The sports industry as a whole can be difficult to navigate alone. This business thrives on communication and establishing connections to create careers and build existing ones to a better place. It is through valuable experience and the relationships that are created along the way that assist with improving this industry and ourselves. With this in mind, and the penpal assignment established, I found that making a professional connection is a great way to continue my career in sports and better it for the future. My penpal that I have established for this assignment and to utilize in growing my network is Lauren Wilkowske with UNC Charlotte Athletics.
About
Lauren Wilkowske is currently the Assistant Director of Marketing at University of North Carolina – Charlotte, otherwise known as the Charlotte 49ers. She has been full-time with the 49ers for 8 months now and has been living in Charlotte since she began this position last summer. Lauren is originally from Northern Virginia where she then moved to Norfolk, VA to pursue her Bachelor’s in Marketing and Master’s in Sport Management at Old Dominion University. During her Master’s program, Lauren was a Graduate Assistant for Marketing with ODU Athletics. Her experience at ODU led her to Charlotte where she has been since. Her main responsibilities at Charlotte includes game presentation to involve music, video board, PA scripts, and executing in-game promotions, ticket revenue generation, and oversight of student interns within the department. She is also the main marketing contact for Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, and Baseball. Fun fact: Lauren is a huge advocate for Women’s Sports!
Making the Connection
When getting assigned the task of making a connection and establishing a penpal for the semester, my first thought went to Lauren Wilkowske. I have previously known Lauren from her time at ODU, as I got to work alongside her for 2 years in Athletics. Even though I have already known Lauren, I found that her background in marketing and communications would benefit me greatly with this class. With her being at UNC Charlotte, this also gave me the motivation to reach out to her in order to gain more knowledge of her experience working in sports at a different university and in a different state. After this was decided amongst myself, it was time to make that connection with Lauren. I emailed her with my intentions and motivation behind this relationship for the semester and she excitedly agreed! I am looking forward to this semester with Lauren and to learn more about her experience and grow that connection.