Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast... 

As I talk to young people across the country, there is an undercurrent of panic in their collective voices. It sounds a lot like pressure and fear.  

I’m no neuroscientist, but anecdotally is sure seems negative news accumulates in our brains much faster than positive. Using myself as an example, I’ll remember the one review giving one star and commenting that the “host has a weird voice and delivery. His questions meander and lack any interesting quality.” 

That will stick in my brain FOREVER. It comes up in my subconscious as I write questions, it comes up live during interviews, it comes up during the editing process where I wonder if this person isn’t right. 

The hundreds of positive reviews lack the power to cut through this dissenting voice. 

Now let’s spin this to your existence.  

• Dot com Headline: Unemployment is High! 
• Sports Hiring Manager: We get 400 applicants for each job!    
• Podcast host: If you don’t get the right experience, you won’t get noticed! 

The data you have coming at you is discouraging, panic inducing and amounts to pressure. I can hear the message you are giving yourself, “if I don’t choose everything perfect, from internships to majors to skill development to networking to interviewing technique...I’ll be lost and I will fail.” 

Wow. That’s heavy. But again, that’s the voice I hear coming from the young people I speak with today.  

I did a little analysis with this thought in mind. I went through our podcast guests, who as you know are amazing people in the sports industry...and around 37% of them started their careers elsewhere other than sports. Even more than that, around 47% majored in something completely unrelated to their current career.  

All of this is to say, take it easy on yourself. Your career is not a straight line, it is not something you can plan out perfectly, it is organic and takes shape as you live through it.  

Have a plan, have goals, have accomplishments in mind like building your network and gaining the experience that matches industry demand...but don’t be rigid.   

Today’s guest is a shining example of this pattern. Michelle Andres was a political science major. In fact, she so loved politics she received her Master’s in Political Science – Campaign Management.  

But then, she didn’t love the work itself. I’ll let her give you the details...but think about that a second. She didn’t do 7 sports internships. She didn’t have a vast network of sports connections. But she landed a job with the Orlando Magic as the Assistant Director of Interactive Marketing, and her career has grown rapidly ever since, where she is now the SVP f Ravens Media with the Baltimore Ravens. 

Why?  

She will explain that, and a whole lot more... here’s Michelle Andres.