We were teammates at Canisius so I know you played 4 years of D1 Baseball. Did you play any other sports growing up? I played a bunch of sports growing up, but competitively it was primarily baseball and basketball. However, I had to make the tough decision at the beginning of my senior year of high school to focus solely on baseball.
Got it, now switching gears, can you tell us a little bit about your current role? Sure, I am currently a Senior Account Executive and Ingram Micro, which has annual sales of $50Bn and operates in 50+ countries around the world. In my role, I consult and help businesses build or transition their IT practice, and support them through everything they do from an IT perspective.
Sounds like an interesting role. Sticking with this theme, can you also explain your journey from collegiate athletics to your professional work career? Journey is an interesting way to put it. The day we stopped playing baseball, it kind of hits you that you are left to figure it out alone. I really struggled early on. I found myself applying to any job I could find online, and even though I grew up locally in Buffalo, which obviously is very close to Canisius, I had no connections outside of baseball. Eventually a friend of a friend told me to send over my resume and to apply for an entry level role on Ingram Micro’s website. Little did I know,10 years and 5 roles later, I am still here. They have treated me really well and I have nothing but good things to say about the company.
I had a similar experience and it seems to be a common problem for athletes. Why do you think that is? I feel that employers often don’t recognize the advantage of employing former athletes. We gain so much more by playing a sport and we are able to develop a lot of those soft skills that end up being more important as you move up the corporate ladder. However, there isn’t a lot of guidance on how to connect or market those skills to the business world. We are left to figure it out alone.
You bring up a good point. How do you think sports help athletes contribute to the workplace culture? As you already know, our coach always harped upon culture. It’s important to make sure everyone is working towards the same goal and pulling their own weight. Sports really help athletes identify individuals who possess the team mentality and will fit the culture of a company. Those who don’t pull their own weight, often need to be phased out. It happens everywhere, but it is really a two way street. Your personality really needs to fit in with the organization as well. College athletes know this. They know that to be successful they have to adapt to the culture or risk not making the roster. The slogan at Ingram is “It’s the people”, and the culture is set at the top of the organization. Team sports are no different. We need to make sure we bring in the right people, and even though on paper it could be a perfect fit, culture fit is really the determining factor.
What skills did you gain through baseball and sports in general, that have helped make you successful in your professional work career? There are so many soft skills and intangibles that I was able to develop through playing sports, and at a very early age. Yes hard skills are important, but I feel anyone can develop those given the time and resources. Through baseball I developed the majority of my strong communication and leadership skills by the time I was an upperclassman in high school. Sports also taught me the concept of accountability, to be the hardest worker in the room, and the importance of being surrounded with like minded people who held me accountable.
Is there anything the sport of baseball specifically taught you? Baseball is one of those sports where you don't get instant gratification. Nothing is immediate, and you prepare like there is no tomorrow. Our coach belaboured “the process”. When you are young, it’s all instant gratification. Baseball taught me to focus on the process. I had to put in the work to make the team, and work even harder to get playing time. I knew what had to be done, and that the outcome wouldn’t be overnight. It really changes your view of the process, and taught me to focus on what I could control.
Well said! I feel like this is a good time to transition. I’d like to discuss how your workplace is advocating for diversity and inclusion in the workplace? With Ingram being a large organization, we’ve had programs in place for a while. However after more recent events, we started to reassess what we were doing and felt we needed to “step up to the plate” to do more. We held sessions on how we could better support D&I in our organization and create a more inclusive environment. We have since partnered with Mind Gym, who from an HR perspective, is looking to update our internal processes and support diversity in our hiring practices. This is obviously very important, and there are so many parallels to sports. The best sports teams are often super diverse in their skill sets, and organizations are trying to mimic this.
You had to navigate your way through corporate America alone. What advice do you have for others transitioning from athletics to another field? Find mentors, whether it is formal or informal, inside or outside your organization, family or friends. I've had several great mentors within my organization, but regardless you need people in your corner. You simply can’t do it on your own. Also notice I said mentors, and ideally they are like minded, goal oriented individuals who show you how to succeed. Now that I have progressed in my career, I find myself giving back and being a mentor as well. We all need to pay it forward.
What resources or do you wish you had available to you when you were still playing collegiate sports? To be honest, I’ve heard what your vision is for the AEAS Program, and I wish the supports you are going to offer were around. Now some people will need more support in certain areas, whether it is soft skills, hard skills, or mental health counselling, but we really need it all. These resources really lacked at every level for us, and in general for athletes. You have a great opportunity to help athletes grow and put themselves in a position to excel early on. Everyone struggles, but why not alleviate that burden early on.
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