Sara K Blanco Photography
From her early days at ISP Sports and IMG College, Anna Barton Kolda has established herself as a leader across many different aspects of the college sports business. In her most recent venture at Dyehard Fan Supply, Barton Kolda has taken on the challenge of building a company almost from scratch into one that has business partnerships with more than 20 schools. During her time in the marketing and media of college sports, she has worked with the majority of schools in the Power Five.
At Dyehard, the Teall Sports & Entertainment company launched in 2017, Barton Kolda stepped into the realm of retail merchandise for athletic departments, professional teams and leagues. She spearheads all of the company’s new business development efforts and in the past year has secured new business ties into deals with Ole Miss, Syracuse and BassMasters. Dyehard runs the retail operations either at venue or online.
Barton Kolda credits her exposure to business deals early in her career when she was chief of staff for Ben Sutton, who led ISP, IMG and later formed Dyehard, with preparing her for her current role.
“Dyehard has given me the chance to take all of the things I’ve learned from watching behind the scenes and put them into practice,” she said. — Michael Smith
Anna Barton Kolda
Senior Vice President, Business Development and Partner Management, Dyehard Fan Supply
Born: Luling, Texas
Education: Texas A&M University, B.S., sport management
Family: Spouse, Ian; child, Annie (3)
More about Anna
Guilty pleasure: Chips y queso.
Advice to my younger self: Don’t be afraid to speak your mind if you feel strongly about something.
I wish I’d known at my career’s start: How much of a difference it is having a personal and professional network of support and how it can really propel and motivate you to make the right decisions in your career path to put in you the best possible position for your future growth and development.
Advice to a young person looking to work in sports business: Sports is an attractive business with lots of opportunities. Find a company or organization that is a cultural fit, one that has people in it that you really enjoy and who want to invest in you personally and professionally. Life’s too short to simply check the box with just a job.
Change I’d make related to women working in sports: That women don’t get penalized for the very traits that are upheld in some of our most respected male counterparts and leaders. We are also ambitious, assertive, motivated and confident.
