WEBVTT - The BroadCast: 1/11/2019 ~ Annelie Schmittel Discusses New Player Development Role 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:03.960 Southwest Germany is where Annelie Schmidl grew up, close to 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:06.400 the Swiss border, and believe it or not, it's an 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:10.280 area that's not entirely well versed in American professional sports, 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:12.959 but here she is now ry to start the next 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:16.200 chapter of her impressive career with the seventy Sixers as 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.079 the team's vice president of player development after a successful 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:22.720 stint with the Oakland Raiders. The makeup of this organization 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:25.319 is so incredible, and just to be a part of 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.319 it and soak it in and help shape it in 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:31.160 a small way, that's what I'm excited about. We'll talk 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:34.240 about this new role and why today's world, what's happening 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:37.080 off the court is sometimes just as important as what's 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:40.159 happening on it. There's so much more than the season. 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.040 There's so much more than the game. We really want 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:45.600 to make sure that we support the players three hundred 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.279 and sixty five days, twenty four hours a day, and 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.479 that they have a support system that addresses the different 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:55.639 facets of their lives. Seventy six Ers vice President Player Development, 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:59.760 Annelie schmiddle Our guests on this episode of the broadcast, 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:06.800 How are you doing out there? Seventy six Ers pot people, 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:12.200 Brian Seltzer saying hello, things are relatively good in Sixers 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:15.479 Land right now. No. Wednesday's game against the Washington Wizards 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:17.480 did not go the team's way, but prior to that, 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:21.160 squad had rattled off four straight victories to start the 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:24.880 brand new calendar year in twenty nineteen. We've got some 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:28.440 really strong All Star bids being made by Joel Embiid, 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:31.399 who as of the second round of fan voting was 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:34.560 number three among all Eastern Conference front court players that 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:36.040 at this point in time would be good enough to 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.760 get him a starting nod. Ben Simmons Jimmy Butler also 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:43.440 performing well in the fan voting, which will continue through 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.440 January twenty first. So if you have not yet cast 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.680 your ballots today when you're listening, you can do it 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:52.720 one today good NBA dot com slash vote. You can 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:55.600 google seventy six ers or google any one of those 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:59.760 three players names and cast your ballots in favor of 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.840 the seventy Sixers All Star candidates. Really looking forward to 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:07.320 hearing from Annalie Schmiddle on this episode of the podcast. 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:10.919 She was announced as the Sixers Vice President of Player Development, 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:12.959 a brand new position in the front office. On the 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:17.720 basketball operations side on Monday, January seventh, so we'll learn 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.639 some more about her, her very interesting and distinct background, 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:25.280 and how she plans on bringing a variety of different 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:30.120 facets of the player experience and seventy Sixers organization together. 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:32.880 I think you'll find out that it is something that 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:36.359 from a logistical and holistic standpoint, that has a lot 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.880 of value and a lot of benefits. Reminder that before 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:43.440 we get started to please subscribe to our podcast feed 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:48.040 if you have not yet done so. We're on Apple Pods, SoundCloud, 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:52.920 Google Play, Stitcher, Pocketcast, tune in just about all your 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:56.800 favorite podcasting platforms. Just type in Sixers Podcast Network. That 0:02:56.880 --> 0:03:00.960 will take you to our pages and sign up right 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.840 then and there. Right as the seventy Sixers were passing 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:06.720 the midway point, crazy that we're even talking about that 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:11.520 of this current season, an important announcement was made that 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:13.839 the team is going to be bringing on a new 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:18.160 vice president of player development, in fact, the organization's first 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:22.040 vice president of player development, and that is Annalye Schmiddle. 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:26.400 Her position sounded really cool on paper when the press 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.880 release came out, but wanted to hear straight from the 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:33.359 source what this new role with the Sixers is going 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:37.040 to entail. So here's our conversation. It is great to 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.040 have the opportunity to sit down with the seventy sixers 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:44.400 new vice president of player Development, Annalye Schmiddle. Annalye, first 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.280 of all, welcome to the seventy Sixers. Thank you so much. 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:49.520 I'm so excited to be here. So there's a lot 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:54.160 to unpack. The position sounds really fascinating and compelling, but 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:56.880 I think it's really intriguing that you're joining the organization. 0:03:57.120 --> 0:04:00.560 Literally at the midway point of the regular season, the 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:04.120 team finished forty one games, your hiring was announced, So 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:06.200 I just love to hear what your thoughts are right now, 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:09.200 your excitement level about coming in at this stage of 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.680 your career, and also the evolution of the organization. I mean, 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.440 this is obviously a great opportunity to join this organization 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:19.240 comes at a great time. It comes at a really 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.800 busy time, so to transition into the job is certainly 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:26.240 hit the ground running mentality, which is awesome. You know, 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:29.680 it's exciting. I was really ready to be in Philadelphia. 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.600 I've known for a couple of weeks now that we 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:35.040 were moving out here, and then just finishing the season 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:38.200 with the Oakland Raiders and then coming out here and 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:42.920 joining the organization to do this job. It's been nothing 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.440 short of exciting. To be honest, it almost seems like 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:49.440 you hit the ground sprinting, not hit the ground running. Like, 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:51.360 tell me about this what you we were saying that 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:53.560 you landed in Philadelphia on Saturday and then went to 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.039 the game against the Dallas Mavericks that night. Yes, so 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.560 on Saturday, I think our plane arrived at four pm. 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.880 We left six am California time, and then landed four 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:07.599 pm Eastern time, and dropped off our bags real quick, 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.000 hopped back into a car and went straight to the 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.520 arena to catch the game that night. And then Sunday 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.440 kind of worked out my jet lag, and Monday morning 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:21.039 right and early arrived at the training facility and have 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:25.720 been going strong ever since. So there seems like there 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.040 are multiple layers to what you're going to be doing 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:30.960 with the seventy six ers. Why don't I start with 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.479 that and I'll hear from you how you describe your position, 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.120 what you're going to be overseeing and responsible for. I 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:37.919 guess the follow to that is, like how do you 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.280 just jump in? But let's start first with hearing what 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.080 you're going to be overseeing and doing for the case. 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:45.159 So the VP of Player Development role really boils down 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:47.720 to the sixer wanting to continue to be at the 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:51.000 forefront of having the best experience for the players and 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:55.360 their families and the staff in the NBA. That's really 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.080 what it boiled down to. And so my role was 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:03.360 to create this synergy between all the departments that the 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.280 organization already had. So if you think of them as 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:10.160 individual components, the pieces of the puzzle that we're doing, 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:13.280 really really, really great work, and there needed to be 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.120 some synergy between them because each individually have such a 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:18.680 high level of expertise and the way they work with 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:22.080 the players is really unique and they influence their development 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:24.479 both on and off the court so much. So now 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.400 this role just kind of oversees how we can create 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:32.120 a closer connection between those two between those departments. So, 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:35.520 what are some of these departments? Yeah, absolutely, so it's 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:38.440 obviously the on and off court development of the players. 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:40.520 That is probably the easiest way to put that in. 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:42.920 There's a lot of layers within that, right, but our 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:46.719 goal is really to provide opportunities for the players that 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.559 they can maximize their growth both on and off the court, 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:55.440 and well beyond their career, whether it's you know, them 0:06:55.440 --> 0:07:00.240 transitioning out of the NBA or any other retirement that 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.720 they might have. So that's really what we're here to do, 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:06.720 is create this experience for them and surround them with 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:10.040 the best network of support that we can possibly give them. 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.960 I gotta think right now, it's got to be a 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:16.960 lot about introducing yourself to people, getting to know people. 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:20.120 How are you approaching that aspect? Yeah, you know, it's 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:23.520 been really great. This organization is known for hiring really 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.680 high caliber people, and it was one of the reasons 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.400 why I was so excited about the opportunity to join 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:33.440 the Sixers is just looking at how the staff is composed, 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:39.240 and certainly everybody sees the en court personalities, right, and 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.880 you're excited about them because they are just amazing athletes 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.760 and coaches great and obviously having Alton Brand as the 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:48.160 GM is amazing. But when you're looking at it at 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.120 a deeper level and you're seeing the types of people 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:53.720 that the organization has brought in over the years, that's 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:56.400 truly amazing. So for me to get to walk into 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:58.560 the building every day and meet new people and get 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:00.800 to know their background and their story and how they're 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:05.480 helping shape this process. That's been probably the most exciting part. 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:07.600 It's a lot of new faces, a lot of names 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:11.000 to learn, but it's that's a really exciting part from 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.440 me right now, just getting acclimated with everybody and their 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:16.760 experience and their expertise. It's interesting that you bring that 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:19.160 up because haven't been around here for a while. You know, 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:22.480 this team went through some seasons where it was growing 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:25.200 and trying to figure things out, and certainly there's been 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.040 this big jump over the last couple of years. And 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:30.080 I got to think, doing what you were doing for 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:32.760 an NFL team, there's only thirty two of those, and 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:35.760 the NFL is the NFL, and it was really distinct position. 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:38.360 There had to be, I would assume, and tell me 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:42.240 if I'm wrong, some sort of reputation in the sports 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.719 industry that the Sixers were a team and a franchise 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:47.720 on the rise compared to what it might have been 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:51.000 four or five years ago. Just how aware are people 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:54.680 working in sports of opportunities in front office work and 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:57.319 what the Sixers are doing there. What type of reputation 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.400 has the franchise built up in that respect, I mean certainly. 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:03.640 I think when you work in any professional sports environment, 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.400 or even in any sports environment period at the collegiate 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:10.040 level or elsewhere, you're always looking for the places that 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:13.880 are doing well and that are just innovative by nature, right, 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:16.800 Like one thing is the winds and the losses, but 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:19.719 the other thing is what else are they building, who 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:22.440 are they bringing in, and how do they go about 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:25.240 their business? And so one thing with the Sixers, even 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.920 as somebody that worked in the NFL, they always came 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:32.199 up as being the super innovative organization, and then you 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:34.120 would see the types of people like I said that 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.240 they have hired, and then how that translated to the 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:41.720 on court success. So you're looking for those places certainly 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:43.959 because you want to know, all right, what are they doing, 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:46.880 how are they doing it, how are they going about it, 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:50.680 and is it something that you can adapt best practices 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.280 from in your role. Whether you're in the NFL, whether 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:56.040 you're in the NHL, you're at the collegiate level, You're 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:59.199 always looking for places that can give you insights and 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:02.080 how to do it better. Regardless of what was happening 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.880 on the court with this team. Going back to the beginning, 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:06.960 of Brett Brown's time here, it always seemed like there 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:10.160 was an emphasis on doing things the right way, establishing 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:13.200 a culture in a set of tenets to follow. How 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:15.360 much from your experience, whether it's been at the professional 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:18.280 level with the Raiders, your work in the NC double, 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:20.920 as a student athlete yourself, have you found that to 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.840 be a steadying level factor that if you're doing things 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.160 the right way, that can ultimately pave the way to 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.480 greater things to come. Oh, certainly culture is everything, right. 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:31.840 I don't think that is just true in sports. I 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.280 think that is true in business as well. But when 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:37.000 you're in an environment where people allow you to grow 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.800 and that has a culture of being open and having 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:44.480 open channels of communication and trust and where relationships are 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:48.120 really important, that's when things when the magic happens in 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:50.440 a lot of ways, right, And so we're fortunate that 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:53.320 we're an environment where when the magic happened it results 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:57.800 in wins. But certainly that culture is everything, and I'm 0:10:57.840 --> 0:10:59.520 so glad to be a part of this and to 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:03.880 help continue grow that culture and an environment of growth. 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:06.440 That's really important to me, and that seems to be 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.120 important for not only the coach, but also Elton and 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:12.400 the rest of the leadership team, and it trickles down 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:15.079 to every single person that I've encountered. So for that 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:17.160 kind of brings us the core of your role in 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.319 your position here. Now, well, why do you think in 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:23.920 this day and age, first week of twenty nineteen, this 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:27.880 type of position is important, particularly in respect to professional athletes, 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.160 what you're going to be doing making sure that all 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:33.600 aspects of their life are taken care of and overseen 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.400 and looked out for. Yeah, I think when you're looking 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:40.920 at sports and you're considering athletes, all you really often 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.240 see and you are aware of on the outside is 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:45.720 when they play games, right, and you're aware that they 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:48.760 have practice and they have meetings and film study and 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:51.920 things like that. But there's so much that goes into 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.480 the day they step on the court. So there's people 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:58.680 involved that most people don't have an understanding or know about. 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:03.960 There is time involved that most people don't understand or 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:07.320 have knowledge of, because of course it's it's not covered 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.520 by anybody, Right, We're interested in the encourt success and 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:12.640 the game and the practice, and that is really important 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.640 and what the coaching staff does. But there's so much 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:19.240 more than this season there's so much more than the game. 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.280 We really want to make sure that we support the 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.640 players three hundred and sixty five days a year, twenty 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:27.959 four hours a day, and that they have a support 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:34.680 system that addresses the different facets of their lives. Working 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:36.520 for a team, you get lucky. You get to see 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:38.400 some of the things that happened behind the scenes that 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:40.840 you know, I think back to my time is like 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:42.680 a true sports fan when I was younger, You're right, 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:44.760 all you pay attention to is like, well, these guys. 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:48.280 There's fame, and there's prominence, and there's financial perks that 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:50.640 come with being a professional athlete. But you know, just 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:52.600 the last couple of days, you have one guy on 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:54.760 the team who picks up and goes to China. Another 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:56.520 guy who's playing down in the G League gets his 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:59.000 first type of NBA deal. I mean, there's constantly things 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.080 that are happening. When yourself, you pick up and you 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:03.280 move across the country into a new place, you hit 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:05.040 the ground running. You gotta figure out where to live, 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:07.400 you gotta get health insurance. I mean, these mighty sound 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:09.079 like trivial things, but they're also like if you look 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.560 at your own life, I mean, these are vital to 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:14.560 your well being, your holistic wellbeing. I would think right, definitely. 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:17.280 My mentor used to say, the only constant is change, 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.880 and I think when you adapt that mindset of being 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:24.280 ready for whatever is coming at you and having a 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:28.880 support system that can support those transitional phases, that's when 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:31.800 a person becomes successful. Whether they are athletes, whether they're 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.959 you and I or anybody else working a different type 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:39.160 of job. You just have to be prepared for all 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:41.480 the changes that are happening in life. Happens. I say 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:43.679 this often life happens to you and I, and it 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:49.439 happens to professional athletes. The challenges are often similar. Whether 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:52.320 you have, you know, a quote normal job or you 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:55.080 are a professional athlete. Certainly the income is a little 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:59.600 bit different, but you're still dealing with family dynamics, you're 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:05.440 still dealing with financial challenges, you're still dealing with pressure 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:07.640 in a lot of ways. Athletes more so than the 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:10.480 average person of course, so there's a lot of outside 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:15.800 influences that influence an athletes career and a person's live 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.560 and so again, change is constant, and we're just here 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:21.960 to support those transitional stages with I would think the 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.280 end goal being just too as much as you possibly 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.040 can put them the right frame of mind to deal 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:29.560 with the essence of their job, which is maximizing their 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.320 performance in this case on the court. Right. Absolutely, what 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:35.120 we're really trying to do is we're trying to maximize 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:39.080 growth and we're trying to minimize distractions and challenges. That's 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:42.200 probably the easiest way to look at it. In reading 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:45.800 some of the footnotes of your bio, You're from Germany. 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:48.520 You came to the United States for a bit, went 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:54.200 back then went to Winona, States, which is what southern Minnesota, 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:58.240 close to Wisconsin ish and you ran track and field 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:00.080 there was that the only sport that you play in 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:01.880 your life. You're always a track and field athlete or 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:03.880 what sports. I've made a lot of sports growing up. 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:09.440 So I grew up on the Swiss border, so snow mountains, 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:11.480 that's kind of my backyard. So I was actually a 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:15.720 downhill skier. I ran track and field. I tried basketball 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:18.400 for a short period of my life. I was always 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:21.480 involved in sports. Came from a big sports family. Just 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:25.360 always very active, trying to, you know, get away from 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:27.200 school as much as possible at that point in my 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:31.120 life and just be active. Was there one experience, whether 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:35.560 you had yourself firsthand or that you witnessed elsewhere, that 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:39.360 shaped your mind and put you on this path, because 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:43.120 it seems like reading through what you've done, trying to 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:46.520 manage the overall experience as an athlete has been a 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:50.600 pretty consistent theme. Yeah. Absolutely, It's actually funny. I sometimes 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:53.360 look back to how I got started in this. Of course, 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:57.560 being an athlete myself helped because I understood what it's 0:15:57.600 --> 0:15:59.840 like to have injuries. I understood what it was like to, 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.160 you know, from one day to the next, lose the 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:05.480 one thing you identify with the most, which is being 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:08.800 an athlete. If you've done sports your entire life, and 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:11.360 you play in college or you play at the professional level, 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:14.480 and so I try to track it back to that 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.520 one moment, and that one's hard to pinpoint, but I 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:20.720 think my now husband we met a long time ago 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.200 in high school in the United States when I first 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:26.120 came and he was a really talented football player, and 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:29.720 he sustained a severe injury before going to college and 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:33.120 wasn't allowed to do contact sports anymore. So seeing him 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:38.200 firsthand go through that transition of when something drastic happens 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:39.960 and you lose the one thing you love the most 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:43.040 so fast that I think became the catalyst of me 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:46.680 to help athletes really deal with those types of transitions. 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:51.640 And so that influenced, you know, me helping my track 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:55.080 and field members to think about, all right, what other 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:59.000 than sports am I It influenced me being a student 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.400 athlete advisor to focus on academics, to focus on professional 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:05.879 growth of student athletes. It kind of led me to 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:08.679 that path of player development in a lot of ways, 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:11.400 and it led me to the University of Florida where 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:14.960 I got to work with an incredible amount of different 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.760 athletes and student athletes. You know, you have everything from 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:23.080 softball players to olympians and gymnastics to swimmers who of 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:26.240 course the football and the basketball players. You have first 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:30.800 round draft picks, and you have those that are competing 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:34.480 at the Division one level but won't be professional athletes 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.400 following their collegiate careers. So it just gives you that 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:43.560 deep breath of experience dealing with different student athletes, different 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:49.119 roles in different levels of competition. Looking back along the 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:53.800 way you focused in crisis communication sports for your PhD. 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.480 Can give me an example of crisis communication. You know, 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:58.840 it's honestly, it could be anything, right, It's the little 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:03.359 things like athletes tweeting something that they probably shouldn't have said, 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:07.040 and it could be big things. One of my research 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:10.840 studies was on the bullying scandal at the Dolphins, So 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:14.439 it's looking at those different crisis moments per se in 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:17.560 sports that happened with athletes and how the athletes respond 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:20.480 to it, and also how fans respond to those incidents. 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:22.159 It could be anything. It could be a fight at 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:25.480 a bar, it could be a tweet, it could be steroids, 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:29.160 it could be a conflict with a coach. There's so 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:31.200 many different things that you can look at, and that's 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:33.280 what was fascinating to me, is just looking at how 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:37.399 do fans respond to those things and does winning influence 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:40.240 how fans perceived those incidents. That was actually what my 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:44.119 dissertation was about. Very cool, very cool. How did the 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:48.480 Oakland Raider's opportunity come up? Well, I'd always known ever 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:52.000 since I was in my masters that I had wanted 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:54.800 to work in the NFL. And I don't know why. 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:56.800 I came from Germany. I didn't know much about football, 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:58.760 But when you live in Wisconsin and the Minnesota for 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:01.440 a while football seems to be king at least there. 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.399 So I knew I wanted to work in the NFL, 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:06.760 and I along the way, I often got told, look, 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:11.680 those roles are so infrequent. Usually there's one person at 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:14.440 each team it tends to be a former player. In 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:19.240 ninety nine percent of the time, those are males in 0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:23.240 that role, in that particular role. So most people probably 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:25.359 would have been discouraged to hear that. And I just 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:28.760 always knew there is a place for females in this environment. 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.919 There needs to be diversity of thought when it comes 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:36.639 to professional sports. And so I kind of just at 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:38.959 the University of Florida started to connect with people that 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.240 were in this athlete development world and got connected to 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:45.760 people at the Jaguars and people at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:50.199 And when my time at Florida was done, the stars 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:53.280 aligned and the Oakland Raiders who are hiring for this position. 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:57.040 And what is really really amazing about that opportunity at 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.359 the time was that sort of the OG of player 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:03.240 development in the NFL was the director of player Engagement 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:05.280 for the Oakland Raiders. So he's a person that has 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.200 worked in this field for twenty some years who's that 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:11.479 Lamont Winston. So he was my boss at the Raiders 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:13.520 and he came from the Kansas City Chiefs before that, 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:16.359 spent seventeen years there. So he has just this wealth 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:21.200 of knowledge about athlete development and player programs and dealing 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:24.879 with the challenges that come along in an athlete's life 0:20:24.880 --> 0:20:26.840 because he's seen literally everything. He's been doing this for 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:29.480 twenty years. So for me to be able to go there, 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:31.960 to get an opportunity to have somebody that believes that 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:34.960 there's a need for women in this space, that was incredible. 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:37.040 So I owe a lot to him. I owe a 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:40.600 lot to the Oakland Raiders as an organization, and certainly 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:44.280 had some amazing players that I was able to work 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:47.000 with while I was there. I always feel that it's 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:51.160 unfortunate to have to bring up the aspect of gender 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:54.440 and breaking barriers shouldn't be that way. Great to see 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:57.040 that it's evolving and changing, But did you find that 0:20:57.800 --> 0:21:02.959 was it how selling your idea and you fulfilling that 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:05.880 type of role. Was it easier or more difficult than 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:07.399 what you might have expected it to be when you 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:10.480 were trying to break into the NFL. Honestly, I think 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:13.080 the breaking impart is always the hardest, right, Like, once 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:17.640 you're in, it's usually not an issue really at all, 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:21.320 And I never had any issues being a female once 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:24.760 I was there. I think it's just more so getting 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:27.440 people to understand that they should give it a shot 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:30.840 and how it can diversify just everything and give a 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:33.400