Welcome to Episode 29 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring J.D. Kershaw, Vice President of Marketing for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Today's podcast combines a little of everything from our last few episodes: J.D. was a former hockey player who learned quickly that he wanted to move to the business side of the sport. One of my favorite par…

Welcome to Episode 28 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring Josh Brickman, Vice President of Strategy for the Boston Bruins and TD Garden. I met Josh through Russ Scibetti, and if you listened to the latter on Episode 21, then you know what to expect here: Josh is super bright, and the Bruins and TD Garden are clearly in good hands with hi…

Welcome to Episode 27 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring Jarrod Dillon, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Tampa Bay Lightning.Jarrod was a referral from previous guest Doug Warf, and he's nearing his two-year anniversary with the Lightning. I tell him a story of a recent trip of mine to Tampa, where in meeting with…

Welcome to Episode 26 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring Malaika Underwood, Vice President of Licensing for The Brandr Group, and six-time USA Baseball alum. Much like our previous podcast with Casey Crawford, this episode features a star athlete, but what makes Malaika unique is that she's still an active player. She walks through her …

Welcome to Episode 25 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring Casey Crawford, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Movement Mortgage. Yes, you heard that right. I'm interviewing the head of a mortgage company for this episode. Casey's background is unique, however, as he is a former NFL tight end, having spent time with the Carolina Pan…

Welcome to Episode 24 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring Corey Breton, Executive Vice President of Sales for the Los Angeles Football Club, an MLS expansion team which is set to begin play in 2018. Thank you for the thousands of emails and comments about when I will finally bring on someone from professional soccer. Your voices have bee…

Welcome to Episode 23 of the Front Office Exchange podcast where we're trying out something new - a first installment of a career advice compilation episode. In this show I'll revisit four of my favorite pieces of advice from past guests, all of which I think are applicable whether you're in the sports business industry or not, or whether you're a …

Welcome to Episode 22 of the Front Office Exchange podcast, featuring Ken Halpin, Athletics Director for Winthrop University, a public school in Rock Hill, S.C., which is just south of Charlotte, and a member of the Big South Conference. So, what were you doing in sports business in your mid-30s? That's what I kept asking myself when talking to Ken…

Aaaannnnd we're back! Welcome to Episode 21 of the Front Office Exchange podcast, featuring Russ Scibetti, Vice President of Product Strategy for KORE Software. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season first and foremost, and that you're as excited as I am about getting 2017 started on the right foot. With that in mind, I think we've got the …

Welcome to Episode 20 - the holiday edition! - of the Front Office Exchange podcast, where you'll hear from the one, the only, Troy Kirby, Sports Business Consultant and host of the popular "The Tao of Sports" podcast. Let's be honest, if you're listening to my podcast, you're definitely listening to Troy's. When I started FOE a few months ago, I h…

Welcome to Episode 19 of the Front Office Exchange podcast, featuring Doug Warf, Carolina Hurricanes Vice President of Marketing and Executive Director of its Kids 'N Community Foundation. Doug and I got to know each other by running in many of the same sports business circles back in Raleigh, and he continues to be one of the most well-respected e…

Episode 18 is another post-conference installment, this time, on the heels of the 2016 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings. It was a very productive three days in Washington, D.C. - not just for the White Sox! - but for me as it related to reconnecting with many former colleagues in baseball. I spent time outside of the Gaylord National Resort & …

Welcome to Episode 17 of the Front Office Exchange podcast, featuring Michael Ehrlich, Director of Public Relations for adidas. I was introduced to Michael by a previous guest, Chris Yates - check out Episode 12! - but I had already been following him on social media, where he is very active and engaging - not to mention where he posts some serious…

Welcome to Episode 16 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring Brant Ust, Assistant Athletics Director and Executive Director of the Monogram Club at Notre Dame. Continuing the theme of bringing you my former USA Baseball colleagues that have gone onto success in collegiate sports business - be sure to check out Episode 15 with David Shoemake…

Welcome to Episode 15 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring David Shoemaker, General Manager of Razorback Sports Properties. David and I were both Marketing Coordinators for USA Baseball back in 2003 in what was both of our first jobs. When USA Baseball - in a shocker - failed to quality for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, the USOC cut our …

This week I'm taking a break from bringing you interviews, as I just returned from the SBJ/Momentum Sports Marketing Symposium in New York. It was my first such conference, and it did not disappoint. While I was only able to stay for part of the first day, I could easily tell that it is worth the investment for anyone in sports business, and specif…

Welcome to Episode 13 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring Oklahoma City Thunder Director of Business Intelligence and Ticket Strategy, Karlis Kezbers. Before I introduce Karlis, I want to let everyone know that I'll be at the Momentum Sports Marketing Symposium next week in New York. I'll be there through the afternoon of the 9th - which…

Welcome to Episode 12 of the Front Office Exchange podcast, featuring video content creator and founder of Huddle Productions, Chris Yates. Chris is a former sports reporter who worked his way up to a top-10 market in Dallas before leaving his on-air career and starting a video production company that specializes in social media campaigns. Chris wa…

Welcome to Episode 11 of the Front Office Exchange podcast, featuring Cheri Kempf, Commissioner of the National Pro Fastpitch Softball League and current analyst for ESPN's softball coverage. Cheri's energy and passion were evident right out of the gate. She has led the NPF since 2007, and we discussed her daily fight to grow media exposure and spo…

Welcome to Episode 10 of the Front Office Exchange podcast, where we are actually featuring two guests - Will Baggett and Jason Wilmoth (L-R in the accompanying thumbnail) - both of whom are with IMG College. So obviously this podcast is a little different. Normally we feature one guest, but I thought this would make for an interesting dual-episode…

Welcome to Episode 9 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring Mike Birling, General Manager of the Durham Bulls. Everyone knows the Durham Bulls - the Tampa Bay Rays' AAA affiliate in Durham, NC - thanks in large part to the movie "Bull Durham" starring Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, but they're also among the - if not the - p…

Welcome to Episode 8 of the Front Office Exchange podcast, featuring Natalie Best, Executive Vice President and Director of Client Service at French/West/Vaughan, one of the fastest growing PR agencies in the world. I was excited to interview Natalie, as it's a bit of a departure from what I've done in the first few episodes. French/West/Vaughan ha…

Welcome to Episode 7 of the Front Office Exchange podcast, featuring Joe Favorito. Joe is a podcaster, professor, author and all-around media and marketing guru, and tens of thousands of sports business professionals subscribe to his Sports Marketing and PR Pros LinkedIn group and weekly e-newsletter. I met Joe back in 2008 when he and I were charg…

Welcome to Episode 6 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring J.W. Cannon, Senior Project Lead for Sponsorship and Events for UPS in Atlanta, and cofounder of Twitter's #sbchat. I was introduced to J.W. by a mutual friend in the industry, but I was familiar with him before that, through his very popular #sbchat conversation on Twitter. Every …

This is Episode 5 of the Front Office Exchange podcast, featuring Brian Killingsworth, Chief Marketing Officer of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.I was introduced to Brian through a mutual friend in the sports industry and we met over lunch a couple of months ago in Tampa. Carey Cox, a member of his marketing team both at the Bucs and from his days with t…

Welcome to Episode 4 of the Front Office Exchange podcast where I speak with David Perkins, Chief Operating Officer for USA Baseball. David was my first boss in a full-time role, and then after I moved away, got married and returned to North Carolina, he and USA Baseball CEO Paul Seiler hired me back. In my eight years with David, I learned a ton. …

Welcome to Episode 3 of the Front Office Exchange podcast featuring Danny Sink, Director of U.S. Open Championships for the U.S. Golf Association.Danny and I go all the way back to the summer of 2001 at Pine Needles Golf Club in my hometown of Southern Pines for the U.S. Women's Open. I was an operations intern for Danny and his team at PCM - Pineh…

This is episode 2 of the Front Office Exchange podcast. In this episode I speak with Michael Beale, Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I met Michael in 2001 as a Junior at UNC when he was already well on his way to becoming the rising star within the athletic department that he's become tod…

Welcome to the first episode of the Front Office Exchange, a podcast that takes a closer look at the careers of leading executives and rising stars in the sports business industry. Each week we'll talk to everyone from recent sports management degree recipients looking for a new job all the way up to major professional sports league commissioners. …