The first ever NIL Summit!!
Stanford selected 10 Student-Athletes to represent the school in Atlanta, Georgia at the first annual NIL Summit presented by INFLCR & Meta! Though I am still feeling a little bit of imposter syndrome in being selected among so many talented and entrepreneurial athletes, I am so thankful for the opportunity. Here is a recap of the Summit! Another post will follow containing the tips that I learned there to share with you all.
Monday
I flew into Atlanta on Monday afternoon and took a shuttle to the Omni Hotel Atlanta, a beautiful
(and confusingly massive) hotel located by the Centennial Olympic Park, Georgia World Congress Center, and State Farm Arena. It was so cool to be in such a central part of town. Not to mention the view was stunning from our hotel room!!
After throwing my bags down, I threw on an orange dress and got ready for my first ever walk on the red carpet. It was a blast to see so many athletes dressed up considering we dress down for a living! The Stanford group walked the red carpet together and posed for the cameras. It was just like the movies with clicking and flashing (although significantly less dramatic)!
After the red carpet, we walked into the College Football Hall of Fame (our venue for the week). This was my favorite feature of the Summit. Officially the coolest museum I had ever been in (not that there was much competition, sorry 2nd grade field trips). After taking pictures at all the backdrops in the lobby, we entered the Playing Field, which was set up with round tables and would be our home base for the next few days. They fed us a lovely steak dinner (for concision sake, they fed us every meal for the duration of our stay, and it was all high quality) and gave an opening address. Then, they sent us off for a reception in the lobby! A dance floor, DJ, and cool lights set the scene for student-athletes from all over the country to mingle! You probably aren’t surprised that I snuck out early from this one, but it was fun until it was time to sleep!
Tuesday
Wow! Tuesday was a dream come true. I entered the Summit with goals to make connections within the sports business industry, and I can confidently say that I accomplished that on Tuesday of the conference. Still yet, the thing I was most excited for at the Summit was the “business causal” dress code because it meant that I FINALLY got to wear a blazer! And it naturally had to be pink. Growing up playing with the "Barbie: You Can Be Anything" dolls, I felt like I had made it in life as Business Barbie. The day was full of networking, visiting different stations in the expo hall, talking to brands, and meeting other athletes. Everyone I met, from athletes to executives, was happy to exchange contact information. It showed me the beauty to this newly formed industry: everyone is in it together as we navigate uncharted waters. Some of the brands I spoke with included Creative Juice, a banking platform meant to treat content creators as businesses; Invesco qqq, who had an exhibit and swag to help athletes learn How to Not Suck at Money; Bonfire, a merchandise company who does the branding, printing, and shipping of your merchandise so you don’t have to; and INFLCR, an all-encompassing app used by universities to assist their athlete’s NIL endeavors. There were more companies there that I interacted with, but these were just a few that stuck out to me as especially unique, innovative, and need-meeting. I attended panels and talks on the WWE’s recruitment of student-athletes, what Meta is doing in regards to NIL, what brands are looking for in partnerships, and how agents (Wasserman) can assist in the process. Overall, it was a very enriching day that I will remember forever. I look forward to applying the things I learned, and I bet one day, long down the road, I can trace back to this day at the Summit as a milestone in the development of my professional career.
Afterwards, I got in a lift in at the hotel and… you guessed it… hit the hay! It was a long day of socializing & wearing pink. (;
Wednesday
Wednesday was a half day at the Summit with two more panels. One was on innovation and monetization for female athletes, and Stanford (and Colorado’s) very own Fran Belibi gave insight on how she makes decisions when it comes to her own monetization. My favorite part about Wednesday was hanging out with fellow athletes. Over the past few days, we have spent a lot of time getting to know each other, and it was nice to sit with my new friends and listen to the talk. They reminded me how any distance athlete can get along with anyone, how like-minded student athletes are with each other, and how special of a community that collegiate athletics are in terms of relatability, faith, and realness.
After the half day, we were on our way (Chick Fil A in hands) to the airport where we all caught our respective flights. And that’s where I am as I write this, looking back at the Summit with satisfaction, gratitude, new friends, and excitement for the future of this industry.
Oh, and I also met some really cool people at the Summit! Just to name a few…
TIM TEBOW! It’s my hope and prayer to use my passion for business and athletics to advance the Kingdom of God like he does. He gave an inspiring speech to an athlete-only crowd about passion and purpose. More to come on that speech in my next blog post. It was seriously the most empowering thing ever to hear him speak, and I was so encouraged by the amount of athletes that were engaged in his speech. (More than any other part of the conference. God is good!) I was fan-girling in the front row, and later got to talk to him and take a pic. (In my pink blazer.) Can it get any better than that? He was so humble, made kind eye contact, and truly listened to those around him. He prayed with athletes, took time to meet every person who wanted to, answered questions, and offered wisdom and encouragement to those who asked. Would definitely recommend seeing him speak live. You won’t regret it!
Sarah Fuller. You know, the soccer goalkeeper at Vanderbilt who became the first woman to kick in college football? Girl power. She was super real with me when we spoke, including about her recent struggles on the field. She also was a panelist and had great insight to offer with the whole summit. Keep an eye out for her if she decides to play soccer professionally next year after her last season this fall!
Sedona Prince. Sedona was responsible for posting the viral videos of the Women’s NCAA March Madness facilities versus the men’s facilities. It’s considered one of the most change-inducing moments in the recent years for equity in college sports!
Jordan Chiles. Jordan is an Olympic silver medalist after representing America in Tokyo.
Jerome Bettis. Jerome Bettis, also known as "The Bus," is a former NFL player (and former classmate of Rad’s when he came back to Notre Dame to finish his graduation requirements). He spoke to athletes about branding.
And this cute dog! Her collar matched my blazer!
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I want to take the time at the end of this blog post to sincerely thank Stanford Athletics for selecting me to attend on behalf of the university. It was the opportunity of a life-time! I also want to thank INFLCR, Meta, and Student-Athlete NIL for putting on such a spectacular event. It was the very first NIL Summit, and they did an amazing job getting brands and speakers to connect with athletes. I can only imagine how the NIL space will grow, and I am excited to be part of this industry!
Had so much fun!! So glad I got to meet you and hope to see you at a meet one day :)))