didn’t ask if you were a girl agent. I’ve talked into rooms where all the male scouts were at one table and the one female scout was sitting by herself.
It’s hard enough to do this job without have to go through the BS of being a women in this business. The overt and underlying dynamics of it being made clear that it’s a boys’ club. They prefer it that way – it’s a fraternity.
How has that impacted your work as any agent?
For example, I had a client who played another sport but was approached by a team who told him that the minute he was done with that sport they wanted to sign him. They told us they’d work with him to learn the position. Well the offseason came and after the draft they have him come in for a workout but then didn’t sign him. The team then sent him a text when he asked why, telling him that I misled him. He wrote them back telling them that I had always been honest with him – he stood up for me. But the team thought it would be easy to convince him of that because I was a woman and tried to throw me under the bus.
And I’m not sure people realize but if you don’t have a client on an active roster after three yeas, you are decertified as an agent. It can be very stressful. Players can have lots or irons in the fire and possibilities but then things fall through for them.
How do you navigate that kind of occurrence?
Teams often say things to players that they don’t mean. But men and women often see things differently. I see the intangibles in players that some others may not see. I don’t see any women in decision-making roles in team scouting departments. Teams all see players through the same lens. They write me and other women off because we don’t see things the same way and lose that diversity of thought despite a proven track record.
It’s interesting. Many athletes are raised by single mothers – they see women as people who get the job done. Many agents see things as transactional, but some athletes miss that motherly touch that I bring. I used to see being a woman as a disadvantage in this industry, but now I see it as a super power. What makes me different could be something right for the right client.
A lot can be closed off to me. But my clients believe in me. It’s not a highly regulated business either. The top agents are the ones who can pay for the clients living expenses, travel… They can buy their clients. So it’s hard to compete with them for clients as well.
What do you look for in a client?
I want a successful partnership. I want to find people who think I’ve hung the moon and vice versa. Most come from word-of-mouth. And I’ve met some through the charity work I do with my clients.
I want to help them maximize their platform while playing and afterwards. I’m not the right fit for a player who just cares about stats and catches. Most agents were agents first and tried to figure out the marketing and branding side later on. I’m the opposite – I’m here for players who want to be more than just players.
How do you help player navigate the murky waters of social media?
A lot are savvy already. On my podcast Energy Captains that I do with former player Cameron Lynch, I talk a lot about this. How to take the high road. Things to do when you’re starting a business. I try to help them make smart decisions. To not use their social media platforms to sell and promote – don’t make it look like an advertising reel.
I help them create content buckets that become the foundation for all of their marketing, to help them amplify who they are versus driving people away.
What’s changed about the work you do over the years and where do you see it, say, 10 years from now?
I think the main difference 10 years from now is that that will be a generation that never grew up without social media. They’ll be more knowledgeable.
I also hope players will continue to get smarter about the fact the game isn’t forever. Injuries are more prevalent. That they’ll recognize the need to make the most of what time they have when they play.
I’m also hopeful that things will change for women as well. Every time I tell my stories I have someone who tells me they had no idea. I want to shed light on it so it’s more equitable – so women in this business are more normalized and have a real shot. There are over 1,000 agents – 30 or so of them are women. Few have done what I’m doing – I feel sometimes like I’m navigating in the dark.
Lastly, any fun stories to share?
One fun thing – I was the one who took the shot of Tom Brady throwing the Lombardi Trophy while he was on the boat. I had a client in the boat parade and was in my apartment, so I stepped out to take a picture of him when that happened. I captured it and put it on social media and got calls for ESPN, the Today Show, and others – I had nine hours of interviews after that!
Tom’s manager called me later to license it – one of my clients called it ‘The video seen around the world!”