Shows
The Smart Alec Show#21 Christo Van Rensburg: A Tennis Life - Playing at Wimbledon, Starting Dropshot Series, ATX OpenBIO:Christo Van Rensburg is a former pro tennis player, hailing from South Africa. He was ranked #1 in the world in doubles, won 20 top-level doubles titles during his career, including one Grand Slam men’s doubles title in 85’. Christo ranked as high as #19 in the world in singles, and is one of only two men to beat Pete Sampras in straight sets at Wimbledon. Christo’s wife, Monica van Rensburg (Reinach) also played at Wimbledon, along with her sister, Elna Reinach, making them a truly elite tennis family — but the most hu...2023-03-0147 min
The Smart Alec Show#20 Florian Hemme: Sports Finance & Optimizing Your PerformanceFlorian Hemme is an expert within the field of sports management and sports finance. Born in Germany, he now resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. He holds a business degree, two masters degrees in Human Resource Management and Sports Management, and a PhD in Sports Management from UT Austin. He now lectures on sports finance and other sports industry related topics. I’m honored to have had “Dr. H” on the podcast and been able to chat with him. Connect with Florian Hemme:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/florianhemme/ Topics D...2023-01-042h 03
The Smart Alec Show#19 James Santore: Founding Three Two Strategies, The Story of La Salle Baseball, Working in Sports Venture CapitalJames Santore is the founder and CEO of Three Two Strategies — a firm based out of Philadelphia offering marketing services and strategic consulting to venture funds, startups, athletes, and more. James is Philadelphia born and raised, played D1 baseball at La Salle University as pitcher, founded the La Salle Legends Foundation, and served as Director of Marketing & Brand Strategy at SeventySix Capital before moving on to work in Chicago with Fubo Gaming as Strategic Partnerships Manager. James serves on the board of Crypto Curr3ntly and also blogs, skates, lifts heavy, and we’re honored to have a legend in t...2022-12-151h 41
The Smart Alec Show#18 Kevin Rodriguez: The Role & Influence of the Sports Information Director in College Athletics, Working with UT Volleyball & BaseballKevin Rodriguez is a Sports Information Director at The University of Texas at Austin, highly regarded as one of the most competitive collegiate athletic institutions to not only work at, but also regarded as one of the biggest brands in sports and most successful in college athletics, having won the Learfield Director’s Cup the previous 2 years. Kevin is the lead SID for UT baseball and UT Women’s Volleyball, with the former fielding the NCAA Men’s Player of the Year and the latter being regarded as one of the most prestigious volleyball programs in the history of the sp...2022-12-0845 min
The Smart Alec Show#17 Jeff Zeller: Working across Music, Sports, & Entertainment, The Harvard MBA, Marketing & Partnerships, & CryptoJeff Zeller is the Senior Director of NFT Partnerships and Business Operations at Crypto.com. He’s led a career at the intersection of sports, music, technology, culture, and content. Jeff’s worked with iTunes as a Content Producer, A&R as a Creative Intern working with artists such as the late legend AVICII & also found Marshmello during his rise to stardom, along with serving as CEO of “Dancing Astronaut” which was a media company covering the dance and electronic music scene. Jeff went on to work with Sony as digital strategy Chief of Staff, then to ESPN as Director...2022-11-221h 34
The Smart Alec Show#16 Brandon Rhodes: How Overtime is Disrupting the Sports Industry, Running Biz Dev @ OT, Marketing @ Gatorade, Starting MSBCBrandon Rhodes is the Vice President of Business Development at Overtime, a Forbes 30 Under 30 Recipient, Co-Founder of “Hella Awkward” card game, and Co-Founder of the Michigan Sports Business Conference where he graduated from The University of Michigan’s business school. Brandon’s a strategic business builder and proven brand marketer with a track record of success across consumer products, tech, sports, and media tied to youth culture and worked in Global Brand Activation & Management, and Digital Strategy at PepsiCo’s Gatorade before joining the industry-disrupting Overtime. Above all, Brandon’s an awesome dude paving the way forward for the next generat...2022-11-1052 min
The Smart Alec Show#15 Cedric Golden: Sports Journalism, Pursuing Your Calling, Covering the Longhorns, UT Football & Sam Ehlinger Colts PredictionsCedric Golden is a sports columnist writing for the Austin-American Statesman. Cedric primarily covers Austin and Texas-based sports teams, such as The University of Texas at Austin Longhorns, and has covered various iconic sports moments from Texas’ 2005 National Title victory over USC, Super Bowls, College World Series, Final Fours, Title-fights in Vegas, and much more. Cedric is also an electric podcast host serving as co-host of “On Second Thought” with Kirk Bohls, host of Longhorn Confidential, and Longhorn Unfiltered podcasts. Cedric also serves as a professor of sports journalism at The University of Texas at Austin. Hailing from the piney...2022-10-3046 min
The Smart Alec Show#14 Matthew Collette: Producing Sportscenter, Winning Sports Emmys at FOX, Breaking into the Sports Production World#14 Matthew Collette: Producing Sportscenter, Winning Sports Emmys at FOX, Breaking into the Sports Production World | Smart Alec Show Matthew Collette is an Emmy-winning executive producer with over a decade of experience within the sports media space — from live studio production, original content, show running, and building streaming channels, Matthew is one of the foremost production leaders in the sports media industry. An alum of Virginia Tech, Mathew began his career in production with the greatest TV show off all time — SportsCenter on ESPN —, then produced Olbermann on ESPN, before going on to win multiple Sports...2022-10-251h 53
The Smart Alec Show#11 - Rebecca Feferman: Entertainment PR, Sports Media, Starting SXSports & “The FefCo”Rebecca Feferman has worked at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and culture in PR, strategy, production, content, BD, and brand management for a number of years. She founded her consultancy — “The FefCo” — and has worked with clients like Katie Nolan, MSG Networks, Bill Simmons, SA Spurs, & many more. Prior, she produced a Beto O’Rourke documentary that aired on HBO, worked with SXSW and started SXSports, and before that worked for ID Public Relations in LA representing clients like John Krasinski, Casey Affleck, and more. She first broke into the industry with Warner Bros. Pictures after graduating from University of Michiga...2022-05-241h 05
The Smart Alec Show#10 - Chris Aarons: Digital Marketing, Branding, Consumer Psychology, Celeb EncountersChris Aarons is a digital marketing expert running his own consultancy — Chris Aarons Strategy + Marketing. He’s a lecturer at UT Austin and St. Edward’s University, has an MBA from Pepperdine Business School, and above all is an incredible guy. Uncannily knowledgable on topics ranging from sports, fashion, music, food, cocktails, and almost anything else, Chris is not only a friend of the show but perhaps the most easy-going and cool professor of all time. Connect with Chris:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caarons/Website: https://www.chrisaarons.com...2022-05-0944 min
The Smart Alec Show#9 - Mayer Estinville: How to Break Into Banking, Passion for Financial LiteracyMayer Estinville is currently a business analyst at AT Kearney, and a former two-time intern with Goldman Sachs, along with having interned with Prudential Financial, NABA, and more. Mayer was born in Haiti before moving to NYC as a kid, where he graduated at Baruch College in Manhattan with his Bachelors of Business Administration. Due to his upbringing in Haiti, he’s passionate about financial literacy and bringing more knowledge of the topic to his community, while providing financial stability to his family, his people, and giving back in more ways. Mayer’s incredibly versed in the topics of fina...2022-04-291h 22
The Smart Alec Show#8 - Deontre Gray: Sports Marketing at NBA on ESPN, Operating with AuthenticityDeontre Gray is currently a Creative Ad Solutions Manager at Roku Inc. At the time of this recording, he was working with the NBA on ESPN live sports marketing team, where he’d worked in digital + brand marketing at ESPN for nearly 4 years. Deontre is a former student-athlete from The Ohio State University where he studied business and ran track & field. He also interned with the athletic department there through multiple roles and previously worked with IMG College in marketing. Deontre Gray is an entertainment and sports marketing savant and friend of the show. But above all, he’s some...2022-04-221h 17
The Smart Alec Show#4 - Joel Lulla: Sports Law, ESPN's deals, Cable to DTC, Negotiating Winning DealsJoel Lulla is a professor at The University of Texas at Austin where he lectures on topics around the business of sports and entertainment. Joel graduated law school with honors from UNC, worked with ABC Sports during their peak as the head of their Dept. of Legal & Business Affairs, worked with IMG as lead counsel selling sports media rights, and then ran his own consultancy with clients within the intercollegiate sports media space (among many) such as the Big 12 conference. He also served as the former Chairman of the Committee on Professional Sports of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports...2022-01-1825 min
The Smart Alec Show#1 - Amobi Okugo: Playing in MLS, Financial Literacy for Athletes, ValuesAmobi Okugo is a professional soccer player, serial entrepreneur, learned academic, and sports biz professional. His startup "A Frugal Athlete" is helping athletes by educating them on financial literacy and prudence along with ways to monetize off their skillsets, brand, and much more. Check out his startup at www.afrugathlete.com OUTLINE:0:00 - Intro2:05 - Amobi’s journey getting to the MLS & USL3:57 - Responsibility & leadership from being a 1st born child6:38 - What is “A Frugal Athlete” & why Amobi founded it8:40...2021-07-1637 min