Meet Jess Webster, AFL play-by-play commentator for Triple M and Fox Footy.

Two nights before we recorded this podcast, she was on stage accepting the Clinton Grybas Emerging Talent Award at the AFL Media Awards.

Jess grew up in Brisbane with three older brothers, running the scoreboard at her local footy ground for a pie and a can of Coke and umpiring boundary as a high-school casual. She studied journalism at Monash and the University of Queensland, did six weeks of TV internships that led nowhere, then moved to Darwin with no job, where someone resigned at the NT News two weeks later and she got her way in. Five years in the Territory gave her print, local commentary and the rise of live streaming. Back in Brisbane, she met mentor Quentin Hull, who taught her play-by-play from scratch and helped her call her first AFL radio game in 2017.

Then she moved to Melbourne on nothing more than "if you're in Melbourne, we'd consider you." COVID hit, she lost her AFL job, and she went two years without a single play-by-play game, working government comms and thinking her career was over. She fought all the way back, called Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera's history-making comeback as Triple M's first female play-by-play caller, and this year became the second woman to call AFL on television.

Lots to look out for in this episode, including how to create your own opportunities in an industry where the jobs are never advertised, sustaining belief and bouncing back when the work you want disappears, and how the right mentor and the right mindset shift can change a career!

We cover:

(04:25) - Interview begins

(06:23) - Quick Fire Questions

(12:46) - How Jess got her foot in the door in sports media and journalism

(17:24) - Jess' career after she moved out of the Northern Territory

(28:46) - The feeling and preparation before calling her first game live

(35:29) - What preparation tactics has Jess picked up from peers

(37:10) - Jess' career move to Melbourne

(43:45) - How Jess built a mindset that has helped her career journey

(50:24) - Key takeaways from the "Finding Mastery" podcast

(54:05) - How Jess landed her roles at Fox Footy and Triple M calling AFL games weekly

(56:54) - The week after Jess' incredible call of Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera's moment against Melbourne FC

(58:11) - Biggest Pinch me moment

If you liked this ep, give these a go next:

#263: Journey to become a Sports Journalist with Sarah Burt

#356: Career journey of FIFA World Cup Commentator David Basheer

#363: From outsider to on-air - how to become a sports broadcaster with David Culbert OLY

Want a job in sport? Click here.

Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok

Follow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok

Thanks for listening, much love!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want to land a job in sport? Apply for The SportsGrad Method: www.sportsgrad.com.au/program

So you want to work in sport.

You are not alone, and that is exactly the problem.

Sport is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Everyone is passionate. Everyone has a degree. Everyone is willing to work hard. And yet most people spend years on the outside looking in, never quite understanding why.

It is not a capability problem. It is a method problem.

I am Reuben Williams, founder of SportsGrad. I landed a job at Cricket Australia the day after I finished university. When COVID hit and I was made redundant, I was headhunted into a role that doubled my salary. Not because I got lucky, because I had a method that most people never find.

Since then that method has helped over 800 people land jobs in sport, from graduates with no experience to career professionals who thought the window had already closed. We have built a global network that members can tap into from day one, and spent ten years inside this industry learning exactly how hiring actually works.

80% of jobs in sport are never advertised. The people landing them are not the most qualified. They are the most visible, the most connected, and the most prepared to convert opportunity into an offer.

That is what The SportsGrad Method teaches.

How I can help you:

1. Listen to The Method — real coaching call snippets every Wednesday so you can hear the work in action.

2. Read The SportsGrad Newsletter — weekly insight on breaking into sport the right way.

3. Apply for The SportsGrad Method Program — if you are serious about making this happen, this is the fastest path. We review every application personally.

If you refuse to settle for a career you do not care about, you are in the right place.

Let's get to work: www.sportsgrad.com.au/program

Reuben

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meet Tori Coleman, Aaron Llavore and Amalia Sofia Navarro, three of the people building the San Francisco 49ers, live from our Melbourne meetup.

In front of a packed room during the 49ers' first-ever NFL game week in Melbourne, this panel pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to work in US sport, and how three very different paths led to the same organisation.

Tori is the Senior Coordinator of Youth Football Development and Community Programming. She started in education technology, moved through PR and comms in the athlete and agency space, did PR for the NBA's Sacramento Kings, and worked in college sport before landing at the Niners, proof that a non-linear start is a strength, not a setback.

Aaron is the Creative Director, a decade into the 49ers, leading a "small but mighty" team of six that touches everything creative in the organisation. He got his first sports job as an assistant creative at the Golden State Warriors, from a post on Craigslist, then built his craft from the ground up.

Amalia works in strategy and impact across the 49ers Foundation's international programming. A comms major from a family of educators, she got her foot in the door through community relations at the Oakland A's and the 49ers museum, working at the intersection of sport, philanthropy and education.

Lots to look out for in this episode, including how to turn an "unconventional" or non-sport background into your edge when breaking in, and how roles inside a major sporting body keep evolving, so getting in is the start, not the finish line.

If you liked this ep, give these a go next:

#237: How Josh Growden launched The Kicking Consultant

#277: Journey from Event Coordinator in Melbourne to NFL Stadium Director with Eray Saban

#243: Living the dream at the NFL, IOC & Brisbane 2032 Olympics with Tom Hickey

Want a job in sport? Click here.

Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok

Follow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok

Thanks for listening, much love!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want to land a job in sport? Apply for The SportsGrad Method: www.sportsgrad.com.au/program

So you want to work in sport.

You are not alone, and that is exactly the problem.

Sport is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Everyone is passionate. Everyone has a degree. Everyone is willing to work hard. And yet most people spend years on the outside looking in, never quite understanding why.

It is not a capability problem. It is a method problem.

I am Reuben Williams, founder of SportsGrad. I landed a job at Cricket Australia the day after I finished university. When COVID hit and I was made redundant, I was headhunted into a role that doubled my salary. Not because I got lucky, because I had a method that most people never find.

Since then that method has helped over 800 people land jobs in sport, from graduates with no experience to career professionals who thought the window had already closed. We have built a global network that members can tap into from day one, and spent ten years inside this industry learning exactly how hiring actually works.

80% of jobs in sport are never advertised. The people landing them are not the most qualified. They are the most visible, the most connected, and the most prepared to convert opportunity into an offer.

That is what The SportsGrad Method teaches.

How I can help you:

1. Listen to The Method — real coaching call snippets every Wednesday so you can hear the work in action.

2. Read The SportsGrad Newsletter — weekly insight on breaking into sport the right way.

3. Apply for The SportsGrad Method Program — if you are serious about making this happen, this is the fastest path. We review every application personally.

If you refuse to settle for a career you do not care about, you are in the right place.

Let's get to work: www.sportsgrad.com.au/program

Reuben

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meet Pat McGregor. 

Pat has spent the last five-plus years building a career across sports marketing, content and brand, most recently leading the marketing function through the formation of NSW Athletics.

Pat's first roles were in retail at Kingsgrove Sports Centre and Adidas, before an internship in the membership team at the St George Illawarra Dragons was cut short by COVID. Working a warehouse job through lockdown and buried under rejections, he came genuinely close to giving up on sport altogether. Instead, he resigned, leaned on the SportsGrad community, and three weeks later landed a marketing coordinator role at Little Athletics NSW.

From there, it snowballed to working alongside Olympians like Jess Fox and Sam Fricker at the NSW Institute of Sport, delivering a national-record membership campaign, and leading the rebrand through a merger.

Lots to look out for in this episode, including how to reframe non-sport experience so it actually lands against a job description, and how to keep progressing (and creating your own next move) once you're inside.

We cover:

(03:16) - Interview Begins

(05:00) - Quick Fire Questions

(11:00) - How Pat decided he wanted to work in the sport industry

(14:48) - How SportsGrad helped Pat early in his career

(16:27) - Why Pat almost gave up on a career in sport

(18:27) - Pat's role at New South Wales Institute of Sport

(22:34) - How Pat became a 'one-person marketing department' at Little Athletics NSW

(28:25) - How the Athletics NSW and Little Athletics NSW brands merged

(30:42) - What challenges and opportunities arose in marketing the brands merging

(33:14) - How SportsGrad has been helping Pat recently in his job hunt

(39:28) - How to land a role in sport marketing in the next 30 days

(41:25) - Biggest pinch-me moment working in sport

(44:12) - What would life look like if it wasn't for a career in sport

(44:42) - What has been the most challenging thing you’ve faced, and how did it become successful 

(46:17) - Pat's question for next guest

If you liked this ep, give these a go next:

#236: Sports Marketing Consultant career journey (so far!) with Danny Bowerin

#280: How to get a sports marketing job in the English Premier League with Alex King

#324: How to turn a Law and Comms degree into a marketing role at the AFL with Veronica Steer

Want a job in sport? Click here.

Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok

Follow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok

Thanks for listening, much love!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want to land a job in sport? Apply for The SportsGrad Method: www.sportsgrad.com.au/program

So you want to work in sport.

You are not alone, and that is exactly the problem.

Sport is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Everyone is passionate. Everyone has a degree. Everyone is willing to work hard. And yet most people spend years on the outside looking in, never quite understanding why.

It is not a capability problem. It is a method problem.

I am Reuben Williams, founder of SportsGrad. I landed a job at Cricket Australia the day after I finished university. When COVID hit and I was made redundant, I was headhunted into a role that doubled my salary. Not because I got lucky, because I had a method that most people never find.

Since then that method has helped over 800 people land jobs in sport, from graduates with no experience to career professionals who thought the window had already closed. We have built a global network that members can tap into from day one, and spent ten years inside this industry learning exactly how hiring actually works.

80% of jobs in sport are never advertised. The people landing them are not the most qualified. They are the most visible, the most connected, and the most prepared to convert opportunity into an offer.

That is what The SportsGrad Method teaches.

How I can help you:

1. Listen to The Method — real coaching call snippets every Wednesday so you can hear the work in action.

2. Read The SportsGrad Newsletter — weekly insight on breaking into sport the right way.

3. Apply for The SportsGrad Method Program — if you are serious about making this happen, this is the fastest path. We review every application personally.

If you refuse to settle for a career you do not care about, you are in the right place.

Let's get to work: www.sportsgrad.com.au/program

Reuben

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meet Sarah Loh, Chief Executive Officer at Softball Australia. Sarah's career spans nearly four decades across the sport, education and not-for-profit sectors, but it started at a reception desk.

In 1988, she asked the owner of a Dandenong gym for a job every day for six months until he cracked and gave her three hours behind the desk. By the end of that year she was centre manager. From there she built one of the most deliberate careers in Australian sport: the YMCA, a local council role at the City of Whittlesea where she project-managed a $29 million leisure centre, her first CEO chair at the country's biggest junior football league, a headhunted executive role at VicHealth, and now the top job at Softball Australia, with a Women's World Cup on home soil in 2027 and softball's return to the Olympics at LA 2028.

In this episode, Sarah unpacks why she deliberately took "detours" through corporate and government roles to build the credibility sport wouldn't give her, the interview question she now asks every candidate she hires and why "what have you built?" beats a polished CV, and how to actually progress from entry-level to executive when everyone is chasing the same limited roles.

We cover:

(02:48) - Interview Begins

(04:38) - Quick Fire Questions

(13:46) - How Sarah's career in sport panned out

(21:10) - Why Sarah enjoys teaching at university and being on volunteer sporting boards

(28:54) - What legacy does Sarah hope the 2027 Softball World Cup leave behind

(35:41) - What is the best sport event you have attended and what is on your bucket list?

(38:03) - Sarah's question for next guest

If you liked this ep, give these a go next:

#206: Journey to CEO of Champion Data with Libby Owens

#217: How to be the CEO of the ICC T20 World Cup - Michelle Enright

#338: From the AFL to Cricket NT CEO at 29, to Executive GM at Cricket Australia with Joel Morrison

Want a job in sport? Click here.

Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok

Follow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok

Thanks for listening, much love!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want to land a job in sport? Apply for The SportsGrad Method: www.sportsgrad.com.au/program

So you want to work in sport.

You are not alone, and that is exactly the problem.

Sport is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Everyone is passionate. Everyone has a degree. Everyone is willing to work hard. And yet most people spend years on the outside looking in, never quite understanding why.

It is not a capability problem. It is a method problem.

I am Reuben Williams, founder of SportsGrad. I landed a job at Cricket Australia the day after I finished university. When COVID hit and I was made redundant, I was headhunted into a role that doubled my salary. Not because I got lucky, because I had a method that most people never find.

Since then that method has helped over 800 people land jobs in sport, from graduates with no experience to career professionals who thought the window had already closed. We have built a global network that members can tap into from day one, and spent ten years inside this industry learning exactly how hiring actually works.

80% of jobs in sport are never advertised. The people landing them are not the most qualified. They are the most visible, the most connected, and the most prepared to convert opportunity into an offer.

That is what The SportsGrad Method teaches.

How I can help you:

1. Listen to The Method — real coaching call snippets every Wednesday so you can hear the work in action.

2. Read The SportsGrad Newsletter — weekly insight on breaking into sport the right way.

3. Apply for The SportsGrad Method Program — if you are serious about making this happen, this is the fastest path. We review every application personally.

If you refuse to settle for a career you do not care about, you are in the right place.

Let's get to work: www.sportsgrad.com.au/program

Reuben

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meet Hector Arenas, Venue Operations Manager at the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Monterrey.

Back home in Mexico, he'd built a solid career as an industrial engineer with an MBA, ten years of experience, and a general manager role at a lending company, complete with the apartment, the car and the stable life. Then COVID hit, and he and his wife made a decision to leave their comfort zone and chase their dream. In July 2023, they moved to Australia so Hector could study a Master Of Business (Sport Management) at Deakin University.

Four months later, on a tip from his university mentor, he landed a three-month casual events contract at Melbourne Park, and turned it into three straight Australian Opens. From there, he applied cold to FIFA, got knocked back once for being "not experienced enough," then came back a year later to win a Venue Operations Manager role at Estadio Monterrey, delivering matches at the biggest event on the planet in his home country.

Lots to look out for in this episode, including how to break into sport when you've got zero industry network in a new country, why "say yes to everything" opened every door, and how the engineering discipline of doing more with less transferred straight into running a World Cup venue.

We cover:

(03:13) - Interview starts

(09:26) - Quick Fire Questions

(08:08) - What Hector's career looked like prior to moving to Australia

(20:31) - Opportunities to work in sport in Mexico

(22:14) - The decision behind moving from Mexico to Australia

(25:31) - What skills from Hector's engineering career were transferable to the sport industry

(27:05) - Hector's first role in sport at the Australian Open

(31:21) - Favourite moment working at the Australian Open

(33:44) - How Hector joined SportsGrad

(37:14) - How networking has helped Hector's career

(39:48) - How to build your network when you arrive in a country for the first time

(40:48) - How Hector found his role at the FIFA World Cup

(45:14) - Hector's journey from watching Mexico at the FIFA World Cup in 2022 to working at the 2026 World Cup

(46:47) - What a match day in Hector's role looked like

(55:51) - Favourite moments working at the FIFA World Cup

(01:07:33) - How to land a role in sport events and operations in the next 30 days

(01:08:45) - Biggest Pinch Me moment working in sport

(01:13:49) - What life would look like if not a career in sport

(01:14:48) - Hector's question for next guest

If you liked this ep, give these a go next:

#356: Career journey of FIFA World Cup Commentator David Basheer

#357: From International Student to Major League Soccer with Adam Ferreira (Vancouver Whitecaps)

#358: Sports Marketing in the Premier League and the MLS with Sunny Dhillon (Seattle Sounders)

Want a job in sport? Click here.

Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok

Follow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok

Thanks for listening, much love!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want to land a job in sport? Apply for The SportsGrad Method: www.sportsgrad.com.au/program

So you want to work in sport.

You are not alone, and that is exactly the problem.

Sport is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Everyone is passionate. Everyone has a degree. Everyone is willing to work hard. And yet most people spend years on the outside looking in, never quite understanding why.

It is not a capability problem. It is a method problem.

I am Reuben Williams, founder of SportsGrad. I landed a job at Cricket Australia the day after I finished university. When COVID hit and I was made redundant, I was headhunted into a role that doubled my salary. Not because I got lucky, because I had a method that most people never find.

Since then that method has helped over 800 people land jobs in sport, from graduates with no experience to career professionals who thought the window had already closed. We have built a global network that members can tap into from day one, and spent ten years inside this industry learning exactly how hiring actually works.

80% of jobs in sport are never advertised. The people landing them are not the most qualified. They are the most visible, the most connected, and the most prepared to convert opportunity into an offer.

That is what The SportsGrad Method teaches.

How I can help you:

1. Listen to The Method — real coaching call snippets every Wednesday so you can hear the work in action.

2. Read The SportsGrad Newsletter — weekly insight on breaking into sport the right way.

3. Apply for The SportsGrad Method Program — if you are serious about making this happen, this is the fastest path. We review every application personally.

If you refuse to settle for a career you do not care about, you are in the right place.

Let's get to work: www.sportsgrad.com.au/program

Reuben

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.