How did you get your start in a career in football?
While I was in school at USC, I went to a career in sports fair. Everybody was in line at the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Kings tables, so I thought I would go to a table that was less busy — the Los Angeles Avengers, an Arena Football League team. I began getting to know Kevin Demoff, who was the Avengers’ director of football operations at the time, and I ended up getting an internship with the team. While I was in school, I interned at a number of sports entities and learned all about the industry. I was also an intern with the U.S. Olympic Committee and Chivas USA.
How then did you arrive at the Rams?
After college, I did some non-sports jobs and worked at the Doha Asian Games. When I came back to L.A., I worked at Premier Partnerships, which is now part of Playfly, specializing in sponsorships and naming rights consulting. I spent a few years focusing on naming rights and sponsorships, learning the whole sales process. When the Rams — and Kevin Demoff — came back to Los Angeles in 2016, that was a natural fit for me.
So what does your current role entail?
I think I might have one of the most unique jobs in the NFL and maybe in professional sports. The first part of my title is I lead all of our international initiatives through the NFL’s Global Markets Program. The Rams are present in Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. I oversee all of our programs from social, digital, merchandise, media rights, all things international. I push those initiatives forward on behalf of the Rams and help make us a global brand.
The second half of my role is special projects. In that area I currently spend the most amount of time being the team liaison to our facility development. From a team perspective, I spent last summer overseeing our interim facility in our new location in Woodland Hills. Now I’m a team liaison for the permanent facility development, which will include football facilities, entertainment facilities, commercial and residential facilities, all across the board.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
It’s that no day is the same. My title encompasses a lot. One day we might be working on the community communication plan for the development. Then another day, we are talking to a fan in the UAE. Every day is different and there are so many new things we’re trying to accomplish. It’s very challenging but one of my favorite things.
