CE: What inspired you to get involved in sports management? 

JS: I have always had a love for sports, especially the NBA. I grew up in a very athletic household and have a very athletic background myself. I played so many sports I probably forget some lol. Growing up in Australia I wasn’t around basketball a lot but I always loved the sport. I played a sport called netball growing up (played for my state) which is basically basketball with no bouncing and no backboard so there is some synergy there. My brother is a professional athlete for a sport called AFL in Australia so I have been around professional athletes most of my life. Once I moved to America I actually wanted to be a sports journalist, but soon realized that wasn’t my calling. I then fell into the world of influencer management which gave me the foundational skills of what it meant to manage someone and then I met my first client, Andre Drummond through mutual friends and the rest is history.

CE: How big of a role does social media play in your day-to-day tasks? 

JS: For me personally it’s not huge but it is a part of my day to day life. I manage a lot of my clients social media pages, content plans, posting schedules because of my background in marketing (originally my business was a social media agency) and I have found when my clients trust me with this, I am able to yield better results for our brand partnerships. I prefer to work with my clients with a wholistic approach to their brand (social media, content creation, etc) as it all impacts their overall image and brand and that is my expertise. 

CE: What is the process of working with athletes like? How often are you in touch with them? Does it look different for different sports? 

JS: The process is different but also similar for all, but starts from the same foundation. Depending upon my clients needs and what we have going on will depend on our communication but for the most part we talk everyday. You can ask Dre, even if it’s a quick question I would rather call and have 5 second conversation than text. I usually call them everyday because we not only have so many things we are working on, but it’s a great way for me to build my relationship with them as none of my clients live in the same city as me. It also allows me to check on their mental and see how they are doing outside of work. a really important part of my job is making sure their mental health is at the forefront of my communications with them. They are human and deal with a lot from not only the organizations but also in the personal life so I aim to be a safe and supportive space for them whenever they need it. Calling in hearing the voice is one of my Ways I check on them. I am blessed to have amazing and hardworking clients that trust my judgement so it makes our work relationship enjoyable and fun.

CE: Dream athlete you want to manage? 

JS: Gosh good question, never thought about this. I don’t really have a dream client but I do have a big dream I want to be an owner of an NBA team or own a percentage one day.

CE: Any advice for someone looking to be in sports management and really use their social media platform to network?

JS: Hustle. Network. Do the work. It’s not an easy field to crack, especially as a female. I didn’t grow up in the states so I didn’t have a network of people in sports to leverage when I first started working in this field, but I was lucky to come across someone who believed in me and trusted me and the rest is history. I really owe a lot of my success to my first ever client, Andre Drummond. It just takes one. Manifest but also do the work, meet people, get uncomfortable and learn new things. No reason why you can’t do it!