Read my resume here and the story behind the resume below.
Learning to Win by Learning to Learn
I was 11 years old when I experienced my first rejection. True failure and heartbreak. The message, passed on by my father of all people. Having been a part of the first academy intake at Chelsea FC during the week I was preparing to begin high school, I was told I wasn’t good enough.
Devastated but still dreaming, I began to learn what winning truly meant. Winning was becoming a journey, a journey that included getting back up on my feet and refusing to give up until I gave my all to cross each finish line at a time. Resilience, perseverance, and passion would see me 12 years later back at a club in the Premier League. I achieved my crazy dream. The script may not be hitting the big screen. But it’s a story that’s driven me to my mission to serve and support athletes being able to dream crazy.
A journey that has taken me up and down, over and over, from the English Premier League to the English National League and across to the MLS. I’ve shaken the hands of heroes, established an extensive network of meaningful relationships, and witnessed the business of sport unfold from within the walls of elite teams across the world.
Through it all, I’ve learnt every athlete has a Hollywood script. I strive to inspire, support, and serve these athletes, leading with their insight and story.
My experience on the pitch and behind the scenes in the sports apparel industry has developed into a unique point of view on the business of sport, performance product, and the marketing landscape embedded in authentic athlete-centred insight and relationships.
Meeting Your Heroes and Playing as a Team
A by-product of achieving your dream is your idols become your teammates and competitors. People often justify failure by saying you should “never meet your heroes,” drawing an unattainable wall between them and their once aspirations.
If that were the truth, then why would we ever dare to dream and find inspiration, belonging, and meaning in the stories we tell and the product we wear? Because, in true Notting Hill, I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy style, the reality is that these idols are, too, just ordinary humans doing extraordinary things.
Learning this is a humbling and inspiring experience for every athlete. I came to this realisation when I became teammates with Carlton Cole (left), the man at the centre of my first footballing memory. Over time, I developed both a working and personal relationship with the man who inspired me to lace up my boots and kick the ball against my parent’s bush in the garden, reinforcing my belief that every athlete has their own story.
Performing under pressure in volatile, team-orientated situations instilled a deep sense of accountability. It also carved a set of communication skills that enable me to build and nurture relationships with teammates in any environment - on or off the pitch.
Seeking, Signing, and Servicing Elite Athletes
March 15th 2023
At the start of 2023, I supported the growth of Boston training apparel powerhouse NOBULL as it expanded into the UK market. Leveraging the team’s assets, I facilitated the seeking, signing, and servicing of promising young Premier League players. I established a particular relationship with 19-year-old Crystal Palace player Joe Whitworth. Just three months after establishing the partnership, Joe made his Premier League debut becoming the seventh youngest goalkeeper in history, wearing NOBULL’s Knit Runner’s on the pitch.
Data would say that a 19-year-old, 5’ 10” goalkeeper wouldn’t break the Premier League. But building a relationship with Joe and Leveraging NOBULL’s assets to secure his partnership was a no-brainer for me. By spending time with Joe I learnt who he was, how he played, and how he carried himself. A player who embodied the brand and its no-excuses mentality and who played the game with courage and fearlessness. Sure enough, within months, Joe showed the world. A testament to authentic athlete relationships. Here’s to supporting many more Joe’s to come.
Bringing NOBULL into the Premier League
Inspiring, Innovating, and Disrupting at WIT Fitness
WIT: The Athlete Driven All-Hands-On-Deck Start-Up
May 2018 - March 2020
One of the UK’s fastest-growing and moving start-ups exposed me to the entire spectrum of changing peoples lives through training. A company that made business feel like more than business.
In a singular day I could cover any corner of operations. Inventory control, digital marketing, athlete servicing, activation delivery, and sales being one notable day.
August 16th 2019, I began receiving, coordinating, and updating the product inventory database.
I then assisted the team in retrieving, organising, and preparing samples, and assembling a digital content capture set, whilst managing the shoot inventory.
That afternoon In partnership with England Rugby captain Owen Farrell and Nike, we hosted a partnered activation where I was on hand to service the athlete and facilitate the consumer experience while operating a POS for promotional product driving over £2,500 in sales.
By my departure, the company had grown over 100% in employees and reached a value of over £150 million.
Innovation, Collaboration, and Activation
An athlete-obsessed brand, WIT’s mission is to serve the athlete and change lives through training. Hit by a storm of growth the brand's foundations remained rooted and built on connection. Strong relationships and storytelling were at the heart of our success. We cultivated collaborations and partnerships with key figures at the forefront of the running and training industry. Through establishing relationships with our consumers, partners, and communities, I embedded myself on the ground within the industry. Our athlete-driven focus allowed us to share stories of belonging and leverage athlete insight in innovation and product assortment driving powerful brand loyalty.
Recognizing the emotional importance of belonging in our consumer's perceptions, we often leveraged athlete and partner assets to deliver engaging campaigns, activations, and promotions, both digitally and in person. I executed and facilitated high-profile collaborations with icons of the industry's athletes, including Matthew Fraser, Rich Froning, and Tia Toomey, as well as brands, including Nike, Reebok, and Puma. Notably, the collaborative launch of the Nike Metcon In Progress campaign and the Reebok x WIT Nano trainer are two standouts.
One of the brand's pivotal moments of growth was hosting the inaugural WIT Athlete Summit. We coordinated fourteen of the world's elite CrossFit athletes, including world champ, Laura Horvath, all in one place to compete and represent WIT in front of a home audience. An event that captured engagement and footfall from many UK training consumers. I serviced the athletes across the 4-day event from the preparation of their arrival to their seamless integrations into the consumer’s experiences. All whilst, in true WIT fashion, operating a POS and driving over $5,000 of product sales daily simultaneously.
Athlete
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Athlete -
Testing, Servicing, and Analyzing
When I joined WIT, I knew one thing inside out, football and footballers. This wasn’t football anymore, I quickly realised my success depended on my ability to understand the athlete and industry as deeply as I had the footballing landscape. Building a true relationship with the product, community, and sport was not just key but critical. A lifetimes obsession with football product, and it was now time to share.
I immersed myself in the community, engaging with both elite and everyday athletes to test and discuss product. By fostering authentic relationships, I could unpack and leverage valuable insights, integrating them into my product knowledge and testing. While also benefitting from training delivered by account executives of Nike, Reebok, and other top brands. I soon nurtured a deep relationship with the product and the product development process. I became responsible for providing insights into product testing for own-brand development and supporting product assortment teams with demand forecasting and identifying seasonal trends
My confidence, competence, and passion for the product helped me break multiple record sales for WIT. I consistently delivered over £10,000 in sales, leveraging my insight to drive authentic conversations across the spectrum of consumers and athletes.
Building a Brand, Serving a Community, and Supporting People in COVID-19
Life hit pause and London hit a standstill. The country was condemned to an independent daily exercise “hour”. The heartbeat of running and training that was the community was stripped away and people were lost.
Seeing the challenges our community was about to face I founded a virtual training and coaching service from my home garage.
I aimed to seek those who needed support with their health and wellness through training. I strove to give people a sense of structure, connection, and community during an unprecedented time. It wasn’t just everyday athletes who were affected. Elite athletes were also separated from their environments. Via my network of everyday athletes and elite athletes, I built a community on the foundations of support, structure, and service.
I designed, developed, and built (literally) a digital and physical brand grounded in values of strength, perseverance, and community, reflecting the challenges we faced during our isolation and delivering a message of support and resilience.
Officially qualifying as a strength and conditioning coach during the pandemic, I was able to market my service through the leveraging of elite athlete partners and the assets of testimonials and partnered content that reached other athletes. This drove the enrolment of other elite athletes, including international and Premier League footballers. I also shared campaigns featuring everyday clients, including lawyers and financial advisors. The diverse nature of my clients both validated my service and inspired others with who they shared the community.
Through communication, marketing, and leveraging partnerships, I established a thriving virtual community and forged relationships with over 30 clients.
A by-product of building the business was my accumulative educational journey in biomechanics, kinesiology, and strength & conditioning coaching, delivering a service centred on evidence-based knowledge.
In Progress: Becoming a Meta Certified Data Analyst
Understanding the demands and skill requisites for data analytical proficiency I have undertaken the Meta Data Analyst Professional Certificate to supplement my experience and education.
As of the week of January 20th, I have completed four of the five courses within the certificate syllabus, which span Python in Data Analytics, Spreadsheets and SQL in Data Analytics, Data Analytics Statistics, and Introduction to Data Analytics.
With one remaining course, Data Management, I aim to complete the course and update my status as a Professionally certified Meta Data Analyst by the end of the month.
WAHOOWA!
An undergraduate degree in Psychology and a graduate certificate in Leadership and Public Policy have provided me with a solid foundation that bridges both the human experience and the strategic world of business.
At 12 years old, I couldn’t have imagined that, despite one day sharing changing rooms with my childhood idols, my proudest achievement would be my academic journey
Emerging from the pandemic I knew my mission was to continue serving and supporting athletes. My strategy was simple, gain a world-class education to compliment my experience at WIT and to fall in love with playing football again. Little did I know it would take me into the MLS and back to the Premier League.
Becoming a part of the Charlottesville community, being a UVA student-athlete, and representing an institution of such tremendous people has provided me with an experience and sense of belonging for which I am eternally grateful.
With concentrations in negotiation, values-based leadership, strategic leadership, human behaviour, cognition, emotion, neuropsychology, and counselling techniques, I’ve developed a diverse skill set applicable to understanding market dynamics, consumer behaviour, and relationship management.
Being a Hoo taught me invaluable lessons in productivity optimisation, time management, work ethic, leadership, communication, and perseverance. But, above all, it instilled a sense of community and agency across society to pursue my mission and serve those I can. Which in my case is the athlete.
I look forward to discussing how we can keep winning, innovating, and inspiring together.
Cheers,
