Meet these 7 Founders who turned their dreams into businesses
Learn how to turn your passion into your profession
Hello friends! 👋
Welcome to the SportsGrad Newsletter. Each week we take a deep dive into how people are growing their careers in sport.
Here you’ll find insights, tactics and tools to help you win jobs, get promoted, work around the world, make an impact, and still get paid fairly in sport.
Plus the latest on what’s happening in the SportsGrad Community - a private group of legends lifting each other toward the careers of their dreams.
Today we’re deep diving the career journeys of Founders who have taken their passions and turned them into their careers 💡
We’ve put together a list of 7 epic professionals who have founded businesses in sport who we reckon you could learn a lot from. Each professional has been on the podcast, where you can learn even more about their career journey.
Some guests talk about their experience working in sports science, social media, community building, videography, podcasting, coaching, and more!
The list covers a variety of people, all who pursued different career paths to get to where they are now. Each professional comes from a completely different background, however what they share in common is that they are ELITE.
If your dream job involves turning something you’re passionate about into a business, check it out.
Keen to hear more from Founders in the sports industry? Make sure to tune into Monday’s podcast! We’ve got an epic duo joining us who we’re sure you’ll learn a lot from…
#279: How to be a freelance videographer in sports with Michael Barker
Meet Michael Barker, freelancer videographer, photographer and the Co-Founder and Director of Two Times Creative.
Previously, he has worked at Hoop City, Carlton FC, and the NBL, working in all things digital - think production, editing, social media marketing, graphic design, and more.
He also has a newsletter, runs classes and uses his socials to teach people how they can level up their digital knowledge.
#274: How Chloe Dalton built The Female Athlete Project from 0 to 150k+ followers
Meet the legend that is Chloe Dalton, Founder of The Female Athlete Project. Chloe's remarkable journey as an athlete and an advocate includes clinching a gold medal in Rugby 7s at the Rio 2016 Olympics, and growing The Female Athlete Project to 150k followers.
Chloe is an outstanding leader championing gender equality and empowering female athletes worldwide, using her platform to elevate the visibility of women’s sports.
Plenty to look out for including her journey as an athlete, the origins of TFAP, the team and business model behind the scenes, the impact she’s having in the athlete community, how she responds to ‘the standards not good enough’ and ‘why should they be paid the same?’ Not to mention her candid approach to dealing with trolls!
#266: The Sports Geek story with Sean Callanan - Growing sports digital, 10 years of podcasting, and the NFL’s Australian expansion
Meet Sean Callanan, founder of Sports Geek - a Tech and Digital agency that works with sport teams to help commercialise their digital assets.
With over 15 years of experience in IT development, and a passion and love for sports, he realised the need to combine the two interests. Now, through Sports Geek, he works with the likes of the NFL, amongst many other teams in Australia and the US.
Sean also hosts the Sports Geek Podcast, which explores behind the scenes of the marketing and tech world, and is one of the leading sport business podcasts worldwide. It has been running for over 10 years, with more than 350 episodes produced, including with Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks.
In today’s episode, Sean covers how he has navigated the digital world over the past 15+ years, and how he has made an impact on the sporting landscape through tech. He talks about his business methodology, Digital to Dollars, and how he has found success following it.
#250: How to design the career of your dreams with the Founder of Kinlab, Adrian Tobin
Meet Adrian Tobin, the Founder and Chief Design Officer of Kinlab.
If you haven't heard of Kinlab, they're a Sports Innovation Agency that Makes Sport Better through research, Human-Centred Design, and storytelling.
Their work includes some absolutely epic projects like ‘creating a fan experience strategy for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix’ and after a drop in participation, working with Cricket Australia to 'transform the grassroots cricket experience’.
In this episode, we dive deep into discovering your purpose and how to design the career of your dreams with Adrian as your consultant!
If you love left-field thinking and want to hear the approaches of one of the best minds in the industry applied to career development, listen in to collect Adrian's step by step approach.
#237: How Josh Growden launched The Kicking Consultant
Meet Josh Growden, the founder of The Kicking Consultant, who’s built a business and gained a social media following of over 80k in just a few years.
After being drafted by GWS in 2011, and spending 4 years as a punter at LSU and West Virginia University, it’s fair to say Josh knows how to kick a long ball.
#204: How to build a sports apparel brand with Dom Tyson
Meet Dom Tyson, former AFL athlete who founded Melbourne based and designed golf apparel brand, Clutch & Co.
Clutch & Co is a golf brand that targets the average punter who needs to look good (v important) and hit em far.
In this chat we talk about his inspiration to start an apparel brand, what goes into building an e-commerce label and the research that goes into understanding consumers.
#223: How to turn your passion into your profession with Tom Scollay
Meet Tom Scollay, the cricket coach behind Cricket Mentoring taking social media by storm, and helping young cricketers reach their full potential.
Tom turned to coaching when his professional career was cut short. Now, he helps some of the best players in Australia stay at their best, including Josh Philippe, Jake Weatherald and Jon Wells.
In this episode we chat about the inspiration for Cricket Mentoring, how it works, and how Tom utilises social media to drive his business.
If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur ready to turn your dreams into a reality, listen to Tom’s advice!
What’s happening in the Community?
Community Wins ⭐️
Here’s what SportsGrad Members got up to last week...
Ethan Wren received a Membership and Ticketing Administrator position for the Perth Wildcats
Amritpal Singh is joining the Australian Sports Commission as a Program Officer
Billie Lewis is starting as a Performance and Rehab Intern at Athletes Authority
SportsGrad Members have landed over 640+ jobs in sport.
If you've had a win, share it with us in the #wins channel on Discord!
Jasmine Rob at her new gig at the Melbourne Football Club!
Upcoming Member Events 💛
Members, to join an event, RSVP via Discord.
Pro Member Events:
🤝 Pro Speed Networking - July 15th 7pm AEST
🤳 Social Media Masterclass with Kimerah Ramnath - August 12th 7pm AEST
Do you work in sport? Apply to become a SportsGrad Pro Member
Rookie Member Events:
🏟️ Career Q&A with Lyndall MacInnes (Australian Olympic Committee) - July 16th 7pm AEST
🤝 Rookie Speed Networking - July 22nd 7pm AEST
🤳 Social Media Masterclass with Kimerah Ramnath - August 12th 7pm AEST
Do you want to work in sport? Join the list to become a SportsGrad Rookie Member
Presenting Masterclass with Cricket Australia & Mumbai Indians presenter, Ankita Karungalekar
Job Opportunities 💼
Looking for a new gig? Here’s a few organisations who want to hire SportsGrad Members:
🏏 Membership Coordinator x2 - Sydney (Full-time)
🤝 Front of House/Production Assistant - Adelaide (Full-time)
💰 Account Executive - Melbourne (Full-time)
🏟️ Event Workforce Coordinator - Melbourne (Full-time)
🥇 Digital Media Executive - Sydney (Full-time)
🏉 Participation & Fan Acquisition Officer - Sydney (Casual)
Need help hiring sports industry talent? Check out our hiring page.
Catch you around,
Acacia 💛
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