Five Reasons College Athletics Helped Propel My Marketing Career
Throughout my four years in college, I was a member of the women’s soccer team at Bentley University. My time playing sports has helped me in so many ways throughout my academic and professional career. Sports have challenged me in more ways than I have thought possible. I am listing five reasons athletics has helped propel my career in the marketing world.
1. Ability to Strategize For Success
It may not seem like it, but building a game plan for a specific opponent is a lot like creating a brand strategy. You have to know who your facing, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and what your plan is to counter that. This is so important in the business world to know how to see the full picture of not only the brand you are working with but their competition as well.
2. Coping With Adversity
It is very hard to go undefeated in a full season and much like the scoresheet, your marketing plan doesn’t always go as planned. Marketing has to adapt to the climate and world around it, and especially now with the pandemic, your team has to be able to adapt to the adversity to be successful.
3. Teamwork
Good chemistry and communication create for a successful team. Thriving in the business world is no different. There is a high level of communication involved and you have to know how to be a leader as well as a listener to bring a team from good to great.
4. Hard work
Hard work goes without question. In soccer, you won't last long on the team if you arent willing to put in the hours and the work to be successful, whether it is pushing through double overtime and giving your last ounce of strength to win or working late in order to finish a business plan, hard work will take you very far.
5. Accountability
Although soccer is a team sport, you still need to be able to have individual success to make it to the high level, and being able to be a self-starter and your own biggest fan (and critic) is so important. This is so important in the business world to hold yourself accountable because others are relying on you!
My time playing college sports has taught me so much and I have been able to translate what I learned on the athletic field over to my profession and give me a boost in skills that others may not have acquired yet. There is a lot to thank athletics for and I am so excited to be able to use these skills in the business world!
