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Molly Arbogast
President and CEO, POV Sports Marketing
Born: Lake Forest, Ill.
Education: St. Lawrence University, B.A., government, and B.A., Spanish
Long before Molly Arbogast started her own agency in 2016, she was the first female sponsorship sales executive hired by Palace Sports & Entertainment (1996) and the Philadelphia Eagles (2000).
But Arbogast, who grew up with four brothers, never thought of herself as a trailblazer.
“When you grow up in the business as a woman, you’re kind of taught not to draw a lot of attention to your gender. You’re told to do the job, be amazing at it and the work will speak for itself,” she said. “I never set out to be a pioneer, but I have been the first woman in the role at a lot of my jobs.”
Arbogast left the Eagles three years ago to found the 100% woman-owned POV Sports Marketing.
“It was a risk,” she conceded. “A lot of people reach the pinnacle of sponsorship sales, and they have to make a decision. I had the ability to start an agency that I can grow for the next 20 years. It was the perfect opportunity to step out and it’s been a blast.”
Arbogast also has advice for young women looking to follow her path in the sports industry: “Be a hand-raiser. Don’t be afraid to speak up. And take risks. Women tend to say, ‘I can’t be the CEO until I’ve done every job at the company.’ Men don’t look at it that way. Young women need to share their perspective to show that they have the talent, the perseverance and the grit to be successful in this business.” — Thomas Leary
Getting to know...
Favorite day-off activity: Spending time with my husband and sons. We love to travel and plan adventures near and far. St. John USVI is our happy place.
Guilty pleasure: Watching “Law & Order” … and pizza. Together? #Bliss
Something your friends would consider “so you”: My friends are never surprised when I ask them “what’s next?” after they have just achieved something amazing. Aim high and keep reaching. Life is a marathon. Get after it, people.
Attributes I look for when hiring: Integrity and grit.
Proudest professional achievement: Starting an agency from the ground up and bringing together an amazing team of people to serve our rockstar clients.
Woman in sports business you’d like to meet: I would love to meet Condoleezza Rice. She is remarkable on so many levels. We could get acquainted over a round at Augusta National (she was one of their first female members).
