We asked each of the Forty Under 40:
Who in the industry has most influenced your professional development?
Seth Bacon: I’ve been lucky to work for and with some great people in my time at Fox Sports, NASCAR and MLS … all who have helped shape who I am and where I have been. Since my move to MLS, Gary Stevenson has quickly become an important mentor who has helped me grow both personally and professionally.
Derek Belch: David Shaw was the reason I chose to leave coaching and start Strivr. His encouragement and mentorship as it pertains to building Strivr and running an organization have had an extremely positive effect on me over the last two years.
Ilan Ben-Hanan: George Bodenheimer. George showed me that genuine kindness and integrity can take you a long way in this business.
Jimmy Bruns: Daryl Wolfe (executive vice president and CMO of International Speedway Corp.). He was the right manager at the right time for me in my professional life and showed me how positivity, balance and humor can all be a part of your work life.
Lisa Campos: Bob Stull, director of athletics at UTEP. He provided me unlimited opportunities to grow personally and professionally and prepared me to be an athletic director.
Daniel Cherry III: Professor Kenneth Shropshire at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He was the first person to force me to reflect on my love of sports through a business, socio-political and cultural lens. I have carried that perspective with me throughout my career, which has left me forever enlightened and accountable for my role in this industry.
Jason Cohen: Kevin Warren, COO, Minnesota Vikings. Kevin taught me substantively about the practice of law and its intersection with sports business issues as well as how to be a good communicator and better person.
Sakiya Daniel: Ed Laukes. He’s smart, passionate, fair, and loyal.
Will Dean: Arlen Kantarian. Opened my eyes to the value of TV media.
Rob DeAngelis: Mike “Vino” Levine. The first time I worked for him I was 19 and ever since have been trying to emulate his incredible networking skills, work ethic and genuine care and concern for people personally and professionally.
Bill Fagan: Dr. Bernie Mullin; he literally co-authored the book “Sport Marketing,” served at the highest levels of collegiate (vice chancellor of athletics, University of Denver) and pro (CEO, Atlanta Spirit — Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena). All titles aside, he has been the best mentor, coach, visionary, father-like figure I could dream of in my career. He cares.
Cole Gahagan: Jared Smith. We learned together about the importance of thinking and acting differently to disrupt a business.
Rocky Harris: I feel fortunate that I’ve had so many exceptional bosses and mentors throughout my career. The one person who probably influenced me most early in my career is NFL hall of famer Bill Walsh. He believed in me and taught me the importance of continuous improvement, innovation and leadership.
Jeff Ianello: Gladden, Sutton, Walker, Cloud, Tomon, Welts, Parry, Rowley, Brooks, Donohue, D’Souza. It’s insincere to pick just one person. To grow, it takes a village. These folks have been instrumental at various stages in my career.
Martin Jarmond: Gene Smith has provided me with continuous opportunities to grow and develop into the man and administrator I am today. He has seen it all and is the best in the country at what he does. I couldn’t pick a better leader to work for and look up to.
Katherine Johnson: Former Nike and Johnson & Johnson ad director Joe McCarthy.
Nick Kelly: A-B Vice President, Experiential, Eelco van der Noll.
Elena Klau: Ray Volpe. He’s retired now but was my former CEO, founder of ESPYs, etc. He gave me my first break in the industry and taught me the value of being a visionary strategic thinker, planning for the future always, even while managing the day-to-day requirements of the job.
Brandon Lloyd: Red McCombs and Casey Wasserman have been instrumental in my career in sports. They share a unique ability to ignore the noise and focus on the most important question.
J.B. Lockhart: Jason Cahilly (NBA’s chief strategic and financial officer), who is both my current boss and the first boss I had out of college. Aside from inspiring a strong work ethic, he has always challenged me to find the best answer versus the obvious one.
Olek Loewenstein: Hands down, Juan Carlos Rodriguez. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from JC is to set goals beyond your reach so everyone around you, including your team, can run as hard as they can to make the best possible effort to achieve them. And most importantly to have fun while doing it. Because of him, I understood that it’s important to surround yourself with good, truthful people more than anything else.
Matthew Nussbaum: I am where I am today because of Michael Weiner.
David Oxfeld: Brian Erdlen/Steve Raab/Matt O’Reilly (all mentors during seven seasons at SNY/NY Mets) taught me, during a tough time given economy and team performance, how sales was more than the biggest credit card or who owns the most/best properties. How smart selling included marketing partnership expertise; the goal should be to understand your inventory and the potential advertisers’ business as best as possible by asking the right questions, to offer solutions. Sales was marketing solutions. Alan Zucker on talent management. He taught me the right questions to ask an advertiser when doing a deal that ensure you are prepared to sell the deal into talent, to get it approved. That’s different than selling media or a property.
Dan Parise: Scout head Michael Neuman. He’s given me a real opportunity to advance my career.
Anthony Perez: Charlie Freeman, COO, Orlando Magic. Gave me my start and has been a mentor for me ever since.
Ashwin Puri: I’ve had some great experiences, working in TMBO, opening a stadium with the Jets and now managing revenue and serving as a sports administrator at Cal. I have to credit my current boss, Mike Williams, who put his trust in me to identify and negotiate key revenue-generating partnerships, and serve as a sports administrator for our high-profile sports programs.
Alex Radetsky: David Ortiz: He is a product of his hard work [and has] overcome adversity. I feel like I have done the same thing, losing my father early in life.
Ann Rodriguez: Kathy Carter (president, Soccer United Marketing) has blazed a path for women in leadership in the sports industry and has always made time to support me. Scott Salkeld (VP, brand strategy, Under Armour) gave me the opportunity to join the UA brand, helped shaped my collaborative leadership style, and taught me how to be successful in a large, global organization.
Jeffrey Roth: Easy one for me … George Pyne. I would not even be in the industry if not for him.
Connor Schell: John Walsh and Bill Simmons. They taught me to care about quality above all else.
Brandon Schneider: I am so fortunate to have Rick Welts as the person in the industry who has most influenced my professional development. He trusts my judgment, and gives me the latitude to make important decisions, but is always there to provide support and guidance. He sets the perfect example of how to be a leader, and I get to watch him on a day-to-day basis, and learn how he deals with every situation.
Vishal Shah: Hans Schroeder, NFL. He developed my understanding of the sports/media industry, challenged the status quo, and [offered] strong counsel to shape ideas into results.
Gretchen Sheirr: I’ve spent nearly my entire professional career at the Rockets and the majority of that time working for Tad Brown, who has always given me the support and resources to continue to grow and do my part in making our organization great.
Tobias Sherman: Jason Lublin for giving me a shot, and Mark Shapiro for guiding me along the way.
Justin Toman: Bruce Madej, my first boss at the University of Michigan Athletic Department, gave me two good pieces of advice at the very beginning of my career: 1) Don’t go into sports unless you absolutely love it and can’t see yourself doing anything else, and 2) Get your business fundamentals first. I took that advice to heart and I’ve put it into practice in my career.
Jeremy Walls: Tom Garfinkel. He has consistently believed in me more than anyone … challenged/pushed me harder than anyone … taught me more than anyone … and has exemplified what it looks like to lead a results-based culture with heart.
Danny White: My father [Duke AD Kevin White], because I have had the good fortune to be able to watch his career progress while growing up and talk frequently about issues I’m facing as an AD. My brothers, because they have the same perspective as I from how we grew up, but with one in coaching and one in administration they provide a different “lens” — depending on the issue.
Chip Wile: Lesa France Kennedy. There is not a more influential leader than Mrs. Kennedy. She leads by example and has unmatched passion for our business. She promotes creativity and innovation.
Mike Zabik: Gerry Cardinale, founder of RedBird. Gerry has an amazing track record of building businesses across a number of industries, particularly in sports. I have been mentoring under him for 2 1/2 years. I respect his approach to partnership investing and focus on long-term relationships.
Tim Zue: Sam Kennedy, president of the Red Sox. I have learned a tremendous amount from Sam: 1) The importance of treating people with respect and building genuine relationships, 2) How to approach the job with a passion, energy, and enthusiasm that is infectious, and 3) How to value, challenge and reward talented people. I also credit my dad with my growth and development throughout my life. When I was younger, I didn’t realize how similar I was to him but now that I look back on my career, I realize that my most important skills and personality traits were learned by watching him.
