About Sarah: A Syracuse, NY native, I’ve always dreamed of deserting the cold, harsh winters and moving to sunny California.  I stayed local for undergrad and attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges where I studied Economics and played soccer all four years. Come senior year, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my career. Through some light networking, and more fate than anything else, I joined Aon’s Intellectual Property group in Chicago as a broker thanks to an HWS alum. After three years in this role, I decided I wanted a broader and deeper understanding of the industry, so I joined BCG’s Global Insurance team in Boston. I’m sure most of you reading won’t be surprised when I say this next part…insurance is not my passion. I came to Anderson with the pursuit of pivoting into the sports industry and leaning back into something I’ve been passionate about my entire life.

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Every October, Anderson has what we call Days on the Job, or DOJ(s) for short. The DOJs are organized by the professional clubs here on campus and are segmented by industry (i.e. if you’re interested in pursuing Technology, you would join the AnderTech DOJ and travel to cities such as San Francisco and Seattle). The purpose of the DOJs is to not only give students exposure to the different areas of the industry you can go into but also the various functions and how they differ across companies. For me, as I’m interested in pivoting into the sports industry, I joined the Sports Business Association’s (SBA) DOJ and had three stops during the week.

Stop #1: Nike (Beaverton, OR)

If you’ve ever heard that the Nike campus is crazy (and yes I say campus, because it’s sprawling), it’s absolutely true. Not to mention it was peak fall and the leaves were absolutely STUNNING with their various shades of red, yellow, and orange around the campus. As you may or may not know, there are lots of Anderson alumni who work at Nike and help current students organize the trip every year. Many of us arrived the day before to explore Portland. We went straight from the airport to brunch downtown and then walked around and explored cute little coffee shops, visited VooDoo donuts (if you know, you know), and had dinner all together that night (all while fighting the rain 🙂 ). On Monday, we enjoyed a full day on campus. We kicked off with an extensive tour of HQ, and discovered that everything from how the buildings are designed to where they’re placed can be attributed in some form to Nike athletes. Following the tour, we got to learn from a panel of 5 Anderson grads who now work at Nike in various functions, and then had the pleasure of chatting with them over lunch on campus.

Stop #2: NFL (Inglewood, CA)

After Nike, we traveled back to LA and stayed local for the rest of the week. Our next stop was the NFL in their brand new building in Inglewood. The structure was similar to Nike’s, where we got a tour of the office, followed by a panel. The NFL office in LA is their media office, so we got an inside look at all of their production studios and control booths, which was super cool for someone who hasn’t been remotely close to broadcasting in my life. The alumni panel was made up of both Anderson graduates and others, all working in various roles in the NFL. Since most didn’t start their careers in sports, it was super enlightening to hear their insights on how they successfully pivoted into the industry and what they believed was most valuable (i.e. building meaningful relationships, having someone who will champion for you, and flexing your skills and abilities when/where you can).

Stop #3: LA Sparks (El Segundo, CA)

Our last stop! Now that we had visited both retail and league, it was time to get the team perspective. And let me just say, this visit was incredible. It’s not often that the President of a sports team will take time out of her day to sit down and talk to a room full of students. Not only was she open with all of us about her career path to the Sparks, but also her personal life, which was a type of vulnerability you don’t often see in leaders. The other panelists were equally impressive, their roles ranging from partnerships, to marketing, to business strategy and analytics. In contrast to the NFL, a lot of them had started their careers in the sports industry; it was interesting to hear their insights on what they believed made them successful in the industry and some of the challenges they faced along the way.

More than anything, this DOJ was enlightening for all, as we got to see the different aspects of the sports industry, from retail to league to team. There are unique opportunities in each and it was great to learn how the various roles change depending on the company.

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• Student Blogger: Sarah Olick-Sutphen FTMBA ‘26
• Undergrad: Hobart and William Smith Colleges ‘19
• Pre-MBA: Global Insurance Senior Analyst at Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
• Leadership@Anderson: Director of Career Development, Sports Business Association; Director of Marketing, Admissions Ambassador Corps; Director of Tournament, Soccer Club