In this episode of The K.P. Wee podcast, you'll hear from Dr. Chelsea Heyward, a sports industry professional. She works as an advisor with the Players Coalition and is also a branding and digital media manager. As if that wasn't already enough, she is also a research associate at Morehouse College where she teaches Sports, Culture, and Power.
After a bachelor's in psychology at Long Beach State, Chelsea wasn't sure what to do when she graduated. When she heard about the masters degree in sports management, she stayed at Long Beach to enroll in the program. That's where it all started. After her masters, Chelsea went on to USC to get her doctorate in Organizational Change in Leadership. Her interested in athletes' involvement in social activism increased and she wrote her dissertation on improving the effectiveness of athlete activism. Since then, she has been involved in the sports industry in many ways and on many levels, including her teaching at Morehouse as well as her role at LaChica Sports with Angela LaChica.
Chelsea offers lots of insight about how she stays organized, what motivates her to work, and how she stays creative and curious. Plus, she offers valuable advice to high school students and young college students on how to become an open-minded learner and get their foot in the door with the sports industry.
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KEY TOPICS:
- (2:09) – Introduction to Chelsea and how she got to where she is today
- (7:14) – How Chelsea balances her schedule in the day-to-day
- (8:38) – What motivates Chelsea to keep going every day?
- (9:50) – Chelsea explains branding and her person-centered approach
- (11:05) – Staying creative and being a lifelong learner
- (13:14) – Chelsea's advice for high schoolers and freshmen in college
- (15:42) – Being a sports fan while working in sports
- (18:29) – The pandemic's positive impact on Chelsea's work
- (20:34) – Advice from Chelsea on a student's path to do work in the field
- (23:54) – Finding a professional mentor
- (27:45) – Chelsea's guiding north: liberation of oppressed people
KEY QUOTES:
- (5:22) "Beyond wearing a T-shirt or tweeting about an issue, how can we change the system surrounding a problem?"
- (8:30) "It's almost underestimated about how important the people you work with are because they're shaping your worldview for 70% of your week."
- (10:42) "When I look at branding – either branding a business or a company or an initiative – is trying to look at it from a person's perspective. So, if this initiative were a person, what would it look like?"
- (12:32) "Creativity comes about through mixing ideas that haven't been mixed before."
- (14:02) "You should listen to listen, not listen to respond."
- (16:31) "It's about treating the athletes like people but also understanding what their schedule and their world looks like."
- (18:42) "It's [the pandemic] actually greatly increased my own personal impact I think because it's increased access."
- (21:05) "In sports management you understand the business side of sports, so you understand all that goes into it which becomes really important for understand how things work."
- (24:42) "I think it's getting to know as many people as you can as deeply as you can."
- (26:37) "For young people seeking out mentors, finding someone that doesn't tell you what to think but gives you a framework of how you should think becomes really important."
- (27:27) "There's not a one-size-fits-all solution but if people know themselves well enough, they can figure out what path forward best works for them."
- (28:14) "Everything that I do goes into liberation of people, whether it's socioeconomically, mentally, physically."
About K.P. Wee:
K.P. Wee is the author of multiple books and a regular contributor to sports radio programs and websites. In addition to hosting The K.P. Wee Podcast, he also enjoys writing sports and psychological fiction with a twist of romance. He spent a decade working as a program developer and instructor for a private school before joining the Vancouver Canadians baseball club's media relations department.
You can find out more about books by K.P. Wee here.
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Additional episodes of The K.P. Wee Podcast: https://kpwee.libsyn.com
