Staying focused at the end of the year

Happy Holidays from the CGSM Team! 

We hope you had a nice Thanksgiving and got some time to recharge for this final push of 2019. 

The past two months have been a full on sprint here at CGSM. We have added new clients to our roster, signed new sponsorships and our team at CGSM continues to grow. 

NBC/USOPC Tokyo Promo Shoot

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to spend the week in LA and West Hollywood for NBC/USOPC Tokyo 2020 promotional shoot. Every Olympics, a handpicked group of USA Olympians are invited to be part of this opportunity. The effort by the USOPC and NBC to promote Team USA well in advance of the games, creates invaluable exposure for the athletes and will reach millions of Americans.

Proud to say that CG Sports Management had three clients who were invited for 2020 (in 2016 we had zero). For two full days, the amazing team at the USOC took great care of Maggie Steffens, McKenzie Coan and Alexander Massialas. They filmed promotional material highlighting each athlete as well as took some incredible photos by the team at Getty Images, that you may have already seen on social media. 

Uncle Yung Sales Tip: "It's never a 'no', just a not now.” 

I had the chance to be a guest on Business and People Podcast with marketing guru Walter Bayliss. We had an in-depth discussion on how to develop Olympic talent in the market place and professional talent in the workplace. I share a few good stories on what I learned getting CGSM up and running. Finally we talk about the importance of establishing core company values and the similarities between elite athletes and elite sales people (this one was fun). 

Walt asked me, “What’s one piece of advice you would give entrepreneurs and sales people who keep getting told ‘NO’?” 

My advice here is to remember, “It’s never a NO. Just a not now.” 

Trust me on this. As a sports agent focusing on Olympic sports, I know about getting told no. But it takes persistence, creativity and understanding that a “NO” usually means you need to re-approach things from a different angle. Step back, take time to develop a different approach and then get back out there and keep trying. So many of our best partnerships and sponsor relationships started off with a wonderful “NO” to my face :)

The CGSM Team is grinding and ready for the end of Q4 2019

I’m going to brag about my core team a little bit. Supporting myself and our athletes and sponsors is an incredible team here at CGSM. 

Bryce Bohman is our Sr. Manager of Events and Sport Sales. Bryce has gone through the full CGSM sales training process and is out in the field prospering, bringing in appearance deals and closing business. Bryce also manages two clients, which we work together on.

Caroline Kosciusko is our Client Services Manager. Running a sports agency requires a lot of travel and attention to the needs of our clients. From my experience this takes an acute skill set and someone who has the ability to put themselves in another persons shoes instinctually. Caroline does all this with a positive and cheerful attitude and our customers and Olympians all notice and really appreciate her. 

Lexie Malazdrewicz is CGSM’s Manager of Marketing and Growth. Lexie creates and manages all of the marketing material, media kits, website and social media at CGSM. What’s really great about Lexie is her high understanding of our sales process. She has teamed up with Bryce to create highly successful email marketing campaigns that have built pipeline and closed business. 

You can learn more about our full team at CGSM here on our website. 

Lesson of the day from Olympian and LEAD Sports CEO, Kara Lynn Joyce:

Kara Lynn Joyce was a keynote speaker at a recent Comcast Xfinity Leadership talk in St. Paul, MN. She had a powerful closing quote from her speech that really stuck with the executives at Comcast:

"Trust your hard work is unlocking doors you can't see." 

This is so true and very powerful to me because I see it happen every week. As long as you are able to keep moving stuff forward, even just a few inches, this is what seems to separate great teams from the pack. It's hard to tell how far you've gone when you're in the middle of the grind, but when you look back - it's always amazing to see how far you came. 

Good luck to everyone and we are wishing you a strong close to the year. Remember to give yourself time to decompress, reflect and take a step back at the end of the year. 

Uncle Yung