Matt Hill chats about his journey to becoming Senior Vice President of Global Sports and Entertainment Consulting at GMR Marketing.

Stopping to think about the one career decision that changed everything for him brought Matt to the realization that his entire career has really been a series of decisions. To start, coming from college looking to be a journalist, Matt started to get into editing when he realized that the industry was not really for him. He moved into public relations at the NFL and was on the PR path from there. After five years in PR, decided to go back to business school and focus more on the business side of the industry.

Matt had an opportunity go to work for the MLS in a sales role which was something he had never done in the past. He spent three years learning from some great leaders at the MLS and honing his skills on the sales side. He eventually went back to the NFL to continue in sponsorship sales for three years. The opportunity to then move over to GMR allowed him apply all that he had learned from the selling side and get into the agency side, teaming up with the clients to focus on sponsorship strategy by using the company's data driven and brand-centric approach.

This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.

Nina King, Deputy Director of Athletics for Administration/Legal Affairs and Chief of Staff for Duke, singles out her mom as the most inspirational presence in her life. As a single mother who emigrated from Palestine at the age of 22, she taught Nina everything about being a strong, independent woman.

Nina also credits Kevin and Jane White, both professionally and personally, for her growth and success. The opportunity to learn the business from Kevin White has been an exceptional opportunity. Nina's foremost advice to anyone pursuing a career in sports is to be authentic and operate within your own skin. Interaction within this business is primarily fueled by good relations between teams, coaches, players, and staff. Finally, Nina cites the four characteristics of leadership that she strives to display on a daily basis: to be passionate, empathetic, flexible, and task-oriented. She strives to remain open to learning constantly and is keenly aware that keeping her eyes open in the world of college athletics is fundamental to staying relevant and continuing to succeed.

This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.

Kary Brock talks about her role as Vice President of Endeavor. The move she made to IMG college and the marketing team she worked with there was pivotal to her success. Having had the chance to be part of bringing a new offering into the sports marketing landscape led to her playing an active role in marketing for IMG.

Throughout her time there her team was constantly evolving, changing, growing, and offering challenges that pushed her thinking and helped her growth. The eventual merger brought even more tools to her disposal and expanded her creativity within the marketing platform. She was given the freedom and agility to perform and excel in a role that she is passionate about. The biggest lesson she has learned is that truly nothing stays the same. If you don't learn to evolve you can miss out on the most incredible opportunities. Kary learned that with her experience she was able to take advantage of that evolution and become a much stronger leader at Endeavor.

This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.

Josh Veilluex, Vice President of Global Partnerships for AEG Global Partnerships, talks to us about the impact of making a professional change early in his career. When he had an opportunity to take a step back from business and take some professional sports development programs, he was awarded the opportunity to make the transition to LA and join AEG.

Coming into a career in sports at the age of 27 and bringing sales experience with him gave him an edge over some of the younger candidates just out of school. From there he took advantage of the growth within AEG which led him his current role. The pivoting moment for him came when he was able to switch from ticket sales over to sponsorship. From his success in that role, he gained the confidence and support of his leaders and the opportunity to eventually move into taking over the department.

This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.

Tory Dandy, Agent with CAA sports, traces his success back to when he was interning and met Eugene Parker who became a partner, mentor, and friend for many years.

When CAA reached out, Tory knew that he had a chance to take advantage of an amazing opportunity. It has now been almost two years and he recognizes the good fortune that has led him to this day.

The biggest lesson he has learned has been the importance of building relationships. From all facets of the work, nurturing and valuing relationships is the key in being successful. Doing things with character, morals, and integrity is the best way that Tory knows to honor the late Mr. Parker. Tory also recognizes the love and support provided from his mom for getting him to this level in his career.

This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.

Angela Ruggiero, Olympic Gold Medalist and CEO and co-founder of Sports Innovation Lab, talks to us about how she approaches her business career as she did her sports career.

She mentions how setting goals, learning from mistakes, determination, and surpassing roadblocks that she applied to her sports career and that she now also applies to business. She successfully takes the mindset of an athlete and approaches everything else with that same mindset. Although someone coming from an athletic career might not always have the skill set or experience they need, what they do have is a whole set of intangibles that can help them on their path to success.

In business she emphasizes the need to intrinsically understand the business problem that you are trying to solve. Being cognizant of where you are working, who you are working for, and what you are trying to solve is the key to how you spend your day and how you better serve your clients.

This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.

Sean Eggert, Vice President and Head of Sports Marketing for Red Bull, credits pursuing a passion early in life as the reason for his success today.

The values of pushing hard and teamwork have carried through from his college days to the present. Having finished college in just 3 ½ years, Sean parlayed hard work into a job working for the Detroit Pistons, where he learned the ropes from passionate leaders who set him up for what he is achieving today.

The biggest lesson he's learned is to not to be afraid to ask the dumb question. Sometimes that can be perceived as active listening. Letting down your guard and asking the question that is on your mind can actually open up a lot of doors to success.

This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.

Pat LaCroix, Head of Global Media and Sponsorship for Bose, has a sincere appreciation for how important it is to represent a good brand in an exciting category.

Pat stresses the importance of having key role models who have a common set of core values and pragmatic decision-making capacities. Some people that were fundamental in challenging him and pushing him towards success include: Mike Mangioni, who hired him at Bose, Nicola Emsley, head of Bose global marketing, and Bob Maresca, their recently retired CEO.

On the personal side, Pat has learned invaluable lessons from his parents and recognizes that the support of his family has allowed him to get to where is today. He also cites a quote from past mentor John Moore who once said to him "when you are presenting a product just tell them what time it is, not how you built the watch." When you put ego away, are concise, and have an influential story to tell, you will see your opportunities accelerate.

This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.

Nili Doft, Vice President of Digital Products and Analytics for the NHL, talks about the lessons she's picked up in her career. Her number one tip is never to shy away from opportunities.

Her own career pivoted a few years back when she landed a new role in strategy and found herself facing a new and exciting challenge. Her advice to anyone looking to start a career in sports would be to cast a wide net and not to limit where they look to get a career off the ground. There are plenty of companies you might not think about that have sports opportunities. Many companies have departments and roles within them that work on relationships with sports organizations. Having a transferable skill set can help you make yourself more marketable when the right opportunity comes along.

This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.

Matt Grandis, EVP of Properties for CSM Properties, takes us on his career journey going all the way back to the moment when he was a camp counselor and one of the camper's dads talked to him about a career in sports. Through that relationship he was hired as an intern a PSP sports. He stuck it out and his perseverance paid off.

The process that got him to his role next role then led to opportunities to continue to build the bricks in his career. The chance to then try something totally new and build an international soccer property from the ground up was a major decision that changed the course of his career. Finally, his current role at CSM and working with Harlan Stone has once again taken him out of his comfort zone and ultimately been his best decision yet.

This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.