By: Jason Stein, @JStein209
With Front Office Sports recently turning two years old, we all felt it would be great to have everyone on our staff reflect on their experience working and being a part of FOS. We have read some incredible pieces from many of our team members, some only a few months a part of the team, and others who have been with FOS for a year or more.
For me, I came on board when FOS was making its first significant push into expanding, officially starting in January 2015. FOS was created around the idea sparked in the mind of our founder, Adam White, to interview professionals in the sports industry and share their story and advice with others. Upon sheer coincidence, luck or destiny (whatever you would like to call it) I happened to stumble across a public post on LinkedIn from Adam about this new website Front Office Sports.
Now at the time I had been working roughly four years in executive recruiting, the past two of those years seeking desperately to find a way to leverage my experience in recruitment and transition into sports business. When I came across the post from Adam, I had been actively participating in sports business conferences and connecting with professionals in the industry at any chance I got, but even after a handful of interviews, I could never seem to find an opportunity.
So I decided getting back to writing after a long hiatus from the time I managed a small sports blog and an even more brief stint covering the Washington Redskins on a sports fan site. Adam and I connected and I shared with him my background and my position as to why I wanted to come on board. I figured I would be able to get a few interviews through the people I was already connected with and was also able to use the platform to meet even more people. It was a no brainer when Adam asked me to join the team!
Fast forwarding to today, after a few dozen interviews and plenty more arranged for our stellar team of contributors; it sure has been an experience. There have been so many people from the very beginning who were supportive and welcomed FOS and myself, who without them, getting to this point this quickly would have likely not been possible. The many different and fascinating people I have had a chance to meet and interact with while being a part of FOS, in addition to the places and events I have been able to go to has been rewarding in itself, not to mention the amount of new knowledge I have been gaining every single day.
Even more incredible was when, after a year of dialogue and supporting his company through FOS, Bob Hamer of Sports Business Solutions reached out and offered me the opportunity I had been looking for. With his business at SBS growing, and with my professional background (still working with the same recruitment company), combined with the relationship we developed, Bob presented me with the opportunity to help him support his organization, which I gladly accepted.
FOS has not only given me an immeasurable amount of experience, knowledge and access to some truly helpful professionals, FOS put me in position to receive an opportunity to advance my career. Our entire team is responsible for building such a truly unbelievable platform, and not only for me; the amount of success stories to have come out of FOS is incredible. A lot of hard work, passion and dedication from the people involved with FOS have made it what it is today. And now, while our brand is strong, our team makes the engine run, and I am grateful to have been a part of this journey and am excited for what the future holds.
