Lindsay Amstutz
Jeff Krolik. His hilarious storytelling imparts wisdom about the business and management daily.
Bryce Blum
Josh Schwarz, who has been an incredible boss, mentor and friend. Watching him navigate complex situations and interact with key stakeholders throughout the industry has been one long lesson in how to do business the right way that I’ll never forget.
Kary Brock
Michael Hand. He taught me the balance of working hard, having fun and being challenged.
Matthew Caldwell
I’ve never met a more formidable real-time problem solver than Peter Luukko, who has been indispensable to my career as both a mentor and a friend. And also Hugh Weber — he didn’t grow up in the industry, but has been able to learn how the industry works and succeed at a high level.
Tory Dandy
Eugene Parker. He was a legend in the sports representation industry. His overall knowledge of the business and understanding of his clients. Eugene taught me a lot about how to do things with morals, character and integrity.
Nili Doft
Stephen McArdle, NHL executive vice president of digital media and strategic planning and chief administrative officer, for his trust, encouragement and mentorship.
Sean Eggert
Wally Hayward as he is always willing to encourage, coach and give me perspective.
Todd Fleming
Chad Estis. I’ve worked for and with him three times now and his concerted effort to consistently try and make me a better individual in this business never gets overlooked by me. He has always been honest in his evaluations of myself and where I was/am at in my career and that has provided clarity of what the next move in my development should be.
Junior Gaspard
Being on the technology side of the sports industry, I’ve been inspired by people in sports that have been able to lead teams to great heights and those that have shown tenacity and persistence to be successful. So folks like Phil Jackson, Jerry West and John Wooden are people that have influenced me.
Brandon Gayle
Amy Brooks at the NBA. She helped me land my first job in sports at the New York Jets, and has become a dear friend and a great mentor.
Matt Grandis
Harlan Stone, CSM; Lawton Logan, The Whitener Co.; Ben Sutton, IMG.
Brad Griffith
Colin Evans — extraordinarily knowledgeable, hard worker, team player.
Matt Hill
Brian McCarthy, vice president, communications, NFL; Kathy Carter, president of Soccer United Marketing; Jan Katzoff, former head of global sports and entertainment, GMR Marketing.
Court Jeske
Kathy Carter. Kathy was an excellent leader and mentor for me at Soccer United Marketing. She pushed and stretched my business acumen while also caring personally for me and my family.
Lindsay Kagawa Colas
Bill Duffy first and now Casey Wasserman, for empowering me to create a market rather than follow one.
Nina King
Without question, Kevin White. He is an incredibly thoughtful mentor with an intense passion for developing administrators and nurturing their potential; he has strong core values, has an exceptional amount of integrity, and he is an extraordinary leader. I have been so fortunate to learn “the business” from him and have the opportunity to work with him daily.
Pat LaCroix
Mike Mangione, global head of digital marketing and personalized customer experience, who hired me at Bose and gave me room to learn and grow.
Chris Marinak
Dan Halem. He’s been my direct manager for almost 10 years and looked out for me all along the way. He is a great lawyer but also great analytical thinker and an extremely hard worker.
Michael Melnitzky
Steve Greenberg and Terry Morris. They have gone out of their way to help further my career in countless ways. I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity to have learned from them.
Kim Miale
I interned for Kristen Kuliga while I was in law school. She paved the way for female agents.
Ben Milsom
Doug Dawson. He personally invested in my development over 17 years ago.
Brendan Moynihan
Joe Browne, NFL. He scared me straight about so many things I needed to do.
Megha Parekh
Joe Leccese, managing partner at Proskauer. I worked for Joe for four years before coming to Jacksonville. Not only is he an incredibly talented attorney, but he also focuses heavily on client relationships, developing his people, and giving people opportunities. But for Joe, I would not have ended up in Jacksonville.
Deepen Parikh
Jeff Volk taught me the ropes of the sports industry and opened up his whole network, which has helped shape my career.
Dave Pietrycha
Mark Lazarus. I have learned a lot from Mark about leadership, and he has given me outstanding opportunities to broaden my team’s impact on how we manage the business.
Josh Pyatt
Marvin Demoff and my clients, every day.
Jake Reid
It takes a village, and there is a long list for me. But if I was picking one, Mike Tomon; he taught me the most about how to be a leader.
Brent Rossi
Michael Kenney (executive vice president of live event marketing, Harlem Globetrotters). Mike hired me for my first job in Norfolk, Va., at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. He has been a mentor and a good friend ever since.
Angela Ruggiero
Billie Jean King. Leader and champion on and off the field
Frank Saviano
Joe Leccese. A mentor who has trusted me with big opportunities, taught me how to practice law at the highest level, and is always there to listen and share advice.
Erin Schnieders
Chris Russo (NBA senior vice president, facilities and administration) has been unwavering in his guidance and leadership for the past decade of my career. Chris has allowed me to fail gracefully when needed, but I know that he will always be in my corner supporting me every step of the way.
Nzinga Shaw
Steve Koonin, CEO of the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena. He implemented my current role of CDIO making me the first person to do this work in the entire NBA. It was unprecedented and has helped change the trajectory of women and people of color in the sports industry.
Dan Shevchik
Doug Perlman. He gave me my first opportunity in the industry, and going on nine years running I’ve probably spent more time with him than I have with my family. He’s incredibly good at what we do, eager to teach and mentor, and the kind of person you’d want to emulate in and out of the office.
Jordan Solomon
Silver, Brooks, Lustgarten, Singer, Hasker, O’Connor, Koonin — I’ve been fortunate to have each of these incredible leaders shape my career. They have taught me how to manage through adversity, build and sustain relationships and analyze tough problems.
Ryan Spoon
My father. He is intelligent, thoughtful, worldly and strategic in ways I can only fractionally aspire to be. Like my career, he has been in a variety of companies, roles and sectors — and those experiences and perspectives are immensely helpful to me in my career and maturation. Of course there are many others, and I consider myself tremendously lucky to have been at companies and in roles that have given me exposure to fantastic, caring people like ESPN’s John Kosner, John Skipper, Aaron LaBerge, Connor Schell and eBay’s Jeff Housenbold, Jeff Jordan, Michael Dearing, and so many others.
Steve Starks
Dennis Lindsey and Quin Snyder; they both have varying experiences and are willing to share them.
Josh Veilleux
I’m lucky to be surrounded by people like Todd Goldstein, Luc Robitaille, Nick Baker, Russell Silvers, Kelly Cheeseman, etc., who I’ve been able to learn from and who have all given me a chance to grow here.
Miheer Walavalkar
David Stern, because I get to learn from (and get pushed by) the best.
Danny White
My father, 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.
Josh Whitman
Ron Guenther, who believed in me from a young age and showed me how to lead with integrity and class.
