Why Female Fandom is Dominating the Attention Economy: From NFL Athletes to Swiftie Communities, with Alexy Posner

Speaker A: Uh, Alexi.

Speaker B: Hi.

Speaker A: Welcome to the Female Startup Club podcast.

Speaker C: Hello. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here and get to chat with you. Even though it's like, morning your time, night my time, like, it's so fun to be across the world, getting to talk to each other.

Speaker A: I know. I love that. For us, that's the. The power of the Internet, I guess.

Speaker C: You're on my list of places to come visit, though I do hear the spiders are quite large, so.

Speaker A: Oh, my God. It's my husband. When he, like, sees a spider, he's like, oh, my God. And I'm like, well, let's take it outside. Like, let's get a bowl and, like, make sure it's okay.

Speaker C: That is so all the videos of. I feel like all the Aussies, like, take literally, like, caring for the spiders and taking them out. I would sell that house, burn it down, like, never return ever again if I found a spider, like, this big in my house. But, um, anyway, it's on my list to come and visit. See you. Anyways, even though they're. Even though we got spiders, I feel

Speaker A: like so many people who haven't been to Australia say the same thing to me. And I remember, actually, when we moved to Bali in 2019, there was this huge huntsman in the room that, like, was like, the size of my hand. And I remember my husband coming in and being like, listen, I'm not afraid of spiders, but, like, we're going to have to get that out if we're going to stay in this house. And I was like, it's fine. Like, we'll get it out. Get the ball.

Speaker C: Oh, yeah. No, thank you. No, thank you. That's a hard pass for me.

Speaker A: They're big. Where are you based?

Speaker C: I'm in Scottsdale, Arizona. So we just have rattlesnakes and, like, scorpions and, like, those things here. But, yeah, not that deep.

Speaker A: I'm like, what the hell? I would. I don't think I've ever seen a, uh, scorpion or, I mean, or a rattlesnake. I've never seen either.

Speaker C: The problem is I'm originally from Philadelphia, so a rattlesnake sounds the same way as, like, we on the east coast have these, like, things called cicadas. I love that this has turned into a nature show, but I'm going to tell you a dumb story about myself. So. So they're like, there are these, like, beetles that are called cicadas on the east, and they like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they, like, Rattle or whatever. So I'm, like, off for my, like, hot girl hike in Arizona, and I hear that noise, and I'm like, oh, it's a cicada. Like, not bad. Like, just naturally think that, being from Philly, I look down and there is a giant rattlesnake, like, within a foot of me. I have never launched backwards so fast my whole entire life. And then slithered away. And I was like, okay, so pay attention. Lexi, don't. There are not beetles here.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's Molly. My mom had the same experience, actually. She lives, like, more in the middle of Australia, and so she has, like, during the kind of spring season, brown snakes, which are the snakes that can kill you here? Oh, I think they're called a great brown or something like that. But they are, like, super gnarly, and they're really aggressive, and they fight over, like, whatever they fight about. Anyway, my mom was out in the garden, and they were. There was one kind of, like, coming for her chickens. And her dog bar barks differently when there's a snake around. And so she heard the dog barking, and she was like, oh, okay, there's a snake. And then she turned around, and the snake had reared up, and it was ready to, like, go. And so her life, like, flashed before her eyes. She launched back and, like, kind of turned because she was, like, terrified. It was, like, ready to bite. She turned around, but she fell and kind of, like, hit her knee while she was trying to scramble, like, away and was, like, hysterically screaming for, like, anyone to hear kind of thing. Because if you get bitten, I think you have 20 minutes. She would have died for sure. And, um, she, like. She obviously scared the snake, too. So the snake actually went away instead of, like, going for her. But she was literally, like, you know, terrified. Like. Yeah, like, traumatized after it. She was like this. That my life flashed before my eyes like I was about to die.

Speaker C: Not ideal. It is not ideal.

Speaker A: I was like, I'm not coming. I'm never coming back. No, no. My dog is so tiny. Like, the snake would eat her like a possum. I mean, she's like a possum.

Speaker C: Oh, well. So cute.

Speaker A: Let's talk about you, though. Let's talk about sport. You're in the business of helping athletes generate wealth. Outside of kind of playing the game. You're also in the business of fandom and community. So I'm really excited to get into kind of what you do, how you make money, what you're passionate about, and what you're Seeing in the industry. Do you want to start with giving us a little bit of an overview into you, the business and how it works?

Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. So I have an athlete and talent management firm. I represent top NFL players. So we. Football is actually coming down, down, down your way this year. I think there's a game in Melbourne. I forget who's playing, but, uh, yeah, we've got. NFL is expanding globally. So represent top NFL players and on air talent. And then I have a offshoot that I started that's a fitness brand, um, based and embedded in the lovely fandom of Taylor Swift, which is absolutely hysterical and insane. And, you know, a year ago, if you would have said, like, are you going to start a fitness brand that is based on Taylor's music? I probably would have giggled. But it's turned into this massive community and, um, has been really, really, really, really fun to build.

Speaker A: Oh, my God, I'm so excited to get into both of these things.

Speaker C: Like, let's talk Taylor. I got you.

Speaker A: That sounds amazing. I went to the Taylor Swift concert when she came to Australia, and it was like. It was, uh. My husband and I say it was the next best thing after our wedding. And, like, we aren't fans. I mean, we're fans now because we went. Yes, but we weren't fans. Like, you know, we weren't in the community beforehand. And our seats were separate. We sat separately, like, so no way. We're both totally separate in the stadium. And he was like, okay, well, I need to wear something that's kind of like, you know, people will make friends with me. So we had this shirt that is like our dog all over it, like, and she's this cute little Chihuahua daddy's girl. And it's like her. She's always, like, in pink and stuff. So he basically made friends with everyone because everyone was like, is that your dog?

Speaker D: Oh, my God.

Speaker A: And then afterwards, when we met back up, we were like, whoa, that was like the best night of our lives. And we weren't even together. And we were both just like that. This is the community of all time. Like, all the little tiny girls and the. The shifting of the bracelets and oh, my go. It was so cool. Love that. We're going to get into that. Let's start with the athletes.

Speaker C: My real business, what I actually do.

Speaker A: What's the 9 to 5 looking like these days?

Speaker C: Yes, yes, yes. So 10 years ago, I started AP Brand Group, which is an athlete and talent management firm. So my role is to build brands for both talent and athletes, um, based on their passion and their purpose. That's what we do.

Speaker A: And so how do, how does one get into that? How does one start doing that? How do you get your first client? What do you do for them?

Speaker C: So we uh, so I started completely self funded, um, you know, true entrepreneur at, at at my heart.

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Speaker D: dribbling the ball with everything on the line he's driving down the pitch he's facing price hikes and cuts past him Carrier contracts tries to block him oh he leaves him in the dust he's at the edge he cuts past the non stop group chat trash talk he clears on goal he shoots no unlimited data for $25 a month forever.

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Speaker C: Um, I worked in sport. I actually take it back a little further. Was a professional athlete. I grew up riding horses very competitively. Um, and then when I was 21, my riding care, it just, my parents were done funding my very expensive habit as they like to call it. And so, um, I knew I wanted to stay in sport. I knew I wanted to stay. I wanted to go into an industry that was like going to be hard for lack of better words. And right at that time, that was in 2012, you know, not a lot of females in sport, especially in high level positions, and just thought like, great, like basically tell me I can't do it and I really want to go do something. And so, um, started working in baseball, then transitioned over to hockey. Hockey, um, and I, I was seeing this kind of pattern over and over again of athletes who were so hyper focused on what was happening either on the rink or on the field, which is what they should be focused on. But then there was nothing happening off the field. There wasn't that community building element, there wasn't that brand building element. And there were so many athletes that like, you know, their career would end for one reason or another, they would get hurt, there would, something would happen and, and they would experience what I experienced, which was like deep depression. I became an alcoholic. You know, I acted a fool, um, because my whole identity, my entire life was wrapped into my sport. And so when my sport ended I was like, I don't know who I am or how I want to show up. And I saw that time and time again. Like my story was definitely not a unique one. And I kept seeing that pattern throughout all the teams I worked with that as a guy would get cut, you know, they just had nothing to like fall back on. And I also. So anyway, I decided to start AP Brand group to work with athletes and talent to really build their brands and build their brands in a way that it was based on their passion and their purpose. So wasn't now this fall back on mentality? It was, let's step into what is really exciting to you. If we built a brand based on your passion and purpose, when you're done playing, whether that happens in 10 years or one year, you're moving into this next phase, like, really excited versus feeling like, you know, a shell of yourself. So, um, yeah, started AP Brand Group 10 years ago.

Speaker A: I mean, it's a long. It's a long time. I love that for you. I have so many questions, um, in so many different directions. I want to start by when you're saying, like, brand, are you talking about, you know, everything from the deals and the ambassadorships, or are you talking specifically from the, like, we've started a drinks brand and. And we're there. Or what are the kind of, like, longer term, um, generating things that do kind of merge out of the brand deal space and into that, like, other space?

Speaker C: Yeah. So when I use the word brand, I'm actually referring directly to like, that athlete or that talent. We absolutely create physical brands.

Speaker A: Got it. Their IP is a brand.

Speaker C: Yes, exactly. So my job is really to create a brand of that athlete or that talent. And, you know, ultimately I boil that word brand down into evoking a certain emotion from our consumers. So I want our consumers, our fan base, to think about one of my clients and feel something specifically. And it's my job to help those athletes or help that talent figure out what that feeling is and then make sure it's properly communicated across all consumer touch points. So those consumer touch points are social media, their media relations, their brand deals, their appearances, like any, anytime a consumer could possibly interface with them. We're really focusing on, okay, what brand are we trying to build? What emotion do we want those fans to feel about them? And it's, um, really fun. It's really fun. It's really fun getting to figure out authentic, like, what is authentic to that athlete, um, and kind of pulling all these puzzle pieces together. But we also, then my team and I now also create physical brands. So, like, Jaleel White is a great example. He famous actor. Uh, we started a cannabis company together, so helped him with his whole, you know, the physical brand of his cannabis line, which is legal here in, uh, in the States.

Speaker A: Yes, got it. I love that because I think as well, like athletes and maybe even like, maybe a performer, like a singer, uh, they kind of have this thing that a typical founder or a creator doesn't have upfront, which is that they know there's an expiry date to their kind of career and how long they're going to be able to play for. So now in today's world, that's probably changed a lot since you started. They already know that they need to be building those other things around it. Whereas like a founder or a creator, or specifically creators I think is like you, you start this thing and you think you're going to be able to go for a really long time, but you kind of misjudge the level of burnout that can come from being on that hamster wheel every day and like not having figured out the bigger picture. And so I'd love to kind of like take an example maybe that you have in mind and kind of break down like a case study of an athlete where you're like, cool. We had this person, you know, redacted information, fine. But we had them come in and this is like how we started to structure the deals and how we actually turned their IP into this like licensed product or, or how we thought about it big term so that we can kind of take that playbook and think about what creators or founders building a personal brand could actually extract from that.

Speaker C: Yeah, totally. So I think a great example is Mac Collins. Uh, Mac is a, uh, very well known. He's actually happens to be in Australia at this very moment training down there. So he, uh. Which is so funny. So he, um, plays for the Patriots. He's well known NFL player for all of his kind of funny, quirky antics. So he like eats with his hands, doesn't wear shoes. Um, we've really branded him as the most interesting man in the NFL. And when I started working with Mac nine years ago, he was on the ir, so on the injured reserve list, um, going through a herniated, like had a, had a hernia. Um, and uh, and. And was really just like. We weren't sure how much longer he had to go. He also wasn't. He's a wide receiver. He wasn't. So getting into a little football talk here. He uh, wasn't like a wide receiver one or two. He was really a special teams guy. So, you know, he kind of wasn't set up to be like the big fan favorite. He's not that guy at that time in his career making these crazy catches. He is now. He's, he's one of the top wide receivers in the league. But like, could have just ended his career there and rode off into the sunset and no one would have really known about him. And um, we decided to spend a lot of Time digging into who he was, what he cared about and how he wanted to show up and saying no to do a lot of stuff. So, like, when I think about a creator or an entrepreneur, there are two different sides of it, right? Like, people see I, I've been a, uh, self funded entrepreneur for the last 10 years. Like, what people see about me on my social media is heavily curated of what I want them to know about me. They don't see a lot of the other stuff. And so with Mac, it was like, what do we want fans to know about him and know about him? That's authentic to him. So it's not. Even though it's curated doesn't mean it's fake. And so we then really got clear on what his brand was. And he loves education. Um, and so slowly we started a content series called MacBook Mondays, which every Monday he read a different book. He encouraged his fans to read that book that then evolved further into education. Um, with his Fast Fact Fridays. He then became a global ambassador for Special Olympics fighting for inclusion within education. Um, we've just continued to expand and expand and expand. Mac also doesn't eat. He only eats meat, fruit and organs. Doesn't eat vegetables. You will never see the man eat a vegetable which is like wild. And so what?

Speaker A: Wait, cucumbers. Think about the cucumbers. Does that mean he doesn't eat pickles?

Speaker C: Well, I guess cucumber is a fruit, isn't it? Because it's got seeds on the inside. So I think that actually counts as a fruit. Oh, I think cucumbers are a fruit.

Speaker A: Okay, well, broccoli. I'm like, I could not deal with not having broccoli in my life. Oh my God.

Speaker F: Okay, wow.

Speaker C: Broccoli. No.

Speaker A: By choice or just he hates them because, like, it's a taste thing.

Speaker C: Doesn't do it. Doesn't do. It's not even like, I don't know if he just thinks they have no value for him and so he just doesn't do it. You'll never see him eat a vegetable.

Speaker A: Right. So fiber comes from fruit.

Speaker F: We're good.

Speaker A: We don't need. There's no function for those ones.

Speaker C: That's right. Yep. And so, so we really focused on building a brand and said no to a lot of things for him. And that is kind of the key in all of this is like, then, now that we. So it's, it's led now he has a huge deal with Vivo, which is a barefoot shoe company. We turned down deals with all the major shoe brands that Wanted to be the first person to put shoes on Matt Collins. And, you know, we kept saying, no, no, no, until we found the brand that he truly loves. So, um, that's kind of a fun. A fun case study of took and helped kind of grow and evolve. And now he's dubbed the most interesting man in the NFL. And, um, it's, uh, it's really. It's really fun to work with him.

Speaker A: That's super cool. When you first started working with him, obviously he was at a different level of kind of fame than he is now. Do you think that you have to be famous to be able to apply these playbooks? Do you think that you have to have a huge audience? Or is there a world where a creator or a founder who has kind of influence in their circle or, you know, in their communities online can apply those types of things and build those kind of brand opportunities without being kind of, like, famous?

Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. I mean, we all have the opportunity to make an impact, whether it's a small impact on, you know, your 200 followers, whether it's a bigger impact on 200,000 followers. But, like, you can also make an impact just in the community that you're in, right? Like, social media isn't a dictator to how big of an impact that you can make. And so I think spending the time to get really clear on, you know, who you are, how you want to show up, and, like, what legacy you want to lead, that can then be a ripple effect for anyone that you touch. And, um, so I completely encourage people to go through brand exercises and, like, have those moments and have those thoughts with themselves. And, you know, for me, as an entrepreneur, one of the very early things that I dedicated myself to is this notion of rising tides raise all ships. And so my impact was I. Early on in my career, before I ever started AP Brand group, I, uh, there was a female that was in a, uh, had started a PR firm. And I'm not a publicist, but at that time, that's what I knew. And I asked for her advice, and she, instead of helping me, actively tried to stop me from succeeding. Um, and I very quickly realized, Jesus, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, I could. They're the stories I could tell, um, and not just heard. And I very quickly found out, like, you know, there's kind of two types of women in this world. Um, and this, again, sounds rough, but I'll say it right. Like, there's two types of women in this world. There's the ones who feel like being at the top. There's not enough space for everyone. And then there's the ones that go, you know, what, if we link all hands, we can actually be stronger together. And I really, early on in my career kind of dedicated myself to the latter, which is, you know, there's enough room for all of us at the top and together we can be stronger and together we can rise. Because if you continuously approach every single day from a scarcity mentality of like, it's only me at the top and there's not enough room for anyone else, like, you're gonna live a very scarce life. And so, um, that to me was the impact I could make. I have an all female team. Not because we don't like boys and I would hire a great guy, but I have an all female team and um, that is like, that's the impact I want to leave. Right. Is like, is helping hopefully inspire the next generation of women and um, bring people up as I continue to rise.

Speaker A: Oh, so cool. Yeah, I mean, I feel like we've all experienced the former.

Speaker C: Yeah, for sure.

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Speaker C: Yeah, I think, I mean it starts with figuring out what your audience is like. So great example of this is Swifty Lifty Club. I started it in January. We are now, we literally today hit like 5,000 followers. Um, and it's been all authentic growth and cultivation of a clear community and a clear audience. And that's actually made it really easy for me to go after brands for brand deals. For Swifty Lifty Club, my personal brand is a little bit more kind of all over the place, like with my own social media, like, and uh, who, who's following me? It sort of runs the gamut of like, like you'll get a thirst trap every once in a while because I'm still trying to find myself a husband to like, you'll get me with NFL playing, you know, it kind of runs the whole, the whole game to fitness stuff. But um, Swifty, for example, we, we really were like, we wanted to cultivate a community. And so that again, for these entrepreneurs or for these creators, I would say like first and foremost get clear on who that community is that you're trying to reach. And when you then go to post and when you then go to create content, it's like, what am I trying to like the so what question. So like if I post this so what, right? Like what is that actually telling my followers? What is that telling my community? What am I trying to communicate to them? Because I think we can get wrapped in this game of like, you know, like, uh, just sort of posting. We could get wrapped in this game of trend chasing. And so really thinking about what value am I adding to this community? What's the so what behind this post? And then all of a sudden your community starts to grow and grow and grow. And it also makes it a lot easier when you are talking to brands about like, like hey, you know, sponsorship or whatever that is. But, um, the other thing I would say with brands is stay authentic. So there are brands that like, we've personally turned down because I don't use them. Like there's alcohol brands that have reached out wanting to do collaborations with me. I don't drink, I'm two years sober. So it doesn't make sense for me to do an alcohol collaboration. You know, Um, I also like, I don't eat dairy. I Don't eat, like, I don't eat gluten. And there was like, a dope, like, bread company that wanted to do something and I was like, like, because of, like, sourdough and Taylor Swift. And I was like, like, I don't, you know, that's not authentic for me to, like, sit there and be like, let me eat this piece of bread. Like, I don't eat gluten. I'm allergic. So that is also something I would say to, like, creators and entrepreneurs and anyone that's, like, thinking about using their social platform to grow a community is like, stay authentic to you. That immediate deal that sounds really good with that sourdough company. Like, turn it down if you don't eat bread, you know?

Speaker A: 100%. 100%. I want to, like, hear more about the, the Swifty Lifty Club. Like, how did it come about? How did it start? Ah, what was the kind of, like, beginning? Was it a strategic, like, oh, I'm going to try and strategically put together an idea that I know is going to have legs to go kind of like, into that fandom world? Or was it like, I'm just obsessed with Taylor Swift, so I, like, have to build this in this certain way because I'm obsessed? Or was it accidental? What was the. That kind of, like, beginning piece of putting this together?

Speaker C: Yeah. So I have been in fitness my whole life, obviously, growing up a professional athlete, uh, stayed in fitness after I stopped riding. I did my yoga teacher training, taught yoga for a while, then went to Rumble and taught Rumble boxing. And love, love, love fitness. It's been probably the number one thing to keep my mental health. Um, I have a lot of energy and I have to move my body twice a day. Otherwise, like, like there. It's not good for anyone. So I, um, love fitness. Um, I started coaching again after leaving Rumble. I started coaching at a really amazing studio here in the Phoenix market a year and a half ago. And, you know, I think as a fitness coach, um, it's like you can very quickly fall into this trap of like, oh, I'm gonna go be this because this person did it successfully, or I'm gonna go be this because this person did it successfully. And for me, um, the studio itself is, like, dark and moody and sexy, and everyone's like, you know, they have an incredible vibe. And I'm. I'm kind of pink. Like, that's the best way to describe myself. I'm just like, pink. Like, I love pink. I'm wearing it. You know, I'm like a pop Pop girly.

Speaker A: Welcome to my world.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker A: Yeah, you're my kind of gal.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's very like poppy and bright and um, not that they aren't bright and amazing. It's just a different vibe. And so it's like, you know, I love Taylor's music. I personally love working out to her music. I kind of like you was a big fan early on. I walked away from it a little bit and then saw her at the ERAs tour two years ago and like drank the Kool Aid fully. And now I'm very deep down the Swifty rabbit hole. But, um, I genuinely love working out to her music so much. And I was like, you know, I think I want to, like, I think I want to do these classes called Swifty Lifty classes. And they slowly grew over, um, for about eight months. And all of a sudden I'm like, I'm actually not just doing Taylor Swift class. I'm like cultivating a community. I was doing pool parties, I was doing like vendor pop up events and doing all this stuff. And I'm like, this is kind of like your club of your new best friends. And so that's where Swifty Lifty Club came to be. I launched it in January and went kind of viral from there. Um, but yes, it is like a community of your new besties.

Speaker A: Has she seen it?

Speaker C: I don't know.

Speaker H: Maybe.

Speaker C: I don't know.

Speaker A: I also feel like it's so, um. Because it so ties into like your world of being, you know, a fan of her and, you know, loving working out to her music. But then like, on the other side, you're in, you know, the sports world where you're managing NFL players and it's like such a weirdly amazing alignment there. I'm like, when is Taylor gonna see this? Taylor, are you listening?

Speaker C: I know. I'm like, if her team doesn't know, I'm sure they'll find out soon. It's a little bit funny though for me because I've gotten a chance to meet Travis Kelsey. I've worked multiple times actually. I've, uh, I know people very close in his team. And so I've kind of kept a boundary though where like my AP brand group and my, you know, representation business stays on one side and if someone happens to see it and bring it up to them, like, I would be thrilled and it would be amazing. But for me right now, until anyone goes and shuts it down, I'm just excited to empower people to move their bodies and try things that they wouldn't Expect. And it's so much more than a fitness class. It's just uh, it's really, truly a community and um, just the best. So much fun.

Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's important in today's world where we're so saturated with like mass uh, messaging on like all the channels and all the intrusive kind of things that we get, you know, fed everywhere to really focus on. Where are you building those communities that have that thread of common commonality between the people, like building that tribe element of what you're doing so that you can bring people together who like really enjoy a certain topic or a certain food or a certain genre of music or whatever it might be. But bringing that like even if it's small and even if it's niche, but bringing together the fan club to have that kind of like just. Yeah, I don't know, it just like enriches your life, I feel.

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean I, at the end of the day, like humans desperately want to connect to other humans. Right? Like we're not meant to be independent creatures. And so I think the commonality of already knowing and I, we have so many people that show up. Like we get 400 plus people to our events and they come not knowing anyone and they leave with a new friend. Um, and I think that like, you know, removing that kind of fourth wall of like, hey, we already have this connection point. We all love Taylor. That's why we're showing up just allows you to turn to your neighbor and be like, hi, I'm Alexi. You know, do you want a friendship bracelet and like give a bracelet over type of thing? And that, um, I think that's like been the secret sauce of it all is that it's just, it's community. First the workouts, like studios do fitness classes, they do themed fitness classes. We're not like doing anything new. It's just um, for me, I love building community and I love building connection and I love inspiring people to move their bodies. And we have women and men kids to like 85 year olds, like 6 to 85 come to the classes and it's just like I love, I don't know, show up, move your body. And there's like one rule of Swifty Lifty Club. So I don't care, you know, if you do your burpees, if you do your jump squats, I don't care what you do, but if you know the lyrics, you have to sing. So that's our only rule.

Speaker A: Oh my God, I love it. I feel like this is A really good segue into kind of looping back around to the women in sport, um, kind of bucket that I want to talk about. You mentioned that, you know, 12 years ago or 10 years at 2012, when you got started, like I can imagine the world was really different then for women in sport. And when we're thinking about kind of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce starting to date and the attention that Taylor brought to kind of sport from the women angle, did you see an impact on how that affected, you know, women's deals or kind of the money that's going into women athletes or anything in that kind of, um, you know, pre to post state?

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean for, for sure. Her impact is unprecedented, I would say. I think Caitlin Clark probably sparked the biggest momentum in the shift of women's sport over, um, with the focus she WNBA player, unbelievable women's basketball player. And we are definitely, definitely seeing brands are spending money in women's sport. Like, I mean this catalyst started two years ago with this massive, massive uptick. Uh, I will say I think Taylor brought a lot of female demographic over to sport. Um, but also like women have been watching sports for a long time too. So I think she's brought a lot, she brought a lot of, of interesting and new attention to the NFL 1000% hands down. There's data that backs all of that up. But I would, I think like the female catalyst for brand spending money was really Caitlin Clark and the conversation around, um, salary discrepancy between the WNBA and the NBA and brands realizing like the power of women in sport and putting a lot of money and energy behind that.

Speaker A: What do you think about when you look at your business and how that's impacting your business and either the talent that you represent or the kinds of inbound opportunities that are coming to you from brands. What does it look like in terms of deals and money kind of flowing in? Is there any specific examples you can talk to?

Speaker C: Yeah, so I actually funny enough only represent. I have one female client. Her name's Katie Sullivan. She's an amazing Tony nominated actress. Bilateral, um, double amputee or bub knee amputee, um, Paralympian. She's incredible. Has moved into the acting space. Um, she competed years ago in the Paralympics and she's just a very accomplished actress. So she's my only female client, which is kind of nuts. Being so female driven. I have always sort of followed the, the crumbs and, and I'm complete word of mouth for everything. So I would love to grab, have an amazing Female client right now. All of my guys. I've got just a lot of guys, so I'm still, uh. Yeah, it's interesting, but I. I mean, I definitely hear brand in a lot of brand conversations that I am having when I'm in pitch meetings or talking about my own clients, like that type of thing, hearing how much brands are wanting to focus and spend money and ask, you know, oh, do you have anybody in that space? Or how are you interfacing in that space? And it's very clear that's where money is being spent, which is incredible because it's been such a discrepancy for such a long time.

Speaker A: Yeah. And I, uh, imagine it might be, like, also an exciting moment, especially in America with the Olympics coming up. Is it next year or is it 2028? I forget, but 2028, coming kind of into the. Into the arena in America, like, there's going to be even. Even more kind of attention and eyeballs and dollars flowing into that area.

Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. And right now, like, with the World cup is going, you know, has. Has been. Has been going on, um, which is insane. Insane and amazing and so cool to see. I mean, talk about a fandom. The. The global soccer stage is, uh, is unmatched. Um, and I'm pretty sure I'm wearing

Speaker A: a soccer jersey right now. I dressed for you.

Speaker C: You have a Dolphins. That's a Dolphins on the one side, though, the Miami Dolphins. And the other side is a.

Speaker A: Wait, Dolphins. That's soccer. Right.

Speaker C: So football.

Speaker F: Football.

Speaker A: We call it soccer in Australia. Like David Beckham's soccer?

Speaker C: No, no, like football. Like NFL football. Like American football. So you're. Yeah, so there's, like, football, which is like the. The European soccer. Yeah. And then there's what you've got on, which is.

Speaker A: I thought this was soccer.

Speaker C: No, you're perfect. But that's good. I work with NFL players. So you're repping. You've got. On one side. Yeah. No, no, you're right on. You're right on. You're perfect.

Speaker A: Listen, listen. I'm not the best with sport.

Speaker C: That's okay.

Speaker A: But I. I like to work out.

Speaker C: I do, I do. No, it's great. The Dolphins are. Yeah, the Dolphins are in Miami.

Speaker H: Um.

Speaker C: And, uh. Yeah, no, it's awesome. You got. You were right on point. You had it.

Speaker A: Love that. Um, if someone who is listening. Last kind of question. If someone who's listening, who is kind of building as a founder or building as a creator and kind of wants to build something meaningful over the next decade, that is kind of around their IP and kind of in that bigger, ah, tier up or that next tier up. What would the advice be that you have for them?

Speaker B: Great.

Speaker C: Um, question. I think, you know, talking to somebody who is in that building phase, I mean, I'm still in the building phase. I pray I'm in the building phase until the day I die. But, um, you know, kind of two, two things. The first is you're gonna fail and you're gonna fail and you're gonna fail. So just right, immediately take that off of your, like, take that off of the thing that is stopping you from jumping off the starting block. Because, you know, I think so often we can get caught up in the like, like the negative of like, well, what if this happens? What if this happens? I guess what it probably is going to happen. But you pick yourself up, you learn from it and you continue to move on. And I know that is so, so, so cliche, but this fear of failure, um, can't be the reason that stops you from making, getting off the starting block because you're going to fail and you're going to pivot and you're going to figure it out. And so believing in the. I will figure it out, um, and telling yourself that over and over again. I have a mantra that I tell myself so many times a day. I'm like, everything always works out for me. Everything always works out for me. And it is a lot of times things that you don't anticipate. Like I, you know, I say everything always works out for me. It may not be in the way I imagined it to, but it's always going to work out for me. And deeply, deeply believing in that, to almost a point of delusion, um, I think has gotten me to where I am, um, and hopefully will continue to allow me to grow. But the other piece is that you're not going to be for everyone. So as a creator, as an entrepreneur, as a self starter, you know, you may not be for everyone. And that's totally fine, right? Like your brand, what you're building, what you're doing. Like, don't try to make everyone happy. Figure out who that audience is. Figure out who those people are that are going to identify with, with the thing that is authentically you, that drives you, that excites you, that, you know, makes you feel passionate every day and just double down on that, right? Don't worry so much about like trying to make the whole world happy because you're just gonna fail. Like, unless you're Taylor Swift, basically, you're just not gonna get there. So that's, that's my, that would be my advice.

Speaker A: I love that. I think we can often get kind of stuck in the practical, like how do we do something? Or what's the playbook? When actually there's a mindset shift that needs to happen. And it's the mindset piece that uh, is kind of like overlo but like critically important as well to like put on the front foot of like what you should focus on.

Speaker C: Absolutely. I, you know, to attribute this back to fitness. Like I'll do plank challenges in my classes and it'll be like uh, a three minute plank challenge. And I hear people groan immediately when I say it and it's like, well, you don't know what you're capable of until you try, right? So like just try, just start and you may put your knees down and that's totally fine. And then you're gonna pop your knees right back up. You may fall out of the plank and then you're gonna right back up. Right? And like, that's the kind of metaphor I feel like to apply in a bigger way is like, you don't know what you're capable of unless you try. You may fail. You're going to pop right back up and it's going to be fine. And like, also to tap into what is your brain saying, like, if I go, hey, we got a three minute plank and you're like, oh, I can't do that, guess what? You're not going to be able to do it. But if you say I got this, like what we tell ourselves those internal thoughts, that's what becomes our reality around us. And so as you said, you know, like not letting the kind of nuances of how we get there be the reason that you don't even just start. So like, yeah, talk yourself into it. Make yourself believe. Even if it feels a little delusional at first. That's what I do. Most people think I'm nuts.

Speaker A: Love. Perfect ending to this chat. I've loved chatting with you. Is there anything you want to shout about or kind of wrap up with?

Speaker C: I mean, come follow us on Swifty Lifty Club. Find me on Instagram at Alexi Posner. I'm sorry. Grateful to you. Thank you for having me. And if there's any, you know, any female that's listening that is ever wanted to work in sport, please, please, please find me on Instagram. I will help you in any way, shape or form I can.

Speaker A: Thank you so much. Thanks for coming on the Pod thank you.

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