Student-Athletes learn about creating their executive image
South Carolina student-athletes received some lessons in creating an executive image as part of Gamecock CEO’s Summer Huddle Series. Gamecock CEO is South Carolina’s student-athlete development program.
“The most interesting thing was all of the advice about transitioning from being a student-athlete into your professional life and how the habits that you create now, really do transfer,” said rising junior cross country runner Kira Jenkins, who is studying international business and finance. “A couple of people mentioned that they still wake up early and work out before work. Starting their day like that really helps them be successful and have the time in their day to get their work done.
“It was important to hear how important the things you do now are; the things you put on social media and the way you present yourself because soon, you’re going to be looking for a job, and all those things that you do today, good or bad, are going to be coming up to those employers. It’s important that you create the image that you want today.”
“We talked about how being a student-athlete can help you out in the future. Student-athletes are known to have good work ethics,” said football student-athlete Davonne Bowen, who is studying sociology and will graduate in December. “Companies see that, and they know that athletes are people that can handle a lot of things. That should help us in transitioning into the real world.”
Will Baggett, a highly regarded speaker, author, and founder of Executive Image, met with the Gamecocks last Wednesday to offer best practices for building a personal brand and crafting a professional image beyond athletics. Former Gamecock football player Walker Inabinet (2009-2012), who works for Merrill Lynch, and former Appalachian State track/cross country athlete Paul Stoltzfus, who is now the Assistant Athletics Director for Academics at South Carolina, met with the student-athletes on Thursday.
“What stood out to me about (Baggett’s presentation) is how a person’s perception of you can be made within the first few seconds of meeting you,” Bowen said. “You want to give off the best impression right out of the gate. That applies to social media, too. The things you post can determine the opportunities you can have for jobs. So, it’s important I’m making sure I stay on top of that and maintain a clean image or brand.
“Hearing from a guy who played here was big. He knows the lifestyle that we go through. With him being in the workforce, it helps me relate to him as someone who went through exactly what we’re doing.”
“One thing that really stuck with me that Will Baggett said was that if everything you do is the same quality as everyone else can do, what can really set you apart is your spirit and enthusiasm or the way you provide that service,” Jenkins said. “It made me really think about how important attitude is in the office.”
Among the topics discussed were how to handle the transition to the professional world outside of athletics.
“Employers love to hire athletes because we’ve done extraordinary things.”
– J.T. Ibe
“In football, your entire day is timed out to the minute,” said Inabinet, who is also active in South Carolina’s Lettermen’s Association. “When you’re going to eat, when you’re going to work out, when you’re going to do yoga, and when you’re going to practice. The biggest transition for me going into the working world is that life doesn’t always work that way. Everything is not timed out to the minute. Sometimes you have to go with the flow. Initially, that was hard for me. In life, things pop up. They’re unexpected and you have to be able to react quickly to that.”
“The first thing is your identity,” Stoltzfus said. “I still struggle with this. I still think I’m a runner. You’ve been an athlete for as long as you can remember. Everything revolved around that. When you transition out of sports, it’s finding out that I’m more than just an athlete. It will always be part of who you are, but you have to start building off of that. It’s pretty challenging, but it’s worth it because you start to experience so much more.”
In a competitive business world, the former athletes also discussed how to set yourself apart from others when looking for a job.
Kira Jenkins
“When I first started working at Merrill Lynch, I was 22 years old coming right out of college,” Inabinet said. “In my business, I’m working with a lot of people who are 50, 60 or 70 years old. There’s a huge age gap. You have to be able to present yourself in an extremely professional manner to separate yourself. From the get-go, in terms of your image, people have an impression of you as soon as they see you. If you look sloppy, they’ll think, ‘why am I going to turn over my finances to this guy who can’t dress appropriately or carry himself well?’
“The other side of it is that you have to have the education to back it up. I read a lot of books. I read the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications on a daily basis. That’s your executive image right there. When you start speaking with them, you really have to know what you’re talking about. You have to be educated about what you’re talking about and be able to present in a manner that they understand it.”
The student-athletes also recognized that some of the attributes that made them successful in sports can carry over into professional life, including a solid work ethic.
“Employers love to hire athletes because we’ve done extraordinary things,” said football student-athlete J.T. Ibe. “I’ve found LinkedIn is huge. That is the platform to do that. What I’ve found in applying for jobs is that LinkedIn is an extension of me. My Instagram is an extension of me. My Twitter is an extension of me. For kids in college, think about what you’re saying on your interviews because employers are going to watch those too.”
“I would also recommend ‘Googling’ yourself and see what comes up,” Stoltzfus said. “You can’t always control all of that stuff. You need to make sure you have control over that stuff so you can tell your own narrative.”
“Nobody is going to hand something over to you on a silver platter,” Inabinet said. “Everybody says they are hard workers. People can talk the talk, but what you guys are doing as student-athletes, your typical college student is not doing that. If you look back on the whole process, I haven’t experienced anything harder than getting out there and performing in front of 80,000 people. If you can carry that mentality on, you are well prepared as a student-athlete to take the next steps in life and be very successful.”
The panelists also encouraged student-athletes to use the resources available at South Carolina, including the Dodie Anderson Academic Enrichment Center and don’t wait too long to start thinking about life after sports.
“Don’t wait until you’re a senior to start trying to figure out life,” Stoltzfus said. “Start early, but also know that you don’t have to plan out your whole life. It’s always OK to change your mind. Start investing in yourself. In my time in school and grad school, I went through three different career changes before I settled on what I did. It’s OK to work through that but start it early and start learning. Sometimes the best way to learn is realizing something is definitely not what you want to do!
“Check in with your professors, too. No one is ever going to hold it against you if you are trying to get information and grow. I try to surround myself with people who have skills and traits that I don’t have because that helps me to become better. That also helps build relationships”
“Life is all about the relationships that you have,” Inabinet said. “If you have summer internships, don’t just look at it as something where you’re going to work until four or five in the afternoon and then go home. Meet the people you are working with and build relationships with them. If you impress them, they will open many doors for you later on. All it takes is impressing that one person and opening that one door for you. Value those relationships and bounce ideas off people.
“There are a lot of business professionals around Columbia and lettermen all around the United States who really care about you. If you can reach out to them after your meet them, whether it’s on a call like this or doing a networking event in-person, build a relationship with them. Tell them what you’re looking for and what you want to accomplish in life. There is a very good chance that they will know somebody, or they will be able to set you up so you can be successful one day.”
“I need to gain experience and knowledge that will help me later in life,” Bowen said. “I need to make connections and build relationships with different people. Doing that will help me in transitioning. I definitely need to do that in order to get where I want to be.”
“Thinking about life after college is a little stressful,” Jenkins said. “I’m just trying to stay really focused and doing what I can to prepare myself. It helped me to stay motivated and reminded me how important that it is to work hard and taught me a few things along the way that might help me in the future.”
