Marquee Matchup

Jeff Yocom

Insights and inspiration from interviews with sports and entertainment business leaders.

Episodes

  1. 08/26/2020

    Marquee Matchup Episode 4 - Christa Stout

    Marquee Search sits down with Christa Stout, VP, Innovation and Impact, Portland Trail Blazers to gain leadership insights and inspiration.   1:28 - Intro   2:51 - Work/life balance as a top industry pro who is also a parent of young children   3:38 - "We're all going through something"   4:08 - VP, Innovation and Impact at the Blazers - what do you do?   6:10 - Does Christa have a favorite initiative while working at the Trail Blazers? - CSR + Innovation - shout out Natalie!   8:29 - How did she get to where she is now? Christa's professional path   10:58 - How did she get into sports?   13:00 - What gives Christa energy?   14:06 - How she ended up working more with corporate partnerships than community, in her efforts to drive good   14:35 - Christa's view of the power and responsibility of professional sports organizations in their communities   16:20 - 150 days into pandemic, what the Trail Blazers response has been as an employer   19:28 - Convergence of innovation and impact during COVID   21:09 - Work from home   21:52 - COVID impact on adoption of technology  23:09 - Christa's secret to keeping her edge  25:14 - Are we more real in a 2 dimensional world?  26:10 - Sports or foreign intelligence?  27:35 - Energized by life coaching  28:06 - Personality testing!  28:34 - You do better when you lean into your strengths (specialization)  30:36 - Enneagram - who I am is OK  31:10 - Why building a deck with no prior planning is a good idea  32:11 - Best career advice ever given  32:42 - "Make decisions based on courage not fear"  34:13 - Jim Carey's influence on Christa's life 35:06 - How embarrassing herself built the confidence she needed to get where she is now  #sportsjobs #sportsbiz

    Marquee Matchup Episode 4 - Christa Stout
  2. 06/24/2020

    Marquee Matchup Episode 2 - Matt Farrell

    Marquee Search sits down with Matt Farrell, a top sports marketer in the Olympic movement currently working in the golf industry, to gain leadership insights and inspiration.   0:38– Introduction  2:17 – How a 20 year career in the Olympic movement is born  3:36 – What does the Executive Director of World Long Drive and General Manager of Alternative Golf for the Golf Channel do?  6:12 – Impact of global economy on the Golf Channel's long term plans for Alternative Golf  6:38 – Real talk about the differences of working at a National Governing Body vs. an entrepreneurial division of a global media company  9:07 – “Stealth bomber” idea around creating new events and programming  10:23 – Building relationships and selling ideas internally at matrixed organization vs just telling a subordinate what to do  11:02 – Matt’s 6th sense of when to shift career gears on three separate occasions  12:00 – How a sports information guy taught himself new skills to drive his career forward  13:43 – How Matt realized the value of having revenue driving skills  15:31 – The importance of culture for leaders at the Golf Channel to navigate the global health crisis  17:40 – How Matt felt about work from home before the pandemic  19:14 – How Matt is keeping his edge during the pandemic in such a competitive industry  21:15 – How Matt misses the structure of the sports schedule  23:43 – What Matt is consuming these days  25:45 – What would Matt be doing if he wasn’t working in sports  26:52 – The career advice Matt received on the golf course from his mentor that inspires him to this day  28:55 – How his former boss modeled how to handle disagreement   #sportsbiz

  3. 05/26/2020

    Marquee Matchup Episode 1 - Alan Ledford

    Episode 1: Marquee Search sits down with Alan Ledford, top Minor League Baseball executive, to gain leadership insights and inspiration. 0:44 – Introduction – A leader you can follow in a pandemic 4:03 – Celebrating 6 years since opening pitch  5:28 – MountainStar Sports Group ownership’s overriding objective: “Improve the quality of life and promote economic development in the region.” 7:36 – Major League vs. Minor League sports 11:09 – The benefits of working in minor league baseball 15:51 – No playbook for the pandemic. Alan talks leadership during this time. 18:33 – “I didn’t know” is not an excuse 19:46 – Focus on mental health of his people 20:50 – Keeping staff engaged through technology.  23:34 – Pandemic as innovation.  27:11 – 1989 World Series Earthquake Game  28:37 – The “sports is recession proof” fallacy prior to 2008 29:35 – “Good things will come out of this” 31:44 – What Alan misses the most about sports? 34:05 – Best career advice he gives 35:57 – His meticulous method for tracking his contacts 36:34 – Advice for young people wanting to get into the industry 37:35 – Like gardening, networking is not a one-time event 39:45 – “Be persistent just this side of being annoying” 41:08 – “Learn how to write in a business setting” 41:45 – Self improvement recommendations he’s made to his staff 42:24 – Advice to people dealing with a recession for the first time

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Insights and inspiration from interviews with sports and entertainment business leaders.